While the anime takes place in Japan, its themes can be universally applied. In recent years, addictions to games, the internet, and cell phones have been considered a health crisis (we’re not here to debate whether or not it is, just give you the fact that medical associations around the world have declared that). It’s severe to the point that China and South Korea now have treatment centers for those that are addicted to technology. The world of Darwin’s Game takes that concept and dials it to 11! As we shared in the intro, as opposed to the player using their screen to play, they must physically engage in combat with other players or they die! Considering a lot of traffic accidents in some countries are caused by people who can’t put down their phone, the gimmick of Darwin’s Game is a good stepping stone in allowing viewers to re-evaluate the responsibility we have in owning a cell phone.

Though our first entry explores the negatives of having a cell phone, it doesn’t mean that there are positives. Thanks to all the features our phones presently have, they allow us to be more connected than ever. Through gaming and the internet, we can make new enemies or we can make new friends. During Kaname’s journey, as we’ve seen thus far, while he initially engages in combat with Shuka, Rein, Ichiro, Ryuji, and Sui, he decides to befriend them knowing that killing them is wrong. As they participate in the campaign event, they also see how cameras and GPS on phones can be helpful and save their lives.

OK, so the power of “nakama,” or your friends, has been done to death in anime and manga but it gets to be a repeated theme because it also applies in real life. If you’re facing a life-and-death situation, would you rather try to figure it out on your own? Or would you try and overcome the problem with a group of people you can trust? Not only are two heads better than one, but so are three or four heads. Thanks to Kaname’s simple schoolboy morals, he’s able to connect with the people he encounters and by learning to rely on each other’s sigils, not only do they learn to apply teamwork, but reap its benefits.

Beyond having cell phones, all of the protagonists in Darwin’s Game are relatable to the audience. Kaname may just be a teenager, but his straightforwardness along with his clear-cut morals are something viewers can also relate to. If you’re a teenager now or—for some of you adults—remember your teenage years, you probably think/thought of the world in simpler terms and you learn/learned as you went along. While Kaname’s journey into Darwin’s Game takes that notion to higher extremities, you do feel a genuine sense of teenage purity from him and that’s something we’ve all experienced as he tries to see the best of everyone in a dire situation. As for the supporting cast, they all have their reasons and motivations as to why they’re playing Darwin’s Game. For example, Ichiro is hoping to use the prize money to treat his daughter’s illness and, what parent wouldn’t sacrifice for their child?

The Black Goat is an occult reference that uses the symbolism present in the concept of “the goat”. The term can be used in reference to the devil; a character greatly represented by this animal. The Black Goat is also a reference to the Greek god Pan. Goats are also seen as symbols of sacrifice with some negative connotations, especially if we think of them as animals used in dark rituals and the summoning of high-level demons. In the Christian Bible, a “scapegoat” is an animal that is used to carry the sins of the community; and it is later driven away. The Hebrew term for this animal is Azazel; which is also the name of the fallen angel who taught humans many things, including war, witchcraft and deception. In some understandings, this fallen angel is the same fallen angel who influenced Adam and Eve’s original sin. In astrology, the goat Capricorn is a half-goat, half-fish monster of the sea and in tarot, the Capricorn zodiac sign is attached to Card no. 15—The Devil. Capricorn is very notably a chimera because of its half-goat, half-fish constitution. In many mythologies, chimeras are incredibly terrifying beasts, with creatures like the manticore, the cockatrice, the sphinx, Ammit the devourer and even the seven-headed dragon in the Christian apocalypse known as Armageddon.

Yokai can be thought to be supernatural entities of all kinds and this includes demons, monsters and even ghosts. In many stories, particularly that of Kyokou Suiri, Yokai have long and interesting histories that come together to create various kinds of lore and culture around the various supernatural entities and occurrences. Some Yokai even fulfill roles of leadership and protection; which means that hierarchy exists in Yokai societies. An example of this can be seen in the second episode of Kyokou Suiri, in which Kotoko goes into the mountains in order to speak with a local water god. The god’s status was obvious as it was able to order lower-level Yokai to do menial tasks; like cleaning the river. This is speculation based on various ideas; however, is it possible that the Yokai in the Kyokou Suiri series are terrified of protagonist Sakuragawa Kuro–whom Kotoko, the Yokai/Human ambassador sees as a goat–because Kuro is some kind of high-level Yokai that has the basic appearance of a goat and is capable of assimilating the abilities and physical features of other Yokai into his own body?

This is a fun conjecture about the true identity of Sakuragawa Kuro; however, what if Iwanaga Kotoko’s initial impression of Kuro was her seeing his true appearance? Perhaps Kuro’s true form is that of a Yokai known to many as the harbinger of evil and destruction—The Devil himself. Kuro’s ability to consume Yokai and take on their abilities makes him terrifying in his own right, but if we consider Kotoko’s heart-eyed comment about Kuro in their first meeting and how Yokai handle themselves around Kuro, it is very possible that Kuro is a Yokai of incredible ability capable of eliciting the same fear-based awe that you’d expect from someone seeing a creature that is so many different things at once, like a chimera.

The Haikyuu! To the Top Cafe has a nice selection of main dishes, desserts, and drinks all themed after characters or volleyball in some way. You can start off with a cheeseburger served with printed cheese and a display of the volleyball court on the plate, or two different curries split in the middle with rice and a picture of the Nekoma team. Follow up with a dessert, like seven mini rainbow pancakes complete with whipped cream and ice cream named after the two main teams in Haikyuu!. Wash it all down with one of many drinks, including a crazy one named for Shiratorizawa that has a volleyball and a scoreboard on top of it and full of lots of different things, or a hot royal milk tea to make you feel like the King of the Court yourself!

With every meal and drink, you get a free random coaster as well. And keep in mind that other fans at the cafe might be willing to trade with you! Keep your eyes out for people lining up coasters on the edge of their table; that means that those coasters are available to trade for other ones, usually ones they are missing from their collection, so you might have a chance to score your favourite this way as well. Besides the free gifts, there’s also a selection of special merchandise available at the cafe. Some of the coolest items are badges that have the characters with their collaboration food and drinks on them, making them unique and special to the Animate Cafe experience. There’s also a reusable drink bottle, character toothbrushes, and more!

There may not be food at the Touken Ranbu Online collaboration with Animate Cafe, but the menu does boast 14 different drinks inspired by characters to choose from. Try Shinano Toshiro's cherry lemonade, Tsutsuji Marumaru’s tapioca drink, or Taiko Kane Sadamune’s raspberry soda if you want something cold. But if you’re looking to warm up, you can enjoy Mikazuki Munechika's matcha latte or Daisuke Taisho’s cappuccino! Each drink is either decorated with or has flavour inspired by the character whose image they have been created in. Remember, with every drink you get a random free coaster! Get ready to drink a lot or try to go with friends so you can get the one you want. Sometimes other fans at the cafe will be willing to trade with you, though, so you can always try to ask. If people have their coasters lined up at the edge of the table, that’s also a good sign that they are looking for people to trade with so don’t be shy! There’s also some special merchandise to check out, mostly key chains of over forty different characters. You never know which one you might get so you might as well try your luck!

