[Top 10] Horror Anime With Female Lead

[Top 10] Horror Anime With Female Lead

10. 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.

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 vampire anime to go check out.

What We Love About Shiki 

• Shiki is a great anime when it comes to the study of the psychosis of humanity, something a little surprising. It truly focuses on what exactly is happening inside the minds of its characters, and it does it all incredibly well.
• The scenery, in general, is incredibly bright and colorful, something unexpected and a little off-putting. But this works, as it makes the danger even more unassuming than it already was. It’s still eerie, violent, and downright creepy in some moments.
• The story doesn’t feel forced, gimmicky, or overused, despite being a vampire story that can have pretty typical plot points. I’d call it a great show to watch overall.

9. 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.

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.

What We Love About Ghost Hunt 

• Despite everything else going on, the show itself still manages to be quite funny. Mai definitely steals the show each time with her no-nonsense attitude, and that brings on the comedy.
• Ghost Hunt has a great episode debut when it comes to introducing the characters and conflict. Using different methods of exorcism as a conflict catalyst really brought the characters together for the first time, and ultimately led to some well-timed introductions and dialogue. 
• Ghost Hunt does a terrific job of keeping its mystery throughout the series. There are clearly secrets among the characters themselves, but Ghost Hunt is clever at keeping them hidden until the exact moment where they are meant to appear.

8. 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.

Elfen Lied being as conceptually challenging as it was caught me off guard, but it was quite the welcome surprise overall. I always felt for Lucy and was happy when she came across Kouta and Yuka, or whenever she happened to not have everything go wrong for her for once. I loved the world-building, and Lucy’s overall design had me not being able to take my eyes off of her for one second. You should totally check out Elfen Lied!

What We Love About Elfen Lied 

• 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.

7. Diabolik Lovers

At the request of her father, Yui Komori travels to live in a secluded mansion with the six Sakamaki brothers, Shuu, Reiji, Ayato, Kanato, Laito, and Subaru. However, this isn’t a normal family of brothers. This is a family of vampires. They’re generally confused as to why she’s there, until they discover she has to be their new “sacrificial bride,” not to mention worse things.

After meeting them, Yui questions exactly why her father would have sent her here, and why she’s experiencing these odd emotions in her chest. With each brother significantly crueler than the last, Yui’s life becomes more intense than ever before. Days turn into nights and things become darker and crazier by the second.

Diabolik Lovers is controversial for the fact that it involves some nonconsensual moments and its overall sexual violence, but the story itself is interesting to watch in terms of character dynamics and world-building. It also has its fair share of spin-offs, other shows similar to it, and even games, so one cannot deny that it was successful.

What We Love About Diabolik Lovers

• It’s intensity. Definitely, it’s intensity. It’s slightly controversial, but the character's interactions with each other really make the show and the story.
• The character designs are actually unique. In plenty of anime with multiple male love interests, many of the male characters have the exact same designs. But these don’t, and that’s a breath of fresh air with shows like these.
• One thing enjoyable about this show is the storyline. It’s definitely a roller coaster and a fun, interesting tale concerning vampires. It’s also a game, and that makes it even more fun.

6. Dance In The Vampire Bund

Mina Tepes, the Vampire Queen, reveals on live television that vampires exist and that she wants to build a sanctuary for them in Japan called the Vampire Bund. She uses her family’s wealth to pay off the nation's debt, and in turn, they let her build the sanctuary. However, not all of the humans of the world believe this, and they think Mina’s plan is a trick into having vampires take over the world.

Akira Kaburagi doesn’t believe in vampires whatsoever and feels uncomfortable whenever they’re brought up in conversation, but he doesn’t know why. After suffering a severe head injury years ago, he lives a generally peaceful life until he meets Mina. Somehow, she manages to resurface memories inside of him he had no idea existed, and he suddenly finds himself protecting Mina with no clear reason.

However, Akira’s secret is incredibly strange, even for Mina. He comes to the discovery that he is a werewolf and that he swore to always protect the Vampire Queen, even at the cost of his own life. Now, it is up to the characters to discover exactly how deep their bond goes, as they dance to a dangerous existence in the Vampire Bund.

Vampire Bund is interesting in that it has a surprising amount of mystery, and that’s a hidden gem when it comes down to it. It makes the whole story even more interesting in general, and the characters play very well off of it. The vampire anime community really embraced this show at its peak.

What We Love About Dancing In The Vampire Bund

• The animation and character designs are unique and beautiful, with fluid movements and nice textures overall. The character models also don’t look like carbon copies of each other, which is a nice change.
• The storyline is unique, and Akira’s secret is handled pretty well instead of being a plot contrivance. The amnesia actually works pretty well compared to most animes. 
• The theme is decently conveyed, and the length of the show itself works for the story it's trying to tell. Not only that, but everything is well put together and better told.

