Spring 2021 First Impressions – Shadows House

Streaming: Funimation

Episodes: 13

Source: Manga

Story Summary: High atop a hill in a mansion lives a noble family of Shadows. Each member of the Shadows family has a living doll that serves as their “face” because the soot they emit themselves obscures what they look like. Mistress Kate comes of age and receives her living doll counterpart, a bubbly, blond living doll with a bit of a clumsy streak. Though their personalities seem completely opposite, the doll’s genuine, kind attitude begins to grow on Kate. Kate finally decides on a name for the doll – Emilico, named after the heroine of a book Kate enjoys. It’s soon after that when Emilico notices other members of the family and their dolls, who may not be quite so friendly and outgoing as she.

Impressions: Well, if you’d asked me what I’d expected of this series before watching it, it wouldn’t have been what I just got done watching and that’s awesome to me. One of the most fun things about sampling new anime series each season are the surprises; shows that I know nothing about and which turn out to be really interesting and intriguing. I’m not quite sure what genre to label this series as yet – gothic drama, horror, mystery – but with or without an obvious genre it definitely has me paying attention.

This episode does a wonderful job of tossing out a few breadcrumbs to get us interested. We see what appears to be some kind of odd ritual between the faceless Shadows clan and a group of fresh-faced youngsters. We watch as Emilico awakens for her first day on the job and seems to know exactly where to go (somehow) and to some extent exactly what to do to serve her mistress. We see how obvious it is that Kate and Emilico are similar looking, which you’d suppose would be a requirement as the “public face” of a of a naturally private or obscured figure, but it’s difficult to know just what that all entails. It’s enough information to start formulating a lot of intriguing questions, because there is a lot going on here that’s just strange. Why are the Shadows constantly emitting soot? Are the “dolls” actually manufactured, or are they humans convinced of their non-human status? It’s just a whole ball of unknowns and I’m kind of digging being strung along, at least at this early point in the story.

Should this review seem like nothing beyond a blathering bunch of speculative utterances, I’ll dial things back a bit to talk about more concrete things. This series has a very cool aesthetic and setting. There are a couple of shots of a steam engine that give a good impression of the time period without having to spell it out to the audience, and I like that. I think that imagery fits well alongside the depiction of the Shadows, mostly Kate, who are shown to leave soot behind whenever they touch something and to emit it when experiencing negative emotions. There’s a scene where Emilico arrives to Kate’s room after getting up late, and the room is just full of ash and dirt; it sort of makes me wonder if that’s sort of what it could be like living around machinery that would belch out smoke as it dragged humanity forward into the industrial age. Whatever the reasons for the Shadows’ affliction (curse?), it lends an element of darkness to the series that fits well with its slightly unsettling story.

I have the feeling this series could be a real “page-turner,” and with Attack on Titan on break for the time being, I could really use something like that in my life to keep things interesting from week-to-week.

Pros: As someone who enjoys gothic J-fashion and Victorian/Edwardian fashion styles, this series has me written all over it. Kate’s wardrobe is very doll-like and gives off the feel of a fancy child vampire and I love it.

As I mentioned, this episode strikes a good balance between revealing information and creating the opportunity for the audience to sit with their various questions. I think it can be frustrating when series keep a little too much information unsaid; while I’ve almost never been one to complain about feeling like I just don’t know what’s happening or what the plot thread is supposed to be (at least as a major criticism) I know some folks find it off-putting to be left completely in the dark and I think this episode throws out enough bones to keep us from starving.

I also just love the OP music and animation. It’s elegant and spooky.

Cons: To be honest, any complaints I could come up with are extremely minor. I will say that I’m not especially into clumsy characters, and Emilico is kind of straddling that line for me. I wonder if it’s a permanent aspect of her character or if she’ll become a little more skilled as the series goes on. I do love her upbeat attitude, though.

Content Warnings: Body horror (mild).

Would I Watch More? – I usually wait to watch follow-up episodes until I’m done with all of my first episode reviews; it keeps me from getting distracted. That said, I’m sorely tempted to watch the next episode of this one. Maybe I’ll just wait and then have a couple more saved up to watch. In any case, I really liked this and can’t wait to watch more.