HomeAnimeShiki Part 1 & Part 2 - Review

Shiki Part 1 & Part 2 – Review

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Shiki Part 1 & Part 2 - Review 1Title: Shiki
Encompasses: Part 1 and Part 2 (Complete Series)
Published by: Siren Visual (Australia) / Funimation Entertainment (North America)
Based on: Light Novel by Fuyumi Ono
Genre: Horror, Mystery, Supernatural
Audio: Hybrid Dub (English and Japanese)
Subtitles: English
Runtime: 300 +300 Minutes
Classification: Part 1: M / Part 2: MA15+
Cost: $49.99 on DVD, $59.95 on Blu-ray Each
Special Thanks: The team at Siren Visual for providing me with a copy of this title to review

From the studio that brought you Black Butler and Fullmetal Alchemist emerges the psychological thriller that will send you to bed with a cross in hand. When citizens of a secluded village begin dying off in alarming numbers, the sole hospital’s head doctor tries desperately to save his patients-but his efforts are in vain.

Entire families are wiped out while others desert their homes. All hell breaks loose as the villagers discover their loved ones’ corpses are rising from the grave with an insatiable thirst for human blood. Haunting, hallucinogenic and unnerving to the core, Shiki stares into the hearts of both the hunter and the hunted. Who is safe when the urge to kill in order to survive blurs the line between man and monster?


Shiki Part 1 & Part 2 - Review 2

Following their (currently) Australian-exclusive English release of Higurashi no Naku Koro ni Kai, Siren Visual felt content not to end their releases of supernatural mystery series with just that… opting to also licence and release Shiki in the region which was previously released by Funimation Entertainment in North America. To be honest I have been sitting on this series for a couple of months now since its August 2012 release after finding the first few episodes to be slow and rather dull. But as I don’t generally write a review on a series without having watched every episode first after the release of the second Part I took to cramming it all in a day… and found it to be a surprisingly interesting watch.

Shiki takes place in a small rural Japanese village by the name of Sotoba. While it initially seems to be another uneventful summer in the eyes of the residents, people begin to pass away in increasing numbers coinciding the arrival of new residents in an old mansion, and following a mysterious pattern of events prior to their death. The series is dark, opting not to begin as a happy tale gone bad but from the first episode (Which results in the death of the episodes focus character Megumi Shimizu) the storyline begins unraveling its mysteries as people start to pass away and some residents become cluey as to the cause… Vampires or “Okiagari“.

Shiki Part 1 & Part 2 - Review 3

Despite Shiki having a sizable character cast with many who earn some development in the storyline, the series focuses on two characters primarily – 15 year old student Natsuno Yuuki and town doctor Toshio Ozaki. While not having much to do with each other at the beginning they are each drawn into the mystery through their own experiences and uncover the mystery through their own means. As select characters have the specific genetics to resurrect as Okiagari themselves, this is not a tale just of the living fighting the ‘supposed to be ‘ dead – but a story of survival as those who have turned are forced to take blood from the living… under threat, uncontrollable desire or impending death.

Over the last few decades, “Vampires” have been a staple in everything from anime to novels to films… each having varying degrees of success in implementation – some writers opting to remain faithful to the generic vampire while others choosing to add their own spins to them. Shiki’s made good use of this aspect, which contributed to an overall interesting plotline that worked well given their episode count. The multiple perspectives and at times non-linearity of the plot aids in providing aspects from both parties, and it is hard not to feel sorry for either party… the humans who are finding their livelihoods in shambles or the vampires who sometimes against their own wills must devour blood of another.

If there was one issue I could pick up with this series, it would be that while some of the characters are pretty interesting very few are fully developed. The abrupt ending to the show and quick resolution to their roles in the story leaves most of their roles and development primarily focused on the events of the twenty-four episodes.

Shiki Part 1 & Part 2 - Review 4

Shiki is impressive both visually and design-wise, delivering a mood and atmosphere suitable for what they are trying to get across. From the beginning the most noticeable design trait are the characters eyes which change dependent on the state of the person – from relatively normal for characters who have not had contact with the Okiagari to bitch black with red pupils for those who have turned. Interestingly despite being coupled with changes in facial expression many characters don’t seem to notice this until it is too late. Aside from this aspect, and a few over-the-top facial expressions / hair styles – it is pretty much what I would be expecting from a series of this genre and character cast size.

Environment designs were well thought-out and detailed, providing both the necessary creepy atmosphere whilst highlighting this takes place in a rural environment. Animations however were the one let-down when it came to design. While there were some well animated and impressive scenes, this was balanced by to many scenes trying to pause for impact and a lack of any movement or action by some of the characters. Instead when it came to animation they choose to use more simple visual effects to highlight something than letting the characters actions speak for the scene.

Shiki Part 1 & Part 2 - Review 5

Shiki features two opening sequences (Kuchizuke by Buck-Tick and Calendula Requiem by kanon x kanon) as well as two ending sequences (Walk no Yakusoku by Nangi and Gekka Reijin by Buck-Tuck). All four of these sequences feature solid lyrical songs and coupled with appropriate animation. The rest of the series soundtrack while not being to my personal tastes work well when coupled with the visuals and storyline to create the appropriate mood and atmosphere for the scene playing out.

The quality of the English dub varied, often peaking when it came to more primary characters while varying between minor characters. David Wald (Fairy Tail – Gajeel Redfox) and Jerry Jewell (Casshern Sins – Dio) provided strong performances as both Toshio Ozaki and Natsuno Yuki respectively. Looking at a voice cast listing, Funimation took advantage of a fair number of voice actors and actresses in this series and there aren’t really any cases of the same cast member voicing five or six characters.

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Over both collection releases, they have crammed in quite a lot of bonus content including Episode Commentaries for several episodes which I found quite interesting to listen to, textless opening and closing themes, Preview Featurettes and trailers. Unfortunately for Siren Visual’s release, they have chosen not to include the DVD/Blu-ray covers in their usual slipcases.

Overall, while it took me a while to get over the original hurdle that prevented this series from keeping my interest more than a couple of episodes, afterwards I thought it was a creatively thought out series that didn’t fall into too many of the cliches faced by other plots of the genre. While it does get a tad grotesque and cringe-worthy in the later episodes, I could recommend this series to anyone who has enjoyed similar shows and don’t mind something a bit more plot-heavy.

Final Score
Storyline / Character Development: A
Design: B-
Music/Voice Acting: B+
Extra Content: A
Personal Preference:
A-
Overall Score: A-

Sam
Sam
Founder of The Otaku's Study. I have been exploring this labyrinth of fandom these last fifteen years, and still nowhere close to the exit yet. Probably searching for a long time to come.
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