Requiem from the Darkness (TV Series 2003– ) Poster

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8/10
Requiem from the Darkness
Tweekums13 June 2014
Warning: Spoilers
Set in the dying days of Japan's Edo period this series follows author Momosuke Yamaoka. He intends to write a hundred ghost stories; while conducting his research he crosses the path of an unusual trio known as the Ongyou. They consist of Mataichi, 'The Trickster, a spiritualist; Ogin, 'The Puppeteer', an attractive woman and Nagamimi; a shape-shifter. These three operate in the realm of the dead and they see to it that sinners are caught and punished before being committed to the netherworld. The people they deal with are some of the most vile and depraved in society so Momosuke is frequently in danger and many people will suffer before they are banished.

This thirteen part anime is fairly dark; both literally and metaphorically. The violence is fairly brutal and frequently shocking and the animation is done in a style that renders the shadows black. The small group of main characters are interesting and, in the case of the Ongyou, mysterious. This certainly isn't a series for younger viewers due to the subject matter and the graphic violence; there is also a degree of sexual content although no real nudity. Each episode (apart from the final two-parter) sees them dealing with a different adversary. Overall this was an enjoyable series and definitely worth watching if you like your anime dark.

These comments are based on watching the series in Japanese with English subtitles.
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10/10
Anime Killer to check out
TimothyMcKann15 December 2008
When I first checked out the preview of this series on my Mermaid Forest DVD,I gotta say out of all the Horror Anime that I've seen,this one takes the cake. When my Boss bought me the entire collection of this series online. I enjoyed it, it was the best,and very killer. I do like Momosuke,and the 3 outlaws. But what this show kinda tells us is stories are the most things people like to tell. We are want to write stories,and come up with ideas that would tell an interesting story. The series also features the great voice talents of:Grant George,Steve Kramer,Michael McConnohie (famous for Transformers,and others),and Mia Brady,and others. So if you plan to see this series,be careful when watching it. It can mess with your head.
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5/10
Well, that didn't go well..
jonfmac29 August 2023
I am writing this review August 29, 2023. This anime was released in 2003. In that time there has only been 283 reviews with 2 written ones and a total aggregate rating of 7 out of 10. That's a high score for so few willing to watch this single season series. I did watch the whole thing on Prime because of this rating. Unfortunately. They rated the program at 18+.

Each episode is a separate story that is loosely tied to each other by virtue of the fact that the four main characters appeared in each one. One of these characters was completely redundant contributing nothing to any part of the story. Had he disappeared completely, the story wouldn't have changed at all. None of these characters is fully developed and the viewer will have no emotional tie to any of them. You will not hate them. Neither will you like them. They are essentially unappealing and uninteresting.

Technically, the anime is falls into the poor half of the animation spectrum during the time it was made, not being well done. In today's terms, it's not done well at all. Nostalgia won't save it.

The music falls into the elevator spectrum of jazz, not matching any of the story actions or emotional events. There was nothing to be excited about at all here.

The writing quality was poor and you could have driven a truck through the plot holes that occurred every few minutes during viewing. The story held some adult themes (hence the rating of 18+). However, it was so poorly done that it could only have appealed to prepubescent eleven year olds. The favourable ratings probably originate for this reason, as something like watching "forbidden fruit" for a very small demographic. There was little, if any adult sophistication demonstrated. For anyone else, watching would be painful, if not downright boring. That is why there are so few reviews. Hardly anyone got through the first episode.

To be fair, if you have a great deal of patience and are bored out of you mind with a lack of any other pastimes available, you could watch it to kill some time. Just don't expect much from the series. It is very lacklustre, bland being the best description and doesn't deserve a high aggregate score.
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