Yami Shibai 3

Rate a 7
English Subtitled

Plot
Introductory was a nice change of pace. First and second involved the same cast but only the scenery had changed. Here i am sure you can put two and two together to realize that you are looking at a different piece. Although sadly the wording could have been chosen better. For not only was in not scary but seemed a bit off like a poor translation.

As for the ending that won it for me. Sure all the proceeding episodes were at the same horror level as season 2(somewhat tame) but it played into the introductory in a somewhat unexpected approach. In doing ... so made it into the final episode. And at the very end while it was a somewhat expected reveal it provide some informative approach to the gathering. In other words people can't help but to link two and two together. Like the sound of clapping means applause but it can also mean other things like i need your attention similar to that of a whistle. In sort lesson learned from this season is don't be quick to judge anything even small aspects.

Art
The same as the preceding seasons. Those that aren't aware (as you should be having gotten to season 3) it is somewhat cheap. I say somewhat for it does well for an audience of kids. The animation is that of puppetry if using paper as puppets. Production is also cheap because during vocals there is little in terms of lip moment, which kills the reality vibe.

I will say on a positive notation the credit art was a pleasant thing to see. For it made the credits slightly fun to watch for its slight originality from other episodes of its season.

Story:

Basically 13 short little stories based on Japanese urban legends or myths. In my opinon, this season is not as good as season 1, but better than season 2. In season 1, every episode was scary, creepy and/or disturbing. This season was just weird. A few creepy/scary episodes, but most were just gross and/or wierd. Also, in most of them it seems like it's a girl or young woman that is the victim, not sure if that has any significance. The Story Teller is replaced by a young boy drawing while singing a creepy song. The theme of this season seems to be "body horror", ... which to me personally is less scary than supernatural or psychological horror.

Animation:

The animation is the same as in the 1st two season. It is still done well and is based off of the Japanese paper theatre story tellers. I enjoy the style, even though it isn't anything fancy. I do like the monster designs and I think they are well done for most of them.

Sound:

The sound is still done very well and continues to have a major impact on each episode. The opening song and ending song I had a hard time listening too because it was too creepy.

Characters:

No real comment, because as always, each story has its own characters. I did feel more empathy for the characters in this season though, because, as mentioned before, most of the victims were little girls or young women.

Overall:

I think this season was better than season 2 but worse than season 1. It has still kept me interrested enough to go on to season 4.

You know how sometimes the finale of a show can ruin the whole thing and negate even the episodes and aspects you really liked? I feel like the opposite of that is what happened to Yamishibai 3. Allow me to explain:

Up until the final episode, I hated most of the episodes because the stories were shallow, the monsters looked goofy and the characters had a total of 0 personality. The reason I picked up Yamishibai was because it had a mature way of dealing with horror. The scares weren't purely based on shock value or visuals, but worries and fears that are innately human. That's ... why I've found even the bad episodes of season one and two enjoyable; if the horror wasn't there the stories and concepts were at least worth thinking about.

I've mentioned in my reviews of the earlier seasons that what Yamishibai does well is psychological horror and that monsters and such don't go very well with the shows simplistic style. You'd think that by the third season, producers etc would have realized what the shows strengths and weaknesses are but nooooooo. For some reason they decided that body horror and monsters should be the primary focus of the third season and let me tell you, it sucks. I think animated horror in general should stay away from using visuals as the medium for their scares. I just don't find it scary. Since the art in Yamishibai 3 is a lot more colorful and childlike, the visual "horror" isn't just nonscary, it's flat out goofy. I _tried_ to be scared but most episodes made me giggle...

Then comes episode 13, the finale. I won't spoil it but in my opinion what the ending reveals, mitigates the seasons flaws by giving a valid and interesting reason for them to be there. Now, is it worth sitting through 54 minutes of trash? Not really. Fortunately you don't have to! If you watch one ore two other episodes the final one will make perfect sense and then you can move on and forget this season even happened. Except for episode 13 I would suggest episode two and episode nine. Spiders are my weak spot so I could barley watch episode two and number nine has the same feel as the stories in the first and second season!