I always wonder what it would be like to read Shiki without having seen the anime first! Would I have guessed that the disease is vampires? I like to think probably, because of all the ominous clues about the oni and the narrations about feeling watched, and Sunako's abstract creepiness, and especially now, Masao's chapter. The way the truck turns back during the mushiokuri is also a huge clue. But then again, I usually don't see things until they stare me straight in the face; I didn't even guess that Shiki was about vampires until the very end of the first episode of the anime! I thought it was going to be about a serial killer, actually because of the description that said "death is stalking the villagers".
Sure, show me the reply! I think it's really intriguing, the dark parts of the characters. I like finding reasons behind Seishin and Ozaki's dysfunctions--I don't think it's just because of them not having compatible ideologies, but there should be some emotional reasons for it, like resentfulness or distrust, and distrust is a big part of it too.
Seishin is interesting because most people who like being in control are brash, outspoken, and aggressive, because they need those qualities to get their way most of the time, and Seishin is anything but. If I could pick a character in Shiki who would conform to the 'control freak' idea, it would probably be Ozaki, because he has the influence and the leadership qualities to get everything under his control--but he's fine with things being a little bit out of control, which I think leads to his being more relaxed than Seishin in general. Ozaki's relationship with his mom and wife aren't perfect, and he knows that--he's not too inclined to have a perfect family. But his acceptance of it leads him to still be on good terms with Kyoko, and I daresay his mom even has a grudging respect for how he is conscientious even while being a disgrace to the family. Seishin on the other hand is obviously a perfectionist; my support from the text comes from when it's described how he writes his novels, and prefers all of the pencils to be sharpened and instead of writing, he more like engraves because he's pressing so hard. Everything that he does kind of shows that he wants things to be as orderly and neat as possible, but he also blocks out the things that don't go his way. He's expected to marry, but he doesn't, and I feel like even if it's not explicitly shown, that expectation preys on him often. And maybe going back to what I said about Ozaki being a likely candidate for being able to take control, maybe Seishin realizes that too and sort of projects himself onto Ozaki; Ozaki has the qualities Seishin would have liked to had, because with them he can take the control that he craves so much. Like, if Seishin was Ozaki, he would have done 'A', therefore Seishin tries to push Ozaki to do 'A'because he feels that he should.
Not everyone has the luxury of being able to read ahead, so I'll just have to wait! D: But that's interesting (how to Ozaki, the last fight isn't a big deal, but to Seishin it is) and if that's true I think it should have been included in the anime. It would really bring out how different the two are, and what I like about them gradually growing apart is that there's no one who's clearly wrong. Ozaki is pragmatic and proactive, but he doesn't get as caught up in moral dilemmas as he perhaps *should*; and Seishin is passive and unsure about what to do, but he does consider both sides of the story, and he does hit the nail on the head in that the Shiki aren't monsters without emotions. However, maybe that's because he's talked to Sunako and she helped him develop his ideas about being abandoned by God and that lets him have more sympathy for them. But perhaps Seishin is the only person that Sunako would have that effect on...imagine if she talked to Ozaki instead, would she have such an impact on him? He would probably brush her off as being a child, plus he doesn't have as much emotional baggage that she can latch onto. Also, he doesn't frequent an abandoned church... but it would be interesting to contemplate what their interactions would be like.
I agree with the notion of Seishin being a lot like a ghost. By trying to be perfect, he also seems to lack substance. Like a ghost, he never exerts a lot of change on the outside world, even if he WANTS to (like he wants to take back control). Yeah, I think that's a really good analogy. Another thing about Ozaki and Seishin being foil characters is the way they change throughout the novel; Ozaki has an impact on the outside world, and pretty much single-handedly (he doesn't even have Natsuno to help in the novel!) eliminates all of the Shiki and rallies the villagers to his side. Like a typical hero, he tries to help with a problem that nobody can solve..finds a solution...nobody believes him. Well, he MAKES them believe him. Seishin would perhaps be envious of the way he takes control at the end. Seishin on the other hand, if you think about it doesn't really have that much impact on the story at all. Plot wise, what would be the difference if Seishin didn't exist (other than the book getting shorter by removing all of his monologues?) Nothing really--the change that he does cause is about as significant as Ozaki, but it's inner change. He gets his emotions sorted out, he gets rid of his hesitation. Maybe he even becomes the person he always wanted to be. He changes so much, even his species changes, so there's a physical change too: Seishin changes into a jinrou, Ozaki changes Sotoba into a pile of blood-splattered rubble.
I'm not sure if Seishin is terrified or not at the end--it's kind of ambiguous in the anime, but I don't think I would argue for or against that yeeet. If he is, then that's a really important moment because it shows that underneath the cold exterior, he really is just like everyone else. He's been preaching all along that the Shiki are just like everyone else, so when he turns into a super-Shiki, he proves himself right by being just like he was when he was alive (although he technically never died, whatever.) But then you can also turn it on its head and say that he's stone cold serious. After killing Ohkawa, he clearly explains to Sunako why they are outside of God's boundaries and why she shouldn't commit suicide by burning to death. Would he have been able to do that if he was half out of his mind?Oh...he might also be assertive because if he now thinks he's outside of God's influence, he doesn't have to be perfect and full of justice for Him anymore, which is why he doesn't blink in killing Ohkawa. The way he was obsessed with justice before, I almost feel like he would let Sunako die as justice for having killed so many people.
