35 Best Horror Anime of All Time: Scariest Anime Series
If you are anime lover and also like to be scared, you are in the right place. In this article, we are bringing you the best horror anime series of all time. Be ready to watch them after dark, and get ready to be scared a lot.
The world of Japanese animation (anime) is a versatile domain. There are a lot of different stories and genres, most of which usually represent Japan’s unique worldview at some level. And while anime – as well as manga – usually have a different system of categorization than Western standards, including some specific genres, there are a lot of genres present in both the world of anime and the West.
Horror is defined, by literary historian J.A. Cuddon, as “a piece of fiction in prose of variable length… which shocks, or even frightens the reader, or perhaps induces a feeling of repulsion or loathing”. The theory of horror has a long history, but today’s focus – here, on Fiction Horizon – is going to be on horror anime, as we are going to bring you a list of the 35 best horror anime of all time.
Enjoy!
Best Horror Anime
Fans of anime can enjoy a variety of scary stories, including tales of ghosts, haunted house episodes, and scary shows that are sure to terrify.
Listed below are the best horror anime series of all time that will put everyone in a spooky mood, especially horror anime fans and fans of eerie settings.
So let’s check them out.
DEATH NOTE
Original Run: October 3, 2006 – June 26, 2007
Episodes: 37
Created By: Tsugumi Ohba, Takeshi Obata
Genres: Mystery, Supernatural Thriller, Psychological Thriller
Plot
Light Yagami is a model student, bored with his lifestyle and tired of being surrounded by a society filled with crime and corruption. His life takes a decisive turn when one day he finds on the ground a mysterious black notebook, entitled “Death Note”, which bears the following instruction: “The human whose name will be written in this notebook will die”.
Initially skeptical of his authenticity, Light changes his mind when he successfully tests the notebook on two criminals and meets the real owner of the Death Note, a shinigami named Ryuk; he then decides to use this new power to kill all criminals, eradicate evil and become the “God of the new world”.
However, as he begins to put his purpose into practice, the growing number of unexplained deaths draws the attention of Interpol agents and the most famous private detective known as L. Thanks to Light’s recklessness, L quickly discovers that the serial killer, nicknamed by the people “Kira”, resides in Kantō and can kill people from a distance. Light learns of the investigation, as the police father joins the Japanese division that opposes Kira.
The young man then tries to create an iron alibi and manages to be accepted into the investigative team alongside L, while a war of intellect and psychology continues between the detective and Kira. During the confrontation between the two opponents, a second Kira takes over; her identity is Misa Amane, a Japanese idol of some fame. After a series of events that lead the Death Note to change its owner several times, Light manages to manipulate Rem, the shinigami owner of the notebook used by Misa, to kill L to protect the girl.
Although the police have discovered the existence of the Death Notes and the Shinigami, Light, now above all suspicion, takes over the direction of the investigation team and continues the staging of the search for Kira with no more opponents able to oppose him. Five years later, in the United States, two new investigators, Near and Mello, set out to investigate the Kira case.
Near acts with the support of the government and creates the SPK, an organization born with the explicit aim of capturing Kira; Mello tries to achieve the same goal by making a pact with the mafia. The two boys prove to be at least as skilled as Elle and use any means to counter their opponent, so, thanks to a series of kidnappings, they are able to learn of the existence of Death Notes and begin to have strong suspicions towards Light.
The young man tries to take advantage of a meeting wanted by Near between the members of the two investigative teams to kill his new antagonists. However, Near foresees the intention and, with the help of one of the SPK members, Stephen Gevanni, replaces the notebook in possession of Teru Mikami, Light’s aide, with a fake.
Light’s attempt therefore fails and he, now unmasked, admits to being Kira. In a desperate attempt he again attempts to use a hidden fragment of the Death Note to kill his opponents, but is caught by gunfire from colleague Tota Matsuda. Before his injuries cause his death, Ryuk kills Light by writing his name in his notebook.
Where to watch: Crunchyroll, Hulu, HBO Max, Netflix
Tokyo Ghoul
Original Run: July 4, 2014 – December 25, 2018
Episodes: 48 (+2 OVA episodes)
Created By: Sui Ishida
Genres: Dark Fantasy, Horror, Supernatural Thriller
Plot
The story of Tokyo Ghoul revolves around the student Ken Kaneki, who falls in love with a young woman named Rize Kamishiro. After meeting her, she bites his shoulder in a secluded alley and reveals that she is a ghoul, which shocks Ken. As Rizeis about to eat Ken, several large metal poles fall on her from the construction site of a building. Roze dies in the process, while Ken is rushed to hospital with life-threatening injuries. After recovering, he is released from the hospital. On the day of his release, he finds out that he is no longer human. He looks in the mirror and shivers run down his spine because he now has one “red eye”.
He realizes that Rize’s organs were transplanted into him in the hospital. Since he now owns Rize’s organs, he is a so-called and very rarely occurring “half-ghoul”. Since he cannot turn to anyone else, he is taken in by a group of ghouls who run the café Anteiku. They teach him how to cope with his new life as a half-ghoul and explain a lot about the society of ghouls, their factions and that he has to keep his identity secret from other people. He is reluctant to consume human flesh, but in some situations, he is forced to do so.
At the end of the first season, he is kidnapped and tortured by a group of extremist ghouls until he acknowledges his ghoul nature, gets white hair and black nails and almost kills and then devours his tormentor. He’s more brutal now to protect those who mean something to him. After a war between the ghouls themselves and the humans at the end of season two (called Tokyo Ghoul √A), Kaneki sustains horrific brain damage from a fight with Kishō Arima, the CCG’s most dangerous enforcer. The sequel, Tokyo Ghoul:re, is about Kaneki, who suffers from memory loss caused by the brain damage sustained from the right with Arima.
With his new identity as Haise Sasaki, he is the leader of a special team of the CCG called Quinx Squad, whose members underwent a similar procedure as his, allowing them to obtain the special abilities of Ghouls in order to fight them but still being able to live as normal humans. The second season of :re deals with Kaneki rediscovering his identity and Arima’s big secret and his path to becoming the bridge between the ghouls and the humans.
The prequel OVA story Tokyo Ghoul: [Jack] deals with the youth of Kishō Arima and Taishi Fura, two characters from the main series who team up to investigate the death of a friend of Taishi. Taishi died at the hand of a notorious ghoul named Lantern and Taishi follows Arima and ultimately joins the CCG (Commission of Counter Ghoul), the federal agency handling crimes related to ghouls. Another OVA, Tokyo Ghoul: PINTO, tells a story from the lives of Shū Tsukiyama and Chie Hori.
Where to watch: Crunchyroll, Funimation, Hulu
HELLSING
Original Run: October 10, 2001 – January 16, 2002
Episodes: 13 (+10 OVA episodes)
Created By: Kōta Hirano
Genres: Action, Dark Fantasy, Horror
Plot
The Royal Knights of Protestant Order are a noble house of London led by Abraham Van Helsing. For generations, he has been fighting against creatures that most ordinary people are unaware of like vampires, ghouls and any non-human entity that is generally referred to as a “monster”. The Order operates in great secrecy and has long been a paramilitary organization in the service of her Majesty.
