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The arrival of summer often means the arrival of the blockbuster movies and series. These often involve the horror flicks, things that give you reason to wrap your arms around a loved one as you screech. In countries such as Japan, summer has arrived with its promise of adventure and its associated scares. Unfortunately summer has passed in our country, and our horror season falls in October, before Halloween.
But if you happen to enjoy things that go bump in the night, and things that shake, rattle and roll, this is a great season for you, with five titles to choose from. One can follow them right now through various means, or decide to wait until Halloween for a great watch-fest. Almost all these series experiment with and combine several genres. They are an enjoyable way to raise the hairs on your nape while having a good time watching anime for all the right reasons.
A country doctor deals with several cases of anemia in close succession. But the anemia is not the usual kind, and the people die soon after they are noted with it. Coincidence, serial killings, or something else? Other people in the village also try to make sense of it, as one victim is a happy high school student with no reason to die, mysterious dandy foreigners move into a presumed-to-be-haunted castle, and the village priest is haunted by what seems like a girl ghost.
Shiki is part of the noitaminA block (for anime geared to college students and young professionals) and based on a manga by Fuyumi Ono and Ryu Fujisaki. It is presented like a murder mystery with a horror component, using detective-drama and horror-series tropes with highly-stylized character designs. It also treats the situation like a medical epidemic, a fresh take on a well-treaded concept. J-pop star and vampire enthusiast Gackt has a recurring minor role in this series, but he is icing on the cake that is this well-constructed anime. If you’re a little sick of the Twilight-style bloodsuckers and want your vampires in a different, intelligent way, this is up your alley.
Everything was fine in Tokyo until something began to infect the populace. The infection first kills the person then turns him into an undead being, stoppable only by bashing its head in. A small group of high school students led by Takashi Komuro are left to deal with the zombie infestation.
Based on a manga by Daisuke Satou and Shoji Sato, this series pushes the accepted limits of the television censor board. It is filled to the brim with broad chests, high skirts, fine legs, and lacy underwear, much unapologetic violence, and all the blood and gore from the undead. It is what makes it popular, though. The animation, apart from the fanservice, is very stylized with unusual camera angles and wide shots. Fans of zombie flicks and games will have a great time with this one.
The Lord of Pandemonium, the Nurarihyon, is a demon leader of traditional Japanese night spirits (yokai). The Nurarihyon is supposed to be inherited now by the third-generation head of the Nura clan. But this clan leader is a nice and somewhat geeky junior-high boy, Rikuo Nuro, who only wants a peaceful, ordinary life. He is three-fourth human and one-fourth yokai, doing good deeds in efforts to keep his yokai aspect checked. Exactly how Rikuo is supposed to rule over at least a hundred demons (ranging from the cute and harmless to the dark and dangerous) and the ten thousand from their entire organization is anyone’s guess. It is also the concern of the underworld, as a yokai invasion becomes imminent, and it is unsure if the Nurarihyon will maintain control.
One of the rising stars of Weekly Shonen Jump as a manga by Hiroshi Shiibashi, Nurarihyon no Mago also follows a pattern the manga magazine is known for: the story of a reluctant boy required to be a leader and to battle forces beyond his control. Nonetheless, it does a good job with it. The series is also filled with likeable characters, both human and yokai. It is a series geared toward school-age children, so if you as an older viewer just want a happy series with some dark moments, try this.
Smart and domineering Maya is the heir to a private school specializing in the occult…but claims she doesn’t believe in it one bit. Bungling and nervous spoon-bender Bunmei is the most hapless time traveler, sent to prevent an alien invasion. Apparently the key to saving the world of 2012 rests in the area of Waldstein Academy, the paranormal school Maya just inherited. Girl meets boy in 1999, many sparks fly, many injuries are had. Of course some world-saving is also had. But with a strong personality and an unreliable one working together, and with the forces of the not-of-this-world and the out-of-this-world interfering, how is that going to happen? Also, in a twist from usual anime – how many times will the spunky girl save the hopeless boy before the last episode? No weakling princess waiting for a knight in shining armor here!
Sekimatsu Occult Gakuen is placed in the Anime no Chikara block, an evening animation block featuring anime with new and/or controversial concepts. Unlike the others, this anime is not an adaptation. It is a mad mix of science fiction, horror, and comedy, with some romance added for spice. Everything falls in place through realistic animation by A-1 Pictures. No matter your persuasion about the genres involved, it is hard to not like Maya and Bunmei, to want to find out if they work through their differences, a timeless but effective plot this series uses well.
Alois Trancy is master of a different royal house, a carefree and sadistic boy, ready to inflict pain on the househelp and all who oppose him. The butler Claude Faustus endures this with unnatural calm, suavity, and aplomb. By now people know that Ciel Phantomhive and butler Sebastian Michaelis disappeared under mysterious circumstances. But a traveler comes to the Trancy mansion on a rainy night and proves that their assumptions are wrong.
An uproar initially was heard throughout the internet about this second season, because its producers stated that it will feature non-manga characters and a non-manga storyline, and the manga’s creator Yana Toboso confirmed it. This was interpreted to mean that Kuroshitsuji’s second season would be a filler arc without any of its original characters, an unprecedented and sacrilegious concept. It raised the ire of an international fandom. Everyone was tricked by a smart marketing campaign, though. The fans started to like the new butler and master team, and were appeased when the first episode revealed the trick. Retaining the artistic animation and quality character designs, Kuroshitsuji II continues the comedic yet gothic story of dark arts and black magic, in powerful and well-dressed Victorian England. It is best to start at the first season if you have not done that.
Even if you are not into supernatural anime as a preference, you might still want to give them a try. These are considered some of the better offerings of the season, with higher animation quality and better stories. They are titles to try when you want something to watch while stuck at home on a rainy day, and may well keep you awake at night, wondering whether the truth is out there or if you see dead people.
Photos from:
http://mazur51.files.wordpress.com/2009/12/shiki_anime_announcement-450x339.jpg
http://subbedanime.com/wp-content/uploads/nurarihyon-no-mago-178x250.jpg
http://www.electricsistahood.com/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2010/07/occult-academy.jpg
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