Review: Shadows House

(Non-Spoilery)

Season Aired: Spring 2021 - 13 episodes

MAL Link: Shadows House

I watched it at: Funimation

Review:

Shadows House invites the viewer into a world of mystery, suspense and intrigue.

I did not know what I was getting into when I started this series, but I was quickly hooked and binged the 13 episodes straight through. My major complaint right now is simply that there was not more of it.

This series hits a few of my personal geek hot-spots including:

• Gothic and creepy yet elegant old mansion.
• Steampunk Victorian aesthetic.
• Freaky WTF is going on here mystery from the word go.
• Trap and puzzle filled hedgerow garden maze.

My geek love affair of deadly hedge mazes probably began with The Shining and I was delighted when this series unexpectedly served up probably the best example of one I have ever seen.  And, of course, with a main character that looks like Alice in Wonderland traversing it, no less. The art, animation and colors are just fabulous in this series, rich and gothic.

The Plot in a Nutshell:

A strange group of individuals who appear to be three-dimensional shadows live in a massive and rich manor. These shadow people are attended by their living dolls who act as their faces and display the expression of what the shadow people are feeling. This because the shadows faces cannot be seen.

The mystery of what Shadows House is unfolds... 

My Verdict: 

The way I rate Anime is simply dependent upon how entertained my brain was when I viewed it.  As such, this is a perfect 4.5 scenario: Outside world forgotten.  I was totally engrossed with it.  I intended to give the first couple episodes a look because the premise of the show was intriguing and then I could. not. stop.  Ended up staying up way too late.

I've already been quite clear that this show nailed some of my personal geek obsessions, so my review is totally biased.  The show may not tickle your fancies in the same way.  But the fact remains that it is a well animated series with an interesting premise and some nice mystery twists.  MAL categorizes this as a 'Slice of Life' show, but it's really not. It's a straight-up mystery and suspense series to my eye. I don't know where they came up with that.

I do have some quibbles, such as the main character's personality being a bit too cheerful and that they seemed to try to fit too much into the last couple episodes (here's hoping for Season 2), but they are really just quibbles. I was very satisfied and pleased with this show.

Score: 4.5 out of 5

Review Rating Scale:

5     Brain wildly entertained. Neurons saturated with entertainment.

4.5  Brain extremely entertained. Neurons firing regularly. Outside world forgotten.

4     Brain entertained. Neurons well stimulated. Brain wants to look for the blu-ray.

3.5  Brain in Neutral. Neurons a little stimulated. Brain generally pleased.

3     Brain in neutral. Neurons flat lined. Meh, brain pleased just enough.

2.5  Brain in neutral but occasionally displeased.

2     Brain displeased and not entertained. Brain thinking about doing something else.

1.5 or less - Brain suffered through the show so it could tell you not to.