Review: Shadows House
My friends know that I've been hyperfocusing on this series, so my review won't come as any real surprise. But Shadows House isn't very well-known even in anime circles, so I'm going to shine a little light on it.
In the Shadows House, the aristocrats known as the Shadows Family each have a human servant who serves as their "face." The main focus of the series is on the spirited, naive girl Emilico,
who is the "face" to the somewhat more reserved Kate.
They are set to make their "debut" with four other Shadow children and servants:
John and Shaun,
Louise and Lou,
Patrick and Ricky,
and Shirley and Rum.
As we meet these other children and explore the world through Emilico's eyes, we learn some mildly unsettling things: Servants are expected not to think about "trivial matters;" the "soot" created by Shadows has mysterious powers and can come to life; there are mysterious "veiled dolls," who work in the kitchen and laundry; and though the servants are "living dolls," they eat and can experience pain just like human beings.
I won't spoil the debut for you (it's pretty exciting), but I will say that afterward, we learn some of the darker secrets of the Shadows House.
My Two Cents
I love this series. It hits a lot of my buttons: the Victorian aesthetic, the Gothic horror, the social commentary. Emilico is one of those super-peppy anime characters that a lot of people find annoying, but I find that the other characters' personalities tend to balance her out. If you like a Victorian aesthetic with a hint of horror, this is the show for you.
10/10 will probably re-watch Season 1 yet again as I wait with bated breath for Season 2