When Ichigo ran into a young Arrancar when navigating the vast desert of Hueco Mundo, he never would’ve thought that she would become a companion for most of his journey and a friend after the Arrancar arc. Ichigo also never expected a young child to have the mouth of an adult the way Nel did: she often said things that were too perverse in nature to come from a regular youngster and one of those things is what got her onto this list. Nel describes herself to Ichigo at some point early in their relationship as a bit of a masochist and adds that he needs to “make her cry a little or else it’s no fun”. It’s worth mentioning that she is referring to the simple and innocent game of tag. In addition to needing to spice up tag with tears, Nel Tu later steals Ichigo’s Zangetsu to incite a new game of tag, screaming gleefully that Ichigo should catch her and beat her up. It is great to see children learning to become fully-fledged weirdos.

Fukawa Touko may seem like the average nerdy girl with atrocious social skills; however, she harbours a disturbing secret: she has multiple personalities and when she sneezes, Touko becomes Genocider Syo, a sadistic serial killer with an affinity for handsome young men. Ironically, Touko is incredibly squeamish and cannot stand the sight of blood and she faints upon seeing large amounts of blood, giving Genocider Syo the space to do some damage. In addition to being a sadistic serial killer, Touko as Genocider Syo exhibits fairly masochistic traits, such as carving up her own leg after each new victim. Despite Genocider Syo being a “dark side” to Touko’s personality, the masochism is a trait they share and Touko often fantasizes about being punished in some way by Byakuya Togami, her “ideal boyfriend”. Her obsession with Togami goes to the point of her justifying some of the harsh things he says to her, believing them to be his expression of concern for her wellbeing. When he told her to take a bath because she “stinks”, she grinned from ear to ear, asking Naegi if he believes that there is hope for her & Togami’s “relationship”. That’s what love is all about!

Employed by the Prime Minister as one of the four Rakshasa Demons, Suzuka is a character able to manipulate her body. She fights by controlling the growth of her nails, turning them into sharp blades. Suzuka is a capable fighter, but not one without strange tendencies. In a fight against a group of spies, Suzuka deliberately received their blades in order to experience the pain, something she craves. Suzuka is an outright masochist who seeks her pleasure in combat. Out of combat, it isn’t unlike Suzuka to fantasize about experiencing intense pain and at some point when she was sent to the torture chamber, she managed to even fantasize about being tortured by General Esdeath. Like the other Rakshasa Demons, she enjoys her battles, whether that is a result of her masochism is unknown.

It almost seems like characters with “Inu” in their names doggedly hide some of the most disturbing secrets. Except in this case, it isn’t quite a secret. Meet Inugami Yachiyo, a cat-lover who makes friends with one Nekoyama Suzu, a dog-lover. They end up being proof that opposites attract, as they become friends. Inugami often proclaims her masochism and explained her love of cats by saying that she prefers “getting disciplined” over “disciplining others”, a clear nod to her masochistic tendencies. In one fairly hilarious case, Inugami drools in anticipation of being forcibly silenced by the school committee chairman, Sarutobi Sora and having made Sarutobi angry, Inugami playfully suggests that if she is going to express her displeasure, she should do it in a way that’ll get Inugami “hot and bothered”. 

When bookworm Harumi Kazuhito takes a bullet for his favourite author Natsuno Kirihime, he is reincarnated as a dachshund and suffers a life without books, until Kirihime herself offers to help him. Now banded together with his favourite author, he accompanies her to a strange woman’s office, where he meets Hiiragi Suzuna; Kirihime’s editor and the woman responsible for the publishing of Kirhime’s Seven Deadly Sins novel series. As good at her job as she may be, Hiiragi is a hardcore masochist who derives pleasure from any form of abuse, especially that which comes courtesy of Natsuno Kirihime. When introduced in the series, Hiiragi’s eccentricism is quickly introduced but followed by her masochism, highlighted when in one of their scheduled meetings, Hiiragi makes a comment about Kirihime’s small breasts, provoking an angry slash with a pair of scissors from Kirihime. Instead of being scared or retaliating, Hiiragi responded with an ecstatic “Thank you!”, commenting that Kirihime’s scissors are “lovely as usual”, implying that Hiiragi had enjoyed similar attacks before. It’s important to do what you love, but Hiiragi may be enjoying her 9 to 5 a bit too much. 

