Ayakashi: Japanese Classic Horror

Sadly when I received this series, the information about Japanese Culture which was supposed to be included was not there. This was important in order to receive a fuller understanding of the stories. I tried desperately to get hold of a .pdf file of the information, but sadly I couldn't find it. Although many of the images and symbols probably got lost in the series due to my Westernised mind, despite this I decided it could be a good way for me to interpret it from my standpoint. The stories in itself did not get lost to me and certainly didn't hinder my enjoyment. So ... don't be reluctant to watch this series if like me your knowledge in Japanese Culture is lacking.

Japanese Horror is well-known to most of popular culture through the Hollywood re-makes such as “The Ring” and “Ju-On”. Ayakashi offers something different to the horror genre by giving us three “classic” tales, by incorporating many symbols and traits of Classic Japanese Tales such as Gods, Demons and the all too famous “Yuurei”. Each story offers a different type of story in the horror genre, which gives you a good taster especially since the whole series is only eleven episodes long.

The first of the three is the well-known legend of Yotsuya Kaidan and arguable the most famous Japanese ghost story, which is told with an active narrator (who is the originally the person who penned this story). It has the ingredients for a good horror story: revenge, love, betrayal, murder, and curses. It also has a MacBeth-ian curse.
The art style fitted the mood of the story of revenge, but also the ukiyo-e style suited the story as it had been quite famous in kabuki theater at the time it was written. The art alone also lets you know what sort of story it is.
There are three things that makes this story stand out: Each character proves his or her own worth to the story, no character is left out or forgotten. They are needed in order for the story to be completed. This is a sign of a good story and partially the reason why Yotsuya Kaidan has become such a classic. The second thing, is the excellent use of imagery throughout the story, although I stated this above that I lacked the knowledge of Japanese Culture to appreciate parts of the story to understand it fully, the imagery I did understand certainly made this story stand out. The third thing which ties into the second is the artful way of telling the story. It was the major reason why I liked this story so much. The way the narrator discussed the idea of horror stories and the way the audience perceived it, the responsibility the author and the audience had towards a story. A theme that always gets discussed again and again is how much you are subconsciously and unconsciously controlled by a story as a writer. It reminded me of one of my favourite quotes by John Fowles, “It is only when our characters and events begin to disobey us that they begin to live.” The last two factors is what made this re-telling so good, especially since this story has been filmed, put on theatre x-times and now for the first time as an anime. One needs to pull in the audience through other means than just a good plot, in order it to appeal with a classic story. These two components of an active narrator and putting imagery to good use is why I enjoyed this re-telling of Yotsuya Kaidan story so much.

The second story is based upon a play from Kyooka Izumi called “Goddess of the Dark Tower”. This centres around the forbidden love between a goddess and a human.
This anime represented many of the traits of Kyooka's work such as the supernatural, his narrative style which was similar to traditional rakugo, this can be seen through the two friendly demons and their commentary on what happens in the story, especially at the end of the story. Dramatic dialogues, which were used in kabuki drama is another element of Kyooka's writing, you'll notice this throughout the story. The most striking of all the concepts used in his stories, which is a driving force of the story is that of a beautiful older woman (the goddess) taking care of a young man (the falconer) or that is how I interpreted it. His plays are quite famous in Japan and are still performed now, so this may come to be lost to many Westerners since many of his plays have sadly remained untranslated.
This attempt to put one of Kyooka's into anime form was left much to be desired due to one downfall, but a crucial one and that was the timing. His plays are well-known for their complex plot and suspense. It's difficult to build up a complex plot in three episodes and at the same time build-up suspense. The suspense was not completely lost, but certainly much of it lost, as it was lost by fitting it into such a small time constraint. This time constraint became the reason for many of its failings, this is illustrated especially through the characters. I questioned the logic behind the characters' decisions and plot holes,[spoiler] for example how the falconers' girlfriend is able to enter the castle without any of the goddesses noticing, especially since no-one comes back alive and this statement is made pretty clear about the castle. [end of spoiler] The character development also became lost otherwise it might have explained the lack of logic behind characters' decisions. It made the characters forgettable, especially with such a large cast. If it had the full eleven episodes, it might have turned into something worthy instead of something that felt full of gaps.
The art certainly made up for the rest, as it had a more optimistic feel compared to the first story. As all in all, it has an optimistic ending or better said it ends on a positive note. Not only that, but the art changes in each part of the story to suit the world it is in. The world of goddesses, the world of humans and the “in-between”. The goddesses with their gorgeous kimonos and the enchanting castle that they live in, the whole place is like a fairy tale from afar, but once you become seduced by all that beauty, it's too late. It's illusion. The art used in the world of humans is clearer and defined with more use of primary colours. No tricks, it gives a sense of what you see is what you get. The “in-between” world is different with everything undefined, as the lines are fainter and the colours blend into together.
Sadly this story had been failed due to one component, because of this many viewers would question not only the things I did, but also why is such a story in this collection, although if it had been done under more desirable conditions it would be a horror story, but it comes off more like a fantasy genre fairy tale. The goddesses need for cannibalism appears to be excuse from the directors to call it a horror story and to place it in this collection.

Ah, the last arc, the reason why so many people possibly have picked up this anime. Reviewers and people who recommend this series tell others if the other two stories are not to your taste, skip them and watch the last arc: “It's definitely worth it!” Well, everyone, it certainly lives up to its hype, despite the fact that I had the gg version which apparently made a major translation mistake and would confuse viewers. (What this mistake is I have yet to find out.) I will definitely give it merit for being the best of the three.
The story is based on the famous “bake neko” or goblin cat from Japanese folklore and is an original story from the writers of this anime. The opening scene already winds you into it, where you see a scene of panic and a mysterious man commenting calmly on the situation, while assessing it at the same time. The story is full of mystery, while you and the medicine seller are trying to find out what has happened, which has caused the grudge of this “bake neko” haunting the family. The first two episodes builds the suspense and let's us get to know each individual and the finale reveals the secret of this family.
The arc is full of Japanese folklore and it would have been quite useful for me to have had the .pdf included when I got hold of this series since there was certainly a lot I missed. This is alone seen by the pictures on the wall, this is exemplified when two of the characters speak to each other in the first episode and the camera shoots includes the picture on the wall while the character is speaking. It seems the character is represented by that picture or better said the animal on the wall and the conversation is between the two animals since the second screen shots switches to the animal of the wall and the voice of the character is the only thing heard. As though the animal is speaking and not the person.
Once again, the way the story was told was masterful, as it combines it's beautiful and unusual art to tell the story. The way the characters were drawn and the clothes they wore were representations of the characters they were, simply by contrasting the medicine-seller with his air of arcane and the pompous, sake-drinking uncle. The switching of scenes is beautifully done by using the sliding door, a simple but wonderful effect. It's as though you're watching it on stage and the sliding doors are like the curtains. This enhances the effect of the art, with its rice paper overlay effect and the vigorous colours used. It really is like the reviewer Malyrush states a “moving representation of Japanese ukiyo-e”. The background stays still, while the objects that move in that scene move, this can be seen quite clearly in first episode when the medicine seller arrives in the area that you can see the smoke moves, but the rest is still. Beautiful. It would be nice if anime producers and creators would finally break conventions and experiment with art, as beautiful and unusual art like this could be created and be used to facilitate the story-telling like in this final arc.
This final story is definitely worth a look, especially if you enjoyed Mushishi. It brings across many of the components that Japanese horror is well-known for, the key element being the idea of “what could be out there”.

The music in each story is wonderful, especially in the last arc. But what deserves a special mention is the opening. I'm very picky when it comes to openings and most of the time I skip them because they mostly grate my nerves, but this one. Oh, wow! It starts with traditional Japanese music and then uses that to bring in the rap.. I thought it was quite skilfully done, since combining both genres could have quite easily gone wrong. I absolutely loved it. The opening changed its art every time the arc changed and the best one once again was the final one. Just have a look on youtube for it and you'll see what I mean. The ending was also quite good, but it wasn't quite as good as the opening. It suited the mood of all the stories and used scenes from the episodes you had just watched and also at the same time discreetly previewed the next episode.

