Shiki 4

The cat’s out of the bag and it has bloody eyes and fangs

If you haven’t read the manga like me, the vampire conclusion seems a bit strange for Shiki, which could have gone towards many paths like ghosts, spirits, oni, youkai, etc. But who am I kidding? I’m not the writer of this series and demon corpse can easily translate to the legend of vampires. Though, being its reviewer I should congratulate Daume for doing an excellent job in maintaining the grittiness with atmospheric music and camera angles that can really pop your eyes. I researched a bit and went agape in finding that Daume is a seven-year-old company and has only 25 employees! Sometimes Japan amazes me at sheer talent and low cost of labour. But I digress; I watched this last night in complete darkness and oh boy, was it worth the while. If you refer to my first post on Shiki, I advised earphones and 720p and higher. Keep that in mind.

Toshio, the man of reason and test results...

「 Shiki 4 – Fourth Fatality (第死話) 」Toshio is definitely one badass doctor, his pose is akin to Yakuza (Check Drrr!’s own Shiki) but hey, he still needs some time to get his nose out of the blood tests and see the bigger picture. The death toll has increased to nineteen, including his friend Mikiyasu and his kid Susumu, whose wife Nao was the first one to die in their family. Incidentally, Mikiyasu was a mutual friend of Toshio and Seishin, making them loyal Satoba citizens, who have not abandoned their village for greater pastures but stayed after studying locally/abroad. With the mounting rate of unexplained deaths, the good doctor calls out his Clinic staff à la roundtable conference to discuss the epidemic. It’s foolish to think that the government would help; therefore, it was up to them to catch it early on and keep on researching all the causes that starts from anemia and ends up with multiple organ failure and various other related causes.

You are the next sacrifice, puppet

Seishin being a Monk is responsible to assist in the burial of dead and he’s not simply depressed because his job’s stressing him out but the early death of his childhood friend. While finding solace in his secret base (an abandoned church built by Kanemasa before the war), he has another disturbing encounter with Sunako Kirishiki, who was seemingly lost in the woods. As usual she didn’t act her age and recognized the martyr theme of the church with burning men and sacrificial rituals. To her, death is not another journey but something terrible and impartial. I was amazed at her unloading load of bullshit about death but it could also be interpreted in emphasizing her helplessness of being trapped in a child’s body and unable to go out in the sun due to her “special condition”. Everything ends; everything is lost in the embrace of death. The extra syrupy childish voice with an undertone of malice literally did a number on my ears.

Kawaaaiii otōto-chan~

I would always say Generation Y is cleverer than X and I’m not just saying this because I feel smarter but the facilities provided and the advancements lead us to think differently and openly than our parents/ grandparents. So, I have to applaud Akira being totally blunt in his suspicion over the Kirishikis, tracing all the unexplained deaths since their arrival. Someone needs to give this kid a medal in figuring this out faster than Toshio. Even if Kaoru doesn’t want to hear about it, Akira points his finger at the highly suspicious Kirishikis, whom all the dead had met previously. Ritsu and Masaki also have a somewhat similar discussion of sudden move outs by the families of people who have died as if scared away by something. The movers are the same Takasago Moving Company, who Kirishikis used for moving into their mansion (Hoo! I smell fish).

Peekabooooooooo!

Natsuno on the other hand has become a walking zombie with lack of sleep and continuous back-glances due to a presence he couldn’t point out until he finally saw Megumi materialize from a silhouette in front of him. Was it all a dream? Yes and No (read on). I think the best sequence of episode was the build-up scene to when Natsuno felt her coming up the stairs, while the entire screen came alive with all its grittiness. So, again, was it all a dream when Megumi slithered out from under Tohru’s bed?! Not the sweet and kind Tohru, who has a crush on Ritsu and the only true friend to Natsuno! But alas, my screams and OH NOOOOOES didn’t stop Megumi from sauntering up to his bed for a little bite of lifeblood. The ending was definitely a cliffhanger, I mean c’mon! All decked out in some skimpy outfit, on a nocturnal stroll with Tatsumi, who clearly is another vampire. Megumi has blossomed into a vampire as one scary lady. She was already at a stalker level when she was alive like Harima Mika, but I can bet her level of obsession has increased with the new acquired powers that may include hypnosis and/or mind control through which she’s appearing in Natsuno’s dreams. Coming after Tohru proves how much she’s jealous of his friendship with Natsuno and I have a feeling that this is just the beginning of a series of unfortunate events.

