Hyakki Yakoushou

I think the charm of the show went over the heads of so many, myself included. When I watched the first few episodes, I thought it was bad. It seemed sloppy, hollow and lazy at first glance. And I am glad I kept watching, since it ended up clicking for me. Turns out I was expecting something the show doesn't even try to be. The voice acting is good, the music is good (I really loved ヤングスキニー's 何にもなれない as the ED), the almost-still images give it a retro vibe that reminds me of reading picture books as a kid, and the show’s portrayal of yokai is more grounded in Japanese folklore than that of most shows. The last point matters because the show really opens a window—granted, a tiny one given the 4-minute episode length—into how yokai stories fit within Japanese folklore, rather than treating them like generic fantasy monsters. We often see yokai misrepresented that way, and I think the setting and the atmosphere of this show are impeccable in that sense. The story itself is simple but delivered at a good pace, and it has more depth than most viewers seem to give it credit for. I understand that this anime is aimed at a very narrow audience. It isn't your typical mainstream anime by any stretch of the imagination. But the fact that this doesn’t meet the expectations we bring to it doesn’t necessarily mean it’s bad. Or maybe I’m just enshrining a turd, idk. 8/10