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Mar 26, 2017 12:08 PM
#1

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Nov 2011
127897
THIS IS AN ANIME ONLY DISCUSSION POST. DO NOT DISCUSS THE MANGA BEYOND THIS EPISODE.
----------------------------------------
A man talking to a creepy stranger in the dark...

Well I suppose this series tried even with that creepy shadow thing and scream at the end. Construction workers in this series are just weird.
Stark700Mar 26, 2017 1:44 PM
Mar 26, 2017 3:29 PM
#2

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Jun 2014
6919
I hope they don't make any more of this, it stopped being decent after the first season.
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Mar 26, 2017 4:31 PM
#3

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Apr 2012
129
That was the first good episode since s2!

Yeah, kill this turkey already.
Mar 26, 2017 5:50 PM
#4
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Apr 2016
2
Yea this season was the worse. At least the previous seasons had some sort of ending and you knew what got them and what happen. Basically most episodes in this season leaves you with a unfulfilled taste. You end up with these questions .. what happen?, what got them?, why? This episode for example is he trapped? was someone else trap? who was screaming? Leaves you only with questions. So sad if they just finished each episode with just a little bit of detail then might it worked. Definite get rid of the narration all through out. You don;t need it past the introduction.
ArastiusMar 26, 2017 5:55 PM
Mar 26, 2017 7:24 PM
#5

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Oct 2011
8878
Spooky cave and shadow
Mar 26, 2017 7:41 PM
#6

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Mar 2013
865
Boo this season sucked it didn't even do what the previous season did which was give us an origin episode. No more yami shibai ever unless there going to put in some actual effort what a waste of time. This season only 2 good episodes and only 1 of them felt like a season 1 episode. If they do announce another season I won't watch it until it's already over.
Mar 27, 2017 2:14 AM
#7

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Feb 2013
24143
The only good episode of this season from what I remember because it scared me a bit it was that one where someone found a dead cat and burried it, but a soul of a woman appeared along with the cat at night in the bed of the poor man.
This one was ok.
Mar 27, 2017 4:58 AM
#8

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Jan 2011
26345
Eh, better than season 3, but that one had a genuinely great last episode.
Mar 27, 2017 7:06 AM
#9
🥊 CHAMPION 🥊

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Apr 2016
21653
nice terror story to end this season!!!
be careful in the undergroun stundents!!!!!
Mar 27, 2017 7:55 AM

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Jul 2012
785
I think this season was better than the last season in terms of stories, in season 3 all the tales were really stupid (because they were made by a kid, but, anyway).
I liked the different narrators 'cause it gives a feeling of urban legend being passed throught different people, maybe they should put really different types of voices.
The art style bothered me. It was so cool in the last seasons, now it was too cartoon-ish I guess :S
But, I do agree that it is time to let it die, pls xD

Mar 27, 2017 11:04 AM

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Jun 2013
308
Soooo.. what was the point in this season now? I don't think we've learned anything or expanded at all on the lore in the show. This episode honestly wasn't that bad when compared to what else this season had to offer but still what a let down. Spook Level: Disappointing spooks.
My signature is lame...
Mar 27, 2017 11:57 AM

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Jan 2013
2252
this episode was basically about me when i come and go, take and leave.
Mar 27, 2017 12:11 PM

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Jan 2015
2306
I hope this will be the last season because this is just sad now.
Mar 27, 2017 1:08 PM

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Feb 2016
124
It's not that the stories are crap. It's how these stories are told.

No, there's no future for Yami Shibai. But it'll be reborn as different series of this genre... Wonder if it'll be any better.
Mar 27, 2017 1:46 PM

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Sep 2012
1451
Best episode this season
Trying to watch all available anime series so you won't have to anymore, the list of anime I can recommend is still in progress, tho
Mar 27, 2017 2:14 PM

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Jan 2013
14161
Okay episode however the season was the worst of Yami shibai imo. Everything was terribly done, story telling, the change of art to a more cheesy one which kills the mystique and dark vibe of the scary stories, and overall a clear decrease of good urban legend ideas.
Mar 27, 2017 4:19 PM

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Sep 2013
22818
Don't go down strange paths or you'l be trapped in it.