Leading the organization is Sir Integra Fairbrook Wingates Hellsing, a direct descendant of the first Lord Hellsing. Still a teenager, she is forced to take control of the Order. Her father Arthur, sick and close to his death, orders his daughter, should she feel threatened, to go down to the basement of the mansion, where there is something able to protect her.
Upon the death of her father, Integra’s uncle tries to kill his niece, infuriated that Arthur had chosen her as the new leader of the family. Integra, as suggested by her father, hides in the dungeons of the mansion, where she finds a corpse. Her uncle still manages to find her and doesn’t hesitate to shoot her. The first blow only touches her, but the bloodshed is enough to awaken the corpse that instantly kills his uncle and his minions.
Integra thus comes face to face with Alucard, a vampire in the service of the Hellsing family for more than a century, as well as an ace in the hole of the organization which, by the will of Arthur, had been locked up in the dungeons many years earlier. The girl, although still very young, thus becomes Alucard’s Master (The Master).
Ten years have passed since that incident and Integra has now become a young woman. When the number of vampires in London begins to grow exponentially, the Vatican also begins to move. The exorcist priest Alexander Anderson, the best agent of the Iscariota (a thirteenth secret division of the Catholic Church), is sent to Badrick, a border area between the Catholic and Protestant territories.
However, monster appearances do not seem to follow any logic; it is as if the rules for creating the undead have been changed, suggesting that the whole thing was orchestrated by someone.
This is how the ghosts of 50 years earlier, the Nazis of the Millennium, make their appearance; all this time they have been acting in the shadows, trying to fulfill the shattered dream: the landing in England, the destruction of London and the annihilation of Alucard and the Hellsing family. A full-blown war, from which no one can escape.
Where to watch: Funimation, Hulu
Attack on Titan
Original Run: April 7, 2013 – ongoing
Episodes: 70 (+8 OVA episodes and several movies)
Created By: Hajime Isayama
Genres: Action, Dark Fantasy, Post-Apocalyptic
Plot
The plot of Attack on Titan revolves around the young Eren Jäger, his adoptive sister Mikasa Ackermann and his best friend Armin Arlert, who live together with the rest of humanity in cities that are protected by huge walls from the attacks of the so-called Titans, gigantic humanoid beings who devour people for no apparent reason.
The walls that promised peace have existed for 107 years. But one day the Titans break through the outermost Wall Maria and the people are pushed back further. Eren’s mother dies and he and many other people flee behind the second wall, Wall Rose. Eren swears when his mother dies that he will wipe out the Titans.
He grows up inside the second wall, while many people die from the onset of famine or desperate attempts to recapture the outer wall. Two years later, he joined the military, as did Mikasa and Armin. They complete their training after three years. Shortly after their graduation ceremony, the Titans attack the wall district.
Like many of his comrades, Eren is devoured by a Titan during battle, but soon afterward a Titan appears who attacks other Titans. It turns out to be Eren, who can turn into a Titan. After he was initially met with great distrust by the armed forces, he was used by the military against the attack, was able to successfully repel an attack for the first time and seal the wall of the district with a huge boulder.
Eren is then transferred to the Scout Troop so that they can research his skills and recapture the outer wall. Mikasa and Armin follow Eren to the reconnaissance troop, where they report to Levi. Soon the reconnaissance troop embarks on its first mission with Eren outside the wall.
Eren’s home district of Shiganshina is given as the target, where information about the origins of the titans is hoped for in the records of his father, a doctor. But on the way, they meet the Female Titan who wants to attack Eren directly and behaves intelligently. Catching this is the ultimate goal of the mission, as it is likely a Titan like Eren and acts for a group that has infiltrated the army.
But the mission fails and the reconnaissance troop returns defeated. With the collected information, however, Armin can determine the identity of the new Titan. They set a trap for her – their former comrade and current military policeman Annie Leonhardt – in one of the districts. In a battle between her and Eren as a Titans, she can eventually be defeated and captured in her human form but enclosed in a crystal.
Where to watch: Crunchyroll
Soul Eater
Original Run: April 7, 2008 – March 30, 2009
Episodes: 51
Created By: Atsushi Ōkubo
Genres: Action, Dark Comedy, Dark Fantasy
Plot
To fight the evil Kishin, which can “plunge the world into the abyss of madness”, Shinigami-sama creates The Academy is a place where Weapons and Overlords are trained together. The former are the very weapons that will stop the death of the world; the second are those who will hold the weapon.
The Scythe of Death will be obtained when the weapon eats 99 evil souls ready to become Kishin, and 1 witch soul, and therefore all overlords are actively competing in creating the Death Scythe. The action takes place during the main events of the manga and anime, Maka and Soul at that time had not yet become known in the Academy and beyond.
The main character is a young girl-weapon named Tsugume, who first arrives at the academy and has never taken the form of a weapon. There she soon meets Anna from a noble family and the simple-minded Mame, and becomes their new partner. The main characters have to learn to work harmoniously and comprehend the art of Shibusen fighters.
The Soul Eater’s universe is a parody of the modern world. Many of the personalities that figure in this world are exaggerated versions of famous personalities or literary characters. The centerpiece is, of course, the Shinigami Academy located in the City of Death. The city itself is located in America, in the state of Nevada (according to the manga). In its center, in the room of Death, where the Shinigami himself lives, in the academy itself students study.
Moreover, students usually study not what they need in the everyday work of the Overlord, and much depends on the whims of the teacher, which, obviously, is another parody element. The main task of students is to complete tasks posted on a special board, which allows them to collect the souls of villains and witches. One of the defining elements of the world is the presence of a soul in any creature, which has an appearance, size and determines the character and behavior of this creature.
The stronger the will of the individual, the larger the soul. Some souls are able to enter into resonance, mutually reinforcing each other for a while. This is often used by the Lords and their Weapons in order to increase their combat effectiveness many times over.
Where to watch: Crunchyroll
Higurashi no Naku Koro ni
Original Run: April 4, 2006 – ongoing
Episodes: 74 (+11 OVA episodes)
Created By: 07th Expansion
Genres: Murder Mystery, Psychological Horror, Supernatural Horror
Plot
The story takes place in the fictional village of Hinamizawa on June 58 of the Shōwa era (1983). Shortly before that, one of the main characters of the story, Keiichi Maebara, was transferred to the local school. He gradually begins to establish relationships with his new classmates – headman Mion Sonozaki, her twin sister Shion, his peer Rena Ryūgū, as well as with junior high school students Rika Furude and Satoko Hōjō.
Soon, Keiichi discovers that in mid-June there will be a celebration of the annual Watanagashi Village Festival, dedicated to the local deity Oyashiro-sama. Hinamizawa seems to Keiichi to be a calm and peaceful place, but shortly before Watanagashi he learns that for four years in a row in the village on the day of the festival, there have been murders and disappearances of people. The chain of these crimes remained unsolved and was called the “curse of Oyashiro-sama” among the local population.
