We’re back with another season of Yamishibai! And what is this? A new title card? Amazing! As usual, Yamishibai is a series of short stories set to rile you up. While many fans say there is a distinct lowering of scare factor despite the higher quality animations, I still found this show entertaining enough to continue on through the seasons. To me, I still love the show.
S3E1: Lend It to Me
A man and woman are in a public bathhouse, separated by a wall. Things were going normal until the woman asks to borrow a few items… and keeps asking. As the requests get more demanding, the previously unseen woman appears over the bathroom wall as a monster with long black hair, ready to devour the man. In my travels to Japan, I have yet to have the public bathhouse experience (tattoos, y’know?). But I can only imagine how creepy it must feel to be in that sort of liminal space alone with only the voice of someone speaking to you, growing more disturbed with every word.
S3E2: Tunnel
When two men get lost and drive through a mountain tunnel, bad things happen. This tunnel ends up being a giant spider-monster nest covered in a nasty green slime. With each victim, the spider adds their head to its feet. It’s a disgustingly creepy monster tale that makes my skin crawl — and I actually like spiders!
S3E3: Rat
As someone who has lived in a not-so-great apartment, I can empathize with this couple whose home is infested with rats. After being bitten, the woman turns into a rat herself. I have had a pet rat, so I am a little biased in whether they’re good creatures or not; but I have also seen my fair share of wild rats and can agree with their overall grossness. Overall turning into a rat-human hybrid isn’t something that really bothers me; I could take this episode or leave it.
S3E4: The Noisy Hospital Room
A patient at a hospital hears noise from a neighboring room, but is warned never to investigate the voices he hears. What we thought was a dream turns out to be reality when a patient’s reoccurring nightmare turns true; he falls right into the trap of maniacally laughing surgeons that had been haunting him in his slumber. Dream twists are a fun sort, so I liked this episode a lot. Goes to show that no matter how hard you try, you can’t escape fate.
S3E5: Museum of Taxidermy
Taxidermy is not for everyone, as this newlywed couple soon finds out. After stopping at a museum filled with eerily “alive” animal figures, the couple feels uneasy and leaves. They end up returning to find the other museum guests are actually taxidermied as well, and the eyes of the dead animals peer menacingly toward the couple. This gives definite House of Wax/The Collector vibes, and I would be very scared as well if I was in danger of being some kind of stuffed human exhibit.
S3E6: That Side Festival
Japan has many festivals honoring gods, monsters, and times of the year. Two friends find themselves in the middle of a festival where the patrons wear strange masks while chanting “that side…” If you wanted a scary version of the Spirit Procession from Spirited Away, this is it. Ghosts in all sorts of masks continuously tell the girls to go towards “that side,” but there’s no telling what “that side” is. It could be safety, or it could be danger. We leave the story never knowing.
S3E7: Behind
A student keeps dreaming about something terrifying happening on a class field trip. He describes to his friends how a woman with red fingernails twists his head until it cracks, but his friends only make fun of him — that is, until they all end up that way. The boy can only look on in terror as his dream comes true for him as well. Like the Rat story, this was a take it or leave it episode. Nightmares are scary, but a red-nailed monster isn’t exactly the scariest of the bunch.
S3E8: The Empress Doll
Dolls can be creepy. Putting them inside of an abandoned house is even creepier, especially when one disappears and reappears before your eyes. While I’m not the most weirded out by dolls, I found the story of a haunted Empress Hinamatsuri doll essentially stealing souls through mirror reflections to be quite frightening, especially when the lifeless victim’s body is repositioned and painted as one of the dolls after the fact.
S3E9: The Fourth Man
A local legend of mysterious men asking travelers to shake their hands lest they be bitten off comes true when two skeptic sisters encounter these people while walking home at night. Unfortunately, they end up meeting the fourth Handshake Man with his bright shining teeth. This one reminded me a little of The Smiling Man creepypasta, or really any urban legend that preys on people out at night. While I think the idea of some guy biting hands off of people is a little strange, it’s certainly not the worst story here.
S3E10: Merry-go-round
If you don’t like clowns, you won’t like this episode. A clown invites amusement park patrons to ride the merry-go-round that ends up making riders deformed, twitching messes. While many of the stories on Yamishibai have a specific Japanese flair, this one feels like the odd man out; the evil clowns and amusement park setting feel out of place. I mean, it makes sense considering the “clown scare” of 2016, but it still feels kind of bleh to me.
S3E11: Cuckoo Clock
Cuckoo clocks are kind of a sleeper scare. The cuckoo clock in this story entrances a little girl and, at the stroke of midnight, turns her into a grotesque cuckoo monster herself — to her mother’s horror. There are plenty of things you can do with a cuckoo clock, but this is pretty creative. It’s hard to do in five short minutes, but I would have appreciated a little background of the clock too.
S3E12: In the Water
When a swimmer decides to train for a school tournament after hours, he finds out quickly why that’s a bad idea. After seeing the Are You Afraid of the Dark episode, The Tale of the Dead Man’s Float, I have been extremely weary of bodies of water and what lurks in them. This is no different, with a hair-having fish creature stalking the swimmer, pulling him under the water for the last time. If Japanese schools weren’t scary enough, try adding a nighttime pool monster into the mix.
S3E13: -Drawings-
In this episode, we meet the boy from the opening credits and his curious new teacher who finds out why this boy sits alone at the park. The boy is seen to draw various monsters devouring the people he sees — this all comes true, to the teacher’s dismay. It’s a simple story and I appreciate how it ties into the credits.
And with that, Yamishibai reigns supreme in animated horror. With 4-5 minute episodes, it’s too short for my liking while still being the most compulsively binge-worthy show I’ve ever seen. I can’t get enough!
What did you think of Season 3? Let us know in the comments!
Theatre of Darkness: Yamishibai is available to stream on Crunchyroll.
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