10 Anime for Halloween Viewing
Who doesn’t love watching creepy and scary media around Halloween and with anime they’re so many options.
Supernatural and horror anime are very popular across different anime genres. There is the straight up horror anime, action, supernatural comedies, romances and even creepy anime for children. So no matter if you like the goofy elements, the terrifying aspects or a combo of Halloween there is an anime choice for you.
This is a list of anime that are just fun to watch in October. This is not a definitive list by any means, there are many other anime that great to watch at Halloween.
Anime are listed in alphabetical order and therefore not ranked. Also this post is an repost of my hubpages article and does favor older titles.
Be Careful for any spoilers.
Another
Based on a series of novels and a manga by Yukito Ayatsuji, the anime came out in 2012.
The plot centers around one class of middle school students getting cursed every year. The is that each month either a student or their family member will die. This curse hits only Class 3-3 at a specific middle school in Yokohama and
over the years the various students employ countermeasures. Basically there is an extra student in the class but no one know who it is because their memories and school records are altered by the curse. This extra student is dead and doesn’t know it.
To make up for the extra person the students pretend one of the students is dead and ignore them. Another is a horror anime that has a lot of mystery, twists and turns and combines creepy atmosphere with a lot of gore. Not suitable for children.
It also has a Live action movie that came out in 2012 a few month after the anime aired and another novel in 2013 called Another Episode S.
Blood Lad
Gegege no Kitaro
Gegege no Kitaro, or “Kitaro of the Graveyard,” is one of those rare anime that has been around since the 1960’s. It was written by Shigeru Mizuki and first ran as a manga from 1960 to 1969. The anime has had many runs over the last four decades from 1968-1969, then again in 1971-1972, 1985-1988, 1996-1998 and finally 2007- 2009. In addition there has been two Live-action movies in 2007 and 2008 and anime movie also released in 2008. Also the opening has been pretty much the same since the 60’s.
Gegege no Kitaro is targeted to children and it has fairly straightforward premise. Kitaro is yokai born in a cemetery aside his mostly decaying father or Daddy Eyeball. They are the last members of the Ghost Tribe. Kitaro has a missing eye as his eye is actually his father. Kitaro’s main motivation is for humans and the yokai to get along.
It is is mostly episodic and follows Japanese folktales. In addition to Kitaro and Daddy Eyeball, there is a great cast of characters like Nezumi-otoko and Neko-Musume to name a few. This characters are in every iteration of Gegege no Kitaro.
It is not as widely available to watch as most anime are but it’s worth a watch if you can find it as it’s fun, cute and creepy.
Ghost Stories
Ghost Stories or Gakkou no Kaidan, Ghosts at school, has a rather interesting history in the anime realm. It ran from 2000 to 2001 and was based on a book series from the 80s series by Touru Tsunemitsu. The book series did very well and had a lot of adaptations.
The basic premise is Satsuki and her family move to her mother’s hometown where she and her friends have to deal with ghosts based on Japanese folklore and urban legends with the help of a book of Satsuki’s mother telling them how to exorcise them and their cat that possessed by a powerful demon. Like Gegege no Kitaro, Ghost Stories is episodic as they have to deal with a different ghost ever episode.
The rumors is that due to original Japanese version not doing well in Japan there was an attempt to more or less bury the show when it was licensed in North America by ADV Films. This was done by replacing the scripts with comedic one and having the voice actors improvise a lot of their lines thus turning the show from a standard monster-of-the-week-anime to a black comedy. That is the long held rumor behind the changes.
The plots of the episodes more less remain intact but the characters have different personality, for instances Satsuki is very unlikable and mean a lot of time, her younger brother has mental deficiencies, Hajime is more of pervert, Leo is Jewish and Momoko is a born-again Evangelical Christian. These changes make for a lot running gags and very silly jokes and one liners.
It’s really refreshing to see a dub take this approach and does a lot different time of humor from pop-culture references, though it’s early 2000s to breaking the fourth wall and parodying anime. The attempt to bury the show didn’t work and was considered the best anime of the year, though if you believe the rumors.
Make no mistake though there are some creepy and disturbing imagery in this show that does make it a horror, it’s just so silly. The original Japanese is for children and the dub is not suitable for children at all.
The humor is very offensive and problematic and it was meant to offend everyone and everything. It’s also so over-the-top that it can’t be taken with any level of seriousness
Hellsing Ultimate
Hellsing is a based on a manga series by Kouta Hirano that ran from 1997 to 2008 as well as another Hellsing manga called Hellsing The Dawn which ran from 2001 to 2008. There was an original anime series of Hellsing that ran from 2001 to 2002 but it’s the 10 episode OVA series Hellsing Ultimate that released between 2006 to 2012 that is considered the better series of the two anime versions of Hellsing.