OHHH NOOOOOOOOO!!! TASKETE!

I’m really enjoying this series from the excellent animation to the heat haze that I await each episode and watch it rapt with attention. What I would love to think is the last sequence to be a mere dream (as Tohru’s one of the nicest characters), but I don’t think it’s going to be that easy because those fangs meant business. Interestingly the victims who have already died had fang marks on their inner arm so it was surprising to see Megumi going for Tohru’s jugular. Maybe in next episode, we would finally find how these vampires feed. Another interesting point as Flags mentioned in the last post: almost every person in the OP transforms into a skeleton except for Toshio, Akira and Kaori, which can actually signify that these would be the ones remaining alive by the end. Also I’m curious to know what that greenish light meant in Toshio’s eyes. There are many clues hidden in the OP and some characters (the blue haired floating female) have still not been introduced.

There’s definitely more than mystery shrouding the Kirishikis, like are they really part of the old Kanemasa townsfolk keep on talking about or was it just a coincidence and they moved to Satoba after reading Seishin’s article in a magazine? Things are shaping up and the pacing is steady. I can only hope Natsuno would find a way to save Tohru but as predicted previously maybe his death would be the catalyst for him to man up to the whole situation. It’s hard to deny the fact that he possesses a heightened sense to feel unnatural things, especially in case of Megumi who he senses every time even if he can’t really see her. I see him teaming up with Akira and Kaori to find a way to get to the bottom of stopping the Kirishikis preying on Satoba. Time will only tell, so till next time, Ja ne~

/ 7 Commentsleave a comment /

• Vivi says:

  August 3, 2010

  I haven't read the manga but I figured it must be the work of vampires when doc concluded it was anemia haha. I was secretly hoping one of the doctors would suggest vampires while all the nurses were being all logical lol

  Tohru's attack made me OH NOOOOOES too!! Silly skimpy vampire, you can't separate bros–! ):<

  Reply
• Joojoobees says:

  August 3, 2010

  These vampires seem to hunt specific victims. I bet Muroi is already marked by Sunako, and she enjoys savoring her meals. That is one of the cruel things about what Megumi did, I wouldn't be surprised if she just leaves him after that, and that nobody believes him. By not killing him right away, she just prolongs his torment.

  Reply
• Fabrice Requin says:

  August 3, 2010

  Finally some action in the end.

  this leads me into wanting to know whats going to happen.. NAO!

  I hope he wont get bitten =/

  Reply
• Mikoto says:

  August 3, 2010

  Megumi reminded me of an onryou from all of those Japanese horror movies I watched when she appeared under the bed. Of course, the fangs and the lust for blood pretty much screams"vampire".

  Agreed, Toshi seems like he's going to be a badass, but he didn't really anything significantly cool in this episode under than gathering all the doctors to get to the bottom of this "disease". I wonder when he finds out the village is actually plagued by vampires.

  Reply
• Namika says:

  August 7, 2010

  this anime turns out to really good. though I was pretty much suspicious or even worried, that we'll just get a new interpretation of Higurashi, I'm relieved now. there ARE a lot of similarities, but this show is still a tad unique. at least, I haven't seen or heard about anything alike. so, I'm greatly exited about this show, just hope that they keep it up. for such a small company, this is just amazing! my greatest respects to those 25 employees.

  Reply
• Haruka says:

  June 3, 2011

  Обожаю это аниме ^_^

  Reply
• Yuki-chan says:

  June 3, 2011

  This is my favorite anime ^0^

  Reply