This series is definitely worth a watch, in particular if you're interested in Japanese culture and history in anyway. All the arcs represent many issues going on in the Edo period, in particular the misogyny, which also represented the powerlessness of lower ranked people. It is also a breathe of fresh air to a lot of anime with its art and its refreshing way of story-telling. If you're looking for something different or want to try a different style of anime give this a look!

Ayakashi: Japanese Classic Horror/Samurai Horror Tales is a horror anthology of three unrelated stories: Yotsuya Kaidan, Tenshu Monogatari, and Bakeneko, the third of which received a far more successful spinoff in the form of Mononoke. Each arc was done by a different, and then-unknown director, though the director of the third, Kenji Nakamura, went on to make the critically acclaimed series "Mononoke" and "Trapeze" (He also made [C], though that fails to fall into the previous category). This review will mostly be split up into the three arcs. (NOTE: The R1 release of this series switched the first and second arcs around. This will be ... listed in the original order).


Arc 1 - Yotsuya Kaidan (episodes 1-4)

Yotsuya Kaidan (Yotsuya Ghost Story) is a story based on someone who died in horrific circumstances, due to being wronged by pretty much everybody around her, and manifests as a vengeful spirit, laying a curse on all those responsible. This tale is actually told as a story within a story, as narrated by a scriptwriter adapting it into a play.

This arc happens to be the only one based on an actual Japanese tale, but that doesn't lend it many favours. It begins on very bad footing, the key reason for it being this: The characters actions make insanely little sense. Every character is a stunningly terrible person with absolutely no train of reasoning to follow. They could not be more one-dimensional if they tried. This was obviously an attempt to make us hate them more, and make the inevitable ramifications of the curse more cathartic, but it's done so ham-fistedly that it simply becomes stupid rather than cathartic.

Unfortunately, the horror elements that could have made this halfway entertaining are botched as well, as a result of a limited animation budget and some really bad directing causing major corners to be cut, making large chunks of the arc funny instead of horrific. The art isn't terrible, but it's not impressive either, and it makes itself quite clear on how low-budget it was. There are also frequent live-action sequences as well, which would probably have seemed more impressive if it wasn't so obviously yet another corner-cutting method. At the end of it all, we have a poor-quality story with poor quality directing and terrible characters, giving Ayakashi a very bad start. The only redeeming feature of this arc is an excellent monologue in the final episode, detailing the aspects of this as a story in the real world, and how it transcends its existence as a story to be something much more real.

Story: 4/10.
Characters: 1/10.
Production: 3/10.
Overall: 3/10.


Arc 2 - Tenshu Monogatari (episodes 5-8)

Tenshu Monogatari (Goddess of the Castle), in spite of being in a horror anthology, is less a horror story and more a tale of forbidden love. While there are horror elements, courtesy of the Forgotten Gods the arc focuses on, it mainly focuses on one of the Forgotten Gods falling in love with a human rather than, say, the Forgotten Gods eating people as the arc starts off with. However, this change of style is somewhat welcomed after the overblown style of the previous arc.

But unfortunately it's not very good either.

While this arc does fare better than the first, it succumbs to a major pitfall quite common of romance series: We have to actually give a crap about the main characters for it to work. And in the course of a mere four episodes, which are far more plot-focused than they are on characters, this becomes an impossible task. This is a shame, because unlike the last arc, there is actually a halfway decent story to be told here.

However, just like the previous arc, this story is damaged by blatant directing issues, corner-cutting, and a low animation budget. And wow, the animation budget really doesn't get much lower than this. The animation is amazingly cheap. While this doesn't make it funny like it did in the previous arc, it completely nullifies anything the action in this had going for it. Which is sad, because there were obviously some good ideas at hand here. With a decent budget and more episodes to develop the characters in, this could have been good, but sadly this isn't the case. So while Tenshu Monogatari manages to be better than the first arc, it still produces nothing of worth and is generally a waste of time.

Story: 6/10.
Characters: 4/10.
Production: 1/10.
Overall: 4/10.


Arc 3 - Bakeneko (episodes 9-11)

Wow. Talk about saving the best for last.

The Bakeneko (Goblin Cat) arc is an enourmous departure from the last two arcs in every sense. The first, and most obvious, is that everything in it looks beautiful. Corner-cutting is obviously at hand here, but it is used to the arc's benefit in every single way. Its method of corner-cutting is to use an unmoving plaid style similar to that of Gankutsuou. However, it far out-performs Gankutsuou in that sense. The way that the Bakeneko arc is animated makes everything look as though it is a moving Edo-period painting, and is executed flawlessly. But the budget they saved on animation, rather than simply going unspent, is used to create absolutely mind-blowing action sequences.

That isn't the only aspect of the production that is leaps and bounds ahead of the previous two arcs, however. The directing in the Bakeneko arc is absolutely mind-blowing. The transition in directing quality from one arc to the next is effectively the difference between Tommy Wiseau and Stanley Kubrick. Toei probably weren't even trying with the first two, and merely saving their resources for this arc. The amazing directing in this is responsible for the key factor in this arc: It's the only one in this horror anthology that is genuinely scary. This is as a direct result of Nakamura handling the tension in this arc amazingly. Every moment of fending off the titular monster is incredibly intense. This is also probably the best example of Monster Delay (not revealing your monster's appearance for a long time) that I've ever seen. And as mentioned before, every action sequence is brilliant. This includes what is easily the most beautifully-animated rendition of people being torn to shreds and having their remains splattered across a wall that I've ever seen, to name just one moment.

Another aspect of this arc's excellence is our main character, The Medicine Peddler/Kusuri-Uri. This arc has taken a lesson from the previous arc in not trying to develop characters in too short a space of time. Instead, Kusuriuri relies on how little we know about him to be an interesting character. His otherworldly appearance, his strange mannerisms, and his charisma all make Kusuriuri an excellent character. But moreso, it is the method with which he needs to slay demons that makes him stand out. For him to be able to unsheathe his sword, he must know three things: The form the demon takes, the truth of how it came into existence, and the reasoning behind the demon's actions. Only once he truly understands the demon is he able to exorcise it. This, I believe, adds an excellent layer of depth to this arc.

But while the directing behind this arc is certainly its most stunning aspect, it is carried by an excellent story as well. The aforementioned requirements behind unsheathing the sword cause the backstory behind the demon to unfurl, creating a stunning, tragic tale that I daren't spoil the details of.

Story: 8/10.
Characters: 8/10.
Production: 10/10.
Overall: 9/10.


General:

The music in Ayakashi is shared between the arcs, and is the only aspect that is consistently excellent between them. The background music is always fitting, is rather excellent, and in the Bakeneko arc's case, the absence of outside noise is used to more amazing effect than any of the music is. The only letdown in the case of the music is the opening theme, and even that is only hit and miss. The melody and beat to it is actually extremely good, and is a disturbingly apt mixture of classical Shamisen music and hip-hop, but is unfortunately let down by a terrible vocalist.

The acting in the original Japanese is adequate, but mostly unmemorable. But it is still significantly preferable to the dub, which you may recognize as sharing the entire cast of Vision of Escaflowne. And if you ever saw the Escaflowne dub, you should know to stay away. The only character whose performance really matters is that of Kusuriuri, who is given an excellent, otherworldly charm by Takahiro Sakurai in the original track, and is given a terribly normal-sounding performance by Andrew Francis in the dub. In case you didn't get the point already, don't go anywhere near the dub.

Overall, Ayakashi is two thirds poor quality and one third stunning. However, the last third is told in different format in the spinoff series Mononoke, and while I don't yet know which version of this arc is preferable, it's probably not worth watching the first two arcs of Ayakashi just for this arc as a result.

Final Words: The first two arcs are very bad, but the third is amazing. If all of Mononoke is as good as the third arc it may well be one of the best anime ever made.

