Ayakashi: Japanese Classic Horror

Ayakashi: Japanese Classic Horror

From the title, I expected a truly scary and frightening experience, something with jump scares that would make your heart leap a little.
But it's different from my expectations. Perhaps it’s called “horror” simply because ghosts or spirits are involved.

This anime is divided into three separate stories, each with no connection to the others.
So, I’ll rate each one individually:

1. Yotsuya Kaidan (Yotsuya Ghost) – 6/10
This was the weakest of the three. I was tempted to drop the anime entirely because of how mediocre this first story was.
The premise and concept aren't unique, a non-human entity whose weakness is falling in love with a ... human has been done many times, especially in romance genres.
The art style was average as well and didn’t stand out.

2. Tenshu Monogatari (The Tale of the Mansion) – 8/10
This story was exceptional. It shows how deep hatred can go even beyond death.
The vengeful ghost in this story suffers a tragic and cruel fate; she was deceived and taken advantage of.
The villains were truly despicable, and I was satisfied to see them get what they deserved in the end.
What I especially liked was the idea that the curse doesn’t stay within the story, even the storyteller can be affected just by retelling it. That added a chilling layer to the narrative.

3. Bakeneko – 8/10
This final story is a prequel to the Mononoke series, so if you’ve seen Mononoke, you’ll know this arc is going to be great.
Every character in the story is important, each with different backgrounds and personalities, and all of them are interconnected.
The script writing, pacing, and storytelling were all handled well.

Total Score: 7/10

The opening and ending music are also worth mentioning. They don’t conform to typical anime music styles and instead explore other genres, which gives the series a unique feel.

Overall, I enjoyed Ayakashi: Japanese Classic Horror, and I would happily recommend it.
However, I suggest skipping the first story (Episodes 1 to 4) if you want to save your time. Start from Episode 5 to 11 because that’s where the series truly shines.

Art — 6/10
The visuals suit the material: restrained, period‑appropriate designs that feel like watching a classic folk tale more than flashy modern anime. Not spectacular, but it fits the mood.

Story — 7/10
This anthology collects three distinct pieces of Japanese folklore-inspired horror. Tenshu Monogatari is a bittersweet forbidden‑love tale between human and deity; Yotsuya Kaidan is a grim kabuki revenge tragedy about betrayal and its aftermath; Bakeneko is a tighter, morally sharp ghost story about family cruelty and the vengeance it breeds. Each segment leans into atmosphere and tragedy rather than jump scares; the pacing and tone vary between arcs, and Bakeneko in particular stands out ... if you prefer investigative, character‑driven supernatural stories.

Music — 6/10
Serviceable and thematically appropriate. The classical Japanese instrumentation during key confrontations (especially in Bakeneko) enhances the period feel. The opening theme is an odd, anachronistic choice that didn’t work for me, while the rest of the score fits nicely.

Emotional / enjoyment take
I enjoyed Ayakashi as a compact sampler of classic Japanese horror — it’s melancholic, occasionally brutal, and consistently atmospheric. Tenshu Monogatari’s tragic romance stuck with me for its emotional stakes; Yotsuya Kaidan delivers raw kabuki melodrama; and Bakeneko felt the most satisfying, digging into guilt, class cruelty, and how human sins birth real horrors. The anthology format means some arcs resonate more than others, but the series as a whole creates a cohesive mood of elegiac unease.

Who it’s for
Fans of literary/classical Japanese stories, period pieces, or slow‑burn supernatural tragedy. If you expect modern horror tropes or nonstop scares, this isn’t that — it’s storytelling first, chills second.

A thoughtful, sometimes haunting anthology that rewards patience and interest in classical Japanese folklore; Bakeneko is the highlight, but the whole package has a satisfying, old‑world tone.

This is an anthology of three stories. The first two, Yotsuya Kaidan and Tenshi Monogatari, each consisting of 4 episodes, are both adaptations, though I can't vouch for whether or not they are faithful. The final segment, Bakeneko, at only three episodes, appears to be an original story, though just as with the other two, it's influenced by Japanese folklore and pre-20th century Japanese art periods.