Konosuba follows the adventure of Satou Kazuma, a hikkomori who died a pathetic death on his way back from buying a limited-edition online game. In the afterlife, he meets the goddess aqua who gives him two choices: head on over to Heaven, or reincarnate in a fantasy world, like in an RPG! Now, given a second chance at life, is Kazuma the hero his new world needed? Or is he just another average adventurer? Like in an RPG, Kazuma decides to form a party and one of the members of his party is the beautiful Darkness, the crusader. When in battle, Darkness’ masochism kicks in and she often charges into the brunt of the opponent’s attack, hoping to take most of the damage and she seems to derive her pleasure from both physical and verbal abuse. Darkness goes to great lengths to sate her appetite for pain, sometimes “heroically” diving head first into dangerous situations to “protect” others, such as during the Flying Cabbage Harvest, when she shielded fellow adventurers from a flying cabbage onslaught, relishing the physical pain and the stares of the male adventurers present. Darkness: her attacks hardly ever hit their mark, but she’s very good at becoming a wall! 

Having originally hated humans due to the deaths of her parents, Ruby has since changed her stance towards human beings, perhaps due to the influence of the protagonist, Tsukune. Ruby is a witch who works under the board chairman at Youkai Academy doing a variety of odd jobs throughout the series. First warning sign: Ruby lives to take orders from others. Second warning sign: Ruby has a crush on Tsukune and calls herself his “toy”. Surely two warning signs isn’t enough to call Ruby a masochist, right? Wrong. When helping Tsukune with his training to control his Youkai power, Ruby displayed several perverted traits, masochism being one of them. She often asked to be tortured or punished by Tsukune during this training, showing herself to be one of the most perverted girls in Tsukune’s harem. It’s always those quiet ones.

Sarutobi Ayame, or Sa-chan, was a ninja in training in the Oniwabanshuu, as well as an assassin in training and a waitress part-time at the Kunoichi Café. Despite her line of work needing her to be extremely meticulous, Sa-chan has terrible eyesight and cannot tell an inanimate object from a living one without her glasses. She has an obsession with the series’ protagonist, Sakata Gintoki. Sa-chan consistently displays a degree of perversion, especially with Gintoki. Due to her infatuation with Gintoki, Sa-chan is often seen stalking the samurai. To her delight, Gintoki treats her very badly, often calling her “dirty woman”, appealing to the perverted masochistic Sa-chan. In one case, Gintoki managed to snatch Sa-chan’s glassess off of her face without her noticing. He then commented that she needed to be more careful and vigilant. Knowing just how horrendous her vision is without her glasses, Sa-chan asked Gintoki to “bully” her more, a reaction which leads us to believe that she not only enjoys being treated badly, but also enjoys being relatively blind at the hands of Gintoki too. Another thing worth noting his her perseverance; she never wavers in her pursuit of Gintoki despite being flat-out rejected at every turn. Could it be true love? Or could it just be the M-Effect?

As a Celestial Wizard, Lucy forms contracts and friendships with the spirits under her control and each one bearing its own abilities and quirks. It is of no surprise that the spirit hiding behind the Gate of the Maiden has some interesting characteristics herself. Virgo is one of Lucy’s most reliable spirits, despite having a very questionable passion… Virgo seems to enjoy being punished, so much so that whenever she is summoned, she enters the fray with a timely: “Would you like to punish me, princess?” Another warning sign is the presence of shackles on both her hands, a reference to slavery. Virgo might only be joking, but due to her stoic nature, we may never know…

Sprinting her way into the number one spot on our list of pain-popping dames is Kanbaru Suruga from the Monogatari Series, a series which follows Araragi Koyomi and his knack of running into and subsequently helping various girls who are affected by supernatural oddities. Naturally, Kanbaru Suruga is one such girl and energetic and heavily social as she is, Kanbaru often enjoys casual banter with Araragi, banter which always harbours suggestive, sometimes masochistic undertones. Kanbaru is a very liberated character when it comes to her sexuality and considers herself, in addition to being a masochist, a fujoshi and a lolicon. At one point, Kanbaru playfully answers a phone call from Araragi, claiming to be his “love slave”. Despite being homosexual, Kanbaru has no qualms about flirting with Araragi, and possibly other males. It is this very liberated nature which unsettles Hanekawa Tsubasa. Nevertheless, we love this athletic pervert and coupled together with an intense jealousy, Kanbaru’s masochism makes her one of the darker characters on this list.

We all remember what it is to be young poor and full of hope (read debt). This is how young Kimimaro feels so he seems to catch a break to be scouted for a money making opportunity, IN ANOTHER PLANE OF REALITY. Kimimaro wants the same things we all do, a house, financial stability and such. All this eludes him until Kimimaro runs into a gaudily dressed representative of the mysterious Midas Bank. He seems to have the answers to Kimimaro’s money woes. However, they require him to perform transactions in a crazy place called The Financial District. In the neon colored, pixelated Financial District, Entes (short for Entrepreneurs) engage in high stakes, pulse pounding “negotiations” for “assets” all the while avoiding “bankruptcy”. Naturally this being an anime, you can gather that all the quoted words can be translated as “fights”, “wins” and “death”. However, the key to the Financial District’s appeal is its mystery. What effect does all this “haggling” have on reality and the real world economy specifically? The truth is more complex than you’d think for a show like this.

