Review of Shiki

Shiki was a refreshing breath of fresh air from an overused trope in anime. Unlike zombie apocalypses, vampires is one theme that pops up everywhere, from anime, to fiction, to really bad romances, they're everywhere. Shiki takes advantage of the popularity of vampires to give us a chilling tale of struggle and regret, using vampires much closer to their original forms. The best part about this series is the characters, as I felt that none of them were really undeveloped by the end, which is impressive considering the massive cast of this show. I'll start by telling a bit about the story. There are threepoints of view of this story. The first is the point of view of Dr. Ozaki, the first human to discover these vampires, who takes a very anti-vampire approach. There is also the view of the vampires, which was an interesting take on the story. It attempted to make vampires relatable, which it succeeded with flying colors. It showed the strife of people who became vampires from being fed on, thrown into a situation where they have to give up their humanity to survive and prey on their previous friends. The third point of view is that of Natsuno Yuuki, the outsider. He never changes his view on the problem, no matter what happens, and is often the only rational person out of any of the characters.
The art style of Shiki was very stylistic, and was able to capture the situation very well. The vampires were also well portrayed and the few action scenes this anime has were beautifully done. The eyes also looked amazing.
OST-wise this anime was okay. It had one very chilling track (Shi-Ki) that really captured the feel of the anime, but other than that the tracks were okay. The first opening wasn't the best, but I really enjoyed listening to the second one.
Character-wise, I think I may have explained a lot in the story, but it's worth mentioning that the supporting cast of humans/vampires is what makes the story. Everyone has a struggle, whether it's giving up their humanity to save their lives as vampires or losing their friends to the growing menace.
Overall Shiki was an excellent anime that words cannot describe. Still one of my favorites to this day, Shiki deserves just a bit more attention.