Review of Shiki

Shiki must be one the best animes I have seen in a while. It tells the story of the remote village of Sotoba where, for the most part, is tranquil and quiet. What the village does not know is that their excruciatingly hot summer will change in the most dramatic and traumatizing way possible. You see, in the town a new family arrived at the Neo-European style mansion that was constructed and soon after this mysterious deaths began to occur. Story: 9 Shiki's story takes off from the typical vampire story but adds in a psychological meaning in between. If you are a fan of the horror,thriller, drama, and psychological genres then I highly recommend this show to you. The pacing of the story to me was perfect, it really showed the meticulous nature of the Shiki (which are vampires that feed on blood) and their plan for Sotoba as well as the human response to them. Shiki's story is presented through the lenses of many characters as the plot unravels, however, there are three characters that get the most screen time. That being Dr. Toshio Ozaki (the village doctor), Seishin Muroi (the junior monk), and finally Natsuno Yuuki (a city-boy who moved with his family to Sotoba). These three characters provide some interesting philosophies to the story and interactions between the humans and Shiki. One final thought about this story is that it is quite tragic, but that is what the story is trying to achieve. It try's to make you think whether who is the villain but as you progress you see both sides have villainous qualities.

Art: 7
Although I am no artist, I believe that Shiki's art style works well for the story it try's to encapsulate. Every time one of the Shiki is in a scene, it actually unsettles me mainly because of their eyes and discoloration of the skin.

Sound: 10
The music for this anime is purely phenomenal as it only enhances the emotional value in a scene its being played in. I believe Shiki's music is going to be stuck in my head for a while.