YMMV / Kakurenbo

• Alternate Character Interpretation: The demons who pursue the children. Are they pure evil beings, or just trying to survive by any means necessary? After all, the head demon explains they keep playing the game so their town will remain lit.
• Ensemble Dark Horse: The twins, Inmu and Yanku, don’t speak and the viewers are never told anything about their past or lives in general and yet they are rather popular with fans.
• Epileptic Trees: In one of the final scenes, we see the now demonic Hikkora standing against a stone pillar, counting to ten, and four shadowy forms about his own size scamper off, giggling happily. We don't see them too clearly, and they don't look much like any of the other children...so who are they?
  • The implication seems to be that the four shadowy figures are the four demons we see taking the kids. The game is more for them than the actual children, so the countdown is for the game to start and they run off to hunt down the newest batch of kid entering the maze
• Executive Meddling: In the original script, the losing children were killed and horribly devoured by the demons, but the higher-ups thought it was too horrific even by the short's standard...Ironically, the ending they did approve of was more disturbing.
• Paranoia Fuel: Yeah, never playing hide and seek again.
  • And definitely not after dark. You won't see statues the same way, either.
• Viewer Gender Confusion: The twins. It's kinda hard to tell their gender, especially since you can't see their faces, and they never say anything in the entire short. But Word of God says they're boys.

---