Supernatural anime series
Judging by the continued popularity of Studio Ghibli’s Spirited Away, it’s safe to say that people are interested in spooky supernatural stuff when it comes to anime. However, Spirited Away isn’t the only supernatural anime that can give you a good dose of the spooks.
We’ve selected 13 supernatural anime series covering different aspects of paranormal activity, from ghosts and vampires to unnatural events and supernatural abilities.
1. Zombieland Saga (2018)
Image credit: IMDb
Sakura Minamoto dreams of becoming an idol, but unfortunately, reality hits her like a truck – literally – and she dies in a traffic accident. 10 years later, Sakura wakes up as a zombie in Saga Prefecture with no recollection of her past.
Image credit: Netflix
Koutarou Tatsumi, a producer-cum-necromancer, tells her that he has resurrected her and 6 other girls from different eras in order to revitalise Saga through the introduction of an idol group. The 7 zombie girls debut as an idol group called Franchouchou, under the management of Koutarou.
Image credit: Recommend Me Anime
Zombieland Saga is an unusual idol story where 7 zombie girls band together to save Saga Prefecture while hiding their zombie identities and trying to find out about their past lives.
Genre: Comedy, Supernatural, Music
Length: 1 season, 12 episodes
Available on: Crunchyroll, Netflix
2. Toilet-bound Hanako-kun (2020)
Image credit: IMDb
Toilet-bound Hanako-kun follows the story of Nene Yashiro, an insecure high school student who is afraid that no one will love her. Due to her interest in the occult, she believes in the urban legends dubbed the “Seven Mysteries” and manages to summon Hanako-san, a spirit said to haunt toilets.
Image credit: IMDb
However, Nene soon realises that the rumours about Hanako-san are baseless when Hanako turns out to be a boy. Nene ends up becoming his assistant after a turn of events causes her to become spiritually bound to him.
Image credit: IMDb
Together, they help destroy evil supernatural beings and spread other occult rumours in order to maintain the harmony between spirits and humans. Through this process, Nene discovers Hanako’s dark past as well as her connection to the spirit realm.
Genre: Shounen, Comedy, Supernatural, School life
Length: 1 season, 12 episodes
Available on: Netflix
3. Future Diary (2011 – 2012)
Image credit: IMDb
Future Diary follows the story of Yukiteru Amano, a daydreaming loner that records his daily life on his cell phone. His only friends are a figment from his imagination – Deus Ex Machina, the god of time and space, and Murumuru, Deus’ servant.
One day, Deus reveals himself to be a real god and throws Yukiteru into a survival game where 12 individuals who possess a Future Diary – a cell phone capable of predicting the future up to 90 days ahead – will have to kill each other in order to become Deus’ successor.
Image credit: TVOvermind
Reluctantly participating in this game, Yukiteru later teams up with Yuno Gasai, his classmate and an obsessive stalker, who is also involved in this kill-or-be-killed battle royale. It’s a race against time for all 12 individuals, with their respective motives for participating, to use their wits and combat skills to emerge victoriously.
Genre: Action, Mystery, Supernatural, Thriller, Shounen, Psychological
Length: 1 season, 26 episodes + 1 OVA
Available on: Netflix
4. Another (2012)
Image credit: IMDb
In 1972, a student named Misaki from Class 3-3 of Yomiyama North Middle School died halfway through the school term. Since then, the town of Yomiyama has been shrouded in fear and mystery as supernatural phenomena occur one after the other.
Image credit: Anime-Planet
26 years after the incident, Kouichi Sakakibara transfers into Class 3-3 of Yomiyama North. He quickly discovers the weird atmosphere surrounding the class and how all of them ignore Mei Misaki, their classmate. Despite being warned, Kouichi interacts with Mei and finds out the reason for Class 3-3’s strange behaviour.
Every year after the 1972 incident, students of Class 3-3 and their relatives will end up in various fatal and gruesome accidents. After Kouichi and Mei realise that these supernatural deaths are related to “Misaki of 1972”, they seek to find a way to stop this tragedy once and for all before they and everyone else gets killed.
Image adapted from: Rebloggy
Another is a thought-provoking, emotional, and highly intense mystery that will have you on the edge of your seats throughout because of how unpredictable it is.
