And it has ended! Based on my expectations of the last episode, it could have been done better, but it also could have been done. Still, I am SO glad that the creators managed to include one final piece of Ueki-goodness into the series before it ended. I thought it got lost after episode 43. It really was the best reason ever to keep the hero alive after a seeming death, and you so DO NOT see it coming, though it makes perfect sense, except for the coincidence that those two objects just happened to meet with each other.

Anyway, I’d have loved to see some more side-characters in the climax, though I’m satisfied. The usual part about what happens afterwards also was enjoyable to see, though nothing special.

Eh…. what?

Okay, this episode didn’t make any sense at all… I’m still figuring out whether this was in a good way, or a bad way. On one hand, it’s just total randomness. And when I mean total-randomness, I really mean TOTAL-randomness. On the other hand, the prinny squad annoyed me a bit too much this episode.

See, the case is our ‘protagonists’ end up at a strange castle, which eventually ends up switching Etna and Flonne’s personality. Like most shows which attempt this, it really gives an interesting and different look to these characters. Still, like I said above, I still have no idea whether this ‘interesting’ and ‘different’ were any good… This episode was so incredibly impuslive. We get visited by a number of side-characters for no apparent reason. They disappear as fast and unexplainable as they appeared. The characters are just freaky in this episode, and it looks like some parts have been cut-out.

Still, the beginning of the episode, in which Flonne tals about pretty flowers in front of Laharl is without a doubt memorable.

Ah, we’re dealing with a second Ayakashi here. I kept wondering how a show like this would be able to keep going for 26 episodes. Well, this explains why. This episode was better than the third one, though it won’t be able to beat the sheer awesomeness of the first two episodes.

I just loved the Rena at the start of the episode. Keiichi lies to her again, and she quickly kills of this comment by her remarks. It was totally scary. Her apologizing only made this feeling better. The day after that, with Mion’s conversation with Keiichi was also beautifully scary. For a minute, I really felt sorry for her.

Then, however, at the second part of the episode, the awesomeness turned down a bit. I guess I shouldn’t have watched this after seeing Bake Neko, as I’m really starting to notice a few flaws in Higurashi. Where Bake Neko succeeded, Higurashi kindof fails, especially when creating over-the-top chaotic scenes, and characters freaking out. Especially Rena with her axe seems too much directed, her scary laugh just didn’t do the trick, I’m much more fan of the subtle changes in her personality, like in the first two episodes. That made her a great character. Keiichi, however, made up for it a bit, as it felt that he genuinely was scared.

Keiichi then gets assaulted by a few mysterious men, who still remain a mystery after the episode, he gets hit on the head, and recovers right next to Rena. The both of them plan to inject him with some strange liquid, after which we see the first scene of the first episode. Another part well-executed. Afterwards, Keiichi goes berserk, and kills himself in a phone booth. Another part badly executed.

I’m wondering whether this will go Ayakashi, or Jigoku Shoujo. At one side, there are just a lot of unexplained questions, like who was this director? What happened to the other two girls? What happened during those murders? What happened to the piece of the note which went missing? What is Oyashiro-Sama? On the other hand, the creators could decide to keep these things a complete mystery, and just continue with a total different story, as this material doesn’t seem too sufficient for 26 whole episodes. But still, each of these options has its own potential. I’ll be looking forward to either one of them.

I’ve probably picked up one of the worst series to be experimenting with the raws, as most of the series consists of people talking. Still, I need a better reason to drop this series, as I actually enjoyed this episode, despite only understanding 25% of it.

We start the episode with the fake Ran Shiuei (I hope that that’s how you spell it) meeting up with Shiurei’s father. I later learned that his real name is Shiujou. Seiren meanwhile gets a talk with the real Ran Shiuei and his friend, whose name I forgot. Apparently, they’ve known each other from before. They talk about something involving Shiujou.

Back to Shiurei and Shiujou, the former gives the latter a bit of tea, and the latter gets a bit embarrased at something which the former said. Then we switch back to a conversation between the two of them and Shiurei’s father. It then seems that she’s some kind of princess, though I think it means daughter of someone who owns a large building as a house, which I understood later in the episode. Shiujou then notices how uneven Shiurei’s fingers are. This is because her family is so poor, she has to do all of the cleaning, which gives her such rough hands. She then begins treating Shiujou as a little kid, which was fairly amusing to see.

We then switch to the next day. Apparently, Shiurei asked Ran Shiuei to study with her together, as she names a few historical buildings/people/eras/whatever, and Ran seems very impressed. After all, Shiurei was a teacher, so she knows a fair amount of facts. Then Ran’s ‘good’ friend enters the room as well. If I heard his name well, I think you could type it as Koyu, or something in that direction. It now becomes clear that the three are studying together, for some unknown purpose. Koyu then begins yelling at Ran, as usual, but he says something that makes Shiurei think. What he said… well, God knows.

