Ayakashi Japanese Classic Horror

Plot (From Wikipedia):
Ayakashi Japanese Classic Horror is a collection of 3 stories made into an anime.

Yotsuya Kaidan (Episodes: 1-4)
"Yotsuya Ghost Story" is a retelling of the classic Japanese ghost story, written by the 18th century kabuki playwright Tsuruya Nanboku.

In the anime, Nanboku himself becomes the narrator. Tamiya Iemon is a ronin samurai who marries a beautiful woman named Oiwa. Oiwa is happy with her married life and the birth of their child, but Iemon feels the burden of their poverty.

In return for the promise of a job by a rich man, Iemon promises to marry the man's daughter and conspires to murder his own wife. A servant is ordered by the rich man's daughter to poison Oiwa's food; the toxin permanently disfigures Oiwa's face.

Iemon then orders his servant to kill her after having his way with her. Oiwa commits suicide after coming to know of Iemon's treachery. Another of Iemon's servants is also killed, and along with the dead Oiwa, is nailed to a piece of wooden board and tossed into the river.

After Oiwa's death, Iemon marries the rich man's daughter, as promised. But Oiwa's vengeful spirit could not rest in peace, and she lays a curse on everyone involved with her demise. One by one, Oiwa's enemies die a horrible death, including the rich man and his daughter, and Iemon is plagued by visions of Oiwa's ghost.

Tenshu Monogatari (Episodes: 5-8)
"Goddess of the Dark Tower" is based on Tenshu Monogatari, a play by Kyōka Izumi. It tells the story of a forbidden love between a god and a human. In medieval Japan, Himekawa Zushonosuke is a falconer who is sent by his master Lord Harima to retrieve a precious falcon named Kojiro.

Zushonosuke's search is initially fruitless, though it leads him to a chance encounter with a beautiful woman bathing in a lake. Zushonosuke more or less falls in love with her at first sight.

When news reaches Lord Harima that the falcon has in fact fled to the castle keep of Shirasagi-jo, Zushonosuke is ordered there to bring the falcon back.

Accompanied by two friendly demons, Zushonosuke makes his way to Shirasagi-jo, which is rumored to be inhabited by beings called Wasuregami (Forgotten Gods). At the castle, Zushonosuke is surprised to find the same beautiful woman he encountered before, who introduces herself as Tomihime (Princess Tomi), beginning their forbidden romance.

Bake Neko (Episodes: 9-11)
In the Edo period, a granddaughter of the master of a samurai family was planning to marry.

However, at the moment they were to celebrate the wedding, she was killed miserably. A traveling medicine-seller said it was the work of a bakeneko, or cat monster. As if prophesied by his words, the other members of the family began to be killed, one after another.

The medicine seller claims to have the means to destroy the bakeneko, but to do so, he must know not only the monster's form but the truth about what it wants and the reason for its appearance. That was when the family's dark secrets begin to surface.

My Thoughts:
This was a very interesting series to watch. The character animation was not your typical anime. There were no "pretty" characters. The animation I thought was decent though.

Since this was a collection of horror stories, I do have to say I enjoyed the second and third stories more than the first. Not to say that the first story sucked. It was actually good but I just preferred the others.

Overall I give this a 3 out of 5. Definitely something to watch on a lazy Sunday.