©近藤憲一／集英社・ダークギャザリング製作委員会
Horror anime is so unfamiliar that a new series of this genre would generate interest, while the well-known difficulties of the horror business right It will also be a reason to be afraid to approach said series. And so, we come curiously and cautiously to anime“>dark assembly, an anime whose quirks were on full display from the start, it stands out with the quirky design of the poster girl, Yayoi, and sense of humor between its creepy parts. However, by the second episode, anime“>dark assembly He points out some interesting and more profound approaches to the spiritual ideas with which he plays. This could be quite as distinctive to the series as Yayoi’s awful double-pupil skull eyes.
Comedy and horror will always be intertwined structurally, and as far as their quality goes, anime“>dark assembly Mostly fine so far. I am so amused by the ways Yayoi, with the help of an eager Eiko, messes with Keitaro and puts him on her supernatural adventures. Yu Sasahara He does a solid job portraying Yayoi as a bit of a weirdo, especially considering how often the character has to switch between silly and creepy. Comedy material is funnier than laughing out loud. Likewise, none of the horror clips come across as quite as scary, but the vibes once the transformation is felt are still on point.
anime“>dark assembly So far not an amazingly animated series, and frankly, some of the storyboarding during the simple conversation portions can feel quite jittery and hard to follow. However, a lot of the presentation, especially in those horror segments, knows how to get a lot out of a little. The series relies on using imagery specifically known to be disturbing, like all the sexual/pregnancy-related imagery surrounding the ghostly abduction of Yayoi’s mother or the way Keitaro takes a full dose of horrible doll hair in episode two. The situation with the phone booth ghost in the first episode escalates with phone-based threat imagery and is then resolved by Yayoi cutting and exposing. Wild Fighting style includes dual wielding levers and jizo bust blackjack.
It’s the weirdness that serves to sell the central idea of Yayoi and how this little girl can be something so frightening that the spirits themselves are afraid of her. anime“>dark assembly She does a solid job of showing the inherent terribleness of Yayoi, even under her silliest moments. We quickly jump into what’s going on with her damn stuffed set, what she’s trying to do, and Why. However, other realizations creep in as we watch, such as the understanding that the Yayoi do not take these souls with any altruistic intention of protecting the locals from them. Instead, she regularly puts others and herself in danger by waking them up for her own deeply sinister and vengeful ends.
That’s the understanding we come to in Episode Two, along with the series snapping a bit of the first show’s silly and scary setup to clear things up and let us understand more of its ideas. We have come to fully understand how all of Keitaro’s actions, contrasting with Yayoi, are based on his desire to prevent any harm to others. It comes down to his backstory involving his childhood friend getting involved in a spiritual accident with him (which I’m pretty sure the friend was Echo, who almost certainly keeps her hidden hands tied together). But the storytelling also details how Keitaro’s connection to others in this way forms his own kind of support network for his possessed hand, itself framed in anime“>dark assembly Something like living with a chronic illness. It is in this context that “exorcism” as a regular medical procedure with actual surgical mechanics behind it raises interest in how these things work in this context. The first episode of this show caught my eye, but it was all these follow-up ideas for the second episode that drew me in.
you look like anime“>dark assembly He’s already indicated that he’ll be moving into something of a “spirit of the week” spin-off setup, which is a good sign that he’s got the conceptual chops to pique interest even as we’re not looking forward to a lot of story elements right away. Not that the show completely ignores that front, dropping tantalizing clues about deeper things that might be going on with Eiko, or delving into the true depths of Yayoi’s crusade with its fearsome collection. I don’t know that the show will ever quite succeed in the horror realm, in my opinion it appears to be more “terrifying” than downright scary, which may be more to the tastes of some fear-averse audience members who might otherwise be interested in horror vibes. On the other hand, while I find the humor amusing enough, I can see it as a turn-off for those who think it’s too mean for Keitaro. anime“>dark assembly It will be one of those shows that are going to be for some very specific people’s tastes. But it’s bundled with enough power that I can recommend you give it a try to see if you’re one of those people.
evaluation:
anime“>dark assembly Currently streaming on HIDIVE.
Chris knows summer is the perfect time for scary stories, and hopefully that’s enough to distract him from the scorching Fresno heat wave. You can help distract him by teasing him Twitter (although that lasts), or check out his less horrifying musings on his blog.
