It’s not a big surprise that the intensity level was turned down a few notches this week – episode 14 was about as intense as any episode of any anime I’ve ever seen. But that doesn’t mean it was much less powerful. This was very much a “calm before the […] Read more
Something wicked this way comes… Wow. I haven’t been that floored by an episode of an anime is a long, long time. Shiki has been on pretty much an upward curve from the very beginning so it was already damn good, but with #14 it seems to have reached a […] Read more
It’s been way too few and far between with Shiki lately – due to a hiatus and a holiday this is only the second episode in five weeks. And this is a lousy series to deal with that, too – there’s no show currently airing that has such expert pacing […] Read more
Our long international nightmare is over – Shiki is back after a nut-busting cliffhanger and interminable three-week hiatus. And not much has changed except the OP and ED – the narrative hasn’t skipped a beat. If anything, this episode had a more somber, fatalistic tone than any before. Watching Natsuno’s […] Read more
The battle has been joined on another front. In addition to the kiddie brigade and the Ozaki/Seishin alliance, crazy old shaman lady Ikumi has figured out the truth and taken it on herself to save the village. Alas, her warnings go largely unheeded as she’s apparently developed a reputation as […] Read more
Shiki continues its magnificent run with yet another flawless masterpiece of an episode. The pacing was so good and the suspense so artful, it really did seem to last about 5 minutes. The focus this week shifted back to Natsuno, with brief appearances by Akira and his sister. There were […] Read more
Of course you realize, this means war… In a rather evil maneuver, the producers abandon last week’s cliffhanger for now and the focus of the story shifts away from the children to the second front in the developing vampire war – Toshio and Seishin. And lo and behold, the formerly […] Read more
Well, I’m completely sold at this point. Shiki has been on an upward trajectory and 8 was clearly the strongest episode of the series thus far. One element that was much more in play this week was suspense. There have been suspenseful interludes in the first 7 episodes, but 8 […] Read more
Wow. Shiki has really rounded into form with the last couple of episodes, stepping up and starting to earn the mantle of a Noitamina series. The episode gave us about as much exposition as the first six combined, though not much came as a surprise because the creators have never […] Read more
This series continues to be a fun, campy exercise. While the obvious vampire hypothesis appears to be proving out, there are a few nice secondary mystery elements creeping in. Of course, lots more people died this week – young people, old people. Dr. Leg-twitch is revealed to have a complex […] Read more