Yami Shibai (Yamishibai: Japanese Ghost Stories)

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Alternative Titles

English: Yamishibai: Japanese Ghost Stories

Synonyms: Theater of Darkness

Japanese: 闇芝居

Information

Type: TV

Episodes: 13

Status: Finished Airing

Aired: Jul 15, 2013 to Sep 30, 2013

Premiered: Summer 2013

Broadcast: Unknown

Producers: TV Tokyo

Licensors: Sentai Filmworks

Studios: ILCA

Source: Original

Genres: Dementia, Horror, Demons, Supernatural

Duration: 4 min. per ep.

Rating: PG-13 - Teens 13 or older

Statistics

Score: 7.05¹ (scored by 34,838 users)

¹ indicates a weighted score.

Ranked: #3440²

² based on the top anime page. Please note that 'Not yet aired' and 'R18+' titles are excluded.

Popularity: #1720

Members: 77,339

Favorites: 250

7.05

Ranked #3440Popularity #1720Members 77,339

Summer 2013TVILCA

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Episodes: /13

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Synopsis

The mysterious, yellow-masked Storyteller is a man whose true name and origin are both unknown. He appears at dusk where children gather and recites sinister tales based on Japanese urban legends, to which his young audience eerily intakes. However, the Storyteller is no ordinary teller of tales. He incorporates a kamishibai, a traditional paper-scrolling device, to add visuals to his already demented narration.

A series of short horror stories, Yami Shibai begins with a bachelor who, after moving into a new apartment, immediately starts sensing a malevolent glare being pressed into him. A single talisman rests on his ceiling, but he has no way of knowing it is one of the few safeguards that separate him from a bottomless pit of suffering. Each story is more terrifying, more appalling, and more sickening than the last as the Storyteller's audience find themselves being sucked into the vicious world of his words.

[Written by MAL Rewrite]

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Background

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Episode Videos

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Related Anime

Sequel:	Yami Shibai 2
Spin-off:	Ninja Collection

More characters

Characters & Voice Actors

Storyteller

Main

Tsuda, Kanji
Japanese

More staff

Staff

Hosoya, Nobuyuki

Producer

Takashima, Tomoya

Episode Director

Nakamura, Manabu

Episode Director

Kumamoto, Hiromu

Script

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Opening Theme

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Ending Theme

"Kaifuu Emaki" by AVtechNO! and Teniwoha (performed using Hatsune Miku)

More reviews

Reviews

Aug 10, 2013

13 of 13 episodes seen

Overall Rating: 8

Alpharon (All reviews)

127 people found this review helpful

Esta review también está en español.

Step right up and have a look… It's time for Theater of Darkness…

With this ominous presentation, a mysterious man wearing a golden mask invites us to enjoy Yamishibai: Japanese Ghost Stories (Theater of darkness, and from now on, YS), an anthology of Japanese rumors and urban legends, full of spirits, ghost, curses, and all those creepy things we like so much. No gore or extreme violence here, only pure, clean terror.

Unlike creations like Ayakashi: Japanese Classic Horror or Kousetsu Hyaku Monogatari, which both had a more medieval setting (or at least, before the Meiji era), YS take place in read more

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Oct 23, 2013

13 of 13 episodes seen

Overall Rating: 7

NeverKnowsBest26 (All reviews)

39 people found this review helpful

Sometimes the simplest of ideas work surprisingly well. Yamishibai: Japanese Ghost Stories (or Theater of Darkness) is essentially the animated equivalence of telling spooky stories by the campfire. Of course, unlike campfire ghost stories, it has the advantage of telling its story through visuals and atmosphere setting sound design. This is as rudimentary as storytelling gets, short and quick to the point. Yet these tales of horror are plenty effective; distilling the tense atmosphere and shocks which make those short ghost stories so much fun.

Yamishibai wholly commits to creating a creepy atmosphere from beginning to end. The short opening for every episode has a man in a creepy mask telling a bunch of pale, lifeless looking kids with bloodshot eyes at a playground to gather round and listen to his story. The color pallet is all grimy, dank, and subdued. Lighting is used to ominous effect, casting shadows and shining at discomforting angles. Ambient noise and a few musical tracks create tension very efficiently. The show does a good job building up to the inevitable jump scares in every episode, which are surprisingly effective given how prevalent they are. You could probably have a seminar on how to properly do a jump scare using this show.

