屍鬼

SHIKI

MANGA

STATUS
COMPLETE
VOLUMES
11
RELEASE
June 4, 2011
CHAPTERS
42

DESCRIPTION

The story takes place in a particularly hot summer in the nineties, in a small quiet village called Sotoba. A series of mysterious deaths begin to spread in the village, at the same time when a strange family moves into the long abandoned Kanemasa mansion. Toshio Ozaki, dean of the only hospital in Sotoba, initially suspects an epidemic. But as investigations continue and the deaths begin to pile up, he becomes convinced that they are the work of the undead plaguing the village. A young man named Natsuno Yuuki, who hates living in the village, begins to be pursued and surrounded by death.

(Source: Wikipedia)

CAST

Toshio Ozaki
Sunako Kirishiki
Natsuno Yuuki
Seishin Muroi
Megumi Shimizu
Tooru Mutou
Tatsumi
Ritsuko Kunihiro
Chizuru Kirishiki
Akira Tanaka
Tomio Ookawa
Nao Yasumori
Kaori Tanaka
Motoko Maeda
Kanami Yano
Yoshie Kurahashi
Shizuka Matsuo
Masao Murasako
Kyouko Ozaki
Yasuyo Hashiguchi
Ikumi Itou
Yuuki
Midori Kunihiro
Takatoshi Hirosawa
Seishirou Kirishiki

CHAPTERS

RELATED TO SHIKI

ANIME HorrorShiki

SPECIAL HorrorShiki Specials

REVIEWS

Flarzy
79/100
A great manga because it keeps the stakes personal.
_Shiki is a great manga because it keeps the stakes personal._
A series of deaths occur in a small traditional japanese village, Sotoba, and it all started after a certain family inhabited an abandoned mansion, it turns out they are vampires. It's a bit slow paced at the beginning, because of its focus on world building, but the mistery is ever present, and pays off in the end. The struggle of the village is all the more enjoyable because of its small scale, we get to know everyone and every nook and cranny (with details about the national road, the temples, houses) and we are more invested in the story because of that. Another great aspect it achieves, is the suspense in which it slowly builds upon, the bigger picture is never clear and as the story progresses, every character intertwines and the conflict tightens. It brings up numerous memorable and shocking scenes and leaves no plot points loose.

The diverse personalities of the characters responding to the terror in different ways makes it all interesting. We have two factions, the villagers who try to understand what is happening, trying to survive; and the Shiki, a group of undead who are responsible for the misery of the vilage, and we care about the fight that happens with both, who will survive and be the dominant species. Human nature is a constant theme, the fear of not being the dominant species and the struggle for survival, keeps us questioning who is truly achieving the right thing.

The art conveys the story in an unique and haunting way. I struggled to enjoy it and didn't find me staring at a page admiring the drawings, just finished reading and went to the next page. But it sets the atmosphere and suits the horror theme. The lack of detail is made up for with the shading and facial expressions (you truly feel their fear and discomfort). All the characters have exaggerated traits that keep them unique and memorable.

