Embedded Files
We're back again, Choco and I, to give you the rundown on why you should be watching Yamishibai season 2. Why?
Because this series is batshit crazy sometimes, son, that's why.
If you don't remember, season 1 was full of short, horror filled episodes that may or may not be true urban legends. Do we know? Hell no. Do we care? Hell yeah we do. Cuz this is the big time, kiddies. You wanna know how to do horror on the shortest of short film, this is where you start.
Things are a bit different this time around. This season is over seen by director Takashi Shimizu, who brought us the always memorable Ju-On series. This gives the season a slightly different feel. It seems that its focus may not be on those rumored urban legends, but more into literally short film horror stories. Think of these less like something you'd hear about being debunked on Snopes.com, and more like stories you'd be telling around a fire pit in your back yard in the dead of night. Marshmallows optional but recommended. New change of clothing required.
Choco handled the first 3 episodes, so I'm taking the next 3. Before I get into each episode, I want to point out the opening. New park (it looks to be like a carnival or theme park variety), new kids, and the storyteller? Still the same. But not quite. He seems to have variations on his greeting to the children every episode. Not one for every new episode (so far I've seen, I'm going slowly), but I've heard at least 3-4 variations on his opening greeting. In the 3 episodes I covered, he begins (ep. 4) very cheerfully and enthusiastically. In the next, its a little more subdued by certainly still on the cheerful side. By the 6th episode, he's back to his very flat but creepy delivery. This set up really gave me pause, and made me go back to listen to the previous 3 eps (his delivery changes, but not in such a perfectly linear way in the episodes I chose). Hmmm….
Wall Woman
A college student falls for his neighbor whom lives in the apartment across the way. His everyday, mild voyeurism is one day interrupted by a weird figure that seems like its crawling up the side of her apartment.
When it goes inside, he panics. But that's not the worst of it.
You definitely get a Rear Window vibe here, except our protagonist isn't the always handsome Jimmy Stewart, he doesn't pack a telephoto lens the size of Texas, and its not a murder he thinks he's witnessing….or is it? What happens to his across the way paramour is only half the story. The other half is figuring out what the hell that weird black figure is, crawling around on the outside of the buildings. It's animated lovingly, which is to say FUCKING CREEPY SCARY. Think demon monkey, only not as cute or sweet. Yeah.
I also want to point out that the art direction in this season pushes the envelope just as much as it did last season. You still have the low framed animations of the figures, meant to look like paper theater dolls, but the set pieces and backgrounds really shine. In the above screen, check out that reflection and transparency of the window. Slick stuff. The team really out did themselves here.
Locker
A high school girl falls for her sempai and overhears a love charm that is sure to deliver her unrequited love to her. You just need a picture of your beloved and you need to leave it in a basement station coin locker with a doll. When she tries it, it seems to work, and her sempai runs into her when she goes to check the locker.
The only problem is: she used the wrong one.
Hoo boy. We've touched on the subject of love charms, or rather love curses, in Zero Week, with the review of the novel A Curse Only Affecting Girls. Do the curse, and you love will be returned, right? WRONG. THIS IS JAPAN, SON, CURSING CAN ONLY GO ONE WAY: BADLY. While not specified that the intended love charm is a curse, certainly the one the girl performs is. And its those final moments in the episode where the show shines through. Shimizu-san is known for his jump horror and body horror, but with this show, its refreshingly restrained. The last moments as the curse strikes is shown in silhouette on the ground, intercut with the look of horror on the girl's face.
It also explains the doll's little package. KEEEY-RIPES.
Nao-chan
Takkun is a young boy very attached to his parents. His father often plays shadow puppets before bed to entertain him (note the adorable Ultraman reference). But his mother is concerned: Takkun seems to be talking to someone who isn't there, named Nao-chan, but only at night and indicates he's on the ceiling.
Its not until everyone is asleep that Nao-chan does indeed arrive. And it really is coming from the ceiling.
This is one of those episodes that has a lot of layers going on in it, and for its short run time, it requires multiple viewings to really do enough lateral thinking to understand it. It also doesn't have a huge jump scare ending, but rather a lingering unpleasant one.
Nao-chan isn't someone neither parent knows, until the end, when there's a revelation of someone whose connected to the family from the past. The child sees him, but its not until late in the episode that he appears to the audience. And from Takkun's expression, its not his usual appearance either. His final appearance is marked with a frightening visage, and the sound of a baby cooing, giggling or crying. Upon waking, Mama remembered a Nao in their lives, who was apparently responsible for getting them together, and who also ended up dying alone soon after. This revelation is bookended with them staring at the ceiling….and then the arrival of a new addition to the home. Named Nao-chan, and from Takkun's scowling expression, this isn't exactly what he wanted….
Its a super subtle episode. Nao-chan's connection with that friend who died implies that Nao has returned. Was Nao someone who had ties to Mama or Papa? And when they died "alone", did they use Takkun to return, to become a part of that trio they had once been? And in so doing, where does this leave Takkun?
Also of note is the intercutting of cats throughout. At first its a cat meowing into the night. Other times its yowling unpleasantly in the dark. As someone who has neighborhood cats around, I can say yowling cats is a most frightening experience if you don't know they're there.
In any case, decide for yourselves! Click each title card for each episode.
Oshimai….
--Dio (10/20/14)
Videos from crunchyroll, screen capped by me.
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