bmohr - 2016-03-01 07:43:57

It's the living that lie, Shigofumi are always honest whether containing malice, appreciation or forgiveness. Shigofumi is about Fumika, a postal worker representing the souls departed from this world and delivering their last words.

Review Disclaimer -- This review is spoiler free
I watch anime in Japanese with subs and typically don't read or have knowledge of the Manga/VN/source material. Personally I enjoy the story elements of anime the most and tend to be pretty biased towards story driven anime of any genre--Action/Adventure being my favorite followed closely by Sci-fi and Fantasy. Anime just brings these themes to life in creative and imaginative ways live action will never compete with. So, anime with a good story I tend to rate above average even if they're lacking in other respects and anime that neglect story I typically rate below average. Based on that bias you should be able to adjust my ratings up or down to conform with your own criteria.

Shigofumi OverviewAired: 2008
Studio: J.C. Staff
Content bias: Character driven (the world tends to revolve around the main characters)
Themes: Supernatural, Mystery, Drama, Psychological
Overall Rating: 4.5/5 -- stream it before you think of buying
Recommendations: Death Parade, Kara no Kyoukai, Noragami, Haibane Renmei

Story: Plot and Themes
The plot follows around Fumika a postal worker for the deceased delivering their last will to the intended recipient. It's an interesting concept and quickly after the first couple of episodes the show displays just how much room there is to grow. Based on the first couple episodes I assumed the series would just be a bunch of stand alone episodes or 2-3 episode arcs. This was far from the case. About 1/3 of the episodes involved their own stand alone scenarios but the rest were all linked to Fumika's past and present and exploring the idea of what a Shigofumi postman really is.

The downside was apparent when the plot started unveiling itself in the third episode, the 13 episode series is far too short to support a long plot arc and a bunch of stand alone encounters without cutting corners somewhere.

Story: World buildingThe corners that were cut dealt with the world of the Shigofumi postmen. It was clear early on that Fumika is different from the usual Shigofumi postman. The main story arc started early on and the setting quickly shifted from the Shigofumi world to the real world with your standard school setting. This is depressing because half the series was just another school trope setting with a bit of a unique premise and a lot of mystery surrounding the Shigofumi world which is never brought to light.

Animation
All of the characters and backgrounds were cleanly animated. There was no ridiculous production value put into the show but certainly didn't fall short of expectations.

Sound
The sound effects and music were all as good as one would expect. The dialogue was a bit better than most series using similar settings which was great because of the heavy themes and dealing with many characters' most introverted secrets.

CharactersThe characters were easily the strongest aspect of Shigofumi. All of the characters were well developed even the ones from the short/stand alone arcs. The best aspect of the series was seeing character development in every episode, every character grows after reading the Shigofumi. The supporting cast also grows as individuals much more than I was expecting and it was refreshing to see characters portrayed as weak having their strengths come out and characters portrayed as strong showing their vulnerabilities. 

Enjoyment and RecommendationsFor a 13 episode one season show Shigofumi is one of the better ones out there. Every episode was engaging and there was a surprising amount of depth to the story. The series certainly isn't action packed or "over the top" (Death Parade comes to mind), but it hardly needs any hyperbole to deliver one thought provoking scenario after another.

My one regret is not being able to learn more about the Shigofumi postal world. They might have attempted to do too much with only a single season but even though the show was pulled in two different directions it still managed to hold itself together like a long string of bubblegum.

Overall -- stream it before you think of buying
and
Recommendations: Death Parade, Kara no Kyoukai, Noragami, Haibane Renmei

moshe.berge - 2015-12-27 12:54:36

What would happen if someone could send a letter with their final thoughts after they die. This anime explores that concept and follows the mail carrier in charge of delivering these letters. The story is well written and the pacing fits the 12 episodes really well. The story is interesting enough with multiple twists to keep you on the edge. 
The art is well above average and I got no complaints about. The character design in particular is really good and give a unique appearance to all recurring characters. The sounddesing is good enough but nothing out of the ordinary. It fits the theme and story of the show. 
This series aims to expose the dark side of humans and how people came to notice that death may be the answer. It might be dark at some points but that is necessary to explore the psyche of humans. 
Overall Shigofumi is a sublime short drama series that does an amazing job with tying in the supernatural theme of shigofumi with real life stories and issues. 
I enjoyed very much what they managed to do in 12 episodes and I would definitely recommend people to watch it. 

mrogahn - 2013-12-30 16:52:24

Shigofumi, a not so well known anime based on the original light novels is about people who leave their last wishes or letters from the grave to one person in the living world.

Story:

The story revolves around Fumika who's a mail carrier for the letters from the dead. All mail carriers are dead people themselves and therefore cannot grow either, yet Fumika still grows. We get to know different stories of different people atleast to begin with whereas later in the anime it's more directed at the protagonist itself and why the protagonist hasn't stopped growing and her back story. The stories are interesting and sometimes emotional aswell at the very least. The stories lets us know different types of letters these dead people send, either regrets, anger, or just love. The stories can be heart warming and interesting aswell as sometimes sad. Though in the end it's a good ride.

Animation:

The animation is decent, it's not like it's bad in any way. There isn't too much to complain about it graphically, nor to bash either though.

Sound:

The Sound is pretty good, the dialogues aswell. The BGM is decent aswell and especially one OST from it is noticeably good (Shinsekai). It gives the melancholic atmosphere, though it is not a dark story or anything, but perhaps a bitter sweet feeling would perhaps be a better way to put it.

Characters:

The characters are for the most part all around good. I personally saw no annoying or unnecessary characters that lowered the standard of this anime. The protagonist is a more silent person who only does what she is meant to do. Being human is something she is not used to. Her co worker or superior chiaki who looks younger but has been dead probably since the 50s is a more mature character who yet has a childish side aswell. Other characters such as Fumikas dad are also interesting but also those who you want to punch in the face aswell xD but not to spoil anything I'll let you decide that for yourself, though he gets what he deserves atleast ;D

Enjoyment:

It is an enjoyable anime that won't leave you bored for too long. There is always something going on, and I personally wasn't bored at any time, as I wanted to keep going on, trying to understand what would happen to the protagonist aswell as following the different stories of these everyday people and their sad and weird stories.

Overall:

The anime overall is a great anime that some people might not agree with depending on what they prefer, but in general a good 13 ep story that will not leave you bored after you've finished it. And perhaps move you a little at the very least. a 8/10 is a fair score, main reason it gets 8 over 7 is because it managed to make me shed real tears, tears that came because I was emotionally moved rather than having tears because of cheap "sad" moments with no proper backstory or even dialogues...

I would recommend people to give this a go, and have an open mind before trying to judge it objectively.