I watched the Anime. The plot, the atmosphere, the characters progression are good. I find the art absolutely hideous, but that's just my opinion, and it doesn't hinder the immersion nor the atmosphere (by which I mean there are still damn creepy moments... The blue-haired cat-boy anyone? This guy creeped the living sh*t out of me...)
-First, there is a lot of very classic stuff and drama (such as Muroi (the priest)/Sunako philosophical debates on shiki/human relations) which were to be expected. So nothing really good nor bad here.
-There is also some very annoying points, such as for instance, well Masao, just Masao, completely plot-useless character, and that you already want to shoot right in the head the first time he even opens his friggin mouth. Another incredibly hateful (and hated) character is Megumi (pink-haired girl) but she is actually relevant in the plot, so there is at least a reason for her presence, though I admit I wished she died in horrible suffering pretty much from episode 1.
and that's what she ends up doing by the way. Hurray! Sorry, but that was my genuine reaction to the -somewhat gruesome- scene...
-And then, there are very interesting points, which include :
Dr. Toshio. (somewhat of the hero, along with Yuuki and maybe Muroi+Sunako) He is a very interesting character, especially his
HUGE WTF moment with his wife (really unexpected, I mean he is kinda supposed to be the hero, and then WTF WTF WTF ! mad scientist/torture/psychopath moment.) and also the xanatos gambit he pulls out with Yuuki at the end is well thought.
Yuuki's decisions and convictions.
There are 2 POV, roughly, in hte story : 1)Dr Toshio->extermination of the shiki. 2)Muroi->Cohabitation human/shiki, which then evolves in : all the humans die, and the shiki remain.
So, in the end, there is TEAM HUMAN and TEAM SHIKI.
What's interesting is that Yuuki, though he has been turned, and though he helps team human, doesn't really belong TO EITHER.
And IF the shiki hadn't been such jerks at the beginning (since it's implied that shikis can survive by feeding on humans without killing nor turning them), Yuuki would very likely have proned cohabitation.
He's just in complete disagreement with THOSE PARTICULAR SHIKIS' methods, plus, he considers himself already dead, hence his quest as some sort of "borrowed time righter of wrongs", sort of...
Also, the end, with
our witnessing of the lenghts the 'humans' are prepared to go to->leading to complete and methodical extermination of their former friends and family. Quite interesting to watch. Gory as well.
Oh, yeah, I almost forgot, but the whole HOYAY thing between Yuuki and Tohru was a big plus for me. ^^