Audience reviews
20 · Sample from the first available page, separate from the total number of ratings.
PitBoy
I'm going to focus in judging this as a Horror show, because I'm a big fan of Horror and this anime is tag as such. There is nothing more you would need to ask to this anime. The animation style could be a miss for some, but if you care about getting some spooky ghost stories, this is your jam and bread. Think of It as a Goosebumps or Tales from the Crypt, but they are short Japanese ghost stories instead.
Personally I would say that, as much as the stories are creepy, they are not that intense, but they are fun non the less. Good idea to watch a season each Halloween Night with your friends, family, or just you and your supper (Like my lonely ass does). I have to advice, I don't recommend watching the whole 14+ seasons in one go. In my experience, anthology series can get a little repeti…
Read at the sourcegepld45
I really think everyone should give this series a try once in their lives. It´s full of interesting ideas, the voice acting is incredible and has charming animation similar to traditional chinese puppet plays in a sense.
Is it super scary? not really, but the stories told can give you that creepy feeling. funnly enough i think this series is perfect to introduce horror stories to kids. it dosent overstay it´s welcome, its not gory and gives you enougth space to imagine these situations.
If you like horror anthologies or want to recommend some to other people then this is one of them
Read at the sourceOni_Lens
Yami Shibai Season 1 is an inconsistent but memorable horror experience. Not every episode works, and some stories feel confusing, underdeveloped, or simply uninteresting. However, when the series gets things right, it delivers genuinely unsettling horror that lingers in your mind. The strongest episodes are those that feel close to real life urban legends, curses, loneliness, technology, and psychological pressure. These stories don’t rely on loud jump scares, but instead build discomfort through atmosphere and familiarity. On the other hand, weaker episodes often suffer from vague execution or ideas that fail to fully connect. As a whole, Season 1 feels experimental. Some episodes hit hard and remain memorable even years later, while others are easy to forget. This uneven quality prevent…
Read at the sourceSkyBlue1012
The horror genre is quite rare in anime, not sure why. That’s unfortunate because I truly enjoy horror films. I love it when a story evokes a terrifying sensation that sends shivers down my spine. Very few films or shows can genuinely make me feel that way.
Thankfully, I discovered Theatre of Darkness: Yamishibai. Unlike many so-called "horror" anime, which tend to focus more on psychological discomfort or excessive gore, Yamishibai actually manages to be frightening. It evokes real fear. The jump scares are well-timed and effective, often making your heart skip a beat, even if just for a moment.
The music is excellent, adding to the eerie atmosphere and pulling you deeper into each story. The voice acting is top-notch as well, you can truly hear the fear and tension in the characters' v…
Read at the sourceKrenZane
*Brief Review-Reflections*
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There's little to say about a spontaneous watch with a couple of friends while waiting for an hour to be killed within university premises, but Yami Shibai provides an opportunity to bring the audience closer to Japanese-flavored urban horror stories styled in animation whose peculiarity brings out--strangely--a sort of charm in it. To be upfront, that, alongside the united decision of making some jumpscare moments comical by painting horrifying faces on the foundation of the Surprised Pikachu meme does not help to stop us from being unserious about it throughout the episodes, but when it works it's imprinted onto memory comfortably to say the least. Admittedly, there were times the stars aligned for the anime for some reason, and the **Zanbai** and **The Fa…
Read at the sourceBlackBusterMAL
English.
I find it somewhat impressive that a series can tell us a horror story in just 4 minutes per chapter, the duration of the season is not more than an hour long but it is still quite entertaining as such, of course being a series anthology there will be better episodes than others but I liked most of them, they were quite acceptable since their short duration limits them from showing much on the screen, in truth this although simple were quite good episodes showing us a terror which impacts you or leaves you thinking It is not the best anthological horror series you will see but you will have a good time of terror in your house at night if you watch the episodes in a row.
Español.
Se me hace algo impresionante que una serie pueda contarnos una historia de terror en tan solo 4 minut…
Read at the sourceSenpaiSkye
The storytelling in this series is great and the foundation which is it placed on is super solid. It is very interesting and also can be really creepy. Creepy in a less forward scary way, and more in a suspenseful way.
The historical components are probably the best thing about the series, but from my personal knowledge I think some of them are not entirely accurate and made up for the purpose of the plot. I wish they would have leaned into this side a bit more because as-is it sort of falls flat as a horror genre for me.