(PSSS: Nah, we can all be! I always just try to take a human approach in my analyses because human behavior often follows a pattern, despite how different we can be...but I don't always achieve that :c)
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Sure, show me the reply! I think it's really intriguing, the dark parts of the characters. I like finding reasons behind Seishin and Ozaki's dysfunctions--I don't think it's just because of them not having compatible ideologies, but there should be some emotional reasons for it, like resentfulness or distrust, and distrust is a big part of it too.
Seishin is interesting because most people who like being in control are brash, outspoken, and aggressive, because they need those qualities to get their way most of the time, and Seishin is anything but. If I could pick a character in Shiki who would conform to the 'control freak' idea, it would probably be Ozaki, because he has the influence and the leadership qualities to get everything under his control--but he's fine with things being a little bit out of control, which I think leads to his being more relaxed than Seishin in general. Ozaki's relationship with his mom and wife aren't perfect, and he knows that--he's not too inclined to have a perfect family. But his acceptance of it leads him to still be on good terms with Kyoko, and I daresay his mom even has a grudging respect for how he is conscientious even while being a disgrace to the family. Seishin on the other hand is obviously a perfectionist; my support from the text comes from when it's described how he writes his novels, and prefers all of the pencils to be sharpened and instead of writing, he more like engraves because he's pressing so hard. Everything that he does kind of shows that he wants things to be as orderly and neat as possible, but he also blocks out the things that don't go his way. He's expected to marry, but he doesn't, and I feel like even if it's not explicitly shown, that expectation preys on him often. And maybe going back to what I said about Ozaki being a likely candidate for being able to take control, maybe Seishin realizes that too and sort of projects himself onto Ozaki; Ozaki has the qualities Seishin would have liked to had, because with them he can take the control that he craves so much. Like, if Seishin was Ozaki, he would have done 'A', therefore Seishin tries to push Ozaki to do 'A'because he feels that he should.
Not everyone has the luxury of being able to read ahead, so I'll just have to wait! D: But that's interesting (how to Ozaki, the last fight isn't a big deal, but to Seishin it is) and if that's true I think it should have been included in the anime. It would really bring out how different the two are, and what I like about them gradually growing apart is that there's no one who's clearly wrong. Ozaki is pragmatic and proactive, but he doesn't get as caught up in moral dilemmas as he perhaps *should*; and Seishin is passive and unsure about what to do, but he does consider both sides of the story, and he does hit the nail on the head in that the Shiki aren't monsters without emotions. However, maybe that's because he's talked to Sunako and she helped him develop his ideas about being abandoned by God and that lets him have more sympathy for them. But perhaps Seishin is the only person that Sunako would have that effect on...imagine if she talked to Ozaki instead, would she have such an impact on him? He would probably brush her off as being a child, plus he doesn't have as much emotional baggage that she can latch onto. Also, he doesn't frequent an abandoned church... but it would be interesting to contemplate what their interactions would be like.
I agree with the notion of Seishin being a lot like a ghost. By trying to be perfect, he also seems to lack substance. Like a ghost, he never exerts a lot of change on the outside world, even if he WANTS to (like he wants to take back control). Yeah, I think that's a really good analogy. Another thing about Ozaki and Seishin being foil characters is the way they change throughout the novel; Ozaki has an impact on the outside world, and pretty much single-handedly (he doesn't even have Natsuno to help in the novel!) eliminates all of the Shiki and rallies the villagers to his side. Like a typical hero, he tries to help with a problem that nobody can solve..finds a solution...nobody believes him. Well, he MAKES them believe him. Seishin would perhaps be envious of the way he takes control at the end. Seishin on the other hand, if you think about it doesn't really have that much impact on the story at all. Plot wise, what would be the difference if Seishin didn't exist (other than the book getting shorter by removing all of his monologues?) Nothing really--the change that he does cause is about as significant as Ozaki, but it's inner change. He gets his emotions sorted out, he gets rid of his hesitation. Maybe he even becomes the person he always wanted to be. He changes so much, even his species changes, so there's a physical change too: Seishin changes into a jinrou, Ozaki changes Sotoba into a pile of blood-splattered rubble.
I'm not sure if Seishin is terrified or not at the end--it's kind of ambiguous in the anime, but I don't think I would argue for or against that yeeet. If he is, then that's a really important moment because it shows that underneath the cold exterior, he really is just like everyone else. He's been preaching all along that the Shiki are just like everyone else, so when he turns into a super-Shiki, he proves himself right by being just like he was when he was alive (although he technically never died, whatever.)
But then you can also turn it on its head and say that he's stone cold serious. After killing Ohkawa, he clearly explains to Sunako why they are outside of God's boundaries and why she shouldn't commit suicide by burning to death. Would he have been able to do that if he was half out of his mind?Oh...he might also be assertive because if he now thinks he's outside of God's influence, he doesn't have to be perfect and full of justice for Him anymore, which is why he doesn't blink in killing Ohkawa. The way he was obsessed with justice before, I almost feel like he would let Sunako die as justice for having killed so many people.
(PSSS: Nah, we can all be! I always just try to take a human approach in my analyses because human behavior often follows a pattern, despite how different we can be...but I don't always achieve that :c)