Audience reviews
20 · Sample from the first available page, separate from the total number of ratings.
scruffiebaka
Offers a lot of emotional depth. Loved how the anime slowly evolves over each episode. Might be one of the best psychological horror animes out there. Many watchers have stated that it has a boring start, but I personally felt like every episode offers moments that keep you captivated.
My favorite part was probably the soundtrack. It's incredible, though I do not like the OP/ED's that much, the OST is really good and is able to perfectly create emotions.
The characters are well written and interesting, but it feels inconsistent sometimes.
Overall, if you like spooky stuff and don't mind gore, you should definitely watch this.
Read at the sourcenosion
I've read some of the reviews on this anime, and comments on different episodes while watching it, and I have to say I have no idea what these viewers are thinking. For some reason, people think that the takeaway is that humans are bad, or become bad halfway through the series, which is just the wrong takeaway.
It takes almost 15 episodes for the villagers to react to 20+ people dying in one month in a small remote village with a small population, which is the most unbelievable part of this show. All of the other 'social commentary' which I saw as smugness, closed mindedness, and people's inability to accept a truth that is right in front of them is spot on - even up to the point where people (like these reviewers) do not care or refuse to accept something until it directly affects them o…
Read at the sourceJohny_R
The initial premise of this anime is to present an investigative mystery surrounding a series of mysterious deaths occurring in an isolated village. These deaths leave no signs of illness or any symptoms that would suggest some kind of virus. People simply begin to feel tired from one day to the next and lose awareness of what they are doing, almost as if they were in a trance. I think this is the point where many people end up dropping the anime, because the truth is that it takes a long time for the characters to discover the cause behind these deaths. Until that happens, you keep seeing essentially the same thing repeated in slightly different ways.
But anyway, the deaths are caused by vampires, and this is revealed within the first few episodes, so it's not really a spoiler. However,…
Read at the sourceanabena24
A slow burn classic- Shiki is the perfect anime for those rainy gloomy evenings. It's the case where even a simple idea and a relatively straight-forward plot can deliver when the atmosphere is done right: a remote Japanese village, people mysteriously dying, a phantom threat lurks in the air. The only bummer is that the viewer knows almost all along. If you are just looking to kill time with this anime, I would suggest that you wait until you feel like you're in a more serious mood, as you will run into some unpleasant happenings, as well as morality issues that are worth thinking about. With that said, don't be discouraged by the fact that this is a vampire show if you don't like vampire stories. It's certainly one of the better ones, with good amount of mystery. Although in my opinion,…
Read at the sourceStefan_Stefanov
From the description this show seems like it will be mysterious and very intriguing.
Unfortunately this is a complete deception.
The show is just slow, too slow. The mysteries aren't that good, and the antagonists aren't that scary.
From the way to story builds up, even though it is slow, you expect that it will keep increasing the tension, because the show just looks like it has the perfect setup to get more and more tense, and have things get increasingly hopeless and therefore have interesting obstacles to overcome.
However it never capitalizes on this, it is all left as "potential" and never realized.
I wanted to watch it just to see what happens, but I think for most of the time I was just watching out of scientific curiosity or something, like to see if it's possible for this show…
Read at the sourcePitBoy
I'm going to focus in judging this as a Horror show, because I'm a big fan of Horror and this anime is tag as such. Definitely a must watch for any horror fan and Stephen King Reader. Some of the characters personalities are a little over the top and the art style is quite unique, but those are as many complains I can think of. The mystery is quite obvious for an audience that doesn't live under a rock, but It still makes you want the characters to figure It out too, they really manage to pull out some creepy moments that gives your ass goosebumps and they are still effective on second watch. And thankfully, they didn't ruin the ending. So often I have seeing good anime flopping because of the ending, but this story really gives us a satisfactory end that makes us think on both sides of th…
Read at the source1stDecame4Danime
The source material is a plagiarist's loose Japanese adaptation of Salem's Lot by Stephen King. -1
That said, Salem's Lot is just a mediocre modern ripoff of Dracula by Bram Stoker from the perspective of those who stayed in the city while Jonathan Harker went to go send Dracula off to become their neighbor. And frankly, Shiki is by far probably the best adaptation of Salem's Lot to date, and the anime does plenty artistically in its own right, so you could certainly do a lot worse than this, which is better than even most Dracula adaptations.