The day after Watanagashi in 1983, police discovered in the vicinity of the village the corpse of a visiting amateur photographer Jiro Tomitake, who tore his throat with his own hands, and the burned body of a woman who was identified as a nurse at the village clinic, Miyo Takano. In most chapters of the game, shortly after these events, one of Keiichi’s classmates, including himself, tries to find out about the “curse of Oyashiro-sama”, but then begins to commit crimes himself.
A few days after the festival, Riki’s corpse is found in the Furude temple dedicated to Oyashiro-sama, and on the same day a cataclysm occurs, which is explained by the release of gas from a nearby swamp and as a result of which the entire two thousand population of the village perishes. In the chapters of the answers, it is revealed that each of the previous chapters is an alternate reality in which Rika Furude tried to avoid her own death.
As a priestess of Furude Shrine, Rika can communicate with the timeless demon girl Hanyu, who served as the prototype for Oyashiro-sama and the ancestor of the Furude clan. It is Hanyu who, after Riki’s death, takes her to another reality, where they are trying to resist the inevitable circumstances. Rika retains the memory of all past realities, with the exception of the last minutes of her own life, which prevents her from identifying the causes of what is happening.
In the chapters Minagoroshi-hen and Matsuribayashi-hen, it is revealed that Miyo Takano, who studies a local endemic parasitic disease in the village and is responsible for some of the previous crimes, is using the cover for the legend of the “curse of Oyashiro-sama”.
The disease itself manifests itself in the villagers when they move away from the “queen of parasites”, which releases chemicals to prevent the aggravation of the condition of the inhabitants – the infected person begins to gradually go crazy, and in the end kills himself, tearing his throat with his own hands. Women of the Furude clan have always become “queens of parasites”, and Rika, after the death of her parents, remained the last representative of this family.
Miyo Takano in every reality commits the murder of Riki in order to fulfill the plan of the secret organization “Tokyo”, which sponsored the creation of biological weapons from the Hinamizawa parasite, but decided to stop funding. In case of the death of the last “queen of parasites” at the government level, it is planned to destroy all the villagers in order to avoid the uncontrollable consequences of a massive mental disorder of 2,000 people.
For Miyo Takano herself, the fulfillment of this plan means proof of the existence of the Hinamizawa parasite, a hypothesis about which her adoptive father Hifumi Takano put forward, becoming the object of ridicule of the scientific community because of this. By joining the efforts of all his friends and police officers Mamoru Akasaki and Kuraudo Oishi, Rika in the final chapter of Matsuribayashi-hen manages to prevent Takano’s actions and finally survive June 1983.
Where to watch: Funimation, HIDIVE
MONSTER
Original Run: April 7, 2004 – September 28, 2005
Episodes: 74
Created By: Naoki Urasawa
Genres: Crime, Mystery, Psychological Thriller
Plot
The year is 1986. In Düsseldorf, a brutal murder was committed: an unknown person entered the house of the Libert couple and shot an elderly couple who lived there. Only the children survived: Anna and her twin brother Johan. Johan is wounded in the head and is in serious condition, he urgently needs surgery, and Anna has lost her memory from shock and does not react to the people around her.
It so happened that a brilliant young surgeon Tenma Kenzo lives and works in the same city, who successfully performs a serious operation and saves the boy’s life. This event will turn Dr. Tenma’s life around. Nine years pass, and Tenma meets again with Johan, who, in front of him, kills a patient with a smile. Tenma Kenzo realizes that he not only saved a human life, but resurrected a real monster, psychopath and murderer.
Meanwhile, Johan is seeking to find his sister, whom he lost contact with nine years ago. Anna Liebert, now Nina Fortner, lives in Heidelberg, in a prosperous family, studies at the university, but does not remember her past and goes to see a psychologist. Johan sends assassins to Nina’s new parents.
Nina, recovering, begins to remember the past and realizes that nine years ago it was she who shot Johan, and through her fault, he ended up in Tenma’s hospital. From this point on, the characters’ paths diverge. Tenma and Nina Fortner believe that their duty is to find and kill Johan, that is, to prevent the crimes that he will commit in the future.
Nina, who has already shot Johan once, is going to complete what she started, as well as avenge her parents. Tenma, who personally saved Johan during the operation, decides to correct the mistake. The heroes are looking for the same person, sometimes they meet, but they do not act together, but in some ways even against each other.
Tenma believes that the responsibility lies with him – therefore, he must pull the trigger, and Nina should not tarnish her conscience with murder. Nina’s reasoning is similar: a person like Dr. Tenma should not kill.
Where to watch: Funimation
Deadman Wonderland
Original Run: April 17, 2011 – July 3, 2011
Episodes: 12 (+ OVA)
Created By: Jinsei Kataoka, Kazuma Kondou
Genres: Dystopian, Post-Apocalyptic, Thriller
Plot
A powerful earthquake ravaged mainland Japan and largely destroyed Tokyo, submerging three-quarters of the city in the ocean. Ten years later, the story centers on Ganta Igarashi, a seemingly ordinary student who attends Nagano Prefecture College. Although a survivor of the earthquake, Ganta has no memory of the tragedy and has lived an ordinary life.
All of this changes when a strange man covered in blood and wearing purple armor floats outside the classroom windows. Smiling like a madman, the Man in Red slaughters Ganta’s entire class and, rather than killing him, embeds a shard of red crystal in his chest. A few days after the massacre, Ganta is declared the sole suspect and, after a speedy trial, is sentenced to life in prison in Deadman Wonderland, a prison lined with an amusement park.
Upon arriving at the prison, Ganta is fitted with a special collar that monitors his position and vital signs. Due to the heinous nature of Ganta’s “crimes”, he is ordered to face the death penalty in Deadman Wonderland. Deadly poison is continuously injected into his blood via the collar, but it can be neutralized by consuming an antidote (in the form of candy) every three days.
Additional candies are acquired for Cast Points (currency used in the prison). In order to earn Cast Points, an inmate must work or participate in and survive the deadly games in the park. Luckily for Ganta, he is helped by a mysterious young girl named Shiro, who apparently knows him and appears to be among the prisoners as well.
Struggling for his survival as a death row inmate, Ganta becomes more and more obsessed with the Man in Red and tries to find him to clear his name and avenge his friends. Strangely, Ganta begins to develop the ability to manipulate his own blood, to the point of turning it into a weapon.
Unbeknownst to him, Ganta has become one of the Deadmans, a group of isolated prisoners possessing a Branch of sin (literally translated as Branch of Evil or Branch of Sin), a power that enables them to control their blood.
With his ability uncovered, Ganta is forced to participate in deadly duels between Deadman, known as Carnival Corpse and being broadcast to an exclusive clientele for an exorbitant price. In his struggle, he sometimes comes to befriend those he has defeated in the arena and with their help, Ganta continues his quest to discover the identity of this Man in Red, the reason for his transformation. in Deadman and the Dark Secrets of the Prison Service.