Then we turn to a busy shopping street, as Shiujou and Shiurei take a small walk outside. Shiurei then meets up with some of her former students, and then finds out that one of them is in sortof trouble. Her parents own a shop which deals in hair ornaments, and left her alone to take care of it while they went out for something. Then she gets bothered by an annoying customer, which apparently just plans to take things without paying. Shiurei scares him off, and both she and Shiujou spend the rest of the day taking care of the shop, while the child looks for her parents. Shiujou obviously has trouble, and is a bit too shy, but after it’s over, he feels content.

At this point of the episode, I had a bit of a meh-feeling about this show. The characters were living their normal life, though nothing special happened. What happened afterwards, changed my opinion. And I have to say, that this anime has a lot of hidden potential, and it’s just taking its time building up. Anyway, the two of them arrive at Shiurei’s home. It’s very big, though it looks horribly worn-out. Shiurei then begins telling Shiujou about the history of the land. Apparently, the people here used to be extremely poor. Nothing would grow. Thanks to Shiurei’s father and Seiren, the ground became a bit fertilizable again, but the poverty still isn’t completely gone. Shiurei speaks a couple of inspiring words, which really manage to impress Shiujou. I have no idea what she said, but it did sound impressive.

Afterwards, when Shiujou left, Shiurei and Seiren have a small talk, at which the latter ends up crying. The next day, Shiujou has been invited to study along with Shiurei, Ran and Koyu, and especially the last two plan to make this time quite difficult for him (after all, he did steal Ran’s name), including some scary faces.

And what the heck is Shiurei’s relationship with Seiren? I’ve ran down to three options: her uncle, her older brother or her servant. Though, he can’t be her uncle, as they’re way too close for a niece-and uncle-relationship. This has more something of a older-brother-younger-sister-relationship, but he can’t be her older brother, as he refers to her as Ojou-sama, and I never heard any onee-san, onii-sama, ani-ue, or anything similar. He also can’t be her servant, as they’re incredibly poor already. They’d have no money in order to pay for him.

So far, there are only two things I didn’t like about Saiunkoku Monogatari. The first is Shiujou. He’s just a bit too standard and boring. His personality just isn’t very interesting. The second is the front of each character’s hair. No offence, but it looks just fake. And it seems that they used the same reference with both Ran as Shiujou as Seiren.

Ayakashi ~ Japanese Classic Horror is divided in three individual stories. Each of them stands alone and has nothing to do with the other two. They also share a totally different art style, atmosphere, motives and characters for each of these tales.

Ayakashi begins with the story called Yotsuya Kaidan. The first episode is horrible, it starts just so boring, and keeps this on until the end of it. But then again, that was easily the worst episode of Ayakashi. The good part starts at the second episode, when some great deaths come past the screen, ending at the fourth episode with a satisfying climax. The art style is really old-fashoned, though it remains ugly. Though I guess that that was meant to be that way, as the theme of this story is ugly as well. It’s about the evil that humans can accomplish, and these humans eventually get punished. The characters are all horrible bastards, with a few exception, which only makes it more enjoyable to watch when these characters go berserk. Still, even though it was an enjoyable tale, the story itself is mostly one-layered, with a small exception in the second and third episode.

Then comes the tale Ten Shu Mono Gatari, and if it wasn’t for the fact that they share both the name Ayakashi, I would’ve been unable to identify it with Yotsuya Kaidan. Ten Shu Mono Gatari is suddenly a love story, the total opposite of its predecessor. The Horror-part of Ayakashi is also nowhere to be found in this story, it’s just a normal human and a supernatural being falling in love with each other. The art looks really nice this time, especially when compared to Yotsuya Kaidan. The first three episodes build up perfectly, and end into a very satisfying climax. Though, I have to say that Yotsuya Kaidan is the better one of these two, as it featured some memorable scenes, and it has chaos included which Ten Shu Mono Gatari misses.

Then the third story, Bake Neko, comes. And without a doubt it’s the highlight of the series. The art turns into something really unique, I can only say that I loved it, though it takes some time getting used to. The Horror-part is finally clearly distinctable, and the entire three episodes it consists of turn into an amazing roller-coaster ride with a couple of amazing quiet moments. The characters are each wonderful, and I haven’t even began about the story, which was truly one of the best ones I’ve yet to see.

Overall, I’m recommending Ayakashi ~ Japanese Classic Horror. Especially to the ones who love great deaths, though the fans of love-stories will also be satisfied, and even if you’re not one of these people, just give this series a chance. The first episode is what turned most people off, though it you manage to survive that one, you get treated to some brilliant scenes. You can also just skip the first eight episodes, and immediately turn to Bake Neko if you wish, as each of the stories have no relationships with each other.

Yotsuya Kaidan Rating: 85/100
Ten Shu Mono Gatari Rating: 81/100
Bake Neko Rating: 94/100
Final Rating: 87/100