To say that Yamishibai is animated is a bit of a stretch, actually. Fluid motion is pretty much non-existent here, and characters mouths don't even move when they talk. It isn't done in the traditional animation, instead much more like an elaborate puppet show of sorts that uses paper cutouts. Oddly enough, this doesn't hurt the show, and in fact it even works to the show's benefit, although it makes quite clear that there wasn't much of a budget behind this project. This style gives the show an almost other-worldly feeling that helps the scares along, as they might have come across as trite in a more traditional animation style or live-action. The constantly on-edge voice work and ominous use of sound complete the creepy package.

With all this said, Yamishibai is undeniably a one-trick pony. The only thing the show actually accomplishes is the effectively creepy atmosphere. The stories themselves are, frankly, unremarkable. Yes, they are steeped in Japanese occult lure, which is interesting, but that is it really. They are only serve as the skeleton for the show's short creepshows. They never give much of an explanation and ultimately don't leave any sort of impression. The stories all follow essentially the same formula, and so can be very predictable. Some are outright silly, most notably an episode that features a poop monster, and are only saved through the show's effective atmosphere. This is excused by the fact that these are short episodes with run-times no longer than 5 minutes, but it is clear that Yamishibai is as narrow in scope as a show can get.

Minimal ambition aside, Yamishibai is a fun little taste of the macabre. All things considered, it is nice little collection of creepshows. It isn't a big time commitment only spanning 13 episodes, roughly around an hour with the short running-time of the episodes. It's a good little time-waster to watch in the dark.

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Jan 12, 2021

13 of 13 episodes seen

Overall Rating: 6

Luubie (All reviews)

6 people found this review helpful

When we watch horror anime, it is expected to follow an engaging story that does not abuse harmful techniques that only serve to scare the public. Furthermore, shows need to arouse interest, as suspense, action and production need to work together to offer the best show possible, be it film, manga, series or anime. Yami Shibai is an example of how to make disturbing stories, without depending on other forms of discomfort or tension.

To begin with, I must say that the show is independent of a very elaborate narrative quality, especially when it comes to a compilation of Japanese horror stories, where urban read more

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Dec 23, 2014

13 of 13 episodes seen

Overall Rating: 8

wengdeng (All reviews)

17 people found this review helpful

Theatre of Darkness will be the shortest hour of your life.

Allow me address the elephant in the room – the episode runtime. The problem here is I do not lean strongly either way because I cannot completely tear down nor defend it. I will say it is a big factor as to why I did not rate this a perfect 10, though. Visually, it is compelling. There are times when the quality falters, but because of the stylistic choices which fit in with the cutout 'theatre' image, I cannot complain. The sound and atmospheric design is very well done. And most importantly, the horror is executed amazingly. But this is where the 4-minute limit becomes a hit-or-miss situation.

There are quite a number of times where the fast pace actually helps. There is literally no time for draggy or slow exposition or set-ups (all of which are handled concisely and without halting the progression of story), and every episode almost instantly dives right in. The suspense is amazing. And there are undoubtedly one or two episodes which were just right, and might have in fact been ruined if they had added even a minute more. But there is mostly where all the advantages of using 4 minutes shine – the build up.

On the other hand, more often than not, the fright is cut off so anticlimactically and abruptly, that you're left with less of a horrified "oh my god" and more of a genuinely confused "what the fuck". Unless that was their goal, since it is half the reason why you're so compelled to watch the next one, because you feel the need to satisfy all the unreleased tension. But if this was the point, then why wouldn't they just make an anthological movie? I understand that every episode is meant for just one quick scare, but that's 10 seconds after 3 and a half minutes of really, really good set up and anticipation; it almost feels as if they're pulling punches.

Perhaps what makes it frustrating is that it is very obvious that the staff involved are very good at what they do, and that they have the potential create a fantastic horror anime. They evidently understand how to make an atmosphere creepy, and not pretentiously so. For instance, many horror filmmakers use mannequins without necessity, simply throwing out the mascot of the uncanny valley simply because people are creeped out. Yami Shibai uses it once, and they use it oh so beautifully. And the fact that they can create such suspense for characters that the viewer hardly has time to become invested in or care about speaks volumes.

I can't say restricting them to 4 minutes is wasted potential, because it is a very difficult task – so if anything they had to work even harder for it. But they were given the freedom to lay down something spectacular without prohibition, it would be phenomenal.

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