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Information | |
Title (English) | One Hundred Stories |
Title (Japanese) | Kousetsu Hyaku Monogatari | Advertising Fantasy Novel |
Notes | |
Classification | - |
Synopsis | |
Review | The new horror series, "Kousetsu Hyaku Monogatori" turns out to be one of
the more artistically ambitious shows of the fall 2003 season. Instead of
the current 'modern' style of animation, the show features nearly ephemeral
images, both of the characters and of the background, that range in style
from the look of woodblock prints to fantastic or experimental art from the
1950's. But style isn't everything in this series. The horror stories are
also traditional morality tales, with a slight bit of a modern look to
them. The closest recent anime that comes to mind with a similar approach
to story telling (but with more ordinary animation) was "Gakkou no Kaidan"
a few years ago.
A young man, Momosuke, is traveling the hinterland of what appears to be late Edo period Japan, looking for horror stories that he can collect, write down, and turn into a book. Momosuke is bright, articulate, and has an open mind towards the possibility that the stories he is collecting might have a basis in fact. Therefore, along with the folklore that he is collecting, Momosuke also has some counter charms that he wants to remember just in case some spirit comes up behind him. In the midst of some miserably wet, dark and cold weather, Momosuke comes upon a rundown country store where he also runs into a wandering monk and the lone proprietor of the store. The proprietor tells a blood-chilling story about the cause of the ruin of the store as two more mysterious people eventually appear, an unearthly sensual beauty and bizarre stranger who Momosuke met earlier on the road to the store and who warned Momosuke at the time to go no further. It turns out that there is a connection between the wandering monk and the ruin of the store, and eventually a cold justice is served. It turns out that the bizarre stranger, the proprietor and the beauty are actually something of what Momosuke is looking for - supernatural beings who are operating by their own motives and morals. This is where the subtle twist comes in, because Momosuke confronts them with the question of how different are their actions from murder, but they neither defend themselves nor rebuke Momosuke for his impertinence.
So all in all I quite enjoyed the first episode of "Hyaku Monogatori" and I
am definitely on the lookout for more episodes, as well as a DVD release.
The art alone is worth the search and the delivery of the stories is both
skilled and entertaining.
I've just had the chance to watch the second episode of this 13-part series and "Hyaku Monogatori" is turning out even better than I originally expected. It is also much more of a fantasy than I first thought, in the sense the the world of the anime is obviously not just a version of the Edo period with demons and ghosts. This promises to be the "must watch" series of the season for me, even more so than "Yamiboushi".
Find it and watch it!
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Credits | |
Episodes | |
Release | |
TV Showing | See the whole series for free? This series may be syndicated to regional cable, satellite or terrestial TV stations. For Europe click here. |
Date | 2003 |
Production | |
Broadcaster | |
Animation | |
References & Help | Look up the latest data on this title at: Richard Llewellyn's Animated Divots, or Anime News Network (see Encyclopedia section) , or in "The Anime Encyclopedia" (Clements & McCarthy, Stone Bridge Press, 2001). Help & further information. |
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