Vengeful spirits, sinister secrets, and perilous adventures.
For many viewers, anime is still something unknown and stereotypical – a series of stories about hyper-expressive schoolchildren and their everyday problems.
The best way to change this attitude is to give unusual representatives of Japanese animation a chance, for example, horror. And when is the best time for this, if not in October?
1. Mononoke, 2007
Mononoke is not a movie by Hayao Miyazaki, but a series dedicated to the fight against Yokai, supernatural mythological creatures from Japanese folklore.
The main character, an unnamed pharmacist, travels the world freeing mononoke, or evil spirits. To perform the ritual, it is necessary to know the nature, desire, and form of the spirit, which used to be a person.
Such adventures often turn into complicated investigations. Along the way, the apothecary will encounter such creatures as mysterious cats and ghosts with missing faces.
2. XXXHOLiC, 2006-2011
High school student Watanuki is in trouble – his unique ability to see ghosts and spirits is ruining his life, his relationship with his girlfriend, and his friendship with a classmate. One day, he ends up in the shop of a powerful witch who agrees to help him stop seeing things that shouldn't be available to ordinary people, but on one condition: the boy will have to work for her.
The series balances between adventures in the world of the dead and school routine – it definitely won't shock, but it will succeed in something else: it will make the viewer think about what otherworldly creatures constantly surround him.
3. Paranoia Agent, 2004-2005
Paranoia Agent is the magnum opus of the great Japanese director Satoshi Kon, a series that is often overshadowed by more famous works such as Perfect Blue and Paprika. But it is here that the director's key motifs are collected – the opposition between the personal and the public, dreams and reality.
Paranoia Agent does not even have a main character, but a series of stories about how different people become victims of an attack by a mysterious kid on roller skates and with a golden bat. However, each episode is a small masterpiece. Among them are absurd comedies about the lives of losers and creepy urban tales that make you feel uncomfortable.
4. Boogiepop Never Laughs: Boogiepop Phantom, 2000
Satoshi Kon's Paranoia Agent has been compared to the works of David Lynch, but it is not the first anime series to receive such high praise. Four years earlier, Boogiepop Never Laughs premiered on Japanese television.
The story is built around three time periods – the present, the events of one month ago, and five years ago. Only at the end of the 12-episode series does the plot come together, revealing how the hanged lunatic, the phantom, the killer, and the girl at a new stage of human evolution are connected.
5. When They Cry, 2006
The plot revolves around teenager Keiichi, who moves with his parents from the city to a picturesque village in 1983. The boy likes his new classmates, but everything changes dramatically when he learns about the approaching traditional festival in honor of the local deity, Oyashiro. In recent years, people have been found murdered during the festival, and this one is unlikely to be an exception.
The story of a city dweller who arrives in the province at the worst possible time is a classic plot for Japanese detectives, but this series will definitely find something to surprise you.