I'm a big Junji Ito fan, but I haven't really found any good anime that come close to matching the creepiness of his manga stories, including that one Junji Ito anime series that's out there. I think the closest I've seen is Mononoke, though honestly I haven't seen a ton of anime, so maybe I'm missing something. I thought I'd ask to see what you all might suggest in terms of genuinely creepy/unsettling/dark anime movies or series, either similar to Ito's stuff or whatever else you think is good.
Any suggestions?
Serial Experiments Lain definitely looks interesting, though I honestly don’t know too much about it. I’ll have to do more research. I have heard of Monster and that seems like the kind of thing I might like, though I’m not sure how scary it would be.
Hopefully Uzumaki anime will be good. Unfortunately there aren't that many good horror anime out there- especially with Junji Ito's distinctive mix of the macabre and absurd. Imma just gonna parrot Mother's Basement:
Higurashi: When They Cry is pretty decent horror anime, written by a former social worker. There's stuff here that's genuinely uncomfortable regarding abuse, so cw for that. Just don't watch the more recent remake/sequels Gou and Sotsu.
Shiki is just Salem's Lot set in Japan, but it works. Also, vampire's as metaphor for capitalists and all that.
Gakkou Gurashi's first episode is a masterclass in horror direction. Rest of the show, not so much, but it's still pretty neat if you can stand the (albeit tame) lolicon pandering. Also, zombies as metaphor for labour under capital and all that.
The Promised Neverland... yeah, go in blind, if you can. And stop after season 1.
the higurashi manga and vn are much better as horror, but the anime has some strong moments.
The Promised Neverland… yeah, go in blind, if you can. And stop after season 1.
Or read the manga! Though it becomes something completely different after the end point of season 1, it's still good. But seconding the advice to pretend season 2 doesn't exist, it's really bad.
That Mother’s Basement video is great, and I agree with most of their points, though I think they could have gone further with industry practices/structure as a reason for lack of good anime horror. Seems like a lot of it comes down to the fact that animation studios are pressured to generate standard popular anime content as cheaply as possible, and straying from that standard format is avoided for being too difficult/expensive, though there are some standouts like Mononoke.
Shiki and Higurashi I’ll definitely check out. I haven’t heard of the other two mentioned, but I’ll look into those as well.
Puella Magi Madoka Magica certainly has Psychological Horror elements. its structured a lot like a mystery so beware clicking on this spoiler, it will take some reveals Away from the show. it's Fucking Amazing although At The Time was pretty experimental and the animation funding is iffy at times. the writing is impeccable though. if you enjoy the show you have to watch Rebellion, just because it's amazing to see what they do with an actual animation budget, and it also wraps up sooo many of the questions you're left with for a much more satisfying ending.
spoiler
imagine... partriarchy as a force of nature/Trickster God that grooms (not sexual) girls, and that's kind of where the horror comes from
I think "Another" pulls off a Final Destination type story line much more efficiently than anything else i've seen attempt it, but it's still pretty mid at the end of the day, i have a soft spot for it though
i've never finished Paranoia Agent, but its directed by Satoshi Kon and is quite unsettling. because it's Kon it's a lot more respectful than the two above as well. would reccomend this one if you're looking for something Think-y and Critically Well Done. it is the only TV show Kon did before his death (although he has a lot of movies)
overall though, i'll say anime is not really well known for having a ton of super well done horror. both Paranoia Agent and PMMM aren't really trying to be dedicated horror shows, and most of the ones that Are are known for being gore-fests, exploitative about female characters, etc. Basically it's one of those genres that's sadly very "anime" so you tend to have to look for psychological horror or other genre-fusions.
I’ll be looking into these for sure, especially PMMM and Paranoia Agent. I also haven’t heard of Another but I’ll check it out.
Anime isn't really the best medium for horror since the cartoony designs make it hard to take seriously, but there's a few standouts out there.
If you can get past the pretty wacky character designs, Shiki is very good. But I'm really not joking about the character designs, at one point it cuts from a pretty serious scene to a guy with blue hair and cat ears strolling down the street dressed like a disco star with a v-neck extending all the way down to his dick and I lost my shit lmao. But other than that, it's probably the closest anime to actual horror with some pretty fucked up scenes and unsettling atmosphere throughout.
Devilman Crybaby is not that creepy per se, at the start it's basically like some superhero series but with a lot of sex and gore, but Devilman is pretty famous for it's incredibly upsetting and dark latter part. The manga even warns the reader not to read any further at one point lmao. But it's a pretty divisive show, either you enjoy the fun gorefest and fucked up ending or you think it's trash, either way it's worth giving a try.
Paranoia Agent is also not exactly horror, it's pretty much a bit of every genre out there, but the horror parts of it do manage to convey genuine dread and panic. It's Satoshi Kon's last completed project before his unfortunate death, and it's very very good.
