Setting

Shiki comes from a divorced family with a strange past, along with a strange event which grants him the ability to see the 'lines of death' which, if broken, can destroy anything. One day, stressed out, he has an attack and ends up killing a woman - only she was a vampire. Now she wants him to help him to hunt down killer vampires while she recovers from his attack, to repay her for "killing her"

Pacing

Tsukihime is a subtle and dark title, not only plot wise but also all characters and visual effects are most often dark and toning to the horror or suspense - which obviously meets the goal of the overall feeling the title wants to get to the viewer.

With captivating characters, a subtle plot that leads to suspense and mystery, and adequate amounts of drama and romance, Tsukihime will most likely only displease those hoping for a all-out plot closure for every small character past, which is not possible at a 12 episodes series - too much hidden details, half-truths and the main plot itself that converge to an interesting, and perhaps unpredictable ending.

Conclusion

Yet another prime example of how an ecchi (sexy) game can be ported to an anime with excellent quality, Tsukihime comes from a good tradition of adaptations of porn or dating games. Bringing a curious and interesting plot, as well as a nice pacing with romance, drama and mystery, Tsukimihe also don't forget about it's main characters, making them believable and human. Unfortunately, as mentioned, with it's limited time, only the main characters really get any development, and the secondary characters are somewhat forgotten.

An excellent title for the most demanding viewer, beware bad reviews that compare this title with the corresponding game. It is quite obvious the full game and the full plot would be a lot better than the title, however, for a small 12 episodes adaptation, Tsukihime excels, and among those who never played the game, it considered one of a kind.