Kousetsu Hyaku Monogatari

Title:Kousetsu Hyaku Monogatari
100 Stories
Hundred Stories
Natsuhiko Kyougoku's Worldly Horror Stories
Requiem from the Darkness
京極夏彦 巷説百物語
Overall:Buy
Keywords: , , , , , ,
Notables: Animation - Tokyo Movie Shinsha
Original Concept - KYOGOKU Natsuhiko
R1 License - Pioneer (Defunct)
SEKI Toshihiko
Tired of writing riddles for children, Yamaoka Momosuke plans on gathering spooky and gruesome stories and publishing them in an anthology called Hyakumonogatari ("One Hundred Tales"). While researching these old myths and legends he comes across a mysterious trio who call themselves the Ongyou. They are detectives who are investigating the legends to reveal their truths...and bring those in the wrong to justice. Each time Momosuke meets the Ongyou he must face horrible truths and battle with his morals, but he's seeing things he shouldn't be seeing...
(Summary Courtesy of Anime News Network)


This is a series with episodic stories focused around the exploration of depravities of humanity and how those circumstances are triggered. Be warned that this series tends to get quite graphic in its content at points as subjects such as cannibalism and necrophilia are brought up. DEFINITELY NOT FOR YOUNGER VIEWERS!!


TV series which aired for 13 episodes starting on October 3, 2003.
Animated by TMS Entertainment.
Licensed by Pioneer/ Geneon Entertainment.
Episode Details 
1, 2, 3, 4
OverallArtAnimationCharacter Design MusicSeries StoryEpisode StoryReviewer
Buy 9 8 8 8 8 9 Ggultra2764 [series:841#1552]
This was quite the fun and twisted little horror title. Requiem from the Darkness depicts an episodic series of feudal era horror stories depicting mysterious and brutal murders with an element of mystery as writer Momosuke and the trio of mysterious detectives known as the Ongyou are caught up in uncovering details on the murders. Each of the episodes give a decent amount of focus on the central characters of each episode for their background and their connections to the murders. In particular, the episodes feature a strong exploration on the more darker and uglier elements to humanity as each of the culprits revealed for being responsible for the murders depict crimes that present humanity at its worst such as cannibalism, lust, greed and implications of necrophilia. The visuals to the series are quite often on the bizarre side as normal looking character designs blend in with abstract background designs, rough looking camera work, grotesque-looking character designs and unusual use of color. This abstract style is very effective at depicting the horrific nature of the scenes of the culprits killing off their victims and showing just how twisted and dark that they can be for humans.

The prominent characters of this series, Momosuke and the Ongyou, do get their glimpses of focus at points throughout the series while the episodic tales of horror-mystery. While the Ongyou do come across as evil at first glance, they actually come across with shades of grey morality as more details concerning their involvement in the mysteries of this series are unveiled. Momosuke's desire to venture with the Ongyou lead him deeper into the darker reality of human behavior with the culprits who seemingly appear as well-mannered and friendly folk on the surface until he learns more about their dark pasts which lead him to question his own morality with how he judges said people after learning of their true nature.

The series does have some issues. While enough is explored on Momosuke's character to know about him and the nature of the Ongyou, the series never really delves into details on the individual pasts of two of the three members of the Ongyou. Ogin is the most fleshed out of the trio with some hints dropped about Nagamimi and nothing even revealed on Mataichi. The series also tosses in a mediocre linear plot development involving the superior of the Ongyou having his own dark plans which is a typical plot setup you would have seen enough of out of conventional anime titles.

Despite some gripes though, Requiem from the Darkness made for a solid horror/ mystery title with its abstract presentation being effective in enhancing the show's horrific moments and doing a solid focus in its exploration on the dark, twisted side of human morality.

Last updated Thursday, April 28 2011. Created Thursday, April 28 2011.
Rent Forbin [series:841#1573]
I don't like horror normally (Except for Elfen Lied) but this was a very good watch. (Though very disturbing).
Good story telling and it looks like the crew of both The Irresponsible Captain Tylor and Cowboy Bebop worked on this.

Last updated Friday, October 08 2004. Created Friday, October 08 2004.
Buy 10 9 8 8 8 9 Sesen Kelader [series:841#471]
The most notable part of this series is its art style. Depending on the viewers, it could be extraordinarily creative or simply weird and simple. Yet personally I like the art greatly. It does give the series the atmosphere it needs, and gives viewers errie feelings.
There are total 13 ep's. Each ep is basically a separate story, yet the plot builds up as the story advances. However, the ending is, in a way, a pretty typical style that could be seen in coupld japanese anime series. Nevertheless, the Hundred Stories does have its specialty and creativeness that I first saw in anime.

Last updated Thursday, September 02 2004. Created Thursday, September 02 2004.

Other Sites
NameURL
Website at TBS (japanese) http://www.tms-e.com/on_air/kousetsu/

Community Anime Reviews

anime mikomi org