Although there might be some important distinctions between the terms, Ayakashi is similar to the word Yokai, which is a type of demon or spirit. Like most anime listed as horror, these are probably not stories a person into western, ... or even eastern, horror would seek out. Yes, they have demons, ghosts, violence and gore, and are rather grotesque, but they're really more discernible as supernatural tragedies.

To begin with, the opening for the series features the strange choice of a rap song with Japanese-styled background music. The Samurai Champloo creators were able to make the hip-hop tracks fit the show, despite the music style and time period being anachronistic. Here, it's just odd and the song doesn't mesh well at all. The ending theme and other music tracks are much more appropriate and fit the darker tone of the episodes.

Yotsuya Kaidan is a tragedy with very reprehensible characters. Most of them are highly immoral and cruel. Probably the only remotely sympathetic characters are the child and the two exploited women. This particular story bears somewhat of a resemblance to Masaki Kobayashi's Kwaidan anthology, with the rejected wife of the callous and ambitious samurai dying and becoming a vengeful spirit.

However, it manages to become fairly convoluted with its two intersecting stories and multiple plot twists. There are some loose threads, such as the grownup child appearing in one scene and never appearing again. But worst of all is that none of the characters are compelling, and whether they are wicked or sympathetic, they're all equally flat. As it is unlikely for most viewers to become invested in the plight of the characters, the tragedy that permeates the piece remains hollow, if not completely artificial.

The animation is generally as good as it needs to be for such a story, though it obviously never rises to the level of Hakkenden or Akira. The production design is striking in many scenes, most notably the dusk scenes where the male protagonist leaves everything behind. The contrast of the saturated red sky and the silhouetted surroundings, with some selective illumination upon a solitary grave, is very ominous. Lightning is also used to excellent effect. All of the scenes at the house surrounded by graves are also visually striking.

As enjoyable as I found the adaptation to be at times, it all feels rather pointless by the end. A very standard revenge story once you peel away all of the aesthetic flourishes. It seems the writer felt the same way—that the story didn't hold up on its own—for he employed metanarrative devices by the end. Each episode has a narrator, who enters into the story very directly after what should be the end sequence. Alongside live action footage, occasionally with bits of animation, he meditates on the nature of the story being told. Essentially, the ghost is to the characters as the story is to those who experience it. Yet this element doesn't mesh very well and seems more like a half-baked idea than anything profound.

Tenshi Monogatari is a tale of a human and a demon-like woman (referred to as a "forgotten god") falling in love. The woman is the head of a female clan responsible for devouring humans. The man is attempting to climb the ranks of society and also has a wife (or mistress). Both characters have something to lose that provides conflict throughout, and there is an exploration of the demonic becoming more human and vice versa.

It's a predictable story every step of the way, featuring saccharine music for the romantic parts, along with a happy end that had me snorting milk. The production design is rather solid, especially in the first episode. It's clear that by the end there's too much going on to be animated effectively.

The highlight is the third segment, a mystery about a botched wedding of two affluent families and a medicine seller who possesses magical means to vanquish a cat spirit that begins haunting the family, but before he can unlock his powers, he has to solve the mystery behind the spirit. This spawned a series called Mononoke the next year, featuring the medicine seller (as well as the maid, Kayo, in one arc) and the same distinct style, reminiscent of a luridly colored Ukiyo-e painting in motion. Similar to Gankutsuou, the animation is never distractingly bad, but it's the artwork that carries it. The story isn't anything terribly original, but it's a well-presented mystery. The pacing is also much tighter than the other stories because of its shorter length, though it may leave the piece feeling slightly rushed.

For fans of Mononoke or anyone who is intrigued by the art style and presentation of Bakeneko, the preceding segments can be skipped, as they're all independent stories. The previous two are worth a look as well, but if you've seen similar Japanese ghost stories, they may seem a bit humdrum.