[Top 25] Horror Anime Villains
25. The Major (Hellsing Ultimate)
There exist creatures of darkness and evil that plague the night, devouring any human unfortunate enough to be caught in their grasp. On the other side is Hellsing, an organization dedicated to destroying these supernatural forces that threaten the very existence of humanity. At its head is Integra Fairbrook Wingates Hellsing, who commands a powerful military and spends her life fighting the undead.
Integra's vast army, however, pales in comparison with her ultimate weapon: the vampire Alucard, who works against his own kind as an exterminator for Hellsing. With his new vampire servant, Seras Victoria, at his side, Alucard must battle not only monsters but all those who stand to oppose Hellsing, be they in the guise of good or evil.
In a battle for mankind's survival, Hellsing Ultimate proves that appearances are not all they may seem, and sometimes the greatest weapon can come in the form of one's worst nightmare.
A first Lieutenant of SS in WWII, the Major was ordered by Hitler to lead the project of creating an army of Nazi vampires. Upon the defeat brought by Alucard and Walter in Poland, he and his officers escaped to South America. The original purpose of the Vampire project was to ensure Germany's victory in WWII, but he now has his own agenda, preaching of endless war and destruction, and seems to pay no heed to who will be victorious.
He claims to be human, although he has somehow managed to retain his youth since WWII, possibly by alterations done by Doc. He was a very vocal Nazi up until his death at the hands of Integra, and although the Major died without regrets, long-term events would prove that he had ultimately failed. Far from being the seed of a world-consuming war, Millennium's attack on London was eventually classified as no more than a terrorist incident ("The Zeppelin Affair") despite the death toll numbering over 3 million.
Another vampire anime that I actually found better than Shiki. I thought the animation was cleaner, I thought the characters had a bit more depth, and I simply liked the premise more. After all, Van Helsing always was the ultimate vampire slayer and nemesis. I always thought the story had more substance, and that when there was violence, it was a lot cleaner. Overall, another great vampire anime for you.
24. Diva (Blood+)
Saya Otonashi is an ordinary girl living an ordinary life with her adoptive family in Okinawa City. Her only characteristics outside of the norm are the fact that she has constant anemia and has no memories of the previous year. But Saya’s past comes back to her in an instant when she’s attacked by a creature that feeds on human blood.
When things seem at their bleakest, a man named Haji appears at her side and temporarily defeats the creature. Things seem safer, but when Haji forces Saya to drink the creature’s blood, Saya kills the monster with no problem and uses her own blood as a source.
Says learns of an organization named Red Shield, founded to defeat the hellish beasts. Saya and Haji now have to work together to defeat the monsters and rescue Saya’s past.
Diva is Saya's twin sister and the story's main antagonist, and Diva was born in 1833.
She provides the Delta67 (derived from her blood) which is used to transform people into Chiropterans. When she was born she was kept in an isolated tower as part of an experiment. Because of that, she hated Joel, such that when Saya freed her she slaughtered him and the people at his birthday party. Her isolation left her childish and socially inept as well as ignorant of the moral ramifications of her actions.
She eventually rapes Riku and kills him. As a result of her attack on Riku, Diva becomes pregnant. She does not give birth for over a year when Amshel cuts the cocoons out of her body.
The fight ends later on as Diva and Saya pierce one another with their swords, which each had coated with their own blood. Saya is unharmed by the attack due to Diva's blood having lost its power when she became pregnant. Diva begins to crystallize from the effects of Saya's blood. Her babies emerge from their cocoons and Diva reaches for them, imagining herself with her daughters and smiling at the vision before dying. It is implied that Diva had long been seeking the unconditional love of a family, similar to Saya's.
The anime vampire community is a fan of Blood+, and it’s very easy to see why. Its story is lovely, and the characters interact well with it. They don’t feel separated at all, and everything about the two feels natural and well written. It’s definitely a jewel in the crest of the vampire genre.
23. Urado (Ghost Hunt)
While at school, Taniyama Mai and her friends like to exchange ghost stories. Apparently, there is an abandoned school building on their campus that is the center of many ghost stories. During the story, they are interrupted by a mysterious male figure. The person turns out to be Shibuya Kazuya, a 17-year-old who is president of the Shibuya Psychic Research Company. He was called by the principal to investigate the stories surrounding the abandoned school building.
The next day, on the way to school, Mai passes the school building in question. While examining a strange camera she spotted inside, she gets surprised by Kazuya's assistant. Unknowingly interfering with the investigation, Mai breaks the camera and Kazuya's assistant gets injured.
Kazuya forcefully hires Mai in order to pay for the camera and replace his injured assistant. From that point on, Mai begins to learn about the paranormal world and the profession of ghost hunting.
Urado, born Kaneyuki Miyama, was a monster and the main antagonist of The Bloodstained Labyrinth arc. In life, Kaneyuki Miyama was a wealthy man obsessed with prolonging his own life. He traveled the world searching for a way to cure the illness which had plagued him since childhood. During his travels, he became obsessed with Vlad the Impaler and Elizabeth Bathory. He began imitating Elizabeth Bathory: killing people and bathing in their blood. He also took on the name "Urado", stemming from "Vlad". Even in death, his spirit continued murdering young people for the purpose of extending his own life.
I liked Ghost Hunt because I did find parts of it funny. Especially in the beginning, the arguing everyone did on how to best exorcise the ghost they were hunting reminded me of a bunch of children on a stakeout. Of course, things get extremely creepy and dark from there, which I also enjoy, but the humor seems to be a nice touch. Also, Mai isn’t a damsel in distress by any means, and I think that adds to the charming personality that is her character.
22. Lucy (Elfen Lied)
Lucy is a special breed of human referred to as "Diclonius," born with a short pair of horns and invisible telekinetic hands that lands her as a victim of inhumane scientific experimentation by the government. However, once circumstances present her an opportunity to escape, Lucy, corrupted by the confinement and torture, unleashes a torrent of bloodshed as she escapes her captors.
During her breakout, she receives a crippling head injury that leaves her with a split personality: someone with the mentality of a harmless child possessing limited speech capacity. In this state of instability, she stumbles upon two college students, Kouta and his cousin Yuka, who unknowingly take an injured fugitive into their care, unaware of her murderous tendencies. This act of kindness will change their lives, as they soon find themselves dragged into the shadowy world of government secrecy and conspiracy.
As a child, Lucy bonded with a dog that was killed right in front of her by classmates, triggering her first killings. She loses all sense of empathy, killing without much concern, and acts somewhat sadistic, often torturing victims before killing them (such as Bandou and Nana, though she failed in killing them both). Towards the end of the series, however, she begins to show remorse for her actions, mainly towards Kohta, who lost his father and sister to her. Kohta was Lucy's childhood friend, though she didn't trust him when they first met. As they became friends, Lucy starts to have feelings towards him. She kills Kohta's father and sister out of jealousy when Kohta goes to a festival with his cousin Yuka, which causes Kohta immense mental trauma that makes him forget about her and his cousin.