Our next example comes from the Sunrise robot show known as Zegapain. In this sci-fi adventure, we follow normal high schooler Kyo Sugoro. Well everything seems normal at first until he meets a mysterious girl who whisks him off to this alternate world to fight evil invading robots. Kyo takes to the task rather easily, but that is where the mystery begins. Kyo gets serious fits of deja-vu from his experience, as if he has done all this before. This calls into question where his actual reality ends and his virtual reality begins and vice versa. Virtual Reality and Robots collide in the Quantum Server from Sunrise’s Zegapain. Entering into the VR world is basically the same as playing a VR video game, complete with headset. In this world, humans (including protagonist BDUI) pilot large robots called Zegapain, dual piloted fighter robots. All information and entities are digitized and look exactly as they do in the RL, albeit with snazzier costumes. The server not only features the various battle fields but entire cities apparently. In fact, a key question about the Quantum Server is just HOW VAST is its world and whether or not it extends into the protagonists reality or not, real mind bending stuff.

No conversation about alternate virtual realities can be discussed without The World, the iconic RPG like realm from the titanic .hack franchise. The World is based on traditional MMORPG mechanics and aesthetic; people log in the RL, grind, schmooze in the game, pick up some shiny treasure, and then logout. That is of course, IF you can log out. Protagonist Tsukasa has been stuck in the game for what seems like weeks, with no way of getting out. Taking a cue from real life, the true mechanics of The World are steeped in mystery. Just how much personal information do you need to participate? What do you DO when deal with bugs like this. And where on earth are those freaking admins when you need them? The World is a standard MMORPG world at first look. It has your normal fantasy setting with various dungeons and towns. All characters have your various classes and your standard monsters to fight. What captures our interest in The World is figuring out how it all came to be. Who created it? How is it that protagonist’s consciousness is looked inside the game?

Sticking to the nostalgia train, let’s take a look at one of the VR worlds that captured the hearts and ideas of children worldwide, the DigiWorld. The DigiWorld is from the hit children’s anime Digimon. In the show, we follow five kids who meet at a summer camp where it inexplicably starts to snow! They soon discover that they have small gadgets and before they known it, are transported to a new world. Once there, they find that they can command monster like creatures to fight against other monsters! An offshoot of the internet, the DigiWorld is where the beloved monster buddies called Digimon (Digital Monsters) reside, fight, and digivolve. The children in charge of their Digimon command them and enter the DigiWorld via small handheld devices. Naturally, this was a marketing bonanza for kids here in the real world, OUR real world if you are keeping score. I mean, what kid would not love an entire realm where you can take your Tamagotchi like digital critters and make them fight!?

In a 180 degree turn from the cute childish world of the Digimon Universe, we take a look at The Wired from avant-garde cult hit Serial Experiments Lain. Lain, for those that are familiar with the show, is an experience that defies explanation but we shall give it a try. At first, the show revolves around the mystery surrounding a young girl’s suicide. Not only is she dead but she seems to be able to communicate with the main character Lain through the information network known as The Wired. Believe it or not, it’s from there that things start to get surreal. For the sake of maintaining the show’s mystery, we can only divulge certain aspects about The Wired. On the outset, exactly what kind of world The Wired is remains a mystery. Is it just a highly developed form of the traditional world wide web or something more encompassing and dangerous? Otherwise, how can the dead communicate via the web as seen in the story? As the show progresses, Lain’s (and the viewers’) reality seems to become more and more bent and fluid. That calls into question of The Wired potentially being it’s own virtual reality IN ADDITION to a grounded electrical network.

Ghost in the Shell comes in various franchise forms but for the sake of this dossier we will reference the first TV series (Stand Alone Complex) due to its widespread popularity. In Stand Alone Complex, we follow the special police force known as Public Security Section 9. This one of a kind sort of special ops group is charged with dealing with various crimes revolving around androids, machinery or the internet. One thing that all Gits incarnations share is the highly developed near future world setting and advanced cybernetic technology. This extends to the internet or cyberspace where integral communication and cyber crimes/policing take place. With human consciousness and identity being able to be digitized, individuals can travel through and sometimes seemingly reside in the sea of worldwide information. The show often illustrates this via characters taking on human avatars inside a world literally swirling with numbers data and digits. One imagines the day when technology evolves to the point that we ourselves could log into cyberspace via devices in our brains just like in the show.

