Yami Shibai is the perfect example of an anime which raises this conundrum for me. It isn't particularly representative of, or even relevant to, the standard structure and characteristics of anime; it is, however, a show that sets out with the purpose of being scary and one that manages to fulfill its purpose through and through.
Story? Sure, this one has lots of stories! They're fairly enjoyable and are set out competently enough to engage without going so far as to seem ridiculous. They focus on horrific or mythical beings or events in Japanese culture, incorporating these into the everyday lives of a different character every episode. Ultimately, though, the stories themselves are more or less predictable in both setup and actual content, with some episodes having no twist (i.e shock factor) at all and relying greatly on the atmosphere of the writing to deliver fear. Not the best idea, because as I mentioned, the predictability and overall "generically scary" writing behind the stories is watchable, but not at any level of "great".
But that's not why you would watch this anime. You would watch Yami Shibai because of its presentation.
Shock value in anime is generally reliant on the graphic nature of the content, primarily because anime's visual style and fluidity is not becoming of jump scares or subtle movement. Yami Shibai is an anime that recognises this problem and overcomes it through use of its art style. The unique paper-like template characters make for arguably visually pleasing sights but, more importantly, allow the anime to utilise a constant flow of movement that is so necessary in the action and atmospheric reliance that binds horror together. Bodies tremble in fear, cameras shake and change direction swiftly in exciting fright scenes, small movements are discernible in the background to increase tension; this is an anime that knows how to tailor its appearance to best suit its purpose.
Additionally, the animation is scattered with instances of differing animation to create an amazing contrast for delivering impact — as seen in the final episode (minor spoilers), wherein the sudden introduction of non-papery movement creates a surge of shock and powerfully reinforces the shows final scare. The way Yami Shibai experiments like this is great to see in a medium that could so do with more innovation, and in this case the direction pays off wonderfully in how effectively the art styles combine to create that much more fear.
The voice acting is all around great, with lots of nice restraint in use of voicing and very little overacting (which, one can imagine, is something of a common problem in any horror media). The soundtrack is very fitting too, often chilling and with notable switches made between "creepy" and "safe" to further the impact of the show's scares. While this does feed the predictability I mentioned in regards to story, it also doesn't attempt to counter that predictability in what would almost certainly be a futile effort; the fact that the anime can embrace its inherent flaws and go on to make use of these flaws is both admirable and enjoyable to see in an anime like this.
Overall, I definitely like this show. It's more or less standard in the writing department, but as an experiment in presentation I would call it a great triumph and acknowledge it as the first anime to genuinely scare me (the last episode being the best at that). Good premise and better execution; I'll likely be coming back for the second season soon.