Where to watch: Funimation
Elfen Lied
Original Run: July 25, 2004 – October 17, 2004
Episodes: 13 (+ OVA)
Created By: Rin Okamoto
Genres: Dark Fantasy, Horror, Science Fiction
Plot
The story is set in Kamakura, Japan, and revolves around the Diclonius, mutant beings very similar to humans but with two strange horns on their heads and endowed with very strong invisible limbs called “vectors”. Believed to be dangerous to the normal human race, Diclonius babies are killed at birth or locked up in research laboratories, subjected to terrible torture and extremely violent experiments.
One of them, Lucy, however, manages to escape to the sea, massacring anyone who comes in front of her. She is found on the beach by two boys in a complete state of amnesia and double personality, caused by a shooter shot in the head while escaping.
The young Diclonius finds herself with a completely different personality and the two boys decide to call her with the only word she can pronounce, namely “Nyu”. Unable to leave her alone in those conditions, they take her home waiting to find out about her past. But the military does not give up and remains on the trail of her. What’s more, every time the girl hits her head she goes back to being Lucy.
One sick day, Lucy remembers her past in the orphanage and the first time she killed. Kōta had also forgotten her past due to the shock he suffered from the violent death of his father and her sister. He too will regain his memory, remembering that it was Lucy who killed his loved ones.
Besides, Lucy is not the only one of her kind; Numerous Diclonius remain at the Research Center and some of them will be assigned to collaborate with the military to shoot down the fugitive, such as Nana, the beloved of one of the most important researchers, or Mariko, his daughter. Eventually, events will lead to a decisive confrontation where Lucy will have to face Mariko and the soldiers.
Note that there are differences between anime and manga, particularly in the ending. In the first, Lucy confronts the soldiers, apparently ending up defeated, but the tenants of Villa Kaede see her silhouette behind the front door. In the second, however, Kōta is forced to kill her and, at the request of Lucy and Nyu, every year he waits for her in the place of their first meeting, until, ten years later, two twins arrive, one of which is called Kaede, who say they having an appointment with a very important person.
Where to watch: Amazon Prime, Crunchyroll, Hulu
Umineko no Naku Koro ni
Original Run: July 2, 2009 – December 24, 2009
Episodes: 26
Created By: 07th Expansion
Genres: Mystery
Plot
The main plot of the game takes place in 1986 within a small time frame of two days from October 4th to 5th on a small, remote island called Rokkenjima of the Izu Islands. This is where Kinzo, the head of the rich Ushiromiya family, lives.
As his death seems near, eight of the family members gather at an annual meeting to discuss how to divide the inheritance. They are joined by three other family members and five servants. As the first deliberations begin, a typhoon looms, preventing them from leaving the island, while the strangest things happen at the same time and one after the other dies.
The protagonist Battler Ushiromiya, from whose perspective the plot is described, is the son of Rudolf, who in turn is the second son of Kinzo. Battler has not attended the meeting for six years, as he grew up with his maternal grandparents after the death of his mother Asumu and also took their last names.
When his grandparents died, he moved in with his father, his second wife Kyrie and his half-sister Ange. On the island, he is first confronted with an old legend about the witch Beatrice who is said to live in the forests of Rokkenjima. In the entrance hall, he meets a portrait of the witch that Kinzo had made, along with an epitaph.
On this the rumor is recorded that Beatrice Kinzo is said to have left 10 tons of gold when the Ushiromiya family was about to end due to the Great Kanto earthquake in 1923. At the same time, whoever solves the mystery of the witch’s writing should receive the gold and become the head of the family. Six of the guests are murdered relatively early in the game.
If the witch’s riddle cannot be solved, then more of the 18 characters present at the beginning gradually die under mysterious circumstances, according to the prediction of the epitaph, until Beatrice is awakened.
In this case, Battler is the only survivor who, however, does not believe in witches or magic and consequently cannot open the gate to the “golden land”. Beatrice then abducts the protagonist into a parallel world called Purgatorio, which gives an overview of events on Rokkenjima. At this point both are caught up in a game of different views.
Battler tries to explain the events with worldly means, while Beatrice tries to connect this with magic. Various arguments are taken up again and again, including probatio diabolica, Schrödinger’s cat or the locked room. If Beatrice can convince Battler to believe in witches and magical abilities, Battler has lost the game.
Where to watch: N/A
Shiki
Original Run: July 8, 2010 – December 30, 2010
Episodes: 22 + 2
Created By: Fuyumi Ono
Genres: Mystery, Psychological Thriller, Horror
Plot
The story takes place in the remote mountain village of Sotoba where ancient traditions still survive, such as the burial of the dead. At the end of a scorching summer, the Kirishiki family suddenly moves into the western-style castle that dominates the village from the top of a hill.
At the same time, a series of sudden deaths begins to decimate the inhabitants; Chief physician as well as owner of the only clinic, Toshio Ozaki, initially suspects a mysterious epidemic but, with the help of his childhood friend, Seishin Muroi, now a local temple bonze and author of successful novels, will instead discover a horrifying truth: the dead come back to life as vampires who are forced to suck the blood of other people to feed themselves, it all started with the arrival of the Kirishiki family.
One after the other, the inhabitants will begin to die and once they come back to life, they will indulge in their lowest survival instincts, as well as the excitement derived from the act of sucking blood in order to feed themselves. However, once the situation is brought to light by Dr. Ozaki the revenge of the inhabitants will be dire.
Where to watch: Funimation
BLOOD+ / BLOOD-C
Original Run: October 8, 2005 – September 30, 2011
Episodes: 62 (+ one film)
Created By: Production I.G
Genres: Action, Horror, Dark Fantasy
Plot
The series is set over 30 years after the events of the feature film Blood: The Last Vampire – in 2005. The plot introduces lines related to modern intrigues, in which various organizations are involved, including, for example, the US Army, who want to control and control vampires in order to use them for their own purposes.
Saya Otonashi lives in a city in Okinawa with her adoptive father, George Miyaguscu and two brothers, Kai and Rik. Saya does not remember the events of her past until she began living with a new foster family a year ago. For medical reasons, she needs blood transfusions from time to time.
With the exception of these features and an unusually large appetite, Saya lives like an ordinary high school student. However, Saya’s serene life comes to an end, on the day when she comes face to face with a vampire, a monster that kills people and drinks human blood.
From that moment on, a mysterious organization called the Red Shield and its agent David appear on the scene; David explains to Saya that she is the only one who is able to effectively fight these monsters, since her blood is lethal to them.
Her duty is to rid the world of bats. From that moment, in addition to the members of the Red Shield, Saya’s friends and family members were drawn into the fight against bats. Together with them and her mysterious loyal servant named Hadji, she sets out on a long, risky journey to destroy bats and, along the way, learn about her past and true origins.
The fact that Saya is not just a person becomes clear at the beginning of the story, when she easily defeats a monster, physically many times superior to a person. According to the plot, the action of the series first unfolds in Okinawa, near Kadena, a US Air Force base, but in the course of the story, the characters visit several countries of the world, including Russia, France, England, Vietnam and the United States.
Where to watch: N/A
Hell Girl
Original Run: October 4, 2005 – September 29, 2017
Episodes: 90
Created By: Hiroshi Watanabe
Genres: Dark Fantasy, Supernatural Thriller
Plot
When a person feels a grudge, Jigoku Shōjo (Hell Girl) appears and sends the person causing that hatred to Hell. However, the user must seal a contract with her before executing the revenge, and the price to pay is always that the person who accepts the contract must also go to Hell when he dies.
