Commercial/Literary Fiction - Shiki

Shiki (translated as 'Corpse Demon') is a Japanese horror novel written by Ono, Fuyumi in 1998 which was published in two separate volumes (later reprinted into five in 2002).

The cover of the first Shiki reprint volume

If I had to categorize Shiki as either commercial or literary fiction, I would without a doubt deem it literary. Before one can review Shiki, it is important to take note of its setting. Shiki takes place in the village of Sotoba, which begins to see an epidemic kill the young and old alike in the dark of night. However, the true culprit are the Shiki, essentially classical vampires who are slowly increasing in number as a select few begin to rise from the dead. The Kirishiki family, a wealthy lot who established an ominous castle towering above the village, strangely almost never leave their house until dusk. 

If this sounds familiar, it is because Shiki clearly draws a significant amount of influence from Dracula. Like Dracula, the climax of the film cumulates with the villagers, armed with wooden stakes, banding together to brutally annihilate the Shiki. 

See title

Unlike Dracula, whose themes are questionable as evidenced by the numerous valid interpretations of homosexuality and feminism, Shiki primarily calls into question the morality and nature of the Shiki. Ono begins the story by the strange and emotionally straining terrorism that came about from the Shiki. The villagers are distressed by the sudden deaths of their children and of the elderly. Dr. Toshio Ozaki is frustrated as he is unable to save any of his patients, suspecting the presence of an epidemic. As the story continues, he realizes that his patients are dying of hemorrhagic shock and comes to the conclusion that there were vampires in the village. 

Toshio's best friend, Seishun Muroi, becomes a Shiki sympathizer, believing that Shiki eventually have to feed on humans in order to survive and tolerates them. He is frankly disgusted with Ozaki's obsession to eradicate the Shiki.

"What would you have preferred me to do? I made a decision. I cannot allow this contamination to keep growing, so I'll hunt the Shiki. This is justice to me."

-Toshio Ozaki

The moral controversy is that in the second half of the novel, there is a complete reversal, where the humans band together and ruthlessly murder the Shiki. In one scene, a pile of staked Shiki are hauled on a truck to be cremated by a group of everyday women. At this point, one of the bodies begins to squirm, prompting one of the women to very quickly claim that she "will handle it" and rams the stake in deeper with a smile on her face, after which the women collectively eat sandwiches while drenched in blood. In this half of the book, the humans are portrayed as relentless, unforgiving, genocidal, and unsympathizing. Keep in mind that the Shiki did not chose to be Shiki but have received a second chance at life through reanimation. They cling to their second life by feeding and though they feed on their loved ones, they do so with the vague consolation that they may rise.

However, I would like the focus on the the novel and compare it to the anime/manga adaptations, which take a stance closer to that of commercial fiction. Seishun and Toshio are the main characters of Shiki the novel and they express deeply contrasting viewpoints about the Shiki, where Seishun believes that the reason they can't coexist in only because of how humans are quick to vindicate the Shiki. However, there is another character known as Natsuno Yuuki, an introverted teenager who is determined to leave the village. He dies halfway through the story when he encounters his only friend, Toru, as a Shiki, and loses the willpower to fight back. Natsuno desperately wants to believe that Toru will spare him despite his numerous opportunities to stake him and willingly offers up his blood to him as a friend who understands, only to die. 

Natsuno Yuuki is a main character in the anime adaptation

In the manga and the anime, Natsuno revives as a Shiki that does not need to drink blood, much like two other Shiki in the original series, and plays a background role by targeting the biggest threats of the Kirishikis and reverse-hypnotizing Ozaki. Why would the creators drastically modify the plot this way? This is due to the nature of television and comic media as having to be profitable endeavors. Animation primarily appeals to a teenage audience and so Natsuno was selected to be revived for little reason other than allow the viewers a younger character to sympathize. And the result was clear- Natsuno had nearly no symbolic significance and was more of a character that was just 'there'. 

The overarching question I wanted to asked here isn't about whether anime or manga stories can be considered as manga nor is it an argument favoring yay or nay. The question I wanted to ask is what factors do not make anime literature and this comparison between the literary fiction of Shiki and the commercial anime of Shiki reveal the limitations of audience. Anime and manga require a far more substantial investment to produce compared to novels and are much more expensive to purchase for viewing pleasure. There is the potential that anime and manga are generally not viewed as literature due to the cluttering of commercial fiction that is required to sustain them.