A yellow-masked figure appears weekly at children's playgrounds near 5 p.m., narrating ghost stories drawn from Japanese myths and urban legends using traditional kamishibai paper scrolls displayed from his bicycle. This character serves as the anthology's framing device, transitioning between self-contained tales across seasons. Season 3 temporarily shifts his role to a young boy seated on a playground slide. This boy draws illustrations of supernatural entities while singing an eerie refrain: "Friends on that side, come to this side... Friends on this side, go to that side." Each episode concludes with a singing mask appearing, multiplying in number weekly. The season finale reveals this boy as a younger manifestation of the storyteller, culminating in the placement of a 13th mask on the boy's face, solidifying his transformation into the masked figure. From season 4 onward, the character reverts to the elderly masked narrator format. His storytelling settings vary significantly: forests (season 6), dark apartments (season 7), busy urban intersections (season 8), and audiences with Chinese zodiac animals (season 9). These shifts occur while he maintains his core function of recounting new tales weekly. The art style and presentation evolve across seasons—incorporating elements like live-action close-ups or watercolor aesthetics—but the character’s masked appearance and narrative role remain consistent. As the sole constant element throughout the series, he bridges all standalone stories without directly participating in them. His background, including his true name or origins beyond the season 3 transformation, remains undefined across official media. His presence persists as a structural device, adapting his environment and audience while continuing the tradition of kamishibai horror storytelling.