DO NOT discuss the source material beyond this episode. If you want to discuss future events or theories, please use separate threads.
DO NOT ask where to watch/download this episode or give links to copyrighted, non-fair use material.
DO NOT troll/bait/harass/abuse other users for liking or disliking the series/characters.
DO read the Anime Discussion Rules and Site & Forum Guidelines.
DO NOT ask where to watch/download this episode or give links to copyrighted, non-fair use material.
DO NOT troll/bait/harass/abuse other users for liking or disliking the series/characters.
DO read the Anime Discussion Rules and Site & Forum Guidelines.
| I wouldn't ever want someone like Yayoi sit in my car... What a weird episode. I've read parts of the manga before and seeing the animation adaptation felt just as strange. Keitarou might also take some time to get use to tbh. Eiko might be the most normal character out of this main cast. Even though the anime had supernatural and horror elements, it has light comedy too. On the more serious side, it was tough to see storytelling narrative from Yayoi's perspective. |
 |
| Mangaka Kenichi Kondou's supernatural horror anime, running for a consecutive 2-cour, 25 episodes, it seems promising given that OLM is back from its Spring 2022 days of Summertime Renderer. The college student of Keitaro Gentoga, he's a top-scorer and representative through and through, though he is not a fan of the occult that he experiences with his old friend of Eiko Hozuki, just to keep him sane from the case of a spirit targeting him and his best friend, turning him into a recluse. And though Eiko separated with him when it came to her studies, he will be the caretaker tutor for a real prodigy: Yayoi, having an extreme affinity for the supernatural and being able to see his cursed arm. And the first thing from her docket: to drag Keitaro out to haunted places, and Eiko is ready when he and Yayoi is. Even when Keitaro is getting bad vibes from it, Yayoi still pushes the pedal to the medal to arrive a a haunted payphone booth which houses a spirit: a hostess murdered to bear a grudge. And if that story seems like a rumor, Keitaro being a man to do the deed for them, and it turns out to be real, though Yayoi throws her rabbit plushie inside, and it is evident of something else. Keitaro having enough of the occult nonsense from Yayoi, and apart from her intelligence, she's fascinated by his ability to reel in spirits. Though speaking with Eiko, the real reason is that her parents had died in an accident where Truck-kun sent to their death, which she is too eager to find her mother through haunted spots, transitioning between normal and spirits and seeing two veils of life through her double vision pupils, with the the crash being a reality to her which a spirit dragged her mother away. Certainly, Yayoi had it rough just like Keitaro himself did, and just maybe that he could help her solve her problem. Though the next day, Yayoi gave him a jizo statue to rid of evil, going back to the same phone booth to see the spirit again. It's definitely seeing Keitaro, which it drags him into the phone booth and strangles him, and Yayoi coming in to wreck the phone apart from him. They escape unscathed, though Keitaro feels creeped out by Yayoi because she brought the spirit back. Even Eiko also feels tempted, but at this point, Keitaro is trapped in their spell, much less the spirits being in fear of her. Without mercy, A Spring season changes as the Dark Gathering begins, with the fateful coincidence of Keitaro and Eiko's cousin Yayoi. A spooky horror show that's just right for its post-midnight timeslot, it's the sense of horror all the way, even when the animation looks a bit drab. |
KANLen09Jul 9, 2023 10:53 AM
 |
| Oh wow this some pretty interesting ass dark shit that's got me intrigued for its 25 episode run. In this show, our main protagonist Keitaro takes a part-time job tutoring the child prodigy Yayoi. Little does he know she’s a gifted but hell-bent on finding the spirit behind her mother’s vanishing and she’s gravely determined to drag Keitaro into a terrifying supernatural world. I thought it was really interesting. The childhood friend's attitude changing between happy and upbeat and whatever it was at the end gets me curious about her story, and I like the girl using the captured spirits as fodder (I think). The spirits with their heads embedded around it and their wispy tails seriously looks like an egg fertilization diagram, and on further inspection it looks like there's something within the spirit that looks like an organ? embryo? The way that the tail is in the mom's mouth does not make me think this will go down well at all... This seems like some good stuff that might get me to read the manga seems interesting ngl. OLM studio is continuing their supernatural mystery adaptions that blow it out of the water with Summertime Render and now this! |