We look at another high concept sci-fi show known as Real Drive. In this spiritual cousin to Ghost in the Shell (sharing the same creator and studio) we follow elderly Masamichi Haru who is a cyber detective in the online world of The Metal. The Metal, also known as the Meta-Real network is imagined in the anime as an entire ocean. Often times, stories revolve around cases surrounding people who delve too deep into The Metal causing effects to their physical or psychological states. Enter Haru as a “cyber diver” who goes to investigate these various incidents. Production I.G.’s beautiful production work really sell the virtual ocean concept. The Metal is a visual representation of a distant future of the internet. Dubbed an “Information Network”, the network is so highly developed that it allows people to make connections at the level of consciousness. Similar to the our current internet there are security measures in place for protecting personal information and such. However, the network is so vast and deep that those who wish to “drown” deep in the sea of information and experience can. This in essence helps set up the “ocean” visual concept of The Metal.

In the years since .hack//Sign, it seems that there have been a plethora of anime, manga and light novel stories about immersive virtual MMORPGS, most notably Sword Art Online. However, one of these stories sticks out from the pack and that is Log Horizon. It focuses on the online game Elder Tale and the players who actually have their beings transported inside the game donning the look of their in game avatars. This is standard genre boilerplate but what makes Elder Tale (and Log Horizon) interesting the meticulous detail gone into the in game’s world building. From battle mechanics and item usage all the way to creating political alliances and acquiring territory, the world of Elder Tale is covered with all the detail you’d find in a political or historical treatise. It helps that there are cool monster battles too though.

As you can see there are a lot of commonalities between virtual online worlds in Anime. OZ is fairly similar, largely being an animated representation of the World Wide Web. Naturally used for games and other frivolousness, it also controls high levels of infrastructure all across Japan, which complicates things a little bit when a malicious hacker starts wreaking havoc on the system. While there is not much you haven’t heard before in concept, the gorgeous way OZ is realized with its bright neon colouring and dynamic avatar and virtual space design is a welcome change from the cold pixel-based ice blue and greens we are used to see anime use to illustrate the net. One would hope that the internet would be so visually arresting in reality.

Our final and probably most memorable virtual world is one that seemed almost fantastic at its release in 2007 but is eerily timely in this new Pokémon GO world of ours. This world comes from the 2007 Madhouse anime, Den-noh Coil. This beautifully animated original work follows a group of kids known as the Coil Cyber Detective Agency. This rag-tag group of kids investigate anomalies in the crazy cyberspace laden town in which they live. Naturally, one mystery solved only leads into a brand new one to solve. Saying anything more would really spoil the fun. In the world of Den-noh Coil, various levels of cyberspace and cyber-matter are overlaid onto our natural physical world. This extra layer can only be perceived by wearing special Den-noh glasses. After doing so, you can even reach out and touch the various cyber beings, including the cute and cuddly (if slightly homely) cyber hound Densuke, seen above. Watch out for Illegals, though. They are black amorphous blobs of corrupted data that wreak havoc on the Den-noh world.

Originally a light novel with the same title written by Asano Atsuko (whose other work, Battery, has been adapted into an anime and is currently airing), No. 6 is the name of a city surrounded by walls, safe from outside threat, an utopia where there is no poverty, conflicts, or any problems whatsoever. It is one of the six city-states in the world that emerged after the long and bloody war humanity had. The story focuses on Shion, a young boy who is an elite resident of No. 6 thanks to his academic brilliance, whose life is changed forever ever since he rescued a mysterious boy called Nezumi. Through their fated meetings, Shion learns the darker side of the city, including the truth and reality of the wastelands that lied behind the walls of No. 6, and the secrets held by the city-state itself. Looking at Shion’s banishment from No. 6 and his initial ignorance, how he struggles in accepting a completely different values and morality that lives beyond the utopia that is No. 6, and Nezumi’s complicated, almost contradictory presence as they both unveiled the secrets behind the walls of No. 6, the audience was given a glimpse of how actual society works, what they gain and lose as a utopia was created. The overall concept and mystery it brought still provided you a great reflective session to your mind.

Set in the city of Tachikawa, Tokyo, Gatchaman Crowds follow the story of Ichinose Hajime, whose life had changed once she was given NOTE, which enabled her to transform into the legendary protector of Tachikawa: Gatchaman. As she and her friends fought to eliminate aliens that destroyed everything they touch, called MESS, and stop them from throwing the world into chaos, they also have to keep their presence a secret. A series putting superheroes on the spotlight, handled by Tatsunoko Production, full of bright, flashy colors and transformations sequences! Sounds super fun? It is. Except unlike the other flashy superhero anime shows, Gatchaman Crowds zeroes in the very essential question in the end: what exactly makes one a hero? Should humans be given the power to take matters into their own hands outside of their own personal matters? What makes a society into a society? These are the kind of questions that would pop in your head when you watch Gatchaman Crowds. Despite its flashy, fun-looking packaging—beautiful artwork, interesting character designs, top-tier seiyuus such as Uchida Maaya and Miyano Mamoru in its line-up—Gatchaman Crowds’ best point lies in its thought-provoking storyline. If you’re in the mood of something flashy and yet requires brain work, this is a series for you to pick up!

