Anime Hajime Review: Yamishibai Season 2

***Warning, the following may contain spoilers Yamishibai Season Two. Reader discretion is advised.***

Series Synopsis

Yamishibai continues with thirteen more stories of the strange and the macabre.

Taro-chan - A ventriloquist performs his act with his old wooden puppet.

Kitchen - A woman visits her friend’s new apartment. While there, she can’t shake the feeling she's being watched.

Inside - A boy returns home with an old Russian doll. The boy's mother takes the thing to throw it away. She returns hours later cradling the doll.

Wall Woman - A man sees a strange creature climb up the side of a building. Right into an unsuspecting apartment.

Locker - A girl is struggling with love and decides to test out an urban legend. Rumor has it, there's a locker with the ability to grant any wish.

Nao-chan - While a family sleeps, the young son smiles at the ceiling. Looking into the shadows, the boy whispers the name Nao-chan.

Capsule Toy Machine - An office worker passes an elderly man collecting capsules from a toy machine. The next day, the worker decides to see what was it that made the old man so obsessive.

Farewell Confessional - A man attends a funeral. The ceremony involves an odd ritual known as a Farewell Confessional. Attendees get the chance to tell the deceased long held secrets.

Omine-san - A new teacher can't stomach a popular local dish known as Ominie-san.

Bugged - A man complains in his journal about the many things that annoy him.

Picking Up - A man finds a draft of a novel left behind on the train. On a whim, he decides to enter the manuscript into a literature contest.

Netsuke - A woman moves into her grandparent’s home. She comes across a pair of earrings. An set her deceased grandfather was very protective of.

Bringer Drums - A couple moves to a small country town. The path leading to their new house is lined with small pellet drums.

Series Positives

Like season one, the best thing about Yamishibai was its lengths. Adding season two, you've got an easy two-hour viewing session for a quick horror fix.

As we did last time, here are my top three stories:

3) Capsule Toy Machine

2) Wall Woman

1) Inside

I'll say this, Wall Woman and Inside were more intense than they were scary. They each built themselves up to create a tense atmosphere.

Capsule Toy Machine, on the other hand, wasn't what I would call scary. The idea was just super interesting.

The Art Style

The biggest selling point about Yamishibai remains its Kamishibai art style.

It one hundred percent adds to the creep factor. Even to the lesser entries of both seasons. The jagged movements. The stop motion-like animation. The brilliant camera work. It all returns to make this another intriguing watch.

If this series ever gets a third season, as long as it retains this style, I’m on board.

Series Negatives

Because this series is so short, it's easy to sit through. The art was great and there were definitely some creepy moments.

However, please note that I am only saying creepy.

In my review of the first season, I said that there were a number of scary moments. There were none this time around. Without question, season two is the inferior.

The majority of season one’s stories still get to me. Particularly at night as I’m lying in bed in the dark. Not a single entry in season two will do the same.

Here are my top three least favorite stories.

3) Picking Up

2) Kitchen

1) Bugged

The Imagery

Yamishibai’s art style can create disturbing imagery. This season exploited this. Way too much.

For many of the stories, they were only creepy for the sake of being creepy. Often times a shot was disturbing, but for no discernible reason. In the case of Bugged, that’s all it was.

I despise bugs, but only in the real world. When they’re on a screen, I couldn’t care less. Therefore, when you only have insects with no purpose, what's meant to be scary exactly?

In fact, this is a perfect lead into the show’s biggest issue.

What's Meant to be Scary?

Before going any further, there may be a reason why some of the scares in this season didn’t register with me.

For subjective genres such as horror and comedy, culture does play a role. I concede the idea that some of these episodes may actually be terrifying. Except I don't know the context.

There were a few stories in this season where I felt this could be true. That said, there were plenty where I doubt this was the case.

For example, in Kitchen and Picking Up. I have no idea what happened in them. I don’t mean this in the “people fear the unknown” kind of way. I mean it in the literal “I have no idea what's happening” kind of way.

Final Thoughts

Long story short, Yamishibai season two is not as good as the first. In fact, it’s not even close. Nonetheless, it's still an easy show to recommend.

The art style is still fantastic and there are some very creepy moments that are worth a look. Plus, it's short. So, you’re not going to be wasting more than an hour on it.

Need a plan for your next Halloween? Yamishibai seasons one and two make for a perfect horror night marathon.