Review of Shiki

Alright, this is my first time with a review so bear with me! Story: 8 Shiki did pretty well in this category. It was refreshing to watch a vampire story that didn't make you want to become one. They went back to the old school myths, where vampires can't be killed unless you put a stake through their heart, and they fear things like relics and crosses. They were actually the bad guys. There are already a lot of great romanticized vampire stories out there, so it's really nice to find the opposite. The episodes were well paced, and the anime as a whole did a great jobat keeping you on your toes and making you want to watch the next one. It did start out a little slow. The first few episodes were mostly just to give you a perspective on what the villagers were like and how future events would effect them, but at the same time you couldn't really skip them because there were bits and pieces you would need to see in order to understand anything that happened later. Once that was past though, the anime picked up really fast, so much so that I had a hard time waiting to see what was going to happen next. Watching an anime that's like a book you can't put down is a huge plus.

The plot itself was a little holey. As someone who likes a little science behind their fiction, I was disappointed that they didn't delve into the facts about why the vampires hated sunlight or what made them rise. But that's a minor mishap. My real problem was that there was no real back story to the Kirishikis at all. The main antagonists in the story were completely left without any context. While they hint at things here and there, you never really know anything about them. Especially Seishirou, and that really bugs me!

I have to applaud them for not being afraid to kill of characters, though. Far too many horror anime are hesitant to actually kill anyone, and sort of beat around the bush, instead. Especially when it comes to prominent characters, or younger ones. That probably sounds harsh, but it's really frustrating when characters just barely make it out alive, by miraculous events, over and over.

Art: 6
This is where the anime really falls apart. To be fair, the art wasn't truly bad. It was clean and well drawn, and the backgrounds were definitely on a higher scale. The real problem was the style. This especially in the character designs. Almost every character in the show, whether main or just a filler, had the most ridiculous, gravity defying hairstyles. It was annoying to say the least, and incredibly out of place in a horror anime. Even in a comedy, these hairstyles would be considered over the top. The eyes were just as bad. Not only were they too big for most of the character's faces, they were so awkwardly colored. Especially Muroi's, I will never understand why his were so different from everyone else's. The eyes also took away an element of surprise that the show really could have benefited from. If only they hadn't made the vampire's eyes such a dead give away.

The animation was on the crappier side, as well. It seemed to be quickly, and cheaply, thrown together. Many shortcuts were taken. In many scenes the people don't even walk, they just sort of fade in and out across the screen. And there was a lot of still pictures that just slowly zoomed out.

Overall, the art was way too distracting, and I almost dropped the anime because of it.

Sound: 5
I don't normally pay as much attention to this category as the rest. The music sounded okay to me. Nothing I'll be putting in my iTunes, but it worked with the show.

What really brings this category's score down was the dialogue. Now I only watched the dubbed version, so I can't speak for the original Japanese! But Christ, this was terrible. So many of the lines were awkwardly placed, or seemed to be missing a lot of context. And a lot of the characters would say things that completely clashed with their personalities. Again, this could just be because of poor translation, but as an official dub I really think they should have done better.

Character: 5
I was so disappointed with the main characters in this anime. All three of the most important ones had almost the same personality. Distant, a little cold, and angry (at either themselves or just everyone in general). There was no diversity! I know it's a more serious anime, but they should have branched out a little, at least between characters. The amount of generic personalities nearly killed me. Other individuals seemed a little displaced, especially Megumi. I know she was supposed to have an outsider kind of feel to her, but they went a little too far with it, and she seemed like she didn't even belong in the story at all.

The worst part out of all of it is they never gave you a character you truly got attached to. There was no emotional connection, none of the characters were really likable. Megumi was obnoxious, Natsuno was too reserved for you to even really get to know who he was at all, Dr Ozaki was way too cold, ect ect ect. There was at least one reason to hate every character. I really could care less who died and who survived, and that really took a toll on my experience with this show.

Enjoyment: 6?
That being said, I did still enjoy the series as a whole. Yes, they could have done better in a lot of areas, but I still kept watching regardless of it all. It's got it's own way of making you want to watch it. If not for any reason other than who's gonna die next, will that person rise up, and is everyone kind of evil or will there actually be some character development? I will definitely never re-watch it.

I'm not entirely sure I'd recommend this anime, though, especially if you're new to it! Don't ruin your first experience with something that's so-so. If you're really looking for an intriguing, gory horror story, go watch something like Mirai Nikki instead.