Top 5 Anime Like Yamishibai: Japanese Ghost Stories (Yami Shibai) [2026 List]

Yami Shibai

The mysterious, yellow-masked Storyteller is a man whose true name and origin are both unknown. He appears at dusk where children gather and recites sinister tales based on Japanese urban legends, to which his young audience eerily intakes. However, the Storyteller is no ordinary teller of tales. He incorporates a kamishibai, a traditional paper-scrolling device, to add visuals to his already demented narration.
A series of short horror stories, Yami Shibai begins with a bachelor who, after moving into a new apartment, immediately starts sensing a malevolent glare being pressed into him. A single talisman rests on his ceiling, but he has no way of knowing it is one of the few safeguards that separate him from a bottomless pit of suffering. Each story is more terrifying, more appalling, and more sickening than the last as the Storyteller's audience find themselves being sucked into the vicious world of his words.

Yamishibai: Japanese Ghost Stories has finished airing and it has 13 Episodes. It is also Known as: 闇芝居, Theater of Darkness

Genres: Present , Japan , Contemporary Fantasy , Horror , Dementia

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Top 5 Anime Like Yamishibai: Japanese Ghost Stories (Yami Shibai) [2026 List]

5. Yami Shibai 3

Yami Shibai 3

Yamishibai is a picture-story style of animation whose motif is surrounded and based off rumors and urban legends throughout the history of Japan.

Yamishibai: Japanese Ghost Stories 3 has finished airing and it has 13 Episodes. It is also Known as: 闇芝居 3期, Yamishibai: Japanese Ghost Stories Third Season, Theater of Darkness 3rd Season

You might like: Top Anime Like Yamishibai: Japanese Ghost Stories 3

4. Yami Shibai 2

Yami Shibai 2

Yamishibai is a picture-story style of animation whose motif is surrounded and based off rumors and urban legends throughout the history of Japan.

Yamishibai: Japanese Ghost Stories 2 has finished airing and it has 13 Episodes. It is also Known as: 闇芝居 2期, Yamishibai: Japanese Ghost Stories Second Season, Theater of Darkness 2nd Season

You might like: Top Anime Like Yamishibai: Japanese Ghost Stories 2

3. Yami Shibai

Yami Shibai

The mysterious, yellow-masked Storyteller is a man whose true name and origin are both unknown. He appears at dusk where children gather and recites sinister tales based on Japanese urban legends, to which his young audience eerily intakes. However, the Storyteller is no ordinary teller of tales. He incorporates a kamishibai, a traditional paper-scrolling device, to add visuals to his already demented narration.
A series of short horror stories, Yami Shibai begins with a bachelor who, after moving into a new apartment, immediately starts sensing a malevolent glare being pressed into him. A single talisman rests on his ceiling, but he has no way of knowing it is one of the few safeguards that separate him from a bottomless pit of suffering. Each story is more terrifying, more appalling, and more sickening than the last as the Storyteller's audience find themselves being sucked into the vicious world of his words.

Yamishibai: Japanese Ghost Stories has finished airing and it has 13 Episodes. It is also Known as: 闇芝居, Theater of Darkness

You might like: Top Anime Like Yamishibai: Japanese Ghost Stories

2. Boogiepop wa Warawanai: Boogiepop Phantom

Boogiepop wa Warawanai: Boogiepop Phantom

Five years ago, a string of grisly murders shook the city to its core and now the rumors have begun once more. Boogiepop... Everyone knows about Boogiepop: meet her one dark night and you are taken. People tell each other the stories and laugh: no one believes that she can possibly exist in this day and age. Still, strange things appear to be going on and the darkness is taking on many forms. Something is out there. Are you safe?

Boogiepop Phantom has finished airing and it has 12 Episodes. It is also Known as: ブギーポップは笑わない Boogiepop Phantom, Boogiepop Never Laughs, Boogiepop Doesn't Laugh

You might like: Top Anime Like Boogiepop Phantom

1. Perfect Blue

Perfect Blue

Perfect Blue revolves around the main protagonist, Mima Kirigoe, a member of a pop idol group named “CHAM!”. After evaluating her situation, she decides to give up her idol status to pursue a career as an actress, what she believes to be the next step in making a name for herself in the industry. However, one of her most hardcore fans, Me-Mania, is less than happy about the path she has decided to take.
Now reborn as an actress, Mima accepts an interesting role, ignoring her manager, Rumi Hidaka's reservations about it. While on set, strange things begin to happen to people who are involved with the film. As time goes on, Mima begins to break down mentally, struggling to distinguish fantasy from reality.
Will Mima be able to escape the grip of her stalker and turn in a break out performance, or will she descend into madness?

Perfect Blue has finished airing and it has 1 Episodes. It is also Known as: パーフェクト・ブルー, Perfect Blue

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