Shiki – 16

Sunako’s tragic past, Nao’s tragic past, and Akira’s seemingly tragic  future

Approaching exam time means that Overcooled feels BLEHHH. I just want my Winter break to be here now so I actually have time to go out with friends instead of staying in and studying…Anime makes for a nice break, especially something as involved as Shiki. It just sucks you in~ Weird that a horror anime could have a calming effect on me, but eh, I’m sure there are a few other oddballs out there like me.

As expected from all the Sunako imagery in the preview last episode, we finally hear about Sunako’s past! Right from the beginning too! Everything is bright and peachy in the life of the darling, human Sunako. She lives in a Western-styled mansion with her wealthy and affectionate family. She couldn’t have been happier, until a strange person was invited to one of their parties. Once he turns around, it becomes clear that he’s a shiki.

Tohru is still visiting Natsuno’s graveside, muttering prayers and his own personal issues as if at an altar. Gackt scoffs at the sight and tells Tohru that Sunako wants to see him at the Kanemasa manor. Meanwhile, Nao is standing by the graveyard, waiting to see if Tokujiro will rise up. As she waits, her whole life replays in her mind. Being abandoned by her gambling-addicted parents, finally finding love and comfort in Sotoba, having to kill her new family one by one and watch them rot – all of these make up her story. Tokujiro doesn’t rise us, leaving Nao cold and bitter that Jun (who also invited the Kirishikis to her house that fateful night) hasn’t suffered the same fate.

Continuing on with Tohru’s dilemma of being called into the principal’s office for being a bad boy! It’s not long after he thinks “man, I’m in trouble” that Sunako strides in and pleasantly asks him to sit down while pouring tea. Guess he’s not in trouble. Tohru lets out his frustration on Sunako but she’s been around the block a few times, and curtly tells him to go die if he thinks what he’s doing is so wrong.

Mmm, blood tea.

Sunako begins the story of her past, slipping from “a girl” into “I” rather quickly. She awoke from her grave and screamed like a banshee until someone unearthed her. The unlucky fellow who did got attacked. Fleeing the scene, Sunako stayed in a storehouse, feeding on the kind souls who would come every night to feed her. Each night, a different maid would die. (No one seemed to notice…) Devouring books and saturating her brain with knowledge, she eventually left in search of her family. She searched years and years, to the point where not only her family had moved, but they were surely dead.

Megumi Bo-yo-yoings across a field, and sees Akira’s father (who is now a shiki). He tries to accuse her of killing him, but she points out that he must’ve killed one of those city-kidnapees for beginners to be talking to her right now. Using her feminine charm (i.e. boobs) she tells him to just kill his family so they can rise up too. Masao watches from the grass, but it really makes no difference to the scene XD

Unfortunately-timed screencap #1: Mid-bounce

Mr. Tanaka tries to go back to his house and just pretend his whole funeral thing didn’t happen. He can’t enter without being invited, but he still tries. Seeing the intruder, Love starts barking it’s everloving head off. The husband hides at first when the wife comes out to yell at the dog, but then changes his mind. “Honey, I’m home!” doesn’t quite elicit the same response when you’re supposed to be in a wooden box under layers of soil. The wife shrieks, tells him to leave, and is slowly dragged outside to be bitten.

Anyone else think Love resembles Courage the Cowardly Dog?

Akira and Kaori sleep in because their mom doesn’t wake them up. Kaori goes to check up on her, sliding the door open to see her bedridden. Step 1: check eyes, step 2: check neck. Those are the two rules of thumb when watching Shiki. Even ignoring that, we all know she’s been bitten and isn’t going to be okay. Akira and Kaori get into srs bsns mode to avenge Natsuno and all the villagers. Kaori makes stakes while Akira heads out to buy charm, amulets, ANYTHING to stop the shiki.

Look on the bright side…no school!

On the way to the store, the gossiping old folk pry into Akira’s business. As with most teen-old people interactions, Akira just gets angry at their stupidity and shouts at them. They seem perfectly content not knowing what to do and just ignoring the problem, so Akira storms off. That is, until he hears some valuable gossip about Ikumi’s family dying and the house still seeming like it’s in use. Akira feels like the new Orihara Izaya for gathering such precious information, and sprints home to grab a stake from a bewildered Kaori before running off AGAIN.