Elfen Lied’s plotline isn’t just extreme in terms of violence, but it’s extreme in terms of ideas. Exploring themes such as abuse, social alienation, the value of one’s soul, and revenge, its intensity doesn’t stop at the visuals. Elfen Lied definitely has deep motifs to explore. The animation is exquisite. Everything is fluid, detailed, and overall very tasteful. The colors mesh well with each other, and nothing feels out of place in terms of design or anything else for that matter. Despite being incredibly graphic, the story itself remains engaging and quite pleasing to the audience in terms of the plot they got. It makes a lot of bold choices, and the series does well with that overall.
21. Griffith (Berserk)
Now branded for death and destined to be hunted by demons until the day he dies, Guts embarks on a journey to defy such a gruesome fate, as waves of beasts relentlessly pursue him. Steeling his resolve, he takes up the monstrous blade Dragonslayer and vows to exact vengeance on the one responsible, hunting down the very man he once looked up to and considered a friend.
Along the way, he encounters some unlikely allies, such as a small elf named Puck, and Isidro, a young thief looking to learn swordsmanship from the former mercenary. As the ragtag group slowly comes together after having decided to join Guts in his quest, they will face incredible danger, unlike anything they have ever experienced before.
Griffith is the main antagonist of the series. He was the founder and leader of the mercenary unit known as the Band of the Hawk, named for his helmet which was forged in the shape of a Hawk's head.
Extraordinarily charismatic, intelligent, and handsome, his skill with his sabre and tactics gives him and his band the reputation of invincibility, making him the favored choice of the Midland King, who was locked in a century-long war with the Empire of Chuder.
Believing that he is destined for greater things than the average man, Griffith is willing to sacrifice everything for the dream of his own kingdom and only values others so far as they are useful to him. The one exception seems to be Guts and Casca, both of whom he confides to in private moments. The source of his ambition is a Behelit given to him by a fortune teller she claimed was "The Egg of the King," which could lead an average person to become King himself.
Speaking of the story, another great aspect. It’s adventurous, entertaining, and absolutely never leaves you bored. Watching Berserk will take you to a fantasy world where you’ve easily never been in all your days of watching anime, making it highly interesting. The characters are complex, well developed, and have distinct personalities from one another. Their interactions and relationships serve to better further the story itself instead of hindering it like some anime characters do with each other.
20. Koichi Shidou (Highschool Of The Dead)
Highschool of the Dead is set in present-day Japan, beginning as the world is struck by a deadly pandemic that turns humans into zombies, euphemistically referred to by the main characters as "Them" (奴ら, Yatsu-ra). The story follows a group of high school students and the school's nurse as they deal with the worldwide catastrophic event known as the "Outbreak". As the cast tries to survive the zombie apocalypse, they must also face the additional threats of societal collapse, in the form of dangerous fellow survivors, and the possible decay of their own moral codes.
Starting from high school, the students escape into town where they must deal with a corrupt teacher and his students. They check their homes for survivors and pick up a little girl and a dog. Later, they hold up at a mall, travel through a police station, and eventually make their way to an elementary school that is supposedly a safe zone.
Koichi is Class 3A's teacher. Rei Miyamoto is afraid and is disgusted by him and Saeko Busujima says his name with a scowl, showing that he apparently is a sadistic and villainous character. Both girls have good reasons to do so as we see him leaving behind a student who has sprained his ankle and even kicking him back towards a group of zombies chasing them. He then makes a speech about how weaklings do not deserve to exist.
He is seen to keep his followers in line through intimidation, forcing them to follow him lest they incur his wrath or be left to fend for themselves. He sees the people that follow him as angels that will help usher in a new age since they are youthful teenagers. Shidō then accuses one of the teens on board the bus of showing weakness, the boy has shown concern for the welfare of his family. He convinces the rest of the group to eject the 'weak link' for the sake of the New World. Highlighting how far Shidō has turned the minds of his followers, they callously throw the teen off the bus, going so far as to bid him farewell as he attempts to get back on the bus, only to fail and be subsequently attacked by a zombie.
When threatened with a rifle-mounted bayonet by Rei, he seems scared witless until he realizes that no one would come to his aid before daring her to kill him. When she turns away and says that he is not even worth killing, his fury is shown. He is seen being ordered to leave the estate with the students he brought but ends up crashing into the forklift when the EMP Blast temporarily stops the bus, removing the concrete blocks which served as the barrier against the undead.
It goes beyond your typical zombie apocalypse storyline. The plot is stronger and moves beyond most zombie stereotypes, and it succeeds for the majority of the time. High school is often accused of having surface-level characters, but they aren’t that shallow. While it takes some getting used to, each character is unique in their own right and isn’t completely one-dimensional. And talk about one of the best soundtracks for an anime. The music fits very well, helps to drive the plot, and is overall very adventurous in terms of taste.
19. Rael (Noblesse: Awakening)
Centuries ago lived an ancient race of superior and immortal beings called the “Nobles.” They were considered by those around them to be rulers, gods, and above the common population. Among the Nobles population was the “Noblesse,” a powerful and mysterious being named Cadis Etrama di Raizel or “Rai” for short.
After awakening in South Korea after being asleep for 820 years, Rai decides to travel in search of his once loyal servant, Frankenstein, who he suddenly finds out is the director of Ye Ran High School. Desiring to learn more about modern human civilization, Rai enrolls in school. As he learns about the world around him, he also works to prevent humans and other supernatural entities from destroying the world as they know it.
At first, Rael displays a haughty, vile, immature, and arbitrary nature accompanied with a tremendous loathing for humans (it's speculated that the Union's first attack on Lukedonia centuries ago, which caused the demise of Regis' and Seira fathers, has something to do with Rael's hatred of humans). His bias is so great that he refused to cooperate with his human allies, threatening to kill them after the battle was over.
Rael was also overconfident and thought very highly of his abilities. He continuously underestimated the enemies even after losing to them. He has deep pride in being a Noble and could not tolerate anyone thinking they are above him.
Rael is also stubborn by nature, pursuing his love for Seira even after she had already rejected him many times.
After 10 years of imprisonment, he comes back and enters the human world to take Seira to their Lord as per order. During the fight between Frankenstein and him, it is revealed that Rael's father had secretly bequeathed him with a part of his soul weapon, realizing his younger son's dejection. He has managed to hide it from everyone, including his brother (even though Rajak already knew the secret all along). However, Rajak has seen Rael using the weapon while fighting against M-21, Tao, and Takeo in Lukedonia. Later, after the battle between Lord and Raizel was settled, Rael was said to be missing.
