Shiki (TV 2010)
Whoops, I feel like I've been spamming recently...It's probably because, as a result of babysitting, I am ready to smash my brains so this is oddly refreshing. ^-^) Warning: ...remember...I'm a fangirl...and not just any fangirl...one of THAT variety...
After watching the disappointment that was Togainu no Chi (subject of my last post) I had to watch something else to get rid of that bad aftertaste. (And to distract me from the demon spawn that are my second cousins, ages 5 and 7 both of which I've been babysitting for what will be 2 weeks...)
So I present this:
Trailer:
Summary: Shiki takes place in the small town of Sotoba, which boasts a huge population of...1300 people. Well, ouch. The town itself is fairly isolated, surrounded by a certain type of tree used to make coffins. Surrounded by death indeed! Otherwise, the place is your normal country town. Everybody knows everybody else and what everybody is up to. That is until a strange "epidemic" starts killing off more and more people with many of the family members moving away in the dead of the night. What is the reason behind all of these deaths? Is it indeed an epidemic or is it something completely different?
Some Characters:
Megumi Shimizu (15): Sotoba is def. not a place for bitch diva Megumi Shimizu! Her dream is to one day leave this retched place and fly away to the city. Hopefully with her love interest, Natsuno Yuuki. Oh yeah, and there's only one road on which it is even remotely possible to connect to the main highway. BUT out of those two, getting Yuuki to pay her any attention is definitively the harder of the two.
Natsuno Yuuki/Koide (15): Call him Yuuki.Or Koide. He doesn't really care which. But DON'T call him Natsuno. Only Tooru can semi get away with that. He HATES his first name. I don't remember this ever being fully explained in the anime but in the manga it's because he states it sounds like a girl's name. xD He hates Sotoba probably as as much as Megumi does. He lived his whole life in the city until last year when his romantic and idealistic parents decided it would be a nice change to move out to the country. And when they said "country" they meant the god forsaken middle of nowhere. (They can't do anything halfway! xD) Speaking of his parents, they have their issues with the concept of marriage (only brings problems!) which is why he has two last names. (He's technically listed only under his mother's family registrar. So legally, it's Koide though more people seem to refer to him as Yuuki.) This causes some scandalous talk amongst the villagers, or so it is implied. Anyway, his goal is to get into a good university so he can leave the place. Oh, and about those feelings Megumi has for him. He's def. noticed. (It's hard NOT to when the other person is a crazy stalker.) Too bad he hates Megumi...possibly more than the village itself. His outfits become progressively more and more ridiculous (in an awesome way) as the show goes on. xD His only real friend is highschool senior, Toru Mutou. Whom he even refers to as Tooru-chan. Aw. fangirl sensors are going berserko
Tooru Mutou (18): The girl boy next door. He's pretty happy-go-lucky. Your typical ray of sunshine. According to Natsuno, liked by everyone because of it. (Except for Megumi who happens to hate the poor guy. Why? She's jealous of him and Natsuno's relationship. No, this is not my fangirl self speaking. She says so herself.) Which might be why he's the only person Natsuno considers a friend. Best buds, hell yeah! Also loves video games. xD And has a crush on somebody. (But I won't say who. Not gonna ruin it. xD) It's pretty cuuuute. And I think I have to stop there for Toru otherwise I'll just fangirl. xD He's too cuuuuuute!
Oh yeah, and then there's everybody else. (I'm excluding our other protagonist. That's a pretty big deal. xD) I'm too lazy to go through them all. Because there is a HUGE cast for Shiki. And they're ALL important in some way, shape, or form. Yes. EVERYONE.
