At this very moment, we are deep into October, the spookiest month. So what would October be without covering spooky subjects like demons. Yet, demons serve for good anime any time of year. Whether it is slaying them, as is popular in anime, or using them for comedy, the demons will always be waiting for you.
Best Demon Anime
Black Butler
The demons in Black Butler are often as we would imagine demons – blending and moving around among us. The titular butler in Black Butler is a demon that is bonded to a young noble out for revenge. In return for helping him reap his vengeance, the butler Sebastian will get to devour his soul when he is finished. It seems like a lot of footwork for one meal, but we all know young boy souls are the caviar of souls.
Demon Slayer
The title says it all about this anime series. It is about slaying demons, mostly. A boy comes home to find his entire family slaughtered by demons, save for his sister who was turned into one. He manages to subdue her and finds himself hunting for the demon that did this and embroiled in an age-old war between demons and humans.
Blue Exorcist
Raised by a foster father, Rin doesn’t know that he is the literal son of Satan. His true father hopes to use his body to cross into the human world, but as sons do, Rin rebels against him. Now this son of a demon decides to become a exorcist and fight against the demon world.
Devilman Crybaby
Devilman Crybaby is one big showcase of why you ought not go messing with things you ought not to be messing with. Through various events, the weak and mewling Akira gets possessed by a devil at a party where people are trying to get possessed by devils. He decides to start fighting against the devils in the world, but while he has the power of a demon, he still has the weak heart of a human.
Kemonozume
What happens when a demon slayer and a flesh-eating demon fall in love? You get one wacked out retelling of Romeo and Juliet.
Blood Lad
This series has a distinctly more comedy vibe to it. It essentially follows a vampire in hell that is a huge weeb for everything human. So when a human girl wanders to his territory in hell, he is pretty excited. Unfortunately, she dies and he goes on a quest to revive her. While the main character is a vampire, this is hell and there are plenty of demons around.
High School DxD
The demons in High School DxD are probably not what you expect. They are all hot girls with large… assets, which is a must in an ecchi anime. Furthermore, what you don’t expect is that the demon characters are all the good-oriented characters while everyone else is not as aboveboard.
Inuyasha
In Inuyasha, it melds action and romance in a Feudal Japanese setting that is overrun with demons. Some of them are dumb as dirt, others are more cunning. There are even a few truly bone-chilling ones. However, most are just fodder for the half-demon main character and his very large sword made from his full demon father’s tooth.
It also has an element of time travel in which modern Japanese people have no belief in demons even though the past shows that you couldn’t walk down the road without tripping over one.
Claymore
A lot of action shows use demons and demon-infused main characters for its fighting premise, but few do it with such melancholic flair as Claymore. In this series, young girls are infused with demon blood to go out and fight demons for humanity (and the patriarchy that has dominion over them). Unfortunately, given long enough, they will turn into these demons. There are a lot of sad stories within and a certain downer vibe as all these girls know what their fate will be. Oh, and everyone hates them too. There’s a lot of “why do I even do this?” among the Claymores.
Hoozuki’s Cooolheadedness
Not all demons are badass in the ways you expect. This series is a comedy series about a demon named Hoozuki being a badass by being the best bureaucrat that hell has ever seen. This can be a good follow up to some of the heavier demonic shows.
Demon Detective Nougami Neuro
Neuro is a a demon that eats mysteries. He ate all the mysteries in the demon world, so he moved to the human world. However, as he wants to remain low-key, he teams up with a young girl who is trying to solve he father’s murder. Neuro agrees to help her solve it if she helps him feed on mysteries. So begins a weird partnership in an anime filled with nightmare fuel visuals.
Yu Yu Hakusho
After dying, Yusuke became a spirit detective, which has him investigating events in the human and demon world to stop demons from causing trouble in both. It is a really good set up for an action anime in which you have a lot of interesting enemies to fight.
D. Gray Man
In D. Gray Man, exorcists fight Akuma, which is just one of many ways to say demon in Japanese. These Akuma are typically people who died that were brought back as a wish by their loved ones. Unfortunately, they come back wrong and usually kill that loved one first before wreaking havoc on the world after.
Nura: Rise of the Youkai Clan
Nura is mostly human, but also has a little demon blood in him. He lives in his house with his demon grandfather and a sort of yakuza gang full of demons. At night, he even turns in to a demon. This story is about his acceptance of his demon side, his acceptance of taking over clan leadership, and fighting against the other demon clans in town.
Rage of Bahamut
In Rage of Bahamut, the world is shared between humans, gods, and demons. While humans roam the Earth, demons and gods have their realms, but are constantly at odds. There are moments when they all bind together, like when fighting against the great Bahamut, but even then they are still trying to undermine each other.
Do you have more anime recommendations the feature demons? Let fans know in the comments section below.