6/10 okay to watch but not memorable.
Mar 27, 2017 11:06 PM

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Aug 2012
3305
Aw man, I was really disappointed that Kanji Tsuda didn't return for this episode. His voice as The Storyteller in the past three seasons were always my favorite part of the series, and I suspected that this focus on the different storytellers themselves would've concluded with his return. I guess instead since they kinda developed the lore and backstory around his character in the last season, they figured they needed to branch away from him which is a shame. I think he may have been able to make the narration heavy part more tolerable.

I don't know, this may have been even worse than season 3. Both seasons themes actively detracted from the series attempts at being creepy and/or scary. In season 3 the focus on monsters meant they had to design monsters and the series aesthetic never allowed any of them to be actually scary. Never once did the monster reveal worked as intended, the best it could hope for was to be a successful punchline. I think some of them did make me chuckle, but most failed to accomplish even that. In this season, the constant theme on the narrator instantly detached me from the story, a great voice can provide a sense of atmosphere but almost nobody here really had an unsettling voice to work with that (one of the thirteen did, don't remember which one but the guy's voice was deep enough to somewhat help) and even so, they were way too overbearing to make things actually feel threatening.

Season 3 did more frequently properly built up tension to the stories conclusion than this series did, they never capitalized off that tension granted but I think I prefer a that to just never being able to build up the tension itself. Season 3's final episode, while not fantastic or anything, was at least an interesting way to conclude the series. Season 2 at it's best was slightly not dull. And it's changes to the series format weren't well utilized. I don't think anyone in here was a fan of the narration but the live-action segments were poorly implemented for the most part too. To be fair, that's not to say they never worked, I recall liking them in the first episode and there was some stylistic choices I liked, like giving the girl a generic anime girl face but overall I don't think they helped as much as intended.

2/10. Literally every season has gone down one point for me since the first. If they do a sixth season MAL will have to create a new rating for me to properly rate it. I've said this before, if they do a fifth season Yami Shibai's such a quick watch I'll probably see it anyway but I hope this is it for the franchise. If it's not, I can at least safely say it'll be bad in a different manner if the pattern holds.
Apr 3, 2017 3:48 AM

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Apr 2014
13385
Damn what a disappointment this season was. It was even worse than the second season which offered little to nothing in terms of horror or story development. First season was all about the horror and the third gave us plot and the second was a little of both, but this season gave nothing. I montaged this hoping for something unique to happen this last episode but we got nothing besides the same boring, plotless episodes. I'm surprised this show is making enough money to even justify a fourth season since the third season would have been a good spot to end it at. The only real highlight of this season was their flexibility with different art styles I thought it was a nice change of pace. And the girls were pretty cute omfuodsufjiofmdsfdkfdfsl.

2/10
Apr 10, 2017 4:50 PM

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Jun 2013
516
Well definitely not as appeasing as the previous seasons but it was bearable. It's nice to hear different narrators but I still still prefer the old creepy one. The show certainly needs improvement with the whole scare situation as it feels toned down.
Apr 14, 2017 2:18 AM
Mob Character C

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Oct 2009
5189
Booooooooooooooooooooo
Get the bricks!
So far it's not looking good for Sekai no Yami Zukan, which is pretty much season 5 of this.
I haven't started yet but I'm not looking forward to it.

Enjoy your anime! | Witch Cafe Wisteria
Apr 14, 2017 8:28 AM

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Jun 2009
345
Can't wait for season 5!
Apr 14, 2017 5:52 PM

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May 2012
25827
Average ending of this rather average fourth season, the previous season was a lot more intenser! Either way a nice addition though.
Apr 16, 2017 2:13 AM
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Jun 2010
20
Well, they should stop embarassing themselves, no season 5, please. The first season was the only good one
Apr 23, 2017 5:37 AM

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May 2016
12380
Well... That ending was a little mediocre.

Having read Uzumaki already, it's just like one of Junji's works :P They should've had an ending like the last season but at least the original Narrator spoke for the last episode.








May 2, 2017 7:51 AM

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Jun 2011
13748
Sigh yet another disappointing season of Yami Shibai.. there were a few decently creepy episodes in this season, however the aesthetic doesn't keep up anymore.. the live action scenes were terrible, except for the one in the dental clinic, the ED was too cutesy, the art doesn't match anymore.. worst of all was the story.. it's just some random terribly unlucky encounter that got those victims in trouble, there's no set-up, no reasoning, they just fucked up lucked out.
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May 17, 2017 10:10 AM

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Oct 2015
230
season 5... please..
May 26, 2017 2:35 AM
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May 2017
4
I finished Season 4 as well and I have a theory for that too which connects to my previous theory. I'll put the previous here so if you only want to see the S4, skip ahead.

