(L) Shiki

[onna-chan]

PzIVf3 since you mentioned that, I did go back and at the end they show most of the dead shiki's faces and the stakes in their hearts, but Megumi's face isn't shown and her head is indeed intact.
Honestly, if they ever try for another season or in the dvd extra's, it could be used as a plot device. Also perhaps, if Megumi does regenerate, she may try to start a new, since she doesn't have Tatsumi controlling her. I wouldn't blame her though, if she comes back and kills the village for revenge.

[Goty]

I didn't like Sunako and Seishin leaving, but hey, that's to be expected from a horror tale. Other than that, pretty satisfying ending to an awesome series.
Akira and Kaori's situations will obviously be covered by the dvd/bluray specials, but since we won't be getting an epilogue episode...that extra scene over the credits felt kind of WTF. Why should we bother about Natsuno's father and the restaurant girl? Or maybe that was their way of showing that "life goes on".

Originally Posted by onna-chan

PzIVf3 since you mentioned that, I did go back and at the end they show most of the dead shiki's faces and the stakes in their hearts, but Megumi's face isn't shown and her head is indeed intact.
Honestly, if they ever try for another season or in the dvd extra's, it could be used as a plot device. Also perhaps, if Megumi does regenerate, she may try to start a new, since she doesn't have Tatsumi controlling her. I wouldn't blame her though, if she comes back and kills the village for revenge.

She got staked in the chest, she's very dead is you ask me. If this is not enough any Shiki could "regenerate".
They didn't show her face because it was fully ruined by a tractor. We knew she wasn't decapitated, since her arms and legs kept moving after that.

[thundrakkon]

Originally Posted by Manic

Megumi was a character i could sympathize with and even tho she acted pretty horrible, i dont think she deserved the end she got

The reason Megumi deserved the ending she got was because she intentionally plotted, murdered, and destroyed Kaori's family. Kaori and her brother are turned to ophans with a destroyed family and must fend for themselves the rest of their lives. Her willful destruction of other people's lives is the main reason she got what she deserved.

Originally Posted by PzIVf3

Anyone noticed Megumi head still intact w/ a wooden stake after that tractor crush her head

You only saw the back of her head, or at least the hair covering everything. It was more likely her head was crushed while it was pressed into the farm dirt. It was not decapitated.

Originally Posted by Konex

Spoiler for ep 22:

the monk became a "daywalker" too?

It appears to be that way. He was already low on blood by letting the others suck on it, and he got sliced up, losing more blood that he already did not have enough of. When he rescued Sunako, he had enough strength to move and chop at a very strong man, which would not have been possible with his lack of blood.

[Squarecrow]

Originally Posted by Goty

She got staked in the chest, she's very dead is you ask me. If this is not enough any Shiki could "regenerate".
They didn't show her face because it was fully ruined by a tractor. We knew she wasn't decapitated, since her arms and legs kept moving after that.

There was a shiki in episode 20 or 21 that was staked but still moving. Unless the staking is done properly, the shiki could survive.

[karice67]

Originally Posted by Lord Crow

There was a shiki in episode 20 or 21 that was staked but still moving. Unless the staking is done properly, the shiki could survive.

The stake is protruding out her back, and she's not moving. So her head looks intact - I reckon it's just that the animation team wasn't as pedantic as some people are.

If anything, the one other Shiki who could have survived is Yoshie, the other jinrou. We only saw her getting shot in the head - her vascular system wasn't destroyed, so it's possible that she could have regenerated from that. (Although if anyone could check the relevant episodes pls - like 14 - what does Toshio say about the possible ways of killing a shiki?)

[Yuno]

Spoiler for Episode 22 and Some Thoughts:

I really enjoyed this series, I am happy with how it went and turned out. I remember stumbling upon the manga by chance and reading it with interest. Then when I heard there was anime I was overjoyed. The tone of the series was really good, the moral struggle and justification on both sides twisted. The ending was amazing, and I must say this is one of my favourite series thus far. I did feel sorry for Megumi and Sunako, but I was mostly on the side of the humans. Only because they were toyed with and driven mad with fear. It is only natural that they acted the way they did. People can only be pushed so far. My stomach did turn in a few parts specifically when innocence were attacked towards the end. Mob mentality presented at it's best I suppose. What I found curious is how the villagers and Shiki switched places as far as victim roles. I mean even Tatsumi was gentle and afraid when the hunters came about. Yet I can easily recall him being an absolute evil jerk. Sunako on the other hand didn't really toy with anyone. She seemed to care about her ilk, but mainly struggled with who she was. It was neat to have that struggle come to life in the end. The words she spoke in the church was amazing. I know what it is like to have a horrible destiny chosen for you. Her words hit home with me.

