Dark Gathering

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Alternative Titles

Japanese: ダークギャザリング

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Information

Type: TV

Episodes: 25

Status: Finished Airing

Aired: Jul 10, 2023 to Dec 25, 2023

Premiered: Summer 2023

Broadcast: Mondays at 01:05 (JST)

Producers: Sotsu, Pony Canyon, Kansai Telecasting, NetEase, BS Asahi, CHOCOLATE

Licensors: Sentai Filmworks

Studios: OLM

Source: Manga

Genres: Horror, Supernatural

Theme: Gore

Demographic: Shounen

Duration: 23 min. per ep.

Rating: R - 17+ (violence & profanity)

Statistics

Score: 7.84¹ (scored by 38,518 users)

¹ indicates a weighted score.

Ranked: #906²

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

Popularity: #1717

Members: 130,705

Favorites: 965

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7.84

Ranked #906Popularity #1717Members 130,705

Episodes: /25

Synopsis

Spirits have always been attracted to Keitarou Gentouga due to his strong spiritual presence. A traumatic encounter with one had caused his right hand to be cursed, forcing him to wear a glove at all times. Now a college freshman, Keitarou is trying to live as normal a life as possible. With the encouragement of his childhood friend Eiko Houzuki, he becomes a private tutor. Since he is at the top of his intake class, his first client is the tutoring firm's most promising student, Yayoi Houzuki.

To Keitarou's surprise, Yayoi is Eiko's cousin, and she possesses two pupils in each eye—allowing her to see into the spirit world and purposely seek vengeful spirits to exorcise. Ever since a car accident killed both her parents, Yayoi has been searching for the powerful spirit that kidnapped her mother's departed soul. Seeing that spirits are so attracted to Keitarou, she ropes him into helping her collect other evil spirits that will assist in her future fight. Although her quest is dangerous, Keitarou reluctantly decides to join her, even as each new spirit they meet has him questioning his resolve at every turn.

[Written by MAL Rewrite]

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Background

Dark Gathering was released on Blu-ray in six volumes from October 18, 2023, to March 20, 2024.

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Related Anime

Adaptation:

Dark Gathering

More characters

Characters & Voice Actors

Houzuki, Yayoi

Main

Sasahara, Yuu
Japanese

Houzuki, Eiko

Main

Hanazawa, Kana
Japanese

Gentouga, Keitarou

Main

Shimazaki, Nobunaga
Japanese

Castle H Ruins Spirit

Supporting

Hayami, Saori
Japanese

Imprisoned Martyr

Supporting

Miki, Shinichiro
Japanese

Kamiyo, Ai

Supporting

Kawaguchi, Rina
Japanese

Flamsteed, Dorothy

Supporting

Shimabukuro, Miyuri
Japanese

Otogiri

Supporting

Hikasa, Youko
Japanese

Gentouga, Akari

Supporting

Miyumi, Shuri
Japanese

Gentouga, Yuuzuki

Supporting

Kikuchi, Sayaka
Japanese

More staff

Staff

Cao, Cong

Producer

Matsui, Yuuko

Producer

Matori, Miho

Producer

Masuda, Katsuhito

Producer

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Opening Theme

"Kakuriyo (幽世)" by luz

Edit

Ending Theme

	1: "Haiiro (灰色)" by Kana Hanazawa
	2: "Intaglio (インタリオ)" by Kana Hanazawa

Reviews

Apr 13, 2024

PixelB

Recommended

How many horror anime are even out there? Rarely is there any actual horror anime that gets released, and when they do, it's not particularly executed on a high level. Higurashi? Both adaptations are pretty mid and the source material...meh. Corpse party? Just edgy shock value. I'm basically out of any other ideas.

And no, "horror" anime doesn't count. Horror evokes fear. Dread. Stuff like Mieroku-chan, Tokyo Ghoul, etc doesn't even count. They might be good shows, but it's more supernatural than horror.

After all, horror is the fear of the unknown and being unable to fight back. The aforementioned shows do feature supernatural anomalies, but ... there are defined methods of fighting back and the show is the clash between humans and the supernatural. Think of stuff like xxxHolic, Ghost Hunt, or even Toire no Hanako-san. Sure, there might be ghosts and supernatural involved, but when the characters have abilities to easily kill them, it's not horror, is it?

So it's safe to say that while Dark Gathering features some of that supernatural flair where characters are fighting and killing ghosts and spirits, it also embraces the horror aspect and tries to evoke fear in the readers and viewers. And it's clever about it too, expressing the contrasting themes of horror and a bit of shounen through characters.

