While exorcism in anime seems to have experienced a particular revival lately, anime about exorcists has always been pretty popular. Japan has a long history with religions and spirituality that have techniques and rituals to ward off evil spirits. Their spiritual history has spirits and deities for many things, and as such they also have a number of ways to keep these beings pleased and ways to sooth them when displeased.
That said, because Japan has such a varied history with spirituality, it gives anime a lot of creative freedom with how it presents exorcists, or “onmyouji,” in anime. Some align more traditionally while others are merely running off with the title and inspiration to create something more unique.
If anime about exorcists has caught your interest, given these exorcist anime recommendations a try.
Best Anime About Exorcists
Blue Exorcist
Exorcists are particularly popular in shounen action anime. What is an easier and more obviously evil thing to fight than ghosts, demons, and – in this case – the devil?
Blue Exorcist follows a boy raised by a priest who one day discovers that he is actually the son of Satan. His real father had intended to posses his body in order to cross over from the demon world into the realm of humans and cause calamity.
As the priest who raised our main character raised him well, the boy turns against his true father and uses his powers to become an exorcist and fight demons instead.
Twin Star Exorcists
Twin Star Exorcists is set in a world where monsters from a parallel world often invade the human world. It is the job of exorcists to intercept these threats and protect humans.
The story proper follows two young exorcists called to meet with the leader of the Exorcist Union and told that it has been foretold that their child shall be the reincarnation of a legendary exorcist that will finally purge the world of the impurities.
So basically, they were called in and told they were going to someday f*ck. However, as this is a shounen action anime, it isn’t lewded up and made more weird than it already is. Instead, you get two young people paired up and sent on mission together to bond and grow stronger. Though, while it can be pretty “young” feeling at times, this story is, surprisingly, not without some pretty dark moments that some may enjoy and even look for in exorcist anime.
Jujutsu Kaisen
You could say that Jujutsu Kaisen is the pinnacle of exorcist-themed anime because it does two – among many – things very well. It has a power system that is inspired by the historical lore of exorcists around the world, molding that that to fit its shounen action anime needs, and it has a story about fighting demons that is legitimately kept dark and disturbing. Exorcist anime doesn’t need to be dark, but it really probably should be, given the subject matter.
Jujutsu Kasien follows a school boy who, after eating the finger of a wildly powerful demon who had body parts hidden throughout the world, discovers he is a vessel that can seal this demon inside himself. This catches the attention of an organization of exorcists that want to train him up, feed him all the other body parts of the demon, then kill him to finally remove his demonic presence and power from the world. This is made more problematic when the demon begins to manifest himself in the main character’s body, sharing both flesh and power.
Let’s be honest, shounen action anime doesn’t always try its hardest to be creative because we have very low expectations, but I can appreciate the effort Jujutsu Kaisen put into creating its story, its powers, and that it didn’t just let its characters be amazingly predictable stereotypes.
Rin-ne
Exorcisms not only purify and purge evil spirits, but they help less malicious spirits cross to the the other side. You know what exorcism doesn’t do? Make a lot of money.
Rin-ne follows the skilled titular main character who is a chronically broke master exorcist. As he lives at the school he attends, one day he attracts the attention of a classmate that can see ghosts. They end up teaming up together as he introduces her to the unseen supernatural world.
Ushio and Tora
You know how it goes. Sometimes you find a demon impaled by a spear in the basement of the temple you live at, and after your home and friends become endangered by some threat, of course your first thought would be to set him free. That’s Ushio and Tora, an anime that covers that very common occurrence that we’ve all been through.
The series follows the young main character who now takes out rampaging demons with the help of the powerful demon he unsealed and the powerful spear that was sealing him. Luckily, the demon, who can be re-sealed by the spear, is more interested in seeing how the world changed over 500 years over risking getting sealed in a basement again for misbehavior.
Ayakashi Triangle
Do you like anime about exorcists? Would you like if the main character was also a ninja? Would you like it even more if it was particularly lewd throughout?
Well, then.
Ayakashi Triangle follows a boy who becomes an exorcist to protect his childhood friend that naturally attracts spirits, some of which are malicious. When protecting her against the a particularly strong one, he ends up being gender-bent into a girl. That doesn’t really affect his mission any, or his abilities, but it does make it a great set up for lewdness.
Ayakashi Triangle follows him-now-her as they continue to protect their friend, but also try to find a way to reverse the gender-bending.
Chrono Crusade
Unlike many series on here that ascribe to the Japanese onmyouji definition of exorcists, Chrono Crusade is very obviously inspired by the more catholic definition of exorcists.
Chrono Crusade follows a nun who is teamed up with a demon in order to serve their organization that exterminates demonic threats across America.