[PzIVf3]

Manga scan from 2chan.

Spoiler for For those who said Yoshie gets shot in the head. This might be possible for the sequel ending.:

She survive.

[Guardian Enzo]

Fundamentally, I'm afraid I have to join the "disappointed" camp.

Spoiler for 22:

Really, seriously - Seishin lives? The most vile, despicable, hypocritical and disgusting character of the season, never mind the series, drives off with his vamp-in-a-box like this is "Let the Right One In"? That, alas, soils and sullies the entire ending for me. The only thing the scumbag was right about was hating himself - and he lives while so many others die. Even Sunako was resigned to taking her medicine in the end - she knew she had it coming - and he spoils it (and makes us listen to the most revolting speech ever). If only Ookawa had done less talking and more staking.

It's really a shame that this series, which was truly great, had to resort to cheap horror film cliche in the end. The lone vampire escapes - will she start the cycle all over again? Mind you, there were a few good things about the end - Megumi's demise was fully as brutal and terrifying as she deserved. I rather liked the way Natsuno wrapped things up with Tatsumi - that had a poetic elegance to it. And it was good to see Akira and Kaori made it, no doubt saved by Natsuno. But saying the ending was fine other than Seishin and Sunako is like saying London was fine in 1666 without the fire.

I must say, I found the "epilogue" very confusing. Were those scenes from the DVD only eps? Was that supposed to be a self-contained epilogue by itself?

[matapat]

Originally Posted by MontyAI

That jinrou girl was one-shotted by Seishirou , but Tatsumi took so many shots and still running and fighting fine. Why is that?

Spoiler for ep22:

I think it's because Seishirou was a master marksman and Natsuno probably mind controlled him into shooting her through the heart, and if that didn't kill her, probably he was MCed into walking over to her and finishing her off with a stake offscreen.

Anyway, a great end to the series, Ookawa's final monologue had some good points in it, calling Sunako out for things she already acknoledged, but was also simultaneously eyeroll-inducing for the overwhelming amount of hypocrisy he spouted, considering all the abuse he heaped on his son that helped make him into such a twisted Shiki and all the innocent people he killed in the previous two episodes.

I enjoyed the open ending of Seishin and Sunako driving off, hopefully Seishin becomes a better influence on her for the remainder of her unlife, and maybe they can find a way to continue living without killing anyone and Sunako's decision to "abandon herself" matures her into never starting such a string of tragedies again in the future.

A brutal end for Megumi, despite her monstrosity as a Shiki and shallowness I did feel some pity for how she went out. Got a very "a plague on both your houses" Mercutio-esque vibe from her final ramblings, a last curse on the village which came true shortly thereafter.

[Iron Maw]

Eh, should we really still be using spoiler tags now that the episode has been out for a few hours?

Anyway, I'm somewhat mixed with how the ending turn out as didn't have the amount closure I expected given that the novel ended.

I'm not sure how I feel about Sunako and Seishin essentially escaping, but I guess the destruction of her plans and the realization she was largely to blame for this mess is enough. Given her viewpoint I sympathize with her "need not be alone" and her tragic existance, but it's not an excuse to nearly slaughter half a Village and tear apart families by turning them against each other. It was even shown during the time Maso was risen that Shiki need not kill humans to survive anyway.

On the other hand Megumi and Tatsumi's deaths were pretty satisfying, (it's a real shame Natsuno had to died to kill him though). One thing that bug me is I'm not sure why the village went up in flames. It kinda felt forced here, so prehaps I'm missing something from earlier episode.

So, overall despite some grievances, I had with show (the plot not really moving until 2/3rds, Shizuka's awkward scene in Natsuno's house, really weird character designs) it was a fantastic series all around, definitely one of seasons best and a great way to end the year.

[serenade_beta]

Originally Posted by maplehurry

Other than Natsuno and Rit-chan of course, and maybe Toshio's wife (though I really doubt she can resist the urge).

I was talking about the Shiki in general. There was an exception, yes, Ri-chan, but that's because she's a real angel. And considering she would have died from starvation in the end, it might have been a good thing her misery was brought to an end prematurely.
Natsuno is a werewolf though, not a Shiki.

Originally Posted by PzIVf3

Manga scan from 2chan.

Spoiler for For those who said Yoshie gets shot in the head. This might be possible for the sequel ending.:

She survive.

The sequel will have Ookawa-san, coming back, and becoming the new protagonist. υ(゜εﾟ 3~)

[Zippicus]

Overall I thought this was a pretty good show.