Previous:
"Finished 3 seasons, that was a hell of an ending and I have a theory

The storytelling is said to be an anthology series, but I think it's not the case at all. It's sort of like a mask for the show if you will.

No doubt the horror and the individual stories are great, but in my opinion this has a main storyline to it, sprinkled throughout 3 seasons in a very subtle but brilliant way. You only notice it if you pay attention and add together a few things (well not really hard since this is a short series).

Our main character is the boy we meet in S3 finale. He is the Yamishibai guy in the golden demon mask, he's the Thirteenth one (I don't know if 13 is a symbolic number in Japan as well or not). The boy form is just a disguise, if you watch the S2 outros the guy reveals how he really looks (Or, if the boy is his true form then he just uses the demon face to further freak people out).

If you played Alan Wake, you had these "artists" who could materialize whatever they wrote (for example songs became true, or in case of the main character, what he wrote as a story came true) and bring these materialized things through sort of a portal in form of a lake.

Same goes for our main character here. Many people who watch it think "oh, so he draws those demons and they appear" but it's actually more than that.

If you watch the episode "That Side" (actually a really strange, unusual but insightful episode even for Yamishibai) it's established that demons come from "That Side" and want people to go from "This Side" to "That Side". Remember the theme song for S3? Friends from that side (All those demons, Hair, the water lady etc. living in "That Side") come over to this side (the humans world, not sure if Japan only or the whole world "This Side", to take over, kill, eat, wreak havoc or just create chaos), Friends from this side (us humans) go over to that side (the demons world, to be turned into demons like the Rat lady, suffer, or just be eaten).

Turns out, our main character who's an "artist", is the key in achieving that. He has the ability to create a pathway, like a portal for these demons to come through. His motivations aren't clear but I think he does it out of pure amusement. He's bored and clearly enjoys chaos and people suffering. Doesn't want to draw normal, beautiful things like the teacher because he thinks it's boring. Instead he creates the demons. He also enjoys to terrify, or even transform other kids with the help of his stories so he starts this Yamishibai storytelling everywhere where are kids.

The 12 other masks (as seen in S2 outro, they talk) go up to him one by one and whisper to him. Every episode in S3 there are crazier demons which are the suggestions of each mask. In the finale there isn't a 13th mask but it's revealed that the boy is the Thirteenth, the Yamishibai guy.

Damn if that's not masterful storytelling, nothing is. Or am I seeing too much into it? Go ahead and prove me wrong if I did

TL;DR: Yamishibai guy from the intro, or the young boy from S3 finale is actually the main character in this series which is not actually an anthology. Creates a path for different demons to come to our world which are in every episode, because he enjoys the chaos and the demons want it. He uses these as stories to freak children out"


S4:
Thirteen episodes, for the thirteen masks. Reason behind the different voices now is that it's told by the previously mentioned twelve masks who talked to the kid in S3 outros. These stories only vaguely connect but I believe the White line is some crude way to bring over people from "That Side". Perhaps the White line kid is an artist as well. And I think the fish tank could've been a little pathway to "That Side", hence the foul smell and all that, just like The Night Floor elevator from S1 was a path leading into a certain part of "That Side".

These stories were only meant to inspire the kid to do crazier stuff every episode in S3, that's why there are usually no conclusion or reason to the stories.

I was actually expecting the thirteenth episode to be told by the thirteenth mask AKA the kid, the original voice, and was actually worried that it's gonna be a random voice and the story won't add up, but it did. Just as I expected, the kid returned for the finale.

That story connection saved the whole season for me. I was only disappointed that the outro this time didn't show us any story details.

I really hope for a fifth season perhaps to tie this all up. They should actually híre me for story ideas since I made an actual story out of Yamishibai.
Moose23May 26, 2017 2:42 AM
Jul 11, 2017 11:48 AM

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Jan 2015
1494
awful storytelling, not scary, not creepy, not interesting, horrible visuals(absolutely atrocious actually) especially real life faces. Narration was really bad, sound is bad. I couldnt find any reasons for this anime to be higher than a 1, and its the worst anime i've seen as well.
Jul 14, 2017 10:23 PM

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Aug 2014
110
Episode was bad. Made no sense, as always.