Also Recommended: Aoi Bungaku, Mononoke

Music: 9/10.
Japanese track: 6/10.
Dub track: 2/10.
Overall: 6/10.

(the stories portrayed have some graphic images like murder/gore, rape, etc. so watch as your own risk!!) *THIS IS LONG SO READ THE "IN SHORT"S

The series is split up into three main stories:

episodes 1-4: a story about a beautiful woman who falls in love with a man who ends up betraying her, abandoning her and her new born. in an angry rage she kills herself and turns into a vengeful spirit out for revenge

episodes 5-8: a story about the forbidden love between a "forgotten god" and a human commoner

episode 9-11: a story about a wandering medicine seller who specializes in finding and vanishing Mononokes (or ... restless spirits who cause harm/disease/death). the bride of a family dies on her wedding day at the hands of a mononoke and the medicine seller needs its reason, form, and truth to put the spirit to rest.

STORY (7/10):
the stories were interesting to say the least (although i admit i have a personal bias towards the last story because it was made into a fantastic spin off called Mononoke, 10/10 would recommend). needless to say episodes 9-11 were perfect. it was equal parts lively, sad, entertaining, and creepy. episodes 1-4 were also very good! i have a think for mythology and folklore so i read up about them and it was refreshing to encounter something i havent come across. it was quite suspenseful and beautifully made. i also loved the effect the cure had on people in japan during the modern era; it reminded me of the cure of MacBeth! 5-8 was my least favorite. it wasnt really much of a horror story but more of a romantic fairy tale. there was really nothing scary or creepy or edgy about it. however it did serve as a nice break in between the other two stories.

IN SHORT: all of the stories brought their own flavor in interpreting the folklore but story 2 (episodes 5-8) turned out to be more of a love story. nothing edgy or scary about it.

ART (9/10):
this is always my favorite category and im anxious to get started (this might be the longest section) so the first story looked very pretty!! the art style depicted the Edo era of japanese art styles and how the characters were drawn resembled people being painted during that time but with obviously a modern twist. it was really creative and they used their dark color scheme to their advantage. the last story had a similar art style as the first (which i adore)! i also love the use of the really bright colors and different patters and designs on objects (it might make some people sick though) animation wise there werent anything to complain about. the last story is my favorite because of the artistically places jump cuts that characters will do for dramatic effect. the second story got pretty low marks. the art style was much different than the other two and it was kind of jarring. as more animation, there was nothing bad about it.

IN SHORT: no problems in the animation department. stories 1 and 3 were beautiful homages to the medieval japanese art style. again, story 2 seemed out of place and i found it quite ugly to be honest.

SOUND: (7/10)
the music was fitting but didnt enhance the scenes. background music should do both. ambient noise was pretty good! the sword and fighting sound effects were pleasing. soundtrack is a different story. the outro music was very pretty but the intro was confusing. rap music wasnt a good way to set the viewer up for what they were about to see in my opinion

IN SHORT: pretty but not enough to evoke/enhance an emotion depicted in scenes. intro was jarring and didnt set the viewer up for what they were about to see. outro was beautiful!!

CHARACTERS (7/10):
no characters really stood out except for the Oiwa chan (vengeful spirit in story 1) and the medicine seller (story 3). every other character was kinda washed over. that doesnt mean the other supporting characters were good and didnt help enhance the story and the experience; they just werent as memorable. The "forbidden goddess" had the most depth. she had a back story with some potential and with more time we could have seen her develop into a more meaningful character

IN SHORT: medicine seller was the most bad-ass. the vengeful spirit was the most memorable. the goddess had the most depth

ENJOYMENT AND OVERALL (7/10):
it wasnt too bad. the boredom i felt during story 2 was made up for by the other two stories, but i understand why that story was put in and was put in the middle. it was a good palate cleanser. after watching episode after episode of just gore and terrible scenes, the viewer might bet bored/too disgusted/being to wash over scenes because they all look similar. i enjoyed story 1. i really enjoyed the other two. the length on the stories seemed to fit well, they didnt seem rushed or drawn out.

IN SHORT: story 2 was a good palate cleaner between the other two stories. pacing was spot on. it was pretty to look at as well.

RECOMMENDATIONS: dont watch this:
***if you have a weak constitution
***faint heart or are triggered by something like domestic violence (story 1), gore, rape (story 3), abuse (story 1 and 3).
***if you like shonen animes (you will probably be disappointed)
watch this if:
***you liked being creeped out
***you like historical animes

Summary:

The series is divided into three parts, each featuring a famous Japanese story about ayakashi, a supernatural monsters/beings in Japanese mythology.

Yotsuya Kaidan (episodes 1-4): A classic Japanese ghost story about a woman who is betrayed and killed by her husband, becoming a vengeful ghost and haunting the people who are responsible for her death. It is written by Nanboku Tsuruya IV, and the story is also narrated by him during the anime.

Tenshu Monogatari (episodes 5-8): A story of a forbidden love between a goddess and human. Zushonosuke, a falconer, falls in love with a woman whom he saw bathing in a lake, without knowing ... that she is a forgotten god.

Bake Neko (episode 9-11): A wandering medicine peddler arrives in Sakai Clan on the wedding day of the eldest daughter of the family. However the bride dies mysteriously and a ghost begins attacking the house and the other family members. The medicine peddler tries to understand the reason why the creature that attacking the house became a vengeful ghost to kill it.

Story (7/10):

First of all, this anime must be watched by people who is interested in Japanese culture, as each story have the elements of their original time, or the people who likes classics and historical anime.

Yotsuya Kaidan (7/10): It is classic ghost story, so it may not be very unique in 21st century. However 4 episodes makes a good job depicting the original story of Nanboku Tsuruya IV. The story successfully makes Oiwa’s and her sister, Osode’s stories intersect in one point and later concludes without leaving anything out. The writer Nanboku Tsuruya IV himself narrates the story and I liked his narrating voice.

Tenshu Monogatari (7/10): A falconer, Zushonosuke and a goddess falls in love with each other at first sight. The goddess, who is forbidden to love a human, struggles in choosing love and living as a human or to continue living as an immortal entity. I think it would be better if they didn’t just fell in love with each other and meet and talk with each other to develop feelings for one another.

I personally liked the words Zushonosuke said to her the most, that living 20-30 years while enjoying your life as a human is far more beautiful than living an infinity like a dead.

Bake Neko (9/10): The shortest story in the series, but I loved this one the most. The search for the reason for bake neko to seek vengeance, and revealing the dark secrets of the family members were great to watch. The protagonist medicine seller was also the most impressive character in the series. I will watch Mononoke, another anime he is also the protagonist of, next.

Sound (9/10):

The soundtracks of the anime are all perfect except one— the opening. I don’t know why they made a rap-like song opening, while making all the songs in anime classical Japanese musics. The ending is also pretty good. I listened a few songs in the anime a dozen times.
There weren’t anything odd with the characters’ voices. They were all fit for an anime like this.

Art (8/10):

The art is pretty good. You feel like you are in the medieval Japan when you are watching this. Nothing looks out of place, and there are of course no colourful eyes or hairs like we often see in animes.

Characters (6/10):

There aren’t many unique characters. Medicine seller from Bake Neko, who is an exception of this, is the character I liked the most. The goddess and Zushonosuke from Tenshu Monogatari are not very bad either. The characters from Yotsuya Kaidan are the weakest ones comparing to the other two stories.

Enjoyment (9/10):

Each story is as long as they should be. If it was shorter, the story would be rushed, and if it was longer it would be boring. Only Tenshu Monogatari could be better if it was a bit more longer to give time for the goddess and Zushonosuke to develop feeling for each other. I never got bored while watching this and finished it in two days.

Overall (8/10):

The characters are the weakest point of the series, while the sound is the strongest. I recommend this anime to the people who likes history or classics as I have said before. As I am a person who likes both the history and the classics, I absolutely loved this series. But a person who likes only shonen or shojo might be disappointed after seeing my high point for this series. I give an 8/10 for Ayakashi: Japanese Classic Horror.

