YES this is a vampire anime…BUT don’t expect to see magic powers and changing into bats etc.

This is a classic story based on society how when people die one after another the only possibility must be a virus where the whole town dismiss the chance that it could be supernatural.

This anime starts of annoying how hard headed the characters are when individuals never listen to each other’s advice or the truth that they’ve been told even though they are happy to GOSSIP about other stuff… it’s a classic case of “ignorance is bliss” … painfully bliss in this case.

The main character the (doctor) starts off as one of those annoying people…but when he finally comes to terms with the situation of people being turned into vampires…boy is he a COLD HEARTED BSATARD…and when he FINALLY proves it to the other villagers they turn just as blood thirsty LOL…

I personally think this is the ONLY compensation the viewer’s get for putting up with the…erm… ‘lack of supernatural powers’
SOME ADVICE….DONT WASTE YOUR DOWN LOADS ON THE ANIME…JUST GOOGLE A SITE AND STREAM IT…enjoy! (show less)

This is a rather late review of Shiki, however I felt that it must be done. The reason that I am posting such a late review, even though I watched this anime when it first aired in summer of 2010, is because since the story was really slow you have all the episodes to download at once instead of having to wait the longest week ever! However slow the story is, it is also really really great! My one gripe about the story though is that the ending was left really open, so unless there is a second season then the ending leaves you with questions. Another thing that I did not like about this anime was how the characters' eyes looked. It would be ok if only the vampires, or shiki, had eyes like that but it's not ok when all the characters do. Other than that this anime is one of my favorite in the horror/suspense genre. If you're looking for something in this genre to marathon, then I easily recommend this because once you get into you're gonna want to keep watching to see how it develops! (show less)

this anime called Shiki was the best anime i have ever seen it was so amazing from begining to end it had me hooked and i watched it all in one day! it is a dark story of a village that starts dying out of a strange disease atleast thats what the people in the village thinks it is before the dead starts waking up as vampires! and the storyline was so amazing i never could guess what would happen next and it was very sad and tragic at many times and it made me cry at some points too! i recomend this to those who love mystery,vampires,blood and sad stories! it is now my new favorite anime! (show less)

Pros: -Very well structured plot. Grabs you quickly and rarely drones on.
-Dignity to the vampire/undead genre, with some unexpected deeper questions.
-Plenty of gore (if you like that I guess... don't look at me like that...).
-Some very nice characters (the doctor character rocks!).
-Wonderful voice acting, animation, and music throughout.

Cons: -Some of the people and situations are so unrealistic they deserve a slight face-palm.
-Some of the character design is borderline silly/lame (like the guy with the blue hair twists? what the hell...)
-Ends rather abruptly, and doesn't really use some of the "main" characters to their fullest.
-Not scary (1 scene in particular is somewhat disturbing, not so much scary. No jump scares even).

Overall: -Not bad, definitely worth a watch. I was definitely hoping for a more "horror" focused anime, however some of the characters really are wonderful, and you want to keep watching to see how they will react and deal with the unreal situations unfolding around them. (show less)