Shiki

Shiki is a piece that treats Vampire Culture differently than you would expect in western cinematography, providing a deeper insight to personality afflicted by eternal living, and slowly pulling you inside a questioning of human soul and nature. Can you be corrupted life form that has usual wish to pursue happiness? Can you be "normal" life form, but still be cruel and evil, selfish and a beast? This is not just an anime about vampires, this is a piece that slams big questions about life in your face without hesitation. Are you a traitor if you cherish and accept every person as they are cut out to be, and why do we have to choose sides from the start of mankind's existence, determined to root-out everything we assume to be different from ourselves? Is it just the fear of death that turns us into animals, or it's life as we imagine it just a mask behind which a beast slumber...

Shiki will not provide answers, but it may make you think a bit deeper about human nature.

Shiki is a brilliant take on the mentality of small towns and how it relates to mob justice.

It's portrayal of the ethics and morality of critical choices is second only to that of Monster.

At first i was just watching TV when i saw the first episode of this show i didn't know, i liked the design and it was an anime which you can describe as weird but that's precisely the kind of anime i love, so i gave it a chance. It's an anime with a very slow narration but the whole process is actually enjoyable ( weird to creepy to....) And the end is very good and philosophical: it is about foreign people, struggle to be accepted, human emotion. In the end you may be crying for the evil and hate the good ones. It's all about perspective. A good one which i will remember, it's good to have some novel i would have never read being available in a TV format.

When I saw the rather high ratings on this anime here on IMDb and some anime related forums I decided to give this series a try even though the story line sounds admittedly rather shallow and uninspiring.

Now that I have finished watching the series I was surprised to experience that the plot and characters are indeed a lot deeper and more interesting than I would have expected them to be. It's hard to talk about the series without spoiling a lot so all I will say is: "Shiki" is a well written, creepy and exciting story without any unnecessary fan service or romance (which I really appreciate nowadays...) and worth the watch if you aren't just looking for a "quick anime fix" but want to be told a gripping tale about which actions are or aren't morally acceptable when threatened by impending death and misery.

8/10

Shiki is a wonderful anime and manages to build suspense while also having a more slow-burn approach to horror. I have seen many horror anime/anime in general, and Shiki is one of the only ones where I find myself revisiting scenes or listening to the soundtrack regularly to relive it.