Shiki

Sotobamura is a small village with around 1300 residents; so small the village isn't even connected to a single highway. An isolated village in which old customs, such as the burial of the dead, are still practiced. One day, the bodies of three people are found dead. Although Ozaki Toshio, the village's lone doctor, feels uncertain, he treats the deaths as a normal occurrence. However, in the days following, the villagers start to die one after the other.

Shiki (2010) is a Japanese animated horror mystery series produced by Daume, Aniplex and Fuji Television Network, adapted from the manga by Tetsuro Amino, and broadcast on Fuji TV. Across a single season of 22 episodes, it follows Ozaki Toshio, the lone village doctor of Sotobamura, a rural community of around 1300 residents cut off from any highway. Toshio, voiced by Toru Okawa, is the rational outsider who at first dismisses a few sudden deaths as ordinary, even as the villagers begin to die one after another. Around him, Tōru Mutō (Nobuhiko Okamoto) and Natsuno Yūki (Koki Uchiyama) are drawn into the community's unraveling, while the newcomer Seishirō Kirishiki (GACKT) hints at a darker truth. The engine is the slow erosion of certainty: who is dying, who is responsible, and whether the old customs of burial hide something monstrous. Episodes build a creeping, suspicious atmosphere of paranoia and grief, with graphic horror and disturbing imagery used sparingly. The tone is eerie and melancholic, with a psychological suspense that recalls Twin Peaks and Higurashi When They Cry. Fans of 'Salem's Lot and quiet rural dread will find resonance here.

Audiences rate the series positively for its atmospheric, slow-building horror and its unsettling take on village superstition.

• Twin Peaksisolated rural community under supernatural threat, slow dread and gradual reveal of hidden horror
• 'Salem's Lotsmall town vampire outbreak, supernatural horror with a human cost and community paranoia
• Higurashi When They Cryvillage horror with ritual customs and creeping communal fear, psychological suspense
• The Leftoversquiet rural horror told through an outsider doctor's eyes, dread built from ordinary routines

Created by

Tetsuro Amino

Release Date

2010-07-09

Episode runtime

25 min

Rating

7.6 / 10 (234)

What is Shiki about?

In an isolated Japanese village where old burial customs still hold, a lone doctor watches the dead begin to return as the villagers die one after another.

What is Shiki like to watch?

Ember's analysis rates the pacing of Shiki as measured, its intensity as strong and its storytelling as easy to follow.

Is Shiki violent?

Yes. Ember rates the violence in Shiki as graphic.

What did critics think of Shiki?

Audiences rate the series positively for its atmospheric, slow-building horror and its unsettling take on village superstition.

Which shows are like Shiki?

Shows with a similar feel include Twin Peaks, 'Salem's Lot, Higurashi When They Cry, and The Leftovers.

How long is Shiki?

Shiki: 1 season, 22 episodes.

Is Shiki still running?

No, Shiki has ended.