Noblesse is often criticized for being slightly too distant from the vampire genre, but that doesn’t stop it from being a really fascinating show with a stellar story. The show was off to a rocky start, but it managed to get back on its feet and become something great. The setting of South Korea is an interesting one, and well done in terms of portrayal. It’s nice to see an anime portrayed outside of Japan, and the setting is absolutely beautiful in terms of design.
18. Dietrich von Lohengrin (Trinity Blood)
Following Armageddon, an apocalyptic war, mankind faces yet another menace: vampires. The continuous confrontations between the races have split the world into separate factions. The race of vampires, Methuselah, are affiliated with the New Human Empire; whereas the humans, deemed Terrans by the vampires, make up the Vatican Papal State. Furthermore, extremist groups like the Rosenkreuz Order strive to rekindle a war, despite the factions' attempts to avoid direct conflict.
To combat terrorist organizations, the Vatican has implemented the AX unit. Led by Cardinal Caterina Sforza, the AX agents investigate vampire-related disturbances with hopes that the Terrans and the Methuselah will one day achieve peaceful coexistence. Amongst the AX unit is priest Abel Nightroad—a seemingly disoriented but gentle-hearted fellow, and a fierce vampire slayer on the battlefield. Joining the unit as his partner is a new agent, Sister Esther Blanchett, a brave and gentle young nun troubled with a tragic past. As the two grow closer, they begin to uncover signs of malicious schemes and dark forces working in the shadows. But the path they walk is riddled with misfortune that might just force them to confront the memories that plague their hearts.
Dietrich was born in a province in Germanicus, the son of a landowner. At a very young age, he was able to display his unusual intelligence, to the point that it scared the people of his town. He was not treated as a genius, but rather as a monster.
When Dietrich was six, his father tried to kill him because he grew scared of the little boy's apparent potential for evilness. He was unsuccessful, however as Dietrich was able to kill his entire family at the age of 6.
He used his father's lands to collect people from his own town and use them as his toys. He experimented on them and killed them.
When Dietrich was 7, Cain and Isaak visited his town by coincidence. When Dietrich saw Cain, Dietrich was amazed at the tremendous power that Cain possesses. This was the first time in his life that he found someone who is far more powerful than he is. Cain is a being that has surpassed good and evil, hence he became an element of pure destruction. At this time, Cain and Isaak already seized control of the ROSENCREUZ. Dietrich joined the Orden and at the age of 10, he was already in a high-ranking position.
Perhaps the encounter with Cain and Isaak had given the boy a purpose for his life, as he was rather aimless at the beginning. Dietrich is innocent but evil. That is why he makes a formidable enemy of Abel and Esther.
Also known as the Puppet Master, he has the ability to control the bodies of both human beings and vampires alike, even if the person has already died. Unlike most members of his order, he is a Terran (human), and believes that his involvement with the Rosenkreuz Orden has a great purpose for the world.
The animation is gorgeous, and the way Trinity Blood portrays its women characters isn’t particularly degrading or insulting. The characters and their interactions are done very well. The writing is intense, genre-fitting, and lovely. Everything about the plot is great, intriguing, and constantly keeps you on the edge of your seat.
17. Monokuma (Danganronpa)
Makoto Naegi, the protagonist, an average student selected to join Hope's Peak Academy, arrives at the school only to lose consciousness and later find himself trapped inside it, along with fourteen other students. There, a sadistic remote-controlled bear by the name of Monokuma announces that the students will be forced to live in the school forever, offering only one way to "graduate": murder another student and get away with it. When a crime scene is discovered, a "class trial" (学級裁判, gakkyū saiban) is held, in which the remaining students must discuss amongst themselves who the murderer is. If they successfully figure out who murdered the victim, the culprit alone will be executed. However, if they guess incorrectly, the culprit will be able to leave the school and everyone else will be executed.
Monokuma is the main antagonist of the series. A strange, remote-controlled teddy bear who proclaims himself to be the principal of Hope's Peak Academy and initiates a life of mutual killing amongst the students. He has various copies of himself throughout the Academy and will punish, ie. kill, anyone that attempts to attack him or otherwise break the academy's rules. Much like his name, he has a monochrome appearance, with one half looking like a cute white bear and the other half looking like a sadistic black bear.
Monokuma is known as the symbol of Junko Enoshima, the Ultimate Despair and the true main antagonist of the series. Junko was the mastermind behind Monokuma throughout the events of Killing School Life and Killing School Trip.
Danganronpa was already a successful, well-written video game. But it manages to pay great homage to the game by going at it the best they could and recreating scenes players know well. Even those who haven’t played the game can watch and enjoy it. The characters' personalities translated perfectly. Makoto is like Makoto, Aoi is like Aoi, Kyoko is like Kyoko and so on. The writers knew what they were doing when they created the show and cast the voice cast, and they did very well. The visuals are still beautiful despite being violent, and the colors are vibrant and pop with excitement. The character designs are on point, so combine that with them being killed and you have a true death fest on your hands.
16. Megumi Shimizu (Shiki)
Fifteen-year-old Megumi Shimizu dreamed of a glamorous life in the big city; however, her unexpected death in the quiet village of Sotoba marks the beginning of what appears to be a ferocious epidemic that turns the hot summer into a season of blood and terror. A young doctor named Toshio Ozaki begins to doubt the nature of the disease and comes to understand that to discover the truth, he must abandon his humanity. Meanwhile, Natsuno Yuuki, an antisocial youth from the city, is haunted by the sudden death of Megumi and must realize the pain of friendship in the face of his own tragedy. Toshio and Natsuno form an unlikely pair as they work together to save Sotoba before it transforms into a ghost town of vampires.
Megumi could be self-centered and often thought only about herself. She hated Sotoba and felt like she didn't belong there, made worse by the fact that the other villagers made fun of her for dressing nicely in a place like Sotoba. Though she acted polite and respectful to the villagers, she looked down at them for their lack of self-consciousness of how people outside the village would view them and would often get frustrated with their view that anything outside of Sotoba was weird and that her dreams to one day live in a big city were a waste of time and ridiculous.
She even looked down on her childhood friend Kaori, whom she viewed as an annoyance even though she acted politely to her as well. On the other hand, she acted delightful and shy when she was around or talking to Natsuno, whom she had a crush on, although he didn't feel the same way for her.
After she rose up as a Shiki, she became more malicious. Megumi seemed to easily accept attacking other villagers and enjoyed the new undead community that she was a part of, most likely because her life in a boring old village finally had something exciting and fresh to bring to the table.
She had no sympathy for any of the villagers, due to their constant mocking toward her and their unwanted criticism of her outfits. The only person she truly cared about was Natsuno Yuuki, probably because he was the only one who wanted to leave the village along with her. Their mockery soon turns into fear of the same young girl they used to laugh at as a habit after they find out about her rising like the rest of the undead.