Ayakashi: Japanese Classic Horror is a group of three different storylines, of which a couple are adaptations of classic japanese stories. As such, this review will naturally be longer than many I've done before as all three arcs deserve their own review, I believe. Also, not that I have not seen the original versions of the stories told in this series, so I have no prior knowledge of any material covered.

The first story told "Yotsuya Kaidan" is about a woman being betrayed, and effectively killed, by her husband and her seeking revenge as a ghost. The atmosphere is effective, but the actual attempts at "horror" ... just didn't come off as scary or chilling. Part of this is because the characters didn't have any room to breath and, as a result their motivations and actions just seemed random at times and another is because the horror felt very very forced.

It is possible to develop characters in a short arc, it has been done before in stuff like Aoi Bungaku's "No Longer Human" story arc so..when you don't care about hardly any of the characters, it's hard to care if/when they die or whatever. That said, the unfortunate Tamiya Oiwa was at least decently sympathetic and Tamiya Iemon was very very hate able...but there could have been more depth to the side characters as well.

The art style and music for Yotsuya Kaidan is very well done. The realistic and dark edge the art has really goes a long way to set the mood the story has, particularly the life like appearance the characters have is agreeable. The music is a great mood setter as well, and the voice acting is great. Particularly Hirata Hiroaki, the voice of Sanji from One Piece, did a wonderful job as the down right bastard Iemon.

The second story arc, Tenshu Monogatari, tells the story of forbidden love between a "Forgotten God" name Tomi-Hime and a human named Himekawa Zusho-no-Suke. The Forgotten Gods actually feed on humans and Tomi Hime's mother had actually met a sad fate for falling in love with a human as well, so it's at least an interesting subject in theory for a story.

The problem, once again, is that the characters just don't have any depth to them and the actual love story is handled very..sloppily and is just rushed in general. When the viewer doesn't connect with the characters in some way, it's just really hard to care about their plight or whether they can make it out alive. That said, one interesting thing the story does is how it handles the actual wife of Zusho-no-Suke and how she reacts to his falling in love with a "demon" as she calls Tomi-himi. Of course, it isn't handled very well in the end but it still is somewhat interesting.

Again, the music is very good and the voice work is top notch. Though there really wasn't much that stood out particularly well in the vocal department either, but the voice work did fit the characters and such. The art style is a bit different from the first arc, not quite as dark and, well, it doesn't hurt the tone of the story much at all. Though the actual animations seemed to take a hit, the art did fit the love story and all.

The final story arc, Bakeneko, is as advertised: easily the best part Ayakashi as a whole. Ironically, it is also apparently the only arc to be original to this anime. Part of this is probably because of the fact that the creators could come up with their own story and could do as they wished since they didn't have to strictly adapt a famous work and thus were much more creative in their efforts as a result.

And, oh boy, does it show. Telling the story of a family being haunted by a cat demon and a certain mysterious Medicine Seller's attempt to save said family and put the "Mononoke" to rest, Bakeneko is trippy, suspenseful, and oh so engaging. The story is effectively about how and why the demon is attacking the family, with the suspense being built throughout the first two episode and the last one does an excellent job at pure storytelling as you learn the circumstance of the "Mononoke."

But, definitely one of the high points of this arc is the main character Kusuriuri who is a guy that just oozes cool and is genuinely interesting. You don't really learn anything about him, unfortunately, you just sort of get glimpses of his personality and ability. It's enough, though, to make the viewer wonder just who the hell is he.

The other characters are actually interesting as well, with the families past getting a large amount of development. Ironically, this only serves to highlight the flaws of the other two story arcs as these characters are very well handled in only 3 episodes, which is ONE whole episode less than the others.

Visually, Bakeneko is a treat. The art is beautiful, very detailed and does a great job of highlighting the atmosphere of the overall story. The character designs, particularly Kusuriuri, are very stylistic and just incredibly pleasing to the eye and much of the story is actually told through the art which makes the best of the animation medium to help the story. Really, I'd find it difficult to imagine anyone saying this isn't one of the best looking anime out there. The animation is very well done as well, Toei obviously pulled out all the stops here.

As far as sound, the music is as excellent as ever and the voice work is great. Sakurai Takahiro does a great job as Kusuriuri, adding a great deal to his characters mystique and overall charm. The music in the last episode particularly should be commend as it was powerful stuff.


Story: 7

There is obviously some worth in the overall storyline for these tails as two of them are considered Japanese classics, but it feels as though something was lost during the adaptations. Feeling heavily abbreviated, it's just hard to really care about the happenings of Yotsuya Kaidan and Tenshu Monogatari. Though I will say that the formers take on what a story could possibly mean to a author and how a viewer/reader could influence a story is very interesting.

Bakeneko's tale of a families dark history is just very well done even though it is actually the shortest of the three arcs. The writing was top notch and just did a fantastic job at building suspense.

Art: 8

Art is top notch for the most part throughout Ayakashi, though it does take a bit of a hit animation wise during Tenshu Monogatari. Still, for the most part the characters designs and such fit the mood of each storyline and most definitely do not hamper any enjoyment what so ever.

Sound: 9

Great sound across the board, particularly the OP and ED. Never would have thought rap would work so well for a historical piece, but "Heat Island"does. The ED song, "Memento of Spring", is excellent and is very nicely inserted into the end of each episode. The music used during the actual episodes are very nicely done, though not exactly memorable. Just good for atmosphere building.

Voice acting is great with Sakurai Takahiro and Hirata Hiroaki being particularly note worthy as Kusuriuri and Iemon respectively.

Character: 6

The characters' actions are largely questionable for the first two arcs, the actions they take seem sort of random and can sometimes seem to come out of thin air with no buildup. It feels as though what ever character development that may have been part of the original was cut out and, as a result, the characters and the plot just moves way to fast.

Bakeneko has pretty good development considering the story arc is so short, and Kusuriuri is a very interesting character who is great to watch.

Enjoyment: 6

I spent a good percentage of especially Tenshu Monogatari just randomly check how much time it had left to go each episode, that should say enough about enjoyment right there. I can tell there is a good story hidden inside, it just wasn't adapted very well that is painfully obvious. Pretty much the same for the first arc.

Bakeneko was, predictably, very entertaining. Interesting characters and plot, along with great art and music add so much to enjoyment.

Overall: 6

Overall, Yotsuya Kaidan and Tenshu Monogatari are just plain weak and poorly adapted. This is very much worth watching for that final arc though, and I'd very much say watch this series in it's entirety. Who knows? The viewer may enjoy it much more than I did as a whole.

The first two arcs are okayish... They weren't very horror, so the sole redeeming factor would be the Bakeneko arc. If I could review it on solely that, I'd give it a perfect 10. But the other two arcs are just a hindrance in my opinion, so I'd just watch the Bakeneko arc.

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.

Aired in 2006 this show is made up of three separate tales each with it's own unique art style.

Story one "Yotsuya Kaidan" 10/10
One of the most famous ghost stories in japan. Written in 1825 as a Kabuki play by Tsuruya Nanboku IV it tells the story of Oiwa and Tamiya. The dutiful wife who was betrayed and her piece of cow dung samurai husband. The way this is presented is a little unusual as we get the author himself narrating the tale and laminating both the events in the play and out of it.
Yotsuya Kaidan has gone on to gain a reputation not ... unlike that of Macbeth in the west. It the cursed play, don't speak it's name and make sure to visit Oiwa's shrine before you have anything to do with it.
Overall this one is the stand out. The drama between the characters, the twists and turns, the added supernatural element all work to produce something haunting.
It's one failing is attempting to gild the lily in a few scenes. The hair combing one in the play is quiet giving it a haunting feel and far more effective than her screeching through out.
To me this was the best one regardless. A complex plot, beautiful art and fluid animation.