That being said there were a few things that I took issue with. The biggest annoyance was the "everyone that I gave a damn about died(twice even)" syndrome. The next thing on the list that bugged me was the pacing, it started out fine but it seemed like it got worse and worse as the series went on. It was almost like the writers had no idea that they were running out of time and by the time they realized it, it was already too late. The last thing that bugged me was really minor, but I had a hard time agreeing with most peoples decision making/reasoning throughout the series heh.

[Goty]

Originally Posted by MontyAI

Also, wasn't shiki/jinrou supposed to rise after 3 days at least? Why did Seishin rise on the same day he died?

The jin-roh change way faster, don't they? At least that's the impression i got from Natsuno, since he was already a werewolf when the funeral home guys were there to move his body. And they never really die per se.

[Manic]

yeah they dont die, their cells just duplicate the shiki cells making them basically a hybrid. Both sides strengths. none of their weaknesses

[Guardian Enzo]

Long musings on the last episode and the series:

Spoiler for Final Hunt:

In brief, reflection doesn't soften my view about the ending. Seishin, ack... It's only too bad he didn't succeed in killing himself. His speech to Sunako in the church after killing Ookawa - "No one to protect you", etc. - was really almost vomit-inducing. Sunako had an army of her own victims to protect her - a legion of demons to clothe, protect, and comfort her - to feed her blood from her victims and practically swaddle her. Even Sunako was ready to take her medicine in the end - she knew full well she deserved to die. And Seishin took that away from us, took that poetic justice and pissed all over it and did to the ending what Natsuno did to Tatsumi - dragged it into a festering, stinking pit and blew it up. The ending was cliched, and really, Shiki deserved better than that - and it deserved a commitment from the story itself, a side chosen - rather, we were given an ambiguous "they were all bad so let's call it even" kind of ending, a get-out-of-jail-free card for both Seishin and the writing staff. Dammit, there was no moral equality here - as Natsuno himself said, the Shiki started it. For the humans, it was a crime of passion. For the Shiki - and especially Sunako - pre-mediated mass murder.

With all that, though, an ending is only one episode of a series (even if it's the most important one) and even for great series, they're really hard to pull off. And this is no doubt a great series, and I'm not going to abandon it because of that. It was a masterpiece on many levels and one of the very best shows of 2010.

[Tjfarmer]

I believe the little scenes during the ED were previews for 20.5 and 21.5.

I feel like what is gonna happen in those episodes is that Kaori, Akira, Natsuno's father, and that girl from the first episode are gonna meet a little while after the events of 22, and they're gonna talk about stuff that was cut from the anime (Akira being saved, Kaori finishing up her fight, and there was some stuff cut about the girl from the first episode that was in a later chapter I believe, from when her mom rose as a Shiki.)

I liked the last episode for the most part... except how Seishin lived in the end. Seeing Megumi get killed was very gratifying though

[Silverwyrm]

Nooo Garbeard D: even if he took some harsh turns I was hoping he'd live. Killing the temples people was atrocious though...

I felt really bad when megumi died (again) while it was obvious she simply had to go and her atrocities as a shiki were unforgivable, it reminded how she shouldn't have died in the first place. She was just a teenager who dreamed of going to the city before everything started going south. Her outburst probably reminded them of exactly how "human" the shiki also were despite the creatures they became. Its a kind of lose lose thing, their penchant for living at the expense of humans makes living together impossible, but can't feel good about killing them either (well sometimes maybe).

I wish there was more explanation of where the lolfire came from though.

[Boduar]

Natsuno started fire yes/no? Assuming the fire was not completely random I would imagine he would be only logical reason due to his "im not on the humans side" and the look from Ozaki after he fire had just started seemed to indicate doctors suspicion possibly of Natsuno?

In other news hated Natsuno died like an idiot again but I guess it was expected anyway. Seishin and Sunako living was a downer I would have preferred just about anyone else even Megumi getting away.

[gecd]

so....
what happened to natsuno's mother?

[Goty]

Originally Posted by gecd

so....
what happened to natsuno's mother?

She moved out of the town to die, like all the other dying people who were told to leave.

Originally Posted by Tjfarmer

I believe the little scenes during the ED were previews for 20.5 and 21.5.
I feel like what is gonna happen in those episodes is that Kaori, Akira, Natsuno's father, and that girl from the first episode are gonna meet a little while after the events of 22, and they're gonna talk about stuff that was cut from the anime.

That makes sense, it's a good guess. Hopefully you're right, that would not only tie up a couple of loose ends (as expected) but also give us an epilogue of sorts.