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april-lilies · 6 years

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Anything that has some horror elements in it would be nice. If not, then anything is fine! 👌

!!!Long post ahead, can’t add a read more as I’m on mobile!!!

No problem! The late 80s/early 90s was actually a great time for horror elements in anime, though the horror elements were often accompanied by both sex & violence. There are not many horrors from the time without them. If that’s a bother, then you might not be into some of these. These suggestions are based off my personal preference in anime. That means they’re mostly OVAs rather than long series, and there’s more than likely a long haired pretty man involved somewhere because I’m Shallow™. Mech anime were huge at the time, but I’m not super into them, so Genocyber is the only one with mechs. If you want mech suggestions you’ll have to go to someone else.

Another warning, with many OVAs, they’re quite short so the endings may be a bit rushed or potentially unsatisfying to some.

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Twilight of the Dark Master - Plot is pretty simple, demons threaten Neo-Shinjuku and a guardian from days of old comes to thwart them, the only difference being this time around, the demons were made from drug experimentation on humans. If gore/violence, grody demon french kisses, lowkey sibling-cest, and white haired pretty boys interest you, this anime is for you!

It is both subbed and dubbed, but they added more dialogue to the English version because we’re apparently too dumb for subtleties.

I actually own this subbed on VHS.

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Demon City Shinjuku - Two forces fight over power that releases demons into Shinjuku! Gasp, sounds familiar. The 90s had a thing for demon battles in Shinjuku.

Where Twilight of the Dark Master feels like two ancient powerful entities fighting each other, Demon City is more a ragtag group vs demons, with a protagonist who doesn’t know his own power.

There’s some violence and near demon sexytimes on a billiard table, but overall this one isn’t quite as in you face with the violence/sexiness if I remember right.

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Maryuu Senki - For something different, let’s have more demons in Tokyo! Four people/artifacts are required to release the demons and it’s a fight for the good guys or the bad guys to acquire all the pieces necessary.

Sacrificial demon sexytimes, violence, gay poison kisses, and a (unsatisfying) deus ex machina ending. If you like Iason Mink of Ai no Kusabi, the bad guy is basically a black haired version if him, except more bisexual. The latter three episodes were animated by the same studio as AnK, though this came first, so I guess the villain could be considered prototype black-haired Iason.

Tbh, the basics of these past three are all pretty similar and they have similar vibes, but are different enough.

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Genocyber - You literally only watch this for the gratuitous violence. That’s it, there’s no other reason because the plot is crap. It involves some psychic girls and mechs and human experimentation.

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Tokyo Babylon - This is more occult/mystery than horror, but I’m tossing it in here anyway. It’s meant more for a teen audience than an adult one, so there isn’t any gratuitous violence or sex. I haven’t actually seen this, but I’ve read the manga, done by the famous CLAMP. If it’s like the manga, it will have well developed characters and dark, heavy undertones as the main characters help spirits pass on from our world to the next.

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Petshop of Horrors - This is an anime that is very “be careful what you wish for.” Each self contained episode is formulaic, having someone wander into Count D’s petshop in San Francisco and inevitably breaking the contract they signed to adopt their new “pet,” but I find them highly enjoyable anyway. Mild violence/blood as this is another teen rated one, but it still manages to be a bit gross (think baby bunnies eating their way out if their mother gross).

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Midori/Shojo Tsubaki - I haven’t actually seen this, but I believe this would top the list as far as gratuitous violence/sex/general disgustingness goes. If you want some shock value you horror, go for this one. Look up the artist Suehiro Maruo’s work before watching this. If you can’t take his work, you won’t be able to take this film.

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Serial Experiments Lain - All of the ones I listed so far were late 80s/early 90s, this is a late 90s one and has a decidedly different feel to it. I wouldn’t classify Lain as horror in the classic sense, but I would in an existential sense. I rarely rewatch anime series, and I’ve seen this twice and would consider rewatching it more times. It deals a lot with the integration of technology in society, especially the connection to the internet and the idea of identity. I find it was way ahead of it’s time and more relevant today than it probably was in ‘98. Teen rated.