---

After finishing this episode, I had to think about what I actually thought about this season. It was such a weird, erratic season that couldn't decide how it wanted to write it's stories. There were decent episodes, barely any GOOD episodes, and far too many boring episodes. At first I thought this was similar to season 2. But... I realized... THIS SEASON WAS EVEN WORSE THE SEASON 2.

At LEAST season 2 had ENDINGS. Same could be said of season 3 (still think 3 was the worst one though). This season? They made the decision to leave the episodes off on CLIFFHANGERS. They don't have ENDINGS. It leaves MORE questions than answers! Yes, I know, "fear comes from the unknown", but this does NOT apply here. We are dangled an ending and scare in our faces, and then the episode just... ends. No conclusion. No knowledge of what happened to the victim. Like... WHAT?!?!?!?

I'll do a more in depth review... But those are my thoughts on this season.

4/10

Garbage season once again.

Jan 16, 2019 4:03 AM
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Aug 2017
68
This season kind of sucked, this episode finale was subpar
2/5
Jun 12, 2019 8:50 AM
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Jan 2017
703
hmm .. too many story that cliffhanger before i understand the purpose and i cannot feel the scary sensation in this season,,
Jun 22, 2019 4:40 PM

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Oct 2015
6915
The ghost old man did warn him that "it only gets dark at first"! Poor guy to be stuck like that in the underground station- Or was it even a station from the start?

My favorites were the bus incident, the cassette that was so bizarre, the husband who went shopping with the wife and the girl who went out with her basketball senpai ace. The others weren't bad though. Overall it was certainly better than season 3, but they should've excluded the narration on the full episodes. Did they have to narrate the entire series? Those live inserts were funny though and were not scary.

7/10, I enjoyed it.
How I learned to stop worrying and love the bomb --- Dr Strangelove

Jul 7, 2019 9:29 PM

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Sep 2008
11495
Some interesting stories again in this season.

I hope they cut back on the narration in the future. It was killing the atmosphere in some of the episodes.
Dec 27, 2021 9:03 AM

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Feb 2020
71218
Well, it was an okay finale, but nothing amazing, though.

Yet another weak season. That narrator partially ruined this. He also made me to pause the video all the time because I simply didn't have time to read the subs because he talked at the same time with the characters, which was very annoying.

The stories were also mostly too random and lame.

SerafosJan 13, 5:48 AM
May 16, 2022 12:20 AM

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Feb 2021
20529
Okayish at best.

Honestly, this was the weakest season yet. Honestly, the narration was one of the biggest turn-offs

3/10

Jul 16, 2023 8:35 PM

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May 2021
32
I didn't like this season, will I watch the other 7 that are ahead? absolutely I will.
                                                                       
Jul 25, 2023 6:31 AM
Deadhead

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Dec 2018
2960
Not a bad last episode, it definitely had a good atmosphere and the twist that the weird construction guy was actually trying to help was good, but honestly can’t blame the guy for not listening because nine times out of ten going down the scarier path is a bad idea lol.

I liked this season, although it is my least favorite so far. My biggest complaint is probably the same as others in the fact there’s too much narration, it kinda took some of the spook away but it did also kinda recreate the feeling of actually listening to a scary story which was pretty cool. Another cool unique aspect of this season that I liked was the live action bits, I feel like they could have done more with them but I did think they were fun.

And lastly, while this is my least favorite season I do appreciate that it kinda tried to do what Seasons 1 and 2 did and be more creepy and unsettling versus Season 3 which was more about monsters, there were quite a bit of stories I really liked in this one like Sewing Shears, Night Bus, Guess Who, Cassette Tape, Calling Crane and Snow Hut, so when I look back there were a lot of good ones here. And the ED, while unfitting, I found it to be a nice contrast to the episodes and a very good song.
TheColonel76Jul 25, 2023 6:34 AM
Nov 14, 2023 7:55 AM
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Nov 2023
3
Worst season and is not even horror anymore. They removed the mini jumpscares, animations are mixed with real life footage, episodes aren't scary and interesting.
7 more seasons? pass.
I stop to watch this anime
5/10

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