Shiki goes beyond the average vampire story. It tells the tragic tale of survival in a world where one cannot easily distinguish between good and evil. Abandoned by God, the Shiki, as the vampires call themselves, have only their will to live as they clash with the fear of the paranoid/unbelieving villagers. Shiki explores the boundary that separates man from monster.
Shiki’s study on psychosis was what really got me to enjoy the show. I thought that the way almost everyone behaved like an anti-hero was interesting since we usually don’t have that. The art and animation, despite being gory, made me love it. So many parts of the show I didn’t see coming, so I couldn’t help but end up liking it. In the end, great anime to go check out.
15. Count D (Pet Shops Of Horror)
"Count D" is the mysterious caretaker of a pet shop in Los Angeles Chinatown. Each of D's rare pets, which all have strangely humanoid appearances, comes with a contract with three major points. These points differ for each animal sold (although each animal's contract includes not showing it to anyone), and breaking this contract usually results in dire (and sometimes disturbing) consequences for the buyer, for which the pet shop claims no liability.
Individual chapters of Pet Shop of Horrors are often based on these consequences and are each written as a stand-alone story, usually introducing one or more new characters in each chapter. With the exception of the main characters and their families, it is rare for a character to carry over to a later chapter, providing the series with a very episodic nature.
The detective Leon Orcot is used to tie the chapters together into an ongoing plot, usually in the form of a subplot within each chapter. Initially, he suspects D of malicious criminal activity and using the pet shop as a front for drug trafficking. As the series progresses, he learns more about the pet shop and D himself, entering into a strange friendship of sorts with D as he works to uncover the truth.
Count D appears more fond of animals than humans and displays a frightening love of the natural world. He usually appears calm and soft-spoken (except when he is fighting with Leon), though, towards the end of the series, his attitude changes. He enjoys drinking tea and has a special fondness for confectionery. In fact, Leon often bribes him with sweets and pastries in return for information. Although he often expresses disdain for humans and claims to hate human children, he eventually becomes very attached to Chris, and he also seems to hold his brother Leon in affection.
Of course, his criminal activity is confirmed, and he is revealed as the main villain.
The anime has an interesting and unique premise, with a fresh, original story befalling our main character. Not only that but there still manages to be great messages behind them despite the context. Pet Shop of Horrors didn’t have a huge budget, and it seemed as if the world was against it. Nope. It triumphed over hardship and overall, made for a critically acclaimed anime. The structure of the anime itself as an anthology makes it very attractive for viewers. It’s easy to jump in at any point and not get too lost, which means it’s even better.
14. Gaku Yashiro (Erased)
The story follows Satoru Fujinuma, a young man living in Chiba who somehow possesses an ability known as "Revival", which sends him back in time moments before a life-threatening incident, enabling him to prevent it from happening again. When his mother is murdered by an unknown assailant in his own home, Satoru's ability suddenly sends him back eighteen years into the past.
Now an elementary schooler in Hokkaido again, Satoru has given the opportunity to not only save his mother but also prevent a kidnapping incident that took the lives of three of his childhood friends: two classmates and one young girl studying at a different school nearby.
In the original timeline, Yashiro successfully murdered two children at Mikoto Elementary School—Kayo Hinazuki and Hiromi Sugita—as well as another student from Izumi Primary named Aya Nakanishi. After being a school teacher, he inherited his father-in-law's constituency and became a council member in his place. During his time as a council member, he is seen by Sachiko Fujinuma during his attempt to abduct another child. After Sachiko remembers his identity, she is immediately murdered and her son, Satoru, is framed for the murder.
In the third Revival, while Satoru is unaware of Yashiro's true identity as the murderer, he completely renders Yashiro's plans useless. Yashiro attempts to murder Satoru by drowning him in a car in which he is locked in tight by a seatbelt. Satoru somehow survives, and Yashiro is left entertained about Satoru's persistence. Satoru goes into a coma for 15 years, and Yashiro watches over him until he wakes up again. Upon Satoru's awakening, Yashiro again tries to frame Satoru for murder, only to be caught by a plan formulated by Satoru.
Despite being a popular and sometimes overused plot device, Erased utilizes the writing concept of a time loop in order to play with their main character’s head and to help give him a personality. It doesn’t let stereotyping get in the way. Even though Erased is a violent anime, it isn’t violent enough to lose the attention of its audience when it comes to grasping the true message of the show. If anything, the violence compliments it well. Erased will always be incredibly exciting. Just as you feel things are getting so slow to the point where they might not pick up again, they always do here. A great story habit.
13. Izumi Akazawa (Another)
Izumi serves as one of the show’s biggest antagonists because she holds a grudge against Mei and Kouichi for ignoring the rules, which makes the countermeasures useless, causing the deaths to continue. In the anime, she dies from broken glass while trying to kill Misaki, who she thinks is the extra person. Her existence as a villain is more tragic than evil, as it happened primarily out of a misunderstanding, but her actions still led to countless deaths among their peers.
The plot is definitely its strongest asset, and you find yourself not being able to look away from the mystery and violence of it all. Some argue that the pacing is off, but I’d disagree, especially considering that the story itself is so enrapturing. The character designs are amazing. No one character is a carbon copy of another, not even the background characters. They all have incredibly unique looks, and that’s a clear sign of creators who were passionate and cared about what they were doing. The overall violence doesn’t take away from the stunning visuals of the world created, and it doesn’t ruin the beauty of the original set designs. They mesh and flow extremely well together.
12. Ophelia (Claymore)
When a shapeshifting demon with a thirst for human flesh, known as "youma," arrives in Raki's village, a lone woman with silver eyes walks into town with only a sword upon her back. She is a "Claymore," a being manufactured as half-human and half-youma, for the express purpose of exterminating these monsters. After Raki's family is killed, the Claymore saves his life, but he is subsequently banished from his home. With nowhere else to go, Raki finds the Claymore, known as Clare, and decides to follow her on her journeys.
As the pair travel from town to town, defeating youma along the way, more about Clare's organization and her fellow warriors comes to light. With every town cleansed and every demon destroyed, they come closer to the youma on which Clare has sought vengeance ever since she chose to become a Claymore
The infamous number four of the seventy-eight class, Ophelia harbors an incredible bloodlust, and particularly enjoys killing awakened ones. However, as she finds killing so unbearably fun, she has no qualms about killing humans as well, and takes great care to slaughter all witnesses, thus avoiding persecution by the organization.
Ophelia is an offensive type, and her trademark ability is "rippling" her sword by waving it back and forth with great speed, making it very hard to block or dodge.
Her hatred for awakened beings stems from an event in her past, where a certain Awakened killed her brother. Her eventual death is a reference to the death of Shakespeare’s famous character, Ophelia, and she dies a villain.
I love Claymore because it feels so different, especially in terms of style. I was a little put off by it at first, but the storyline and overall character development won me over. Clare is a stoical character that is balanced out by the cheerful Raki, and I appreciate character dynamics like that. Claymore is original and beautiful despite being violent, and I will always love it for that.