The series is basically a collection of independent stories, each of which tells the story of the suffering of a different person at the hands of one or more subjects, the contract with Enma Ai and the punishment to which the aggressor is subjected by her.
During each story, the dramas are recounted in detail from the beginning of his harassment, and progressively increasing the anguish suffered by the protagonist until he feels unable to bear his torment any longer, to the point of requiring the help of the girl from the hell.
Jigoku Tsūnshin “is a mysterious page only accessible at midnight, by those who want to take revenge. The only contents are the text” We will take revenge for you “, a form where you have to write the name of the person receiving the revenge and a button of “送信 (Send)”.
After sending, the applicant will receive a message with a red background on his mobile phone signed by Enma Ai, or he will receive his visit. In his meeting with Jigoku Shōjo she gives them a straw doll with a thread red tied around their neck.
If they want their revenge to be carried out, they will have to pull the red thread. That will be the acceptance of the contract, and their enemies will be sent directly to Hell. But the price to pay is high: when their lives arrive at the end, their soul will also be condemned to Hell. A mark on their chest will appear to remind them of the destiny they have chosen.
Where to watch: Crunchyroll
Mirai Nikki
Original Run: October 10, 2011 – April 16, 2012
Episodes: 26 (+ OVA)
Created By: Sakae Esuno
Genres: Mystery, Psychological Thriller, Romance
Plot
At the beginning of the plot, the student Yukiteru Amano introduces his life in a monologue. It turns out that he has great problems making real friendships. Instead, he invests most of the time to keep a diary on his cell phone in which he records the daily events in detail.
On arrival at home, he wraps himself under his blanket and regularly enters a parallel world in his fantasy, where he talks to his imaginary friend, the divine Deus Ex Machina, and his very young-looking companion Murmur. During the conversation, this god tells Yukiteru that he wants to host a game so that he and his companion would not be so bored.
Little does Yukiteru suspect that this would have far-reaching consequences. Deus Ex Machina gives Yukiteru’s diary the ability to predict the future by already making entries there that he would have written later. Because of his way of keeping a diary, the predictions do not affect him directly either.
When he woke up the next morning, he actually found corresponding entries there, which, however, he pays no special attention to since he would probably have written them himself while half asleep. As the day progresses, however, it quickly becomes apparent that the entries are true and come exactly as they were predicted.
Deus Ex Machina also gets in touch with him and makes it clear to him that he was wrong all along. It was not he who imagined this parallel world, but Deus Ex Machina came to him and occupied his imagination. In addition, Yukiteru is bound to his diary. That means, should it be destroyed or should he lose it, his existence would also end, since it no longer had a future.
In the following days, he can convince himself more and more of the entries and begins to use them for his part by consciously avoiding certain events or taking advantage of them. This is not completely hidden from his classmates, as he seems to be incredibly lucky. However, they have no idea why this could be.
Nevertheless, this worsens his relationship with his classmates, who now find him particularly noticeable. When he was once again perfectly prepared for an unannounced test with which many students had problems, he noticed a look from his classmate Yuno Gasai, who, despite her good reputation, began to knead a figure during the test.
When he finally leaves the classroom and takes a closer look at the figure on Yuno’s table, however, he is deeply shocked. That one looks exactly like Murmur, and at about the same time his death is announced as DEAD END (“dead end; here also: fatal end”) on his cell phone.
Staring at the entry in disbelief, he is caught by Yuno, who tells him that she knows exactly what is causing Yukiteru to flee in panic. He learns that with him and Yuno a total of 12 people have received a future diary and have to kill each other, whereby the last survivor will follow Deus as God.
Where to watch: Crunchyroll
Highschool of the Dead
Original Run: July 5, 2010 – September 20, 2010
Episodes: 12 (+ OVA)
Created By: Daisuke Satō, Shōji Satō
Genres: Action, Horror, Supernatural Thriller
Plot
On an ordinary morning, everything happened as normally as any other day. From the roof, Komuro Takashi, the main character, observes a strange event at the school gates: a suspicious man is causing confusion. One of the teachers, when trying to expel him, ends up being bitten by the suspicious man and in the middle of cries of despair from the other teachers he gets up, but now he is a zombie.
He then begins to eat the other teachers who were with him. Seeing this, Takashi runs back into the school and joins together with his friend Miyamoto Rei and her boyfriend Igou Hisashi of which he is the best friend. Now the school is already overrun with teachers and other zombie high schools.
The three then decide to go to the roof, but on the way they meet a teacher who has been turned into a zombie. This teacher ends up biting Hisashi, who has an injured arm. After eliminating the zombie, they manage to reach the roof of the school, in addition to finding several zombies and normal students being attacked by them on their way.
On the roof Hisashi begins to feel the first effects of the zombie bite. Gradually he begins to transform, until he reaches the point where he loses consciousness and threatens to attack Rei, Takashi, seeing that his friend was no longer him, decides to attack him, hitting him over the head with a baseball bat.
After a series of events within the school, Takashi and Rei meet the characters: Busujima Saeko, Takagi Saya, Hirano Kouta and nurse Marikawa Shizuka. So the story of the survival of this simple school group begins, amid an enormous amount of zombies, which spreads throughout the city.
Where to watch: Crunchyroll
Berserk
Original Run: October 7, 1997 – March 31, 1998 / 1 July 2016 – 23 June 2017
Episodes: 25 / 24
Created By: Kentaro Miura
Genres: Dark Fantasy, Epic, Sword and Sorcery
Plot
In a sort of alternative Middle Age, Guts is a formidable mercenary warrior who in his life has known nothing but war and violence. Born from the corpse of a hanged woman, Gutsalso loses his adoptive mother at the age of two to the plague and is then raised in the company of fortune of his adoptive father Gambino, learning from an early age to fight for survival.
Gambino is a detached and violent father; one day he tries to kill Guts, who, to defend himself, stabs the man to death and is therefore forced to leave the company. Continuing to fight from battlefield to battlefield, Guts draws the attention of the charismatic leader of the Hawk Squad, Griffith, who defeats him and forces him to join the company.
In the following period, Guts becomes deeply attached to Griffith, experiences affection and friendship for the first time for his new companions, and falls in love with Caska. The Hawk Squad is enlisted by the kingdom of the Midlands in the Hundred Years War and quickly gains victories and fame.
At the end of the conflict, feeling more and more imprisoned in the shadow of Griffith, Gutsdecides to leave the team in search of his own identity. The abandonment of him, however, upsets Griffith, who ends up ruining himself: he seduces Princess Charlotte and, discovered, is imprisoned and subjected to cruel torture for a whole year.
When Guts learns of his friend’s fate and gathers the scatterbrained members of the Hawk Squad to free him, Griffith is now hopelessly mutilated and destroyed in his spirit. In desperation, Griffith attempts suicide, involuntarily activating an artifact in his possession; the Hawk Squad is transported to an astral plane where the archdemons of the Hand of God dwell.
