A Twist on Japanese Storytelling

I started watching an anime called "Yamishibai" on Wednesday, after a friend told me how creeped out it made him. It's based off of  the traditional storytelling method "kamishibai," literally "paper drama." With kamishibai, the storyteller has a stack of cards. The first card in the stack displays the first scene, and the last card in the stack has the story. Usually, the storyteller will clap together two wooden sticks, called hyoshigi, and that draws the attention of the audience.

I thought it'd be interesting to watch "Yamishibai," which my friend said it reminded him strongly of kamishibai. I started watching it, and was totally unprepared for what I got. I identified elements of kamishibai that I expected- an audience made up primarily of children, the paper-like drawings of the characters, and the wooden clapper, although in "Yamishibai," the two wooden clappers is a small handheld drum. 

I did not expect it being animated. I expected something similar to kamishibai, with its 2D drawings. The title (and my friend's fear caused by the anime) should have let me know that this was not going to be a normal anime. I don't know what I was expecting. I was expecting something like the ghost stories I've heard, but these were all made-up ghost stories. I'd never heard of them, and searching on Google showed nothing but discussions related to this anime. 

I found several things that spoke of Japanese horror stories in reality- pale women with black long hair, someone being in the wrong place at the wrong time, constant eerie occurrences, children being the primary target of these supernatural beings. I'm bothered by one thing only, but it's not negative. It actually adds to the creepiness factor, and that's what bothers me. These stories don't have conclusions. They're open-ended enough where you're not quite sure what happened to the character, but they're closed enough that you've got enough of a hint to the fate of the character. 

"Yamishibai" is such an interesting concept because it is mixing two mediums of storytelling: kamishibai and anime. One is relatively old- kamishibai originated in the 12th century- and one is relatively new- anime really took off in the 60s- but both lend themselves to storytelling. What is most interesting is how kamishibai started off as paper scrolls with a moral that were read by Buddhist monks to a mostly illiterate audience. I'd like to think "Yamishibai" has some sort of moral to it as well. ...Or maybe it's just for the chill factor, hence the name "Yamishibai"- dark drama.