11. The Titans (Attack On Titan)
Centuries ago, mankind was slaughtered to near extinction by monstrous humanoid creatures called titans, forcing humans to hide in fear behind enormous concentric walls. What makes these giants truly terrifying is that their taste for human flesh is not born out of hunger but what appears to be out of pleasure. To ensure their survival, the remnants of humanity began living within defensive barriers, resulting in one hundred years without a single titan encounter. However, that fragile calm is soon shattered when a colossal titan manages to breach the supposedly impregnable outer wall, reigniting the fight for survival against the man-eating abominations.
After witnessing a horrific personal loss at the hands of the invading creatures, Eren Yeager dedicates his life to their eradication by enlisting into the Survey Corps, an elite military unit that combats the merciless humanoids outside the protection of the walls. Based on Hajime Isayama's award-winning manga, Shingeki no Kyojin follows Eren, along with his adopted sister Mikasa Ackerman and his childhood friend Armin Arlert, as they join the brutal war against the titans and race to discover a way of defeating them before the last walls are breached.
All Titans were originally humans of a race of people called the Subjects of Ymir. Ymir Fritz was the first Titan, who became one after merging with a strange spine-like creature in a tree. Subjects of Ymir are all distantly related to her, connecting them to the paths which enable transformation.
Subjects of Ymir used to become Titans after being injected with Titan spinal fluid, triggering a near-instantaneous transformation. This used to be exploited by Marley after the Great Titan War, who turned undesirable Subjects of Ymir into Titans to use for war or at Paradis Island to roam aimlessly beyond the Walls. Titans oftentimes bore a strong resemblance to their original human bodies, though women who are turned into Titans lost most feminine body features.
The animation is gorgeous. Everything is so finely tuned and colored, it’s very easy to see that there was a ton of tough work put into it. Besides that, the facial expressions are so realistic it can be haunting when a character is in pain. Speaking of characters, they all have depth and passion in them. Each character is well written and their stories are well executed. Not only that, but they all interact with each other in ways that no viewer can expect on some occasions.
10. Tomie Kawakami (Junji Ito)
Sit back in terror as traumatizing tales of unparalleled terror unfold. Tales, such as that of a cursed jade carving that opens holes all over its victims' bodies; deep nightmares that span decades; an attractive spirit at a misty crossroad that grants cursed advice; and a slug that grows inside a girl's mouth. Tread carefully, for the horrifying supernatural tales of the Itou Junji: Collection is not for the faint of heart.
Tomie enjoys the effect her beauty has on men, and seeks to seduce them, but feels no emotional attachment to any of her lovers. Once she no longer has an immediate use for a man, she'll discard him, a pattern that has led to several of her deaths. She's also jealous when attention is given to other women, and work to break up established couples if presented an opening. Extremely self-centered, she thinks nothing of manipulating others for her pleasure.
Little is known of Tomie's true background, not even her family name. It is not known how she gained her powers, or even if she was aware of them prior to 1986. According to witnesses, she aged normally to that point and seemed a standard of a very pretty and flirtatious girl. On a field trip to Inariyawa, a small mountain near her school, Tomie was pressuring a teacher she'd been having sex with to leave his wife and marry her when a male classmate who'd become obsessed with Tomie accosted her. She taunted the boy, and in the ensuing scuffle, Tomie fell over a cliff. Believing Tomie dead, the teacher decided to cover up the accident by chopping up the girl's body with the aid of the boys of the class. It turned out she wasn't quite dead, so this became a particularly gruesome task. The class then scattered the body parts where they would, in theory, not be found.
Some parts were found, identified as Tomie's, and cremated. Her death was blamed on a psychopath, and a funeral was held. Which made it rather a shock when Tomie walked into class the next day as if nothing had happened. Her reappearance drove the more susceptible members of the class to madness, and when two of them tried to go to the police, the others turned violent in an attempt to stop them. Tomie disappeared shortly thereafter.
Tomie then began appearing in widely separated locations around Japan, inspiring men to passion and murder. She apparently died several more times, but always turned up alive again. Due to the police's stubborn refusal to credit these stories, no concerted effort was made to capture Tomie at least until 1995.
Another anthology series, Junji Ito is so intriguingly well written that you can start just about anywhere in the show and it won’t matter. The show makes up for that structure with intense stories and frightening characters. Speaking of characters, we only see certain individuals for an episode or two before they’re violently snuffed out. But that doesn’t make them underdeveloped or poorly written. In fact, it makes them the opposite. Junji Ito is a master of body horror and uses this mastery to its visual advantage. After all, this factor makes it one of the best in this particular genre of anime.
9. Junko Enoshima (Danganronpa)
Makoto Naegi, the protagonist, an average student selected to join Hope's Peak Academy, arrives at the school only to lose consciousness and later find himself trapped inside it, along with fourteen other students. There, a sadistic remote-controlled bear by the name of Monokuma announces that the students will be forced to live in the school forever, offering only one way to "graduate": murder another student and get away with it. When a crime scene is discovered, a "class trial" (学級裁判, gakkyū saiban) is held, in which the remaining students must discuss amongst themselves who the murderer is. If they successfully figure out who murdered the victim, the culprit alone will be executed. However, if they guess incorrectly, the culprit will be able to leave the school and everyone else will be executed.
Junko’s talent as SHSL Fashion Girl is only superficial, derived from her true talent, SHSL Analyst. This allowed her to be able to predict the outcome of events, making her bored with the world, which is why she took interest in despair as it is unpredictable and exciting for her at a very young age. She used the fake identity of Ryoko Otonashi, the protagonist of DR/Zero, with her title as SHSL Analyst. She also used her talent to manipulate people with the data she acquired from them. After her death, the remaining students she brainwashed that contributed to the Worst, Most Despair-Inducing Incident in the History of Mankind came to be known as the Remnants of Despair.
It is discovered that the girl who introduced herself as Junko wasn't really Junko at all, but actually Mukuro Ikusaba, a Super Highschool Level Soldier (aka Junko's sister). She was the "victim" of the fifth murder, her body having been used to create a fake crime scene. The real Junko, her younger twin sister who she switched places with, was the mastermind behind Monobear. She appears in the flesh at the end of the game, once her attempt to mask Mukuro's murder becomes uncovered.
The real Junko's personality and mannerisms tend to be very erratic and unstable, switching through several "personalities" at the drop of a hat, as she finds being the same all the time boring. She is obsessed with despair and finds it to be one of the most enjoyable emotions in the world. She is incredibly manipulative and cunning, having orchestrated the Worst, Most Despair-Inducing Incident in the History of Mankind.