Encouraged by these creatures, Griffith sacrifices his soldiers to the demonic offspring of the Apostles, in a banquet of death called Eclipse, in order to be reborn as a fifth member of the Hand of God, Femto.
Only Guts and Caska manage to escape the catastrophe thanks to the intervention of the Skull Knight, but Guts has lost an eye and an arm in the fighting, Caska is in the grip of madness due to the violence suffered by Femto, and both are marked with a symbol that identifies them as sacrifices, attracting supernatural creatures to torment them every night.
Guts then sets out to hunt down the Apostles, swearing revenge against Femto and the Hand of God, but must temporarily interrupt his plans to save Caska, who risks being burned as a witch in the city of St. Albiom, and to lead her safely into the kingdom of Elfhelm’s elves.
During his journey he meets the elf Pak, the members of the chivalric order of the Holy Iron Chain Farnese and Serpico, the young Isidoro and the witch Schierke, who decide to support him in his mission. Meanwhile, Griffith is reborn in his physical form and, thanks to the support of numerous Apostles, creates a new Squad of Hawks to fight the Kushan army that has invaded the Midlands.
The final clash between Griffith and Emperor Ganishka leads to the transformation of the world and the overlapping of the astral and real dimensions.
With the engagement to Princess Charlotte and the blessing of the pope and the people, who consider Griffith the incarnation of the Hawk of Light, the savior of the world, Griffith takes possession of his new capital Falconia, and transforms it into a utopian kingdom sheltered from monsters. that have begun to invade the world.
Where to watch: Crunchyroll
Black Butler
Original Run: October 3, 2008 – September 12, 2014
Episodes: 46 (+9 OVA episodes and a film)
Created By: Yana Toboso
Genres: Dark Comedy, Dark Fantasy, Supernatural
Plot
In England, during the reign of Queen Victoria, i.e. during the late 19th century, we start our story. The main character is twelve-year-old Ciel, whose parents die in the fire (Ciel was 10 years old then). Ciel is the only rightful heir to the family company, but he is still a child, and if he wants to keep the company, he must have someone very capable with him.
Ciel will do something that no child would ever think of in life – he will sell his soul to a demon. The demon – Sebastian – becomes the young count’s butler and takes good care of his affairs. But Ciel not only wants to keep the family business, but also wants revenge on the people who took everything he ever loved, and at the same time wants to serve the queen and destroy everything that is a thorn in her eye.
Ciel gradually reveals the whole truth about the death of his parents and also does not forget that the day is slowly approaching when Ciel fulfills the contract he concluded with Sebastian. While in the first series the whole story revolved around thirteen-year-old Ciel, in the second series another count enters the scene.
Specifically, Alois Trancy and his faithful spider chamberlain Claude Faustus. When Alois was younger, his younger brother, whom he loved above all, died due to the demon. Shortly afterward, it fell into the hands of Count Trancy, who reveled in the young boys.
In Alois, anger, resistance, and hatred grew for both the lost and his brother’s murderer. That’s why he resorted to calling the spider demon Claude and writing a contract. Alois declared himself the son of Count Trancy, who died “unhappily”, and thus the heir to all his property. And he began his revenge on Sebastian. He believed that he was to blame for all his misfortune.
He decided to take his most valuable thing from him, Ciela, who was waking up to life again, but without his memories. The duel between Ciel and Alois begins, and especially between Sebastian and Claud, who begins to realize that Ciel’s soul is much tastier than Alois’ soul.
Another
Original Run: January 10, 2012 – March 27, 2012
Episodes: 12 (+ OVA)
Created By: Yukiko Ayatsuji
Genres: Horror, Mystery, Supernatural Thriller
Plot
In 1972, a popular and charismatic student named Misaki Yomiyama from Class 3-3 of North Yomiyama School suddenly died in the middle of the school year. Devastated by the loss, his classmates and teacher acted as if Misaki was still alive and even reserved a spot for him at the graduation ceremony.
What was even more suspicious was that Misaki appeared in the graduation photograph.
In the spring of 1998, ninth-year student Kōichi Sakakibara moves from Tokyo to Yomiyama, the hometown of his late mother, because his father has gone to work on research in India. His transfer was to North Yomiyama School, to class 3-3.
Due to a pneumothorax, Kōichi had to be hospitalized just before classes began. During his hospitalization, the class representatives, Tomohiko Kazami and Yukari Sakuragi, visit him and welcome him to the school, albeit in a very gloomy way. Kōichi is eventually discharged and able to attend classes, where he soon tries to adjust to his new school environment.
However, he can’t help but notice the strange behavior of his classmates. He also discovers that Mei Misaki, a girl he met during the hospital stay, belongs to the same class as him, but the desk she uses from her looks quite old and different from the rest of the class. Mei is also always alone and no one seems to care about her presence or try to talk to her.
Initially, Kōichi believes that it is a case of bullying, but soon realizes that even the school employees and teachers act in the same way. The somewhat scary environment in his new class seems to have a dark secret that none of his classmates want to reveal and that could be related to “Misaki from 1972”.
Where to watch: Crunchyroll
Paranoia Agent
Original Run: February 2, 2004 – May 18, 2004
Episodes: 13
Created By: Satoshi Kon
Genres: Psychological Thriller
Plot
Tsukiko Sagi, the famous designer who gave birth to the mascot Maromi, is attacked with a baseball bat by a deranged man who she only remembers being a child on gold roller skates and wearing a baseball cap.
The searches start immediately even if the suspicion that the girl lied about the incident is immediately advanced by one of the investigators. Days later, other people are hit by this maniac, who is nicknamed Shonen Bat, and the mysterious boy becomes a sort of urban legend.
After several cases, the two detectives manage to get their hands on a suspect that matches the description made by the first victim. The boy confesses to having perpetrated the reprehensible action because he believes he is the warrior protagonist of an RPG.
After several interrogations, however, the cops discover that in reality, the boy is nothing more than an imitation and that the real Shonen Bat is still on the loose. But the confrontation with the young mythomaniac brings the narrative to a surreal level, with Maniwa, one of the two detectives, who embarks on a path of investigation halfway between the video game and a fantasy plot.
From this point on, the story continues to unfold on multiple levels of reality, merging oneiric, psychoanalytic and sociological elements in a single dimension, to then lead to a catastrophic epilogue to the Ōtomo.
Where to watch: Funimation
Ghost Hunt
Original Run: October 3, 2006 – March 27, 2007
Episodes: 25
Created By: Fuyumi Ono
Genres: Mystery, Horror, Supernatural
Plot
Ghost Hunt follows the stories of Shibuya Kazuya, the president of Shibuya Psychic Research (SPR), and Mai Taniyama, a high school freshman. The story begins when Mai told ghost stories with her friends in the classroom, who were interrupted twice: first by a mysterious “student”, and then by a classmate, who warns them that, somehow, their stories attract spirits.
While she was walking in the morning, the next day, she found herself in front of the building that was related to one of the ghost stories, she, intrigued, decides to go investigate. Upon entering she sees a video camera, she wonders what she is doing there, and when she is about to touch her, a man tries to stop her and ends up injuring himself.
