There’s a long review coming……………..
About the STORY
The horror element of this series is the most hardcore I’ve ever seen so far. It is clean, not far-fetched, and so terrifying. Because of that you just anticipate every minute of it. Another great thing with horror stories is that they are always accompanied with different elements like psychological, suspense, mystery, and supernatural. All of that are present in this series. Plus, every each element is balanced and used amazingly. You could say that it is well thought. It is not overly done just for the sake of making viewers scared. And as if the elements are not enough, the style is investigative which make the storyline even greater. Also, let’s not forget that it is episodic which I genuinely love. Episodic series always gives 10x more excitement. The different stories come with a different kind of excitement and thrill. The mystery that comes with every case would make you anticipate what would happen next. It is also amazing that it is not always supernatural phenomenon because they would explain some incidents scientifically as much as possible which make it believable even for a fictional series. The explanations sometimes are very thorough that’s why I said that the storyline is clean. It is not all horror as well; the drama is well made too. It is not overly done that it would become too heavy or far-fetched. There are a little bit of comedy and romance also. The well-balanced elements of the series make the plot and storyline perfect. It can also be very knowledgeable.
About the CHARACTERS
It is interesting and amazing that every incident is explained in different views because the character is not limited with just one department. There’s a monk, shrine maiden, medium, priest, and there’s even with scientific explanations. Despite their differences, they can still work together and finishes work together. Naru is the stereotype male protagonist that knows everything, knows what to do, very calm and strict, handsome, very brave, young, enigmatic, would ask for help but would still do things by himself, and usually don’t show what he truly feels with others particularly with Mai. And as always, usually the type of character that Naru has is always partnered with a very positive, cheerful, kind-hearted, loud, expressive, would always jump to conclusion, naïve and most especially very emotional girl like Mai. Their very complicated yet cute relationship might be very cliché with the type of characters they have but it is no doubt very effective that’s why it is a sure hit. Though, both their type of characters can really be irritating at times. And Mai is always the source of comical acts and lightness for the series. The most intriguing and weird of all, for some reason Mai would always be the one to know something and would give a hint about the case without even knowing it.
About the ANIMATION and SOUND
The most effective way or rather, the only way to make a brilliant horror story an amazing series is to give it an equally brilliant animation and sound. You wouldn’t be scared enough with reading it alone. The animation and sound of this series made it a lot more terrifying and hair-raising which is the true key if you want to make a very effective horror series.
With my fascination with horror stories, I’ve encountered so many already and very few as in very few can really be scary even for a little bit. Not that I am boasting about it but when you’ve seen so many already you would really tend to be somewhat used to it. But this one is different; the horror is very sophisticated and hardcore that anyone would be so terrified and would constantly hold their breaths which I absolutely love. The more I am scared, the more I love it. I’ve never been scared this much since seeing “SADAKO”. I am just wishing and hoping that there’s more because 25 episodes seems so short for such an amazing series. If you are easily scared then this one might be too much for you, “BETTER NOT WATCH THIS AT NIGHT OR ALONE”.
