DESCRIPTION

CAST

MANGA FantasyShadows House
ANIME FantasyShadows House 2nd Season

REVIEWS

• 

  Magenta

  43/100
  A disappointing mystery series that lives in the shadow of the promise it set up for itself.

  This review is spoiler-free.

  The appeal of mystery series to many revolves around the formula of a worthwhile buildup where questions are posited, followed by a satisfying conclusion where most questions are answered. It is a tried and tested formula that has been replicated successfully many times to create some true classics. Even in the Spring 2021 season, Odd Taxi became an instant hit mostly due to how refined its take on the mystery formula was. However, the main drawback to the mystery formula is due to how difficult it is to implement into a story. Both the buildups and the payoffs need to work in complete tandem with each other in order to make each feel justified in their existence. If the buildup to the payoff isn’t intriguing, then the payoff can’t reach the heights that it may want to. Conversely, if the payoff to the buildup falls flat, then the entire show may have not felt as if it was worth it by the end. The latter form of screwing up hurts way more due to how disappointing a series with that quality inherently is. I really don’t want to see this happen with nearly any mystery series, or really any series of any genre, that I have ever seen. That is why it pains me to say that Shadows House very well falls into that category. With an intriguing buildup that hooked me at Episode 1, it eventually tumbled into the realm of disappointment.

  

  To understand why I was so let down by the series by a certain point, it is important to know what pulled me into the series in the first place. The first few episodes managed to captivate me so greatly in its ability to stir up curiosity of how the world actually works. Since it starts at a point in media res, the viewer early on has a good idea of what is happening in the microscale of the individual episode, but not exactly the macroscale of the whole series. With holes in the architecture of the story being placed at such meticulous spots, it boosted my engagement nearly immediately. The phrase “don’t fret over trivial matters” alone got me questioning every mysterious aspect even more. The early episodes were made in a way that instantly hooked from the start. I did start to notice some cracks in certain places, but my level of intrigue was high enough at the early stages for me to be able to easily ignore them. However, before I knew it, the cracks eventually became as wide as a ravine.

  The buildup that Shadows House sets up for its grander narrative is absolutely stellar. Maybe it is a bit too stellar for its own good. A mystery story can’t just rely on a thick fog of questions to carry its story. The answers to those questions need to be just as good as what those questions bring up. This is the point where Shadows House starts to falter massively. Shadows House continually promises that its holes will be filled in in a satisfying manner, but it became obvious as time progressed that it had an inability to get even remotely close to filling them properly. When reveals do eventually start to get dropped in the second half, they are presented at the wrong place at the wrong time. The reveals themselves are generally sloppy in their execution as well, since even if they were foreshadowed, the light in which they are presented leads them to feel like asspulls. It is a flaw that becomes apparent when the series’s hand is forced to provide at least something to chew on. What makes this problem completely baffling to me in the grand scheme of the show is that it is in complete awareness that this problem exists. However, instead of trying to actually solve it, the series instead tries to hide it underneath the carpet by attempting to leverage its biggest strength, intrigue. In doing so however, Shadows House unintentionally creates its biggest flaw.

  

  As much as I praised the allure that the series has, the reason for that was due to it having meaning in the context of the story. Providing a sense of interest will only work if the context that it is placed in calls for it. For a while, Shadows House understood this. It is why the early episodes were so appealing to me. That is the case up until the Debut arc. It is at this point when Shadows House hides its inability to effectively provide answers for its own mysteries by hiding them behind the intrigue it has thrived off of thus far. This action by the series forgets the fact that the reason that the intrigue worked so well in the first place is due to its meticulous placement. By placing it everywhere, it misses the whole point of even having it in the first place. The Debut arc features way too many self-imposed roadblocks that the characters solve immediately to even really count. After the first episode of the arc, nearly every single conflict that arises feels just like mindless obstacles that the characters have to get over. It feels more like busy work than anything. The intrigue that was supposed to be imbued into this arc just made it all of the more exhausting and tedious, because it isn’t intriguing to have a question or a roadblock be presented only for the characters to get over it in such a short time. The series trying to hide the fact that it couldn’t answer its own questions satisfyingly caused the effect that nearly every moment became way more dragged out than it really should’ve been. The important information of the Debut arc could have been conveyed in only 1-2 episodes compared to the 5 episode slog that we got. About halfway through this arc, nearly all of my engagement was lost, due to how bored it left me feeling. There was a certain point where my only enjoyment of the series was just waiting for the incredible ED to finally come on.