While the two have a contentious relationship and tend to cause as much chaos as they solve everywhere they go, they are great at their job. However, the series balances out them taking out powerful demons with exploring their two different, yet equally dark pasts.
Mob Psycho 100
Mob Psycho follows a teenage boy, nicknamed Mob, who has power psychic abilities. While he is most focused on trying to get his crush to notice him, he also ends up assisting a conman into helping him solve supernatural problems around town.
While perhaps not as traditional an exorcist anime as you might have wanted, the problems Mob gets entangled with are very much of a supernatural variety. Sometimes they require his abilities, and other times they require a more unique solutions. This keeps the anime a lovely mix of interesting action and funny gags.
The Night Beyond the Tricornered Window
Since there are many who actively avoid the genre for various reasons, it seems prudent to preface The Night Beyond the Tricornered Window by saying that it a boy’s love/yaoi anime, meaning that the primary romantic relationship of the series is between two men.
That said, The Night Beyond the Tricornered Window is also an anime following a duo of exorcists. The series follows a man who can see spirits and is terrified by them. One day, he has an encounter with a mysterious medium who believes that they were destined to meet. Together, they get entangled in unraveling a series of malicious curses that all seem to point to the same mysterious person.
Mononoke
If you are looking for an exorcist anime that is less like a shounen action battler and a little more focused on the lore and mythology surrounding exorcisms, then Mononoke is very much for you.
Mononoke follows the nameless Medicine Seller who wanders Japan in search of malevolent spirits named mononoke that he must slay.
However, the Medicine Seller cannot simply kill these spirits. He must first learn the Form of the spirit, the Truth of the spirit, and the Reason the spirit exists. Essentially, in order to remove it from the world, he has to learn who it was and why it is there in particular.
This series is rich with interesting stories surrounding the spirits and just an absolute feast for the eyes to watch artistically. While the series is limited on its depiction of exorcism techniques, it is rich with spiritual lore.
The Morose Mononokean
Much like Mononoke above, The Morose Mononokean follows a man who also rids people of their demon problems as an exorcist. Interestingly enough, you could say that the Medicine Seller is probably the more morose of the two, though.
The Morose Mononokean follows a high schooler who was having his vitality drained by a demon he accidentally met before starting school. He ends up getting help from an exorcist, who then asks for payment. Unable to pay, the high school is then strong-armed into being his assistant.
Kekkaishi
Kekkaishi is yet another shounen action anime that uses exorcists as a theme. However, what sets Kekkaishi apart from the rest, aside from also being a touch older, is that it actually incorporates traditional techniques into its power system. It’s not like Kekkaishi is “educational” on the subject in any way, but it is nice that it didn’t just run off with the concept and do whatever it wanted.
Kekkaishi follows a main character from a long line of individuals called Kekkaishi that use abilities to eliminate demons that wander into the human realm on occasion. Together with his childhood friend, who is also a Kekkaishi, they team up to fight despite being from rival clans. As is the way of these things, a greater evil is building in the city, meaning great challenges ahead.
The Reincarnation of the Strongest Exorcist in Another World
The Reincarnation of the Strongest Exorcist in Another World is an isekai that tries to innovate the formula by using onmyouji magic and Japanese demons from folklore instead of boilerplate magic. Sure, it is yet another isekai where the main character is overpowered, goes to magic school, and gathers a harem, but this time, his overpoweredness comes from being a master exorcist in his previous life and still being able to use those techniques.
In The Reincarnation of the Strongest Exorcist in Another World, the main character was a master exorcists who was betrayed and killed by conspiring forces. Reincarnated into a fantasy land, he finds that he has no aptitude for the magic that is used there, but can still use his exorcist techniques, including calling on all the evil spirits he sealed and tamed previously. He uses these to mimic the magic of the world as he decides to work on his cunning in his new life, a skill he lacked in his previous life and what saw to his ultimate undoing.
Shounen Onmyouji
This series follows the grandson of a legendary exorcist. However, unlike his powerful grandfather, the grandson has lost his ability to see supernatural beings which, as you can imagine, is kind of essential to fighting them.
While considering different career options, he is approached by a spirit that shows him his true potential powers and offers to team up with him. With his handicap overcome, he continues on his path to become an onmyouji even greater than his grandfather.
D Gray Man
There are several shounen battler entries on this list that use exorcists as the theme for their characters and their powers, and D Gray Man is yet another one. However, it is more unique in that D Gray Man does seem more inspired by the Western, catholic sort of exorcist rather than the Japanese onmyouji.
In this series, the main character joins an order that is dedicated to taking out Akuma, demons made from trapping the souls of the dead, and the Millennium Earl, the villain that tricks others into creating them.
To do this, the characters each receive powers from a substance called Innocence that manifests itself in various powerful weapons.
Do have more exorcist anime recommendations that fans might enjoy? Let the world know in the comments section below.