Genre: Mystery, Horror, Supernatural, Thriller, School life
Length: 1 season, 12 episodes + 1 OVA
Available on: Crunchyroll
5. Kokoro Connect (2012)
Image credit: IMDb
Kokoro Connect follows the story of 5 students – Taichi Yaegashi, Iori Nagase, Himeko Inaba, Yui Kiriyama, and Yoshifumi Aoki – who make up the Student Cultural Society. The 5 starkly different individuals get dragged into a supernatural phenomenon by an entity called Heartseed, and they begin to randomly switch bodies with each other.
Image credit: Wallpaper Abyss
As the 5 friends learn to cope with the strange phenomena of exchanging bodies, they grow ever closer. However, as they gain more knowledge of each other’s lives, hidden secrets and emotional scars are revealed, forcing all of them to learn how to overcome traumas and mature as individuals.
Genre: Romantic comedy, Supernatural, Slice of life, Drama, School life
Length: 1 season, 17 episodes
Available on: Netflix, Crunchyroll
6. Re-Kan! (2015)
Image credit: IMDb
Hibiki Amami is anything but a normal high school girl – she has a sixth sense that allows her to see and interact with ghosts. Instead of being afraid of the supernatural, Hibiki is friendly towards the apparitions and always offers to help them out if they are in need.
Image credit: Capsule Computers
Re-kan! follows the story of Hibiki as she transfers to Hanazuka Prefectural High School and befriends both humans and ghosts there.
Genre: Comedy, Supernatural, Seinen, School life
Length: 1 season, 13 episodes
Available on: Crunchyroll
7. The Devil is a Part-Timer! (2013)
Image credit: IMDb
The demon lord, Satan, brought his demon army to conquer the land of Ente Isla, but his efforts were foiled by the hero Emilia. Satan was then forced to make a hasty retreat through a dimensional portal. However, a glitch in the portal causes Satan and his loyal general, Alsiel, to end up stranded in the human world.
Image credit: Wallpaper Cave
To make ends meet, Satan starts working at a fast-food restaurant called MgRonald’s. He takes on the identity of Sadao Maou and begins to give up on his quest of conquering Ente Isla. Later, he encounters a girl called Emi Yusa who turns out to be his enemy, the hero Emilia.
This causes a hilarious series of events to occur between the two as Emilia continues her pursuit of defeating Satan once and for all. The Devil is a Part-Timer is a funny take on mundane human activities, such as working part-time jobs and paying bills, from the perspective of a once all-mighty demon lord.
Genre: Demons, Romance, Supernatural, Comedy, Fantasy
Length: 1 season, 13 episodes
Available on: Netflix, Crunchyroll
8. Blood Lad (2013)
Image credit: IMDb
Blood Lad follows the story of Staz Charlie Blood, a powerful vampire who governs the Eastern District of the Demon World, and Fuyumi Yanagi, a Japanese girl who happens to wander into the demon world through a rogue dimensional portal.
Image credit: IMDb
Staz is rumoured to be a bloodthirsty and vicious demon, but he is, in fact, a lazy otaku in love with Japanese culture and has little to no interest in human blood. So, when Fuyumi accidentally appears in his demon territory, he is beyond ecstatic as this could be his chance to explore the human world.
However, his hopes are immediately dashed when Fuyumi is comically killed and turns into a wandering ghost. Staz later vows to resurrect Fuyumi and thus begins their adventure of finding a way to make Fuyumi human again.
Image credit: IMDb
Blood Lad may be an anime known for its parodies of other anime series like Dragon Ball Z and its hilarious portrayal of the supernatural, but it is also a nice take on the relationship between a vampire and a human and how much they can complement each other.
Genre: Action, Comedy, Supernatural, Demons, Vampire, Seinen
Length: 1 season, 10 episodes + 1 OVA
Available on: Netflix, Crunchyroll
9. Haunted Junction (1997)
Image credit: MyAnimeList
Saito High is a school filled with paranormal phenomena due to their principal, whose hobby involves collecting occult paraphernalia. Due to the high frequency of supernatural activities, Haruto Houjo, Kazumi Ryodo, and Mutsuki Asahina, students who make up the Holy Student Council, are in charge of protecting the people from spirits and keeping the school in line.
However, the trio are eccentrics in their own right – Haruto wishes to lead a normal life despite having the ability to summon spirits, Kazumi is easily possessed by spirits and has a weird obsession with the Toilet spirit, Hanako-san, and Mutsuki is an aggressive exorcism master who likes to tease boys.
As the Holy Student Council, they get involved in many wacky paranormal situations.
