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1, 2, 3... shall we start?
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By the way, no. It's not a
hundred-episode drama. Don't want to tempt fate and actually invoke a
spirit at the hundredth now, do we? I'm not sure I want to see a
Sadako-like creature crawling out my screen.
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100 Tales of Horror Kaidan Hyaku Monogatari 怪談百物語 Episodes:11 Broadcast: 2002, Tuesdays, Aug-13 to Dec-03 Network: Fuji TV Directors: Kawake Shunsaku Hayashi Toru Kobayashi Kazuhiro Tsuruta Norio Tajima Daisuke |
Rating:
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Period drama = samurai, geta, andon and
no-wind-can-ruin-my-hair. Those plus a touch of eeriness and I'm
sold.
Kaidan Hyaku Monogatari is a collection of some of the most popular “ghost tales” from Japan. The title is from a popular game where people take turns telling supernatural stories and extinguishing a candle after each. As the room gets darker and darker, the atmosphere becomes more inviting for spirits to join in. It is believed that after the last candle is put-out, spirits present will be seen if they are willing. That's putting it mildly considering some say ancient samurai loved using the game as a test of courage. *smirk*
The 11 stories feature a central
character played by Naoto Takenaka, who I found absolutely
commendable. He can really act the part of Dosan, an onmyouji. He,
together with his daughter and, in some episodes, his disciple Jinta,
finds himself involved or a witness in the stories.
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Though the tales are popular, the
re-telling here put some very nice twists. Some became more cruel,
some became more sentimental. I found them more endearing than most
adaptations.
Rolling-in my list of stuff that captured my attention... I'll assume
the stories are already familiar so the following shouldn't really be
considered spoilers. I think.
Hell is Waiting (or at least a
soul-shredder)
Shotaro in Ugetsu Monogatari
My main problem with him is nobody
forced him to marry Isora AND to swear to heavens he'll take care of
her forever, but he did both...and then he replaced her with another
woman. After all her sacrifices, he left because he accuses Isora of faking her kindness and making his lover leave, without telling him.
Yeah,she should've made a letter to what she did. Pssh. There are
major differences here compared to the other versions of Pot at
Kibitsu I've read before and one of those is that they made Shotaro
more relatable with his struggle between doing good and doing what
makes him a jerk, I mean happy. As much as I value fidelity, I rarely
hate a person for deciding to leave. Here, I hated Shotaro. I didn't understand how his weakness overtook him when his wife is portrayed loving and
kind..even to his mistress.