People loved Danganronpa as a video game and they love it as an anime. Its characters are accurate to the game, its visuals are detailed and colorful, and the plot is fast-paced and wild. It’s a great ride from start to finish, and you’ll always be rooting for Makoto to solve the case. Or more like, Kyoko solving the cases with Makoto as her sidekick. Danganronpa is a great anime with a great sequel in Danganronpa 3.
8. Gotou (Parasyte)
Parasyte centers on a male 17-year-old high school student named Shinichi Izumi, who lives with his mother and father in a quiet neighborhood in Tokyo, Japan. One night, tiny worm-like aliens with drill-like heads called Parasites arrive on Earth, taking over the brains of their hosts by entering through their ears or noses. One Parasite attempts to crawl into Shinichi's nose while he sleeps, but fails as Shinichi wakes up, and enters his body by burrowing into his arm instead. In the Japanese version, it takes over his right hand and is named Migi (ミギー), after the Japanese word for 'right'.
Because Shinichi was able to prevent Migi from traveling further up into his brain, both beings retain their separate intellect and personality. As the duo encounters other Parasites, they capitalize on their strange situation and gradually form a strong bond, working together to survive. This gives them an edge in battling other Parasites who frequently attack the pair upon realization that Shinichi's human brain is still intact. Shinichi feels compelled to fight other Parasites, who devour other members of the species they infect as food while enlisting Migi's help.
Gotou is an experimental Parasite created by Reiko. He is actually composed of several combined Parasites, whose shapeshifting ability has advanced to the point where they can switch positions, each forming a different limb as the situation requires.
He is the most intelligent and skilled and is the de facto leader of the composite body. Because his head and all of his limbs are made of Parasite cells, Gotō is much faster, stronger, and more dangerous than standard Parasites, and nearly impossible to injure. The name "Gotou" is a pun on the word "五 Go" meaning number 5, implying he can control 5 Parasites, whereas the other Parasyte in the same body called Miki (三木 Miki lit. three trees) can control only 3.
However, he eventually chooses to use these abilities negatively and becomes the primary villain.
Parasyte was written to be disturbing, which overall makes the writing style really unique. It also gives the visual artists freedom to do whatever they wanted, which they most certainly did with character designs and Parasite scenes. Shinichi is a genuinely good character, if not written to be down on his luck. His oddly forged relationship with his personal Parasite also gives the story its charms and its shivers, so I believe that it works.
7. Sachiko Shinozaki (Corpse Party: Tortured Souls)
However, the students do not realize that these charms are connected to Heavenly Host Academy—an elementary school that was destroyed years ago after a series of gruesome murders took place, a school that rests under the foundation of their very own Kisaragi Academy. Now, trapped in an alternate dimension with vengeful ghosts of the past, the students must work together to escape—or join the spirits of the damned forever.
A feast for mystery fanatics, gore-hounds, and horror fans alike, Corpse Party: Tortured Souls - Bougyakusareta Tamashii no Jukyou shows a sobering look at redemption, sacrifice, and how the past is always right behind, sometimes a little too close for comfort.
Sachiko Shinozaki is a former student of Heavenly Host Elementary School, and one of the recorded victims of the 1973 serial kidnappings and murders at the school, and also, the only survivor. Her ghost rules the multidimensional nexus where Heavenly Host exists, making her the main antagonist of the Corpse Party series.
Sachiko was a student of Heavenly Host Elementary School in 1953. Yoshie, Sachiko's mother, is the school nurse of Heavenly Host Elementary. Principal Yanagihori had an attraction towards her and one day made his attempt to rape her, advent. Yoshie ran to get away from him, only to slip down the staircase and snap her neck. Sachiko was at the bottom of the stairwell, where she witnessed the life of her mother fading from her body. She made an attempt to run however, the strides of a 7-year-old were only so far. She was caught and strangulated by the principal as a means to cover up Yoshie's murder.
Sachiko's corpse was buried in the basement of the school. While dying under such conditions gave birth to a deep grudge, cursing Yanagihori; appearing in his dreams causing his mind to become delusional and believing that she is still able to contact others in their dreams. Afraid that she would attempt to tell others about the incident, he digs her corpse up from the basement and removes her tongue with a pair of sewing scissors, after doing so, he then begins stabbing her corpse with the shears. Saying that he would continue to kill her as many times as it would take to remove her from his dreams.
Her curse reached out and took hold of the principal's son, Yoshikazu. Yoshikazu slowly began to lose his mentality and will, eventually, his speech became incoherent, reduced to nothing more but grunts and moans. Finally, losing his humanity entirely, he ultimately becomes Sachiko's puppet.
The setting for Corpse Party is extremely creative and allows for so much artistic freedom when it comes to what the writers and artists want to work with. And this definitely paid off; Corpse Party is a great show. Corpse Party as a violent mystery works extremely well, especially with that little horror genre sprinkled in. The visuals, however horrifying, compliment everything the best. An odd thing to say about gore, but accurate nonetheless. The animation style is fun, scary, and amazingly done all that same time, not something too many shows can pull off. The characters work well with each other in this style, and overall it creates a great show.
6. Natsuko Honda (King’s Game)
It can be rough transferring to a new school—even more so if you don't want to make any friends, like Nobuaki Kanazawa. But the reason for his antisocial behavior soon becomes clear when his class receives a text from someone called "The King." Included are instructions for the "King's Game," and all class members must participate. Those who refuse to play, quit halfway, or don't follow an order in the allotted time of 24 hours will receive a deadly punishment.
Having played the game before and watched as those around him died, Nobuaki tries to warn his clueless classmates. Unfortunately, they only believe him after the King's Game claims its first casualties. Stuck in a horrific situation with no chance of escape, Nobuaki has a choice: put his own survival above those around him, or do what he couldn't before and save his classmates.
Natsuko is one of Nobuaki's classmates. She has a lot of friends and she's the first one to talk to Nobuaki. She is later revealed to have a twisted personality, brought on by the fact that she survived a King's Game at her previous school. She has a darker, more twisted side to her as a result of the events of Ou-sama Game: Rinjou, where she was the lone survivor, but tries to hide it in hopes of normal school life. She reveals her true colors when the new King's Game begins and Nobuaki does not cooperate with her. She was the antithesis of Nobuaki, firmly believing there can be only one survivor and that selfishness and betrayal were necessary for survival. During the final battle, she died by getting slashed in the back by Riona. With her last breath, she also killed Nobuaki, cutting his throat.
The show’s release in 2017 was met with mixed reviews, accused of being a little dull and the dub contrived. However, compared to the majority of the anime’s on this list, we finally have a male protagonist that is more than shy or just thrust into the wrong place at the wrong time. Nobuaki seems to have previous issues, meaning that the fact that he is antisocial isn’t his entire personality, although that is a trait. It’s also nice to have a character in the know about a frightening situation rather than suffering from some form of amnesia or being completely out of it with the rest of the class. It also manages to cover difficult topics beyond death, such as religion, relationships, societal norms, and even mental illness.