It's ok despite its many flaws.
Read at the sourceTofuWusHere
It’s such a vintage tv series. It explores moral issues, inner conflict, characters aren’t 2D they have a dimension and depth. You can’t say whether Megumi is evil or not. She’s just an ordinary girl who has delusional dreams, and life was taken from her so early on. Is she good or is she bad after she becomes one of them and her end? The fashion is eccentric but not unlovable. When sides to be taken by those in between it’s not easy for them. It’s not some stupid anime. It’s older but much more intelligent than another anime of the same genre. Mystery is ok.
Read at the sourceTontonBoo
A straightforward import of a classic monster to a Japanese rural setting. That's it. A good horror story that doesn't shy away from the unfair, the grotesque and the brutal reality of the situation. A tale with a beginning and an end, all packed in a 24 episode anime format.
Visuals are clean, animation is good enough, sound is mostly appropriate. Some out-of-place audio choices here and there, nothing too jarring but the dissonance is there. More importantly and very obviously, expect whiplash in the character department. It can feel like the character designer didn't care for the vibe and just went nuts on the anime look, and oh my God the hair. Gravity has no business here it seems. Part of the mystique maybe. The design of the fangs and mouth is worthy of note, more inspired by the s…
Read at the sourceamikigu
After a mundane and perhaps even corny first few episodes, Shiki goes off the rails in the best possible way and becomes one of the best horror seasons I've ever seen. The voice actors really convey the terror of living through the nightmare that this little mountain town becomes, and we get to see how so many different archetypes of people would handle a vampire infestation.
Spoiler:
One especially delightful character manages to leave town on a bus after realizing what's going on; I shudder to ponder whether I would have had the foresight that character had, or whether, like many of the other characters, I'd become vampire fodder.
Read at the sourcemoozooh
Oh man, where do I even begin with Shiki... It's such a confusing series which tries to be many things at the same time, and I can tell it also tries to execute at least some of them well, but it always, ALWAYS falls just short of the mark—that is, when it doesn't outright shoot itself in the head while doing so.
Firstly, there's the plot which is one of the most 2000s things I've ever seen, riding Japan's biggest wave of fascination with vampires, other demonic creatures, and edgy bloodshed in general since the bubble-era OVA boom, heralded earlier in the decade by the likes of Hellsing, Elfen Lied, and Higurashi. The premise here is actually solid and has everything in place to execute a proper horror narrative; you can even trace clear lineage both to Bram Stoker's original Dracula nov…
Read at the sourcestillhollow
One of the Best Horror Anime Ever Made
Shiki is easily one of the most unique and powerful anime I’ve ever watched. What starts as a slow and mysterious story in a quiet rural village slowly transforms into one of the most intense psychological horror experiences in anime.
The atmosphere is incredible. The small village setting makes everything feel isolated and claustrophobic, and the slow pacing actually works in the anime’s favor because it builds tension perfectly. As the deaths start piling up, you can really feel the fear and confusion spreading through the town.
What truly makes Shiki special is its storytelling. Instead of just being a typical vampire story, it explores morality, survival, and what it really means to be human. Both sides of the conflict are given depth, and by t…
Read at the sourceSakamakiKoyatsu
This anime can be one of the first vampire-tagged anime that those looking to that type should be looking to watch, because it provides a dynamical system of Vampire vs. Human conflict setting where the vampires are looking to fight by subverting rather that pulling off a war on the surface(Get it? because they only do their antics at night, despite the sunlight... To avoid sunlight). Anyways the setting being some small rural and remote town being connected by only a couple of roads is another catalyst which makes the plotline be able to take the way it has grown due to the fact the isolation granted enabled the conflict to go on without any outside intervention.
Our protagonist, Ozaki Toshio really encapsulate the character of a crime investigator due to the fact that he is looking to f…
Read at the sourceAntonyAV
Shiki is a very unique masterpiece. It has a bit of a scary, gory element. Still, it's mostly a suspense thriller, a very slow-burning one, so give it the space to build its atmosphere with episodes that initially feel bland until the most interesting part kicks off, from there you'll want to finish the whole series in one sitting.
