Review of Shiki

Where do I begin… Shiki is, and has been, my favorite anime for almost a decade now. Am I biased? Very much so, I watched this show when I was a wee little child and it left such an impression on me that to this day nothing has been able to beat it out of that 1st place spot for me. Does that mean that I think it’s a masterpiece? No, because it isn’t. Shiki is flawed, it’s not perfect, but that doesn’t mean it’s not worth your time. This is my first review, and may very well be the only one I ever write,but I can’t help it, it just won’t leave my head until I write it down on paper so here it is: My hopefully-not-too-incoherent Shiki ramblings and exactly why I love this show so much.

STORY: Shiki’s premise is a rather simple one: vampires. A tiny village that’s mostly inhabited by old people who have one foot in the grave already experiences a strange pandemic and people start keeling over left and right, leaving the clueless and frustrated only doctor of the village to figure out what exactly is going on. What makes this premise so interesting to me is that Shiki presents a very morally gray storyline: there is no inherent good or evil side, both the humans and the vampires have their reasons for doing the things they do, both sides are just trying to survive in an environment where both sides are out to kill each other. It’s not like these vampires are complete strangers that randomly turned up one day, I mean, the first few are, but as the story progresses, most of the vampires are the people from the village who’ve gotten turned. Families getting torn apart from the seams because one person got turned into a vampire, and that means the whole family has to go down, whether they like it or not. They really drive home the point that being a vampire isn’t a willing choice, and while some people accept it and move on, others will inevitably struggle and deny the fact they’ve been turned into an inhuman creature against their will. That being said, Shiki is also a very slow-paced show. It’s not until the last few episodes that it really starts picking up it’s pace, and if you’re someone who enjoys quick-paced, action-packed shows, then I can already tell you that this isn’t a show for you. The audience ofcourse, knows from very early on that the problem is clearly vampires, it takes the characters a little longer to figure that out, because the show wants to keep up the suspense factor. If you’re expecting a bloody gore fest from the get-go, you’d be mistaken, but if you have the patience to sit through the slow beginning then I promise the payoff at the end will be worth it.

ART: Now, Shiki’s artwork is a hit or miss with most people. I personally like it, but I can understand why some would find it offputting or difficult to watch. Shiki has a very unique art style, it’s very recognizable, but it’s also rather strange in it’s character designs. You think you’ve seen weird anime hairstyles? Think again, we’ve got a girl with flower braids. We’ve got a guy with cat ears but they’re not actually cat ears, that’s just what his hair looks like. Character designs aside, I do think the background art and lighting is great, the scenes feel very atmospheric, especially since most of the show plays out in the dark (you know, vampires and sunlight don’t really mix). The art is detailed, it’s bizarre, and might not be some people’s cup of tea, but I personally think it’s beautiful, especially the way Sunako is drawn. She really feels like an otherworldly creature.

SOUND: The voice acting is great, I’ve got nothing bad to say about it. It’s all nicely over the top like you’d expect from anime, but not too much that it’d be grating or anything. Especially Sunako’s seiyuu, Aoi Yuuki, does a great job portraying her. I watch all my anime subbed, but this is one of the few I did actually watch the dub for back in the day, and from what I remember, the voice acting in that was also good, but don’t quote me too hard on that because it HAS been almost 10 years since I’ve last seen it. I can’t remember it being off-putting or awkward though.

MUSIC: I decided to give this it’s own category because that’s what it deserves. Shiki’s soundtrack is phenomenal, one of my favorite soundtracks in anything ever. Even if you’re not interested in the show itself, I still highly recommend checking the soundtrack out, it’s only about an hour long in total and it’s fantastic. Every single piece of music in that soundtrack is a masterpiece and I stand by that. As for the OPs and Eds, I think they’re great aswell. The two openings fit the atmosphere of the show well and are very catchy, the 1st ending feels melancholy and is a lot slower compared to the openings, but I feel that this gives a nice contrast and after finishing the show, it’s a become a rather bittersweet song to me. As for the 2nd ending, I haven’t listened to it enough, it didn’t really leave an impression on me despite the fact I’ve rewatched this show like 5 times, so I can’t say much on it, but it’s by the same group who did the 1st opening, so it’s probably still really good anyways and just hasn’t grown on me.

CHARACTERS: One thing I hear often when people talk about Shiki is that the characters are all dislikable and annoying, which I don’t completely agree with, but I can see where it’s coming from. Shiki’s characters are very flawed, they make bad decisions, they’re not good people. Anime always paints protagonists like these perfect, heroic, flawless characters that are loved by everyone, and this is a trope that Shiki seems to avoid like the plague. Every character in Shiki has their pros and cons, and that’s what makes them feel human to me. Even the vampires aren’t inherently written to be bad people, sure, some of them might lean a bit more to the evil side of things than others, but they’ve all got their reasons. Like the story, most of the characters are morally gray, especially the main characters, and there’s quite a few main characters. Additionally, one thing I also really like is that every character has a name. Even if they only have one voice line, they have a name, they have something they do in life, they have a family, a place to live, etc. Every character is fleshed out, none of them really feel two dimensional. Sotoba feels like a real village, with real people inhabiting it, instead of having characters like “Man A” or “Shopkeeper”.

ENJOYMENT: From my rating it’s already blatantly obvious that I love Shiki, it’s the only anime that gives me the urge to rewatch it. The vampire trope has been well overdone by now, but if you’re looking for a vampire story that delves back into the folklore or thriller side of things, then this is definitely one of the better options in my opinion. It’s a classic vampire story, and how vampire stories should be done, instead of having it be some kind of romantic comedy and slapping the vampire label on it because that’s what people are into nowadays (this is directly aimed at Diabolik Lovers)
Overall, if you like vampires, but hate the way they’ve been getting romanticized in modern media, then Shiki is a nice breath of fresh air which depicts vampires the way they should be. Shiki truly is one of a kind, I’ve tried many times to find something that evokes the same emotions in me as this show does, but to no avail, even shows with similar atmospheres or premises, like Shinsekai Yori or Summertime Render, don’t live up to the feeling this particular anime gives me, and maybe nothing ever will, because it might just be the childlike wonder I’ve been missing and will never get back. In my opinion, Shiki is criminally underrated and deserves way more credit than people give it, and it will probably forever remain my number one favorite show so I couldn’t recommend it more, please check it out if you haven’t yet!