“Catch of the Day”
What They Say:
Yamishibai is a picture-story style of animation whose motif is surrounded and based on the rumors, and urban legends throughout the history of Japan.
The Review:
Content: (please note that content portions of a review may contain spoilers)
This tale introduces us to a man who enjoys fishing as he returns home to his wife in their apartment. When she opens the case to see what’s in it, he keeps her from doing so, claiming it’s nasty looking, but you know that it must have something to do with the guy he went with. With the case rattling and her curiosity, he’s intent on keeping her away from it and dealing with it himself, which isn’t how he usually is. But it’s later that night that she gets a clue, seeing him at the kitchen sink with a knife cutting something that cries out with a haunting sound. Watching as she slow discovers what was left the next day, waiting for the discovery to hit, is wonderfully tense until the reveal.
In Summary:
Yamishibai plays well with the story here as Eiko wonders what’s going on with her husband and begins to learn things didn’t go well with the wife of the man her husband went fishing with. Realizing that something went wrong during that trip and that it came back home to roost, seeing it become what it is, builds to the horror wonderfully even if there’s not enough payoff in seeing the truth of it all. But sometimes that is just enough to get you excited for it.
Grade: B
Streamed By: Crunchyroll