There’s some Kagura dance shenanigans in the background (ugh, maybe it’ll be important later, but for now it’s just troublesome to mention) as Toshio has a chat with Natsuno. They both share the same plan: wait until the Shiki get cocky about their take-over, then counterattack. It’s their only chance, and it means sacrificing a lot of villagers. They also agree on exterminating every last one – even Natsuno himself.

Just pretend the images are stitched together, shhh~

Akira is totally prepared for his first break-and-enter. He heads in at noon to give himself plenty of time, and starts exploring with his trusty flashlight. It’s not until he approaches a closet that he finds something amiss. Of course, we see a whisshhh! in the background as he goes to open the closet, so we know he’s gonna get owned regardless of what he finds. He finds Maeda, who is sleeping…FOR NOW. Akira gets out his stake to finally become a hero….and his grabbed by Tatsumi. Tatsumi ties him to a wooden beam and tapes his mouth up, so that he can’t even scream when he wakes up at night to see Maeda’s bloodred eyes glaring at him through the dim light.

To take your mind off of the cliffhanger:

Dear God, please give me Natsuno’s virginity this Christmas. Ahmen.

*DING! FIREWALL ACTIVATED!*

IT’S RAPING TIME.

End Thoughts: Nao’s story is actually pretty interesting, it’s a shame that she’s a character that doesn’t get much elaboration. I was under the impression that she was kind of a bitch, but she’s just a poor, abandoned girl who had finally built a life for herself only to have it come crashing down. Still, it’s hard to feel pity for her given how selfish she tends to be. Poor Jun might be her next target.

We get not one, but TWO pasts! Sunako’s past was….surprisingly boring. I was expecting something way more complicated. Is she leaving something out? (Like how she found the Kirishikis?) I mean, I loved hearing about the mysterious Sunako, but really? She chilled in a storehouse reading books then kind of dilly-dallyed about to look for her parents? Gackt and Chizuru better have more impressive backstories than that.

This episode is mostly extra explanations. Pasts, character thoughts, and officially confirming some assumptions most of us already had (eg. Natsuno isn’t human, Akira’s dad died). Only the last bit is really moving the plot forward, with Akira’s attempted “I’M A HERO!” business. I knew that kid would get ahead of himself and do something stupid. Doesn’t he remember what Natsuno said before? About not killing Shiki during the day because of Tatsumi? =.= *sigh* Now Kaori will be an easy target by herself. Anyways, it’s a good episode to sort of just take everything in. Shiki doesn’t want to rush things, and I appreciate that given the amount of rushed anime we have out there. I actually really enjoyed episode 16~ The ending? Oh man, what a cliffhanger!!! He can’t be dead from one bite, just anemic, but after one bite, it’s hard to break free of the cycle, so he’s as good as gone… I thought Akira would get tied up first and THEN escape and kill whoever kidnapped him. Guess not, lulz.

Preview: Nurse Ritsuko is back into the picture, at least for a little bit. She seems to just see weird things and then go “wow, that was WEIRD” then continue with her life, so I don’t expect much there. Kaori looks like the next one aboard the crazy train and has taken up gravedigging. I sense imminent danger. As Seishin nearly comes across Tohru (who we later see sobbing…but when does Tohru NOT cry?), Toshio is seemingly becoming darker and darker. Lots of scenes with him and blood. Is he doing more experiments or just being haunted by guilt? All this plus clips of Natsuno running around with zero context, all to come in episode 17!

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A neuroscience graduate, black belt, and all-around nerd. You'll either find me in my lab or curled up in my rilakkuma kigurumi watching anime.
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40 Responses to “Shiki – 16”

  1. geetz says:

    Holy Boobies! I swear they get bigger every episode…

    I love the ending. It reminds me of just how great Shiki really is. Yet, first Nat’s death…now maybe Akira’s? I was starting to like the kid!

    • Overcooled says:

      Maybe she got implants at that new clinic they opened up…

      The ending was great, I think it’s only a matter of time before Akira kicks the bucket. I know, just when he was starting to grow on me too…STOP KILLING THE MAIN CHARACTERS!

  2. BlackBriar says:

    It’s seems those who have risen, except Sunako, were able to do so because they had a tragic past and bare a grudge. Nao, hiding resentment towards her parents; Masao for being neglected by everyone in his family and lastly Megumi, who really hates the village because she felt she was being treated as outcast due to the clothes she wore and her daily routines during her human life.