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Perfect Blue - Many anime fans have seen, or at least heard of, Satoshi Kon’s Paprika and/or Tokyo Godfathers. Perfect Blue is Kon’s darkerest film offering and not as well known, but is my favorite of his. It’s about the toxicity of idol culture and also involves some same themes with Lain as far as the internet goes. Perfect Blue was an earlier film so the tech isn’t quite as developed as in Lain, but the relevance doesn’t suffer because of it. It does have both sex and violence, but the sex is examined as to how sexual scenes in films affect the mental health of the actresses acting in them (the main character of the film transitions from pop idol to actress in the film). It’s a highly psychological film, and is definitely the best overall film in this list, as many of the others are enjoyable, but are still B-grade OVAs. R rated.

Note: If you’re not aware of Japan’s idol & gravure culture, some of this film’s impact may be lost on you, but I still absolutely recommend it.

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Hope that helps, let me know if you watch any of them and let me know what you think!!EDIT: Also, Goku Midnight Eye. Not really horror, but watch this for a massive dose of what the fuck. It has a motorcycle stripper. Not a stripper who rides a motorcycle, but a stripper who TURNS INTO a motorcycle.

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lily-in-japan · 5 years

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DAY 1

I woke up at 7:30am, feeling more alive then I possibly have ever felt. After taking a shower, facetiming Georgia in Glasgow, and brushing my teeth, I headed out from my hotel at around 9 and went to Shinjuku with absolutely no itinerary. My first inclination was to deliberately not structure my time in Tokyo in the hopes of coming across hidden / lesser known wonders that would become mine, and not every tourist who entered Tokyo’s border’s. However, after wandering around Shinjuku for about an hour trying to find a breakfast spot (which turned out fruitless) and getting pretty lost and intimidated by the stacks of shops that lined the streets, all with their own individual sign that screamed at me as I navigated my surroundings, I decided that maybe having a little structure or general idea of what I wanted to see could be helpful to me in the long run.

In the midst of this train of thought, I came across an Italian-style restaurant that looked pretty snazzy, and decided to give it a try. When I entered into the space, I was met with tablecloths and other fabrics pulsating red, white, and green -- the colors of the Italian flag. Almost everything in the restaurant was one of its three colors, even down to the napkins and table feet, which I found to be pretty impressive. I ordered pomodoro pasta, but misunderstood what the waiter had told me about a free drink that was included with my meal, which then transformed into a (broken) English speaking conversation which made me feel disheartened, as I wanted to understand but got flustered and then subsequently lost in the conversation. As I was eating my pasta alone with only one other customer (who quickly left), I was joined by two people who gave me the impression that they were on a first date. The man was smoking a cigarette that smelled like wood, and the woman was laughing and constantly shifting her position so that one hand was resting on her face longingly, lending the impression through her gesture that she was intently listening to the man’s stories and jokes. A large group of friends or coworkers followed them -- they were a pretty rowdy crowd and collectively drained about 30 beers in 45 minutes. When I paid for the meal, one of the other waiters asked if I was half Japanese because I could speak Japanese well, and after I told her that I was not and that I had just been studying for a while, we both laughed it off and had a nice and funny conversation about comparing New York, which she had been to once, and Tokyo, which I had been to once. We exchanged LINE IDs, and I went on my way, deciding to go to Harajuku next to see if I found any cute clothing or accessories to take with me to Kanazawa for school.