All in all, Shiki is WONDERFUL. Not your typical vampire anime. Probably because it's adapted from the manga AND original novel. Listed under horror, I would be hesitant to label it that alone. (Because it's that good. xD) But it IS pretty damn creepy. (You HAVE to watch it at night.) Some complaints by others are: pacing, character designs, plot holes(?!?!?!?!). Personally, I really liked the pacing. I'm sorry you're not going to get a giant battle in the first episode...or second...or third, etc. That's why there are series like The Big Three. This is more contemplative. Can DEF. tell it was based off a book because of this. But they're all important episodes to set up your events. I would say,for most people, around episode 6, things start kicking off. (Personally, I knew I was hooked by the first episode...but episode 4 was where I really got interested.) The series is only 22 episodes but the dvds will add two more episodes. (To elaborate on certain events that couldn't be shown because of time restraints. So they will go between existing episodes.) As for the character designs. Yes, they are a bit out there. Especially hair styles. BUT, it adds some fun to the series. ^-^ And I really love how you have people of every type in this series. Like the super muscular and kick ass Mr. Ookawa. And his awesome beard. Did I mention he kicks ass? Well he does. Adds some variety. After the first few episodes, you won't mind silly things like hair styles. Although I admit, I thought the artist was a girl because of the style. (Longer/skinnier characters, etc.) Nope, it's a guy. xD (And can I say the animation itself is wonderful? And the composition of scenes. Gah. My heart. Perfectly creepy.) As for plot holes...I didn't think there were any. At least if you're somewhat competent. (Ouch.) Ok, too harsh but...just think about it for a second. "How did so and so ______ after _______. They never explained it! " Just look at that previous scene again while paying attention and you'll understand. Is it that hard to put 2+2 together? I like that this show doesn't spell EVERYTHING out for the viewer while at the same time not being so convoluted/pretentious it's impossible to follow/really silly. Although I WOULD have liked it if the vamps were harder to spot for us, the viewers. (Obviously, the case doesn't apply to the townsfolk.) Reading some of the manga, things are a bit less obvious, but that might just be because everything is black, white, and gray. xD
And ok, I was not dissapointed by the ho yay. Being a vampire series...homoerotic undertones are a must! (As is...pedophilia. 0_o Canon pedophilia. 0_o. Ok, well TECHNICALLY necrophilia. Omg, things are just getting worse. xD) And oh...Tooru and Natsuno do not disappoint. (In the homoerotic, I mean...although it's more like homofluff!) Pff, Natsuno is an example of "ambiguously gay" at TV tropes. xD Anyway such a cute pairing~ Fandom, I command you get bigger and write more fanfics! (The Japanese fandom is SET. Have you SEEN all the art on pixiv?) I'm so tempted to write something. Which is BAD since I suck at writing fics.
All in all I HIGHLY RECOMMEND SHIKI! It's refreshing. There are moments of predictability (but from some comments on discussion pages it depends on your intelligence level/familiarity w. horror.vamp stories/ attention to detail) but then there are some pretty good twists too, at least as far as anime is concerned. And while we're at it. Yaoi wise: Close the Last Door and Ikoku Irokoi Romantan are both hilarious OVAs. (Ikoku is a two part-er.) The art-style took me a bit to get used to in "Close the Last Door" but it's really funny. And Ikoku...I could not stop laughing. I mean...look at all those SPARKLES! And our hero arrives at the nick of time! xD
Oh...and the Panty & Stocking OST. Amazing. I often don't know what to think about that series...(there are moments of awesome and then...moments of...WTF, WHY AM I STILL WATCHING THIS, I'M GETTING DUMBER BY THE SECOND) But the music is just top-notch. Except for the opening theme. xD
Quick update on Kichiku Megane: Mission complete. Got a Glasses!KatsuyaxNormal!Katsuya extra scene. Hell yes. (Only have 9 or 10 EDs out of 31 so I can still get some more. Whoot! xD)
After watching the disappointment that was Togainu no Chi (subject of my last post) I had to watch something else to get rid of that bad aftertaste. (And to distract me from the demon spawn that are my second cousins, ages 5 and 7 both of which I've been babysitting for what will be 2 weeks...)
So I present this:
Trailer:
Summary: Shiki takes place in the small town of Sotoba, which boasts a huge population of...1300 people. Well, ouch. The town itself is fairly isolated, surrounded by a certain type of tree used to make coffins. Surrounded by death indeed! Otherwise, the place is your normal country town. Everybody knows everybody else and what everybody is up to. That is until a strange "epidemic" starts killing off more and more people with many of the family members moving away in the dead of the night. What is the reason behind all of these deaths? Is it indeed an epidemic or is it something completely different?
Some Characters:
Megumi Shimizu (15): Sotoba is def. not a place for bitch diva Megumi Shimizu! Her dream is to one day leave this retched place and fly away to the city. Hopefully with her love interest, Natsuno Yuuki. Oh yeah, and there's only one road on which it is even remotely possible to connect to the main highway. BUT out of those two, getting Yuuki to pay her any attention is definitively the harder of the two.
Natsuno Yuuki/Koide (15): Call him Yuuki.Or Koide. He doesn't really care which. But DON'T call him Natsuno. Only Tooru can semi get away with that. He HATES his first name. I don't remember this ever being fully explained in the anime but in the manga it's because he states it sounds like a girl's name. xD He hates Sotoba probably as as much as Megumi does. He lived his whole life in the city until last year when his romantic and idealistic parents decided it would be a nice change to move out to the country. And when they said "country" they meant the god forsaken middle of nowhere. (They can't do anything halfway! xD) Speaking of his parents, they have their issues with the concept of marriage (only brings problems!) which is why he has two last names. (He's technically listed only under his mother's family registrar. So legally, it's Koide though more people seem to refer to him as Yuuki.) This causes some scandalous talk amongst the villagers, or so it is implied. Anyway, his goal is to get into a good university so he can leave the place. Oh, and about those feelings Megumi has for him. He's def. noticed. (It's hard NOT to when the other person is a crazy stalker.) Too bad he hates Megumi...possibly more than the village itself. His outfits become progressively more and more ridiculous (in an awesome way) as the show goes on. xD His only real friend is highschool senior, Toru Mutou. Whom he even refers to as Tooru-chan. Aw. fangirl sensors are going berserko
Tooru Mutou (18): The girl boy next door. He's pretty happy-go-lucky. Your typical ray of sunshine. According to Natsuno, liked by everyone because of it. (Except for Megumi who happens to hate the poor guy. Why? She's jealous of him and Natsuno's relationship. No, this is not my fangirl self speaking. She says so herself.) Which might be why he's the only person Natsuno considers a friend. Best buds, hell yeah! Also loves video games. xD And has a crush on somebody. (But I won't say who. Not gonna ruin it. xD) It's pretty cuuuute. And I think I have to stop there for Toru otherwise I'll just fangirl. xD He's too cuuuuuute!