    But Sunako’s story, anyone who hears that, it’s probably going to be “hook, line and sinker” and then it’s instant sympathy. The junior monk should have heard this.

    This show sure is making me sadistic. I don’t care what anyone says, I’m counting on the Shiki resistance to crumble because I love Tatsumi and Megumi. They’re two sadistic bad-asses. Especially Megumi. I love her heartless attitude.

    • Overcooled says:

      Huh, interesting. So Nao really did have a reason to say she rose because she’s “bad” (mostly because she’s just a selfish and jealous person with a grudge against her previous family). Some of the characters have more subdued grudges (like Mr. Tanaka…what’s HE so angry about that he can’t die? Or Tohru?), so I guess you could say they just didn’t feel at rest enough to die. Or maybe we’re missing some tragic past on Tohru’s behalf. He was such a nice kid, too =/

      I wish Seishin could’ve heard her story too. I wonder if Tohru will share his thoughts on her little monologue later on.

      I know what you mean. I was sadistic before, and now it’s just worse. XD I just want one side to land some sort of crushing blow to the other in a drawn-out and terrifying death. I love Tatsumi, but Megumi is a bit too….vile. I don’t know, something about her self-obsessive personality is just bleh.

      • BlackBriar says:

        I know Megumi seems that way but I just love that kind of attitude. It’s a real turn on for me. I’ve got thing for bad girls in anime, especially if they’re vampires. I gotta look back at other vampire animes to rediscover them. Think of Blood+. Diva, Saya’s little sister: A beautiful Chiropteran (vampire) with a ruthless nature wrapped in a child-like innocence and has absolutely no hesitation on seeing human beings as her food or play things. She usually says “Now don’t you look yummy”. I guess that’s my newfound sadism talking.

        • Overcooled says:

          I still need to finish Blood+, I’m about halfway through it. I seem to gravitate more towards those who enjoy the suffering of others, but do so without discrimination. It’s not for revenge or out of jealousy, they just love hurting EVERYone. I know that’s a bit vague, but not all sadistic characters do it for me. =p

          • BlackBriar says:

            As for the now captive Akira. He should’ve thought his plan through not jumping head first into danger. That’s no better than a suicide. Now he’s potentially Shiki food. Which is gonna kill him first? Being completely drained of blood of dying from a massive heart attack? Because he’s totally loosing it the moment that guy woke up. If anything should happen, I’d prefer he become a Shiki rather than just dying. That would be such a waste. And it should be someone who knows him who would do him the honor rather than some random stranger. Then it would be him who turns his sister Kaori.

  3. Elyon says:

    Akira wishes he was as cool as Izaya >w>

  4. amado says:

    I dont watch the anime but I still read the manga so I know that sunako’s past is missing some things,

    in her past, she was pitying the shiki because everyone was cautious of him and she was lonely, when the shiki was gonna leave, sunako was teary eyed and helped him pack things then Bam!, she was bitten…
    she went back to her family after getting out of the coffin and they were scared of her but they still kept her in a storehouse and sent her “food” aka maids, sunako then started to learn to read the books in the store house and realized that what she was doing was like a monster and ran away, then this is the part when she comes back but finds out her family is dead already…

    note. I dont watch the anime so if what I said is shown, then forget about it

    • Overcooled says:

      Ah, they cut out Sunako’s interaction with the mysterious shiki. That would definitely have shed more light on why Sunako gets along so well with Seishin, who shares her sympathetic view of the shiki. The storehouse part and everything after is essentially the same though.

      Yayyy thanks for telling me! Now I have extra info I wouldn’t have known otherwise!

  5. Namika says:

    So…. Shiki gets more and more boobs, lately. O_O
    But I enjoyed this episode as well! We finally got to know something about Sunako, we finally got to see Natsuno again! ^^ Oh, I wonder, what will happen next?…. And what about Akira?…. Everybody knew, that he would end like this, but I still feel sorry for him. :S
    OOOOOHHHH!!! I hate Shiki cliffhangers!!!!!

    • Overcooled says:

      It stands out SO MUCH because this isn’t a fanservice show too XD

      I want Sunako to tell me stories every night about her amazing life in her charming little voice. 8D She’s so interesting.

