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.

Ayakashi Ep 5 - 8: Tenshu Monogatari

This story is a fictitious tale written by Izumi Kyoka centering on a forgotten god by the name of Tomihime and an eagle trainer Toushonosuke. Their paths would not have crossed until Toushonosuke's eagle by the name of Koujirou goes missing and he finds out that it has flown to the Shirosagi Castle. While searching for Koujirou which belongs to the general he serves, Toushonosuke happens to meet Tomihime while she is taking a bath where the two seem to be unable to take their eyes off each other. Although Toushonosuke already has a fiancee Oshizu, he keeps thinking of Tomihime who is also pining for him.

As a number of people have failed to retrieve Koujirou from the Shirosagi Castle, Toushonosuke is sent on this mission and finds out about Tomihime's identity as well as her need to eat living people to sustain her life. On the other hand, Tomihime is apprehensive about falling for a human being since her mother suffered badly as a result of being dumped by a man and subsequently became an eagle by the name of Aguri a.k.a. Koujirou. As such, Tomihime is determined not to follow in her mother's footsteps. Nevertheless, the feelings that both of them have for each other are so strong that they cannot resist the thought of being apart and Tomihime even hurts her servant to save Toushonosuke. They finally sleep together where Oshizu who has come looking for Toushonosuke, happens to see this and runs away without confronting him. The couple flees Shirosagi Castle where Tomihime gets a taste of how it feels like to be a human.

However, the happiness is short-lived as Tomihime's granny comes after them and reveals that the servant whom Tomihime hurt, is dying. This makes Tomihime realise that being with Toushonosuke will bring about unhappiness and she forces Toushonosuke to leave. Having no choice, he returns to his town and even marries Oshizu who pretends that nothing has happened.

All would have been peaceful if Oshizu's jealously didn't get the better of her. Even though she is married to Toushonosuke, she knows that he's still in love with Tomihime and goes to tell the general that the eagle is in Shirosagi Castle. As such, the general orders the troops to attack the castle which forces Toushonosuke to abandon Oshizu so as to protect Tomihime. After a bloody battle, this results in severe casualties on both sides. In the end, Tomihime and Toushonosuke transform into birds and fly off to be together.

On the whole, I like this story much better than the first which was quite confusing and a bit too long for my liking due to the limited content they could explore. In contrast, Tenshu Monogatari is relatively straightforward and due to it being fiction, it's easier to accept the developments which may seem far-fetched. Besides, the romance between Tomihime and Toushonosuke spices up the story because it gives it a more emotional and human touch as compared to the first instalment where hatred and revenge took centrestage.

I'm growing to like the ED by Hajime Chitose more which has that traditional feel and her vocals suit the atmosphere of the story. As for the OP, I just think that the rap doesn't blend well with the theme of the anime so I don't like it at all.

Although it was said that Ayakashi consists of horror stories, I guess this 2nd instalment ranks rather low on the horror index because the eerie scenes of people being eaten were largely restricted to Ep 5. Later, when Tomihime and Toushonosuke fell in love, that changed the mood to one of romance and the helplessness of separation. In this sense, I thought the first instalment fitted the description of a horror story better.

Ayakashi Ep 1 - 4: Yotsuya Kaidan

Ayakashi consists of 3 supernatural tales and the first 4 episodes are allocated to Yotsuya Kaidan. In this story, there are two main characters Tamiya Iemon and Oiwa who are a married couple. However, due to Oiwa's father dislike for Tamiya, he separates them which causes the latter to bear a grudge. In order to get Oiwa back, Tamiya kills his father-in-law without his wife's knowledge.

Although things should have gone smoothly with the couple reunited, the birth of their child causes Oiwa to become sickly and Tamiya gets increasingly frustrated with her and his life as he has nothing better to do. At this point, he happens to catch the fancy of Oume, a girl from a rich and influential family. Unknown to Tamiya, Oume orders her servants to send a packet of poison for Oiwa to consume and this results in the latter being disfigured. Despite having reservations about leaving Oiwa behind for the sake of his future, Tamiya chooses to make use of the chance to accuse Oiwa of adultery and even kills her.

On the night when Tamiya and Oume get married, he sees an illusion of Oiwa. He gets so panicky that he kills Oume and her family members in the process. Having nowhere to go as he's a wanted man, Tamiya even has to get his mother to create a tombstone so that people think that he's dead. However, that doesn't stop the series of nightmares and constant hallucinations plaguing Tamiya and he ends up being killed by Yogeshichi, the fiance of Oiwa's younger sister Osode.

Frankly speaking, the story isn't that complicated so I don't really see the rationale of using 4 episodes for this story. In fact, a major part of the 4th episode was even attributed to the history of Yotsuya Kaidan and the supposed curse of Oiwa over the years on the people who made the stage and movie versions. That section was rather eerie to watch because it makes me wonder if the string of happenings was really related to Oiwa or mere coincidences. Other than that, the presentation of the story was rather confusing because of the introduction of the author-cum-narrator. Last but not least, the quality of the animation especially the design of the characters left much to be desired. I was expecting more from this anime since it's made by a movie company, Toei and was in the Noitamina slot.

Nevertheless, I like the OP and ED despte all the flaws I picked out about Yotsuya Kaidan. The ED stands out especially with its Japanese style melody and the vocals of Hajime Chitose makes this song easy to remember. I just hope that the remaining 2 stories will be better though because the genre was what had attracted me to begin watching the anime in the first place.