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ANNCast - Boils and Ghouls


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Kenotic



Joined: 02 Mar 2007
Posts: 167
PostPosted: Fri Oct 29, 2010 5:16 am Reply with quote
Charred Knight wrote:
Question for all those who have seen Higurashi, I have been hearing how scary it is for years but never saw it.

The only thing I have seen from it are clips of the series, and I find them hilarious, in particular the way they laugh, is that because those scenes are taking out of context because I honestly don't know how I am supposed to find the way the laugh to be scary.


ANN is still hosting the series, so you can start there. The laughs themselves, much like seeing Regan's head twist in The Exorcist, aren't scary alone but in context they certainly add a big touch.

A good point of reference is the opening of episode 5, which was certainly a shocker when I saw it. Yet it comes off as creepier after you know the context leading up to it and a resolution that comes many episodes later.

Oh, and there's another good reason that some of those laughs (specifically redhead Rena's laugh) seem to demented and off-model, and it's actually a plot point...
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Penguin_Factory



Joined: 28 Oct 2007
Posts: 732
Location: Ireland
PostPosted: Fri Oct 29, 2010 6:06 am Reply with quote
I've been thinking this over, and would anyone say they found parts of Paprika scary? In particular I'm talking about that goddamn doll. It's not the sort of thing that would have you up at night thinking about it, but whenever it was on screen I felt seriously creeped out.

Another example would be the part where spoiler[the protagonist steps over the rail in the amusement park and we cut back to reality to see she almost jumped off a balcony]. Personally I found that pretty disturbing, although that might just be because I have acrophobia.
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pancakesandsex



Joined: 29 Oct 2010
Posts: 6
PostPosted: Fri Oct 29, 2010 7:41 am Reply with quote
Zac,

I got about halfway through the cast on the way to work this morning and registered just to post this.

Take a look into Betterman Demon Prince Enma, and Blue Seed. Betterman is best described as typical Japanese "the ball is a skull" horror wearing the steely freshly flayed skin of GaoGaiGar as a suit. It's not by any means playing it straight, but I think you'll find it delivers the creepy far better than most that try to. There is an episode called "Worms" that I found particularly enjoyable

Also worth checking out is the oft overlooked Demon Prince Enma. It's a Go Nagai property that was released by BV USA before they went the way of the dodo. Four episodes, unreasonably priced, worth every penny I paid for it. It kind of follows the old "90's ova version of a kids property from the 70's" methodology (and I mean this favorably), only it's not from the mid 2000's. Damn shame this gets ignored.

One last suggestion, again, not straight horror, but one that definitely steeped in genre conventions, is Yuzo Takada's Blue Seed, which I'm sure you've heard of. Personal favorite of mine.
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vashfanatic



Joined: 16 Jun 2005
Posts: 3489
Location: Back stateside
PostPosted: Fri Oct 29, 2010 7:57 am Reply with quote
Perfect Blue. I made the mistake the first time I watched this of watching it alone after dark in someone else house. *shudder*

Um, the "Bloody Labyrinth" arc of Ghost Hunt. I frequently have dreams where I am wandering through a big rambling house like that, so the images of the anime easily slipped into my dreams. It didn't scare me right away, it scared me the night after.

Monster
. Johann Liebert. I watched the anime before I read the manga (and long before it was licensed), and just about any time he appeared on screen, my nerves were on edge. And the scene where [huge spoiler]spoiler[where we discover he's been cross-dressing as his sister] invoked screams.

The scene in Blood+ where spoiler[the little children turn into chiropterans] was pretty horrifying, especially with the music.

Hell Girl, Higurashi, and Vampire Princess Miyu had some good moments...but then again, so did other non-horror series like Evangelion, RahXephon, and Cowboy Bebop (tank of clones, dream episode, and "Pierrot Le Fou" respectively).

Most recently, the scene where spoiler[Megumi emerges from under Natsuno's bed] in Shiki made me uncomfortable sleeping.