Maneater’s plot, yes there is a plot, is about a bull shark that was being hunted by a human bounty hunter and narrowly escaped with only a broken spear lodged in her side. The bounty hunter died in the process and his son, Scaley Pete, has held a grudge ever since. Fast-forwarding to the present, the Scaley Pete is now a bounty hunter himself and has dedicated his life to avenging his father’s death by killing the bull shark that took his life. Eventually, Scaley Pete finds the bull shark and kills her on his boat after capturing her, only to discover that she was pregnant with a baby bull shark of her own. Not being completely vengeful, Scaley Pete cuts the baby shark to mark him, vowing that if he ever came across him again, Scaley Pete will make sure the baby bull shark never sees the light of day. This is where the story continues as the baby bull shark, the player, has to find ways to survive the watery world that is Maneater.

Maneater is an open-world survival simulator with some RPG elements involving a bull shark, where you need to eat to survive and, thus, getting bigger and stronger as you mature into an adult bull shark. Throughout the story of the game, sharks obviously can’t talk so that is why Tripwire has Chris Parnell narrating for the shark so us players can understand things regarding the bull shark you are controlling and also what is happening inside the game’s world. Tripwire so far has shown all of these including some combat in the last year at the end of 2019, but what we didn’t know and Tripwire was happy to share with us, was their in-depth coverage of everything else you can do in the game.

There were three things Tripwire wanted to cover as well as others, and they were the depth of the experience, the diversity of the experience, and the depth to combat! Starting with combat, there are four types of combat in the game which are bitting—can also be a clamp, thrashing—not everything wants to stay in your mouth and thrashing allows you to stun your prey/enemy so you can keep on chomping, tail whipping—allows you to smack things and/or push things away from you, and the whip shock—where you can actually whip your prey/enemy and send them flying in the air. There are also lots of items in the game that you can use to your advantage while using whip shock, such as, barrels exploding like grenades, swordfish can become sniping spears, and humans, of course, can become projectiles as well. So make sure to explore your options and see what you can come up with. There is a real strategy with the combat and especially with the wildlife where you have to lunge, parry, and study your enemy to attack when the timing is right. The combat also has a punch and counter-punch cadence to it as you have to keep an eye out for tells in order to dodge. It is kind of like a classic punchout with a little bit of a soul-like feel to it.

The size of the shark you are playing really matters in Maneater. The game will take into account your size vs the size of your enemy and if your enemy/attacker is bigger than you, then you will have a challenging time defeating them, maybe even dying continuously until you’re leveled up to return challenge it again. An enemy which can pose an immediate threat to you while progressing through the game are killer whale (Orca), great white sharks, and massive predators called Apex Predators—oh, and humans, of course... So make sure to eat and accomplish goals to help grow your shark so that those predators who were originally your enemy, now become your prey and it will also help destroy man-made objects easily like boats, jetskis, ships, etc.! During the beginning of the game, you will be limited to specific areas until you can grow and evolve your shark. Once you become a teenage shark, you can basically go anywhere in the open-water-world that is Maneater! So with that, make sure you are prepared to go out in the unknown world because if you are not completely prepared, the challenges you’ll face along the way will surely kill you! So, baby-steps! The best idea is to kind of take casually so you can explore the closest areas to you and know the wildlife, the map, and certain predators that may have controlled turf which they will defend, especially, if you eat their favorite food! Make no mistake with that!

If you are an individual who likes to go awol and welcomes the extreme challenge Maneater has to offer you, then go right on ahead and wreak havoc in the waters, kill some humans and let the bounty hunters come out to play. They will surely give you an intense challenge where the outcome will most likely involve death. Just know that if you do decide to do things right by gaining strength and evolutions to your shark, the combat will also change for the better, allowing you to evolve in ways you couldn’t imagine and, of course, making the gameplay experience more enjoyable! When talking beyond the combat mechanics, there is the depth of experience. This is where you can explore many areas in the Maneater, in which there are 7 huge regions. Each area is very diverse and brings new obstacles and challenges along the way, including new apex predators as well. There are also many hidden areas to discover which have special items you can obtain to increase your evolution or strength in the game. Some of the hidden areas can also be your underwater grotto—your hideout/checkpoint area—which also serves as fast travel from other grottos you have discovered. So making sure you eat plenty of nutrients, defeat predators including apex predators, and discovering new areas, will allow your evolution to evolve in exciting and unimaginable ways! Going back to the apex predators in the game, of course, they will come out and challenge you for supremacy if you are caught eating their favorite food. Doing this and defeating them in underwater battle will trigger your nemesis, Scaley Pete, to come out and hunt you down! This is a good opportunity to challenge and defeat Scaley Pete but just know that he is very tough to kill and you will need to strategize and use your resources to defeat him. One last thing to mention regarding the depth of experience one can have while playing Maneater and that is having a bounty system. This bounty system will take your terrorization of the waters into account and bounty hunters will come out and search for you! The humans in this game won’t sit by and let you go on with your terrorization so keep that in mind. The intensity of the bounty hunters ranges depending on your threat level, and will involve different types of hunters to appear like scuba divers wielding underwater spears, jetskis with a gunman, small fishing bosts with spears and guns, to bigger boats with spears, guns, and grenades—the really heavy stuff. The bounty hunters you defeat will activate bounty hunter bosses to come out and hunt you down. Of course, if you defeat these bosses, your infamy level will rise and you will be able to acquire special rewards that can help you evolve your shark further. If you have a high enough infamy level, the national guard can even appear to hunt you down with stranger boats, bigger weapons, and even depth charges—it’s just like playing Grand Theft Auto (GTA) but for sharks! Now, going back to evolutions to explain those a little more, this goes beyond just growing and strengthening your shark, there are different kinds of evolutions you can acquire for your shark. This is where the RPG elements of the game come into play as there are two types of evolutions: body evolutions and organ evolutions. The body evolution has 3 types: a Bone evolutions—where you can basically turn your shark into a tank with super armor made out of bines which allow you to ram boats and practically destroy them instantly, a Bio-Electric evolution—where you can stun your enemy or control certain areas stopping them in their tracks, and finally, a Shadow evolutions—where you have vampire-like abilities allowing you to sneak around using speed and ability to suck the life out of those around you. You can mix and match these different types of evolutions to fit your shark’s surroundings in order to complete challenges. The last evolution to talk about is the Organ evolution, which is about what is inside the body. There are several instances of organ evolutions in which three can be equipped at the same time. Some give enhanced ability towards more damage, faster nutrient gains, others can allow the shark to breathe out fo the water for a significant amount of time allowing you to have more time to jump around on land and munching on some humans. Each of these abilities can be upgraded and moved to higher tiers with specific stats.