After deciding whether or not to walk or take the train to Harajuku, almost an hour away by foot, I crazily decided to walk. Though I had Google Maps on me, I figured asking a person on the street wouldn’t hurt, so I approached a group of older women who subsequently virtually adopted me as their own. After talking amongst themselves, they brought me to the police to further inquire about the potential walk to Harajuku, as they were on their way to the train anyway. We talked about the importance of long walks and travel they had done in the past, and after trying to convince the policeman on my behalf that I was a fan of taking long walks and failing, having the policeman tell me that it was impossible and that it was imperative to take the train, they individually shook my hand and went on their way. As did I, to Harajuku by foot, walking along a narrow winding path which transitioned into Yoyogi, where I saw the JR (Japanese Rail) headquarters and came across a book swap, where I found and bought a gorgeous manga drawn and written by Suehiro Maruo, an author I had never heard of but felt the need to read.

I eventually found myself entering the wild nature of Harajuku’s Takeshita street, bobbing through a packed crowd of hundreds of people forming two opposing masses that moved whether one was ready to or not. I explored many stores, walking up and down narrow stairs to enter into large warehouses packed tight with cool-looking punk clothing, streetwear, silky flower print dresses with white collars, and makeup galore. After waiting on line for a bathroom in one of these warehouses for 30 minutes, having been on my feet since the early AM, I was beginning to get exhausted, but still managed to snag a few awesome items, including a white lace collar that goes over any shirt or dress as a separate piece, sakura (cherry blossom) earrings, a Birth of Venus-esque bra and panty set that was too good to pass up, and a lot of fashion inspiration from people I saw around me.

On my way to the train back to my hotel, I strolled through Yoyogi Park, where the first signs of the blooming cherry blossom trees showed their face. While the park was fairly empty, as it was getting dark, there were many groups of people gathered under a large patch of land covered with 桜の木, playing catch, doing frisbee, having picnics, and holding hands on a bench on a romantic spring date. I felt so at peace, and sat on one of the benches next to a couple for almost an hour, reading my new manga and feeling the cool night wind against my face. It was a nice change of pace from the rest of the day, which was sunny and hot, in the mid 70s, and provided me with other sensory sensations that invigorated my skin and made me feel happy and alive.

I went to a soba/udon shop for dinner, where I was met with a vending machine where I chose my dinner selection after entering the appropriate amount of coins. The machine was old and run down, and did not have some of the options I saw outside on the window menu; as a result, I stared at it, trying to answer the questions swirling around my head, for longer than I thought I did, apparently, for the chef to my left began putting noodles in bowls and telling me that they were udon, soba, etc. in English with a large grin on his face. After replying in Japanese, we both began laughing, and he made me a delicious tonkatsu with a side of soba on the house.

I ended my night with a mortifying experience in a Lawson, a type of conbini (convenience store) that is very popular in Japan and is a lifeline in various ways for many people, especially as a place where you can buy a quick pre-made lunch that is delicious at a cost that is affordable. I bought a cup of jelly with mandarin oranges inside, a desert I am particularly fond of. However, when I was producing the cash needed to buy it, coming to 147 yen, requiring a number of different and specific coins that were crudely lodged in my wallet, I dropped all of the change I had in various intervals, becoming increasingly embarrassing every time I did it. The cashier stared blankly at me, while the other cashier giggled quietly and another customer picked up some of the dropped change to return to me. I finally produced the sufficient amount, quickly shuffled out of the store, and made it my mental priority to buy a change purse ASAP, realizing that unlike in America where change is not as important as dollars are, there are the equivalent of 1 and 5 dollar bills in yen, making change of higher importance.

When I got back to my hotel, I decided to cool down after the embarrassment attached to the experience I had just had, and tried out the small-scale onsen that was on the 9th floor, but did anything but cool down. I, along with 3 other Japanese women who were staying at the hotel, stayed in the pool for a total of about 10 minutes before all collectively almost passing out. After working collaboratively to get the cool water dispenser to work, to no avail, I went back to my room, popped open the jelly treat that I had temporarily stored in my fridge, watched a dramatic TV show under the covers, and drifted off to sleep. While hectic and overwhelming, I couldn’t have asked for a better first full day, and am glad I was able to approach it headfirst alone.

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