Ranked #488

Ayakashi - Japanese Classic Horror

This is my first review on this particular site, so if you have any constructive (!!) criticism, please don't hesitate to message me.

Ah, Japanese culture. So varied, so complex, so .. involved. Ayakashi is a collection of three Japanese legends and folklore, each one told in a stand-alone fashion and with different art styles. They may as well be completely different anime, but nay, it is all packaged together for your convenience!

The first, a variation of the telling of the Yotsuya Kai Dan is very dark, befitting for such a tragic tale. It fills the 'horror' genre very well, with its manifestations of vengeful spirits, curses, and tense moments. It flows very well, with real story or character bumps along the way; all goes on as it should. For a historical piece, this one is very involved, and it would be good to have some in-depth Japanese cultural knowledge, or there will be some things you will miss that are important to the story, since Yotsuya Kai Dan makes excellent use of imagery, the mark of a truly good horror story. The seinen-esque style of this one will let you know this is a story that will not end well~ There is a small cast of characters here, but very involved, as no character that is introduced is disposable; they all have a significant impact on the story, which is also very complicated. Pay attention! Anyone that does not enjoy figuring out complicated plot lines and lots of talking will probably not enjoy this.

The second is a bit of an oddball: Tenshu Monogatari. I would recommend watching it last, as it completely changes gears into a sort of fantasy-genre fairy tale. It's a little more forgettable as the cast of characters is rather large, and not much screen time is given to some of the other goddesses in the story. Animation in this one is noticeable more colorful than Yotsuya, which is fitting as the first tale is very doom and gloom while Tenshu is a love story with a cast of goddesses whose main way of differentiating each other is the color of the very complicated things they wear. The difference between the goddesses' realm and that of mortals is notable because of this, you'll see a lot more neutral tones in the few times you see the mortal realm. More imagery! The characters are a little forgettable, since as I mentioned, most of them do not get enough screen time, though what I saw of the other goddesses reminds me slightly of Aa Megami-sama. This one is sweet as a standalone story, but a little strange to find in the mix of Ayakashi.

The third story is definitely the best, and has generated a spinoff of its own recently: Bakeneko. This entire story is animated with a rice-paper overlay effect and in vibrant, oddly-textured colors, making it look like a moving representation of a Japanese ukiyo-e. To say Bakeneko is beautiful is a severe understatement. Bakeneko very aptly fills the hole left by Tenshu in the 'ghost story' description, as well as having a crafty mystery spin to it. This story also has quite a bit of Japanese folklore in it, so some knowledge of the history of exorcism is good to have. The first two episodes of Bakeneko are buildup to the finale, filling in the story and coaxing the mystery from the woodwork in several pieces, to lead up to the shocking conclusion! The characters are very unique, very memorable, especially the Medicine Seller for his enigmatic air and his transformation in the conclusion, which is wisely not explained as to add to the mystery. For such a short story, it is surprisingly easy to develop feelings for the victim woman in the story, making the finale so much more believeable, and in so many words: freaking awesome. Very well done; I loved this one the most and it is apparent why this one was chosen to be continued in its own series, Mononoke.

All in all, all stories were told very well, and are all completely standalone. If you don't like one, please try the others, you are bound to find one you like. The animation style differs according to each one, but fits each story well, and the characters are mostly well done, with the exception of Tenshu's not getting enough air time. I definitely recommend Ayakashi if you are a fan of historical Japanese tales, folklore, and legends, or just a fan of historical Japan and its culture. read more

I had a really hard time deciding how to rate this anime - not just because it consist of three different stories (having nothing to do with each other), but also because I just had mixed feelings.

Story: 9
All three stories were great, but seem to be part of the actual Japanese culture, so it wasn't something "new". Still very good though.

Art: 5
I was definitely not very impressed with the art in either of the stories (drawn differently!) The first wasn't special, though the scenes/backgrounds weren't fantastic in it, and I didn't really like the way people were drawn - they all looked mean and scary (not everyone is mean in the story). Not a super-supernatural and odd coloured hair or the like. Much more realistic than many others.
Second story was as close to the average anime as we get. Wild hair, some with odd colours, but luckily no excess spark and gloss. More colorful than the first, and the people didn't all look mean :b More had been done to create scenes, but again, it's not something fantastic or outstanding.
Third story - let's just say I've never seen that kind of art before. There were so many colours and shapes that it was sometimes hard to distinguish between objects. A constant "layer" was in every scene - like it has been drawn on crumpled paper. It also often looked like it was just drawn in 2D - there isn't much depth in it.
One of the women looked a bit like a black person - big lips and skin more tanned than others'. Had I only seen a bit of the anime, I would have guessed it to be a comedy.
Though, I must say that the art was pretty good at the climax - the art did something to the action scenes.
Generally, I really don't know if I like it or not. It's very unique, but I think it's kinda odd.

Sound: 5
I don't even remember much of the soundtrack... I do believe though, that there were some scenes where the background music really made the mood.

Charachter: 5
I don't know... It's about 3-5 episodes to each story, so you don't really get to know a whole lot about the people, hence I don't have much to say.
The charachters in story 2 were somewhat interesting though...

Enjoyment: 7
I did enjoy the show a little after all. The stories were interesting because they seem be part of actual Japanese culture (correct me if I'm wrong).
The first story was gory, the second way more beautiful, more romantic, and the third was Mushishi-ish in plot. Not bad, and I would encourage people to take a look at it, as it is quite interesting, and maybe even more to others than to me.

I give it an overall on 7. read more