Arguably one of Gen Urobuchi’s best works, Psycho-Pass is both an action and psychological sci-fi anime that won Newtype’s 2013 Best Title award. Set in the 22nd century, the series told the story of a world where it was possible to quantify and examine one’s mental state for signs of criminal intent and ill-wills, known as Psycho-Pass. Tsunemori Akane, a young Inspector who naively wishes to uphold justice, gets paired with Enforcer Kougami Shinya. As the series progress, she sees the reality of how corrupt the justice system is, and struggles to perceive what justice actually is. It will send your mind reeling over the classic debate of life: What is right and what is wrong? As other Gen Urobuchi’s works do to us, Psycho-Pass also delved into questioning the true nature of humanity. While, at the core, this series is really about revenge, the grey area of morality makes it hard for even us audience to root for either the protagonist or the antagonist. Is the system of justice, keeping the order in society by restricting them, really just? Or is it really better to regain humans’ free will, but in the process letting go of the utopian ideas for a peaceful community? Psycho-Pass brought the audience along as Akane journeyed through doubts and questions in the grey area of the concept of justice in her world.

Adapted from a manga with the same title by Takemiya Keiko in 1977, Terra E… is an epic that was sadly over overlooked by many of anime viewers. In a future where humans live in colonized planets, controlled in every aspect of their lives by computers, after Earth is no longer habitable as it was too polluted and destructive, biological evolution had resulted in a new human race, people who could wield psionic abilities: Mu. Feared, hated, and exiled from the rest of humanity, and nearly extinct, the Mu only held one dream of going home to the beautiful, almost mystical blue planet: the Earth, or as its other name stated, Terra. Terra E… is not simply about conflict and wars in space; it is about race and politics, exclusion and extinction, and relationships between humans and technologies. Through the growth of its two main characters—Jomy who belongs to the Mu, and Keith who belongs to humans—Terra E… weaved an entire epic spanning 20 or 30 years with an extensive number of cast, showing us the lives of two entire, separated races. While it is set in a futuristic, sci-fi world, the themes and emotions Terra E… brings to us hits dangerously close to our own reality—racism, political conspiracy, survival, ideological and religious belief. All of these topics, delved into with a focus on both the Mu’s and humans’ side, highlighting each side’s ignorance and blindness and yet also each side’s grief and losses. It is an epic that ended with a profound sense of satisfaction despite the pain and grief, giving viewers a sense of hope rarely found in such a dark, tragic genre of anime.

It isn’t only a dark, psychological series that could send your mind whirling over questions about the world. Don’t be fooled by the intimidating title, Jinrui wa Suitai Shimashita is, without a doubt, an extremely cute yet strange, hilarious comedy with nameless characters in a post-apocalyptic world where humanity has dwindled and the world is, now, dominated with the new ‘humanity’: fairies. Tiny, extremely adorable and permanently grinning ten-inches creatures who are surprisingly very intelligent, but also susceptible to what they perceive as trends, can’t make sweets, and reproduce by multiplying when they’re having fun. Through the nameless protagonist—only referred to as Watashi—and her dealings with the fairies’ antics, resulting in hilarious conversations made of the fairies’ sometimes morbid questions and dry, deadpan comments from ‘Watashi’, the anime delivers satirical and cynical accounts of the our current, real humanity with its many social issues. With its hilarious exaggeration of inexplicable strange things like skinned, beheaded chickens trying to take over the world, this anime poked fun and forced us to think again about how our world and humanity works—from food industry, translation errors, manga and even doujinshi industry, bullying problems, politics, or even making a country. A completely different take on thought-provoking issues, a refreshing protagonist and comedy style, colorful and cute animations, and seiyuus such as Nakahara Mai, Arai Satomi and Sawashiro Miyuki taking part, Jinrui wa Suitai Shimashita is a perfect choice for a light watch that still provides exercise for your brain.

