Anime Hajime Review: Kowabon

***Warning, the following may contain spoilers for Kowabon. Reader discretion is advised.***

Series Synopsis

In our modern world, we are never far from the eye of a camera. Weather in our day to day life or connecting with friends, the record light is on. At best, someone is probably watching. At worst, something.

When focused on our screens, that’s when we’re the most vulnerable. From behind, from the side, or from the darkness, there are things waiting.

There’s no rhyme. No reason. It’s not something we did. It’s not something we called. But it’s there nonetheless.

What it wants. What it’s after. What it plans to do, no one can say. Yet it’s in our best interest for it not catch us. Except, when its eyes are set, it’s all but over.

Here are thirteen tales of such instances. Thirteen stories of the unexplained. Thirteen times when the shadow in the corner of your eye doesn’t stay there.

It’s coming. It’s creeping. It’s breathing down your neck.

This is Kowabon.

Series Positives

Yeah, we’re going to be comparing this one to Yamishibai. What else do I have to compare it to?

Starting off, Kowabon is not Yamishibai. The two, though possessing a similar concept, are different series. These shows are two alternative takes on short form horror. One does not feel like the other. So, the real questions become, are they comparable alternatives to each other? And the big one, which did it better?

To keep things simple, we’ll put Kowabon up against the first season of Yamishibai. Even under these tough circumstances, Kowabon did match up on few strong occasions. Most of the time, as in the vast majority of the time, though, it didn’t.

Kowabon was a series of great ideas. Ideas which worked and worked wonders. I wouldn’t roll my eyes at a second season. It would be a chance for this show to sure up what it did right. As well as take a good look at what it could’ve done better.

Rotoscope

Whoever thought of this deserves a raise. This one aspect added such a tangible layer of fear. An extent to which I haven’t seen since the original Yamishibai.

For general clarity, rotoscope is a specific animation technique. Live action images are filmed and later traced over frame by frame. So, if you’re wondering why it looks like Kowabon is using live actors, that’s because it is.

We’re pushing the term anime to its limits with this one, I realize that. But this kind of genuine realism worked for this show. Had this series had standard animation or even the style of Yamishibai, the horror would’ve taken a hit.

Everything about this show felt real and unnatural. A terrifying combination. It was a great mood and atmosphere builder. Now pair this with Kowabon’s second great idea.

Natural Cameras

There may be an actual term for this. Except I have no idea what it is. Thus, I’m going to refer to them as natural cameras.

It’s the same idea behind found footage. You don’t have an omniscient cameraman filming a story. The images we saw in Kowabon came from a known source. A cell phone, a security camera, a laptop. The show used these items to present its terror.

What makes this such a useful and common tool in the horror genre are its inherent limitations. You can’t see everything. A security camera, for example, may not be able to turn around. You can’t see past its peripheral vision. The area of the unknown has become a lot bigger.

Or in the case with a smartphone, it does have that mobility. A little too much of it. When you try to take a somewhat decent photo or video with your device, you try to be as still as possible. It takes a second to get just right. You don’t have that kind of time when something is chasing you. You’re not going to get a full, clear image. The perfect setting for a horror story.

Kowabon didn’t always get this right. And the series suffered because of that. When it did get it right though, it was pretty good. But in one episode, this show got it perfect.

Chapter four was fantastic. This was Yamishibai season one level of terrifying. The whole thing was filmed using a girl’s phone. There was very little talking. No one said much if anything. All we had to go on were the visuals and some random text messages. Messages which were getting more and more “What the f@#$.” And then this show threw some creepy images onto the screen. The “I don’t want to look at this, these are scaring me” kind.

Chapter four was a keeper. Kowabon had one at least.

Series Negatives

The last few chapters of this series were garbage. It forewent trying to tell a story. It tried to have scary shot after scary shot after scary shot. It was hard to tell what was happening. Not unlike Yamishibai on occasion.

But how Yamishibai got away with that, it had different stories. There wasn’t anything connecting them. Kowabon did have something. Each chapter involved an encounter with this girl.

If you’re going to have a set up to a scenario and not explain who she is, that’s fine. But if you’re only going to say “Hey, look how creepy she is” and not say what's happening, you’ve skipped a step. That was the end of this show.

The girl was another good idea of Kowabon’s. Yet like all its other good ideas, they weren’t executed to their fullest potential.

The choice of camera for example. Sure, a security camera and phone may be in the same area at the same time. This gives the opportunity to switch between both. But you don’t have to. In fact, I’d argue it’s almost always better to pick one and stick with it.

Also, don’t constantly go back and forth between moving phones. It’s nauseating.

Chapters five and six showed cased something which is important. What happens when you switch between different sets of cameras. In chapter five, it was phone to phone. In six was security footage to security footage. Between the two, six was worlds better. And it had everything to do with the camera choice.

With phones, they’re going to move. They’re in someone’s hands. Because of that, they’re much more erratic. So going back and forth between several is a problem. Not only do your eyes need to adjust to new information, they have to do it when everything’s moving. With security footage, it’s all fixed. You jump around, yes. But you’re only looking at a still image. Also, the lack of freedom is just scarier.

Think about it. You’re with your buddy and you both have your phones out taking pictures. Something weird happens. You can immediately turn to your friend and confirm, “That was weird, right?” Now imagine you’re watching a monitor. You see something and your pal goes to check it out. While they’re gone, you see something else happen, and they don’t react. What do you do? You’re helpless.

Whenever Kowabon picked and stayed with one camera source it was better. Also, there were times where you couldn’t tell where something was being shot from. Was it a phone? Was it a laptop? Or was it an omniscient camera? If it was the latter, why? You were doing such a great job not using that. Why for this one split second did you choose to use it?

This is the problem with Kowabon. It was easily distracted.

Final Thoughts

At the end of each episode, you got to see a bit of the behind the scenes. That was a nice touch.

Kowabon has potential. There were some good scares here. The animation and storytelling style went a long way to creating an eerie atmosphere. This wasn’t awful. But it wasn’t great either.

With a bit of time, Kowabon could turn into a standout horror series. It’s not there yet. However, if you’re looking for a quick scare fix or are the least bit curious, why not try giving this one a look?

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