Mai Sakurajima couldn’t stand being in the spotlight and her existence began to waiver from humanity once she was hit with the strange Puberty Syndrome. Thankfully, a young man named Sakuta Azusagawa noticed the girl wearing a bunny suit and quickly tried to save this almost non-existent girl. Mai was so taken aback by Sakuta’s actions that she fell in love with our stoic main man and was quick to show her dedication to him. Equally, Mai would go on to show her anger/jealousy when Sakuta would help other girls and get too close to them. We love you Mai and we hope you never try to disappear again!

There aren’t a lot of female warriors in the world of Dragon Ball but one woman stands out for her quick temper and feisty personality. Chi-Chi from the original Dragon Ball series met Goku at a young age and instantly was smitten with the clueless Saiyan. As the years went by, Goku grew up and entered a tournament where he ended up facing a woman who he at first didn’t remember. Despite her quick moves and abilities, she was no match for Goku’s superhuman feats and when she lost she finally admitted who she was…none other than Chi-Chi, now an adult. Chi-Chi would go on to make Goku her man by reminding him of a promise the two underwent as kids and from then on, the strange pair was formed. Chi-Chi might be rude, overly protective, quick to anger and extremely tough but she knew Goku was her destiny and we love that about her.

Koyomi Araragi the once vampire turned half-vampire legit met the love of his life by catching her at school. Hitagi Senjougahara found herself cursed and ended up becoming weightless. While many failed to cure Hitagi, Koyomi made it his mission to stop the strange curse within her and eventually removed it thanks to his supernatural abilities and some help from a strange Hawaiian shirt-wearing ally. Hitagi henceforth fell for Koyomi and was quick to confess her love to our male protagonist while he was on a mission to save another lost soul. We envy you Koyomi…maybe Hitagi is a bit yandere/tsundere at times but you nabbed a girl who knows who she loves and why she needs them in her life!

Being a so-called medium for both the human/spiritual world can be tough alone but Kotoko Iwanaga from Kyokou Suiri pulled it off for most of her life. Kotoko stopped being alone the moment she made Kuro Sakuragawa her man when she rescued him from a strange internal possession. Kotoko was quick to cling to Kuro and formed a relationship with our male lead with haste we’ve rarely seen in the anime world. Got to hand it to Kotoko, she set her sights on Kuro, took her shot, and claimed her target without a moment’s hesitation. We need more girls like Kotoko in both anime and real life!

We end our list with a rather strange take-charge female lead in the form of Ako Tamaki from Netoge no Yome wa Onnanoko ja Nai to Omotta. In the world of online gaming, not everyone takes on the form of who they appear to be, as discovered by Hideki Nishimura—otherwise known as Rusian—when his crush turned out to be an apparent guy. Despite thinking he’d never experience love again, Hideki ends up being targeted by Ako and she quickly makes Hideki’s online character her husband! In the real world, Ako quickly meets up with the real world Hideki and despite her shyness, makes the moves on him to show she loves him both in-game and out. Hideki, we hope you learned a valuable lesson…some girls online aren’t girls—or pretend not to be as you find out later in the story—but plenty are and they are looking for a lover to claim as their own!

After a virus almost wiped out humanity, humans have relied on technology to be their guard and savior. Even going to greater lengths, by programming and releasing many gadgets and cameras among devices, to keep an eye on every single member of society. Some members of this society are even starting to fight against these eyes put over them, even more so after a mysterious murder takes place and no camera records were found. Mio Tsuzuki, a girl that has learned how to bypass these cameras, asks Hazuki Makino to join her and Ayumi Kono as they go into the rabbit hole and find out the truth behind this case. The first series to start our list, we have an interesting perspective of the consequences of a deadly virus ripping through humanity. As we’ll see throughout this list, humans should never be counted out when it comes to adjusting and bringing their best game to fight against any kind of enemy. In this case, society turned to technology, not only to find a cure but beyond that. Here we see a society that has overused their helping hand and now it has evolved and been established as an oppressive tool of social manipulation. We’ve got to wonder, how far will people go in order to keep every variable in the equation under control? This series helps put things in perspective and it’s a great start as our number ten.

When a strange virus suddenly appears on earth, scientists start to research in order to counterattack its effects on people. With this virus in particular however, there seems to be no way to fight it and as a result, a 100% death rate is certain to whoever becomes infected. As years go by, a theory starts to earn more credibility. The virus might have come from Mars and with this theory, it’s not only given the name Alien Engine Virus (AE Virus for short) but also a series of field trips to Mars are planned to search for a vaccine. What they find in Mars though will be only the beginning of a nightmare. While the main story follows Akari Hizamaru and the rest of the crew on their way to Mars to collect some samples or Terra Formars test subjects, the virus becomes the origin of this story. As lethal as it is, no victim figures are announced or assumed, but needless to say, it must have been a big number for UNASA to decide to start researching about it. A great series with a great deadly virus to start our list!

How far would you go in order to gain and keep power in the world? Many countries and groups have their own agenda as they move forward in their fight for what they would consider a “better tomorrow”. Such is the case for Snakes, a terrorist group whose leader, Alphard Alshaya attempts to use one of the most dangerous biological weapons, the Ua Virus. Used for an attack in the city of Shibuya two years ago, the virus causes bleeding from all parts of the body except from bone and skeletal muscle. Caught in the middle of their actions is the duo of Minoru and Maria, a couple of journalists who happened to cross paths with the terrorist group’s actions. Lucky for them, the mercenary and archenemy of Snake, Canaan makes her appearance to save her old friend Maria. Together, they will try and put an end to Snake and the looming bio-war before it spreads around the world. This series has a particular characteristic that makes it stand out from the rest. The virus in this series not only has an origin story but also has ulterior motive of creation, which deepens the roots of chemical warfare between a different set of factions even more. When it comes to the virus itself, due to its use, instead of a pandemic rise among the world, we see a series of sudden outbreaks that will cause the death of a few in a matter of hours. While this is not the easiest virus to catch, it most certainly ranks high among our top ten contenders.