 |
| Loli Spirit Hunter, the Nightmare of Monsters. While the first half of it was painful to watch, the last few minutes made me stay for a few more episodes - maybe we will get something interesting here. |
IshitatesoJul 9, 2023 10:40 AM
夏草や 兵どもが 夢の跡  |
| Yayoi's backstory is really :( She got dual visions between the real-world and a spirit, a terrifying one at that. Eiko is scaring the fuck out of me with that smile, I really don't know what she's up to on her sleeves. |
| That was spooky. They really nailed the atmosphere of the show, had a spooky feel throughout the episode. Liked the light comedic moments too. Yayoi's one creepy loli. She's capturing the spirits and that's why they don't come close to her. Her eyes look like grim reaper, I wonder why. Her backstory though, what happened to her mother? Also I was wondering why was Eiko smiling like that but it was cause of Keitarou eh. One of the rare two cour shows in recent times but I'm happy we'll get 25 episodes of the show cause I sure liked the first episode. |
 |
| Anime was average, to me it felt like it wasn't ambitious enough with the horror elements, I would have liked to see more tension and artistic display. Kusuriya seems to be using all of OLMs resources for animation, and bug films clearly ran away with a chunk of talent that worked their last year. Being a double cour series, I don't see it doing well enough in the future, tough pill to swallow for one of my favorite horror series currently. |
| Not sure how to think about this one yet, I do like some of the horror elements, since they aren't really taking it too seriously, as it feels somewhat comedic. I like the general tone of the series and the comedy, but I do wonder what the gist of the story will be like besides Yayoi looking for her mother who got taken away by a spirit. Just spooky fun, perfect to watch during the night. Should be an entertaining anime to keep an eye on. |
| why does the mc look like the mc from school days lol Anyway, I like that the horror setting they've created isn't cringe at least for now. Also, hope it has a continuous storyline going for it rather than just hunting for spirits in every episode. |
 |
| Horror done right. Will keep watching. |
| REJECT ANIMU - EMBRACE TOKU |
| Definitely liking the unsettling creepy atmosphere of the show. This one looks promising, hopefully it keeps this up. |
| People on MAL refuse to actually enjoy watching anime. Your taste in anime isn't a personality trait. |
| Big fan of the manga. I've been looking forward to this. I will say the manga is overall creepier, mainly due to the art and the fact it's in black and white. The anime is still done very well and I can't wait to see more. 25 episodes is a real treat too. I fully expected it to just get 11 or something. I love Yayoi and her skull eyes. I need a figure of her! |
| Horror in animation could never hit the same as it does in live action.. it's a fact. But I still liked whatever they tried, with that not-so-normal kid and eerie background music. They've got plenty of time in their hands too, with this being two cour.. without a break that is. |
 |
| nice, we had Mitama last season and now we have another amazing loli! this can potentially become one of my favs from this season |
| damn the subs for this are absolute trash. can't believe they are official subs. creepy ass anime though. watching this past midnight does have some horror effects. i hope they explain how the kid suddenly had an increased iq after the incident. |
 The end of an era. Thank you Wit, Mappa and Isayama. Feeling half happy, half sad. Kawaii waifus and precious best girls <3333 |
| New season of Jibaku Shounen Hanako-kun sure is not how I remember it. This already looks like it will be an amazing and wild ride. Yayoi be like "I'm not locked in here with you, You are locked in here with me". |
| Man, this was fun. HanaKana playing the horror trope that the person who you trust the most, can be the person you should fear the most. Yuu Sasahara playing perfectly how innocent and in the same cruel and unhinged kids can be. MC-kun is in big trouble. On the side note, an isekai which when wrong (since the cousin wasn't isekaied) can turn out to be the better Ghost Stories. |
alshuJul 9, 2023 12:20 PM
| So your mom became a spirit tentacle seedbed. Overall, it was more funny than I expected. Did not expect the little girl to be as energetic as she was. Those kind of characters are often portrayed dark and gloomy. |
| That was creepy and entertaining. Perfect for a midnight watch. I like this already. |