The early ONA version of the same title compiled, and extended into a movie, Eve no Jikan is set in the future where androids have become a common everyday part of everyone’s lives, serving humans and taking over duties as they operate under the Three Laws of Robotics. In this world, Sakisaka Rikuo and his best friend, Masakazu Masaki, found a small café called Eve no Jikan with a peculiar rule: no discrimination to humans or androids. In a space where one can’t differentiate who is human and who is not, Rikuo and Masaki slowly learned different perspectives of both humans and androids, changing their own and how they treat androids. The best part of the thought-provoking aspects Eve no Jikan gave its viewers is that the possibility of having androids incorporated into daily life is, perhaps, not such a farfetched future in our own society. With its unique directions and animation, Eve no Jikan tried to catch a glimpse of what implications and consequences were there in a society where the lines between human beings and androids are nearly invisible. Like Rikuo and Masaki, audience learns the ‘humane’ side of these androids, and it forced us onto a question: what, then, makes humans ‘human’? What makes us different from these non-human beings who looks like us? What makes us, for the lack of a better word, better? And if we are not so different after all, would it be so bad? Not only does Eve no Jikan offer a philosophical brain work-out, it also touches you emotionally as it told you the stories of the characters—from Rikuo and Sammy, his maid android, or two androids loving one another, or a human kid raised by an android, to Masaki and his helper robot friend.

While Type-Moon is most widely known for its Fate series, this particular anime is one of their darker, more obscure project: Kara no Kyoukai was released as a movie series, but it is also part of what Type-Moon fans call the Nasu-verse. Kara no Kyoukai told the story of Ryougi Shiki, a young woman linked to a series of violent, mysterious deaths, which drew Kokutou Mikiya towards her. Shiki wields a supernatural ability to see and bring an end to everything with her “Mystic Eyes of Death Perception.” Between Shiki’s split personality, the dangerous supernatural forces, and the growing relationship between her and Mikiya, Shiki struggles to find her identity and sense of self. Kara no Kyoukai is an extremely dark, mature anime, highlighting themes such as split personality, rape, drugs, murder and gore, and some of the philosophical concepts that, if you are a fan of Type-Moon, you would be familiar with. The relationship between Mikiya and Shiki is a very psychological one, especially with Shiki’s split personality. It’s thought-provoking in the way that you would question even your own stance if you were in the same shoes as the character. Kara no Kyoukai is a heavy, difficult series to watch, but also enjoyable.

In the far future, an alien being called Festum came upon Earth and began assimilating humans, taking away even humans’ ability to reproduce naturally. Japan was destroyed, and its survivors, cast off by the rest of humanity, embarked on a man-made island called Tatsumiyajima, where they hid from the whole world in peace for years while constructing the mecha who could fight Festum’s mind-reading abilities: Fafner. Written by Ubukata Tow, Soukyuu no Fafner is a series that’s still going strong even after 12 years; its sequel, Soukyuu no Fafner: EXODUS had just finished as last year ended, and the production team is still hinting that the series has not yet ended. Ubukata Tow worked with a lot of existentialism concepts in Soukyuu no Fafner, working it with the growth and development of both the characters and the world-building. While the mecha and the action scenes are captivating, the real brilliance of Soukyuu no Fafner lies in its highly complicated, yet extremely touching story. The series constantly questions the meaning of existence and nothingness, and highlights the importance of choosing and having choices as what makes you a human being, and furthermore, also takes the consequences of those choices in shaping the world. It dealt with concepts such as collective conscience and individuality, grief and losses and keeping memories alive, and as its creators said, it depicted a story where humans desperately protected their way of living. Despite the many deaths and massacres, Soukyuu no Fafner is a story about being alive and ‘living’, and not only would it work your mind and brain overtime, it would also rip your heart into pieces.

Another sci-fi series from the hands of Ubukata Tow, Mardock Scramble is a dark, psychological anime filled with symbolism from the very beginning to the end. In the city of Mardock, a former teen prostitute called Rune Balot attempted to look up one of her previous clients, Shell, which later dragged her into complicated stories and resulting in her almost getting blown up in a car. She is then saved by a scientist who reassembled her entire body using reinforced synthetic fiber, and with the help of Oefcoque, and artificial intelligence in the form of a mouse who could turn into any weapons, clothes or tools, Rune Balot begins to follow her desire for revenge towards Shell. Not only does Mardock Scramble deal with very mature themes requiring its audience to keep an open mind such as rape, sexuality, and gore, it also brings interesting questions for the audience to digest through: what does it mean to be alive? Through Rune Balot, the audience was given a story of someone who gets to be reborn, but also the question of whether or not it was a good thing. The psychological aspects of the series were also highlighted through various symbolis—Rune Balot’s dream, the designs of her various enemies, and the presence of Tweedledee and Tweedledum in the second movie. All of this is wrapped in GoHands’ beautiful animation, and great quality acting from seiyuus such as Nakai Kazuya, Hayashibara Megumi, and Namikawa Daisuke. For those who loves psychological anime with well-done world-building, this movie series is a must-watch.

