Horror 2/10
Hang on, didn't I just recommend this show for the horror? Kind of. This show isn't scary. The atmosphere doesn't know what it's doing. This show has been praised for balancing comedy and horror, but there isn't a single joke in the three released episodes. It's more of the cliche anime 'ha-ha lighthearted situation, now we drag out this bit for far too long"'funny. Which ruins the horror aspect. Also, The main character will have the stupidest 'funny' expressions that resemble Scooby-doo when anything scary does happens, which ruins all tension. The premise isn't frightening to say the least. The spirits that have been shown aren't memorable nor do they feel like they pose a threat to the viewer. So why do I recommend the horror? There are few shots that appear in the anime that make all the fluff and hate-watching worth it. The horror imagery is awful and awe-inspiring at the same time. No spoilers, but just watch the first episode. The show uses both visual and audio forms of horror, and they bleed terrifying scenes together, just to ruin it two seconds later.
HOWEVER, The horror art is great, but few and far between, and they cut some of the shots that they built up for the entire episodes far too soon, which can be infuriating.
The solution? Read the manga. As an adaptation, this is shocking. I know some people only watch anime, but almost every problem mentioned in this review isn't nearly as noticeable in the manga, and the art there is somehow better in the manga than any of the animation in the show. I would only recommend this show to people who wouldn't be willing to read the manga.
Story. 1/10
The world building is confusing at best, leaving you with questions that you aren't really excited to learn the answers about. The wish-washy premises makes this show seem like every other supernatural anime of all time mixed into one, that makes a brown-gooey mess of everything. The main character, Keitaro, has no purpose, Yayoi, the real main character, has a goal that has no leads and opens the story to more of an episodic telling, which isn't necessarily the worst crime, but there is barely any tension of what's going to happen next to the characters, which is exactly what you want in a horror show.
Didn't know where to put this, but the subbing isn't great. There are contratictions in the translation that threw me off at first. I've never noticed this in any other show.
Now on to the characters. 4/10
The beauty of a small cast, which Dark Gathering has, is that you can give each character a rounded personality and really hone in on their growth. Dark Gathering does this semi-well, and what I mean by that is that they have the worst characters and the best characters and the same time. Eiko, the bubbly friend of the main character Keitaro, hasn't had much screen time to have a personality, being used as a driver to different plot points, but has been set up very well for her future screen time. This is the best compliment I can give any of the characters. Mc is terrible. Imagine the annoying, reactionary, piddles mc, but they don't even stick to the bit. Keitaro changes his personality to what's convenitent to the plot. From the terrified to the brave in two seconds, from the idiot to the master strategist in two seconds. He's neither relatable or hateable, just annoying.
BuT wHaT aBoUt YaYoI? The poster child of dark gathering. The only character that has purpose in this confused show. I don't know how I feel about her. She has already had to be saved from the mc, even though she apparently is much more powerful. Her 160 iq has not been displayed at all, which I hope in the future will open to some big-brain moments, but I doubt it. Her goal is to save her mother, but we it's hard to feel bad for her when her personality doesn't fit her design or her backstory. It's both inconsistent but everything she does is predictable. I can only hope for the best for her in the future.
TLDR: Not great critically but entertaining enough. Would recommend the manga more.
P.S. The OP is so bad it feels satirical.
