Junji Ito Maniac: Japanese Tales of the Macabre features terrifying and bizarre stories by the famous horror manga artist Junji Ito. The anime is now streaming on Netflix.
Junji Ito Maniac: Japanese Tales of the Macabre is an anime that redefines horror. Apart from focusing on the ghosts and demons present in the human world, it also seeks to bring out the horror hidden in the everyday lives of the people.
Junji Ito is also known for exploring inconceivable scenarios. Being placed in an unfamiliar world is horrifying enough, but Ito goes beyond that and adds a mix of the supernatural and the worst of humanity to the mix to create a spine-chilling reality for the audience.
Here are 10 other animes like Junji Ito Maniac: Japanese Tales of the Macabre that aim to take their audience to bizarre and terrifying worlds that are full of all sorts of monsters.
1. Jungi Ito Collection
Available on: Crunchyroll
Cast: Rie Suegara, Yūji Mitsuya, Tomoe Hanba, Hiro Shimono
Jungi Ito Collection is also an anime anthology featuring Junji Ito’s horror stories. If you want to watch more of Ito’s stories, this anime is perfect for you. It has twelve episodes, with each episode depicting two stories by Ito, and a few OVAs.
This is an older anime, and while it is not as good as Junji Ito Maniac: Japanese Tales of the Macabre, it still features different stories by Ito, which are intriguing enough on their own.
2. Mieruko-chan
Available on: Netflix, Crunchyroll
Cast: Sora Amamiya, Kaede Hondo
At first glance, it seems like a simple anime about a normal high school girl. However, this girl is anything but normal. The anime introduces the viewers to Miko, a girl who used to enjoy horror shows until her life turned into one.
Miko can now see ghosts, and she is adamant to ignore their presence. However, when she sees them tormenting her best friend, she is forced to take action, even though it scares her to tears.
3. Tokyo Ghoul
Available on: Netflix, Hulu, Crunchyroll
Cast: Natsuki Hanae, Sora Amamiya
Tokyo Ghoul takes the viewers to a world where creatures known as ghouls live among humans. Although these ghouls look like humans, they are faster and stronger than them, and they need to consume human flesh to survive.
When the protagonist, Ken Kaneki, finds himself transformed into a half-ghoul, he must learn the ways of the world of ghouls to survive and simultaneously hide his new identity from his best friend.
There is something menacing about this anime that has made it a favorite of those who love horror shows. Additionally, it has a prequel and a sequel series as well.
4. Parasyte: The Maxim
Available on: Netflix, Hulu, Crunchyroll
Cast: Nobunaga Shimazaki, Aya Hirano
Parasyte: The Maxim follows the life of a 17-year-old student named Shinichi Izumi. His life changes when aliens, called Parasytes, come to Earth and one of them chooses him as its host. However, Shinichi manages to retain control over his brain.
Shinichi is no longer entirely human or Parasyte. He must learn to live with the alien in his body to survive attacks from other Parasytes as well as to save other humans, who have become the food of these aliens.
The creepy aliens and the disturbing visuals in this anime are enough to make it unsettling for the viewers.
5. Another
Available on: Crunchyroll
Cast: Atsushi Abe, Natsumi Takamori
Koichi Sakakibara transfers to a new school, where he meets Mei Misaki, a girl who intrigues him. Koichi soon realizes that he is the only one who sees her in the whole class.
The students of his class know something that Koichi does not, and no one is willing to speak to him about it. After a series of brutal deaths, Koichi discovers that there might be a connection between Mei, the secret of the students, and these deaths.
This anime comes packed with blood, gore, horrifying visuals, and a mystery that keeps the viewers guessing.
6. Castlevania
Available on: Netflix
Cast: Richard Armitage, James Callis, Alejandra Reynoso, Graham McTavish
Based on a videogame of the same name by Konami, Castlevania features demons, vampires, and vampire hunters.
Count Vlad Dracula Țepeș, whose wife is accused of being a witch and is burned at the stake, declares war on those responsible for his wife’s death by summoning an army of demons to take over Wallachia.
Trevor Belmont, a vampire hunter, takes it upon himself to fight for the scared citizens and save the city. A magician named Sypha Belnades and Dracula’s son, Alucard, join hands with him to defeat Dracula and the army of demons.
7. Corpse Princess
Available on: Hulu
Cast: Luci Christian, Aaron Dismuke, J. Michael Tatum
This anime brings together a bizarre pairing of a living corpse with machine guns and monks on a mission to rid the world of anomalies.
Makina Hoshimura is a Shikabane Hime — a living dead. She has been given the responsibility of hunting and killing every single one of her kind in order to attain peace.
Makina is assisted by a Buddhist monk named Keisei Tagami and a group known as Kougon Sect. She keeps running into Ouri, a high school boy, who might play an important role in the discovery of secrets related to the living dead.
8. Hellsing
Available on: Hulu, Netflix
Cast: Jôji Nakata, Fumiko Orikasa, Sakakibara Yoshiko
A secret task force, Hellsing Organization, protects England from ghouls, vampires, and other supernatural beings. The organization is led by Sir Integra Fairbrook Wingates Hellsing, the daughter of the vampire hunter Prof. Van Helsing.
The head of the organization is supported by the loyal family butler, Walter C. Dornez, and her powerful protector, Alucard, who is the original vampire.
The series paints a grim picture of England, infested by evil beings, and the viewers get to witness the chilling night-time adventures of Hellsing.
9. Devilman crybaby
Available on: Netflix
Cast: Kōki Uchiyama, Ayumu Murase, Megumi Han
Akira Fudou, a sensitive high school student, agrees to help his childhood friend, Ryo Asuka, in exposing the truth about demons. However, things do not go as planned, and Akira merges with a demon in the midst of bloodshed.
As a Devilman, Akira possesses great powers, but those powers are accompanied by urges that do not align with what lies in his sensitive heart. Akira must face grotesque demons and find the courage to destroy them to protect humanity and his loved ones.
The anime not only brings a sinister world threatened by demons to life, but it also creates a unique half-demon protagonist, whose heart is still that of a human.
10. The Promised Neverland
Available on: Hulu, Crunchyroll
Cast: Sumire Morohoshi, Maaya Uchida, Mariya Ise, Yûko Kaida, Nao Fujita
The Promised Neverland imagines a world where humans are not valued more than animals. It tells a dark and twisted story of a breeding ground disguised as an orphanage.
When three children at an isolated orphanage discover that they are nothing but a future meal for demons, they decide to escape with the other children.
However, they learn that the world outside is just as dangerous and cruel. The children encounter all kinds of demons in their quest to find a better life and save the other children trapped in the orphanage.
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