Story two “Goddess of the Dark Tower” 7/10
Adapted from a the Kyooka Izumi play called Tenshu Monogatari (the tale of the keep or castle) is a love story between a god and a human. While Izumi's writing often hide social commentary under a thin vail of the supernatural this one was more direct. There are quite a few fable staples like humans/spirits turning into other creatures because it emotionally fits the moment.
However there is something lost in translation with this one as the emotions of the play didn't carry over. Perhaps it was the timing as the pace was hurried to fit into three short episodes.
Over all this one was just ok plot wise, the animation though was rather unusual giving the spirits an unworldly feel in a few scenes.

Story three "Ghost cat" 5/10
Unlike the other two this one is an original tale created for the anime. An exorcist under the guise of a medicine seller visits a house that's haunted by -read the title of the story-.
Plotwise this is the weakest of the lot, stylistically though the art and animation is the best. I like that there can be more than just one truth. The truth that really is, and the one we tell ourselves.
Most hype up this one as the medicine seller (Kusuriuri) is very popular. While I do like the character this one was style over substance.

Overall it's a 7.5/10. A solid show, whatever your taste is one of the three stories is sure to suit it.

This is much like Osamu Tezuka’s Phoenix in that there are different stories in this but unlike the Phoenix, there is not one little thing that keeps the stories connected. They are just simple ghost stories although I don’t know if you would sit around a camp fire and talk about. They are not so much horror stories, as more stories of caution against different things. They seem to have a story that has a lesson at the end.

The first story is a sweet story about forbidden love and fallen gods. I’m not so sure why they have the stupid little spirits that keep ... laughing. It just seems like a waste to have characters there that are only for comedic affect The story doesn’t need it and they have no purpose in the story that I can see. The story without them is rather beautiful, and the language they use is so high class old Japanese that it has a ring of sophistication in it. The art style is rather nicely done, looking mostly like it was done in this year then 2006. It has gentle lines and the only time it really lacks is when the characters are far away making them look so less detailed. Sometimes they even become blobs of color alone. Music is rather nice, a hunting tone that sets the mood. English voices are pretty well done. Again, not so interested in the crazy spirits that they bring in for comedy. Tomi’s voice is rather nice and pretty much perfect for the character.

The second starts interesting with a narrator, supposedly Nanboku telling the play he wrote, calling it the most chilling he had ever written. I’m not sure exactly if it’s chilling or not because the anime version seems a little lacking in the horror. The only thing that makes it any chilling is the fact that he says he was compelled to write it. Ya, real frightening. Unfortunately, the narration breaks whatever tension the story did have and so kills the mood it needed. The artwork is rather odd, showing the characters eyes rather squinted and turned up. It is almost super realistic in a way but then also turned to be cartoonish. It’s not a style I admittedly would like. Sometimes, the characters are also twisted into strange poses and the necks look almost broken. It’s a little two odd for me and I guess it did give me chills on that account. Music is pretty much same as the first one.

The third story feels more like a group of opening episodes for a new series called Mononoke. The story follows a medicine peddler who destroys evil spirits but we never get any information about his background or anything about him for any of it. For all we know, he is a spirit himself. The artwork is somewhat interesting, almost a wallpaper or drawn on a piece of parchment like charactering. The faces are well detailed and almost surreal in a way. The characters voices are really nice and though the English voice of the medicine peddler is different then the Japanese, it gives him a little bit more of a sexy voice. I don’t really know if it’s a good thing exactly because it did not have enough time to rub on me although it did not bother me ether. They also make him talk a little more then the Japanese version. Andrew Francis actually made me think he was Crispin Freeman when I first heard him. It was rather good and I would love to hear him more often then the small parts he seems to be getting. Music is like the others, although it brings in some from the Mononoke series to give it a flavor of its own.

The opening of each is really nice, giving the spirit of how old the show is, though gave it also a rap feeling that felt more like it would fit in this timeframe instead of the Endo period. The artwork is rather interesting, changing depending on the show and it always seemed to be the concept art for the characters. The finished pieces with some moving across the frame. It made it feel like the show was really coming from the pages of a book and becoming life.

Story:
In this anime the story is based on three different short traditional folklore stories from Japan. They are mostly horror stories, however I would say the the last two ones were dealt more with mythical phenomenons and were not so scary. Specifically, it is not as scary as Japanese horror movies are a days. However it is kind of psychological and revolves around issues that have some kind of melancholy into them. It is definitely a very good way to learn about Japanese literature while getting entertained.
Art:
The art is not manga art actually. It resembles ukiyo-e, which is a type of traditional Japanese ... way of drawing. Nevertheless the last story has a different type of art and is a prequel to the anime Mononoke. The last stories art is more like manga art but it seems as if the surface in which it was drawn was some kind of wrinkled paper, I don't really know the reasons which the artists decided to make it seem that way but in my opinion it doesn't really look attractive that way, though the characters design was quite pretty.
Sound:
The sound was mostly Japanese traditional music which made the story more intense and interesting. On the other side I found the ending really nice, because it wasn't completely traditional music, it also seemed to have some elements of more modern music.
Character:
There wasn't any character development at all, but it seemed like at those times folklore legends/stories didn't really deal with character development (maybe there was some in the second story). Generally these types of stories concentrate more on the topic of revenge and hatred encountered in the plot.
The characters were kind of similar between them, I must state that all the stories deal with women that have been deeply hurt because of some man, in one way or another.
Enjoyment:
Finally I found this show really enjoyable because I learned new things about Japanese culture and their traditional stories while I experienced some of the Japanese classic horror aura which made me think about how it evolved to Japanese modern horror encountered in movies such as Ringu or Hanako-san.

Ayakashi ~ Japanese Classic Horror is divided in three individual stories. Each of them stands alone and has nothing to do with the other two. They also share a totally different art style, atmosphere, motives and characters for each of these tales.

Ayakashi begins with the story called Yotsuya Kaidan. The first episode is horrible, it starts just so boring, and keeps this on until the end of it. But then again, that was easily the worst episode of Ayakashi. The good part starts at the second episode, when some great deaths come past the screen, ending at the fourth episode with a satisfying climax. The ... art style is really old-fashoned, though it remains ugly. Though I guess that that was meant to be that way, as the theme of this story is ugly as well. It’s about the evil that humans can accomplish, and these humans eventually get punished. The characters are all horrible bastards, with a few exception, which only makes it more enjoyable to watch when these characters go berserk. Still, even though it was an enjoyable tale, the story itself is mostly one-layered, with a small exception in the second and third episode.

Then comes the tale Ten Shu Mono Gatari, and if it wasn’t for the fact that they share both the name Ayakashi, I would’ve been unable to identify it with Yotsuya Kaidan. Ten Shu Mono Gatari is suddenly a love story, the total opposite of its predecessor. The Horror-part of Ayakashi is also nowhere to be found in this story, it’s just a normal human and a supernatural being falling in love with each other. The art looks really nice this time, especially when compared to Yotsuya Kaidan. The first three episodes build up perfectly, and end into a very satisfying climax. Though, I have to say that Yotsuya Kaidan is the better one of these two, as it featured some memorable scenes, and it has chaos included which Ten Shu Mono Gatari misses.

Then the third story, Bake Neko, comes. And without a doubt it’s the highlight of the series. The art turns into something really unique, I can only say that I loved it, though it takes some time getting used to. The Horror-part is finally clearly distinctable, and the entire three episodes it consists of turn into an amazing roller-coaster ride with a couple of amazing quiet moments. The characters are each wonderful, and I haven’t even began about the story, which was truly one of the best ones I’ve yet to see.

Overall, I’m recommending Ayakashi ~ Japanese Classic Horror. Especially to the ones who love great deaths, though the fans of love-stories will also be satisfied, and even if you’re not one of these people, just give this series a chance. The first episode is what turned most people off, though it you manage to survive that one, you get treated to some brilliant scenes. You can also just skip the first eight episodes, and immediately turn to Bake Neko if you wish, as each of the stories have no relationships with each other.

