1w ago

Why is there no horror anime that's actually scary?

Yeah yeah, this may be a controversial statement, but I would love NOTHING MORE than to be proven wrong.

I genuinely believe that there's no good horror anime out there. Something that actually gives you chills and makes you Avert your eyes from the screen just doesn't exist. Junji ito is creepy and gross, sure, but I wouldn't say it does enough to be considered proper horror

Other horror animes just have a creepy aesthetic or rely on dark story beats like shiki or another. I don't know if it's just the disconnect from being animated in the first place, but I don't think anime is capable of delivering a true horror experience.

Please, if you disagree, prove me wrong, I need to be wrong about this

12 comments

I felt scared watching Perfect Blue.

Because we have become too desensitized with to many scary things that horror medias doesn't scare us anymore.

Elfenlied still haunts me. Not in the flashy body horror way, but in this psychological way. But I'm always susceptible when there's kids involved

I was freaked for Paranoia Agent
But I think it's a product of animated medium. Are there many scary animations even outside of anime? (Legit asking for examples since I can't think of much rn) I think anime more often comes closest in spite of the premise here.
My guess is it has to do w how things feel frightening when they're somewhat relatable - when you can imagine yourself in this awful situation. Anime and animation in general has a difficult time with this due to being clearly and objectively not real.
Instead they tend to twist reality to the unimaginable horrors. The farfetched, the surreal, the cosmic kind of horror you can only imagine but likely not truly experience. This both helps and hinders its interpretation of "horror".
- I think this is it, it's just hard to imagine yourself in the characters place when their world doesn't look like your world

Not what you're looking for, but I think Shinsekai Yori and Made in Abyss have pretty impactful psychological horror elements. I haven't gotten around to watching Higuarashi, but it's well known as a (apparently psychological) horror anime.
I do agree that the medium limits the visceral impact that visual elements have. Despite that, I was still fairly grossed out by some select scenes in Orb: On the Movements of the Earth.
Also, if you want something like a horror movie, you probably want a movie... The same suspense can't be sustained over separate 20 minute chunks.
Movie or not, I don't think there are many anime that are even attempting to fulfill your horror desires.

I think anime can be quite good at psychological horror, but yeah visual horror not so much. Like you suggest, I do think the disconnect might simply be too much, although I feel visual novels can be pretty good at it (haven't played any, but that's what I hear).
Makes me wonder, are there any western animations that do good horror?

I want to disagree but now that I think about it, I have not seen any horror anime other than psychological or just dumpster fires.

I feel like Dark Gathering comes close to it
- Dark Gathering is hilarious, just my opinion.

Depends on the person. Higurashi was quite scary for me. Even Jigoku Shoujo.

@StarvingMartist there's a short stop-motion anime called My Little Goat that's very visceral-looking and gross, it's about a wolf trying to eat goat kids and I think it's meant as a metaphor for csa? I don't remember it super well because I only watched it once and that was more than enough for me... I don't know what you consider "scary" but it was super disturbing.
Funny thing is, the guy who made it later made Pui Pui Molcar.

12 comments