 |
| Interesting premise, but I'm not a fan of the jokes. |
| that was as insane as it was fast paced but i enjoyed it. the older sister seems a bit off though. |
 |
| Horror + smol girl immediately reminds me of Hell girl. Decent start. My only big gripe is the modern aesthetic, the bright color palette and filters, which don't work for me in a horror show. Since there's also some mild slapstick to balance it out it's more tolerable. |
One Piece episode 914 & 915 & 1027 were a mistake and 957 brought the salvation - FMmatron |
| Jigoku Sensei Nube vibes are strong here, dude's even rocking the single black glove look that Nueno wore in that series, though it seems like we won't find out exactly what's under the glove until a later episode. Already loving it from EP 1. This is easily a keeper for me, I'm watching this the whole way through. 10/10 first episode. |
Opinions are opinions, and differing opinions can co-exist. 🙂 But I don't do debate, life's too short to spend time debating people.    |
| Creepy stuff, and funny too. Perfect blend. |
| Quantum ille canis est in fenestra |
| Fun start. I think it hit a nice balance between creepy horror and lighthearted comedy. I like the style of the show so far, and it seems like the production values are solid. I am definitely looking forward to more. |
| that was kinda garbage ngl, will give it a chance and watch a few more before deciding whether to drop or not because i do like hanakana. don't like the jokes and bright colors, mitama's the loli's backstory was alright though. |
 |
Stark700 said: I wouldn't ever want someone like Yayoi sit in my car... What a weird episode. I've read parts of the manga before and seeing the animation adaptation felt just as strange. Keitarou might also take some time to get use to tbh. Eiko might be the most normal character out of this main cast. Even though the anime had supernatural and horror elements, it has light comedy too. On the more serious side, it was tough to see storytelling narrative from Yayoi's perspective. Car? How about house? Neighborhood even. I finished vol 1 of the manga about a week ago. Ultra creepy kid is supposed to be good. not so sure. |
dragynfaerieJul 9, 2023 5:15 PM
| Interesting first episode |
 |
| Although I didn’t find it scary, I really liked this. The story seems like it’s gonna be interesting giving what we know about Yayoi from this first episode, and I can’t forget that visual of the skeleton sperm cells trying to get into that dark ominous egg cell looking thing that had her mom’s ghost captive lol, that was pretty metal, it also reminded me of the album cover of a Grateful Dead album called “Aoxomoxoa”. And speaking of metal, the scenes at the phone both were really cool, as well as seeing that ghost get ripped apart limb by limb at the end, so even if the show isn’t scary it’s doing some really cool stuff. Once thing I will say that I did find creepy tho was that final bit where Eiko mentioned that Keitaro was hiding the way he actually feels, some spooky looking smiles there lol, I like it. And OLM is delivering another 2 cour horror anime our way, hell yes, they really knocked it out of the park with Summertime Render so I’m definitely looking forward to more of this! And lastly, that OP was very awesome, kinda reminds me of old school horror anime which is a nice feeling. |
TheColonel76Jul 9, 2023 5:59 PM
| Yeah, no. This show is not for me. Everything feels off from animation to characters and story telling. As for people saying this is a great horror anime... not sure how. To me it feels like what a kid would think scary looks like. Yes, blinking lights without buildup, skulls in her retinas, glowing eyes in the dark. Never done before and totally scary... not. More to the point if you step out of main character's head for a moment and look at his behavior from outsiders eyes he looks and behaves like a schizophrenic late with his meds. He keeps screaming with a blank stare and strong gesticulation. It feels so off, but hey maybe some people would find that funny and/or entertaining. |
More topics from this board
Poll: » Dark Gathering Episode 3 Discussion ( 1 2 )Stark700 - Jul 23, 2023 |
89 |
by princessoftrash
»»
Jul 24, 6:42 PM |
|
Poll: » Dark Gathering Episode 25 Discussion ( 1 2 3 )Stark700 - Dec 24, 2023 |
111 |
by Supremestrawhat
»»
Jul 9, 4:33 AM |
|
Poll: » Dark Gathering Episode 24 Discussion ( 1 2 )Stark700 - Dec 17, 2023 |
68 |
by Supremestrawhat
»»
Jul 9, 4:07 AM |
|
Poll: » Dark Gathering Episode 22 Discussion ( 1 2 )Stark700 - Dec 3, 2023 |
65 |
by Supremestrawhat
»»
Jul 9, 12:39 AM |
|
Poll: » Dark Gathering Episode 21 Discussion ( 1 2 )Stark700 - Nov 26, 2023 |
78 |
by Supremestrawhat
»»
Jul 9, 12:06 AM |