It has an odd pacing, but by the end, I found it worked out really well. The animation and sound are a little dated for today's standards, but they're nicely done. The writing is what sets this story apart, but I don't want to get into much detail, you should definitely watch this anime, you won't regret it!
I liked the character designs, everyone has something that stands out.
Read at the sourceWhoTheThunk
Wow, that was a rollercoaster, to say the least. The first six episodes were downright amazing, and I impulsively rated it as a nine while watching. There is a moody angst lingering through each scene, and the characters slowly figuring out the truth was immaculate storytelling. However, the mystery built up to something it couldn't deliver on. It slowly fell off, becoming more pretentious and convoluted. The middle half was fine and kept me engaged, building tension and drama throughout. It's the last four episodes that the story fell flat; almost every character arc was resolved off-screen or unresolved completely.
However, because most of the series is really good, I do recommend it, and it is one of my favorite shows, even if it's a guilty pleasure.
Read at the sourcemimi_riajuu
Disclaimer: I watched the first 10 episodes of Shiki with only half my attention (I used it as a background show while I did work), so I may have missed some parts.
I really have no idea what the intended tone of this series was supposed to be. I laughed out loud when faced with some thematically heavy scenes because of the choice of music, character outfits/designs, and choices like having a character gnaw on a shovel while they speak. Because of this tonal whiplash, I actually found the series enjoyable and it was a fun watch. The character designs are outlandish and the wardrobe changes are fun and make no sense, and the series leans into that absurdity heavily. Depending on your sense of humor, I can definitely see a perspective where this tonal inconsistency feels cheap and I wouldn'…
Read at the sourceSgtSalamander
Shiki is a story about necessity. The necessity for the vampires, or shiki as the anime calls them, to feed, and the necessity for the humans to completely eradicate their kind. Rarely do anime, or even stories in general, so clearly and directly interrogate the more brutal aspects of morality, and the intersection of violence and morality as concepts which are inextricably linked. Indeed, this anime lays bare to the viewer in a most unfiltered and raw fashion that violence and morality directly feed into and support each other. It also touches on moral pathologies that have a seed in something benign, but which under the right circumstances reveal much deeper problems with the character of certain people. All of this depth and thematic directness makes Shiki a truly excellent anime. Howev…
Read at the sourceJoe_Devaney
Overview:
"Shiki" is yet another anime based on a series of novels by Fuyumi Ono, the same person who wrote the novels of "The Twelve Kingdoms" and "Ghost Hunt". It certainly shows as well, as "Shiki" does to horror stories what "The Twelve Kingdoms" did to isekais, providing a highly nuanced take on the horror genre that you rarely find in any form of media even nowadays. Overall, however, I would say that "Shiki" has held considerably better than its older sister over the years, with any of the problems it has being largely inherent rather than the result of not aging well.
Story (8/10):
The setting for "Shiki" is the fictional Japanese village Sotaba, a sleepy village in countryside miles away from anywhere, with nothing standout about it besides a medieval-looking castle on a hill. Du…
Read at the sourceGsarthotegga
Shiki is one of the rare horror anime to stand out at all, falling under a "revisionist/social commentary" kind of banner; it has a decently creepy atmosphere, imagery, and an adequate plot, though the gravity-defying rainbow hair and bizarre hip-hop-like music makes this an eccentric title. The writing can be fairly condescending with its depiction of ruralites and villagers: there's a cosmopolitan smugness expressed throughout, with the pink-haired girl, who only cares about cute boys in the city and being an idol, being the best representation of the contempt for the countryside. There's not much presented here that would make anyone yearn for a life outside of the city.
For the relatively long running length of 22 episodes, it takes most of the protagonists a ridiculously long time t…
Read at the sourceDompa112
Wow what a wild ride this ended up being. Never thought it would hit me as hard as it ended up doing after the first couple of episodes. Just didnt feel it at first. Didnt care much for the characters. The art. Plot didnt seem all that interesting. To many annoying tropes. But then the show, characters and the plot just got more and more serious and especially brutal in its execution and reveals. And at the end just found myself feeling sympathy and questioning right and wrong for the different sides whilst also getting a completely different feel for the characters. It gets very brutal and dark later on. So i ended up really enjoing it.
Also before ending the review one has to mention Takanashi. Another killer OST. Just again hits me how music does for a story and the atmosphere. It was…
Read at the source
