History Anime / AyakashiSamuraiHorrorTales

* ClingyJealousGirl: [[spoiler:Tamaki from ''Bakeneko''...as what the elderly patriarch's eldest son believed. When she died, her devotion to the elderly patriarch was such that when she died, her jealousy transformed her into a monstrous spirit as she attempted to ward off any chance of her former patron taking in another woman. Except that's not what happened at all]].

* 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 (for the "last of these" part) is the last arc shown.

* DeadUnicornTrope: The author of [[spoiler:Yotsuya Kaidan]] suggested, that [[spoiler:Oiwa's curse]] may have been generated not by a real event, but by the people taking the story serious, being afraid and perpetuating [[spoiler:the curse]] with their fear.

* WomanInWhite:
** Oiwa from ''Yotsuya Kaidan'' started wearing white [[spoiler:after her death and transformation into a vengeful spirit]].
** [[spoiler: Tamaki from ''Bakeneko''. Her few appearances had her dressed entirely in white, which is a symbol of death in Asian cultures. For the audience, this [[{{Foreshadowing}} foreshadows]] her ''very'' tragic backstory]].

* WoobieDestroyerOfWorlds: [[spoiler:Both Oiwa and Tamaki are motivated by revenge against people who made them suffer terribly in life for selfish reasons.]]

* HauntedHouse: To most humans, Shirasagi Catle is this, as the castle is unoccupied by humans and is decrepit and old in the human perspective.

* SympathyForTheDevil: The Mdeicine Peddler knows how dangerous the Bakeneko will become is left to its whims, but does acknowledge the suffering it had to go through and empathizes with it before cutting it down.

* LikeMotherLikeDaughter: Tomihime's mother once fell in love with a human man as well, and spared his life just as Tomihime did with Zushonosuke. However, the mother wasn't lucky enough to have her man stay around, and she eventually dies in her human form, having her spirit be housed in the form of a bird. [[spoiler:However, Tomihime and Zushonosuke end up the same after Shirasagi falls.]]

* KissOfDeath: A few of the bandits that feature at the beginning of ''Tenshu Monogatari'' get their life forces [[LifeDrain sucked out of them]] via kiss. And although Zushonosuke didn't know it at the time, his kiss with Tomihime also robbed her of her immortality, bringing her to the reality of death.

* 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, nothing could stop him from falling in love with Tomihime; he has Tomihime on his mind the whole time followinf their first meeting and Oshizu's left accidentally stumbling onto 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. [[spoiler:Though her eventually telling the emperor's men about Shirasagi Castle and her trying to kill Tomihime do lose her sympathy points.]]

* 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]][[spoiler:[[DramaticIronu Yomoshichi's not even dead]]-- he switched clothes with one of his own men to deliver a message]].

* 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.

* 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 onto 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. [[spoiler:Though her eventually telling the emperor's men about Shirasagi Castle and her trying to kill Tomihime do lose her sympathy points.]]

* CruelAndUnusualDeath: Many of Oiwa's victims.

* {{Gorn}}: The deaths of [[spoiler:Sato, Yoshifumi, and Sasaoka]] in ''Bakeneko'' are heavily stylized but gory nonetheless. They're all pinned to the wall, while the Bakeneko runs over all of them and rips them to pieces. Their organs, blood, and limbs are all flattened like a painting.

* BackdoorPilot: Considering how different it was from the other two stories this anime told, and that it ended on a very AndTheAdventureContinues feeling, ''Bakeneko'' felt a lot like one of these.

* ''Bake Neko (Goblin Cat)'', an original creation and the third and final arc; it was later continued with ''Mononoke'', featuring the Medicine Peddler as the main character. The story would appear again but in [[AlternateContinuity radically different form]] in the SpinOff.

* GyaruGirl: Kayo has many of the visual and personality traits of one. She's chatty, dresses in loud and flashy colors, and has the [[AmbiguouslyBrown brown skin]] and exaggerated makeup of a typic gal.

