9 SPOOKY Anime with a Dash of Fun

From the author of “JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure” Hirohiko Araki, a series of manga chapters following a character named Kishibe Rohan from part 4 of the series, Diamond is Unbreakable. Kishibe Rohan encounters some strange phenomena and incidents in his mundane routine. Things that cannot be explained with logic or with Stand. Things that have something to do with supernatural entities that even the power of Stand falls pale in comparison. And every encounter ends in a sort of a cliffhanger manner that Rohan or any Stand ability simply lacks the power to bring them to closure.

Kishibe Rohan is an interesting character who is always curious enough to even invade others’ privacy. He is always interested in finding materials for his manga; sometimes, that curiosity puts him in difficult situations. But the incidents take place years after part 4 was finished so it’s great to see him handle those situations maturely. Rohan is probably Hirohiko Araki’s favorite character. Not to mention they are both manga authors. He is favorite enough to get 10 chapters of this supernatural, mystery series that are fun to read. The anime only got 4 episodes adapted from 4 of the 10 chapters that are well made with its original soundtracks and opening.

Jumping from a complete spook into a psychological dilemma of Mob Psycho 100. It’s more of a character-focused story even though there’re supernatural phenomena, urban legends, ghosts & spirits. In season, we’ve seen the gang tackling some mysteries, ghost hunting, exorcism, and these kinds of things in almost the first half of the season. And those aspects are really handled well enough to spook anyone since it takes a dramatic shift from regular comedy to creepy. Some of the encounters end in a spectacular fight and some in tough character choices. It’s a show that has something for everyone; supernatural, mystery, thriller, comedy, and action.

The manga has 101 chapters in 16 volumes and the 3rd season of the anime is currently ongoing.

This is one of the classic anime from the early 2010s that’s visually amazing. The “dusk” theme is portrayed by the warm, orange color when the characters get together after school to investigate myths surrounding the school and also find the mystery behind the dusk maiden, Yuuko Kanoe. The visual has a distinct charm to it that oozes romance and ominosity. The artstyle, color grading, shading, background art everything just sucks you away into this and sets the atmosphere ever so perfectly. The storyboarding, animation, camera angle, sound, and everything are masterfully crafted by the animators from Silver Link. It has a few horrifying moments that genuinely had me spooked. But above all of that, it’s a romance story between a living & a deceased.

The manga has 45 chapters in 10 volumes, and the anime has 12 episodes and 1 OVA. It’s a mix of murder mystery, horror, romance, and a bit of a love-triangle or love-rectangle. I highly suggest watching it and reading the manga since it’s been a while since the story ended and I want everyone to enjoy this classic anime.

Similar to our previous entry, this too is about myths surrounding a school, particularly the “Seven Mysteries”. But this one has more of an action aspect. The gang investigates a rumor that takes the form of an apparition and they take care of it. But there is a deeper layer behind all the happenings that are causing all the bad incidents. Something, that’s a work of a madman or a mad ghost.
Unlike the original myth, Hanako is a boy. He is the seventh mystery and his job is to watch over all other mysteries. Whenever a rumor starts spreading about an apparition, it affects them to take form that. If the rumor says a ghost kidnap students, then that particular ghost has to do that otherwise it’ll cease to exist. So Hanako-kun resets that rumor and turns that ghost back to normal by spreading a different rumor which is harmless. That’s where the human main character, Yashiro Nene comes in, who became Hanako’s assistant after an incident. Many other incidents follow after their encounter that entail the other mysteries.
The show does a great job in terms of presentation. The visuals, music, voice acting, and storyboarding, all of them are handled very well to set the atmosphere of the show. It has the same kind of similarity to Dusk Maiden of Amnesia in terms of visuals and theme. That being a relation between a living and a deceased.

The manga has 91 chapters and is currently ongoing. The anime has 12 episodes aired in 2020. There’s a rumor that season 2 might be coming out soon.

Coming to a little bit lighter side, Okko’s Inn is about Seki Oriko who learns to manage an inn that is haunted by ghosts. But no spooky this time here. Instead of all the horror, the ghosts help Oriko learn to be a manager. In her worst of times, they befriended her, kept her company, and encouraged her to move forward. I added this here despite it being not spooky because it is about having a fun, relaxing time with an engaging plot and interesting characters. And it has ghosts and mystery.

Okko’s Inn started as a novel in 2003, then it had its manga run. It has 24 episodes of anime and a movie that came out in 2018. The lighthearted atmosphere, storyboarding, music, and the voice acting make it fun to watch.

Mushishi has an enigma that blends the supernatural aspect and calmness and creates a surreal atmosphere. It’s relaxing yet suspenseful at the same time. The MC, Ginko travels from place to place to find people distressed by the music, a type of supernatural beings. He spends time with those people, talks to them, hears their life stories, finds the source of the trouble, and takes care of it. There is this serenity that engulfs everything when listening to all the stories people tell about themselves. Imagine a story that has a thousand stories in it, that’s Mushishi. Each episode is self-contained, and each tells stories that are sad, happy, mysterious, spooky, grotesque, thrilling, emotional, etc. It’s truly a unique experience and one of the classics.

The Mushishi manga has 10 volumes that had its original run from November 1999 to August 2008. The anime has 2 seasons, 2 specials & a movie and was adapted by the animation studio Artland. This has my highest recommendation priority amongst all of these.

Now jumping into an action-heavy series of Jujutsu Kaisen, this has its share of spookiness. It doesn’t shy away from showing the gross reality of what can happen if a real cursed spirit found you and turned your body inside out. The characters feel grounded, and the events taking place play out naturally. Inspired by shows like Yu Yu Hakusho and Bleach, the author took the concept to the next level. The creepy vibe is handled really well thanks to the excellent execution of the visual and sound design. It is shounen but also not shounen. Now being one of the Spooky Trio (others are Kimetsu no Yaiba and Chainsaw Man), this feels the brightest of them all.

The manga is currently ongoing and only in season 1 of the anime has been aired. A movie came out adapting the prequel, Jujutsu Kaisen 0. I can’t wait for the next season.

This came out as a surprise because of the artstyle and light ecchi. But Mieruko-chan has shown probably one of the best plot threads. The story is about a girl named Mieruko who can see ghosts but has to put up with them because nobody else can see them. She got used to it so much so that even we as readers can hardly distinguish the dead from the living. It has some great plot twists and a vibe that is just creepy.

The manga started in November 2018 and is still ongoing. It was adapted into anime by Passione and 12 episodes were aired. There is a lot more to see and I hope it gets a season 2.

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Ghost Hunt is another classic anime that is pretty underrated. This one also takes place around a school, but this takes the spookiness to the next level. It’s creepy, mysterious, suspenseful, horrifying, and has very little fun in it. As the name implies, it is an anime about hunting ghosts and investigating paranormal activities.

It originated as a light novel back in 1989 as Akuryō Series and has its follow-up as the Ghost Hunt series. Later, the manga was published and has 12 volumes. Each volume takes on different events and they end in that volume. Later, another manga follow-up was published named Akumu no Sumu Ie: Ghost Hunt and it has 3 volumes. The anime aired 25 episodes from October 2006 to March 2007 and was made by J.C.Staff.

For our 10th and last entry, we have Ghost Stories. It’s about a bunch of kids who got into a haunted house, and they got haunted by ghosts. They occasionally get attacked by them and then try to find a way to free themselves from them. It’s another classic anime from the early 2000s that has some really fun moments, some creepiness, and an adventure to go along with it.

It only has the anime with its 20 episodes run made by Studio Pierrot. It has a hilarious English dub by ADV Studios, which is technically a meme released by today’s time.