Ayakashi: Samurai Horror Tales, a set of three traditional Japanese ghost stories.

Goddess of the Dark Tower; While the animation left a lot to be desired, I rather enjoyed this story (the most out of all of them). Hmmm, I suppose there is not a real equivalent in Western culture, but basically…just as a mortal might attain godhood, so too can a god attain mortalhood. Forgotten gods as they were referred to, although I’d refer to them as decayed gods…as their transcendence from purity to worldly is a transcendence from benevolent to malevolent.

Yotsuya Ghost Story; This one was one of ... missed potential. It could have been better, but it was not half bad either. An onryo tale; that of an angry vengeful ghost that bears a terrible grudge against its wrongful and grotesque death. Morbidly frightful to be honest, despite its short comings…especially since towards the end they weave the story into its real life relevance in Shinto, Kabuki, and folklore. Which adds a certain creepiness, I definitely do not want to end up dead from watching this!!

Goblin Cat; Apparently this one was the more popular of the tales and even got its own spin off series. To be honest, I was not so very thrilled by it. The anime style I did not care too much for and the storyline was rather hard to follow. This tale dealt with a bakeneko, a cat goblin. The cliché’ scenario of course where an assorted party is trapped in a house that is being assailed by ghostly/demonic entities and the only person who can do anything about it is some sort of demon hunter or exorcist sent by providence.

All in all; I would recommend these tales to anyone interested in traditional Japanese style ghost stories. Personally, I would say that a movie style format for each tale would have been better then the mini-series style formatting they used for each tale.

Ayakashi: Japanese Classic Horror was brought to us by Toei animation. It's also the series that Mononoke was a spin-off of. Like that series, it's a horror anthology. I really enjoyed Mononoke and I'm hoping that this one will be at the same level. Let's examine it and see.

Story:

There are three distinct stories in this anime. The first is based off of a classic ghost story by the kabuki playwright, Nanboku Tsuruya IV. The second is based off of a play by Kyouka Izumi. The third is an original story featuring the medicine seller with the same voice as Cloud who we all know ... and love from Mononoke. Since these three parts are pretty different and each one has their own strengths & weaknesses, I'm going to be discussing each one separately.

The first four episodes are dedicated to the story of a ronin named Tamiya Iemon. He marries a beautiful young woman, Oiwa but quickly loses interest in her. This results in tragedy and he finds himself haunted by her vengeful spirit. This is easily the weakest story in the anime. It relies pretty heavily on exaggerated melodrama which, to be fair, is pretty normal in kabuki. But, at the same time, the story doesn't come across as a kabuki production in any other way and it can be a bit grating. They also make some changes that don't make sense. A damaging face cream gets changed to an ingested pill so the effect it has no longer makes sense. On the positive side, the way the narrative is tied to its history as a production is pretty interesting. I rather like that take on things.

Our second story, which also takes up four episodes, follows a young falcon tamer who loses a falcon he's been training and is forced to go searching for it. In the process, he has a fateful encounter with a hauntingly beautiful woman. Turns out she's a forgotten God who lives in a Keep that's known for having mortals enter but never leave. The biggest flaw with this one is that the romance, which is at the core of the tale, is pretty shallow and under-developed. They meet for all of five minutes and it forges a strong connection and then in the span of a short conversation it turns to full blown huggy muggy love. Maybe I'm just overly cynical and my cold, dead heart doesn't feel love any more, but I call bullshit on that. Especially when he has a fiancée he's presumably known for a long time and spent a far more substantial amount of time with. On the positive side, the story is pretty compelling and the turns it takes are well foreshadowed. The climax is also intense and gripping.

Then we have our final story, which only gets three episodes. The Medicine Seller goes to an estate that's preparing for a wedding. Unfortunately for the bride, something slays her as she goes to leave, and not in the sense that she finds it really funny. The household blames our elfin hero, even though he was nowhere near when it happened, but he knows the truth. The house is being haunted by a mononoke & unless he can find its shape, truth & reasoning there will be a lot more casualties. This story is the best of the lot, by far. It follows the same pattern we saw in the Mononoke sequel series. The Medicine Seller encounters a problem with a mononoke. The creature has some connection to its potential victims and finding out the truth behind the situation serves to highlight some of the worst aspects of humanity in a way that's chilling and pretty creepy. The story is full of tension and intrigue. Watching this, it's no surprise that there was a sequel just dedicated to giving audiences more of this sort of thing.

Characters:

Once again, I'll go from story to story with this.

The big issue with the characters in the first story is their motivations. The motivating factors for the characters really don't have verisimilitude. Take our Iemon. He murders someone because he wants to be with Oiwa so much, then grows tired of her within maybe a year for no adequately explored reason. It really comes across as the character actions being based on contrivance to get to the next melodramatic moment.

The second story fares better in that regard. Even if the romance is bollocks, our main characters feel somewhat fleshed out and real. The motivations of his fiancée make sense. As do the actions of her advisor and maids. If there's a weakness, it's the lord he serves. The dude comes across as pretty cartoonishly evil, but more extreme in regards to the things he does.

The final story is, once again, the best. The Medicine Seller unravelling the facts behind the mononoke attacking them provides insight into the characters who are in danger and it also serves to showcase the karma inherent to the situation. In some ways, we actually end up rooting for the mononoke since some of its potential victims clearly deserve retribution. Then there are the characters we're more invested in and we want to see make it out all right. All of the characters in the situation have relevance to the story and they do come across as actual people. Not good people, in many cases, but people.

Art:

The artwork in this works really nicely. It's designed to be theatrical and it does shift a bit between stories to better fit the artwork to the narrative. It's a level of polish that I appreciate from an anthology series.

Sound:

The performances vary. The actors in the first story (Hirata Hiroaki, Koyama Mami, etc...) are a bit prone to exaggeration on account of the nature of the tale. The acting in the second story, featuring performances by Kuwashima Houko, Midorikawa Hikaru and others, is more nuanced and they are quite good. The final arc, featuring Sakurai Takahiro & Yukana has the most memorable, intense performances. The acting in it goes beyond good and right to bloody phenomenal. In terms of music, the music composition by Takanashi Yasuharu, who worked on Mononke, Gantz & Shiki, is really well done. REMI's chorus work is expertly done. I will say, I didn't like the opening theme tune. Not only is it out of place, but it's kind of annoying. In contrast I really enjoyed the ending theme tune, performed by Hajime Chitose.

Ho-yay:

There really isn't any to be found.

Final Thoughts:

For the first story, Yotsuya Kaidan, I would say it's pretty average. It has some significant issues that hold it back, but it also keeps you interested and has some good bits. The second story, Tenshu Monogatari, is pretty good. It's not great, but it's good. The final story, Bakeneko, is excellent and definitely serves as a worthy precursor to the series that came after. So, factoring in all three of them, I'll give Ayakashi a solid 7/10. Next week I'll continue horror anime month with a look at Gyo.

This is an anthology of three stories. The first two, Yotsuya Kaidan and Tenshi Monogatari, each consisting of 4 episodes, are both adaptations, though I can't vouch for whether or not they are faithful. The final segment, Bakeneko, at only three episodes, appears to be an original story, though just as with the other two, it's influenced by Japanese folklore and pre-20th century Japanese art periods.

Although there might be some important distinctions between the terms, Ayakashi is similar to the word Yokai, which is a type of demon or spirit. Like most anime listed as horror, these are probably not stories a person into western, ... or even eastern, horror would seek out. Yes, they have demons, ghosts, violence and gore, and are rather grotesque, but they're really more discernible as supernatural tragedies.

To begin with, the opening for the series features the strange choice of a rap song with Japanese-styled background music. The Samurai Champloo creators were able to make the hip-hop tracks fit the show, despite the music style and time period being anachronistic. Here, it's just odd and the song doesn't mesh well at all. The ending theme and other music tracks are much more appropriate and fit the darker tone of the episodes.

