[Anime] Shiki

[Starcry]

This is the first time I have written an article/review so here we go:

 

 

Shiki was originally a Japanese horror novel which then got drawn into a manga and then became an anime!

 

After seeing this amv I decided to see if it was as good as the amv made it seem:

 

 

Shiki or "Corpse Demon"/"Death Spirit" is about a rural village which begins to suffer a string of mysterious deaths after a new family move in claiming to be from the city. All of the deaths are usually related to a severe form of anemia taking it's toll on the body. (Heart failure, multiple organ failure etc) All of the people who die are seemly healthy people who just become ill and within a few days just die. At the time the village doctor suspects a epidemic but as the body count mounts up and he continues his investigations he slowly begins to suspect that "shiki" - vampire-like creatures are responsible for the deaths plaguing the village. 

 

Since I like me a good ole murder mystery and stuff to do with the super-natural I figured I'd give it a shot and at first I regretted it. The first episode just made it seem like your usual stupid high school drama that was going nowhere good and was just annoying. After thinking it over for a day I then decided to give it a second chance and push through the annoyance. After all; I have seen other great animes where the first few episodes sucked but turned out to be amazing. (Cowboy Bebop and Outlaw Star is among them.) Sure enough it payed off. As soon as the death of one of the annoying happened it quickly became good. As odd as this sounds; with every death the plot got better and much more darker. The soundtrack is also pretty good and brings the right atmosphere to the plot. At the time of this review I am on episode 18/24 and enjoying it quite a bit.

 

I don't want to spoil the plot which is why I have remained vague on it. It dips into folk law that I hadn't heard of until this series and that I do intend to research for validity as it does seem legitimate.  

 

On my scale of 1-10 I give this anime a 6/10. 

 

The reason for this is; I felt the first episode or two was trying to shovel too much in at once and was rushed. At first no one seems to think it odd that people are dying as they do and keep putting it down to a "summer cold" which turned deadly. I know this is set in a "backwards village" but I really can't believe people in the 90's were really that naive as to not call for help when their loved ones clearly weren't right and in the conditions they were. I can understand the doctor sending them away when some did pop in, but not coming back when he told them to if they got worse and waiting?!?  

 

Apart from a few small nitpicks this anime has a pretty solid storyline, a soundtrack to bring it to life and the English voice cast has been cast very well. Each person fits their role and I will watch Japanese Dub some point to make a comparison.

 

If you like murder mystery and supernatural stuff then this might interest you as it has with me. Just be warned that it might take an episode or two before it hooks you~