Requiem From The Darkness Volume 4

After all the ghost stories, is Requiem from the Darkness a good fright? The short answer, in my opinion, is ‘no’, but the long answer would probably be some drawn out and malformed variety of ‘maybe’.

The first episode of this final volume certainly fails to impress. After searching for Mataichi and his gang of exorcists for three months, protagonist Momosuke discovers, by happening on the cave of Mataichi’s ‘boss’ and powerful spectre, Kyogokutei, where the trio are headed. The absurdity of the story-telling then comes to light however. In this episode, we discover that ghosts are believed to be sinking ships out at sea near a set of ‘twin islands’, of which, one recently sank. Some locals inform Momosuke that it isn’t ghosts, but a clan of pirates that are the source of the problem. Seeking passage to the island to discover the truth of the matter, Momosuke’s pilot then reveals that it the problem isn’t ghosts or pirates, but that the pirates are actually ghost pirates, which is why nobody told him (so presumably the people who said they were pirates were lying or were the village idiots). The final revelation comes in Momosuke’s deduction that the boating official of the island from which he arrived is actually sinking the boats in the guise of the pirate ghost clan, but this isn’t to say that the pirate ghost clan don’t exist, or that regular ghosts (whether controlled by the clan or not) aren’t sinking the boats … right.

The final two episodes then form an extended conclusion, drawing on strands of plot from the previous episode, and reintroducing characters from volume three. Despite this, however, the conclusion remains sparsely plotted, and could only really satisfy fans of the series, or people who like unnecessary plot twists every five minutes. One minute a character is an ally, then an enemy, then they’re dead, because the villain of the piece decided to be particularly nasty. Very little, on the contrary, seems to happen for a reason other than to keep the audience in their seats long enough to just get through this final volume. Equally, the ending, although somewhat satisfying, and worth the watch if you’ve stuck with the series so far, actually amounts to little, if anything, but still kept me watching.

The final volume is not without some need of praise as well though. For fans of the violence, mature themes and mystery of the series, the final volume delivers, and goes beyond previous volumes. Episode twelve and thirteen, in particular, feature a number of questionable scenes, and are far more oppresively horrific than any preceeding them. The visual element, in particular, is much enhanced in these episodes, generally, and goes some way to justifying the animes unique style. Ultimately, however, the series can be characterised by the unusual way it handles itself. One character, who would seem to have a major role in the final episodes for example, does little more than appear, whittle on about the villain’s plans, and then fall, in the very last minutes, into a sea of fire, wailing about the dying of a dream. This is just one example of the many ways in which Requiem from the Darkness seems more interested in endless plot twists than in creating developed characters or a sophisticated story arc.

In Summary

It’s sad that the last volume of Requiem is a misstep, but if you’ve tried earlier volumes, imagine their faults and merits being exaggerated a few times over, and then you’ll have a good idea of whether or not the final volume is worth the effort.