Set in the dystopian society of Japan where, after an outbreak of violence caused by the 0.1% of the population were unable to control their newfound psychokinetic ability, Shin Sekai Yori told the story of a society bound with numerous rules that kept their fragile society peaceful. Through the eyes of children who were raised and grew up in such society, Shin Sekai Yori laid down to us an unusual coming-of-age story of Watanabe Saki and her friends: Asahina Satoru, Aonuma Shun, Itou Mamoru, and Akizuki Maria, following them as they awaken to their powers, grew up, faced losses and learned of their own society as well as their ignorance, and how their future unfolded. Shin Sekai Yori is a horror anime. It is also a mystery, fantasy, philosophical anime with a touch of Japanese mythology. But ultimately, it offered a drama of how humanity desperately tried to cling into peace, even one that was a result of a vile, morally questionable system. It is extremely hard to recommend Shin Sekai Yori without spoiling any of its mysteries. It’s an extremely dark series that makes you question the very nature of human beings and how far human beings could go for what they desire, as well as how frightening it really is. What makes children as children, and at which point they grew into adults, along with what they lose as they become adults are parts of what Shin Sekai Yori highlights, and while it is thought-provoking, it is also terrifying for the audience to watch. While the anime’s artwork is perhaps not everyone’s cup of coffee and its serious, dark tone that it plays with is painful to get through, Shin Sekai Yori is a very unusual, peculiar anime that is extremely intriguing and very gripping.

Benio Adashino, the strongest exorcist in Western Japan and Rokuro Enmadou, the strongest exorcist in Eastern Japan were given the title of "Twin Star Exorcists:" the two exorcists who will give birth to the Miko, the exorcist who will bring an end to the war between exorcists and Kegare. Even though they are both very capable exorcists, Benio Adashino easily stands out as the better of the two. 16-year-old Benio Adashino comes from a very noble family of exorcists. She has dreams of becoming the strongest exorcist, and has spent her time training to pursue this very dream. As a result of her lineage and abilities she is known as a prodigy. Benio has a great mastery of the charms and spells. She is very skill and adept in combat also, and is able to take down large amounts of kegare that cause trouble for her partner Rokuro. She still has a lot to learn as an exorcist, but they have enough potential and have helped their friends defeat formidable kegare on numerous enough occasions to make it onto the list at the number 10 spot.

Having worked with his father to exorcise spirits for most of his life, Tsubasa is another young, but highly experienced exorcist to make the list. His ability to see ghosts has isolated him from others, but fortunately, it's one of his more valuable skills as an exorcist. Despite his experience, however, he has shown that he has not yet mastered his skills. This is shown during his first encounter with Rinne, during which he tried to exorcise Rinne and Rokumon, believing them to be spirits. This inexperience is also shown in his naivety, such as his falling for tricks, like buying a "romance pendant," which also shows that perhaps his spiritual acuity is also not so high. Despite these shortcomings, however, Tsubasa is still a fairly strong and accomplished exorcist, with a fair share of skills and tools as his disposal. His only true shortcoming during his exorcisms, however, is his indiscriminately aggressive nature towards spirits. After meeting Rinne, Tsubasa changed how he looks at exorcisms, opting to use less cruel methods: a change worthy of earning the number 9 spot.

Yozuru makes this list due more to her notoriety than her proven skills. A famous onmyouji who commands respect, Yozuru is ruthless in her pursuit of ridding the world of spiritual oddities. Her idea of justice is the removal of these immortal oddities. Because of this, she hunts and kills oddities for free; an exorcist who does their work expecting no compensation is a very fearsome exorcist, indeed. Yozuru has shown her skills as an onmyouji on several occasions, however; displaying her spiritual acuity, and fighting abilities. She easily bested Koyomi, the vampire protagonist of the Bakemonogatari series, displaying enough fighting strength and prowess to earn her the number 8 spot.

Hyou is a powerful Chinese exorcist who traveled to Japan in pursuit of the youkai that killed his wife and daughter. As an exorcist, Hyou is skilled in geomancy, seals, and flying spears, showing a variety of youkai fighting techniques. Hyou actually met the youkai that killed his family on two occasions. During both of these fights, he was able to go toe-to-toe with the demon Guren. The first battle ended in a draw, with Hyou striking Guren with a charmed blade, allowing him to track him. The second fight saw Hyou displaying a high level of mastery of the exorcist arts and quick decision making allowing him to kill Guren, but also resulting in the loss of his own life. The true scope of Hyou's skill is understood when you realize that Guren was a uniquely evil Azafuse with an abnormally cruel and bloodthirsty nature. His ability to fight this vicious demon, at the cost of his own life, has earned him the number 7 spot.