Yotsuya Kaidan is a tragedy with very reprehensible characters. Most of them are highly immoral and cruel. Probably the only remotely sympathetic characters are the child and the two exploited women. This particular story bears somewhat of a resemblance to Masaki Kobayashi's Kwaidan anthology, with the rejected wife of the callous and ambitious samurai dying and becoming a vengeful spirit.

However, it manages to become fairly convoluted with its two intersecting stories and multiple plot twists. There are some loose threads, such as the grownup child appearing in one scene and never appearing again. But worst of all is that none of the characters are compelling, and whether they are wicked or sympathetic, they're all equally flat. As it is unlikely for most viewers to become invested in the plight of the characters, the tragedy that permeates the piece remains hollow, if not completely artificial.

The animation is generally as good as it needs to be for such a story, though it obviously never rises to the level of Hakkenden or Akira. The production design is striking in many scenes, most notably the dusk scenes where the male protagonist leaves everything behind. The contrast of the saturated red sky and the silhouetted surroundings, with some selective illumination upon a solitary grave, is very ominous. Lightning is also used to excellent effect. All of the scenes at the house surrounded by graves are also visually striking.

As enjoyable as I found the adaptation to be at times, it all feels rather pointless by the end. A very standard revenge story once you peel away all of the aesthetic flourishes. It seems the writer felt the same way—that the story didn't hold up on its own—for he employed metanarrative devices by the end. Each episode has a narrator, who enters into the story very directly after what should be the end sequence. Alongside live action footage, occasionally with bits of animation, he meditates on the nature of the story being told. Essentially, the ghost is to the characters as the story is to those who experience it. Yet this element doesn't mesh very well and seems more like a half-baked idea than anything profound.

Tenshi Monogatari is a tale of a human and a demon-like woman (referred to as a "forgotten god") falling in love. The woman is the head of a female clan responsible for devouring humans. The man is attempting to climb the ranks of society and also has a wife (or mistress). Both characters have something to lose that provides conflict throughout, and there is an exploration of the demonic becoming more human and vice versa.

It's a predictable story every step of the way, featuring saccharine music for the romantic parts, along with a happy end that had me snorting milk. The production design is rather solid, especially in the first episode. It's clear that by the end there's too much going on to be animated effectively.

The highlight is the third segment, a mystery about a botched wedding of two affluent families and a medicine seller who possesses magical means to vanquish a cat spirit that begins haunting the family, but before he can unlock his powers, he has to solve the mystery behind the spirit. This spawned a series called Mononoke the next year, featuring the medicine seller (as well as the maid, Kayo, in one arc) and the same distinct style, reminiscent of a luridly colored Ukiyo-e painting in motion. Similar to Gankutsuou, the animation is never distractingly bad, but it's the artwork that carries it. The story isn't anything terribly original, but it's a well-presented mystery. The pacing is also much tighter than the other stories because of its shorter length, though it may leave the piece feeling slightly rushed.

For fans of Mononoke or anyone who is intrigued by the art style and presentation of Bakeneko, the preceding segments can be skipped, as they're all independent stories. The previous two are worth a look as well, but if you've seen similar Japanese ghost stories, they may seem a bit humdrum.

This is quite a difficult anime to review as the first two arcs of the series feel like completely different works to the last, and I would be happy to give this a rating of 9 if they did not exist, but unfortunately since they do and they account for the bulk of the episodes in this series (8 of 11), I cannot give an overall rating higher than 7. Also, please note that the individual scores I provided for story, art and such only apply to the final arc for the sake of simplicity, while the overall rating accounts for the series as a ... whole.

The animation in the first two arcs is very limited, and once you get to the last arc it's immediately obvious where the budget went. The animation, art style and production values in general are far higher in the final arc of this series (although the first arc also had an interesting art style, it was just poorly animated).

The first arc offered an entertaining horror story, and was overall fairly enjoyable in spite of the low production values (although I felt as though it could've been condensed to only two or three episodes rather than running for four). The second arc didn't do a whole lot for me from a story perspective, but perhaps it would appeal to fans of romance (not rom-com) anime more than myself. In comparison, the final arc had a much more engaging story with many tense moments and a unique art style, and in addition the characters felt a lot more developed (especially the lead, who stole the whole series for me).

I never thought I'd tell anyone to do this, but I would recommend starting at episode 9 and pretending the rest of the series doesn't exist (unless of course my short descriptions of them sounded appealing to you, or you're just a completionist). Also, be sure to grab gg's release (available on BakaBT) as it comes with some PDF files which provide explanations as to the meanings of various terms used in the series.

this series was done exceptionally well needless to say, with theme being mysterious as a primary to the whole show, the secondaries would have to be a little bit of love but a lot of cause and effect such as charma and upcomings. :)

i would say that if your looking for something a little different from things such as action and cutsie and want to get a taste of something else for a bit, then you may enjoy this.

When I started watching Ayakashi, I did not have any high hopes for it. Horror as a genre is not easy to pull off successfully. But Ayakashi was pretty good at what it does. It is not the kind of horror that scares you or disturbs you, but it does leave a strong impression on you. It is probably more reasonable to classsify it as an anthology of tragic dramas than a work of horror. All the stories are set in the classical Japanese period and they accurately portray the cruel and harsh conditions of that era. The horrifying elements are not that of the ... paranormal monsters but rather of the violence and cruelty that is part of the humans.

The animation is pretty good, especially in the "Bake Neko" segment with some pretty unique artwork. The background score is pretty much on the mark, creating the appropriate atmosphere to complement the plot. ED track is among my favorites. I was instantly hooked the first time i heard it. The Characters are what make the story intriguing. It becomes all the more significant during the "Bake Neko" part which is more or less a whodunit thriller. Can't wait to check out "Mononoke" which is a spin-off from "Bake Neko" segment.

If you are a fan of anime set in edo era, be sure to add Ayakashi to your collection. It is binge-worthy in my opinion.

Where three groups of writers given "Japanese Classic Horror" as a prompt, and this the end result? It's a possibility seeing how each story uses a different writing style, and even a different art style.

The first story, Yotsuya Kaidan, is a classic Japanese ghost story that has been adapted into a play, a few films, and now in anime. The art style is that of a dark anime series (which fits the tone perfectly), and the writing style is that of an older story. Funny thing is, Yotsuya Kaidan is the only one of thee stories that has narration. Of course, the narration is about ... the author of the original play and whether or the Curse of Oiwa is still around.

The second story, Tenshu Monogatari, is based on a kabuki play, but unlike Yotsuya Kaidan, it both looks and feels contemporary. Even if Ayakashi is your introduction to Tenshu Monogatari, you might get this feeling like you've seen it before. I mean, it's not like there aren't other stories about a romance between a human and a deity.

The third and final story, Bake Neko, is actually an original story (about traditional Japanese creature), but it's told in a way that feels like classic storytelling. The art style seems like it's halfway between kamishibai and anime, and it's beautiful! Now, Bake Neko got three episodes, when the other two got four. However, the medicine seller got his own twelve episode series, which is just as good.

SHORT VERSION:
Yotsuya Kaidan - Extremely good, would highly recommend.
Tenshu Monogatari - Meh, nothing to impressive, but no bad
Bake Neko - Highly recommended, don't miss it!

Story 1: Wonderful narration! I hope I don't get cursed and nor do the producers(just kidding!) I really like the way it shows ancient Japanese folklore and culture, it's superbly portrayed and scripted with additional trivia.

Story 2: Inevitable plot from the beginning. Slightly boring, could have been condensed into fewer episodes. Didn't really like the story, hence I'm giving it a lower overall rating .

Story 3: Amazing! the theme is about how humans can be more cruel than demons and things like morality are shown in a very creative yet smooth way.

Overall: It's a nice series of stories, really like the art and sound, it's ... pleasing and has a grace to it all which is difficult to put into words. A good traditional horror in short!

