10 Unsung, Legally Streamable Halloween Anime
It's Halloween, everyone, and you know what that means: an plethora of lists of the top-ten monster/horror/cosplay/fantasy-themed anime for you to marathon this evening should you so choose. But there are a LOT of anime that you can watch that suits the theme of Halloween that won't get mentioned, so rather than create the standard list, full of the same old shows we all know like
Hellsing
and
Vampire Hunter D
, or worse, shows we can't legally watch yet, like
Soul Eater
and
Kuroshitsuji
, I thought I'd put together a list of ten lesser-known shows-- because they're less popular, or older --that you can legally stream this very evening on your computer, so you don't have to leave the house at all if you don't want.
You may notice the lack of shows from The Anime Network; this is because they mostly only have 1-3 episodes available for free of any given series, and I was aiming more for shows you could stream through in large chunks, if not in their entirety. That said, there's a LOT of awesome shows to sample there, including the strong first episode of recent acquisition
Ghost Hound
, or the first four episodes of Petshop of Horrors, so you should definitely
take a look
.
Enjoy!
1. Galaxy Express 999
Available at
FUNimation's video site
and
Crunchyroll
. The story revolves around a young man who goes on an epic journey on the Galaxy Railways with a mysterious woman after the death of his mother.
2. Astro Boy
Available at
Hulu
(dubbed). This 2003 anime adaptation of the Tezuka manga was created for the 40th anniversary of the original. Some fans weren't into the English dub of this particular show, but this is still easier to get your hands on than the original!
3. Eve no Jikan
Available at
Crunchyroll
. Eve no Jikan (or Time of Eve) is set in a world not unlike Astro Boy's, in which humans and robots live side-by-side, but not in equality. The events take place at a bar in this world which refuses to discriminate between the two, allowing robots to hide their status rings and other perks. Here, robots begin to show signs of wanting to earn independence, but interact regularly with humans as well.
4. Ghost Hunt
Available at
Hulu
(subbed) and
FUNimation's site
(dubbed and subbed). I've profiled this series before, but if you want a really well-done collection of ghost stories with a touch of ongoing personal story arc along the background, it would be hard to find something as strong as the recent anime adaptation of the Ghost Hunt light novels.
5. Spice and Wolf
Available at
FUNimation's video site
. Okay, so it's not so terribly unsung, but how many Halloween lists will it pop up on? Nonetheless the show has a remarkably peaceful "fall" feel to it, as well as fantasy elements and being a period piece (more or less), so it would make a great relaxing Halloween watch.
6. Gankutsuou
Available at
Crunchyroll
. Whether you love or despise what Gonzo does in its literary adaptations such as this-- based on the Count of Monte Cristo, but set in space! Kinda! --Gankutsuou is one of the most visually striking anime I've seen in the last few years. Besides which, unlike the original novel of revenge, the focus here is on the relationship between the Count and the son of his target of vengeance.
7. Baccano!
Available at
FUNimation's video site
. Another fantasy period piece, but about as different from Spice and Wolf as possible-- in fact, "Baccano!' literally means noise or ruckus (in Italian). The story revolves around a group of (neary) immortal alchemists fighting for their lives-- and the elixir that made them immortal in the first place.
8. Black Jack
Available at
Crunchyroll
. A lot of people don't realize that Black Jack didn't get made into a TV anime until 2004-- and you can watch 28 of the ~60 episodes at Crunchyroll right now. As you should know, the series revolves around a rogue doctor who performs high-risk surgeries without the approval of the Medical Board, who object to his exorbitantly high fees as well as the dangerous surgeries he performs. It's less supernatural, but believe me, there's plenty of horrors...
9. Shikabane Hime: Aka
Available at
Hulu
. A living corpse-- a woman who died, but lives on, not quite in the traditional Zombie way --must destroy 108 other living corpses in order to gain entry into heaven in this gruesome horror series.
10. Natsume Yuujinchou
Available at
Crunchyroll
. I keep hearing excellent things about this series, which revolves around a guy who's trying to set right all the horrible things his grandmother did to demons, so I think this one's on MY watch list for tonight!
Of course, there are LOTS of ways to get titles for Halloween today-- if you haven't already, try our
Halloween anime movie quiz
, and you can also explore the
horror
and
fantasy
genres in our database!
As an added bonus, consider this to be the official Halloween recommendations thread-- and add your own recs in the comments!
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