The ExtroInverse

With the passing of All Hallow's Eve and the forthcoming of the holiday weekend, it becomes evident that the spirit of Halloween is infectious.  Whether it to be going door-to-door as your favorite monster or sitting with friends, getting drunk off or asses.  Well, we here are Extroinverse, like to spend our non-party nights curled up with a good anime to wrap up such a spectacular holiday. 

That in mind, we thought it would be a nice idea to give some of you out there some ideas of anime ripe for the Halloween marathons.  Anime that put the emo in bakemonogatari or just give you that thrill of the season that lets you get into the haunted delights of the dark season.

Following are the top ten anime that we at Extroinverse feel give emphasis to the nature of Hallow's Eve:

(Disclaimer, despite the bakemonogatari, due to oversight on our parts, said anime did not breech the final top 10.  Sorry, guys!)

10) Studio Ghibli Films!

Studio Ghibli’s movies take you to new worlds, where magical things happen. In Spirited Away, a girl enters the servitude of a spiritual business in order to save her and her parents lives. In Howls Moving Castle, Sophie enters the service of Wizard Howl in order to break the curse put upon her by the Witch of the Waste, giving her the body of an old woman.

These prospects alone give Studio Ghibli films the sense of wanton wonder and excitement expected of this holiday.  With Spirited Away's and Howl's Moving Castle as prime contenders for the number 10 spot, we decided to give Hayao Miyazaki the benefit of the doubt and threw his entire production company into the 10 slot.  Because, let's be honest, it may not be creepy but there's just something magical in general about Studio Ghibli's work.
(May: I FUCKING LOVE STUDIO GHIBLI!)

9) Blood: The Last Vampire

Vampires!  Or rather, chiropterans, are a simple enough reason to put this one in the next slot, considering the violence and the plot of the highly appraised animated film. (Perhaps not so much with the live action movie, but when dealing with an anime-live action conversion, there will always be media bias.) You can't deny that Saya's journey isn't one that doesn't get your blood racing and your heart pounding as she slices her way from one victory to another against the evil creatures.

Blood: The Last vampire remains one of the staple must-sees of the general anime-loving community as well as a great watch for those bros curled up on a couch during a dark and stormy night.  Violence and teenagers, as much as that harkens to a good portion of other anime also leads into number 8...
(May: The live action was pretty good.)

8) Tokyo Majin Gakuen Kenpuchō Tō

Picking up where we left off with something for you blood brothers out there, Tokyo Majin gives you the best of both worlds.  Hardcore battle scenes, people being bled dry and their husks becoming zombies, and demons.  Lots and lots of demons.  In this anime, being a high school student doesn't entitle you to much unless you have the chops to punch a demon in the throat.  Tokyo Majin boasts character appeal apart from standard shounen battle brawlers as well as a haunted musical score that will keep you jamming out.  All the while, your favorite characters angst their way to watching Tokyo crumble under the oppressive thumb of a shadowy organization.

Much love to this anime comes personally from Hattah's vault of 'fuck yeah' as we shuffle on to number 7 with a return to the haunting nature of the holidays...

7) Psychic Detective Yakumo

Born with the ability to see the spirits of the deceased, Yakumo Saitou, hardship is putting it mildly when it comes to growing up.  Now a reserved college student, with the help of his fellow student Haruka Ozawa, he will go on to solve the mysteries of the nearly departed in order to gain insight into his own morbid destiny. 

This is where the list starts to descend into the creepier antics of the spirit, literally, as this anime delves into the personal aspects of hauntings and ghost hunting.  A psychological thriller, more than a horror story, Psychic Detective Yakumo boasts character development out the ass and story intent on astounding around every corner, disturbing down dark corridors, and a bit of confusion at dead ends.  The anime has some flaws, but the core concept is solid and is at least worth a passing glance.

(Get it?  Because he has one red eye...these are the jokes, people.)

6) xxxHolic

Watakuno is a dramatic high schooler who is constantly chased and attacked by ghosts and evil spirits. He finds a shop that grants wishes, and enters the servitude of Yuuko, in order to grant his wish of not being bothered by ghosts. Yuuko uses him to her heart’s desire in odd tasks that have him frequently dealing with the spiritual world, like a boss.

And what part of that doesn't scream 'Watch me on Halloween'?  Honestly.
(May: I FUCKING LOVE ANYTHING FROM CLAMP! I wish the anime had as much as the manga though.)

5) Shiki

A family moves to down, and everyone starts dying. It doesn’t take long for certain residents to realize that not everyone is staying dead, and soon they start fighting back like bosses.  One anime where you know, things are going to get ridiculous from the moment you see the entrance theme and credits.  Shiki is creepy from start to finish, despite its slow start-up, once the plot is established it will either weird you out, creep you out, or end up right up your alley!
(May: This anime was a little difficult to get into at first, but once I did, it was pretty good!)

4) Hell Girl

A website where you can curse anyone you want to death, at the expense of your own soul. This website can only be accessed at the stroke of midnight, and the Hell Girl appears to carry out the reaping of souls like a boss.  After a certain point, you realize specifically how deadly Hell Girl's premise can be and give people a momentary insight into the paranormal, but more likely, the human psyche when faced with retaliation against unforgivable personal crimes.  When people feel wronged, they want justice. When they want justice, they will give almost anything to have it, even their lives.  When you want revenge, who you gonna call.  Ghost Busters?  Fuck that, cal Hell Girl...though, going bankrupt is a minor price to pay for keeping your immortal soul.  You know what?  Go ahead and call the Ghost Busters.