The city of Rondo, filled with its dull citizens and boring streets, make for one small “paradise” city, at least according to detective Re-l. After a global catastrophe doomed the planet beyond recognition, the only places where “life” can be found is within Rondo’s walls. Nevertheless, technology never stops progressing, since we can see in this dystopian future the creation of “AutoReivs”, humanoid-like creatures that assist humans in their everyday needs. This balance gets altered suddenly however with the appearance of the “Cogito Virus”, a virus that grants them a consciousness. This wouldn’t be a problem but ever since the appearance of the virus, more and more AutoReivs have been involved in the crime scenes of different murders. In the end, it’s up to Re-l and her AutoReiv “Iggy” to uncover the mysteries behind these strange cases. Ergo Proxy mixes a cyberpunk tone with a mystery vibe around the edges of its plot. You might be thinking that it’s a bit strange we talk about a virus that doesn’t affect humans directly or spreads like a disease but the “Cogito Virus” has a unique feature that makes it more than a great fit to our list. The “Cogito Virus” doesn’t follow a certain pattern, which means any AutoReiv could get it at any given moment and also, it could potentially turn a well-known, trustworthy companion into your murderer. Silent and definitely deadly, Ergo Proxy’s “Cogito Virus” earns a spot in our list.

Shuu Ouma is a student that has gone through many rough experiences. For example, The loss of his mother, new marriage of his father and above all else, living through the worst years of his native country, Japan. Ten years ago, the “Apocalypse Virus” surfaced and started spreading throughout the country, turning skin into a crystal-like solid, paralyzing and eventually killing its host. Nevertheless, as time moved forward, the country was taken over by GHQ, an association of countries created by the UN to help the Japanese people to have order restored. Not all is peace in Japan, however, as Funeral Parlor, a resistance group created to liberate the country of GHQ’s grasp, will do anything in their power to succeed. If everything goes according to their plan, Gai Tsutsugami will have the last laugh. The “Apocalypse” Virus earns a spot in our list due to its fast reaction to kill its host and also due to the sheer number of casualties. A virus that can bring such chaos to a country in a matter of days is enough to send a shiver down the spine of anybody who could become infected by it. However, unlike other viruses on this list, a “derivation” of the “Apocalypse” virus was created and named the Void Genome, which is a “weaponized” modification of the “Apocalypse” virus. It’s already enough when the virus alone kills too many innocent people but, turning it into a weapon? May god have mercy on their souls!

Life on Earth was going the way you would expect. Your everyday events wouldn’t have made anybody turn their heads or pay any more attention to them than their own personal agenda. That was until the Medusa Virus hit the world. This virus petrifies its host after one to two months of incubation and has a 100% fatality rate. Needless to say, thanks to the havoc created by it among society, people even become terrified to go on with their day by day errands and risk acquiring this virus. After years of research, Venus Gate announces the Cold Sleep experiment which allows hosts to sleep until an antidote is discovered. With only 160 possible candidates, these people start their process into the experiment; thing is, the time in this state could be for even longer than 100 years. It’s said that hope is the last thing you lose in despair, but how long can hope withstand the hands of time? The Medusa virus might not be worse than other viruses in this list but what King of Thorn brings to the table is how this virus affects society from a different perspective. In this film, we’re able to see how our present world would react to a virus outbreak in a much more business-oriented, media-covered and political way. It also makes us comprehend how ready we are or not to face a global pandemic outbreak. From one to two months left to live after being infected and then a 12 hour progressive paralysis, this virus will haunt you silently without you being able to fight it, making exposure a frightening experience.

The world was never the same after the Kabane started to appear throughout the land. Emerging from a mysterious virus, these monstrous zombie-like creatures will hunt down any other healthy being and kill them. Doing so, not only has brought pain and despair to all people, but also spreads the virus even more, making this a vicious cycle of death. Not all hope is lost, though, as humanity, in their never-changing adaptability, were able to rearrange roads and cities, transporting people and supplies on enormous heavily-armored iron trains. Here we meet our main protagonist, Ikouma. Having sworn to get rid of the Kabane, he has created a weapon that can pierce through their solid heart. Sooner than later, he’ll find out how difficult it will be for his dream to come true. Kabaneri of the Iron Fortress is a rollercoaster of a series. Our main protagonist suffers from having lost his family during the savage Kabane attack onto his village, which in turn, converted all of them into Kabane monsters themselves. This virus shows throughout many episodes how devastating it can be, and even though we don’t have an official number of victims, we can tell that humanity was in peril of extinction as it spread. Fueled with drama, revenge, political power struggles and lots of action, this is one series that everybody must watch at least once.

When the parasitic virus “Gastrea” made itself known among the population, it left the city in utter pandemonium, almost wiping out humanity in the city completely. Funny thing about humanity is that we’ve learned to adapt in order to survive the hardest of struggles and so we did with Gastrea. As monsters generated by the virus appeared, so did female children that were born from mothers infected by the virus. These “Cursed Children” would come to this world with abilities strong enough to defeat these monsters and with them, bring some balance and a fighting chance to society once again. Rentarou Satomi, a survivor from Gastrea’s outbreak was able to witness the horrors of despair at a very young age. After ten long years he became a “Promoter” and partner of Enjou Aihara, one of many “Cursed Children” selected to be an “Initiator”. In other words, as soon as a monster appears, Enjou and Rentarou will arrive and fight until the monster is no more. While we don’t have a number of casualties, Gastrea is no simple virus. All it takes is a single wound infection and the host would start transforming into a monster that would go on attacking others. It may not be the fastest of viruses but it definitely is one of the deadliest, earning a spot in our list.

For the trio of Takashi Komuro, Rei Miyamoto and Hisashi Igou, high-school life couldn’t have been more stereotypical. Especially for Takashi, since it includes the classic love triangle drama. That would all change one day, however, as a strange man with undead features hurt high-school security and within a few seconds, that person died due to a flesh wound. Regardless, the man wouldn’t stay down for long and just like his predecessor, sharing his undead features would hurt and spread this virus quickly across the high-school. Now fighting for their lives, Takashi, Rei and Hisashi alongside other students, must find their way out, hoping to stay out of harm’s way before it’s too late and ultimately they become one of those undead creatures. Coming straight out of a classic survival horror videogame-like story, Highschool of the Dead offers a set of likeable characters, lots of ecchi moments and angles and life or death situations thanks to one of the deadliest viruses to be set free in anime. Killing around 10.000 people in less than 24 hours, and spreading by infecting another being through open wounds, you can imagine how fast this virus could turn a city upside down and into a downright state/national quarantine! Definitely a series not only worth watching but also deserving of a spot in our list.

Yuichirou’s life had a rocky start, having parents that didn’t love him and being sent straight to an orphanage, you could imagine how chaotic his first years must have been. After arriving to the orphanage, though, he meets Mikaela. Another boy who welcomes him and helps him redefine what “family” really means. However, lurking from the shadows and unbeknownst to everyone around the world, other beings had plans that would affect the future of humanity. Unleashing a virus that killed every person under the age of thirteen, Vampires make their rise and enslave what’s left of humanity. As time goes by, both Yuichirou and Mikaela decide to escape their imprisonment; but as Vampires will show them, they might end up paying the ultimate price. Owari no Seraph brings out in their story one of the most deadliest viruses there are in the world of anime and of course, on our list. By analyzing objectively, this virus released by the vampires is the cause of death of over 75% of the world’s population… in minutes. Without a doubt, this plan from hell was more than enough for them to overcome human society and establish themselves as the ruling beings on Earth. Definitely, one of the scariest viruses we hope never sees the light of day in our world.

