Top 10 Horror Anime

[PictureGuy]

There are certainly a lot of horror anime around. Many are dark, psycho-dramas. Some rely on action. Some are more light-hearted or don’t take themselves so seriously. I put together a list of my Top 10 Horror Anime, which was kind of hard. A lot of good ones got left off, and you could make an argument about making any of these #1. Now the countdown:

10. Soul Eater. This is a more light-hearted horror anime. Sure there is lots of action and some suspense, but there is also a lot of comedy. Death runs an academy to teach teens how to hunt witches. The central characters are the precocious Soul Meister-in-training Maka Albarn and her human weapon Soul Evans. But there are other characters who are quite. . . . Well, unique.

9. Spirited Away. I know what you are going to say. This Hayao Miyazaki film is a fairy tale, not a horror movie. But have you ever read any of the classic fairy tales in their original, pre-Disneyfied form? Believe me, reading those to your kid every night would provide some lucky psychiatrist with a pretty good income. Anyway, ten-year-old Chihiro is moving with her parents to another town, when they find themselves in another world where mom and dad are turned into pigs awaiting slaughter. Now tell me this is not a horror film.

8. Parasyte. I bet you thought I was not going to get into the dark stuff, didn’t you? One morning Shinichi wakes up to find a creature has inhabited his body. Failing to take control of his mind, it settles in his hand. Soon Shinichi and “Migi” are forced to team up to save the world and themselves, though not in that order. Naturally a bond eventually develops. It get quite bloody, but there is a pretty good romantic subplot.

7. Lunar Legend Tsukime. The vampire is not the villain. Neither is the somewhat homicidal killer. They make a great team. The scene where one teenage girl sucks blood from the breast of another teenage girl is certainly interesting. But keep the kids away.

6. Puella Magi Modika Magica and Puella Magi Modika Magica: The Movie: Rebellion. I am talking about the series and the third movie. The first two movies are a rehash of the series with some fine tuning, so pick which you want to watch. Actually, the movies by themselves are all pretty good. This is not your little sister’s magical girl anime. Modika and her best friend Sayaka are offered the chance to become magical girls by the talking cat Kyubey. So far so good, until magical girl Homura tries to stop them. What awaits magical girls seems to be a gruesome death – if they are lucky. If not lucky, they can lose their soul. This is a dark story of betrayal and angst. The scenes in the witches’ labyrinth have some interesting artwork. Think of it as magical girls on acid.

5. Death Note. Light is the kind of kid any parent would be proud of. Bright and a brilliant student, Light has a great future ahead of him. Then he finds a Death Notebook belonging to the shinigami Ryuk. Write in a name and that person dies. Light must match wits with legendary detective L with everyone’s life on the line.

4. Shiki. Vampires invade to take over a small Japanese town. But in the end it is not the vampires who are the most blood-thirsty. There are several twists and turns along the way to keep you guessing.

3. Hell Girl saga. This includes all three series: Hell Girl, Hell Girl: Two Mirrors, and Hell Girl: Three Vessels. Ai is a pretty young girl who is doing penitence as Hell Girl. Log into her website at midnight, type in a name, and she can send that person to hell – for a price. Two Mirrors is better than the first series, because the victims and the clients are all a bit more disturbed. Three Vessels is a bit of a rehash of the first two series, but with Ai possessing the body of high schooler Yuzuki. It may take an effort, but stay with Three Vessels because the payoff is great. Will Ai ever find peace?

2. Ajin: Demi-Human. This one just misses being number 1. What I really like about this war of immortals is the villain Satou. He seems pleasant enough; outgoing, friendly, and a sense of humor. If he wasn’t into mass murder, he’d be a great guy. There are a lot of great characters in this two-season anime, including the anti-hero teen main character, Kei.

1. Perfect Blue. The great thing about this horror anime is that it is the one which is conceivable. Mima is the lead singer of a clean-cut, all-girl pop singing group. Her image is the pure girl-next-door. But she leaves music for a new career as an actress, which requires an image change. But not all fans appreciate this change, and one is determined to keep it from happening. Could it be Mima herself? Two words: Mind F-ck. No, make that three words: Cosmic Mind F-ck.

Honorable Mentions: Ghost Hunt, Ghost Hound, Supernatural: The Anime, Fate/Stay Night, Fate/Zero, Vampire Knight, Vampire Knight Guilty, and The Devil is a Part-Timer.

Comments on my choices? Your choices? Remember, this is horror, not sci-fi. We will get to sci-fi some other time.

[Shamo]

If I hadn't read "I put together a list of my Top 10 Horror Anime" I would have wrote out an entire Bible why Parasyte should have been #1 if we were going by well-written.

[PictureGuy]

If I hadn't read "I put together a list of my Top 10 Horror Anime" I would have wrote out an entire Bible why Parasyte should have been #1 if we were going by well-written.

I would not dispute anyone who puts Parasyte at #1. It was dark, but, except maybe for Lunar Legend, the ones I listed above Parasyte I think are even darker. And I like it dark. Sure Modika Magica starts off all sugar and spice, but it then turns dark and depressing. Ajin never has a happy moment, except that Satou seems happy when he is killing people. Like Modika Magica, Perfect Blue erases the line between joy and misery.

I could very well change the order a week from now, or take Soul Eater off and put on Vampire Knight or Ghost Hound. This was not an easy task to rank.

[Shamo]

You are ordering the list off of with which is more darker, I was basically saying that Parasyte should be #1 because it is better written than everything else listed.

[PictureGuy]

You are ordering the list off of with which is more darker, I was basically saying that Parasyte should be #1 because it is better written than everything else listed.

The original Japanese or the English dubs? It is hard to judge if you don't know Japanese. The sub-titles are not always complete or accurate. And the English dubs don't always follow the original material.

But I would say all the series I listed, at least in my opinion, are well written. The difference in quality is insignificant. It is easier to judge the quality of the storytelling. In this, Ajin with multiple side-stories, and Perfect Blue with a more complex part come out ahead.