Hellsing has a pretty basic premise, it’s about the Hellsing organization in London that fights vampire, ghouls, supernaturals entries and nazis. It’s led by Integra Fairbrook Wingates Hellsing and at her side is Alucard a very powerful and dangerous vampire.
Hellsing Ultimate stands as an action horror with great animation and compelling characters. This one is not suitable for children and also the dub is really well done.
The abridged version Hellsing Ultimate is also very funny.
Rin-ne
Also called Kyoukai no Rinne, Rinne of the Boundary, or officially subtitled Circle of Reincarnation. The title makes it sound more serious. Rin-ne is based on a manga written by Rumiko Takahashi who is most known for Inuyasha, Maison Ikkoku, Urusei Yatsura and Ranma ½. The best way to describe Rin-ne is actually a combination of Inuyasha and Ranma ½.
The manga ran from 2009 to 2017. Rin-ne the anime had three seasons with 75 ending in 2017.
Rin-ne is a supernatural comedy with some romance. Of all these anime this one is probably the lightest on the creepy factor but there is another supernatural comedy that it makes up for it. Like other anime on this list it mostly episodic but there is enough running gags that it doesn’t drag down the pacing of the show.
It follows Rinne, a shinigami or death god, or grim-reaper, who is flat broke who has to guide spirits for basically pennies. He meets Sakura Mamiya, a regular high school girl who can see ghosts as result of getting spirited away to the spirit world when she was a child.
The show has lots of ghosts some harmless some with malice intent, animal ghosts, demons, exorcists, black cats that serve the shinigami and even a different type of Shinigami that goes after the living called Damashigami.
Rosario to Vampire
Rosario to Vampire based on a manga by Akihisa Ikeda that ran from 2004 to 2014. It had two season the which both ran in 2008.
It is considered to be an action Harem anime which means also means it’s a romance.
Again like some of the anime on this list Rosario + Vampire is mostly episodic especially in the first season. It centers around Tsukune Aono, a human who goes to a high school for monsters. There he befriend Moka, a beautiful and powerful vampire when her rosary is removed. Tsukune also befriends other beautiful supernatural ladies like a witch, a yuki-onna and a succubus.
Rosario to Vampire does have a lot of fan-service so if you’re not in that aspect of anime then I wouldn’t recommend this anime but it a lot of great monsters and it’s fun enough. Also if you like harem anime with monster ladies and lot of fan-service there is also Monster Musume. Both are not super suitable for children.
Shiki
Shiki, Corpse Demon, is based on Japanese horror novel by Fuyumi Ono. It was released in two parts in 1998. In 2007 the story was adapted in a manga by Ryu Fujisaki and ran till 2011. The anime based on the manga came in 2010.
Shiki is a horror that focuses on vampires and how monstrous human can be. The plot centers around a very small remote village in rural Japan. After a mysterious family moves into a grand western style a strange epidemic starts killing people. However it’s revealed to be vampires as some of the dead villagers rise up as vampire themselves.
Much like Another, Shiki has a lot of creepy imagery and mood but also its share of gore. Not suitable for children.
Fun fact, the dates give in the anime sync up with dates in 2016.
Soul Eater
Soul Eater is based on a manga written by Atsushi Oukubo. The manga ran from 2004 to 2013. It first started out as a series of three one-shot manga. The anime ran from 2008 to 2009.
Very simply the plot of Soul Eater follows students at Death Weapon Meister Academy. The school is run by a shinigami just called Death. At the school students either learn the ability to become weapons, like scythe and guns or the learn to be the wielder of the weapons called meisters. The show follows three teams of weapons and meisters.
Soul Eater has a really great art style that just oozes Halloween. It’s both creepy yet charming. The characters are really compelling and fun.
Soul Eater has a spin-off show called Soul Eater Not which is based on a manga of the same written by OuKubo and ran from 2011 to 2014. The anime aired in 2014.
The Wallflower
Also called Yamato Nadeshiko Shichi Henge, who doesn’t love long anime/manga titles. Yamato Nadeshiko Shichi
Henge is often translate to Perfect Girl Evolution. It was written by Tomoko Hayakawa and ran from 2000 to 2015. The anime ran from 2006 to 2007.
This comedy anime is about four very attractive boy who are tasked with the job of turning horror-movie obsessed anti-social shut-in Sunako, into a proper lady. If they can do that they can live in a mansion rent free if the fail they have to pay a vast sum of money and be evicted. . Sunako has no interest in change and most of the time she is bride with a horror movie or forced. Sunako also can’t stand attractive people as they make her physically weak, she refer to them as bright ones and they are her room-mates.
The Wallflower is mostly episodic isn’t that horror-ish as there are very little supernatural elements (it has ghost pirates in one episode) but it is one of the few anime that has a designated Halloween episode another show that has a Halloween episode is Ouran High School Host Club.
There was a live-action adaptation that ran in 2010. Also fashion designer Julie Haus 2008 fashion line inspired by The Wallflower.
