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Crunchyroll to Stream Yamishibai: Japanese Ghost Stories 4
posted on by Alex Mateo
Media distribution service Crunchyroll announced on Thursday that it will stream Yamishibai: Japanese Ghost Stories 4, the fourth season of the horror anime series of shorts as it airs in Japan. The first episode will premiere worldwide outside of Asia on Sunday, January 15 at 2:15 p.m. EST.
The season will feature 13 different people (including actors, stage actors, and voice actors) playing the old man who is the storyteller, including: Kanji Tsuda, Minori Terada, Tetsu Watanabe, Hisahiro Ogura, Satoru Matsuo, Tomu Miyazaki, Shōichirō Masumoto, Ryōsuke Takei, Hino Arata, Sawaru Ryū, and Naoki Yamazaki. Additionally, Noh master Shirō Nomura and pantomime artist Han Arai will also voice the role.
Other cast members include Ryota Murai, Kaoru Marimura, Fuka Haruna, Kazuki Ishiga, and Satoko Kishino.
Game creator Masaya Kaneko is the new director of the fourth series at ILCA. Hiromu Kumamoto is returning from the past three seasons to write the scripts. Shinji Nishikawa, Ryō Kudō, and Ayuki Mimata are working as animators on the new series. Takuto is performing the show's ending theme song "Yume Oi Hito," which he wrote specifically for the series.
The original series of anime shorts featured six-minute horror stories based on urban legends. The shorts inspired by Shōwa-era illustrated paper theater productions premiered in July 2013, with Tomoya Takashima directing off scripts by Hiromu Kumamoto. Crunchyroll streamed the series as it aired.
The second season featured directors Takashi Shimizu (The Grudge, live-action Kiki's Delivery Service) and Noboru Iguchi (Nuigulumar Z, Karate-Robo Zaborgar), as well as scriptwriter Shōichirō Masumoto (King of the Escape). The second season premiered in July 2014, and Crunchyroll streamed the series as it aired.
The third season premiered last January. Takashi Taniguchi and Tomohisa Ishikawa directed the third season at ILCA. Crunchyroll again streamed the series as it aired.