Genre: Comedy, Supernatural, Shounen, School life
Length: 1 season, 12 episodes
Available on: DVD
10. Bakemonogatari (2009 – 2010)
Image credit: IMDb
3rd-year high school student Koyomi Araragi manages to survive a vampire attack with the assistance of a strange man called Meme Oshino. Koyomi was turned into a vampire during the attack, but has since been turned back into a human. Although human again, Koyomi retains some supernatural abilities, such as his superhuman healing prowess and enhanced vision.
Image credit: IMDb
An accidental encounter with Hitagi Senjougahara, where Koyomi catches her when she falls down a flight of stairs, causes him to discover that she is apparently weightless. He finds out that her predicament is the result of a supernatural occurrence and insists on helping her out despite Hitagi’s reluctance.
Bakemonogatari is a tale involving various supernatural activities with demons and gods as Koyomi attempts to help those suffering from supernatural issues get rid of them.
Genre: Supernatural, Vampire, Romance, Mystery
Length: 1 season, 15 episodes
Available on: Netflix, Crunchyroll
11. Mushishi (2005 – 2014)
Image credit: IMDb
Mushishi is set in an imaginary timeline in between the Edo and Meiji periods and is based on multiple East Asian legends. In this world, there are supernatural beings, known as Mushi, that roam the mortal world and sometimes cause problems for humans.
Not everyone can perceive the Mushi. Ginko, the main protagonist who possesses the ability to see and interact with the Mushi, employs himself as a Mushi Master. He then travels around the world, conducting research on the Mushi and helping to cure or diagnose Mushi-related diseases and phenomena.
Genre: Adventure, Slice of life, Supernatural, Mystery, Historical, Fantasy, Seinen
Length: 2 seasons, 26 (S1), 20 (S2)
Available on: Netflix, Crunchyroll
12. Charlotte (2015)
Image credit: IMDb
Yuu Otosaka has a secret – he can slip into people’s minds and fully control their bodies for 5 seconds at a time. Taking advantage of this ability, Yuu has been using it to score the highest grades in school, but his life turns upside down when he gets caught by Nao Tomori while using his ability to cheat.
Image credit: IMDb
Afterwards, he and his sister Ayumi get blackmailed to transfer to Hoshinoumi Academy, a school that specifically teaches students with supernatural abilities. As the student council president of Hoshinoumi Academy, Nao is on a mission to track down teenagers who are abusing their supernatural abilities for their own selfish benefit.
Image adapted from: aybuke
Reluctantly, Yuu joins in Nao’s schemes and learns that things might not be as simple as he thinks. They get dragged into a series of events involving supernatural phenomena that could potentially risk their lives.
Genre: Drama, School life, Supernatural
Length: 1 season, 13 episodes + 1 OVA
Available on: Netflix, Crunchyroll
13. No Game No Life (2014)
Image credit: IMDb
No Game No Life follows the story of hikikomori (recluse) step-siblings, Sora and Shino, who are expert gamers under the username “Blank”. One day, they are challenged to a game of chess by Tet, a god from another dimension. They are offered to live in a world that revolves around games after winning. They accept the offer and are instantly transported to Disboard.
Image credit: IMDb
In Disboard, all forms of conflict and differences are resolved through betting with games where rules and rewards are magically enforced. They later travel to Elkia, a nation inhabited by humans, and compete in a game tournament to earn the right to represent Elkia and challenge Disboard’s non-human residents in various betting games.
Image credit: Netflix
Now, Sora and Shino have finally found a reason to put their expert game skills and intelligence to good use – to conquer all 16 species in Disboard, challenge Tet, and become the new rulers of this fantasy world where games are everything.
Genre: Game, Adventure, Supernatural, Comedy, Fantasy
Length: 1 season, 12 episodes
Available on: Crunchyroll
Supernatural anime series for lovers of the paranormal
Now that Halloween is approaching, it’s the perfect time to binge-watch supernatural anime series and get your spook on. Get ready to be spirited away from reality into a world of fantasy where paranormal events are the norm by watching the supernatural anime series on our list.
Check out these other articles:
- Award-winning Japanese animated films
- Upcoming anime in Fall 2020
- Nostalgic anime series from the 2000s
- Anime inspired by Japanese myths
- Japanese urban legends
Cover image adapted from: Funimation, Medium, Capsule Computers, Jibaku Shounen Hanako-kun Wiki
Drop us your email so you won't miss the latest news.
