Shiki Volume 1

“Everybody has got to die, but I’ve always believed an exception would be made in my case.” – William Nabokov

If you move to a small rural village miles from anywhere, then the chances are that you will find some things which are rather odd. Things could be worse, though; at least not everyone around you is dying.

This horror series, set in the remote village of Sotoba, sees the people being ravaged by what is believed to be some bizarre illness. The first victim is schoolgirl Megumi Shimizu, who only has three passions: to get out of the village, to meet the people who have just moved into the swanky European-style mansion on the village’s outskirts, and to win the affections of Natsuno Yuuki, a boy who moved to the village recently.

As time moves on, more people begin to die of the same condition. Certain forces begin to join together, namely Toshio Ozaki, the owner of the local clinic and Seishin Muroi, Buddhist monk and novelist. The duo, as well as Natsuno, soon form theories as to what is the cause of the illness. Namely that there is no illness and the main sign of this are the two puncture marks, usually close together and on the neck.

Shiki moves along at a pleasant enough pace. The number of characters is a bit overwhelming at first, but this is soon levelled out in the course of the series, due to the fact that so many die. In terms of the scariness however, so far it has been more psychological in terms of its horror. While there has been relatively little to make you jump or scream, there are some disturbing scenes in the later episodes of this collection, mainly involving Natsuno and the way the cause of this destruction begins to affect him.

Apart from a few predictable moments, Shiki has proved worth watching so far. The animation is good quality and the soundtrack is on the whole pretty decent, especially the tracks from the visual kei band BUCK-TICK. Overall, a good watch.