      Akira nuuoooooo T_T

      • Namika says:

        But it’s his fault for acting like such an idiot(and when he actually has brains…)!
        Oh, and I join you on the bedtime story idea! Guess we really have similar taste))))

  6. Captain says:

    It just got badass. I’m going to start watching Shiki again because I sense a ‘trailing off manga storyline’ time again *u*

    And the mid-bounce just made it look like it was sagging. /shot.

    • Overcooled says:

      Shiki is ALWAYS badass. And I expect you manga folk to tell me the differences, because I’m too lazy to read the manga lololol

      Yeah, I kept that screenshot because it was MEGA unflattering XD

  7. Tofu says:

    I know this has nothing to do with Shiki but since you can’t comment on the homepage of the site I’ll post it here where it’s the latest post and a lot of you guys would see it…

    For the Metanorn banner how you guys have a character representing a Metanorn writer/blogger/slave xD

    For the new bloods, you would add them in but make sure you don’t forget about Will!!!! xD I know the perfect character for him

    CHRIST FROM ANGEL BEATS!!!! WOOOOT!!!!

    • Dan-go says:

      yeah actually, can we have somewhere on metanorn to like post random things, that aren’t really related to anime? kinda like DDD’s suspicous red mailbag

      • Tofu says:

        That’s for quesitons not random rants xD but yeah Dan does have a point or do we just use the chatbox and IRC for random things?

        • Overcooled says:

          Uhh, you guys can use the chatbox or contact any of us Metanorn peeps through whatever way you prefer (Twitter, e-mail etc.) if it’s something really specific (or if we’re not online in IRC or the chatbox). o.o

  8. anaaga says:

    MEGUMI U BITCH. *scratch megumi’s face*
    meh, this episode was pretty boring, so i skipped lots of parts. specially sunako’s past, don’t care about her. but i keep replaying the scenes with natsuno in it. GOD HE LOOKS HOTTER NOW. IS IT THE JACKET??

    and as of nao, i have no symphaty for her. it’s kinda selfish of her, trying to change all of her families because she misses them and wants all of them to be together again, but that’s not a good excuse to kill all of them, knowing that there might be a chance that they won’t revive. she’s supposed to try to keep all of them humans as long as possible, giving them the chance she doesn’t. but nooo she has to be the lonely emo bitch who just have to bite all of their families because she wants all of them to be together. she, she, and she…..
    well that’s my opinion about her ^^; yeah, it’s long ^^;

    • Overcooled says:

      LOL someone hates Megumi.

      Do you skip because you’ve read the manga…? Because you’re missing a lot if you don’t have that as back-up? XD Natsuno was only in like one scene this episode you know..XD

      I felt bad for Nao, but then she went psycho on Jun and ruined it. Just when I thought she had good intentions. -_- Nope, she’s just selfish.

      • anaaga says:

        yeah, i read the manga. if i remember correctly, i think the whole revelation thing was supposed to be before natsuno approached toshio…

        yeah, there’s only one scene of natsuno, and i rewind that scene 5 times nonstop. HEHE

        • anaaga says:

          btw, the screenshot of megumi’s boobs is giving me the impression that she gets laid more often now…*pop those boobs *

          • BlackBriar says:

            Megumi killed Kaori’s father to get back at her because she felt betrayed that she was hanging around the very guy that she has a crush on. That Kaori is getting what Megumi has wanted since she first saw Natsuno. That’s what destroyed their childhood friendship. So, you can say it’s an eye for an eye. Anyone who gets stabbed in the back is gonna want revenge and they’re going hit them where it hurts the most. And in Kaori’s case, that happens to be her family. And it doesn’t look like she’s gonna stop untill Kaori understands why she’s doing it. Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned.

  9. DarkCesia says:

    “Dear God, please give me Natsuno’s virginity this Christmas. Ahmen.” LMAO
    I just have to say that this made my day hahahahaha

    Anyhow, I want to know how this is going to end…I mean..the majority of Shiki have to die…right? but I wonder how.

    What I mean is that…why is it that they are turning a whole village into shiki? is it to make it look like a plague? and what happens after that?
    I have the thought that Sunako’s “family” is going to murder all the other Shiki and then move and thats the drill…anyone thinks so too? (they were always too nice it is very suspicious)

    sooo if Natsuno also has a plan to kill them all…wonder who is going to survive bwahahahahaha hell is going to break lose if thats the case..

    and..whats up w demons drinking tea?? is it what cool demons do nowdays??

    • Overcooled says:

      8D I like to think I’m slowly getting used to this screencapping thing.