That man was Lin, assistant to the “mysterious student” from the night before, as it was her fault that Lin got hurt, he must replace him in her work: assistant at Shibuya Psychic Research (SPR), a research company paranormal cases.
This time the case consisted of investigating the building, since strange things happened during the night. Mai nicknames the “mysterious student” (now her boss) Naru, (short for narcissism), because of his narcissistic attitude. After solving the first case, Lin recovered, which would mean that Mai left her temporary job, but Naru offers her a permanent position, which she accepts. (After this episode she discovers her love for Naru).
Along with mediums and exorcists, Mai will continue to solve cases.
Where to watch: Funimation
Boogiepop Phantom
Original Run: January 5, 2000 – March 22, 2000
Episodes: 12
Created By: Kouhei Kadono
Genres: Dark fantasy, psychological thriller, urban phantasy
Plot
The story runs through the vicissitudes of a small town, where many school children disappear one by one and the urban legend of the appearance of a death god who kidnaps takes place. In fact, many of those guys were treated by some sort of virus several years earlier, thanks also to the help of one of the characters present in the novel and in the anime only in memories.
By becoming adolescents they acquire powers that they cannot control even if animated by good intentions. Boogiepop appears to ensure that they do not harm others, while an enemy prowls and becomes more and more powerful thanks to this energy that the boys release.
He is called Phantom (ghost) as the character has split due to the same energy that created the various powers, but his existence will have an end. In addition to the protagonist, there are other characters who try to clarify the various mysteries of the series.
Where to watch: Crunchyroll, Funimation
Corpse Party: Tortured Souls
Original Run: July 24, 2013
Episodes: 4 (OVA)
Created By: Team GrisGris
Genres: Horror, mystery, supernatural
Plot
Based on the survival horror game Corpse Party, the story follows Heavenly Host Elementary School, an elementary school that was torn down after the murders and disappearances of several of its employees and students. Another school called Kisaragi Academy has been built on the site of the old elementary school.
One night, a group of Kisaragi students are telling ghost stories when an earthquake suddenly transports them to another dimension where Heavenly Host Elementary School still exists and is haunted by the ghosts of the children murdered at the school. The students must find a way to survive and return home.
Where to watch: HIDIVE
Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba
Original Run: April 6, 2019 – present
Episodes: 44
Created By: Koyoharu Gotouge
Genres: Adventure, dark fantasy, martial arts
Plot
In Taishō-era Japan, Tanjirō Kamado is the first child of a family of coal merchants whose father has died: to support the family, he sells charcoal in the village below the Mountain. Despite the difficulties of life, they manage to find little happiness in their daily lives. One day, due to rumors circulating about a man-eating demon hanging around after dark, he is forced to spend the night with a Good Samaritan in the village.
Only, everything changes on his return when he detects, thanks to his keen sense of smell, a strong smell of blood: he rushes home and finds his family massacred.
Where to watch: Crunchyroll, Funimation, Hulu, Netflix
DEVILMAN crybaby
Original Run: January 5, 2018
Episodes: 10
Created By: Go Nagai
Genres: Action, dark fantasy, superhero
Plot
Akira Fudo is informed by his best friend, Ryo Asuka, that the ancient race of Demons taking possession of the bodies of humans in order to possess them, has returned to Earth to take them back. Believing that the only way to defeat the Demons is to prove their existence to humans, Ryo suggests that Akira accompany him to see Demons take possession of humans.
Merging himself with Amon, the Lord of Demons, Akira transforms into the Devilman, a human with the powers of a Demon while retaining his own heart.
Where to watch: Netflix
The Flowers of Evil
Original Run: April 5, 2013 – June 29, 2013
Episodes: 13
Created By: Shūzō Oshimi
Genres: Coming-of-age, psychological drama, suspense
Plot
Takao Kasuga is a normal boy, fond of literature and in particular of Les fleurs du Mal by Charles Baudelaire. One day, Takao impulsively steals the tracksuit of partner Nanako Saeki, the girl he likes. The next day, however, Takao discovers that he has been discovered by another companion, Sawa Nakamura, strange and lonely, who blackmails him by forcing him to sign a “contract” with her.
The girl, in exchange, will keep her secret, otherwise, it will be made public. The story, therefore, focuses on the consequences of the children’s actions, which end up profoundly influencing their family, school, and city context.
Where to watch: HIDIVE
From the New World
Original Run: October 3, 2012 – March 27, 2013
Episodes: 25
Created By: Yusuke Kishi
Genres: Dark fantasy, dystopian, thriller
Plot
Set in a thousand-year-old Japan, Shinsekai yori tells the story of Saki, a girl from the 66th district of Kamisu. In this age, all humans possess powerful telekinesis abilities and idyllically live in agrarian villages. Despite her parents’ fear that she could not awaken the power within her, Saki gains her powers at the age of twelve and joins her friends Satoru, Maria, Mamoru, Shun, and Reiko at the academy to develop her powers. But the kids are unaware that the city council monitors and influences the kids through teaching.
According to some evaluation criteria, some students are removed from society, such as those who cannot master the powers, such as Reiko, or those who violate the rules. The removed students are soon forgotten by all the other children; Saki and her friends have no recollection of Reiko.
Later, during a camp unsupervised by the professors, Saki and her friends come across a False White Nudibook, a legendary creature that turns out to be an ancient device containing a library. The False Nudibianco reveals to the boys the heinous crimes of their ancestors and what lies behind their powers.
Where to watch: Crunchyroll, VRV
GANTZ
Original Run: April 13, 2004 – November 18, 2004
Episodes: 26
Created By: Hiroya Oku
Genres: Action, psychological horror, psychological thriller, science fiction
Plot
Kei Kurono is a relatively cynical and selfish high school student from Tokyo, a big consumer of erotic magazines. One day, while waiting for his subway, he meets a childhood friend, Masaru Katô, whom he had lost sight of and who happened to be at the station. He is then pushed against all odds to make a heroic gesture: to save a drunken tramp who has fallen on the tracks.
But this rescue does not go perfectly, and Kurono and Katô die crushed. They then find themselves mysteriously in an apartment room with a view of the Tokyo Tower, in the center of which is a strange black sphere by the name of Gantz. They are not alone in this room and will ask many questions: are they dead? Are they on a game show? Or a secret military experiment?
Where to watch: Funimation
Ghost Stories
Original Run: October 22, 2000 – March 25, 2001
Episodes: 20
Created By: Tōru Tsunemitsu
Genres: Horror, supernatural
Plot
When Satsuki’s mother dies, she, her father and her little brother, move to the city where her mother grew up. There Satsuki begins to study at the same school that her mother attended in the past (the new school, because her mother went to the old school). What Satsuki doesn’t know is that her maternal family has a special ability to stop evil ghosts, an ability that she inherited.
Unfortunately, when Satsuki’s mother dies, a sacred tree in which she had imprisoned the ghosts is cut down, releasing all the ghosts captured and imprisoned in the school, whom the girl unknowingly awakened with her psychic powers. ; realizing this, the protagonist seeks advice from her mother through a diary she found inside a box in the old school in which there was written information about each and every one of the specters with which she will face in the course of the series.
