From the studio that brought you Black Butler and Fullmetal Alchemist emerges the psychological thriller that will send you to bed with a cross in hand.

When citizens of a secluded village begin dying off in alarming numbers, the sole hospital's head doctor tries desperately to save his patients - but his efforts are in vain. Entire families are wiped out while others desert their homes. All hell breaks loose as the villagers discover their loved ones' corpses are rising from the grave with an insatiable thirst for human blood. Haunting, hallucinogenic and unnerving to the core, Shiki stares into the hearts of both the hunter and the hunted. Who is safe when the urge to kill in order to survive blurs the line between man and monster?

Based on a manga by Fuyumi Ono and Ryu Fujisaki, the eerie vampire adventure Shiki (2010) takes place in Sotobamura, an isolated village of 1,300 people "surrounded by death," i.e., it's set amid forest of a kind of pine tree used to make grave markers. Even at its liveliest, Sotobamura feels dead to the local teenagers, who want to move to bigger, more exciting places, especially perky, fussy Megumi. But when a foreign family moves to an enormous chateau they've built at the edge of the town, Megumi and other locals begin dying of a mysterious disease. Dedicated Dr. Ozaki, who runs the local clinic, discovers the deaths are linked to anemia, but none of the patients show any sign of injury or internal bleeding. Ozaki and sullen teenager Natsuno suspect the deaths are connected to okiagari, undead creatures who stalk the night. Unlike Hellsing and other recent vampire anime, Shiki is genuinely creepy and disquieting, rather than a simple gore fest. Director Tetsuro Amino skillfully builds a suspenseful tone that may remind horror fans of When They Cry. The character designs are odd, with hair that suggests awkward paper sculptures, but what they do is so interesting, the strange appearance becomes unimportant. Shiki is not a series to watch alone late at night, but otaku will be waiting impatiently for the conclusion of this intriguing series. (Rated TV MA: violence, grotesque imagery, tobacco use) --Charles Solomon

(1. First Blood, 2. Second Decay, 3. Third Tragedy, 4. Fourth Death, 5. Fifth Deceit, 6. Sixth Skull, 7. Seventh Killing Spirit, 8. Eighth Night, 9. Ninth Coffin, 10. Tenth Mourning, 11. Eleventh Slaughter, 12. Twelfth Decay)

Product Description 

SHIKI Part 2

From the studio that brought you Black Butler and Fullmetal Alchemist emerges the psychological thriller that will send you to bed with a cross in hand.

When citizens of a secluded village begin dying off in alarming numbers, the sole hospital's head doctor tries desperately to save his patients - but his efforts are in vain. Entire families are wiped out while others desert their homes. All hell breaks loose as the villagers discover their loved ones' corpses are rising from the grave with an insatiable thirst for human blood. Haunting, hallucinogenic and unnerving to the core, Shiki stares into the hearts of both the hunter and the hunted. Who is safe when the urge to kill in order to survive blurs the line between man and monster?

At a time when vampires have become ubiquitous in popular culture, from juvenile novels and live-action films to anime, Shiki stands out for its deeply unsettling tension and suspense. The power of the okiagari, or corpse demons, continues to grow, threatening the existence of remote Sotobamura village. When sulky teenager Natsuno is killed by Toru, the vampire that was once his best friend, and adolescent Akira disappears, Dr. Ozaki seems to have lost his only allies in the battle against the demons. But the dedicated young physician and Natsuno are not so easily defeated, although junior monk Seishin falls under the spell of Susano, an ancient child-vampire who resembles a decayed Victorian doll. As Shiki builds to its conclusion, director Tetsuro Amino skillfully maintains the creepy atmosphere of the earlier episodes. He deftly uses warping backgrounds, dramatic lighting, sinister shadows, and unusual colors to heighten the drama. The war between the human villagers and the okiagari inevitably grows more violent, but Shiki never devolves into a gore fest. Like a volume of Edgar Allan Poe, Shiki is not an entertainment to enjoy alone late at night. But it is an arresting series that reenergizes an increasingly threadbare genre. (Rated TV MA: violence, violence against women, grotesque imagery, tobacco and alcohol use) --Charles Solomon

(13. Thirteenth Tragedy, 14. Fourteenth Death, 15. Fifteenth Deceit, 16. Sixteenth Skull, 17. Seventeenth Killing, 18, Eighteenth Night, 19. Nineteenth Coffin, 20. Twentieth Mourning and Offense, 21. Twenty-first Slaughter, Blood and Offense, 22. The Final Hunt)