Drama Digest
Ever felt the presence of the supernatural in your real life? Ever encountered a ghost that scared your wits? Do you believe that humans and spirits co-exist?
The series explores real-life experiences of people who have faced spirits and have gone on to share them. It is from the website Hobonikkan Itoishinban and book by Itoi Shigesatoo.
Itoi is a collector of these stories and publishes them every summer. The series has picked up 12 such stories and adapted them into it. All the protagonists in the stories are females.
The themes are varied experiences such as the small single room where a female on a work trip stays in a small, humid hotel room that has witnessed a terrible event in the past.
In another story called the unknown friend where four girls are chatting away but, in the group, one girl is unknown to the rest.
Or the small pink notebook which explores the repressed memories of a young girl and her father’s past when she visits her old house.
Yet another is called where did you go which is about a young girl and her mother starting a new life in their new house. But an eerie noise disturbs them. They realize they are not alone in the house.
The last story in the series is named the doll in my hand. A young woman visits the room of a young family member who died eight years ago. In that room, she finds a bizarre doll.
There are others too that border between scary and weird.
Overall, the series has dealt with two main themes which are true-life incidents and the supernatural.
The Feel-Good Part
The visuals and sound effects are brilliant and add value to the ambiance which enhances the horror.
The fact that all of the stories are true-life incidents makes us wonder if there is a concept of super-natural.
The Disappointing Factor
The time duration of each story is too short resulting in the character not being developed well. So, one does not connect with the character and the female lead.
The script is not as strong and needed to be fleshed out better.
In-Depth Analysis
The series is all about humans and their interactions with the supernatural. Inspired by a website run by Itoi Shigesatoo, the site has collected these experiences from 2004.
All of the stories have female leads which are quite strange as one thinks no male has faced the spirits. But at the same time, it is fascinating to see the diverse experiences that have been shown.
For instance, one story is about a female welfare officer visiting an aged woman. The woman has a phone in her house that only she can hear. Or another where a girl stays at her friend’s villa. She discovers a book but there is a nasty smell emanating from the room.
The series deals with an interesting concept of only horror.
Star Power
All the female leads are quite good.
Overall Opinion
It is a treat for horror fans.