Houtou is from Yamanashi, a mountainous and heavily forested prefecture in the central Chubu region of Japan that is famous for its natural beauty, especially Mt. Fuji and the Fuji Five Lakes, as well as for Fuji-Q Highland theme park, producing some of the best grapes, peaches, and plums in Japan, and houtou! The dish itself has many varieties and optional ingredients but generally consists of miso soup with dashi (fish stock), seasonal vegetables (such as pumpkin, napa cabbage, onions, etc.), and a specific type of fresh, homemade wheat noodles that are prepared similarly to dumplings and usually cut thick using a kitchen knife. The noodles are the main point that differentiates houtou from other similar dishes like udon as it uses a tougher, more glutinous dough that isn’t left to sit or salted. The development of houtou is directly related to Yamanashi’s geography and history. As a region where it is difficult to grow rice in many places, wheat farming became increasingly popular after it was introduced to help combat food shortages brought on by large amounts of land that was once used for growing rice transitioned to silk farming. Houtou’s invention is sometimes attributed to the famous Sengoku period feudal lord Takeda Shingen who is said to have eaten it with his soldiers before every battle. This story, however, isn’t totally substantiated as far as we can tell and might have been mostly brought into the spotlight as a tourism gimmick more than anything.

As we mentioned earlier, houtou can be made with a wide diversity of ingredients which is the main point—besides its deliciousness—that they focus on in the episode. Aki describes this as the “true freedom” that can be uniquely found in houtou when thinking about what she will put in hers, mentioning how her mom humorously says that as she throws random ingredients together. Aoi mentions her own method of making “dry houtou” which reduces the water to cook down the noodles like carbonara and served with olive oil and shichimi (a common Japanese spice blend). This inspires Nadeshiko to create her own freestyle houtou and they each get to cooking! No houtou harassment here! Thanks to the power of houtou, the three are able to enjoy the many delicious varieties together which helps Nadeshiko cheer up after losing her stamp rally flyer earlier.

The core dynamic of Eizouken! is built around the contrasting personalities of the characters which comes through in their speech, actions, design, and animation. The latter points especially are accentuated more so than many other anime in Eizouken! which, largely because they went outside the usual hyper-feminine cutesy ideal, can be exaggerated while still feeling cohesive and, perhaps somewhat counterintuitively, more realistic and relatable. Interestingly enough, Gigazine recently published an interview with the storyboard artist and director of Eizouken!’s first episode, Mari Motohashi who describes how the team specifically stayed away from more typical “girlish” animation to focus more on expressing each characters’ individual personality in a distinct way, and using many extra frames of animation to do so, to make them feel more believable. This largely comes across in the detail packed into even mundane things that sells the show to its core audience of people who are really into animation/sakuga instead of pandering to the moe crowd (not that that’s necessarily a bad thing mind you!).

Speaking more generally, Keep Your Hands Off Eizouken! is a great example to highlight some of the strengths of gender-neutral designs and expression. Approaches like this can help facilitate more creativity from animators, encouraging them to think outside the box and explore new approaches. Like with Eizouken!, it can be used to add to believability since in reality there is a lot more diversity in people than we often see in anime. It also places emphasis on what makes the character an individual beyond their gender which can help make them more appealing to a wider audience who might be less interested if Eizouken!’s main cast was more stereotypically feminine. As a quick aside, androgynous character designs and animation styles are certainly not unique to Eizouken! as they’ve been a part of many series’ famous characters like “Radical Edward” in Cowboy Bebop, Crona from Soul Eater, and Fullmetal Alchemist’s Envy.

The Roman Catholic feast day of love made its mark on Japan in the 1960s, when confectionary companies and department stores popularized the custom of women gifting chocolates to their male co-workers. Men who attract women’s romantic feelings receive nice homemade chocolate (called honmei-choko), while platonic male friends get cheaper chocolate (called giri-choko) as an obligation to not leave them out completely. This trend has spread to schools as well, so you’ll often see anime like Kimi ni Todoke feature teen girls fretting over whether their crush will interpret their gift as honmei-choko or giri-choko. The 1980s brought with it an “answer” to Valentine’s Day—exactly one month after February 14th, it’s time for White Day! Sweets manufacturers introduced the idea of men returning the favor to the women who gave them chocolates by gifting marshmallows, white chocolate, or even white lingerie. Yes, it’s a bit of a “Hallmark holiday” in the same vein as Sweetest Day, but at least it’s given us some adorable anime episodes!

This British and American holiday has never fully integrated itself into Japanese culture, as evidenced by the fact that most anime episodes themed around it have the characters wondering what exactly Halloween is supposed to be. Haruhi Suzumiya creates a “death god” out of a jack-o-lantern and some school supplies, Umaru-chan coerces her brother into making a banquet of pumpkin-flavored sweets (which are actually made with kabocha, a green pumpkin variety available in Japan), and the future world of Dirty Pair seems to celebrate by holding a Halloween parade much more reminiscent of New Year’s Eve. Instead of trick-or-treating, which would be far too imposing on other people’s private homes for Japanese people to enjoy, Halloween tends to be a day where young people dress up in cosplay and go drinking with friends. Scary stories are saved for the Obon festival in August, when ancestral spirits are said to return and all things spooky come into vogue.

Christmas is perhaps the most widespread Western holiday in Japan, although the Japanese version is also one of the farthest removed from the occasion’s European origins. Since Christians are few and far between in the predominantly Buddhist/Shinto country, the religious connotations have largely been removed and Christmas has become much more about romance and spending time with family. Christmas Eve is thought of as a date night for couples (even more so than Valentine’s Day), a successful advertisement campaign from KFC in the ‘70s cemented the tradition of eating fried chicken for the holidays, and Christmas cake (a strawberry sponge frosted with whipped cream, unlike the British fruitcake) is a staple treat sold in grocery stores and cake shops around the country. The world of anime is full to bursting with Christmas episodes, ranging from silly antics like Retsuko desperately trying to find a date for Christmas Eve in Aggressive Retsuko to wholesome moments like Senku using his newly invented electric bulbs to make a Christmas tree in Dr. Stone to vitally important plot developments like Heartcatch Precure’s villainous reveal that leads directly into the series finale. Whenever Japanese Christmas is involved in anime, it’s sure to make viewers sit up and take notice!