But yeah... most "horror" anime tend to just be the ones that use lots of ghosts and vampires and other supernatural critters. Mononoke, Hellsing and Vampire Hunter D, while I like them, do not scare me.
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Quark



Joined: 07 Mar 2008
Posts: 710
Location: British Columbia, Canada
PostPosted: Fri Oct 29, 2010 9:59 am Reply with quote
vashfanatic wrote:

Um, the "Bloody Labyrinth" arc of Ghost Hunt. I frequently have dreams where I am wandering through a big rambling house like that, so the images of the anime easily slipped into my dreams. It didn't scare me right away, it scared me the night after.


I liked Ghost Hunt, but was a little disappointed because I was expecting it to be super scary. It was just a fun series with tons of supernatural elements. Although the one bit with the ghostly hand knocking on the window...ugh. That kind of thing gives me the creeps. Maybe I need to re-watch Ghost Hunt all alone in the dark.

Higurashi (yet again!) managed to give me the creeps quite a few times too. Especially during the Shion arc, where spoiler[Shion was in the basement being tortured, and they were ripping her fingernails off] *shudder* I think I had nightmares over that one. I've found that a lot in Japanese horror - they love showing fingernails coming out of the nail bed, and it's absolutely nauseating.

Speaking of which, the first volume of the Battle Royale manga freaked me out big time. I had never heard of it before, and found a random copy at a friends house, and started reading it and was just horrified by the concept. Not to mention that the art in that series is so grotesque that it could work very well as horror.

As a whole though, I find horror anime isn't that scary, and I scare easily. It's entertaining, to be sure, but it's not the kind of thing that keeps me awake at night, like Night of the Living Dead, Halloween (not the Rob Zombie one. Ick!), Ju-on, or the Exorcist. Those are the kinds of movies that cause me to lock my doors, check over my shoulder, and be paranoid about seeing demonic faces late at night. Needless to say, the horror genre rules.
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Parsifal24





PostPosted: Fri Oct 29, 2010 10:26 am Reply with quote
the whole of Higurashi is pretty terryfing partially because of the super Moe art style. But the first two that came to mind for me are the old Petshop of Horrors OVA and its first story Daughter and Vampire Hunter D both really unnerved me when I first saw them when I was 13-14 another would be the Mermaid Saga based on the manga by Rumiko Takahashi the twists in some stories where really scary.
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Akukame



Joined: 09 Nov 2005
Posts: 117
PostPosted: Fri Oct 29, 2010 10:37 am Reply with quote
I have to agree again with Higurashi / When they cry.

I do think it goes worth mentioning that each series has its own tone. And of them, the first Higurashi series is a true to the bone, thriller, with some honestly creepy and scary moments.

Hopefully not spoiling anything. But, the series is broken up into arcs, and during each arc, all the characters start out alive, and by the end of the arc, they're all dead. Very little is shown, but it has the feeling that anyone can die at any time. And each arc is roughly movie length (about 4 episodes average).

But even then, it really still only has "moments". The relative low budget of the first season compared to the others sometimes shows through. And some of the scenarios just aren't as creepy as others. But the show has a way of making you think of the possibilities of what is happening and what could happen. I think that even without the moe style, the series probably could have still worked. I think that the moe style allowed it to reach a much broader audience. The original artwork of the games though, is horrible. And it probably doesn't qualify as "moe".

The second season has distinctly different tones though. Where as the first season raises all the questions and answers, the second season is more of a resolution. Almost inspirational in comparison.
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Takeyo



Joined: 25 Mar 2008
Posts: 736
PostPosted: Fri Oct 29, 2010 11:05 am Reply with quote
Charred Knight wrote:
Did anyone else think Zac sounded like he was trying to have sex with us?

I think Zac was just channeling Vincent Price from the original House on Haunted Hill. Then again, Vincent always did have sort of a potential sex offender vibe. . . .

Good show. Very good discussion. I'd really like to check out that vanishing school manga.

High on my personal list is School Days. The ending of that show really messed with my head in a horrific way. Similarly, I found many elements of the Higurashi anime very creepy (and some of the violence disturbing, as well). Both derived from virtual novels, as Jason mentioned, though I don't think the success of any of the ickiness can be directly attributed to the VN format.