Personally, the art style was really distracting and made me feel like I was having a seizure which added to the story of course, but also detracted from it as well. This, paired with the above makes it so it doesn't meet expectations as hoped.
Read at the sourceLuubie
When we watch horror anime, it is expected to follow an engaging story that does not abuse harmful techniques that only serve to scare the public. Furthermore, shows need to arouse interest, as suspense, action and production need to work together to offer the best show possible, be it film, manga, series or anime. Yami Shibai is an example of how to make disturbing stories, without depending on other forms of discomfort or tension.
To begin with, I must say that the show is independent of a very elaborate narrative quality, especially when it comes to a compilation of Japanese horror stories, where urban legends, cases and superstitions are always frequent in Japanese villages and regions. Yami Shibai took advantage of this, bringing a very unique style that is common in Japanese culture…
Read at the sourceironsakura32
Story:
Basically 13 short little stories based on Japanese urban legends or myths. All of them were interesting and in my opinion, done well. Every story is at the very least, creepy (some were downright scary), and it had me hooked from the first episode.
Animation:
At first this was a sticking point to me. The animation was extremely basic, but after a few episodes it grew on me and actually it fits very well with the asthetic of the show. The animation is based off of the Japanese paper theatre story tellers. It is done well for what it is trying to do.
Sound:
The sound is done very well and adds to the general vibe of creepyness and is unnerving at times. The Story Teller's voice animation is done excellently and is very creepy.
Characters:
Can't really say anything about this b…
Read at the sourceCURS3DKISS
Yami Shibai has such a wonderful art style that's so perfect for making things much scarier, it's so eerie and unsettling, which is incredible. One thing to note though, Yami Shibai rely heavily on cheap jumpscares, which is understandable since every story has to be put in a super constraining time limit of more or less four minutes.
That's also what irks me the most. Why have all of these incredibly horrifying stories that will definitely keep some viewers up at night but butcher it by putting scary imagery with loud music in the background every time? Imagine how the series will go on if they try to build up the atmosphere and keeping the viewers on edge with longer episodes.
That is also the reason why the characters feel so flat. They don't have any meaningful reason to be in the ep…
Read at the sourcelknkira
A collection of horror tales, some better than others, but the kamishibai style makes it more interesting, perhaps because I saw it once.
The art in Kamishibai would say it's the strong point, maybe some don't like it, but I found it a perfect choice, precisely because it made me feel like I was really watching a Kamishibai, I don't know if it would work so well if it were in a more standard style.
The soundtrack helps a lot, makes you more immersed in the story, it fits very well when it is needed.
I would say that like any work in this style, there will be some stories that will be more interesting than others, some in particular I really liked.
If you like urban legends, you will probably like this anime
Read at the sourcecharlottadell
Yamishibai is very hit or miss. When it's good the art and sound fit perfectly with the story making it both unnerving and thought provoking. However, when it's bad it's like watching an animated version of a story written by a middle schooler who thinks they're deep. Fortunately all the episodes are independent and just five minutes long so you're at a minimum risk of wasting your time!
Like I've pointed out the stories vary in quality but it's really the combination with lacklustre direction that makes them bad. Sometimes it's better to tell rather than show, especially when it comes to animating horror. A description of a gooey monster sounds scarier than a drawing of an awkward blob ya know?
Which brings me to art! Overall I love the art style of Yamishibai. It goes really well with…
Read at the sourcektulu007
Yami Shibai is a series of horror shorts by ILCA. I've looked at another one of their anthologies two years ago when I reviewed Kowabon. So, is this one any better?
Story:
Like Kowabon, every episode is a short, quick fire horror scenario. They basically follow a formula of setting up some kind of unsettling scenario, building on them and then reaching a conclusion.
The biggest issue is that, if you know your horror tropes, you can pretty reliably predict most of the episode endings. To be fair to the series, it does appear to be directed at very young teenagers, maybe even children on the verge of becoming teenagers. So, a lot of the target audience won't be as familiar with the tropes.
I will also credit the series for being fairly effective at setting up its scenarios. The episode…
Read at the sourceSgtSalamander
I'm not mad, just disappointed. The stories that they had to play with here had so much potential and were genuinely interesting. I stuck around only because I hadn't heard of them before and wanted to hear how they turned out. How they treated these stories felt kind of lazy in comparison to what they could have pulled off.
