Kakurenbo: Hide & Seek

YuiYui Mar 7, 2016

3

Warning this review may contain spoilers- Yet another review and this time a lovely one about hide and seek, I hated it. I personally thought that it was horrible and this lovely review would show why. So first I have seen so much about this being good and interesting with very high marks but I personally didn't think it is worth as much praise as some people are giving it. STORY What story? Well a 30 minute thing were you follow a bunch of children getting killed and then it all comes together eventually. There was no development and half of the story was predictable, what was the point in it :/ The only thing that I found interesting was the concept, a bunch of kids who play hide and seek in order to win and earn the title of whatever, I found interesting. But the story overall was a major disappointment. ANIMATION Urgh, I don't think I have said enough about this style of animation, I hate it. It never seems to flow in the way that I would expect, all clunky and just overall making it look terrible. Yeah there were scenes where I felt that the animation wasn't too bad but that would raise the score any more. SOUND Voice-acting was mostly alright, except for a couple of voices that honestly didn't appear to me but even then it was alright. I'm probably going to get a lot of complaints about this but no, just no.  CHARACTERS No development and most of the characters were just plain annoying even if you only saw tiny sections of each, the fact that they are all stuck up and just urgh. Yeah as well as the story development I didn't expect the characters to develop a lot but still even a tiny bit would of been nice so we understand how everything got to this stage. Overall didn't like it at all but yeah you'll probably watch it anyway. For now bye bye xx -AngelBeatsYui- PS: This is for the Daily Anime Marathon Club March 2016

Sianeka Nov 24, 2014

7

I enjoyed Kakurenbo: Hide & Seek.  It's a nice creepy horror short, that presses just the right buttons to make for a quick and engaging watch when one is in the mood for a little snack of horror. This story features the adventures of seven kids who decide to play a special version of Kakurenbo (Hide & Seek) known locally as Otokoyo. This version of hide-and-seek features a minimum of seven players, who must all wear fox masks while participating.  Urban legend has it that children go missing while playing and players who go to the dark town to play it will never return. The animation for this short movie is quite good, utilizing CGI effects to create a dark and eerie city. Use of darkness and brightness, shadows and light, truly compliment the story and set up an atmosphere of dangerous and scary creepiness. The glowing eyes and somewhat stilted motion of the demons is well done, adding more suspense to the hunt and chase scenes when the demons are stalking their prey. Music isn't a big part of the soundtrack, but deliciously creepy noises and ambient sounds are. Nothing sounds out of place, and it all is designed to immerse viewers into a dystopian world apart from the one we live in. Voice acting for both subbed and dubbed versions is credible, with no out-of-place vocalizations or character casting. Characters sound as one would expect them to sound. Character development is where this movie cuts corners. Visual identifications are limited due to the requirement of having all players wear fox masks (although this may actually be beneficial since CGI animation tends to fall short on animating human characters) and since the movie is only a little more than twenty minutes long, backstory and depth for each character does not really exist.  We get an introduction to each character and get to know them through the glimpse of personality presented as they play their deadly game, and nothing more than that.  It's hard to form any real attachment to any of the characters in the story since we know so little about them. Still, the story presented involves us in this day-in-the-life of these children and we feel their fear and tension and as the story unfolds, their growing apprehension and dread. A nice and thrilling creepy twist in the story at the end brings this brief horror adventure to a satisfying close.

Bestanimeserie Mar 2, 2016

6.2

A show that has a great atmosphere for a horror show and even is terrifying all whilst playing hide & seek? that's Kakurenbo Story - 6/10 The show starts with some rumors about a hide & seek game, the specifics of wich are not explained, only know is how to start the game and that it is dangerous because kids have gone missing. What the game actually is about is never explained well, only so much that the viewer can enjoy it without raising too much questions but yet the story leaves a lot of questions not answered, it also felt like it was a bit rushed but that's to blame on the very short duration(25 minutes) for this movie. Animation - 6/10 The characters are done in CGI, wich isn't really my favorite way to animate characters, or anything for that matter.That said it suprisingly fits the gloomy and old city, and it did not disturb me a lot, it added a lot of immersion into the showdesign of the characters is well-done and there is quite some varation, although they are just limited to a mask as that is required to play the game it doesn't make it bad Sound - 8/10 The background-sound isn't that notable, in the quiet parts that is, as soon as a scary moment starts the show changes and the music comes back at us with suprinsingly good sounds.It just keeps you and the front of your seat and it makes the show a lot better, giving it a good atmosphere Characters - 5/10 The game is played by seven childeren, wich means seven childeren to introduce to us, the way that it's done is that all characters have a bit of an archetype-ish,But there isn't much said or developed as it is an survival game, our character wich can be considered the main character is looking for his sister, that is about all the reason we get for characters playing this game. Enjoyment - 6.5/10A show like this is lovely for a short horror anime evening, in my opinion it wouldn't have been bad if the show was a bit longer but for what it was it's a great horror showI really liked it, the show had a great atmosphere, and it sometimes was somewhwat terrifying