There is absolutely no method to the madness when trying to define something as widespread as horror, it’s a genre that can cover different subjects that often times it will leave you violated but also wanting more of what it can offer. There’s nothing off limits, through the years horror has come in all shapes and sizes in anime and manga. From the surreal and nightmarish works of Junji Ito to classic works of disturbing traumatization by Kazuo Umezu, this is a field that is seen pretty much all the time in these areas. But when you have an anime that combines ghost stories and elements of mystery with some Japanese folklore you get something, while not being 100% on point is still something to make you feel uncomfortable – That would be Requiem From the Darkness.
Based on the novel titled "The Wicked and the Damned: A Hundred Tales of Karma" written by Natsuhiko Kyogoku, Set during the Edo period, Requiem from the Darkness tells the story of aspiring writer Momosuke Yamaoka, Growing dissatisfied with writing riddles for children, now seeking to move into the field of writing scary stories and publishing them in an anthology called Hyakumonogatari ("One Hundred Tales"). While traveling on business Momosuke is caught in a storm and proceeds to take shelter, upon there he meets a spiritualist named Mataichi along with a woman named Ogin. From there the story begins to unravel and the darkness slowly creeps in affecting the life of the aspiring writer and the world as we know it.
Running for 13 episodes, Requiem from the Darkness is a very dark and twisted anthology series that has rather bizarre plot-lines and story elements that run into the trope of being a “story of the week” as we follow Momosuke researching old myths and legends for his tales, while frequently bumping into the mysterious trio who call themselves the Ongyou, detectives investigating the legends to reveal their truths...and bring justice to those who committed the crimes.
The characters for this series while they are interesting in their descriptions sadly don’t live up to their potential and what development they could have had.
The main character of Momosuke, while he is on his quest to write the One Hundred Stories acts as an observer to a majority of the story. He’s a well-meaning person but a lot of the time when he’s in any kind of turmoil the Ongyou have to bail him out whenever he’s there and as the series progresses Momosuke becomes desperate to join the trio even though time and time again he’s denied the opportunity when it’s for his own good, despite the setbacks and faults of his character he does mean well and wants to see the best in the people he encounters.
The Ongyu themselves are an enigmatic and mysterious group of characters we see in the show.
Mataichi - A small cloaked man wrapped in bandages who serves as the group’s leader, a lot of the time he will be the one to target the sinner with retributive justice and leaves an Ofuda on the body, ending the ritual with the phrase “To the next world, we commit thee”.
Ogin – A beautiful, large breasted, puppeteer with a dark past, often times being rather flirtatious with Momosuke.
Nagamimi - A large shapeshifter and bird caller with a sinister grin who is also extremely good at controlling animals.
The Ongyu themselves are an enigmatic and mysterious group of characters we see in the show.
Mataichi - A small cloaked man wrapped in bandages who serves as the group’s leader, a lot of the time he will be the one to target the sinner with retributive justice and leaves an Ofuda on the body, ending the ritual with the phrase “To the next world, we commit thee”.
Ogin – A beautiful, large breasted, puppeteer with a dark past, often times being rather flirtatious with Momosuke.
Nagamimi - A large shapeshifter and bird caller with a sinister grin who is also extremely good at controlling animals.
As the series would go on we would see Momosuke and the Ongyou get involved in a sort of Scooby-Doo influenced mystery where upon learning about the one note character central to the episode they meet we also learn abit about the backstory of the myth surrounding it, as interesting as all that is however the negative side to the main cast is that we don’t get that much into the backstories of with the exception of Ogin. We never get that much into their character development or even who the Ongyou are as an entity outside of little details and that sets the story back a tiny bit, especially when we are focused more on the observations of the character of Momosuke.
So while the characters themselves are abit of a misfire, the production of this series is both a positive AND a negative just in how it’s handled.
Animated by Studio TMS and directed by Hideki Tonokatsu (Silent Möbius, Hyper Speed GranDoll), the visuals of Requiem from the Darkness are what I could best describe as the aesthetics of a 90’s comic book and a surreal drug trip, because what you see in this show can hurt to look at but also feel the surreal experience. Everything from the set pieces to the backgrounds and even the characters themselves are strange and rather off putting at times, the animation can often times shift back and forth between artistically creative and badly drawn but they work well together with some really exaggerated colour schemes with strong flashes of light. One thing that this show does rather effectively in both night and day contrasts is it’s extreme and often times intimidating use of shading, characters and buildings will appear with very strong shadows, coming at you from different angles combined with some shoddy CG really do add some atmosphere to the production. The character designs by Shigeyuki Miya however are rather inconsistent because of how much of what’s on screen doesn’t really fit. What few human characters there are, are casually seen walking alongside something that’s like a weird non-human creature you’d see in a video game or even a Jim Henson puppet, it’s a little bizarre but it adds to that level of surrealism this show manages to convey.
So while the character writing for this series is a little unprepared and the animation production is a tad distracting with how wonky it can appear, the audio is where the show manages to run away with being satisfying to listen to.
The opening and closing themes by Keiko Lee are quite good. "Flame" offers a somewhat evocative and by how the beats in the opening come across very sensual opening while "The Moment of Love" comes across as deeply melancholic and dreary with each episode closing. The score by Kuniaki Haishima (Monster, Gasaraki, Master Keaton) manages to come across as atmospheric and foreboding in the moments when it’s needed, sometimes when the mood changes the music will change into something sinister and intense and then once a moment reaches it’s end the music will shift into something slightly moving.
The English dub for this is pretty good with a handful of talent going around. Grant George plays as Momosuke as naïve and often times very hapless but also eager to learn more about the ever shifting world around him. Steve Kramer plays Mataichi with a very sly and often cryptic presence and serves as the voice of reason to Momosuke’s often childlike innocence. Karen Strassman plays Ogin with a very sultry and playful demeanour, often times cooing Momosuke and displaying qualities of soft femininity while still being a force to be reckoned with. Michael McConnohie feels loosely like the odd one out as Nagamimi, his character gets the least amount of notice but what presence he has on screen is often booming, acting as a warning to Momosuke to keep him from intervening with what’s going on.
For the additional voices you have some really good talents of the time like Barbara Goodson, Neil Kaplan, Bob Papenbrook, Lara Jill Miller, Simon Prescott, Mona Marshall, Peter Spellos, etc. doing their parts rather well. Even Cam Clarke has a part in this, so nothing voice acting wise is wasted here.
| So through all it’s somewhat weak writing in it’s character development to it’s often times really jarring animation production, Requiem from the Darkness is a difficult series to recommend. This is a horror anime and it does not cover that up, this is a series heavily focused on upsetting imagery as well as nightmares enough to make you feel uncomfortable by the amount of bloodshed, graphic violence and sexual content put in, along with feeling a little beaten down by it’s Black and Grey Morality. It’s not a series for everyone, but with that being said there is something to get out of this. No matter how absurd the story no matter how uneven the series is structured. There’s quite a fair bit to like from this if you are willing to grit your teeth and plough on through it. |  |
Requiem from the Darkness is an acid trenched, blood soaked fog to go through and it’s one that is horribly underrated.
Sami Sadek is a lifelong Transformers and Anime fan, and can often be found propping up bars or appearing in the background of Auto Assembly vids. He has also talks on Youtube, Tweets on Twitter, doodles on Deviantart and is a regular co-host on this very site's Cyberritz. He has never had a swordfight atop a church whilst a crow watches. Honest.