  

  Eventually after the Debut arc, the pacing turns around from way too slow, to something that seems a bit more reasonable. However, this shortly perceived reasonability quickly turns to a breakneck pace that exhibits the big problem of being unable to answer mysteries on full display for the world to see. This is because of a trait that is frighteningly common in CloverWorks anime in 2021, rushed/anime original endings. This is far from the most egregious case of this happening, since it didn’t create any new flaws that weren’t already there. But even still it heightens one of the series’s greatest problems to a far higher degree. While the signs of this problem were still there before Episode 10, they were ignorable enough so that there was still ample opportunity to enjoy what was already there. However after Episode 10, it sticks out like a sore thumb. All of a sudden there are way more odd conveniences with what feel like weird breaks in consistency in the moments where it really counts. A mystery story vitally needs a type of tight writing that can permeate throughout every minute, but Shadows House feels like it does the complete opposite of that at times. It is like it is learning how to fly a plane when it is already 20,000 feet in the air. The CloverWorks original content this time around more so just accelerated the severity of the series’s problems by just removing the veil that the show had previously put on it.

  Considering the absolute nightmare happening at CloverWorks in this current year, I find it to be a miracle that the general production of the Shadows House manages to actually be somewhat decent. The visuals of the series provide enough of a sense of atmosphere straight out of the Victorian era to enhance the better moments with a slight tinge of moodiness, but not nearly enough weight to bring up a lot of the worst moments. This applies to the score as well. The music provides a greater sense of this exact same atmosphere, but it isn’t nearly enough to save the crumbling plot around it.

  

  There are series that stay a consistent level of mediocrity throughout that I could probably call worse than Shadows House. There were some very good episodes in the series that set up a truly great series. However, what sticks out in my mind about Shadows House is that that truly great series doesn’t exist, and probably won’t ever exist. Shadows House is a prime example on what steps to take to not make a mystery series that can intrigue to the end. With the nature of the mystery series, I can’t ignore the later episodes and just enjoy the earlier ones because of how the two of them are supposed to work in tandem. It is a symbiotic relationship that unfortunately didn’t exist with this show. Shadows House led me on with a promise. A promise of something truly glorious on the horizon. But when the rays shined the brightest, all of the lights turned off, and I was left in complete darkness.

  ---

  Thank you for reading to the end of the review if you did. I really appreciate the willingness some of you have to get to the end of a review that probably disputes your own opinion. If you have any criticisms with how this review was made, you are free to message me to critique what I had to say.

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• 

  LordReno

  95/100
  This year's hidden gem, and a true masterpiece!

  __Every Season there are various anime that instantly become popular, but then there are also anime like "Shadow's House" which are unfortunately not so popular, despite being AMAZING gems!__

  Before starting this review, I would like to point out that my review might contain minor spoilers of the first episode of shadow's house.

  In my option Shadow's House is a major masterpiece, it finds the perfect balance between mystery, horror and light hearted scenes. Each scene for me was memorable, and from the start of the anime, there were always hints of a much darker plot being slowly approached with every passing episode. I am happy to say it did not disappoint, furthermore, with the absolutely stunning visuals, amazing animation and some of my favorite music scores this Season, there wasn't a single moment where I felt bored watching this anime, especially as the story progressed.

  Below I will delve into the main categories of this show, without spoiling anything major;

  

  Story 10/10:

  The Story revolves over a large number of unique characters, with each character having their own Shadow Master to serve, some characters are similar to the Shadows, some are quite different. I will not get into detail, but this made an absolutely amazing narrative. Furthermore, I have never ever seen an anime that is remotely similar to this anime, and as such I must praise the author of this story for coming up with something very unique and very interesting!

  

  Art 10/10:

  As previously mentioned, the art was absolutely outstanding! When I look at art, I mainly look into 2 categories, the Aesthetics (i.e. how the characters, and world look like.) as well as animation. And this show delivers both perfectly! All scenes are made in high detail, and every single time I would happen to pause the anime for some reason or another I couldn't help but be shocked by the pure level of background detail. Furthermore, all animations that I have noticed within the anime are all very smoothly animated, and there was never any scene that felt out of place.

  Sound 9/10:

  There are a good number of really well made OSTs in the show, I have left a link to the anime's outro above, just so you can get an idea of how great the music is. (Along with the artwork.)

  Character 9/10:

  The Story took a lot of time introducing each character properly, topping this off with amazing narrative, the anime was able to change how I felt about characters (From hating to loving, and vice versa) with pure ease. Furthermore, each character feels unique and special. To a point where I genuinely have fun seeing the characters interacting with each other.

