Calling it "appalling" would be inadequate. It's got content to turn your hair white and make you wipe your hard drive. Had this been live-action, everyone involved would have been arrested and/or put on a watchlist. The only justification for all that is horror. Which this is. Absolutely, completely and one hundred per cent. The purpose of these episodes is to scare the living shit out of you, at which they succeed.

This small, sick franchise contains:

The 1996 series is powerful. It's also unwatchable unless you have a strong stomach and/or you're seriously disturbed. There's a strong horror idea underneath the grand guignol, which is explored in a narrative that has pace, atmosphere and a clear endpoint. It genuinely might freak you out, not just with its offensive content but also with its ideas.

The 2004 series is weaker. The last episode attempts time travel and/or history changing, but it's nowhere near as scary (despite having a vaguely Phil K Dickian sort of horror). To me, it felt as if they'd been flailing around for an idea as strong as the first series and this was their best attempt. I ended up fast-forwarding through the most revolting scenes, of which there are lots. Frankly, this sequel series feels like four episodes of nastiness with barely one episode's worth of story. Too often, it's just gratuitousness going nowhere.

Both series involve a rich family called Kawarazaki, their servants and their European-style house in Japan. At first glance, you'll merely think they're weird. Later, you'll realise they're a den of perverts who make you do things like crawling naked down the corridor with a whip up your arse until you're ordered to pee on the floor. Later still, you'll learn about the incest, chastity belts, one-way mirrors, asphyxiation play death, syringes full of sinister green drugs, etc. "It's the one we usually use, but I made the dosage a bit stronger. Not strong enough to make her into a doll, but close. That time will come later!"

See also this man's reaction to his wife's death:

"What do you want this late at night?"

"My humblest apologies. But actually, um, well... Kyoko died."

"Oh dear. That does present us with a little problem."

"P-Please, sir. Please help me!"

"I really liked that woman's body. Is her corpse in good condition? I don't like to waste things."

The story's strong because of its main characters, Rei and Rokuro. Rei is a young girl who might, perhaps, want out of the Kawarazaki family. The question is whether we can trust her. Is she evil? Probably. Is she sincere in what she offers Rokuro? That's for you to decide, but I can't imagine she'd want to live in that house. Listen to how she came to be there, then ask if you'd want to stay if you were her. There's meaningful character work and the ending is bittersweet (until it becomes way, way worse).

As for Rokuro, he's giving nothing away. What he says in one scene is disgusting... but by that point he's made his choices. Oh, and he's the protagonist.

The horror idea involves replacement. The Kawarazaki family members aren't who they say they are. They have a queue. If someone dies, whoops, but no problem. We have a spare. No one will admit that the original was ever there. Just promote the next person in the queue, complete with a name and personality change. This is creepy as hell and applies in distressing cases you might not have considered. Also, the series opens with a boy turning into a blob monster and swallowing the naked girl who'd been fellating him, leaving only her severed arm. This is important because it warns us that we're dealing with the supernatural or something similar, so the series's most hair-raising content can't necessarily be taken at face value.

That's strong stuff. It's upsetting, not just disgusting. The 2004 series struggles to live up to that and fails, despite being even more lurid. The only thing they don't do is bestiality, which is such a surprising omission that I can only think it was happening offscreen. (There's a dog. Even in this series, I was surprised by what happened to it.) There's a guillotine, a vaccuum cleaner, omnipresent spy holes and cameras, a hanging, a meat hook through the head, pump action shotguns, boobs getting put in a vice, etc. Thinking about it, the time-twisting is better foreshadowed than it appears and I'm sure you'd spot all kinds of subtleties on a rewatch... but no one should watch the sequel series even once, let alone twice.

Both series were based on ELF visual novels, by the way.

In summary: oh my god no no no no.

"Because I'm a brat. And because I wanted to corrupt an innocent man."