The series is divided into three parts, each featuring a famous Japanese story about ayakashi, a supernatural monsters/beings in Japanese mythology.
Yotsuya Kaidan (episodes 1-4): A classic Japanese ghost story about a woman who is betrayed and killed by her husband, becoming a vengeful ghost and haunting the people who are responsible for her death. It is written by Nanboku Tsuruya IV, and the story is also narrated by him during the anime.
Tenshu Monogatari (episodes 5-8): A story of a forbidden love between a goddess and human. Zushonosuke, a falconer, falls in love with a woman whom he saw bathing in a lake, without knowing that she is a forgotten god.
Bake Neko (episode 9-11): A wandering medicine peddler arrives in Sakai Clan on the wedding day of the eldest daughter of the family. However the bride dies mysteriously and a ghost begins attacking the house and the other family members. The medicine peddler tries to understand the reason why the creature that attacking the house became a vengeful ghost to kill it.
Story (7/10):
First of all, this anime must be watched by people who is interested in Japanese culture, as each story have the elements of their original time, or the people who likes classics and historical anime.
Yotsuya Kaidan (7/10): It is classic ghost story, so it may not be very unique in 21st century. However 4 episodes makes a good job depicting the original story of Nanboku Tsuruya IV. The story successfully makes Oiwa’s and her sister, Osode’s stories intersect in one point and later concludes without leaving anything out. The writer Nanboku Tsuruya IV himself narrates the story and I liked his narrating voice.
Tenshu Monogatari (7/10): A falconer, Zushonosuke and a goddess falls in love with each other at first sight. The goddess, who is forbidden to love a human, struggles in choosing love and living as a human or to continue living as an immortal entity. I think it would be better if they didn’t just fell in love with each other and meet and talk with each other to develop feelings for one another.
I personally liked the words Zushonosuke said to her the most, that living 20-30 years while enjoying your life as a human is far more beautiful than living an infinity like a dead.
Bake Neko (9/10): The shortest story in the series, but I loved this one the most. The search for the reason for bake neko to seek vengeance, and revealing the dark secrets of the family members were great to watch. The protagonist medicine seller was also the most impressive character in the series. I will watch Mononoke, another anime he is also the protagonist of, next.
Sound (9/10):
The soundtracks of the anime are all perfect except one— the opening. I don’t know why they made a rap-like song opening, while making all the songs in anime classical Japanese musics. The ending is also pretty good. I listened a few songs in the anime a dozen times.
There weren’t anything odd with the characters’ voices. They were all fit for an anime like this.
Art (8/10):
The art is pretty good. You feel like you are in the medieval Japan when you are watching this. Nothing looks out of place, and there are of course no colourful eyes or hairs like we often see in animes.
Characters (6/10):
There aren’t many unique characters. Medicine seller from Bake Neko, who is an exception of this, is the character I liked the most. The goddess and Zushonosuke from Tenshu Monogatari are not very bad either. The characters from Yotsuya Kaidan are the weakest ones comparing to the other two stories.
Enjoyment (9/10):
Each story is as long as they should be. If it was shorter, the story would be rushed, and if it was longer it would be boring. Only Tenshu Monogatari could be better if it was a bit more longer to give time for the goddess and Zushonosuke to develop feeling for each other. I never got bored while watching this and finished it in two days.
Overall (8/10):
The characters are the weakest point of the series, while the sound is the strongest. I recommend this anime to the people who likes history or classics as I have said before. As I am a person who likes both the history and the classics, I absolutely loved this series. But a person who likes only shonen or shojo might be disappointed after seeing my high point for this series. I give an 8/10 for Ayakashi: Japanese Classic Horror.