In a world where school dropouts are forced into sex slavery, one girl voluntarily offers herself up to be used as a literal "cum toilet". Reika Shichijo was formerly an honour student at the top of her class, but the pressures of being at the top were too much for her. After being walked into her new work station like a dog, boys line up waiting to use various vibrators on her. One boy inserts himself into her behind, which she thoroughly enjoys, while another boy inserts a blue vibrator inside her pussy. Unsure of how much she can take, the boys are happy to leave it at that. Reika, now fully embracing her perverted nature, begs for more vibrators to be pushed in. She eventually ends up filled with a total of three girthy vibrators moving around inside of her, while a boy pounds her asshole from behind!

Young erotic game developer, Tomoya Mochizuki, works on a team of only women. Their boss, Nene Sonono, is having trouble pitching their game ideas to the executives. They tend to not take her seriously due to her cute, youthful appearance and lack of confidence. While giving away free demo discs of the game at a promo booth, Mochizuki decides this is the perfect opportunity to help boost his boss' confidence. Dressed in cosplay to promote the game, the boss cheerfully hands out the discs to the customers. All while a vibrator is inserted into her! Mochizuki's plan is if she can face the general public while on the verge of orgasm, she'll have the confidence to face any intimidating executive in a boardroom. Unfortunately, having complete control over how often the vibrator pulses, causes Mochizuki to become drunk with power and the pleasure too intense for the tiny boss lady to handle.

A young man, Masaru, has sexual fantasies about his attractive neighbour, Shizue Mizakami. One night he sneaks out of his bedroom when he hears erotic moaning coming from next door. He peeks inside to see Shizue wearing only her dressing gown, tied up with rope. It seems like her husband is being aggressive and cruel towards his wife, forcing a vibrator into her mouth in order to lubricate it before violating her pussy with it. He pushes the toy all the way inside her, the sound of the vibrations becoming more muffled the further in it goes. Feeling it vibrate intensely inside of her, she is brought to her knees and made to suck her husband's flaccid penis, while he barks commands at her. Slick with her pussy juices, the vibrator slides out of her, quickly replaced with her husband's now-ready cock.

A happily married man discovers a surprising secret about his wife, Misako. It turns out she's having an affair with her ex-boyfriend, Hiro. Even more surprising, is that when he's shown the footage of the two of them having sex, he finds out that he really likes it! So it becomes a regular arrangement. Hiro has sex with his wife, while he watches in secret. One day they go to the park with Misako's husband, Tarou, hiding in the bushes. After being made to wear vibrators attached to her nipples and having another vibrator inside of her all day, Misako is sopping wet and desperate for Hiro's cock. He tells her to ride the rocking horse, which causes the vibrator to move around even more inside her. She cums incredibly hard, soaking the playground rocking horse in her pussy juices.

Ever since Yayoi's husband died, she's been having a sexual relationship with his younger brother, Hiro. One day a man from Yayoi's past named Hebizuka, blackmails her into using her body to satisfy him. Cheating on Hiro again and again, Yayoi starts to enjoy her perverted encounters with Hebizuka. To tease Yayoi further, Hebizuka makes her wear a vibrator inside her while she cooks dinner. dinner. By the time Hiro heads off to cram school, she's craving a real cock. Hebizuka gives her what she wants, but he sticks it inside her ass instead! All while keeping the vibrator pulsing inside her pussy.

We've all been there, sexually frustrated, home alone, getting freaky with a vibrator when suddenly you open your eyes and see your next door neighbour watching you through the window, masturbating furiously! No?? Well for poor Yayoi that's exactly what happens! This sexually repressed housewife spends most of her days violating herself with various vibrators she buys, fantasizing about having sex with her husband. One day, as she's trying on some new sexy lingerie, the craving for pleasure overtakes her once again and she decides to try out her newest toy. Whilst in the middle of playing with herself, her young neighbour comes home from school and accidentally sees her while retrieving his soccer ball. What follows is a hilarious sexual affair with the boy, all while trying to prevent the husband from finding out.

A girl taking the train is trying to recover from the last time she was sexually assaulted. Braving the train again, she soon finds herself surrounded by men staring at her. They quickly tie her up and gag her, kissing and groping her body all over. One guy unashamedly puts his hand up her skirt, stroking her panties gently before placing a small bullet-style vibrator inside her underwear. Switching on the toy via remote control, the vibrator quietly buzzes causing her clitoris to pulse with pleasure. Numerous guys fondle her breasts as her nether region is stimulated. One of the men whispers to her that this is her punishment for what she did years ago. She soon realizes, to her shock, that her body enjoys being punished.

Ryuichi and his harem of sexy girls take a trip to a private beach. The youngest of the group, Lisa, lost her virginity with Ryuichi the night before. She squirms with embarrassment as everyone teasingly congratulates her. After watching one of the other girls get vigorously pounded in the rear by Ryuichi, Lisa gets curious as to what anal sex feels like. Overhearing her, Ryuichi's mother takes it upon herself to educate the inexperienced girl. She warns Lisa that anal sex requires preparation, so she starts off by gently massaging Lisa's rectum with her fingers. As she starts to enjoy the sensation, a small vibrator is carefully inserted in her ass. Overcome with desire for her new sexual mentor, Lisa starts sucking on her large, motherly breasts. As she does so, another toy is pushed inside, opening her up even more. By the time she offers herself to Ryuichi, she's accumulated four toys in her anus and an aggressively vibrating dildo sticking out of her pussy. The young girl has progressed very quickly!

Easily one of the cutest anime romances out there, Ore Monogatari!! showed how relationships didn’t need to be according to the status quo of anime or real life. Takeo Gouda—our main man of the series—wanted to show his appreciation for getting Valentine’s Day chocolates so he makes his love interest—Rinko Yamato—some nice cookies. It’s a simple gift but Takeo shows his love for Rinko by clearly putting his heart into those cookies. Episode 21 was when the series was about to conclude—as it’s only a 24 episode show—but this event was just a tease for how much cuter the show would end up being near the finale!

A lesser-known shoujo series called Ookami Shoujo to Kuro Ouji had an excellent White Day episode that proved love is quite…peculiar. Episode 7 has our male lead Kyouya Sata lose his girl—Erika Shinohara—when he admits he doesn’t care for her. Erika ends up going on a date with a friend in frustration—Yuu Kusakabe—on White Day. Yuu admits he loves Erika but her heart still yearns for Kyouya. Thankfully, Kyouya appears and finally admits his feelings for Erika—albeit a bit overly directly—allowing the two to reconcile. White Day is a magical day in the world of romance which is conveyed nicely in this episode.

Episode 12 of Acchi Kocchi was ironically both a Valentine’s Day and White Day episode! While Part A focused on the girls and their strange chocolate concoctions—this is Acchi Kocchi after all—Part B was the White Day section and wow, we couldn’t stop laughing. Some of the creations for the ladies were nice—and looked delicious—but Sakaki needed revenge for a “gift” he got and made pig feet marshmallows. Acchi Kocchi’s 12th episode is funny, cute and perfect for those who love White Day!

