I’m a big Junji Ito fan, but I haven’t really found any good anime that come close to matching the creepiness of his manga stories, including that one Junji Ito anime series that’s out there. I think the closest I’ve seen is Mononoke, though honestly I haven’t seen a ton of anime, so maybe I’m missing something. I thought I’d ask to see what you all might suggest in terms of genuinely creepy/unsettling/dark anime movies or series, either similar to Ito’s stuff or whatever else you think is good.
Any suggestions?
I’ve only seen one anime and it was in the 70’s and it was horror, well horror for kids I think. It was broadcast on my local public TV station one sunday afternoon.
Really had an impact as Japanese media was non-existent at the time so it was shocking to my sensibilities on so many levels. Don’t know if it holds up anymore, but at the time it was pretty scary. That and I was like 12 or so.
Wow, found it on YT: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mg276CLBjjE
This doesn’t look super scary, but definitely looks interesting. I’ll have to check this one out.
This was made in 1967 and I think it is a window into early anime.
Look at the Disney-esque character designs and the parallax cel reveal scene revealing the castle.
There’s Tom & Jerry / Warner bros. influence all over as well.
I imagine Japan as an occupied country after WW2 was a new market for US capitalists and this film is full of the contemporary US market exploitation creating new cultural standards. Meanwhile the artists and writers desperately stamp Japanese myth and literary style and meaning into a US dominated art form trying to reclaim something of a cultural identity from capitalist occupation.
Really gives a visceral insight into the historical evolution of anime and post WW2 Japanese culture.
