Review of Shadows House

Set in a mysterious mansion, Shadows House focuses on the denizens of the titular household each having their own Living Doll that regularly clean up the soot emitted from the bodies of their Shadow masters or mistresses. The series mainly focuses on the young Shadow, Kate, and her Living Doll, Emilico, slowly developing a bond together. But as the two spend more time within the mansion with other Shadow and Living Doll pairs, they come to realize some rather dark secrets involving its denizens. Shadows House is a series where first appearances can be deceiving. While seemingly starting off as a sort of slice-of-life series involvingthe everyday happenings within the mansion, the series gradually dabbles into elements of mystery and drama as episodes progress. Delving into elements of said mystery would be major spoilers for what the series as a whole potentially offers up in later episodes and beyond. But what is explored about the true nature of the Shadows House and its denizens offers some engaging plot developments, themes, and world-building that help further flesh out the series. The only setback with this mystery is that its story continues beyond what this first season offers up and while a second TV season aired last year that continues the story of Shadows House, its manga source material is still ongoing as of the time I write this review. To my understanding, the final three episodes of the series have a story arc exclusive to the anime that may or may not sit well with fans of the manga series.

The major element of the series that serves as its highlight are the bonds between the Shadows and their Living Dolls. The Living Dolls are expected to serve as a sort of personal tool for the Shadows they serve and mimicing their actions while communicating with others due to the Shadow's lack of a face. The five pairs of young Shadows and Living Dolls focused on, alongside Kate and Emilico, are shown to have varying degrees of personality and chemistry between one another, each Shadow having different perceptions of how they view their Living Doll and having varying degrees of development as they undergo the trials of the nobles throughout the middle part of the series. Our main pair of characters, in particular, undergo a good deal of development throughout Shadows House with Kate becoming less reserved and growing trusting of Emilico as their bond develops.

Visually, Shadows House employs a gothic and regal aesthetic to go along with the mysterious, classy environment that the denizens of the titular mansion strive for. The settings and attire of the series appear inspired from Western Victorian Era attire that look accurate to the setting of the time period that Shadows House is seemingly emulating. The highlight of the show's animation comes from the unique nature and abilities of the Shadows. Their bodies emit soot depending on their emotional state and each one demonstrates unique abilities utilized during later episodes of the series. The series does a great job animating these elements to the Shadows while still retaining the anime's overall animation quality.

Overall, Shadows House makes for an engaging mystery-drama exploring the developing bond between Kate and Emilico, as well as the true nature of the titular mansion and its inhabitants. Being based on an ongoing manga series, the series does suffer from the typical shortcomings of being an adaptation with lacking a proper conclusion and not having all its story elements fully fleshed out. But the mentioned second TV season does continue the story, which I hope to have the opportunity to dabble into at some point.