Dusk Maiden of Amnesia (Japanese title: Tasogare Otome × Amnesia) (Crunchyroll link) is an interesting mixture. It is a Comedy/Horror/Mystery/Romance that maintains a delicate balance between the charming and the creepy.

The hero is Teiichi Niiya (Tsubasa Yonaga), a first-year student at a foreboding old middle school with numerous scary legends about an evil ghost who supposedly haunts the place. One day he gets lost in an empty building in an old part of the school and encounters the ghost.


Yuuko Kanoe (Yumi Hara) is the ghost of a student who was killed about 50 years ago. (Her name is written “evening child” instead of the more conventional “gentle child” or “brave child.”) She has a mischievous and sometimes seductive manner. She doesn’t remember how she died and she claims to have no interest in the matter.

At Yuuko’s insistence they form a “Paranormal Investigation Club.” Teiichi will be the vice-president and Yuuko, as the most senior member, will be the “ghost” president who never shows up at meetings.

They soon gain two new members.

Momoe Okonogi (Misato Fukuen) is an earnest young airhead who is fascinated by the paranormal and in awe of Teiichi. She thinks he has great psychic powers. Like most people she can’t see Yuuko or notice when she moves things around.

Kirie Kanoe (Eri Kitamura) is Yuuko’s grand-niece. She can see Yuuko but generally pretends not to since it has always been her policy to ignore things that are not supposed to be seen. She distrusts Yuuko and suspects that she might be an evil spirit.

Which is not entirely unfair. Yuuko acts carefree and mischievous but that’s a facade. At some level she carries a lot of unacknowledged loneliness, bitterness and even rage. She likes Teiichi but if he were not around I’m not entirely sure that the other two would be safe with her.

This is not a conventional “mystery of the week” show. The mysteries that the club investigates all seem tied to the legends surrounding Yuuko and the ultimate mystery of how she died.

There is a fair amount of fan service but it is mostly tastefully done–and often combined with creepy imagery that makes it seem more scary than erotic. My understanding is that the original manga leans more toward obnoxious “shot from below” fan service. I think the anime is much better without that.