And speaking of Satoshi Kon, of course, there's Perfect Blue, which is not just the perfect horror anime but maybe one of the most unsettling movies out there. There's few movies that manage to be this creepy and fuck with the viewer to this extent.
Perfect Blue seems like my kind of thing, so I’ll definitely watch that. Shiki also looks like something I’d be into, though not necessarily for the horror aspect. I’ll also look into the others you mentioned.
+1 for Shiki, one of my all-time favorites. It's what you get when you make an anime from a real book instead of a light novel.
Someone else mentioned Perfect Blue and that looks like something I’d like. I’ll definitely look into the other recommendations as well.
Well, if you like Junji Ito, you could check out the people he named as his inspiration.
Kazuo Umezu, for example, has a very similar style. Here's an example, ~30 years old.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-TWqwKQngyI
Other prolific horror manga artists include Hideshi Hino, who does a bit more horror/comedy, and feels a bit more western in his style, and Kanako Inuki, a female horror artist.
Just type their names into Google pictures and see for yourself.
Kazuo Umezu, for example, has a very similar style. Here’s an example, ~30 years old.
This is exactly the sort of thing I’m looking for. It also opened up a bit of a rabbit hole which led me to other interesting stuff like The Death Lullaby. I’ll definitely be watching The Curse of Kazuo Umezu and will also check out those manga recommendations.
I mean, it's :reddit-logo: , but if you're looking for more, you could check out r/horrormanga
I was just looking for the same thing earlier this week.
Started Gantz after seeing it recommended a few times. Whole lotta tits, and the horror is always offset by how goofy the main characters are (at least in the first few episodes). The gore is sort of fun and the sci-fi elements are genuinely upsetting and bring up some interesting questions about identity.
Gave Higurashi a go when I started feeling uncomfortable with the SA-positive vibes of Gantz. The horror elements are incredibly well done. There is some legitimate tension and the sound design is great. Sadly, everything not horror-related is cutesy/tweensy and that was really irritating to me as I have never been into that whole aesthetic.
The only thing I know about Gantz is that onion kid scene, but I should probably research it a bit more.
I haven’t really looked into Higurashi at all, but I probably should.
I was just looking for the same thing earlier this week.
You might like Mononoke if you haven’t seen it already. It’s very different from Ito’s stuff in its style, but is pretty decent horror in its own right. It sort of blends surrealism, horror, and Japanese folklore, and is pretty unsettling at times. They were pulled off of the legit streaming sites for some reason, but I think they’re all on YouTube.
I haven’t heard of this at all, but I’ll definitely look into it a bit more.
Made in Abyss. It has some of the same problems as Eldin Lied so whatch for that.l. Unlike elfiin lied though it isn't trash that we remember fondly.
The Vampire Hunder D movies might be close enough to scratch the itches as well
I’ve heard of all those but haven’t watched any. I’ll definitely look into them more, especially Vampire Hunter D.
I've only seen one anime and it was in the 70's and it was horror, well horror for kids I think. It was broadcast on my local public TV station one sunday afternoon.
Really had an impact as Japanese media was non-existent at the time so it was shocking to my sensibilities on so many levels. Don't know if it holds up anymore, but at the time it was pretty scary. That and I was like 12 or so.
Wow, found it on YT: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mg276CLBjjE
This doesn’t look super scary, but definitely looks interesting. I’ll have to check this one out.
This was made in 1967 and I think it is a window into early anime.
Look at the Disney-esque character designs and the parallax cel reveal scene revealing the castle.
There's Tom & Jerry / Warner bros. influence all over as well.
I imagine Japan as an occupied country after WW2 was a new market for US capitalists and this film is full of the contemporary US market exploitation creating new cultural standards. Meanwhile the artists and writers desperately stamp Japanese myth and literary style and meaning into a US dominated art form trying to reclaim something of a cultural identity from capitalist occupation.
Really gives a visceral insight into the historical evolution of anime and post WW2 Japanese culture.
I will unironically recommend Mayoiga even though most post consider it a train wreck. It was not that bad, or maybe it is so bad it is good. I remember the online debates with hot takes like "this is a comedy actually and that's why its good."
Of course there are other better recommendations though.
Mayoiga is one of the anime ever.
But seriously, Mayoiga is an experience, and I will recommend it, but I don't know if it's horror. :miyazaki-laugh:
Requiem for the Darkness was pretty good on the episodic stories though I didn't really like how it shifted into a "grand supernatural conspiracy" in the later half of the series.
These kids live in a peaceful pastoral town where everyone has psychic powers. Something is very off about the world they live in, and you slowly learn more about how off it is and how it got that way.
It's kind of hard to give a non-spoiler summary of it, because the status quo gets completely destroyed roughly every four episodes.