On her first mission, Satsuki makes the serious mistake of not fully reading a diary page on how to lock up ghosts, and ends up locking one of them in the body of her pet cat thus giving the spirit a body. her. This will be of great help to her because if the spirit (Amanojaku) wants to free herself and recover her old form, she has to help Satsuki put all the ghosts to sleep so that he returns to his original form and can leave that body.
Where to watch: Amazon Prime, Crunchyroll, VRV
Japan Sinks: 2020
Original Run: July 9, 2020
Episodes: 10
Created By: Sakyo Komatsu
Genres: Science fiction, drama
Plot
In the near future, i.e. around the end of the 1970s based on the release date, a small island off the east coast of Japan will sink into the sea. A team of scientists is investigating. During their investigations, they make a terrible prognosis: Sooner or later, the Japanese main islands will sink into the sea due to changes in the earth’s interior.
The government is initially not taking the researchers’ warnings seriously. Only when the Japanese capital Tokyo is shaken by a massive earthquake and, shortly afterward, devastating volcanic eruptions and tsunamis hit the island kingdom does the Japanese government recognize the seriousness of the situation.
Plans are immediately drawn up to evacuate the Japanese population and resettle them in other countries. But then the great catastrophe comes faster than the scientists expected: One island after the other sinks into the sea. The Japanese flee in all directions and disperse.
Where to watch: Netflix
Jujutsu Kaisen
Original Run: October 3, 2020 – present
Episodes: 24
Created By: Gege Akutami
Genres: Adventure, dark fantasy, supernatural
Plot
Yuji Itadori is an out-of-the-ordinary high school student who lives in Sendai with his grandfather. Despite his innate talent for sports, he refuses to join the sports team due to his aversion to athletics. Instead, he chooses to join the occult research club, where he can relax and leave school by 5 pm to visit his grandfather in the hospital.
While on his deathbed, his grandfather invites him to “always help others” and recommends that he “die surrounded by people.” After his grandfather’s death, he meets Megumi Fushiguro, a sorcerer who informs him of the existence of a high-level cursed talisman in the school Yuji attended. Meanwhile, his friends from the occult club, in possession of the talisman, open the seal placed on it and attract all the curses in the school on them.
Reaching the school but unable to defeat the curses due to her lack of magical powers, Yuji swallows the finger (the true form of the talisman) to protect Megumi and her friends, becoming the host of Ryomen Sukuna, a very powerful curse. Despite being possessed, Yuji is still able to maintain control of his body.
As a curse, Yuji should have been executed. Still, thanks to Gojo Satoru (the most powerful and responsible sorcerer of the first-year alumni at the Tokyo Institute of Occult Arts), the upper echelons of the world of witchcraft agree to postpone the execution until he has absorbed all 20 fragments of Sukuna’s soul (i.e., her 20 fingers), so as to definitively exorcise the curse.
Where to watch: Crunchyroll, Funimation, HBO Max
Mononoke
Original Run: July 12, 2007 – September 27, 2007
Episodes: 12
Created By: Kenji Nakamura
Genres: Ghost story, mystery, psychological horror
Plot
Mononoke focuses on the character of the apothecary from the third narrative arc of Ayakashi: a traveling apothecary stingy with words, so his name is not even known. He travels accompanied by his medicine cabinet and a box containing a spiritual sword whose pommel is adorned with a monkey’s head.
Where to watch: The Roku Channel
Parasyte
Original Run: October 9, 2014 – March 26, 2015
Episodes: 24
Created By: Hitoshi Iwaaki
Genres: Body horror, horror thriller, science fiction
Plot
One night, tennis ball-sized spheres containing snake-like creatures fell in numbers unknown all over the world. They are programmed to take the place of human brains. One of these attacks a young man, Shinichi, during his sleep, trying to enter through his ear but cannot reach him.
Awakened with a shock as the parasite tries to enter through his nose, he tries to defend himself but ends up having his right hand punctured. The high school student then takes his headphones and wraps them around his arm, preventing the parasite from climbing to the brain.
Unable to leave his arm, the latter finally merges with his right hand. Meanwhile, other parasites, having managed to take possession of their host’s brain, begin to feed on humans, while the creature and Shinichi are forced to cohabitate.
Where to watch: Crunchyroll, Hulu, Netflix
The Promised Neverland
Original Run: January 11, 2019 – March 26, 2021
Episodes: 23
Created By: Kaiu Shirai
Genres: Dark fantasy, science fiction, thriller
Plot
Emma, Norman and Ray are three 11-year-old orphans who live in a Victorian country orphanage run by a mother figure, Isabella. Their life flows peacefully, between play, rest and daily aptitude tests, the results of which are used to draw up a ranking of the most intellectually gifted children.
From the orphanage it is impossible to see the outside world as it is surrounded by high walls which are forbidden to approach.
One day Conny, a six-year-old girl, is taken up for adoption by a family and is preparing to leave the facility, forgetting a puppet she was very fond of. Emma and Norman, therefore, decide to bring the soft toy back to their friend before she leaves for good and they head for the only door in the walls.
Once there, the two discover a shocking truth: after seeing Conny’s lifeless body, they discover the existence of monstrous beings (the “demons”) and their business with Isabella, who gives them the children to send to the “rich” to eat them.
Where to watch: Crunchyroll, Hulu, HBO Max, Netflix
Sankarea: Undying Love
Original Run: April 5, 2012 – June 28, 2012
Episodes: 12
Created By: Mitsuru Hattori
Genres: Romantic comedy, zombie
Plot
Son of a priest, the Japanese high school student Chihiro Furuya has a particularly strong attraction towards zombies. He avidly collects everything related to these, whether video games, movies or manga, he entertains the dream of seeing a young girl brought back to life declare his love to him.
Faced with the death of his cat Babu, he decides to bring him back to life with the help of an old manuscript describing the process of creating a “resurrection” potion. Around this time, he meets a young girl named Rea Sanka, who has run away from her home.
In a suicide attempt, she drinks a sample of the “resurrection” potion which is created from a poisonous herb known as Hydrangea macrophylla, but this fails to kill her. After an argument with her father, she falls off a cliff and dies, but thanks to the potion, she returns as a zombie.
Even though she has become an undead, she chooses not to give in to her murderous instincts and survives by consuming hydrangea leaves frequently.
Where to watch: Funimation
School-Live!
Original Run: April 5, 2012 – June 28, 2012
Episodes: 12
Created By: Mitsuru Hattori
Genres: Romantic comedy, zombie
Plot
In a universe mixing “moe” and “horror”, we follow the tragic daily life of four students named Yuki, Yuuri, Miki and Kurumi in a school. Overnight, an epidemic caused by a biological weapon turns almost the entire population into zombies. The four girls will then have to survive on the school grounds, while the eldest of the group, Yuki, suffers from a mental disorder that makes her see the world differently: for her, the disaster did not happen. spent and continues a normal life as a high school girl, and takes classes with different teachers, including Megumi.
Where to watch: HIDIVE
