Shiki: Episode 6

This series just gets better and better! Sure it does seem that the character models just get more ridiculous with each passing episode, but the suspense and buildup is near perfect. While I did have a a problem with the lack of focus on Masao's death, the plot developments really did a great job of keeping me interested!

Is that a man, woman...or both? (Seriously! WHAT THE HELL IS THAT THING?!)

However, before I go into the good parts of this episode, let me talk about the flaws with this episode. I don't know what the hell they were trying to do, but these character models are the most disgusting...THINGS I have ever laid eyes on. Some of the female character models look like guys, while others have very odd hairstyles. The male character models are a little better, but not by much. Toshio, Natsuno and Seishin are the only male leads that look normal, everyone else having odd hair styles and weird facial models that make it really hard to take any of them seriously. I understand that this is Higurashi without the moe, but they didn't have to make the character models ugly.

Another problem was the fact that the show pays little attention to Masao's death. Sure he was a flawed character, but the show could of at least showed some sympathy towards him. Plus, no one seems to notice his symptoms or even tries to help him before his death, making it a very uneventful and pathetic one compared to everyone else's. Hopefully, the next episode will at least show a reaction from someone.

However, all of these problems are canceled out once you take into consideration that main characters have finally realized that they are under attack from vampires. Sure I was a bit surprised that Toshio accepted this in the course of a few seconds, but it at least means that Toshi, Seishin and Natsuno can finally start thinking of ways to counter the vampire attacks.

Another aspect that I liked about the episode was the use of visuals. Sure the character models suck, but the haunting environments really do a great job of creeping me out. The beginning scene which has vampire Megumi finally realizing that Natsuno doesn't like her (She had to die and be resurrected in order to find this out!), looks really creepy. Plus the whole rewinding thing was a pretty unique thing they did right there, even if it did feel a bit unnecessary.

So with the population of the villagers dwindling and the lead characters in constant danger of being turned into a vampire, I hope that the show can maintain the momentum and buildup it has created for the past few episodes. It really holds a lot of promise, even if the character models do tend to annoy me a lot! This episode wasn't as good as last episode, but it does raise my hopes for future episode of this series.
Rating: Great