5. 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, 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.

People love Claymore because it feels so different, especially in terms of style. The community was a little put off by it at first, but the storyline and overall character development won everyone over. Clare is a stoical character that is balanced out by the cheerful Raki, and we all appreciate character dynamics like that. Claymore is original and beautiful despite being violent, and audiences will always love it for that.

What We Love About Claymore

• Raki absolutely steals the show here, at least until we’re introduced to more characters. He’s incredibly likable, kind, smart, and even brave to some extent. That’s what makes him unique from most of the main protagonists on this list.
• Clare and Raki have a genuine relationship that develops properly over time instead of being totally rushed. They’re both incredibly awkward, but also decent characters when it comes to plot development.
• Claymore doesn't let its violence distract from its good story and decent world-building. Instead, it compliments it entirely. The visuals are a little strange, but they work with the story, and it’s wonderful. 

4. Freezing

2065, Earth is in the middle of a war with extra-dimensional aliens called Nova. The military develops and trains Pandoras, girls who are able to use special genetic tissue called Stigmata to manifest superhuman fighting skills and weapons. Supporting the Pandoras are male partners called Limiters, who use special "freezing" powers to limit their opponent's mobility.

One of these limiters is Kazuya Aoi, whose late sister was a Pandora. While attending West Genetics Academy in Japan, Kazuya meets Satellizer el Bridget, a powerful Pandora, nicknamed the Untouchable Queen, for her ruthless personality and her intense aphephobia. Despite warnings from his schoolmates to keep away from Satellizer, Kazuya befriends her and asks to be her Limiter. After helping her through several fights against school rivals of varying ranks and classes, Satellizer agrees to partner with him, although she soon encounters a rival in romance named Rana Linchen, who thinks Kazuya is her soulmate. Their rivalry is put aside when the Novas attack their school using Pandoras under their control to access the school's underground lab.

Sometimes it feels as if each episode ends on a cliffhanger, which I love. The female characters are all portrayed as strong warriors, and d is extremely fascinating, and the particular setup of this post-apocalyptic world was done extremely well with its semantics. The character designs are also incredibly unique, and nothing feels like a carbon copy of one standing next to it.

What We Love About Freezing 

• The story has a heart. Amidst the fighting and arguing when it comes to protecting the world, as well as the blood, it never loses its original message. This is especially impressive of a violent anime.
• Vibrant and colorful characters also help set the stage for a great story. Despite not seeming so at first, everyone is genuinely likable, and you want to cheer them on in terms of survival.
• Freezing itself is based on a manga, and the overall adaptation is stellar and very well done. Not many shows can pull off doing justice to their source material while still being unique, so Freezing must be perceived that way. 

3. Gleipnir

Shuuichi Kagaya is what one would consider an average high school student, but sometimes, he turns into a monster. He doesn't know how or why he got his abilities, only that he would prefer no one knows about them. One night, he finds a building ablaze with a girl trapped inside. Deciding to save her, he transforms and carries her to safety, but accidentally drops his phone.

The next day, the girl he saved—Claire Aoki—finds him and confronts him about his monster identity. She even goes so far as to push him off the school roof to prove her theory after Shuuichi denies her allegations. Desperate to save himself, he transforms, and Claire snaps a picture in order to blackmail him into telling her everything he knows about monsters, which, ironically, isn't much.

As it turns out, Claire has a secret of her own: she has been searching for her sister, who also became a monster. She enlists Shuuichi's help to track her down, but they aren't the only ones searching for answers.

What We Love About Gleipnir 

• Gleipnir is edgy, dark, and inventive. It’s new and strange. The violence is well balanced with the plot, and every character feels as if they were made with the best type of care and consistency.
• Shuuichi may be a complete jerk, but his unconventional chemistry with Claire makes the show. Not to say anything of romance, but you can still have significant chemistry between the two main characters, and this worked out well between them.
• The visuals are something dark and crazy, a great sight to behold. They work well with every type of moment and every type of character in the said moment. What is most impressive is the character designs. They’re exceptionally amazing in terms of anime.

2. Another

I enjoyed this anime because I felt like I was on a roller coaster from start to finish. I never knew what was coming next, and the characters were constantly shifting and changing with the fast-paced plot. This also helped to really emphasize the violent part of it, as when violence comes with fast-paced storytelling, it tends to hit harder. I found the characters really likable, and I thought the voice cast did a fantastic job with the story and characters they were given to work with.

What We Love About Another 

• 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 arguing 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.

Best Horror Anime: Angels 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.

The name of the game is survival again, and the aspect that really translates over is the ever-present idea that you can’t trust anyone, otherwise, death is upon you. The story itself is psychologically fascinating and even has some mixtures of CG animation as a new aspect. The animation is thrilling and sharp, which works incredibly well with the intensity of the story. 

What We Love About Angels Of Death 

• 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.