Forum - View topicHorror anime
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Sun King
 Posts: 68 Location: Virginia |
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So I love horror movies. The 'Evil Dead' films, the 'night of the living dead' movies 'Re-animator' and so on. I like B movies, semi-softcore porn gorefests, and hollywood flicks. I love old horror movies, new horror movies, and everything inbetween. When I go to the Blockbuster, I immediately go to the horror section to see if they have any "classics" in stock that I've missed. The problem is that I've never seen an anime horror show.
Yeah, I know. 'Vampire Hunter D', right? As awesome as it is, it's an action movie with monsters. 'Monster'? suspense/thriller. 'Blood: The Last Vampire', 'Wicked City' , 'Hellsing', 'Devilman/lady/Demon Lord Dante' all strive to have a creepy atmosphere, but they're all about vampires/monsters duking it out, and are more action flicks with horror overtones than anything else. 'Elfin Lied' and 'Higurashi no Naku Koroni' were shocking, sure, but that's as far as it went. So where are the gritty, edge-of-your-seat, important-characters-die-one-by-one-in-gruesome-ways anime? As far as I know, the same goes for manga, too. In American comics we have 'The Walking Dead' and '30 Days of Night'. In Japanese comics, there's nothing like these titles. Sure, 'Battle Royale' and 'Berserk' are wonderfuly gory, but where's the horror? I want to read a manga with great, three dimentional characters that die terrible deaths like in 'The Walking Dead'. To get back to anime, most others I didn't meantion would fall into the ghost story category. And they're okay, but I fail to find them compelling or interesting past a few episodes. 'Requiem from the Darkness' is a good example of this. I don't care how many vengeful ghosts they feature, these shows are do not technically fit into the horror genre. I love anime, and I love horror movies, and I want to see the two combined in a way I would enjoy. I'm talking serial killers, zombies, satanic cults, you name it I wanna see it. Does anyone else feel the same way? And I feel like I'm trying to list too many examples, but I just don't want someone responding with a 'but you haven't seen (insert random supernatural anime) yet!" response. |
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Eruanna
 Posts: 451 Location: Canada |
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The only really "horror" anime I think Iv seen is Petite Cosette, which, while it is damn creepy, isnt really scary. Mostly I think your right, there just isnt much anime that can compete with actually horror movies. But dont forget that The Ring was based on a manga, as was The Grudge. (I think?)
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undeadben
 Posts: 1212 Location: West Texas |
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I'm not a big fan of horror anime so I don't know if I'm a good judge, and I don't know where you'd classify Paranoia Agent, but I think this is probably a pretty good representation of the horror and psychological genre. It is sometimes absurd but in a way that fits the story. It's also sometimes amusing but more often dark and creepy with a well woven plot that really kept me guessing.
And another Kon anime, the movie Perfect Blue, is also pretty good in the horror department. Very intense and suspenseful at parts, and I don't know about others, but I had a hard time figuring it out. Just when I thought I knew what was going on something would happen that just completely took me off guard. |
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Luhrgoyf
 Posts: 2 |
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Offtopic: doing the *first post here* dance
Ontopic: Can't say that I have watched a pure horror anime but one that freaked me out a bit is Narutaru (not to be confused with naruto lol). It starts out as a kiddy series but soon gets a really creepy air about it. Gets less creepy as the plot gets clearer but I still recommend it. |
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EngrishFan
Posts: 75 Location: Somewhere in chilly Canada |
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In my opinion, the lack of any recognizable horror anime (or animation in general) stems from the inherent limitations of animation in general. Live-action horror films rely on a combination of (usually) dark atmospheres and creating a suspension of disbelief amongst the audience to create that feeling of dread, something most animation has trouble trying to replicate. It's kinda hard to feel the same level of fear if we have to identify with a 2D drawing than it is with a living, breathing actor, isn't it?
I'm not saying it isn't possible to create a good animated horror, but we may have to look at other means to do it instead, CG animation for instance. Look at videogames like the Resident Evil (prior to 4) and Silent Hill series. Both manage to scare the living daylights out of many who play them partially because of the direct control aspects of gaming but also because they can create incredibly unsettling environments and situations. Personally, I think Satoshi Kon may be the one who can probably most easily (in relative terms) create a convincing horror anime. His two works previously mentioned in this thread (Perfect Blue and Paranoia Agent) both definately have the right touch in terms of blurring the lines between fantasy and reality, though I would still classify them more as psychological thrillers than slashers. ... That almost sounded like a rant, didn't it? Maybe I could fatten it up and send it to Zac or something... |
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Key
Moderator
 Posts: 18385 Location: Indianapolis, IN (formerly Mimiho Valley) |
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I agree with EngrishFan. There aren't many true horror anime out there because of all the possible genres, horror is the most difficult to pull off with animation. Even the most shocking actions just don't carry the weight that they would in live action, so an anime has to depend entirely on mood and creepiness, complement by disturbing content, for effect, and that's not easy to do.
