Spirits, kitsune, yokai, and other mythical creatures.
On January 12, the second season of the anime Toilet-bound Hanako-kun, based on a famous horror story, started.
Japanese animation often has references to rich local mythology and folklore. Many titles even manage to rethink beliefs, legends and old ideas about the structure of the world.
1. Inari, Konkon, Koi Iroha, 2014
For her kindness, the goddess Uka-no-Mitama-no-Kami gives Inari the ability to take on the appearance of other people. However, this new magical ability brings many unexpected problems.
Inari wonders how to use this ability correctly, which emphasizes the main idea of the anime – the need to be honest with oneself and others. The story focuses on the relationship between humans and gods, while folklore elements are intertwined with ordinary school and romantic plots.
2. Mushi-Shi, 2005-2014
Ginko travels the world helping people who encounter mushi – primitive creatures invisible to the average person. These creatures have no ill intentions, but their interactions with humans can be dangerous.
For example, you can become deaf in one ear if a mushi, which feeds on sound, lives in it. In each episode, the viewer is invited to listen to one story about mushi. The anime explores the relationship between man and nature, asking questions about how our actions affect the world around us and the balance in it.
3. Mononoke, 2007
A mysterious wanderer who calls himself Medicine Seller makes potions and uses a magic blade to exorcise vengeful spirits called mononoke. To calm and release such a spirit, you must know its form, its essence, and understand why it came.
The spirits here are deeply symbolic: they appear because of human passions and sins. Mononoke is intimately connected to the tragic fates of people whose secrets become the key to exorcism.
4. Natsume's Book of Friends, 2008-2024
Takashi Natsume has been seeing ghosts since childhood. He inherits the Book of Friends – a list of names of yokai, who are bound by contracts with his grandmother. Natsume decides to give these creatures back their freedom, despite threats from some of them.
The anime has a warm and melancholic atmosphere. The ghosts are not presented as scary creatures, but as complex characters, individuals with their own feelings and desires.
5. Toilet-bound Hanako-kun, 2020-2025
Rumor has it that the girls' school bathroom is haunted by the ghost of a girl named Hanako, who can grant a wish for a fee. The main character, Nene, approaches the ghost in hopes of getting help with love, but instead is drawn into the supernatural and becomes Hanako's assistant, who is actually a boy.
The anime reimagines the famous Japanese legend of the ghost of Hanako, who haunts the girls' bathroom. In the anime, Hanako-kun is a good-natured, mysterious character with a dark past.