It's a shame that nowadays shows like “Ayakashi: Japanese Classic Horror” are on the verge of extinction for how different the storytelling varies between a normal standalone show and one that pacts along multiple stories each with its own context.
With the word “horror” in the title, it was probably something they added in the English translation to add more intrigue to the series, I was personally drawn to it with simply reading that word alone, goes to show how effective and clever that methods of selling something is, but it turned out nothing more than a sneaky click bait. A bait set up way back ... in 2006 and still did its number on me, but that was nothing compared to the impact some of the presented stories had, and given their origin is several centuries ago is only more astonishing.
“Ayakashi: Japanese Classic Horror,” tells three different stories from the of a traditional Japanese background that deals heavily on supernatural and spiritual concepts, something that still today far fetched and questionable to tackle. But as they say, not every apple in the barrel is a divine one.


Story (7.8/10):
Yotsuya Kaidan (8/10): Stories of revenge have always been told by masses, probably because how relatable of a motive it is for most human beings, but not every outcome of it is served tidely. As cold as it philosophy behind it, it remains quite cheesy most of the time and hard to buy, and most of the time, easy to grasp. Person A holds grudge against person B and sets for revenge, it's how it's always been, so simple and yet unforgiving, right?
Yotsuya Kaidan took a more complicated approach to that by introducing a lot of key characters and a wider conflicting timeline of events by not only discussion a revenge quest but managing two related stories of the same depth with twists almost every ten minutes worth of material that it becomes quite predictable and overwhelming later on, it really wears out the storytelling and makes it somewhat less interesting, like how fast major turnouts are introduced. Had it been a longer series, it would have definitely worked out for the better.

Tenshu Monogatari (7/10): Love stories are probably the most common type of storytelling that comes from tradition, it's not only a source of honesty and pride but also a drug that renders the most honorable of men into a brainless addict looking for the sweet overdose of meth that is his lover.
What started as a casual honest Samurai with a respectable wage, and a loving girlfriend, ended up as a controversial cheater of a kind he never predicted. The story felt pretty plain for the most part, but it was the execution that made it stand out a little bit.

Bakeneko (8.5/10): Probably the only faithful entry out of the three for the word “horror” in the series' title. As short and concise as it was, started out of nowhere and made itself wrap up very quickly making you begging for more (Mononoke is a spin-off of this 3 episodes long tale, thank God there is more.). Both horrifying and saddening, and at the same time beautiful (Visually, more on that later) and fun, it tackles the story of a mysterious medicine seller that tries to exorcize a monster targetting a select members of a household, trying his best to drag the darkest secrets they were keeping, the secrets that made the monster look nothing more than a cute kitten compared to what they truly were.


Art (6.6/10):
Yotsuya Kaidan (7.5/10): In my opinion, out of the three stories, this one had the most realistic artistic choice, not only its use of dark colors and gloomy lighting and shading was toned down to compliment the portrayed era, but people's anatomy and facial expressions were more or less on point with the heavy use of Japanese attire of course. Speaking about the art style here and not the animation, as the latter was an entirely other story while nothing mind-blowing, it managed to keep you focused on what's important.

Tenshu Monogatari (4.5/10): This series was seriously a let down when it came to visuals, and the visual alone is probably the most important aspect that an Anime should master, not only is it the magnet for a new audience but it's what carries the plot ahead. The character anatomy was just horrible, talking here about the faces, most the most part, they were distorted and poorly traced, they felt very cheap and lazy, and that's not to talk about the bad use of colors and shading, it was like setting up a high value for gamma output on an old display device, it was just horrible. Could as well make it to my top-poorly-animated list.

Bakeneko (8/10): While not as realistic as the first story's, Bakeneko is definitely the winner here, talking artistically. Everything felt like staring at an old Japanese abstract painting that has taken some beating from time.
However, don't let the old atmospheric touch of weariness fool you because it can suddenly fill the screen with beautifully animated frames that make your eyeballs almost jump out and eat the sweet candy it sees in front of it.
I'm talking about some serious webgen level animation that might sound from this paragraph like it won't fit the portrayed style, but believe me, that was some of the best-animated sequences I've seen.


Sound (8.1/10):
Yotsuya Kaidan (8/10): The soundtracks in this one highlighted the revenge aspect tackled by the story very well and that didn't fall short on delivering a great performance from the voice acting cast's part, they surely were some talented individuals.

Tenshu Monogatari (8/10): Despite the poor production animation-wise, they really did this show justice when it came to vocals in general that I feel like the voice acting cast did the series a great deed by having it finally stand on its own, some great performances those were, the sound of a desperate couple confessing, the madness on a wife watching her husband cheating on her, all of those feelings were just so natural.

Bakeneko (8.5/10): The medicine seller's voice actor, need I say more? And that's not to say that the others fell short on delivering, well, he was surely the stare of the performance, the way he calmly talks, it highlights how the animation had his face muscles move, you could almost swear the said frame is alive and consciously talking. The sound effects were another thing. They had a heavy use on scattered camera focus to help convoy the horror element of the story, and sound effects played a huge role in racing that to being even more impactful and horror-worthy. Nothing of the cheesy jump scares sfx or anything like that.


Character (7.1/10):
Yotsuya Kaidan (8/10): Just what I like about a well-written plot. Interesting enough character to complement the events, I mean, if you're doing a world-class commercial, you're best to have a modal feature your merchandise than a normal fella passing through the street.
As wide as the character cast was, and given the complex background they came from, even for a western head that's foreign to the Japanese culture was able to connect and understand their motive. Most of them at least is a well developed and fleshed out as both key and side characters.
The bad folks aren't bad just because, they are given a reason, something that defies the classic rotten bad guy, after all, everyone is born pure but then decides what route to take.

Tenshu Monogatari (6/10): I mean, I want to say that I've seen more interesting wooden planks, mostly for how amusingly humiliating it is, but also for how really blunt a character they were. Aside from the Goddess Tomi Hime, we never got any characters that actually explained their origins to back up their decisions later, and even the Goddess after fleshing out herself still didn't make any sense for how she ended up like and how everybody involved just coped with it. A lot was left open for interpretation and it wasn't even justified why.

Bakeneko (7.5/10): I would have loved if they presented more intriguing figures, the medicine seller was really one of a kind, without a doubt, the best character from all of the stories. But one character couldn't possibly make an excuse for every other character, right?


Enjoyment (7.5/10):
Yotsuya Kaidan (7.8/10): It was certainly more of a chore at the beginning to keep up with complex Japanese names (I'm from an entirely different cultural background myself, so no wonder), but once you get past that, you get a lot of thrilling moments and shocking plot twists. Very immersive, just the type of show that gets better and better on every re-watch as you get more familiar with the characters and the historical background of the told story.

Tenshu Monogatari (6.5/10): Not quite as good compared to the other two, but still a better love story than Twilight for sure. The characters were far interesting for me to care about and the art style and animation didn't help either.

Bakeneko (8.3/10): I was totally treated to something I never was ready for. Before diving into it, I had the first story “Tetsuya Kaidan” as my favorite, but as soon as I got into it I knew that wasn't the case anymore. This story did a lot of things right and it was only 3 episodes, the shortest one out of the three. I loved the medicine seller as a character and I adored the premise behind the story and the theme it handled perfectly. If I was going to recommend this series, Bakeneko is probably going to make 70% of the decision.


Overall (7.4/10):
Yotsuya Kaidan (7.8/10): Really amazing revenge story with its own twists and unique conclusion that breaks the fourth wall even, a definitive classic for me.

Tenshu Monogatari (6.4/10): It did not leave a good taste in my mouth, and I would probably end up forgetting about it in a matter of months, if any time I'm re-watching the series, this certainly wouldn't be something to look forward to.

Bakeneko (8.1/10): Certainly one of my all-time favorites now, and I would totally re-watch it like crazy from this point on.

If you're going to watch the series, I highly recommend watching all three arcs on your own decision and decide for yourself, after all, I could just be a sucker for real horror and not so much for romance, you can never know.