Speaking of one's immortal soul and a satanic allegory for revenge who steals them.  Number 3 kinda barks up the same tree in more of a slapstick fashion...
(May: Its pretty interesting, but I didn't get too far into it yet.)

3) Soul Eater

A land where witches roam and humans can transform into weapons. A school exists, with the Shinigami-sama himself as headmaster, to teach these weapons, and their human wielders, how to fight the forces of evil and insanity like bosses.  Honestly, Halloween just isn't the same without a little Soul Eater thrown into the proverbial mix.  Hell, the city in which the main plot takes place feels like a modern juxtaposition of what Halloween town would look like if Jack Skellington had a day job as the grim reaper and instead of scaring people for a living, the inhabitants fight evil and absorb souls for shits and giggles.  That's just the kind of place Soul Eater is.

Comedic gold with a hint of super cereal sub plot, with a dash of 'What the fuck is Crona?  Some kind of funky shemale or some sexless puppet for a pervertedly semi-racist sword? (Seriously.  When you look at his weapon's lips when it attacks, who DOESN'T think either 1) DSLs or 2) Black people.  Or is it just me?  ...Well fuck you too!)

The point is, from the first episode on, you get the feeling that things aren't all about snazzy costumes and jokes about Maka's negative A-cups.  There are some awesome fight scenes and some dark plot behind it all, which comes full circle, even if the ending isn't as climactic as the build up may suggest...
(May: I FUCKING LOVE THIS ANIME! I'm shipping MakaxSoul so hard right now. They're making a new anime soon that follows the mangas plot line!)

2) Ghost Hunt

SPR, a group of paranormal researchers, most with their own psychic powers, research and solve cases, and exorcise ghosts like bosses.  Not a lot of anime can take home the trophy for almost making me pee my pants, but Ghost Hunt gets to that point some episodes.  Some are touching, some feel like filler which you still enjoy, and then there are simply the moments of truth where evil ghost mcfuckface wants to bathe your blood.  At that point, there's no amount of reminding yourself this is a Japanese cartoon will save you from squealing for your mother as an ancient evil crawls out of its bath of the blood of his victims and there's not a damn thing you or the main character can do about it. 

Ghost Hunt's main male character, ‘Kazuya Shibuya’, or Naru the Narcicist as he is affectionately dubbed by the main heroine, is the epitome of the calm and collected main character.  The unflappable nature of his persona and the condescending discussions about the paranormal make you respect him and despise him at the same time.  The series mainly follows the main character and heroine, Mai Tamiyama, as she falls in with Naru and the rest of what eventually forms the group of SPR, and watches as she grows into her own powers. With the rounded casts of paranormal investigators and their latent abilities, you'll find yourself falling in love with this Haunting anime faster than you can say 'I f**cking love Halloween'...
(May: This is BY FAR my favorite. And Naru.... soooo hot and cold at the same time. And I'm shipping MaixNaru because Masako is a bitch.)

Actually...

1) I Luv Halloween

Hot damn, I must be psychic!  Never mind you assholes who retort that I wrote this list.  But, wait a minute Hattah, I Luv Halloween isn't an anime!  It's a Manga!  Well, shut the fuck up and hear me out as to why this is in the number 1 spot.  And that's because it's a 3 volume long manga, SPECIFICALLY ABOUT FUCKING HALLOWEEN!  How do you not get this?  I mean, that's the whole point of this entire list and you're gonna question me?  *Ahem* Sorry.  I Luv Halloween is a manga, not an anime; yes.  But the three volume series follows the morbidly disturbed adventures of the Halloween crew, a bunch of children whom every Halloween find themselves the center of some conspiracy, horror story, or out of this world apocalypse.

From the beginning, you get a feel for how disturbed this plot is and with each subsequent volume, things only get more levels of depraved.  By volume three, any sense of nausea is replaced with a newfound appreciated for gruesome humor and dark expectations as Devil Boy implores the children deeper into his web of deceit and vengeance.  Not really vengeance, more like comic mischief that usually ends with tens of hundreds of casualties because you don't fuck with the one black guy in town.  Just a head's up.

But, as much as this list has been about anime and the pursuit of a good Halloween thrill, you always have to give a bit of leeway to that honorable mention.  That one piece of media which doesn't quite fit the qualifications, but you say fuck it because it's just not a holiday without it...

The Honorable Mention: Tim Burton.

That's right, Tim Burton made it into this list without ever once having to pull a Stan Lee and creating a manga because he got sick of Marvel being a Disney Princess.  Most things that comes from the mind of Tim Burton are made specifically for the Halloween season.  The Nightmare Before Christmas becoming standard fare for those familiar with the name, other movies from his early career to now always carry the grainy themes and dark colors which are idolized by Halloween. 

Nine, Beetlejuice, Batman Forever, James and the Giant Peach, Corpse Bride, etc.  Take your pick, you simply cannot miss with a Tim Burton film.

 -A collaboration of Hattah Blackwell and May Hotaru

(PS. You can tell what parts May Hotaru wrote, they all have something along the line of 'like a boss' in it. Other than that, and minor editing and rewriting, the rest is Hattah's work.)