The art is stagnant, devoid of energy and gives off more of a storybook vibe, which they're probably going for on purpose. Regardless, the style they chose keeps their ghosts and monsters from jumping out at you, and not once was I anything more than mildly creeped out. Even at that, it was at the story itself and not how they presented it to me.
The sound is audible, and delivers nothing more than is absolutely necessary.
The characters are decidedly two-dimensi…
Read at the sourceYuri-Crusader
Ghost story's have been told for generations, since the dawn of man. It's one of the earliest forms of entertainment humankind engulfed themselves with. Before television electricity even before literature, people gathered around the fire to hear chilling tales. Humans like to be frightened and immersive themselves in a world full of ghost goblins and demons.So let's gather around and I will tell more of about some horrifying Ghost story's.. Welcome to my review of Yami Shibai!
Rather then one big story this is a collation of shorter ghost tales. And with only four minutes of time they are surprisingly well done, and being told in a creepy menacing way!!They are unique ominous and extremely well presented .Before I start watching this i thought the short time could be a problem but that…
Read at the sourceMISSed_Bandwagon
I really enjoyed watching the first season of this show. Japanese horror is really something like no other. I don't know what it is that makes it so much scarier than Western horror that truly sends a shiver up my spine. Perhaps it's because us no good Americans tend to meddle in things that shouldn't be meddled with in the first place. Going directly into haunted house or abandoned asylums, opening locked trunks and secret diaries that say "KEEP OUT, DO NOT OPEN!" I think a part of me when watching this thinks, "See whatever happens to you, you deserve it."
But with Japanese horror it's all about being in the wrong place at the wrong time. Rarely is the cruel punishment handed out due to meddlesome Scooby-Doo teenagers but a tired businessman who decided to stop at a ramen shop. Or a hous…
Read at the sourceGatesOfOblivion
Let's get to the point with this one. I'll list some of the notable pros and cons.
Pros:
- Diverse stories and settings (As much as Japan allows it)
- Horror stories are based on real life myths and legends from the land of the rising sun, yes! This is quite possibly it's strongest aspect as it adds educational value for anybody deeply invested in the paranormal.
- The simplistic and unique way it's "animated" adds to it, not detract. Animes are known to not be as scary as films so it feels to me they used this to their advantage. - Good narrator.
Cons:
- Unfortunately every story ends in a cliche , stereotypical horror way. Yes there's justification for it, but if they were going to imply the protagonist of the story say, died. There's better ways they could've done that.
- The ch…
Read at the sourcedoctorminsuks
Watched for MyAnimeList's Anime Watching Challenge 2019 - Watch an anime with 10 or more episodes that are each 15 minutes or less
Yami Shibai is a series of five-minute episode ghost stories in a thirteen-part series. With each episode focusing on a different story, there is definitely an aspect of horror for everyone to be found in this short series.
This series has a lot of charm in its own way; it has its own animation style definitely different from a lot of anime styles that are found nowadays and it runs well. At first glance, it looks more like something for children, (almost reminiscent of shows like Gorey Tales for Gruesome Children in the United Kingdom) but its ability to make you tense and jumpy for their predictable jumpscares is something to be desired. There aren't many…
Read at the sourceTheRatedRab
This is my first review, so please bare with me. Yami Shibai is a different kind of horror anime. It's not your usual 24 min per episode, but rather a 5 min per episode anime. Simply, it's a collection of short stories.
--STORY--
The story was't anything special. Considering each episode lasts only for 5 minutes and the stories being standalone, there wasn't any sort of story development or anything. Some of the stories had something deep, while some were just about a quick scare. So, don't expect much.
--ART--
I really liked the art style of this anime. It felt weird in the beginning, but it soon grew over me as I watched the show. It's very different compared to our usual anime out there. It reminded me of cardboard cut out characters with stop motion animation. It's simple but very ef…
Read at the sourceDenizu
I love horror, but find it difficult to enjoy most horror anime as they are either too over the top, or the animation doesn't give that eerie vibe. Yami Shibai was a refreshing take from the blood splatters, with short but effective story telling, very much like camp ghost stories with paper puppets.
Each episode is a stand alone story, no more than 3 or 4 minutes long, focusing on a particular person who just happened to be at the wrong place at the wrong time. The stories mostly deal with ghosts, spirits and unknown creatures, never really clarifying exactly what is happening, which only adds to the eerie confusion and fear of the unknown and unexplainable.
The art and animation are brilliant for this series and type of story telling, completely surprising the audience by not using t…
Read at the source