  Enjoyment 9/10:

  I overall enjoyed watching this anime, and I would gladly re-watch a second, perhaps a third time. The only thing going on through my mind after watching this, is "When are we getting another season?"

  Overall 9.5/10:

  The author of this anime's story made a magnificent job writing a completely unique, yet wonderful story. Furthermore, the Studio responsible for this masterpiece did a wonderful job visualizing the author's creation.
  ‎

  ---

  [If you enjoyed this review, please feel free to read my other reviews](https://anilist.co/user/LordReno/reviews)

  ---

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• 

  MrChiki

  90/100
  A dark show that deserves to be thrust out of the shadows, and into the limelight. (spoiler free)

  __OVERVIEW__

  From the same studio that adapted A Promised Neverland, CloverWorks brings us another gem that deserves to be more than just a shadow of the aforementioned A Promised Neverland. But enough of these crappy shadow puns, let's get into the review!
  Shadow's House is adapted from the manga of the same name, and is a phenomenal combination of moe and dark fantasy. While I am a massive fan of this so called "gap moe", I think that this show will have enough of a dark setting and mystery to bring in people that are not big fans of moe. Since these themes are also prevalent in A Promised Neverland, I think that this show will be unjustly compared to it in many ways. However, that's where the similarities begin and end. While A Promised Neverland (the anime at least) is slow and painful, Shadows House gives us just enough information to keep us engaged in the mystery of the House, while also giving us some tension to rival even the best sports anime. So go into the show with an open mind, knowing that this is probably one of the most unique premises ever in the medium of anime.

  __STORY__

  Shadows house is set in a dark and mysterious mansion that this seemingly set apart from the rest of the world. In this house, are shadows that are constantly emitting soot that dirties their rooms. To manage this soot, they each have a living doll that acts as their room cleaner, servant, and (in a backwards way) shadow. The story follows the particularly interesting shadow and living doll pair of Kate and Emilico as they try to navigate the mysteries of the Shadows House and also climb the social ladder that exists within the house. Not being the manga reader, the anime covers three arcs (up to chapter 47 of the manga) of the manga and then has a filler fourth arc that was created since they did not have enough episodes left to start and finish the next arc. From my limited knowledge, the filler arc changes nothing in the manga except introducing a detail which is a little bit of a spoiler for future arcs. However, in the context of the anime, this spoiler gives the arc just enough to get us over the hump of the arc being an enjoyable waste of time. To me, the story is unique and quite engaging especially for an anime. I rarely see stories in anime crafted around a place that is not a high school with characters that are not pulled straight from a generic isekai. I will not go into any spoilers for the show, but the arcs are engaging and fulfill their purpose in introducing us to the characters and then pushing the plot forward.

  __CHARACTERS__

  While the characters certainly are not the next Eren Yeager (pre-end of AOT) of character development, There is a lot of worthwhile characters that noticeably grow as the show unfolds. This is especially so with the main two characters of Kate and Emilico.

  

  While two are almost polar opposites, as the show develops, we can see their relationship grow in ways completely different from many in the Shadows House, which makes watching the two of them a truly enjoyable experience. The two of them also affect their fellow shadows and living dolls, changing them in ways that they themselves did not expect. To this end, each pair has a place in the story making the cast seem refreshing and diverse.
  (Just to mention, while I really liked characters like Shaun, Kate, Lou, and Louis, my heart cannot be swayed into saying that any other character but Emilico is my favorite. I mean, who can say no to this loveable idiot?)

  __ART & MUSIC__

  I have very little to say about the art and the music besides saying that I REALLY LIKED THEM. This is especially with the music, which gives us a creepy and apprehensive feeling whenever the main theme is softy playing in the background. ReoNa absolutely killed it with the ending "Nai Nai", giving us a feeling almost of hopelessness as we see each pair of shadows and their living doll trapped in their rooms. The opening "a hollow shadow" by Kenichirou Suehiro was also a great way (for me at least) to get hyped for every episode (in a traditional non-shounen way). Finally, getting back to the art, the art style seemed to be faithful to the manga, while also being smoothly animated when the intense scenes played. The color contrasts were also done well to highlight the differences between each of the shadows, and their living dolls.

  __CONCLUSION__

  I am sure that as you read (or skipped to the end, I don't care), you saw my bias towards this show, so let me drop a huge spoiler right here and now: I really liked this show. Even with the filler arc, which is probably the one thing subtracting from it, it was still an extremely solid show with an engaging story, good characters, amazing music, and (probably most importantly) a unique premise. So open the blinds and step out of the shadows and watch Shadows House, because it is a gem that deserves more attention.

  Oh no, I made another lame pun.

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