History Anime / AyakashiSamuraiHorrorTales

''Ayakashi: Samurai Horror Tales'' is the less remembered anime series from which ''Anime/{{Mononoke}}'' originates. Eleven episodes long, it consists of three self-contained arcs, each with very different animation styles:

** For ''Yotsuya Kaidan'', the monster in question was [[spoiler:a poorly treated woman who learned that her husband poisoned her and left her for another woman, on top of throwing her corpse and another poor man's corpse into the river.]]

* ImpoverishedPatrician: The samurai and their families after they are dishonored (''Yotsuya Kaidan''). The two main female characters often allude to [[PrincessInRags their fallen status]].

* AttemptedRape: Takuetsu (Yotsuya).

* GoodAdulteryBadAdultery: ''Tenshu Monogatari'' has poor Oshizu as the losing end of a romance between Zushonosuke and Tomihime. While he did seem to love the former woman before meeting Tomihime and eventually marries her, he has Tomihime on his mind the whole time and Oshizu's left accidentally stumbling on to the two consumating their love, and then later having to pretend he died when he leaves her to save Tomihime. None of this is portrayed as a moral wrong, merely tragic on Oshizu's end.

* HauntedHouse: To most humans, Shirasagi Catle is this, as the castle is unoccupied by humans and is decrepit and old.
* HeroicBSOD: [[spoiler:Kayo and Odajima (Bakeneko) are both extremely shaken and disgusted when they are shown the full story of Tamaki and the titular character]].
* HeroicSacrifice: [[spoiler:Tamaki fed a kitten trapped in the family basement until it grew strong enough to escape, starving herself to the point of emaciation in the process. When her abusers beat her to the point of dying and the cat risked getting killed in protecting her, Tamaki bade the cat to run so it wouldn't die senselessly for her sake]].
* ImpoverishedPatrician: The samurai and their families after they are dishonored (Yotsuya). The two main female characters often allude to [[PrincessInRags their fallen status]].
** The aristocratic family in "Bakeneko". By the start of the story, we learn that they have been made so poor by the matriarch's frivolous spending that they were willing to sell their daughter's marriage to the scion of a more wealthy neighboring family.

* {{Jerkass}}: Odajima (Bakeneko) is not exactly nice to the Medicine Seller and remains distrustful of him [[spoiler:until the very end]].
* JerkWithAHeartOfGold: While he does have his moments, Odajima (Bakeneko) is friendly to Kayo, a female servant, accompanying her to pray in the room where Lady Mao's body is held when she gets scared, and [[spoiler:trying to rescue her from being strangled to death by an increasingly deranged Sato. Then it's revealed that he (and Kayo) were completely innocent of their family's crimes against the Bakeneko]].

* MakeItLookLikeAnAccident: Iemon murders Oiwa's father in his rage at having his hand in marriage rejected, and puts him together with the freshly murdered Yomoshichi (who was killed by one of his men, Naosuke, in a similarly jealous rage to wed Oiwa's sister Osode) to make them both look like they'd been killed by bandits. They then use the tragedy to have both women wed them, in the presumption that they work together to avenge the men's deaths. Oiwa and Osode fall for it hook, line, and sinker.
* MediumBlending: Yotsuya Kaidan has a few live action sequences.

* MindScrew: Just what was the deal with Nanboku, [[MediumBlending the live action sequence]], and Oiwa's curse (Yotsuya Kaidan)?

** [[spoiler:The court lady Sato (Bakeneko) isn't directly responsible, but she refuses to take responsibility for her complicity and spends much of the story screaming that it isn't her fault]].

* SituationalSword: The Sword of Exorcism the Medicine Seller always keeps with him can seal away any Mononoke, but only under three conditions; he has to know what Form it has taken, the Truth concerning the current state of things, and the Motive for its appearance.

* SituationalSword: The Sword of Exorcism the Medicine Seller always keeps with him can seal away any Mononoke, but only under three conditions; he has to know what Form it has taken, the Truth of why it has formed, and the Regret lingering from it.

* UnreliableNarrator: In ''Bakeneko'', the elderly patriarch of a noble family [[spoiler:who was ultimately responsible for the Bakeneko's creation]] believed in his version of what happened to [[spoiler:Tamaki, despite it being completely bullshit and a total lie. The Medicine Seller calls him out on this before leaving him to reflect on his pastexercising.

* UnreliableNarrator: In ''Bakeneko'', the elderly patriarch of a noble family [[spoiler:who was ultimately responsible for the Bakeneko's creation]] believed in his version of what happened to [[spoiler:Tamaki, despite it being completely bullshit and a total lie. The Medicine Seller calls him out on this before leaving him to reflect on his past actions]].