Little is known of Abeno Haruitsuki, the current owner of the Mononokean's, past. At the age of 7, Abeno was hired to work in the Mononokean by its previous master, before being made the new master by Rippou, the Legislator of the Underworld. As master of the Mononokean, he has an assortment of abilities to aid him in returning the youkai to the underworld. Two of his most powerful abilities are the ability to summon a door to the Mononokean at will and the ability to summon a portal to the underworld. Not only is he able to use a portal to the underworld two times a day, but he is above the laws of the underworld, answering only to Rippou. Of course, a great exorcist is measured not in their privileges and skills, but also in what they do with those. With the ability to see and speak to youkai, he is able to understand easily what it is that the youkai wants, allowing him to help them cross over easily; very vital for someone who exorcises youkai for their own sake.

Hiroomi is another exorcist from a famous and powerful family. He handles the pressures that with such a position great poise, showing his intellect and judgment when the situation calls for it. Although he failed to the half-youmu, Akihito, Hiroomi is by no means weak. In fact, his glaciate barriers have proven to stand up against formidable youmu, such as the Hollow Shadow; it was only against Akihito that these barriers failed. In addition to his glaciate barriers, Akihito also has a scarf to help him defeat the youmu. Yes, his scarf; by simply touching youmu, he is able to destroy it. Overall, Hiroomi is an all-around exorcist showing his strengths in several different areas, and very few weaknesses. His only true weakness is his lack of focus caused by his concern for his sister Mitsuki. With many strengths and few weaknesses, Hiroomi coolly makes his way to the number 5 spot.

Although Shigeo "Mob" Kageyama is only a middle schooler, he makes his way onto the list at number 4. Because Mob's emotions cause the true extent of his psychic powers to show, he tends to refrain from showing any emotion. Currently, Mob works for Arataka Reigen, a fake psychic, "helping" him to perform exorcisms. Mob has shown the ability to take down spirits with ease. His compassionate nature has even helped some of these spirits pass onto the next world, proving that he's capable of more than just taking down spirits. Mob's greatest strength comes from his unfathomably high amount of psychic power. Although Mob has yet to take down any truly powerful spirits, there has been two situations where his emotions have reached 100%, releasing his full psychic powers. Although one was against a spirit whose malevolence was shown in his ability to make people laugh, the ease with which he dealt with the spirits attacks, effortlessly, in fact, shows exactly how powerful Mob can be. There is one other situation in which his emotion reached 100%. The emotion in this situation was sadness, caused by him realizing that he used his powers against another esper after his emotions reached ???%, an action that went against his belief that his powers are not to be used against other humans. The strength of his psychic powers, along with the beliefs about the right way to use them has earned Mob the number 4 spot.

Although he began his exorcist studies which he is still undergoing much later than his brother, Yukio, Rin is ranked higher than his brother due to what makes him the most unlikely of exorcists: his demonic powers. It is these powers, however, that helps Rin to exceed his brother as an exorcist. Rin possesses the blue flames of Satan, and as a result, he has an immense amount of demonic power, which, at first, he is only able to summon in moments of great rage. Eventually, however, he is able to control his flames, giving him, even more, strength. Rin has also defeated Amaimon, the seventh strongest of the eight demon kings, and another son of Satan.

Abandoned at a young age due to a deformity, Allen was found and taken in by a traveling performer. Due to the death of this parent, Allen finds himself with a cursed eye and an anti-Akuma weapon for an arm. With his cursed eye, Allen is able to see the souls trapped within Akuma, and with his arm, he is able to defeat the Akuma, or demons of D. Gray-man. Allen, due to his cursed eye and arm, is a very powerful exorcist. His cursed eye activates near Akuma and shows him the souls trapped within the Akuma. Eventually, it gains further power allowing Allen to spot nearby Akuma, and show the trapped souls to those near Allen. A truly fearsome and useful tool as an exorcist. His cursed arm also gives him many different Akuma disposing abilities. Allen falls just short of the number 1 spot for one reason: he's not fully committed to his job of exterminating the Akuma. He has stated and shown on several occasions that he believes Akuma are as worthy of saving as humans.

The reincarnation of the god Konzen Douji, Sanzou must travel West with three demons in order to prevent the resurrection of Gyumaoh, and restore the peace between demons and humans. A priest armed only with the Maten Sutra and "banishing gun," a pistol with bullets infused with spiritual energy, capable of killing demons. Sanzou ranks number 1 on this list due in part to the nature of his mission, as well as the strengths he has shown throughout the series. Short-tempered and fairly indifferent, Sanzou isn't your ideal priest, much like a previous entry onto the list, Miroku. This, however, doesn't affect his ability to kill demons. Sanzou's spiritual prowess is showed on several occasions: his command of the Maten Sutra, one of the five holy scriptures, created upon Earth's creation and his ability as the only non-divine character able to restore Goku's broken limiter. In addition to being able to restore Goku's limiter, he is also able to go toe-to-toe with an uninhibited Goku, one of the strongest characters in the show, and fortunately, Sanzou's ally.