Shi Ki -- Episodes 4 and 5 (plus! Serial Experiments Lain)

so recently i've been watching the Liar Game drama and also reading the manga. I read a section of the manga, then watch the corresponding episode, being careful not to get ahead in the drama. 

i've continued watching Monster with my best friend, and we are up to episode 46 (out of 74)! this is right around the time where my favorite character, Grimmer A.K.A The Magnificent Steiner, is introduced. :] epic stuff.

also, i started watching Serial Experiments Lain. i had actually already seen the whole thing, but i watched it back in the late 1990s when it first came out. i couldn't have been more than 6 years old, though, so i didn't really understand or remember anything... i remembered what Lain looked like, her bear kigurumi (pajamas), and a few random scenes of wires and electronics from Lain's room.

i don't have all too much to say about SEL right now, because i'm just confused. it's a trippy show and i like the ideas behind it-- electrical internet signals mingling with the ones in people's brain synapses... but it's quite strange. i'm not really a fan of the art either... to be specific, i don't like how the artist draws eyes and middle-aged men. but whatever :P i'll write a review on the whole series once i finish it. for now, i shall discuss 2 more episodes of the Higurashi-ish show that i started a little while ago-- Shiki.

EPISODE 4

you know, i VERY much like the intro to this show. :D
so, i enjoyed this episode. it focuses on two main issues... one is that the blue-haired Yuuki kid from before (the one who was a jerk) is having hallucinations (or is he?) of the girl from the first episode, except now she has red eyes.

you should see the part where she breaks through... o_o

the rest of the episode focused on the main doctor dude, talking with his medical professional colleagues about how there's an epidemic going on. this episode brings the body count up to 19, which is fine by me 8^D yaaay death! speaking of which, the young daughter from the Kanemasa mansion goes on a little monologue about how wonderful and terrible death is... she's not creepy at all! :D
anyways, good episode. 8 out of 10? sounds good. there's some definite nightmare fuel in this episode, which i liked. and i appreciated the accurate medical talk; that definitely brought up the rating for this episode. it's like Dr. House but in anime form! xD

...maybe?

EPISODE 5

this episode showed that several of the more recent deaths happened to people who had just quit their jobs. now, does that mean that they died because they quit, or they quit because they somehow knew they were going to die? hmm.
and maaan, what a bummer! the blonde guy, Toru, died. i liked him D: it seems that ghost/vampire/phantom/zombie Shimizu had bitten him in the night, as Natsuno Yuuki thought. but i dunno, i'm confused... i feel like this show is making it clear that the vampires-next-door are to blame for all the deaths, but i sense something more than that.
oh, and that weird-looking, jealous Masao guy is back. he's all wangsty because nobody in his family loves him, waaah. well not really, but he's a little neglected maybe. i would feel sorry for him if he wasn't such a vapid idiot. he deserves what he gets :D

take that, wangst!

this episode really showcases what a jerk Masao is. and as each episode passes, i like Natsuno more and more! hooray for character development~ but it's too bad that some characters die off before they can develop at all :\ ah well~ it seems that death is not the end in this show. ;D overall episode rating: 6 out of 10? sure, let's go with that.