Shadows House is an anime I’ve kept my eyes on for quite some time now, ever since its announcement, in fact. This is because it’s one of the few anime that looks different—seen via its aesthetic, character designs, and of course, the creepy shadow people. I always keep an eye out for the unique, and Shadows House checks off almost all the boxes to consider it as such. However, once I got the time to finally sit down and watch the episode, I was a bit confused with how the episode was paced. The first episode is shown almost like a calm slice of life anime as opposed to the mystery/fantasy thriller I assumed it was. Pay more attention to the episode, however, and you’ll realize that isn’t the case.
A Wonderfully Weird Relationship
Shadows House follows the aristocratic and noble Shadow family that lives in a 19th-century western-style mansion. Something very strange yet obvious about this family is that they’re all shadow people. They have indiscernible facial features, produce ungodly amounts of soot when uncomfortable, and have living doll servants who are anatomically made to look just like them when they come of age. These dolls not only act as their servants but also as their faces, as you’d probably notice shadows have no face to emote, which tends to make social interactions a lot more complicated.
The anime introduces us to Kate, a young mistress of the family alongside her freshly woken and boisterous living doll, Emilico. We’re shown their first days together and their dynamic. Kate is a reserved and seemingly jaded young girl but is also kind-hearted, seen with the patience and care she shows to her new clumsy living doll. Emilico, on the other hand, acts very much like a child. She’s positive, upbeat, often confused, and asks a lot of questions, which makes sense as she was literally born recently. It’s also worth noting that she’s already questioning her existence in the first episode, which I found funny as this will most likely come into play later on.
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A Mystery to Unfold
The resemblance of dolls to humans is also uncanny, so much so that we don’t see any signs that prove they aren’t actually humans as they behave exactly like us. While the anime tries to subtly introduce us to this mysterious world, it’s quite hard not to notice the strange aspects of the anime, especially as none of them were explained. For one, we’re yet to know who the Shadows are and why they’re shadows in the first, is it a generational curse? Or is it purely circumstance and a property of this fantasy world? Aside from that, we’re also told the Shadows are a family of nobles which matches the elegant and luxurious decor and the existence of servants, but we aren’t told what makes them nobles. Are they royalty or just wealthy?
However, what we do know so far is that they produce a lot of soot while having negative emotions and that makeup doesn’t work on them, which explains the need for dolls. The anime also hints at the existence of humans, but we have no idea as to if they’re still around or not.
It’s safe to say the anime hides a lot from viewers in the first episode and even hints at something more sinister at play, seen with Kate’s tight-lipped demeanor and the somewhat creepy ending. I’m convinced the Shadow family isn’t as well put together or as stable as Emily as both the openings and endings give us a sneak peek of the rest of the characters’ personalities along with their chemistry with their dolls.
Final Thoughts
What’s more, the anime’s character designs and animation from CloverWorks does a good job of further representing its gothic Victorian aesthetic and allure in the simplest way possible, and its soundtrack isn’t half bad either. Overall, I’d say Shadows House has made me cautiously intrigued and not disappointed. I’m sure there’s still a lot of mystery to unfold. The only question is whether or not these mysteries will be executed well.
Shadows House is available to stream now on Funimation
Have you seen Shadows House? Are you a fan of supernatural anime? Let us know your thoughts in the comments section below.