Frustrating. That's the word that describes this show the best. Partially, it's my fault for having high expectations due to remembering this show being a huge thing when I was younger. But most of it is screenwriting.
Enjoyable things about it were:
1. Pacing.
At the beginning. For fellow enjoyers of classical Japanese horror, that's more covert and quiet, the first 5 or so episodes would feel nice. The slow pacing feels like a good buildup, its slight eeriness excites the viewer for what is to come.
2. Music.
The soundtrack in this anime was definitely doing a lot of work, maintaining some sort of atmosphere even in
...
parts where screenwriting no longer could.
3. Protagonists.
2/3 of them, although to me, it seemed only 2 actually were that functionally. It's hard to say that Dr. Ozaki and Natsuno are great characters. They did have some depth. They are fine. But since everyone else in the show are either nothingburgers or insufferable, these two FELT great, in comparison. Too bad they got less screen time than you would expect from a protagonist, usually it would give supporting cast the time to breathe and shine, but...
4. Uchiyama Kouki.
I actually did not know (or, more likely, did at some point, but forgot) he was the voice of Natsuno before starting the show, it was a pleasant surprise.
Things that make the experience aggravating:
1. Pacing.
Stories with nothing happening can be enjoyable. Even stories that tease its viewer/reader with the possibility of something happening to then just keep going, business as usual - can be. But here, you know something has to get moving, at some point. But it doesn't. The story jumps between different viewpoints and timelines only to show most characters sitting around doing nothing at all, and instead of a slow buildup, it ends up meandering and wasting the viewer's time; it's "quiet and eerie" anymore, just boring and frustrating.
2. Short-term memory loss.
Either that or the screenwriters did not talk to each other, ever. Various details that are made out as important with either narrative or visual language only to lead nowhere; stuff coming out of nowhere; nonsensical contradictions in what characters say; characters knowing things they shouldn't and not knowing what they should. All of these may be small, but in sum, amount to a lot of - say it with me - frustration.
3. Characters.
Again, all of them except for 2 are empty or insufferable. Maybe it was done on purpose (later), but it's still... a choice, to barely give viewers any likeable people they'd enjoy seeing on screen. They're also fantastically dumb. It's a common problem in horror, sure, and excusable to some extent. Not to this extent, though. People in this are so slow, it just takes you out of the story.
-SPOILERS STARTING HERE-
4. Message.
It's fairly obvious, what the author wanted to do. "It's both sides" thing. Humans can be monsters, too, you see. That is probably why most characters are so annoying and generally easy to hate, though ironically, the most annoying character is clearly an author favourite, if not a self-insert (yes, the third protagonist). This is shoved in viewers' faces with no subtlety in the ending, but is made clear even before that, that we're supposed to question the rights and wrongs and preferably end up in the "centrist" position.
If viewers are supposed to find human side's reaction unreasonable, maybe deck shouldn't be so stacked with actual reasons, though? Shikis are, indeed, murdering a whole LOT of people; the reason they're doing so isn't actually explained. One of the main characters, Natsuno, starts making great points about this at one point, but receives no coherent answer, only vague monologues in pretty words saying "That's our fate". Why? They have sentience. They can at least TRY to do something about this. It's like writer(s) stumbled upon the questions themselves, wrote them in, but couldn't come up with answers, themselves, so they just. Didn't. So, while it's hard to support the humans (again, they're so annoying it's easy to wish them dead), there's also not many reasons to be sympathetic towards the vampires.
Except maybe one.
It's hard to ignore the parallels that are drawn - mostly through Seishin's... ahem, arc... - between these "poor" monsters and real-life othering and prosecution. And that is the most upsetting part. The plot bares clear similarities to various "replacement" conspiracies, that's the fear it plays on: the dangerous human-like outsider, coming into this small remote village and destroying it, taking it for themselves.
But it doesn't work. Because this story actually gives humans the reason to fear and hate The Other. People are dropping dead, and while some of them wake up undead, some - most, it seems - don't. Shikis are gambling on people's lives with (except for literally one, single character) no remorse or hesitance in sight. Scenes like Megumi begging for her dear life ring entirely hollow when you remember she never gave her victims an opportunity to beg. Knowing they may come back, sure, but could just as (again, if not more) likely be gone forever. Why should we feel sorry for her? Did she feel sorry for Tooru? For anyone, ever, in her entire selfish existence?
In the real world, marginalized people aren't monsters. Well, some of them are, but that's because, if there's anything to agree with here, it's that - yes, anyone can be, minorities and majority alike.
This is an analogy, a metaphor, it doesn't have to be one to one? Sure. But when you make all your Others actual murderous monsters, the analogy is broken, you are legitimizing the xenophobia inside your world, making the fact you are even making the comparison at all one more reason to be upset about this whole story.
Weirdly enough, Vampire Knight, which I don't remember being as popular, and with all its faults, did this better (though still imperfect). Both showing danger potentially held by its vampires and cruelty of people, as well as presenting possibilities for co-existence. And that's one that just came to mind while writing the review, I'm sure there's many, many better examples. Maybe they weren't as on the nose, didn't scream "I'm 14 and this is deep" loud enough.
Overall, horrible experience, not recommended, unless for a drinking game where players take a shot every time someone shouts "PLEASE DO SOMETHING" at the screen.
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Feb 25, 2025
Frustrating. That's the word that describes this show the best. Partially, it's my fault for having high expectations due to remembering this show being a huge thing when I was younger. But most of it is screenwriting.
Enjoyable things about it were: 1. Pacing. At the beginning. For fellow enjoyers of classical Japanese horror, that's more covert and quiet, the first 5 or so episodes would feel nice. The slow pacing feels like a good buildup, its slight eeriness excites the viewer for what is to come. 2. Music. The soundtrack in this anime was definitely doing a lot of work, maintaining some sort of atmosphere even in ... 
Feb 1, 2025
The story begins with concepts that are genuinely thought-provoking: a deeply philosophical question and a villain that, at first, seems interesting and well-done.
Then the question is forgotten, the villain turns into a super-powered devil, and suspense and psychological horror vacant their seats in favour of not very exciting politics and… action? Since the villain is arguably the main attraction of this series, that was the most upsetting part. Maybe it won't be, if you don't buy into the cool thing that seem to be going for at the beginning, and just expect a supernatural thing right from the start. Still, it seems unfitting, considering other ... 
Jan 4, 2023
The show has interesting premise and visuals (the other world and its creatures), as well as nice voice acting performed by great seiyuus.
The story is, however, all over the place. And not in a way that would make it entertaining, it's just not thought out well, to the point it feels like a writer's first draft. Some scenes go on forever despite barely adding anything to the plot, while others are skipped through so fast the viewer is left behind. The narrative shows lack of understanding of how money operates on the author's part, as well as lack of message. Which is fine, not all stories ... |