I tend to feel that manga can do horror much more effectively than anime. With anime, especially when it comes to monsters, the Never Show the Shark rule comes into play. Anime monsters tend to look so, well, "cartoony," that I'm more inclined to laugh than anything else. I assume it's at least partially a budget issue, but maybe it's a limitation of the medium, itself.

As far as the survival horror video games go, I've found that I'm too big a coward to play. It's that they're so much more immersive than film, I think. Rather than yelling at the screen, "don't open that door!" I'm the one who has to open it to progress. Anime cry

EDIT: Was Erin referring to the jenga Tower of Sanity? Ah, here it is: Dread.


Last edited by Takeyo on Fri Oct 29, 2010 11:09 am; edited 1 time in total
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jsc315



Joined: 09 Aug 2004
Posts: 925
PostPosted: Fri Oct 29, 2010 11:07 am Reply with quote
I love Erin and Noah. This looks to be a great episode from the description! Can't wait to listen.
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vashfanatic



Joined: 16 Jun 2005
Posts: 3489
Location: Back stateside
PostPosted: Fri Oct 29, 2010 11:28 am Reply with quote
Quark wrote:
vashfanatic wrote:

Um, the "Bloody Labyrinth" arc of Ghost Hunt. I frequently have dreams where I am wandering through a big rambling house like that, so the images of the anime easily slipped into my dreams. It didn't scare me right away, it scared me the night after.


I liked Ghost Hunt, but was a little disappointed because I was expecting it to be super scary. It was just a fun series with tons of supernatural elements. Although the one bit with the ghostly hand knocking on the window...ugh. That kind of thing gives me the creeps. Maybe I need to re-watch Ghost Hunt all alone in the dark.

Well, as I said, it wasn't necessarily scary in and of itself; it was scary because it matched some of my own nightmares a little too much. Otherwise, though, it was definitely more of a "supernatural" series than a "horror" series.

Oh, and I didn't mention it, but every Halloween I try to watch my copy of the "Goblin Cat" arc of Ayakashi: Samurai Ghost Stories. Not really scary, far more tragic, but about a ghost and definitely a great three episodes.
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Fifth B



Joined: 05 Sep 2010
Posts: 213
PostPosted: Fri Oct 29, 2010 11:39 am Reply with quote
I'm a giant horror nerd, so I really enjoyed this podcast. I've always found that anime, as it is animated and therefore quite removed from reality, tends to fight an uphill fight when it comes to scaring the viewer, and often goes straight for the blood and guts, \however, I'm also going to go ahead and throw Higurashi out there as an excellent example of horror anime. I think that in order for a horror movie (or show) to be effective, it has to use it's violence wisely. Too much at a constant pace basically turns it into gorefest, which is more cheesey than horrifying (when was the last time you were frightened by a a Friday the 13th movie? I'll tell you when, never). What I love about Higurashi is that it uses it's violence so effectively in conjunction with it's atmosphere and plot, and therefore, it actually seemed relevant. Not only that but it sort of created a circle of terror, if you will, in which the mood sets up the violence, and the violence gives the mood a greater sense of urgency and unease. The entire series pretty much consists of long strings of paranoid unease leading up to explosions of violence .The first time I saw it, I was completely enthralled and genuinely unsettled, not just by the often graphic deaths, but also by the more silently threatening moments, especially spoiler[the needle in the rice ball, the ritual tool shed, and the missing body from the thiord story arc] tgo name a few. It doesn't really "scare" me, but it still has that power to instill a strong sense of discomfort and borderline fear, which is more than any anime I've ever seen has been able to do, with the possible exception of Perfect Blue the first time I saw it.

Interesting observations concerning visual novels/video games and horror. A medium in which you are basically direectly involved in the events unfolding definitely has more power to scare you, as any threat to the character is a threat to you (and visual novel horror comes with the added bonus of being a giant mood killer).