* AmbiguouslyHuman: There's no elaboration in the arc itself, but the Medicine Peddler sure doesn't appear human. His white skin, mystical powers, and [[spoiler:ability to transform into a Mononoke exorcising dark skinned humanoid]] all point to inhuman origin, as well as this line:

* ''Bake Neko (Goblin Cat)'', an original creation and the the third and final arc; it was later continued with ''Mononoke'', featuring the Medicine Peddler as the main character. The story would appear again but in [[AlternateContinuity radically different form]] in the SpinOff.

* AintTooProudToBeg: Odajima had been nothing but an annoying hindrance to the Medicine Seller for most of ''Bakeneko''. [[spoiler:But while the survivors try to flee from the rampaging Bakeneko into the noble family's basement, Sato in the throes of madness tries to strangle Kayo to death. Odajima tries to save Kayo but the elderly patriarch forces the samurai to protect him or else he'll snap his neck. Out of options, Odajima desperately calls for the Medicine Seller's help and begs him to do something]].

* JerkWithAHeartOfGold: While he does have his moments and gets in the Medicine Seller's way ignorantly, 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]].

* MsExposition: Kayo serves as this to the Medicine Seller, giving him information on the house owners, Mao's marriage into another family, and other tidbits.

* ReverseWhodunnit: We know from the start that the main antagonist and the killer is a Bakeneko (heck, it's ''right there'' in the title of the arc); the problem is ''why'' it's even there, which the Medicine Seller needs to know to begin exorcising.
* RoaringRampageOfRevenge: [[spoiler:The Bakeneko from ''Bakeneko'' is so full of vengeance and hatred that the Medicine Seller had to exorcise it in order to end its rampage]].

* 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 its being, and the Motive for its appearance.

* 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.
* VisualPun: All of the effects of the medicine the Medicine Seller shows to Kayo are shown in very unsubtle ways (ie. medicine meant to enhance men's sexual performance is represented by a turtle's head coming out of its shell, medicine for pregnancy represented by a fertility statue). Similarly, when Kayo tells the Seller about Mao's husband-to-be, the turtles' heads go back into their shells.

* ''Bake Neko (Goblin Cat)'', an original creation and the most famous of the arcs; it was later continued with ''Mononoke'', featuring the Medicine Peddler as the main character. The story would appear again but in [[AlternateContinuity radically different form]] in the SpinOff.

* TragicMonster: Particularly of the ''Yotsuya Kaidan'' and ''Bakeneko arcs. The circumstances that cause their appearances are quite sad:

** [[spoiler:Chobei, who helped hide Kohei nd Oiwa's corpses by nailing them to a door and dumping it in the river, is killed by Oiwa's ghost by "nailing" him to the wall before breaking his neck.]]

* WhatHappenedToTheMouse: Oiwa's baby. [[spoiler:Going by Iemon's nightmare, where Oiwa held a statue covered in blood as a stand in for the child, he is heavily implied to have died sometime after his mother's death.]]
* WoobieDestroyerOfWorlds: [[spoiler:Both Oiwa and Tamaki are motivated by revenge against people who made them suffer terribly in life for selfish reasons.]]

* VisualPun: All of the effects of the medicine the Medicine Seller shows to Kayo are shown in very unsubtle ways (ie. medicine meant to enhance men's sexual performance is represented by a turtle's head coming out of its shell). Similarly, when Kayo tells the Seller about Mao's husband-to-be, the turtles' heads go back into their shells.

** [[spoiler:Sato, Yoshifumi, and Sasaoka are all killed by the Bakeneko for mistreating, raping, and disposing of her body respectively.]]

** [[Sato, Yoshifumi, and Sasaoka are all killed by the Bakeneko for mistreating, raping, and disposing of her body respectively.]]

* KarmicDeath: [[spoiler:Chobei, who helped hide Kohei nd Oiwa's corpses by nailing them to a door and dumping it in the river, is killed by Oiwa's ghost by "nailing" him to the wall before breaking his neck.]]

* DueToTheDead: At the end the "Bakeneko" short [[spoiler:Kayo and Odajima (the family maid and samurai retainer, respectively) make a small burial shrine for the Bakeneko next to the well where Tamaki's body was discarded to reunite it with its friend as a way to apologize for the atrocities their family committed against them]].

* 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. [[spoiler:Though her eventually telling the emperor's men about Shirasagi Castle and her trying to kill Tomihime do lose her sympathy points.]]