* StarCrossedLovers: Zushonosuke and Tomihime. As a Forgotten God, Tomihime cannot fall in love with a human under any circumstances, else she give up her immortality and condemn herself to death. [[spoiler:Ultimately subverted though; they don't survive in their humanoid forms, but they are at least TogetherInDeath and turn into falconslike Tomihime's mother, allowing them to finally live together in peace.]]

* TraumaCongaLine: Oiwa goes through hell in ''Yotsuya Kaidan''. First her father is killed by who she thinks is bandits (actually her own husband to ne), then her husband becomes cold to her after she gives him a son, then she gets poisoned by a jealous woman, which disfigures her, ''and'' her husband abandons her and her child. [[spoiler:Evidently, when she comes back as a spirit, she decides she's had enough.]]

* WhatHappenedToTheMouse: Oiwa's baby. [[spoiler:Going by Iemon's nightmare, the baby is heavily implied to have died sometime after his mother's death.]]

* TakeUpMySword: As she lay dying, Osode asks Naosuke to take vengeance on Iemon and his household for what he did to Oiwa. And after Naosuke slits his own stomach, he asks Yomoshichi to do the same. The latter at the very least honors their last requests.

* EstablishingSeriesMoment: TheTeaser for the ''Bakeneko'' arc opens up with [[InMediasRes Mizue already dead, the Medicine Peddler calmly and magically setting up barriers, and everyone freaking out]]. ''Then'' the opening plays. It really sets the tone not only for this arc, but also for the ''Mononoke'' anime that will eventually follow from this.

* TheTeaser: The ''Bakeneko'' arc opens up with [[InMediasRes Mizue already dead, the Medicine Peddler setting up barriers, and everyone freaking out]]. ''Then'' the opening plays.

* ColdOpen: The ''Bakeneko'' arc opens up with [[InMediasRes Mizue already dead, the Medicine Peddler setting up barriers, and everyone freaking out]]. ''Then'' the opening plays.

* ColdOpen: The ''Bakeneko arc opens up with Mizue already dead, the Medicine Peddler setting up barriers, and everyone freaking out. ''Then'' the opening plays.

* TheLastOfTheseIsNotLikeTheOthers: ''Bakeneko'' for the entire trio of stories. It's the only original horror story, has an art style completely different from the other two, aired for 3 episodes instead of 4, and premiered after the other two aired

* TraumaCongaLine: Oiwa goes through hell in ''Yotsuya Kaidan''. First her father dies to what she thinks is bandits, then her husband becomes cold to her after she gives him a son, then she gets poisoned by a jealous woman, which dusfigues her, ''and'' her husband abandons her and her child. [[spoiler:Evidently, when she comes back as a spirit, she decides shes6had enough.]]

** For those who are familiar with the original story of ''Yotsuya Kaidan'' should know what happened already. for those who don't... [[spoiler: Oiwa turned from a devoted wife to an extremely vengeful spirit after she discovered that her own husband and several other people were involved in a plot to poison her, causing her to commit suicide. She spends the rest of her arc horrifically tormenting and murdering the co-conspirators.]]

* FakeRelationship: Osode is subject to this with Naosuke, pretending to be married so that they can eventually find her former fiance's killer and avenge his death. [[DramaticIrony little does she know that Naosuke was his killer, and that Yomoshichi's not even dead]]-- he switched clothes with one of his own men to deliver a message.

* BittersweetEnding: Emphasis on the bitter in ''Tenshu Monogatari''. Sure, Tomihime and Zushonosuke can finally be together, but it's only after [[spoiler: The castle is destroyed, all of Tomihime's attendants die, and she befell the same fate as her mother (that is, to become a bird after she died)]].

* TheLastOfTheseIsNotLikeTheOthers: ''Bakeneko'' for the entire trio of stories. It's the only original horror story, has an art style completely different from the other two, aired for 3 episodes instead of 4, and premiered after the other two aired.
* LemonyNarrator: Nanboku (Yotsuya)
* MeaningfulName: Lady Mao's name is phonetically identical to 'cat' in Chinese. Guess what kills her.
** Tamaki has this going on as well, though it requires some explanation if you aren't from Japan and aren't familiar with the humour. [[spoiler: 'Tama' is a common name for a cat, which makes it funny anyway even if you don't have the kanji staring you down because "hee hee bakeneko lady has a cat name, awesome". But when you consider the 'ki' kanji they use means living or birth...? You can take her name to mean KITTY IS ALIVE/REBORN.]]

* TheLastOfTheseThingsIsNotLikeOthers: ''Bakeneko'' for the entire trio of stories. It's the only original horror story, has an art style completely different from the other two, aired for 3 episodes instead of 4, and premiered after the other two aired.