Don’t be scared – the supernatural doesn’t always have to be so spooky. Sometimes, the supernatural can make you ponder the big questions of life and leave you feeling awfully confused.
Today, I offer 8 anime that in some way feature the supernatural – whether it be ghosts, ghouls, or gods, demons, spirits, or monsters, or just plain old paranormal powers. These anime will present puzzles that perplex the mind and make you ask a lot of questions with no answers, and you'll love every minute of it. Enjoy!
Mushi-shi
Mushi-shi breathes the strange and unexpected back into the supernatural. Instead of demons, ghouls or ghosts, Mushi-shi features a host of mythical, otherworldly creatures called Mushi (think bugs and bacteria) that unwittingly wreak havoc in the human realm. It’s up to Ginko, a mushi master, to aid those afflicted by the paranormal phenomena they induce.
Mushi-shi embodies the true spirit of the supernatural genre– eerie, sublime, and full of mystical wonder. Mushi-shi is one of my favorite animes ever. But be prepared: each episode of Mushi-shi poses questions that will leave you feeling profoundly puzzled long after the credits roll.
Erased
The murder of his mother turns out to be a blessing in disguise for 29-year-old Satoru Fujinuma. You see, he has the gift of Revival, the ability to travel back in time to the moment before disaster strikes, and it has just been triggered. Only this time, it’s in connection to the murder of three of Satoru’s childhood classmates – Kayo, Hiromi, and Aya – 18 years ago.
Stuck in his 11-year-old self again, Satoru must uncover the ghastly truth behind what transpired all those years ago and save the lives of his three classmates and mother before it’s too late. Part murder mystery and part supernatural thriller, Erased is one of my favorite anime in the last five years and easily my favorite of 2016.
Monogatari
Monogatari is the occult noir for the avant-garde. Spanning 22 light novels, 89 anime episodes, 3 feature-length films and a chronology so absurd it would try even Sheldon Cooper’s 187 I.Q., Monogatari stretches the limits of the imagination with its unconventional narrative structure, experimental cinematography and outlandish humor.
Jammed into all of that is the story of Koyomi Araragi who inadvertently turns himself into a vampire. This sets off a chain reaction wherein he becomes Exorcist-in-Chief to a harem of girls with questionable abilities and even more questionable personalities. This series is weird. Given that the show ping pongs between tone and style almost every five episodes, all I can say about Monogatari is to give it a try and see if you like it. It’ll certainly make you ask a lot of questions.
Death Note
Who hasn’t heard of Death Note? Even if you have never watched an anime before, it’s likely you’ve at least heard about the live-action American remake of this series. Tl;dr – the Death Note is a notebook that will kill anyone whose name is written on its pages; panic ensues after it falls into the hands of Light Yagami, a man with a killer sense of justice.
Big, bold questions on morality, right and wrong, and justice are the modus operandi of Death Note, keeping viewers ensnared in the high-stakes chase between Light and the detectives determined to catch him.
Natsume's Book of Friends
In the world of espionage, Natsume's Book of Friends is the sleeper agent who stabs you in the heart when you’re least expecting and leaves you bleeding all over your mother’s good Persian rug.
Natsume's Book of Friends chronicles the adventures of Takashi Natsume as he tries to return the names of all the spirits unwillingly bound his grandmother’s Book of Friends (the name is ironic). It doesn’t always go as planned. Fanciful and light-hearted on the surface, Natsume's Book of Friends more often than not triggers a whole lot of feels – the type that leaves you staring forlornly out the window wondering if you always felt this much pain in your heart.
Your Name.
Your Name. is the highest grossing anime film in history, snatching the coveted crown from Miyazaki’s famous Spirited Away. Directed by Makoto Shinkai, who has been referred to as the new Miyazaki or the Millennial Miyazaki, Your Name. is a high-concept tale about country bumpkin Mitsuha and city boy Taki, two high schoolers whose lives bend space and time when they inexplicably switch bodies.
Your Name. certainly lives up to Shinkai’s legacy of beautiful stories, not only in terms of plot but also in terms of visuals. Shinkai is known for his breathtaking animation (see Scenery Porn); his film The Garden of Words was named CineFix’s Most Beautiful Animated Movie of All Time. In true Makoto Shinkai fashion, the ending of Your Name. will make your head – and your heart – hurt.
Paranoia Agent
Another legendary name in the world of anime is Satoshi Kon. His short but inspired body of work has produced some of anime’s most well-regarded and beloved films such as Perfect Blue, Millennium Actress, Paprika, Tokyo Godfathers and Paranoia Agent, the entry on this list.
The unmistakable Lynchian undertones in Paranoia Agent make for one spooky and psycho-surreal experience. In Paranoia Agent, a supernatural entity named Lil’ Slugger holds Tokyo hostage through a series of spontaneous and violent attacks. As public fear intensifies, so does Lil’ Slugger’s attacks, manifesting in a positive feedback cycle that blurs the line between reality and psychosis. Paranoia Agent is a tense, electric mind trip that will leave you asking, “What did I just watch?”
Death Parade
Bad news – in the world of Death Parade, the fate of your soul is in the hands of a few less-than-qualified bartenders. When two people die at the same time, they are sent to otherworldly bartenders known as Arbiters who decide the fate of each person’s soul – reincarnation or into the void – based on a series of tests known as a Death Game. Don’t be fooled – the Arbiters are not infallible judges of character and their decisions are not perfect.
Death Parade leaves me intensely frustrated at the end of each episode, especially when I don’t agree with the Arbiter’s judgement. Even worse, most of the time, the decisions are never explained, letting the viewer interpret the outcome themselves. Death Parade makes Christianity’s solution to entering Heaven seem like a piece of cake. Now if season two could just be a thing, that would be great.
See what else made it into our Top 8 by visiting its official page.
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