5. Shiro (Deadman Wonderland)
It looked like it would be a normal day for Ganta Igarashi and his classmates—they were preparing to go on a class field trip to a certain prison amusement park called Deadman Wonderland, where the convicts perform dangerous acts for the onlookers' amusement. However, Ganta's life is quickly turned upside down when his whole class gets massacred by a mysterious man in red. Framed for the incident and sentenced to death, Ganta is sent to the very jail he was supposed to visit.
But Ganta's nightmare is only just beginning.The young protagonist is thrown into a world of sadistic inmates and enigmatic powers, to live in constant fear of the lethal collar placed around his neck that is slowed only by winning in the prison's deathly games. Ganta must bet his life to survive in a ruthless place where it isn't always easy to tell a friend from a foe, all while trying to find the mysterious "Red Man" and clear his name, in Deadman Wonderland.
A mysterious albino girl that Ganta encountered during his first days as an inmate. Clothed only in a skin-tight bodysuit and muffly gloves, which conceals her heavily scarred skin, Shiro stands out among the other prisoners due to her bizarre appearance and mannerisms. To Ganta, Shiro's manner of speaking and acting reminds him of a small child, even though Shiro is the same age as him. However, Shiro possesses inhuman physical abilities and has an intimate knowledge of the prison, having apparently lived there most of her life.
Despite her seemingly harmless appearance, Shiro harbors a dark secret; she possesses two personalities and her second one is the 'Red Man' Ganta is searching for, who is also the 'Wretched Egg', the source of the Branch of Sin infection. Thanks to the Mother Goose mainframe, Deadman Wonderland's supercomputer, which constantly emits a lullaby audible only to Shiro and Tamaki's father, Shiro's true personality is repressed. When the lullaby is turned off, Shiro becomes a murderous, smirking maniac capable of massacring whole squads of armed men with little effort.
It's at these times that she dons a crimson-colored full-body restraint, which gives her a taller, masculine appearance, hence Ganta's inability to recognize her (later it's revealed that this costume was made after the 'Aceman', a superhero character in a cartoon Shiro and Ganta used to watch together as kids). Shiro cares greatly for Ganta and constantly seeks his approval. She is willing to do anything that Ganta asks her as long as it will make him happy. Even when in her 'Red Man' state, she still seems to care for him, as it was implied that she butchered Ganta's classmates just so that he would be sent to Deadman Wonderland, where she was also living.
The premise of Deadman Wonderland on its own is extremely easy to get invested in, and not only that, you can’t seem to look away from the horrors you’re currently watching. Despite the major concern being only one murder mystery, Deadman Wonderland keeps you absolutely hooked the entire time. Despite being graphic, however, the visuals are smooth and detailed, and its characters are well executed.
4. Kichimura Washuu (Tokyo Ghoul)
Tokyo has become a cruel and merciless city—a place where vicious creatures called “ghouls” exist alongside humans. The citizens of this once great metropolis live in constant fear of these bloodthirsty savages and their thirst for human flesh. However, the greatest threat these ghouls pose is their dangerous ability to masquerade as humans and blend in with society.
Based on the best-selling supernatural horror manga by Sui Ishida, Tokyo Ghoul follows Ken Kaneki, a shy, bookish college student, who is instantly drawn to Rize Kamishiro, an avid reader like himself. However, Rize is not exactly who she seems, and this unfortunate meeting pushes Kaneki into the dark depths of the ghouls' inhuman world. In a twist of fate, Kaneki is saved by the enigmatic waitress Touka Kirishima, and thus begins his new, secret life as a half-ghoul/half-human who must find a way to integrate into both societies.
Kichimura Washuu was the primary antagonist of the Tokyo Ghoul series and the former Bureau Director of the CCG. He was involved in numerous organizations and responsible for several major events of the series.
He was originally Souta Washuu-Furuta the illegitimate son of former CCG Chairman Tsuneyoshi Washuu and an agent of V raised in the Sunlit Garden. While working as a Rank 1 Ghoul Investigator, he used the alias of Nimura Furuta.
To further his own agenda, he has used various identities to infiltrate organizations or build personal alliances. As a member of the Clowns, he goes by the name Souta and was responsible for the Steel Beam Incident. He also joined the Ghoul Restaurant as PG and has been a partner in Akihiro Kanou's ghoulification experiments. Like Ken Kaneki, he is an artificial one-eyed ghoul who possesses Rize Kamishiro's kagune.
While posing as a seemingly unremarkable investigator, he was partnered with Shiki Kijima. After his superior's death, he became the partner of Haise Sasaki in order to monitor him for his superiors in V. During the Third Cochlea Raid, he used the chaos to stage a coup d'etat of the Washuu Clan with the assistance of members of the Clowns and V. He then declares himself the Washuu King in contrast to Kaneki claiming the title of the One-Eyed King.
Using the Clown Siege as a front, he successfully established himself as head of the CCG and removed Matsuri Washuu from the succession. Following the emergence of Dragon from the 24th Ward, Kichimura had resigned from his position.
The concept itself while disturbing is quite amazing and interesting. Modern-day science fiction lore paired with this level of violence actually works quite well in Tokyo Ghoul’s favor, making it an extremely popular anime. The animation is beautiful. It’s fluid, sharp, colorful, and the facial expressions on each character were done with immense thought and care. When it comes to the surroundings, each minute detail counts, and each one contributes a great deal to the rest of the story.
3. Yuno Gasai (Future Diary)
Lonely high school student, Yukiteru Amano, spends his days writing a diary on his cellphone while conversing with his two seemingly imaginary friends Deus Ex Machina, who is the god of time and space, and Murmur, the god's servant. Revealing himself to be an actual entity, Deus grants Yukiteru a "Random Diary," which shows highly descriptive entries based on the future and forces him into a bloody battle royale with 11 other holders of similarly powerful future diaries.
With the last person standing designated as the new god of time and space, Yukiteru must find and kill the other 11 in order to survive. He reluctantly teams up with his obsessive stalker Yuno Gasai (who also possesses such a diary), and she takes it upon herself to ensure his safety. But there's more to the girl than meets the eye, as she might have other plans for her unrequited love
Yuno Gasai is obsessively in love with Yukiteru (Yandere) as one can safely guess from just the simple name of her future diary. Yukiteru's condition and actions are recorded every ten minutes in her "Yukiteru" diary, it also provides small commentary made by Yuno in some of the entries. Its most obvious weakness is that it does not show Yuno's future at all—her condition, situation, or surroundings—unless it somehow involves Yuki. Working with Yukiteru's "Random Diary" diary, however, covers both of their diaries' individual flaws; as it has been said the two make for a perfect combo.