Oh yeah, and then there's everybody else. (I'm excluding our other protagonist. That's a pretty big deal. xD) I'm too lazy to go through them all. Because there is a HUGE cast for Shiki. And they're ALL important in some way, shape, or form. Yes. EVERYONE.
All in all, Shiki is WONDERFUL. Not your typical vampire anime. Probably because it's adapted from the manga AND original novel. Listed under horror, I would be hesitant to label it that alone. (Because it's that good. xD) But it IS pretty damn creepy. (You HAVE to watch it at night.) Some complaints by others are: pacing, character designs, plot holes(?!?!?!?!). Personally, I really liked the pacing. I'm sorry you're not going to get a giant battle in the first episode...or second...or third, etc. That's why there are series like The Big Three. This is more contemplative. Can DEF. tell it was based off a book because of this. But they're all important episodes to set up your events. I would say,for most people, around episode 6, things start kicking off. (Personally, I knew I was hooked by the first episode...but episode 4 was where I really got interested.) The series is only 22 episodes but the dvds will add two more episodes. (To elaborate on certain events that couldn't be shown because of time restraints. So they will go between existing episodes.) As for the character designs. Yes, they are a bit out there. Especially hair styles. BUT, it adds some fun to the series. ^-^ And I really love how you have people of every type in this series. Like the super muscular and kick ass Mr. Ookawa. And his awesome beard. Did I mention he kicks ass? Well he does. Adds some variety. After the first few episodes, you won't mind silly things like hair styles. Although I admit, I thought the artist was a girl because of the style. (Longer/skinnier characters, etc.) Nope, it's a guy. xD (And can I say the animation itself is wonderful? And the composition of scenes. Gah. My heart. Perfectly creepy.) As for plot holes...I didn't think there were any. At least if you're somewhat competent. (Ouch.) Ok, too harsh but...just think about it for a second. "How did so and so ______ after _______. They never explained it! " Just look at that previous scene again while paying attention and you'll understand. Is it that hard to put 2+2 together? I like that this show doesn't spell EVERYTHING out for the viewer while at the same time not being so convoluted/pretentious it's impossible to follow/really silly. Although I WOULD have liked it if the vamps were harder to spot for us, the viewers. (Obviously, the case doesn't apply to the townsfolk.) Reading some of the manga, things are a bit less obvious, but that might just be because everything is black, white, and gray. xD
And ok, I was not dissapointed by the ho yay. Being a vampire series...homoerotic undertones are a must! (As is...pedophilia. 0_o Canon pedophilia. 0_o. Ok, well TECHNICALLY necrophilia. Omg, things are just getting worse. xD) And oh...Tooru and Natsuno do not disappoint. (In the homoerotic, I mean...although it's more like homofluff!) Pff, Natsuno is an example of "ambiguously gay" at TV tropes. xD Anyway such a cute pairing~ Fandom, I command you get bigger and write more fanfics! (The Japanese fandom is SET. Have you SEEN all the art on pixiv?) I'm so tempted to write something. Which is BAD since I suck at writing fics.
All in all I HIGHLY RECOMMEND SHIKI! It's refreshing. There are moments of predictability (but from some comments on discussion pages it depends on your intelligence level/familiarity w. horror.vamp stories/ attention to detail) but then there are some pretty good twists too, at least as far as anime is concerned. And while we're at it. Yaoi wise: Close the Last Door and Ikoku Irokoi Romantan are both hilarious OVAs. (Ikoku is a two part-er.) The art-style took me a bit to get used to in "Close the Last Door" but it's really funny. And Ikoku...I could not stop laughing. I mean...look at all those SPARKLES! And our hero arrives at the nick of time! xD
Oh...and the Panty & Stocking OST. Amazing. I often don't know what to think about that series...(there are moments of awesome and then...moments of...WTF, WHY AM I STILL WATCHING THIS, I'M GETTING DUMBER BY THE SECOND) But the music is just top-notch. Except for the opening theme. xD
Quick update on Kichiku Megane: Mission complete. Got a Glasses!KatsuyaxNormal!Katsuya extra scene. Hell yes. (Only have 9 or 10 EDs out of 31 so I can still get some more. Whoot! xD)