Despite its brighter moments, Elfen Lied probably accomplishes this about as well as any anime series. Divergence Eve is also surprisingly effective. Tokko is being pitched as such, but I haven't had a chance to see it yet. |
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jetz
 Posts: 2148 Location: Manila, Philippines |
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[quote="Key"]Despite its brighter moments, Elfen Lied probably accomplishes this about as well as any anime series. [quote]
I agree. In the beginning I wasn't afraid to watch Elfen Lied because I don't mind gore at all, but I think it's the creepy music that got to me, especially the last episodes. Maybe I'm easy to scare, but after watching it I couldn't sleep, and I can't look out the window, fearing that I would find a creepy diclonius girl walking outside waiting to tear my limbs out. 
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The Human Spider
Posts: 334 |
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I'm a big fan of horror too, though for me it's mostly fiction, and I noticed the same thing. I've seen more than half the shows mentioned in the thread so far, and I'd say all of them are shows with some horrific/supernatural elements which are secondary to elements from other genres(usually action or suspense)rather than pure genre horror, where the generation of the atmosphere and emotion of horror is pervasive and at the forefront(though of all the shows mentioned so far I think HIGURASHI, at it's best, comes closest to genre horror.) I think the problem is that there might not be a lot of horror "specialists--i.e. artists who have seen a lot of horror movies, read a lot of horror fiction, and are familiar with all the major writers and directors, and know the history of and are dedicated to the horror genre-- working in anime as there are in horror film and fiction. I've had better luck with horror manga. I think Junji Ito is one of the best horror writers around right now, in or out of manga. His UZUMAKI is great pseudo-Lovecraftian weird-horror that involves curses, mutation, monsters, and obsession, and his GYO is a very unique take on the zombie + end-of-the-world subgenre. Hideshi Hino is great if you're into more TALES FROM THE CRYPT style horror with lots of gore, irony, and black humor. |
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Ryvius213
Posts: 291 |
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Some episodes of xxxHolic have managed to scare me, particularly episode 10 where spoiler[everyone went to Doumeki's house to tell ghost stories]. Watching it at night while everyone else is asleep makes it even scarier.
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namelissis
 Posts: 219 |
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Actually, I think that there are a few horror themed animes?
Or is it just me who thinks that! Well, I don't consider it scary but I think Gakkou no Kaidan is partly a horror anime! I mean, it has all these horror elements in every episodes... It can range to ghouls, to ghosts to poltergeists and other more... But to say it's purely horror, it's way wrong... This anime is really more lika a combination of Scooby Doo(except they are ghosts not in disguise) and Are You afraid of the Dark(minus the storytelling part)... I think that's pretty much it... Also, I have a hypothesis that maybe Japanese didn't make too much horror themed anime because many Japanese novels are horror-themed! We can also see that Japanese needs not to make an anime about horror since they make high grossing and scary horror movies...(I'll spank in the head those who doesnt know the Ring and Juon: The Grudge)... Basically, why animate if you can bring this into a idea in the real setting... I have to admit that I really like Japanese Horror Movies.. They are scary and trivial!(Even though they have sometimes a crappy production)! |
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selenta
 Subscriber Posts: 1774 Location: Seattle, WA |
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To be perfectly honest, I'd have to agree with most people that it is nigh impossible for animated horror to match up to its live-action counterparts, particularly in TV series format.
That said, the only truely horrifying scenes I can think of was from Ghost Hunt. The show took its sweet time developing the characters and introducing you to the world, and while that was entertaining and all, the last two arcs I've seen are awesome. I haven't seen the last arc yet... but that's only because I've been waiting for an appropriate time, as it is imperative that each arc be watched in one sitting for full effect. During the most recent arc I decided to actually take a 10 minute break between episodes so I could turn on the lights and calm down a bit. Again though, if you try to match up and compare any anime horror to a movie like The Ring or any of its counterparts, you're probably going to be sorely disappointed. EDIT: btw, Tokko is terrible in almost every way an anime can be. I would wish it only upon my worst enemy. And if it was supposed to be "horror", then it's even worse than I thought it was. |
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bonbonsrus
 Posts: 1537 Location: Michigan, USA |
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Darn my curious nature, I want to see this really bad now thanks to that description. I have another friend trying to tell me how much I need to see this... I normally don't watch true horror movies in live action. They give me nightmares. If I see something scary before bed, I have to watch something light-hearted/funny to get to sleep. My sister recently described a scene from Saw to me which I had avoided and I had a horrific nightmare from it. Now, having said that, I have seen almost all the animes listed here that fall into the anime horror genre. I didn't have that effect from any of them. It is true, anime has a different effect on me than live action. If I saw something like Elfen Lied done in a live action, I would certainly have nightmares. I guess Shadow Star Narutaru came the closest for some disturbing moments, but not really horror. Ya know what else anime doesn't have I love I in live action? Musicals! Some things are better I think the way they are. |
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Key
Moderator
Posts: 18385 Location: Indianapolis, IN (formerly Mimiho Valley) |
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Innumerable American productions have proven that musicals can be done with animation, but that's a style of production that has apparently never caught on in Japan. That is one place where American animation has an overwhelming edge. But that's getting off topic, so I won't comment further. |
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fighterholic
Posts: 9193 |
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The Ring and Juon: The Grudge would be some of the scariest movies I've seen from Japan. Wouldn't Higurashi no Nakukoroni have been really good at horror, if not suspenseful?
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KyuuA4
 Posts: 1361 Location: America, where anime and manga can be made |
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Hm... anime characters who sing during an episode... that doesn't happen too often, does it? 
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