Review of Shiki

Spoiler free review. It was okay. I wouldn't call it bad. And I don't regret watching it. I probably would only recommend it to people that specifically like the subject matter in the show (read the synopsis). As someone going into it looking for a decent thriller/mystery/suspense it was pretty mediocre. I thought the tonal dissonance that we're introduced to right off the bat (sunny quiet village life vs. the horror backdrop) would be either amped up as the story went on or would resolve itself one way or the other. It mostly didn't and just kinda felt like a show that wasn't sure what "vibe" itwanted to have. But in trying to stay in the "grey" area it just kinda fell flat on all fronts for me. It was hardly creepy and it wasn't scary, and I say that as someone that doesn't particularly like horror. There just wasn't that quintessential "off" feeling that good horror has. But it also wasn't thrilling. It felt like a waiting game for the characters to hurry up and figure the obvious stuff out so something could actually happen.

Like there's a slow burn up to the climax of the show, but there isn't really much "pay off" for that slow burn. And that's not because the show does a good job revealing things to you over time or because there are any kind of worthwhile twists. It's more like there wasn't really much to reveal and the climax is just the show being like "well, let's get things started I guess!"

I will say that the show does a pretty good job smoothly transitioning between different characters. There isn't really a main character but the story doesn't feel jumbled. That's not easy.

But on the other hand I didn't really care about any of the characters either because it felt like the main focus was just slowly progressing to the climax and on the way we'll see stuff from different characters' points of view – the consequences we view all felt like plot devices rather than actual heavy things that would impact the direction of the story and/or arcs of the characters. I'm not sure that any characters gradually change over the course of the show. Some snap and some "give up"/"give in" I guess, but those are inflection points and don't create interesting characters.

And lastly, the "moral dilemma" was weak, felt uninspired, and came off as straightforward rather than a "dilemma" to me. It's not even like the show felt that preachy it just felt like it wasn't really that concerned with the moral question it repeatedly lobs at the audience. Honestly, the "story in a story" one character tells sounded much more interesting.

Ultimately, it's a melancholy type of show, and you suspect as much while watching it but hope that it's going to do *something* by the end. But it doesn't really do much once everything is said and done.