English Dub Review: Dark Gathering “The Castle H Ruins, Danger Rank S!”

Overview (Spoilers Below):

None who have encountered the castle spirit survived to tell the tale, but both the living and the dead should fear the High Priest; it is not salvation he prays for.

Our Take:

Despite being well-prepared, Keitaro and Yayoi’s first S-rank hunt had taken a turn for the worse. Keitaro had found himself trapped in the spirit’s grasp, surrounded by terrifying illusions, including Yayoi being hanged. Fortunately, we can confirm from this episode that the young child is alive and kicking. While I knew Yayoi wasn’t really dead since we’re only halfway through the series, it’s still terrifying to see a child face a demise like that, even if it is an imposter. Regardless, the ghost-hunting duo are not out of the woods yet, both metaphorically and literally.

The conclusion to the two-part adventure into S-rank territory has Yayoi and Keitaro reuniting to combat the Castle H spirit. Lucky for them, they got a yokai of their own to assist them: The High Priest of the Evil Tongue, whose chant can kill anyone who listens to it. While they eventually succeed in taking down the castle yokai, the duo still needs to keep a sharp eye on the High Priest when it almost kills Keitaro with its mantra. Additionally, Yayoi and Keitaro discover that the castle spirit (later described as a “Split Spirit”) wasn’t really evil. She was driven mad by an evil talisman that someone put in the woods, causing her to murder everyone who dared to enter the ruins. This led to the duo burying the talisman somewhere else and gaining the castle spirit as their ally.

Despite not being as frightening as the previous one, “The Castle H Ruins, Danger Rank S!” is still a satisfyingly thrilling conclusion to our first S-rank adventure. It’s also not without its highlights, including Yayoi’s race against the clock to save Keitaro and Keitaro’s character growth regarding his courage and kindhearted nature. While he’s still very timid about hunting dangerous S-rank spirits, it’s evident that Keitaro’s willing to face his fears to keep Yayoi safe from harm, even if it means going into another S-rank area: the Old F Tunnel.

After watching the first half of Dark Gathering, I can confidently say that I was impressed so far. Although there were a few repetitive moments in the narrative, the series effectively uses terrifying imagery, likable characters, and thrilling moments to create a fun and scary experience many modern horror movies fail to achieve. If the second half of the series continues to deliver entertaining scares the same way the first half did, we might have another successful horror anime on our hands.