      Well, the Shiki might win. O_O Then all the humans just die. If they’re gonna kill the shiki, I’m betting they go after the leaders first so that the whole thing crumbles. I’m sure toshio and Natsuno will reveal their plan with time.

      Well, they want to set up a base in Sotoba (and for MANY reasons, this is the ideal location) so they can be there to dig up their fellow shiki. By slowly increasing their numbers in a concentrated area away from civilization, they get a foothold they can expand from. Notice how once they reached a suitable population they increased their efficiency with a clinic and funeral service? It doesn’t even look like a plague, because the death toll is zero thanks to the movers and this village is isolated. the city barely even knows they exist, elt alone if they’re going through a plague. What’s next? Expansion into the city or other similar villages, I would assume.

      O.o Why would they murder all of the shiki? It’s not impossible, but I never really saw that coming…lol

      Long comment is long <_<

      • DarkCesia says:

        I am stupid… I didnt think about the whole zero death troll…but expansion into the city, is still to suspicious in my opinion. Unless there is like a hierarchy or something, like a queen or king of the shiki??? bc obviously, right now all the “new shiki” are afraid of the main family but what if things are get out of control? thats the reason I was thinking of old shiki killing the new ones, so that they will keep everything under control. Maybe its only my impression, but there are too many people turning into shiki

        • Overcooled says:

          Don’t say that, there’s a lot of stuff going on so it’s easy to overlook things XD Well, to branch out they could pick their favourite shiki from Sotoba and make them in charge of a certain location and spread from there…then keep doing that sort of thing. Since they seem to be able to create beings like Tatsumi (Natsuno can go out in the day), they could assign one of those to go with the new leader too. So there will be multiple leaders under the rule of the Kirishikis :3 ..Except Natsuno is their enemy so they need a different day-walker XD

          Well, that would work, but it kind of sucks that they have to kill all their hard work. Why not just leave them in their coffin to die if they don’t want to expand their numbers? Having more shiki under their control might be to their advantage, given the care they put into rising them up.

  10. Mimiko ♥ says:

    I got to say… Vampires in this series just got to cry a lot with tears as big as they could make rivers. It’s annoys me a little. Like I couldn’t shake this though of: “Now days, we have sparkling vampire and now we have crying vampires!?”

    The end.ing… the ending… I really hopes there’s nothing happens to Akira or I’ll cry. And Megumi had become official annoying to me now. I swear at first she would be an awesome character, but in the end. She is the worst, I’m a little disappointed. (side note: her boobs got bigger O.O!?)

    Anyway, nice summary as always (though to say it as I barely comment here then just stalking around XD)

    • Overcooled says:

      You’re right XD Everyone in this show does tend to cry big, globular tears. Sparkly ones at that. I guess I’d choose sparkly tears over sparkly bodies though. XD

      I’m pretty sure he’s gonna get owned, actually D= Poor kid. I hope Megumi’s chest implants have poison in them, and it slowly works its way to her heart and kills her =/ I don’t even think they can die that way, but oh well.

      Thank you~ I always try to make it thorough, but not bother with the little details ehehe~ =D Come out of lurking mode more so I can see your cute bunny icon XD

      • Mimiko ♥ says:

        It’s just too sad that Akira is getting owned. I hope not his sister as well is going to have the same fate or things will boring with everyone becoming shiki. I don’t want an ending where everyone dies (unless is as entertaining as School Days XD), at least one sane person survive to tell about it.

        Your idea of Megumi’s death is approve!! 😀

        I’ll try to come out as much as I can.. with these shocked bunnies <3

        • Overcooled says:

          As long as one side suffers miserably, I’m fine. lol I should probably watch School Days to see why everyone says it’s so bad. Maybe I’ll watch the first, middle and last episode…XDD Watch that unimportant nurse be the one who survives or something -___-

          XD Yes! Although, I kind of want her clothes…maybe I can raid her closet when she dies.

          • Mimiko ♥ says:

            lol, and you should watch it!! Try and watch to half of the episodes (to episode 6) and just skip to the ending. I can guarantee you the ending is worth everything on this anime >D! Some people loves it, some will totally hates it. (personally, I love it out of it’s unique ending)

            I want her clothes as well!! They are awesome, let’s take them together when she dies XDD

  11. BlackBriar105 says:

    This is too awesome. I can’t wait for the next episode.

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