Smart, beautiful, and diligent—those who don't truly know Gasai Yuno would simply see the model student role she plays while at school. She is secretly obsessed with Yukiteru and would do anything within her power to assist him. She can be quite clingy and is highly fond of stalking him. When obstacles arise that either endangers Yukki's life or threatens their relationship, her thoughts turn murderous and she lets nothing get in the way of her path.
Near the end, when Yuki and company begin to seriously question Yuno's motives, Aru Akise investigates the 3 nameless corpses in Yuno's closet. He discovered two were Yuno's parents, whom she had accidentally starved to death, and that the last one was a perfect DNA match to Yuno herself. While Yuki shrugged this off initially, Aru investigated further and discovered that the Yuno Gasai he knew was actually from a separate dimension that had already won Deus' game and become god, at the price of Yuki's life. She then set out to the dimension where the story takes place, killing this world's Yuno and taking her place by Yuki's side in her second game. Yuno kills Aru before he can specifically tell Yuki about the situation.
After a final confrontation between herself and Mur Mur against Yuki and Ninth, she heads to a third world where she hopes to try again, trapping Yuki in an alternate reality. Yuki is able to break free and manages to save the third world's Yuno before first Yuno attempts to kill her. Yuki talks her down, and first Yuno commits suicide by stabbing herself in the abdomen, causing Yuki to become a god.
Future Diary’s playing with time isn’t as stereotypical as one would think. The way the phones themselves work as a literal diary is one of the most creative aspects, and the use of the phone can even be used to drive home the theme that technology has every opportunity to beget violence. And of course, it does. For such a violent show, the main characters are generally likable. Yuno might be a weird case on that front, but each one is still incredibly well written. You also have to feel some sympathy for Yukiteru as well, and the story makes that very easy. The animation is beautiful. Everything is fluid, well-drawn, well saturated, and generally does well with portraying the violence that comes with it all. Done incorrectly, this could go incredibly wrong, but Future Diary pulls it off well.
2. Daniel Dickens (Angel’s Of Death)
13-year-old Rachel "Ray" Gardner is taken to a hospital for counseling after murdering her parents, but the catch is she forgot about it. However, she wakes up to find herself on basement Floor B7 instead with no memories apart from her name and the reason she came to the hospital. A series of mysterious broadcasts and scribbled messages on the wall set the scene as a game where each participant is designated a floor of their own, and anyone who trespasses on another participant's floor has the chance to be killed.
Ray, ignorant of the details, is almost killed by serial killer Isaac "Zack" Foster, the owner of Floor B6, and captured by Daniel "Danny" Dickens, the owner of Floor B5, and the doctor who examined her. Danny, who has a maniacal obsession with eyes, desires Rachel's blue, once-blank eyes. During this time, Ray recovers her memory during the night when the murder occurred, just as Zack kills Danny for her, but spares Ray after losing interest in her lack of emotions. As Zack has killed someone that was not on his floor, the broadcast designates him as a "sacrifice" along with Ray, where they can freely be killed by any floor master. The two, in the same situation, form an alliance where Zack can use her intelligence to escape, and upon doing so will fulfill Ray's desire to be killed by him.
Daniel is a counselor who has an insane obsession with eyes, especially Ray's blank, blue ones. Due to being born without a right eye, he was bullied for most of his childhood. His missing eye also caused fights between his parents until they divorced and his mother committed suicide. From there, Danny began to find blank, dead eyes like his mother's beautiful, becoming a counselor to search for eyes that could satisfy him.
Prior to the series, he was a counselor for prisoners and met Gray, who offered him the chance to become a floor master. Believing it could satisfy him, Danny took on the offer and subsequently used his authority to bring Ray into Gray's experiment and make her the floor master of B1, hoping that he could live close to her eyes. He is ultimately killed by Gray in his pursuit for Ray.
The animation itself is clean, sharp, and definitely varied in terms of the directions the violence goes in. The voice acting even pairs well with this, making the characters feel extremely expressive and oddly creative despite being in significant amounts of pain. The plot takes risks, that’s for sure. It’s incredibly inventive, and when it comes to the relationship between Zack and Rachel, it isn’t afraid to take a huge risk in terms of how well they play off of each other’s strengths and weaknesses. The way death and violence are portrayed in this show can be considered one of the more creative and better-defined perspectives. The way it presents itself is stellar, and shouldn’t be ignored.
Top Horror Anime Villain: Light Yagami (Death Note)
A shinigami, as a god of death, can kill any person—provided they see their victim's face and write their victim's name in a notebook called a Death Note. One day, Ryuk, bored by the shinigami lifestyle and interested in seeing how a human would use a Death Note, drops one into the human realm.
High school student and prodigy Light Yagami stumbles upon the Death Note and—since he deplores the state of the world—tests the deadly notebook by writing a criminal's name in it. When the criminal dies immediately following his experiment with the Death Note, Light is greatly surprised and quickly recognizes how devastating the power that has fallen into his hands could be.
With this divine capability, Light decides to extinguish all criminals in order to build a new world where crime does not exist and people worship him as a god. Police, however, quickly discover that a serial killer is targeting criminals and, consequently, try to apprehend the culprit. To do this, the Japanese investigators count on the assistance of the best detective in the world: a young and eccentric man known only by the name of L.
Light, born on February 28, 1986, is a third-year high school student (12th grade) at Daikoku Private Academy who also attends supplemental classes at Gamou Prep Academy at the beginning of the story. Light has a father, Soichiro Yagami, who is the head of the Police Force. Light also has a mother, Sachiko Yagami, and a younger sister, Sayu Yagami.
In Spring 2004, Light became a first-year student (freshman) at To-Oh University, becoming one of two freshman representatives; L is the other freshman representative. During a tennis game with L at To-Oh, spectators reveal that Light was the junior high school tennis champion in 1999 and 2000. After his 2000 victory, Light quit tennis as he entered high school.
Yagami Light is a brilliant college student. Nicknamed "Kira," he uses the Death Note to create his ideal world of justice under him; its new God. Though he looks frail, Light is an extremely athletic person, with an aptitude to find an opponent's weak point. He is a genius, which adds to his notion that only he is fit to judge humanity and steer it on a proper moral course.
He gets shot by Matsuda after his plan fails and then dies because Ryuk wrote his name in his Death Note. He will forever be known as nothing more than a serial killer with a flawed sense of justice.
The concept in general is incredibly creative and discusses righteousness, death, and vanity in one of the most original ways an anime has ever done. The violence perpetrated by emotions and the inner workings of Light’s mind, making the world seem smaller in an interesting way.
Ryuk is one of the best anime characters of all time. He’s funny, is the main catalyst for the whole show, and gets along well with Light to the point where their relationship is sometimes comedic. He is definitely the best character in Death Note and definitely makes the story.
The voice acting is on point, especially for Light and Ryuk. Two very talented voice actors are portraying two complex characters and their personalities, and overall, it works in the show’s favor. They aren’t the only talents of course, but they both ultimately steal the show together.
