Shadows House

is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by the duo Somato. It has been serialized in Shueisha's manga magazine ''Weekly Young Jump'' since September 2018, with its chapters collected in 19 volumes as of January 2025.

A 13-episode anime television series adaptation produced by CloverWorks aired from April to July 2021. A 12-episode second season aired from July to September 2022.

Plot

In a grandiose and dark mansion live the denizens of the Shadow House, attended by their Living Doll partners who endlessly clean the soot their masters emit.
Emilico, a young and cheerful Living Doll, is delighted to start serving her mistress Kate. As the two grow closer and are slowly exposed to various events within the House, they start to discover a number of dark secrets.

Media

Manga

Written and illustrated by the duo Somato (specifically, written and designed by Nori and illustrated by Hisshi), ''Shadows House'' started in Shueisha's manga magazine ''Weekly Young Jump'' on September 6, 2018; the ''Weekly Young Jump'' app, ''YanJan!'', distributes a full-color version of the series. In July 2024, it was announced that the manga had entered its final story arc. In the same month, Somato announced on a pixivFanbox post that they would change the serialization schedule to publish two chapters and then go on a break for two issues, continuing that cycle thereafter (the manga previously had a publication schedule of three new chapters and one-issue break). In that post, it was also noted that the series' story writer has been in poor health since 2023, and their condition had not improved. Somato also stated that the manga has at least one year left in serialization at its new pace.

Shueisha has compiled its chapters into individual volumes. The first volume was released on January 18, 2019. As of January 17, 2025, 19 volumes have been released.

The manga has been licensed for English release in North America by Yen Press, with the first volume released on June 21, 2022. As of January 21, 2025, eight volumes have been released.

A ten-page special crossover chapter with Somato's previous manga series, '' Kuro'', titled , was published in ''Young Jump Heroine'' on August 10, 2022.

Anime

In October 2020, an anime television series adaptation was announced on the cover of the manga's sixth volume. The series is produced by CloverWorks and directed by Kazuki Ōhashi, with scripts written by Toshiya Ōno, character designs by Chizuko Kusakabe, and music composed by Kenichiro Suehiro. It aired for 13 episodes from April 11 to July 4, 2021, on Tokyo MX and other channels. The opening theme is the instrumental "A Hollow Shadow", composed by Suehiro, while the ending theme is , performed by Reona. The ending song for the eighth episode is the instrumental , composed by Suehiro. Aniplex collected the episodes on six DVD and Blu-ray sets, released from June 23 to November 24, 2021.

In September 2021, it was announced that a second season was in production. The main cast and staff reprised their roles. It aired for 12 episodes from July 9 to September 24, 2022. For the second season, the opening theme is , performed by Reona, while the ending theme is "Masquerade", performed by ClariS. Aniplex collected the episodes on six DVD and Blu-ray sets, released from September 28, 2022, to February 22, 2023.

English release

Funimation streamed the series outside of Asia. Following the announcement that Funimation would be unified and merged under the Crunchyroll brand, the series became available on the namesake platform. Crunchyroll also streamed the second season. Both seasons were released on home video; the first one on September 20, 2022, and the second on August 29, 2023.

In Southeast Asia, the series is licensed by Muse Communication. Both seasons were broadcast on Animax Asia in the region.

Reception

Manga

By October 2023, the manga had over 2.7 million copies in circulation. By July 2024, it had over 3 million copies in circulation.

Rebecca Silverman of Anime News Network gave the first volume a B+ rating. Silverman highlighted the relationship between Kate and Emilico, and praised the series for its Victorian-inspired setting and detailed artwork, commenting that it "calls to mind such well-known texts as ''Snow White'' and ''Through the Looking-Glass''", also stating that Emilico resembles John Tenniel's illustrations of Alice from ''Alice's Adventures in Wonderland''. Reviewing the second and third volumes, Silverman commented that while the first volume served as an introductory book, the second and third volumes are much more plot-packed, also praising the new introduced characters, and expressing that the worldbuilding "continues to be excellent." Antonio Mireles of The Fandom Post gave the first volume a B– grade. Mireles commented that, although the first volume does not make a strong first impression, he felt the series has potential to develop further. He praised the relationship between Kate and Emilico—"explored by great artistic expression due to the nature of the Shadows". Reviewing the first volume, Danica Davidson of ''Otaku USA'' lauded the series for its setting and artwork, commenting that it "does a good job of showing us a world gone by." Davidson also praised the "own unique blend" between the "wholesome feeling" of the older clothing, living styles, and characters, and the series' own "sinister and creepy" premise, ultimately calling the first volume "an interesting start."

Anime

Allen Moody of THEM Anime Reviews gave the series five out of five stars. Moody praised the series for its premise, setting and characters (highlighting the character of Kate), also positively comparing it to ''The Promised Neverland'' for the "atmosphere of claustrophobia and menace". Moody finally commented: "The first two seasons of ''Shadows House'' may have been mostly stage-setting, but I'm eager to see the rest of this saga unfold."

The first season's ending theme song, "Nai Nai" by Reona, was nominated for Best Ending Sequence at 6th Crunchyroll Anime Awards in 2022. The second season's opening theme, "Shall We Dance?" by Reona, was nominated for Best Anime Song at the 7th edition in 2023.

Notes

References

Further reading

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External links

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{{CloverWorks

Anime series based on manga
Aniplex
CloverWorks
Crunchyroll anime
Dark fantasy anime and manga
Funimation
Muse Communication
Mystery anime and manga
Seinen manga
Shueisha manga
Supernatural anime and manga
Tokyo MX original programming
Yen Press titles