In honour of the return of Shadows House, I made myself a little Shadow Rini! I hope you like her as it took me a surprisingly long time to do. I even mirrored her. It’s impressive how easily I can be amused!
I have been looking forward to this. I think it’s safe to say that I enjoyed season 1 of Shadows House more than most and I couldn’t wait to share another season with you guys. I’m happy to announce that I got right back into it like no time had passed.
Shadows House has a wonderful unsettling atmosphere and it transported me right back to the heart of the story. It also helps that John is still John. I suspect John will always be John. Some things can be counted on!
I can’t explain it in any satisfying way but I always found Shadows House to be cool. I love the designs, I love the music, I think the universe of Shadows House is mesmerizing. I fear there may be no way to actually create a satisfying explanation for everything but I still find myself desperate to know exactly what is happening. This is neither here nor there but I tried to read the mange between seasons because I was so engrossed in the story. I couldn’t make it passed the first volume. I guess this one just speaks to me more in adaptation.
I have been noticing this more frequently in anime. There was almost no background music for the entire episode. On the one hand, this is a little disappointing because I think the Shadows House soundtrack is one of the best out there. I am not sure who picks and arranges the music for the show but kudos. On the other hand, this show, with the unsettling and mysterious atmosphere it cultivates, is probably one of the best shows for eerie silence. It just made everything so ominous even though nothing bad happened.
I am looking forward to seeing what the OP is next week. I remember that both the OP and ED of season one were some of my favourites. I quite liked the song they played at the end of this episode, I’m not sure if it will become the OP theme next week but it needs some animation to go with it. I have great expectations!
I was a little amazed by how well I remembered the first season and all the characters. Not just the main cast. I know that Mary Rose has some skeletons in her closet but I can’t help to love her screen presence. I remembered Barbara and I’m intrigued that she seems to have an important arc this season. I also remembered Rum with a little bang of sadness and it dawned on me that the kids we knew are no longer quite themselves. Except for John of course. There’s no stopping someone like John.
I actually have some hope that Patrick and Ricky have broken the spell. Maybe it’s just wishful thinking. Still, those two are never quite what you expect and I think it might play in their favour this time.
This is a side note but I really liked when Kate had to gently scold Emilico because she was doing a very inappropriate facial expression. I have always really liked the idea of becoming someone’s expression. It’s very odd as a concept but I find it enticing. However, I still can’t bring myself to see the shadows and the dolls as one and the same. That actually makes the scenes where they perfectly mirror each other even more uncanny which is a good thing. But I think it may be just a bit too out there for some viewers.
In any case, this was a great first episode. It properly reminded us of the mysteries of Shadows House, reintroduced us to the cast and universe, and set up some new puzzles and conflicts for the season. I am looking forward to sinking my teeth into it!
Previous Posts
Season 1
- Shadows House episode 1 – Emilico
- Shadows House episode 2 – Impure
- Shadows House episode 3 – Broken
- Shadows House episode 4 – Murder
- Shadows House episode 5 – Bearer
- Shadows House episode 6 – Proposal
- Shadows House episode 7 – Sunshine
- Shadows House episode 8 – Revelation
- Shadows House episode 9 – Reunion
- Shadows House episode 10 – Fairies
- Shadows House episode 11 – Human
- Shadows House episode 12 – Escape?
- Shadows House episode 13 – Caesura