qmueller - 2014-03-21 19:59:21

Shiki Specials is best appreciated if you're familiar with the TV series. The story mainly follows minor characters from the TV series in their endeavors during the nearing climax of the town's final clash against the vampires.

For the most part, you get two sides, one made up of humans, the other made up of vampires, that engage war on one another. It gets violent and bloody, and there's a lot of screaming and plenty of death. You get a variance in the means and locations for which people are killing one another. Wondering how, when, or if, someone will be taken down, whether vampire or human, is what keeps the suspense going.

The way the characters in this anime were colored in shades of grey helped bring complexity to the story, just the the TV series. While some of the human characters have completely thrown away their morals, there are others who are reluctant to kill a vampire that was once human. In parallel, while some of the vampire characters are completely stripped of who they once were, others still retain their human emotions. Not every vampire is wicked and not every human is justifiable; there is both good and evil on each side. Sometimes you might even find yourself sympathizing with the vampires more than the humans, seeing as how tragic their situation is. The tragedy is made especially heartbreaking after seeing flashbacks of a vampire's human days.

The production values of this anime are kept at the same quality as the TV anime. The chilling musical pieces will creep you out, and the gloomy atmosphere depicted by the background art will give you the same ominous feelings. There aren't any themes that weren't already explored in the TV series, but that's forgivable considering how well-executed they are.

Shiki Specials is just like most anime side stories: something extra. If you can't get enough of the TV series, you'll probably find this to be a nice bonus.

yoshiko04 - 2013-05-30 13:10:06

FIRST: You have to watch Shiki to understand these specials!!

Shiki is more than just a horror/thriller anime. This series really transcends the genre and is actually more a drama.

The story is about the decline of a little town and maybe even the downfall of mankind. 

This series gives us some interesting perspectice on things like

1. The power of the mass
2. The hypocritical reasoning of mankind
3. When is killing ok?
4. What is good and what is evil?
5. What happens when mankind isn't on top of the food chain anymore?

One of the major themes of the series is when killing a living organism is accepted? 

In this case the shiki needs human blood for surviving. The killing  of a human is necessary for the shiki. 

In the series the mass/doctor think of this as evil. But isn't this a little hypocritical? We, humans, also kill living organisms like animals for their flesh. But this flesh isn't necessary for a human to survive though...

Why is the one labeled evil and the other one accepted?

The figure of muroi seishin is struggeling with this question. And when he see the doctor who killed and experimented on his wife, he made a choice to choose the side of the shiki. Moroi Seishin is dissapointed in mankind. He objectively tries to judge the situation. Who is the good part here? and who is the evil part?

Sheishin is the objective point of view in the series. When all of you think objectively about this situation (and maybe replace humans by other animals of which the shiki need blood of) , we would all take the side of the shiki. They need the blood to survive.

But now, because we're talking about humans, the majority take side of the humans. We can infer this from the fact that a lot of the viewers couldn't understand/ hate Muroi Sheishin. I think that this figure is necessary in the show to confront the viewer with his ideas and think about this actual hypocritical reasoing.

I don't want to blame anyone for taking side of the humans (I did it as well) but it's confrontating in my opinion. It's also mainly because of the fact that we can't imagine to be part of the food chain...

The second theme is the power of the mass. 

When the mass discovers that the shiki were the cause of the deaths, they begin a genocide against the shiki. While some people didn't want to kill (like the bar-owner in the specials) they are eventually forced to kill because they are afraid of what the mass would do. 

This power reminded me of Nazi-Germany were the Germans who were at first against the ideas of the regime, they eventually just "blended with the mass." This idea makes me think of the fact that for an individual it's very hard/ maybe even impossible to resist against the mass.

In the series the humans who begins a genocide against the shiki are in the beginning a little bit scared to really kill a living organism (shiki in this case). However when they realized they couldn't get punished for this, they all "made the click" and began to massacre these like human-looking creatures. This is also happening on the side of the shiki. At first they dont want to kill but it becomes a habite...

This is expressed by the quote of Tohru "Once you realize that you won't be punished for killing people, you get used to the guilt pretty soon."

Also Louis CK made an expression like this in his newest show : "The law against murder, is the number-one thing préventing murder." 

This really made me think, and it's really difficult to get an answer on this one. Would humans really act like that if they dont get punished?

Maybe, I dont know...

For a conclusion I can say this:

I think Shiki is really good show wich makes you really think about things. 

While the story was just mediocre (the underlying themes are more important), and their were some unnecessary charachters, I really liked the animation and the soundtrack was top class. 

In my opinion the shiki specials are the best two episodes of the show. They really show all the underlying themes and give some cool charachter development.

I really enjoyed this show and it really makes me think...

I can say this is a must-see show for everyone. It makes you think about some interesting morale and psychological debates. Dont be put off by the genre!