If you’re the type of anime viewer who root for the side characters in romance series—or in this case a romance comedy—then you’ll appreciate episode 6 of Working!! On White Day, Jun—the series Chef—gives a White Day gift to the sword-carrying Yachiyo Todoroki. Souta Takanashi—the main man of Working!!—also gives gifts to Popura Taneshima and Mahiru Inami but it feels less romantic and more generous. Overall, though, the 6th episode of Working!! shows us to never be afraid to show love on White Day even if the end result is a bit unusual.

Episode 12 of the original Fruits Basket was conveniently titled White Day and it made us of that name. The gang heads to a hot springs resort and several comedic events ensue such as a mean match of ping pong and some romantic drama. Tohru Honda is then surprised by Yuki Sohma with a pair of golden hair ties. This is easily one of the best moments between Yuki and Tohru and made us go awww for at least several minutes! Fruits Basket’s White Day episode was one of the most legendary ones of our list and we knew wrapping up our article with it was quite necessary!

To kick off our list, we thought it’s best we present to you Nezuko from Kimetsu no Yaiba. Due to a tragedy in her family, she became a demon and in order to restrain her and hide her condition, she has her mouth gagged with a piece of bamboo. Ever since she became a demon, she has lost her humanity but you just can’t help but hope that she’ll one day return back to normal. Thankfully, as time goes on, she does get better. While she is capable of combating other demons, that’s not the true Nezuko. She is kind and caring. We suppose by giving her a gift on White Day, she could probably get a sense of who she once was, or at least calm her down on her worst days.

If you ever wanted to know what it’s like to be a regular person and yet be a part of interesting events, then Kumiko is the perfect representation of that notion. She can be impulsive and does things for the weirdest reasons (such as enrolling in her high school just for the sailor-style uniforms) but when she decides to do something, she will work her hardest to do it, which leads her to playing the euphonium for her school band. Putting her impulsiveness aside, she’s very aware of her flaws and does her best to keep herself under control. Due to the discipline she gains by practicing self-restraint, she becomes an amazing listener, and that is why we can’t help but want to give her a gift on White Day.

Sakura Mamiya is probably one of the most unassuming teenage girls in the world of anime. Like the boy in The Sixth Sense, she sees dead people but by no means does it negatively affect her mental state to the point that she needs the ghost of Bruce Willis to help her. She deals with her situation casually. Compared to other female leads from other Rumiko Takahashi’s works, Sakura is rather mellow. Unlike Lum from Urusei Yatsura, Akane from Ranma ½, and Kagome from Inuyasha, when it comes to dealing with the trouble of Rinne’s antics, she won’t resort to violence. Due to her humble upbringings, as opposed to immediately resorting to violence (which is how Rinne and Juumonji usually deal with spirits causing mayhem), she helps troubled spirits by showing she can be empathetic with them by asking what business they still have on Earth. Once she gets them to start talking, she helps make the arrangements to finish what they want to do before moving on. Due to her more human approach to dealing with such problems, what better way to thank her than by giving her a gift on White Day?

Forget about giving chocolate, if you had a friend or a lover like Koharu from High Score Girl, you’d probably want to buy her a game or a console! If you can’t afford a game or console, we suppose you could make her a cake in the form of an arcade cabinet, a Sega Saturn, or Sony PlayStation! Before meeting Haruo, Koharu was just a regular girl who helped run her family’s candy store that had mini arcades outside the front entrance. Thanks to Haruo’s influence, Koharu becomes one of his rivals in video games and she starts to see the value of having fun! Not only do they become rivals, but the best of friends to the point that Koharu can’t help but fall in love with him. So not only should you give her a gift on White Day, if you happen to be going a few rounds at Street Fighter II, just let her win in the spirit of the holiday.

Mayuri is the perfect example of what the Japanese say nowadays as “KY,” short for “Kuuki Yomenai,” they’re way of saying that someone is socially awkward. Considering that she hangs out with Rintarou, a self-proclaimed mad scientist (with her as his hostage), it’s no mystery as to why she feels a connection to him. The way she talks tends to be childish and air-headed, but you can’t help but like her. While she’s not socially mature for her age, she’s very supportive of Rintarou and Daru. She takes care of their shopping needs and does a bit of the chores around the lab. While she may act five years younger, she’s really a sweet girl who cares and fits right well with the Otaku culture of Akihabara which makes her a perfect girl to give her a gift on White Day.

Try to imagine ordering take out and dialing the wrong number. Who do you end up calling? THE GODDESS HELP HOTLINE! This is pretty much the story of how Keiichi Morisato, an average college boy, meets Belldandy, a goddess. When Belldandy tells Keiichi that she can grant him any wish, without believing a word she’s saying, he wishes for her to be with him forever and as it turns out, she was telling the truth! Despite having almost unlimited power, she’s very humble and pretty much serves as Keiichi’s housewife and love interest. Keiichi never asks her to be his maid or anything of that nature. She just does the chores and cleaning out of her own free will. She is nice and hospitable to everyone she encounters. Even when Kei and Belldandy’s contract is voided in the story, she still chooses to stay with him. For this, this is why she is deserving of a gift on White Day.

For some of you guys (and some of you gals) reading, do you remember the first time you were able to talk to a girl and it made you feel awkward? That’s pretty much who Ocahko is to Izuku in My Hero Academia. Besides her quirk that makes whatever she touches float, she’s pretty much the girl next door type. She becomes the first person to be friends with Izuku at UE and despite his Deku name originally starting as a derogatory misreading of the kanji of his name, Ochako calls him Deku as an interpretation that he’s not the type to ever give up. The fact that she’s able to brighten a young man’s life with her non-judgmental support is more than enough reason to want to give her a gift on White Day.

What makes Rem a unique selection is that you’d literally have to die a handful of times in order to get to know her better qualities. If it weren’t for Subaru’s “Shinimodori,” or his ability to “Return by Death,” he and the audience would never get the opportunity to see that Rem is such a sweet lady. She is unquestionably loyal but it takes time to build that trust with her, and Subaru builds that the hard way. While she looks meek and not so intimidating, she can be a vicious killer when she needs to be (unfortunately, Subaru has had to die by her hands before he could win her heart)! Once Rem opens herself up to someone, she is willing to give her life for them which is why you would want to give her a gift on White Day (but you’re going to have to die a few times first).

At a very close second, I’m sure a lot of anime fans would love to give a to Makoto, or Sailor Jupiter, on White Day because she’s the type of girl who would give you something on Valentine’s. What makes Makoto a nice girl you would love to give a present to is that she’s the walking definition of the cliché that you can’t judge a book by its cover. While she is bigger than average compared to most girls her age and can get physical in confrontations, once you get to know her, she’s the most feminine of all the Sailor Senshi. As it turns out, she’s an excellent cook and she’s always sharing her recipes with her friends. As demonstrated in the 90s edition of Sailor Moon, many find her intimidating but men are also capable of seeing her charms to the point that they would not only look forward to getting a treat from her, but they would instantly be obligated to return the favor.