Yayoi embodies the battle-shounen aspect of the show. She has methods of restraining, controlling, and killing spirits and ghosts. While she faces fear and ghosts with unbelievable abilities, she doesn't falter despite life-threatening circumstances. She makes use of ghosts she previously captured to challenge higher-level ones.

It's because this show still embraces that horror, fear, and helplessness against the unknown that the show stands out and in fact, tries something new. Keitaro and Eiko embody the theme of fear. While Yayoi is out there fighting the enemy, Keitaro and Eiko are for the most part, completely helpless against the supernatural, They have to confront enemies that can kill or permanently cripple them in mere moments while having to devise a way to deal with them or get out alive. Rather than capturing or killing, surviving seems to be the most compelling objective. And it's definitely what makes the show that good. Yayoi is a character that isn't supposed to feel too much fear or have too much weakness, but by introducing characters that are quite helpless, you can certainly experience the horror they experience firsthand through their perspectives.

Speaking of the horror encounters, it is reminiscent of something like Jojo's Bizzare Adventure when it comes to abilities. Each ghost has abilities, a unique nature, and different strengths similar to what a Stand would have. Only by dealing with strong enemy abilities with knowledge, wits, and speed will you be victorious. It is possible to overthrow or beat opponents with seemingly invincible abilities with the right strategy.

Combined with the horror aspect in the form of Eiko and Keitaro freaking out with every encounter, it does pay homage to the horror genre while still maintaining that battle-shounen vibe that it tries to hone in on.

And it's a damn good thing that it did. While this show is a bit spooky at points and there are creepy things that happen, the animation just isn't there. The soundtrack is nice at times, but the choreography and storyboarding are just not meant to evoke too much horror. The problem with horror in animation is how much time it takes to perfect. You need tons of detail, pacing, storyboarding, the right ambiance, and sound quality to achieve an effective horror show. This takes a lot of money, time, and creativity. With something like Demon Slayer, you can kind of just throw money and the product will be good since it's just hyper-detailed fights. What about animating horror? It's pretty damn hard. Games like Ao Oni which have animated graphics have you control the character so it evokes a sense of horror much more easily than just a show. And live-action shows are even easier. You just hyper-realistically CGI scary things and put it in the dark chasing someone and you're already halfway done. So, Dark Gathering makes do with what it can and I applaud for it.

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Gift

Apr 21, 2024

lovelydeath

Mixed Feelings

I had watched a few episodes of this show, and would start watching something else, so it took me a minute to actually finish it. The first few episodes, did not pull me in. I would say that the show overtime got slightly better giving more context with ghosts/supernatural and horror. I had thought that this show was for a younger audience, but continued to watch it in the hopes to get more maturity. The characters were difficult to connect to.

I probably would have scored it lower. One thing that I cannot stand, is when a show ends without resoloving crucial things. If you ...

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Gift

Dec 5, 2023

Sayayurin

Not Recommended

Preliminary (9/25 eps)

As a horror/supernatural anime, it falls in both aspects.
The horror is mediocre fluff (audio SFX & soundtracks, visual mood settings) and the protagonist's terrified expression has already become the default by episode 2 as he scares easily. There's no real sense of danger or tension regarding the supernatural as Yayoi can easily secure the scene, she's the ultimate safety net.
Yayoi's apathetic demeanor and Eiko's cheery nonchalance have to be the most chilling part of the series. Overall though, it's more mysterious than spooky, intriguing but not as nearly terrifying as advertised in the trailers.
Horror, gore, and the supernatural merely play the role of tools to ...

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It's Like junji ito scary Kreshre - Apr 5	6 replies	by Lufyy_234 »» Yesterday, 12:43 PM
Poll: Dark Gathering Episode 2 Discussion ( 1 2 3 ) Stark700 - Jul 16, 2023	118 replies	by aiuryy »» Yesterday, 2:37 AM
Poll: Dark Gathering Episode 19 Discussion ( 1 2 ) Stark700 - Nov 12, 2023	64 replies	by HagePotPotato »» Apr 26, 9:41 PM
Poll: Dark Gathering Episode 23 Discussion ( 1 2 ) Stark700 - Dec 10, 2023	93 replies	by red1130 »» Apr 25, 4:09 PM
Poll: Dark Gathering Episode 22 Discussion ( 1 2 ) Stark700 - Dec 3, 2023	62 replies	by red1130 »» Apr 25, 3:32 PM

Dark Gathering

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Houzuki, Yayoi

Houzuki, Eiko

Gentouga, Keitarou

Castle H Ruins Spirit

Imprisoned Martyr

Kamiyo, Ai

Flamsteed, Dorothy

Otogiri

Gentouga, Akari

Gentouga, Yuuzuki

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Dark Gathering

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Synopsis

Background

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Staff

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Ending Theme

Reviews

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