I was not expecting to be so engaged, and was quite surprised about how it told a classic concept such as vampires, the events are well thought out and are so intriguing, plus you are fully invested in the characters, their fate, and the fate of the village that you keep on reading.
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Hablmet
70/100
A mysterious, interesting romp stomp through a poor rural village leaves nothing spared, not even you
__ADVISORY NOTE:__ This review contains and/or may contain strong language, graphic depictions and spoilers. Reader discretion is advised and if you haven't read it yet, I'd suggest staying on the first two or three paragraphs at most so you don't get spoiled too early. TLDR it's worth reading. After many delays (so many in fact that I managed to finish my thesis, four books _and_ state exams before I even finished reading this) I can finally try and describe the mild rollercoaster of Shiki. I would not dare to call the experience milquetoast; on the contrary, Shiki was almost always an entertaining, thrilling read and managed to stay this way almost until the end, which so far for me is a first. First and foremost, this is my __first published manga review on Anilist__. While I may have reviewed some OVAs before this, I do not have a properly established hierarchy for manga reviews. __Excuse the jank__. Secondly, I'll be going thru a lot of past memories, some of which stretch to _winter of 2022_. If something from my review does not connect with your experiences reading Shiki, then that is most likely the reason. I'm simply just a guy, and even if I have abnormal memory at times, I don't think I can stretch it _this_ far. Boy, where to start? I love vampires. Forgive the expletive, but I fuckin' _love_ vampires. They're a fascinating concept to me, an idea that Bram Stoker popularized in the early modern era and that is only being constantly developed on. Shiki as such was high on my radar, and I'm glad to say it did not disappoint, outside maybe the ending chapters. Right, soooo... __Art, appearance, aesthetics: 8/10__ Shiki is a solid, fine-looking manga to read through. Depictions of violence, graphic content, gore and such are quite forwards and in your face, yet know when to back down unless they're trying to establish a scene, which I believe the manga does quite well outside a couple exceptions where it looks mildly questionable. Distinguishing between characters is a little challenging at times; yet that has a valid excuse, and I cannot exactly find anything wrong otherwise with the art and the way it's drawn. Maybe it'll look a little too 2000s for some; for me, I have seen way worse and I can safely call this _good_. __Story: 7/10__ Starting with very little delay, Shiki establishes the scene, the premise and the eventual gradation of the said story. I think the start may be quite polarizing for some; at first you may think you're reading through a comedy until the folk start disappearing. This is where I think the character descriptors don't matter much outside the main cast. Why should you care what someone looks like in a story where they will appear for half a chapter and then maybe later in an off-hand mention? For a while, you could say the story stays in a sort of linear phase, where the stakes aren't exactly _raised_ (not yet, at least, in any way, shape or form..heh), but they've been established by the first third of the story as already quite high. You might have to prepare yourself for the last couple of chapters that accelerate that set of stakes into __actual railgun ammunition__, and then they suddenly hit a wall. Safe to say that the pacing is good until the final couple of chapters, the story is captivating and I'd say it's worth a read. I'll try..to avoid conveying more spoilers as I feel this is genuinely worth reading and I might have spoiled a bit much as-is. __Characters: 7/10__ Funnily enough, despite the main cast having plenty of time to establish itself on the canvas, I'd say the side characters and all the small stories are the most entertaining bit of characters. Yuuki undergoes interesting developments, and I really dig Toshio's entire character arc. Some of the others like Muroi I'm far less keen on, but I understand why they're there. Anyway, where did I leave off? Right, the side characters. It is not as evident at the start of the manga, but by the halfway point you can pretty safely see the turns the manga takes with your perception of it. A reserved, isolated, but quite happy village with all its colorful residents gets painted a certain shade of black and red. The backdrop, the locations, the chronological development is the film, and the characters are the developing bath the film is dropped into. And unlike some other stories, many of the side characters aren't dropped off, either! I may have said the contrary in a previous section, but you have to understand that not every character in the story ends up like that. Quite a solid cast stays on through the story in one way or another. It paints quite an interesting picture that I am fond of. Though maybe I'd appreciate less of the "we're not so bad" spiel that is plastered in near the end. It doesn't paint a pretty picture, but it does give some of the characters lacking humanity that they desperately needed otherwise. __Enjoyment: 8/10__ I can safely say outside a couple exceptions, I enjoyed reading Shiki a lot. I'm a little worried about what's next in store for me, looking at my backlog, but Shiki will most likely stay in my higher-rated series. __Overall: 7/10 // 70/100__ The things I find lacking in Shiki are few in number and not that great in size, either. I'd say my hunch was correct on sticking with this manga and actually finishing it, as I find it a solid title overall and one you should not be ashamed of having read through, or even given a cursory glance. It starts slightly weird, ramps up and keeps the tension going, and it doesn't even really spare you either, with its twists and turns that aren't common, but are there when they count the most. __Shiki's good.__ __Go read Shiki.__
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