I loves me some Lovecraft, and with the exception of Saya no Uta and that moe light novel thing, I really can't think of anything else in anime that's tried to work with his style or mythos. I do appreciate the occasional reference though, and hilariously enough, I remember there being a Lovecraft reference on Clannad, of all places.
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BeanBandit



Joined: 23 May 2010
Posts: 303
Location: Canada
PostPosted: Fri Oct 29, 2010 11:48 am Reply with quote
I have to go with the first series of Higurashi, I love that show a lot and it creeped me out the first time I watched it and really made a huge impression. It might not be "horror" so much but it's definitely unsettling physiologically, and it does have some great slasher moments of characters getting cut up. It's also a show were I think the moe character designs might actually be a plus as each arch starts off so innocently but slowly descends into madness which I thought they worked very effectively as you don't really expect it or see it coming.
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v1cious



Joined: 31 Dec 2002
Posts: 6199
Location: Houston, TX
PostPosted: Fri Oct 29, 2010 12:03 pm Reply with quote
More people should be watching Shiki, That's the best horror anime running at the moment. What's makes it work so perfectly is the normalcy of the whole setting. I like how the characters are actually believable in their actions. You really get that feeling of dread, as they slowly witness their little town being taken over by these strangers that just moved in.

Last edited by v1cious on Fri Oct 29, 2010 12:17 pm; edited 5 times in total
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pancakesandsex



Joined: 29 Oct 2010
Posts: 6
PostPosted: Fri Oct 29, 2010 12:05 pm Reply with quote
Ghost Talker's Daydream is another good one I think goes unnoticed by most.
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nightjuan



Joined: 22 Jan 2008
Posts: 1473
PostPosted: Fri Oct 29, 2010 12:15 pm Reply with quote
Not just anime...plenty of fiction is rarely genuinely and inherently scary, in my opinion, but it can be creepy and psychologically disturbing...either out of a sense of sympathy and empathy for the characters themselves or sometimes just because it recalls a specific fear you've already developed. The actual show doesn't necessarily need to be focused on horror or suspense as its main subject matter in order to accomplish that much.

Without spoilers, a good example would be a number of scenes in Baccano!, such as when certain characters are tortured in a rather cringe-worthy manner. On a completely different note, Osamu Tezuka's Phoenix has a few arcs that are disturbing just on a purely conceptual level (horrible situations I wouldn't want to experience), not because something jumps out and actively scares you.

I'll have to agree that the scariest things I can recall were all shows and cartoons I saw as a child...which probably wouldn't work quite as well in retrospect, for obvious reasons, if I were to watch them again.

Btw, I haven't actually read or played the Higurashi visual novels, but the Umineko series is part of a pretty curious case..they're all more of a subversion of the mystery genre than anything truly horrific or scary, but some of the descriptions in them are incredibly creepy and the soundtrack does a great job of enhancing the mood. I'll note that I'm not speaking about the anime here, which isn't really too good at this despite having access to, say, better character designs. I guess sometimes it's better to tell, not show, if you can't do it right.

Charred Knight wrote:
Question for all those who have seen Higurashi, I have been hearing how scary it is for years but never saw it.

The only thing I have seen from it are clips of the series, and I find them hilarious, in particular the way they laugh, is that because those scenes are taking out of context because I honestly don't know how I am supposed to find the way the laugh to be scary.


The Higurashi anime falls squarely into the psychological side of things, often in spite of how goofy or weird the visuals and some of the events actually are. Knowing you, I'd imagine it will be hard to keep a straight face and not be disappointed or end up laughing.

Not because I didn't chuckle at a little bit of that myself, honestly, and the whole thing has an undeniable cheesiness...but I usually didn't dwell on it too much. On a related note, unlike Hope I ended up preferring the second season in spite of the reduced (not absent, because I'd argue there were still a couple of effective creepy scenes) suspense. For one thing, the main predicament turned out to be rather appealing for me and, for the most part, I didn't have any problems waiting for the puzzle to be resolved.

Then again, I'm also not too bothered by how slow Shiki has been lately and even the ridiculous hair doesn't stop me from somehow appreciating its oppressive mood, so your mileage may definitely vary. I don't know about the final outcome, but so far it's been engaging enough.


Last edited by nightjuan on Fri Oct 29, 2010 12:16 pm; edited 1 time in total
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