Ayakashi Ep 9 - 11: Bakeneko

This is the last story in the Ayakashi series which I must say, takes some effort to understand because the sequence of the events seem to be messed up. It was particularly evident towards the end when the mysterious man who is a medicine peddler tries to exorcise the vengeful spirit in the mansion. The man asks the family why the spirit is harbouring such a grudge against them but they are not frank with the real reason. As such, it is only till the spirit shows them what she went through before everyone knows the real cause. The confusing thing was that the fake reason was shown first followed shortly by the real reason and the transition wasn't marked clearly. However, I must say that despite its complexity and ambiguity at times, this story is still more entertaining than the first story, "Yotsuya Kaidan" which focused too much on exacting revenge.

Although the spirit who took on the form of a cat was supposed to be the real scare factor, I found the mysterious man more eerie instead. His looks and the way he speaks just inspires fear. Till the end of the story, we are still none the wiser as to who he is and why he has all those exorcism gadgets despite his occupation as a medicine peddler. Maybe to the producers, his identity is not an issue after all and doesn't affect the story in any way. Nevertheless, I would have wanted all loose ends to be tied up so as to conclude the story completely.

Comparing the three stories in Ayakashi, my favourite is the 2nd part i.e. Tenshuu Monogatari which performs relatively well in terms of all areas. As for Yotsuya Kaidan, I thought that the narration part and the constant harping on revenge as a theme bored me to death. Last but not least, Bakeneko took too long to get to the heart of the action and the conclusion wasn't to my satisfaction. Although Ayakashi is positioned to be a horror series, I must say that I didn't feel that frightened at any point so this is something the producers should work on if there is to be a sequel. Otherwise, a horror series which doesn't freak people out doesn't deserve to be called one at the end of the day.