Kyogoku Natsuhiko Kosetsu Hyaku Monogatari

The main characters: three dead, one alive

Sad, isn't it? If you insist on maintaining your own Way, you will aggravate people. But if you stray from your ethics, you will fall into depravity. Evil and ambition scatter in the darkness, and all that remains is a sad rumor among the townsfolk. To the next world we commit thee!

—Mataichi

An anime horror anthology based upon a series of novels by Natsuhiko Kyogoku and originally broadcast in late 2003, also known as 100 Stories and titled Requiem from the Darkness in Geneon's official US release. Kyogoku Natsuhiko Kosetsu Hyaku Monogatari concerns the adventures of a rather clumsy and shiftless young writer named Momosuke, who travels feudal Japan in search of ghost stories to chronicle after he grows tired of writing children's riddles. Taking shelter at a ramshackle inn one rainy night, Momosuke encounters three unusual beings - Mataichi the charm-seller, Ogin the puppeteer and Nagamimi the shapeshifter - and discovers a world of supernatural horror he may never fully understand.

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Tropes used in Kyogoku Natsuhiko Kosetsu Hyaku Monogatari include:

• Black and Gray Morality
• Dark Is Not Evil: Mataichi, Ogin and Nagamimi.
• Dark World
• Eye Scream: A particularly squirmy example in "Floating Head."
• Gainax Ending
• Gorn: There's even an episode concerning a series of pornographic scrolls detailing the various stages of corpse decay.
• Gonk: 100 Stories features an extremely bizarre art style, particularly notable in its depiction of villagers and other incidental characters.
• Hello, Nurse!: Ogin. Which is a bit creepy, considering she's dead. This does not deter Momosuke.
• Humans Are the Real Monsters: The entire point of the show, though "bastards" might be too kind a term.
• I Just Want to Be Special: Despite his efforts to join Mataichi and the gang, Momosuke is repeatedly told to turn back before it's too late.
• I'm a Humanitarian: "Salty Choji."
• Infant Immortality: Sickeningly averted in several episodes, including the first two.
• Marshmallow Hell: Ogin does this to Momosuke in the first episode.
• Meaningful Name: Nagamimi ("Long Ears").
• The Messiah: Momosuke, who repeatedly believes the best of the worst people and usually ends up almost being killed because of it.
• Norio Wakamoto: Nagamimi.
• Parental Incest: "Floating Head."
• Perverse Puppet: Ogin's puppet, which is very pretty...until it looks at you.
• Powers That Be: Kyougokutei and the White and Black Hags.
• Pyromaniac: Shiragiku (actually Tatsuta impersonating her)
• Schizo-Tech: Momosuke's goggles.
• Shape Shifter: Nagamimi.
• Sick Sad World: And how.
• Squick: I wouldn't know where to start.
• Transvestite: "The Willow Woman."
• The Trickster: The entire crew, but especially Mataichi.
• Too Dumb to Live: Momosuke is Too Well-Meaning To Live. Luckily Mataichi's team is there to save his ass.
• Verbal Tic: Quite a few. Mataichi's speech is highly archaic, and Nagamimi...well, Nagamimi is Norio Wakamoto.
• Weapon of Mass Destruction: A mystical WMD powered by human atrocity, no less. Becomes the focus of the final two episodes.
• Writers Suck: Poor Momosuke is everyone's Butt Monkey.