Shiki - Episode 7

Although it may seem like a flight of fancy to some, Natsuno's growing conviction that the spate of deaths surrounding the village is down to the "Risen" coupled with the strange Kanemasa mansion is starting to take hold with others; not just village doctor Ozaki, but also Kaori and Akira, who Natsuno finds staking out said house - it's a good job he does too, as he clearly isn't the only one watching them...


After explaining his thoughts to this pair, he convinces them that there's only one way to know for sure what is going on - to dig up Megumi's grave, a rather unsavoury prospect but one that all three agree to go along with, although as the time to carry this out draws nearer so Kaori's doubts grow ever larger. Meanwhile, Doctor Azaki is conducting his own tests on his theory, keeping a sick patient at his clinic where he can watch her day and night and perhaps even catch the "enemy" red-handed.

That aside, this episode also sees the return of Masao (sadly), who finds himself buried alive in his own coffin, which probably isn't the most pleasant experience to wake up too. It isn't too long however before he's dug up, at which point he learns that he has become a vampire himself. For all of its benefits (not being dead is always a good start), there are of course drawbacks, not least the need to drink human blood, which sees Masao meeting an early test of his staying power in his new, "improved" form.

So, things are certainly picking up the pace now seven episodes in to Shiki, yet it still doesn't really seem to be doing a good job of getting under my skin in any discernible way. Sure, it has content which could be deemed horrific in this episode, be it the thought of having to kill a child for its blood to survive or being buried "alive" in a coffin, but there's no real impact to these scenes that I can discern - they "just happen" and I can't find myself feeling anything much about it. It probably doesn't help that the victim of these terrible moments is the incredibly unlike-able Masao; maybe the impact would have been stronger had we seen a different character go through these new rites of passage? As it is though, Shiki is still failing to grab me and get its teeth into me (with every pun intended) as I was hoping and expecting it would.