If there’s any girl that we put at number one, it is without a doubt, Tooru from Fruits Basket. Not only would you want to give her a present on White Day, you’d probably also want to give her something every day of week, TWICE ON SUNDAY! She’s probably the most positive and empathetic girl in all of anime. She ALWAYS puts others before herself and she’s the type of person that would introduce herself to someone who is sitting by themselves in the cafeteria and ask how they’re doing. She never judges anyone and she accepts people for who they are. When she sees that something’s wrong, she wants to make it right for the people who are affected by it. She was raised by a widowed mother and was orphaned by the time she started high school. Despite her circumstances, NOT ONCE does she complain about it or assume the worst! While her personality naturally comes with its quirks, you can’t help but want to give her a present for everything she does when she’s the one that needs someone the most.

Pikachu Sweets opened in late autumn 2020 due to the continuing demand at the Pokemon Cafe and the influx of other Pokemon shops in Ikebukuro’s Sunshine City shopping centre. Pikachu Sweets is aimed at carry-out customers, hoping to give even more Pokemon fans a chance to have special food and drinks based on the franchise even when getting a reservation at the big cafe is hard. The menu is limited but every item is carefully themed and presented beautifully so even the carryout experience is memorable and special. The entire cafe is also designed with a cute aesthetic of light pink and polished wood with art of various sweets and cute Pokemon all around. Plus there are Pokeball-shaped lights! The main item menus are (at the time of this article’s writing) Pikachu Cupcakes and Pikachu Pudding. The cupcake is made in Pikachu’s image with yellow icing and cute ears, and the pudding has Pikachu’s face on the cup. Both are available for purchase in a set of two, and only two sets are allowed per customer. There are also a few drinks to choose from, including Roserade’s Matcha with rose petal tea and Pinap Berry juice. The most iconic drink on the menu is the “Get Latte,” which is served in a Pokeball mug with special latte art both for the hot and cold versions. There are also some exclusive goods available at Pikachu Sweets! For an additional ¥550 on the price of any drink, you can add a souvenir drink sleeve of Pikachu or Eevee! There are also three different designs of tumblers to choose from. While the focus of Pikachu Sweets is on take-out, there are a few standing counters available for use if you want to enjoy your food and drinks in the cafe.

Dr. Matsuoka Tsuyoshi has seen many viruses in his life of being an ER doctor. However, one day when he deals with a patient with what looks to be influenza, Matsuoka is stunned at the power of the virus. The patient was sick one day and the next, is dead due to multiple organ failure. If this wasn’t alarming enough, this infected patient isn’t the only one as multiple are coming into the hospital with the same symptoms! With Japan’s infection rate reaching high numbers, it’s up to doctors like Matsuoka to see if there’s a way to stop the infection from exterminating Japan. We here at Honey’s Anime were really trying to figure out what was the best way to start our list. Then it occurred to us why not start our Top 10 Manga Viruses list with the Influenza-like Virus seen in Kansen Rettou. While Influenza, in general, is a common thing in all parts of the world, in Kansen Rettou we see a new strain of Influenza with horrifying symptoms. While Kansen Rettou might be a mere 1 volume long manga, the story will last with you sometime after reading. Viruses in the real world change all the time and that’s why it’s not impossible for something like this to occur in the real world…

Japan, by many, is considered one of the best countries around. With a model system of government and crisis prevention, Japan seems almost impervious to a large-scale threat. However, what if a virus spread and began infecting the bigger areas such as Shinjuku? How would Japan respond and is there a way to avoid a mass panic? Find out in Emerging where several men and women race against the clock to prevent Japan from sinking into destruction from a viral outbreak. In Emerging by mangaka Hokazono Masaya, we see a real-life Japan hit by a large-scale viral outbreak. Dubbed the Emergent Virus, those infected suffer pretty horrific symptoms. Not only do their eyes become blood red but they eventually will bleed out suddenly leading to death. Making matters worse is that this isn’t an overly ridiculous concept. In the real world, infection from touching or a simple cough can lead to nasty flus and viruses which ultimately makes the Emergent Virus a scary virus if something like this should ever occur.

Yoshiaki Maeda was wrongfully convicted for murder and has been sent to Shouran Academy Juvenile Detention Center. Here Maeda is put into Cell 4 and while he makes friends with some his cellmates, he’s not to happy to learn of a power struggle going on within the detention center. Unfortunately for Maeda, this is just the beginning of horrible things to come. Outside the detention center, a virus has begun to spread turning people into zombies and a bus coming to the detention center delivering more inmates is carrying one of the infected… While the virus in Apocalypse no Toride is an unknown one, it still makes our list for the sheer fact that it’s a terrifying zombie virus. One bite is enough to spread the symptoms and cause the infected to die and resurrect as a bloodthirsty cannibal. While some may think Apocalypse no Toride is yet another zombie story, mangakas Kuraishi Yuu and Inabe Kazu do a great job of keeping tension and fear high as we witness the various characters surviving in a jailed facility. That’s why the zombie virus from Apocalypse no Toride makes it onto our list of the Top 10 Manga Viruses. Seriously, surviving a zombie infestation is bad but being locked in a prison-like facility with zombies is even worse.

The world that was once beautiful has become a living nightmare. After a biological virus spread, humans began to change into monsters. These monsters called Kamiyadori have to be killed to prevent mankind from being 100% annihilated. Thus, a group called Right Arms has given special individuals a minor version of the Kamiyadori virus to grant them enhanced power. As agents of Rights Arms, these warriors must use their power to kill the Kamiyadori and save whatever’s left of the world. We here at Honey’s Anime have had our fair share of nightmares. Monster would chase us and we’d have to fight to survive or just end up perishing at their strength of them. However, imagine if this wasn’t just a mere nightmare but the reality? Well, we get to see that in mangaka Sanbe Kei’s work known as Kamiyadori. Here, we see a virus—the Kamiyadori Virus—spread across the world and create horrific monsters that only wish to kill anything they see. The Kamiyadori Virus might be pure fiction but that doesn’t stop us from hoping that it stays that way.

35-year-old Hideo Suzuki was a great mangaka at one time. However, after Hideo’s series begins to produce terrible sales numbers, he is downgraded to a mangaka assistant. With a slew of mental problems and a girlfriend who may be cheating on him, Hideo’s life has hit rock bottom. Though life for Hideo only gets worse when Japan is overcome with zombies. Now Hideo needs to somehow become a hero and maybe change his life for the better despite the dire circumstances around him. While this isn’t our first zombie virus on our list, we included it because I Am a Hero is one heck of a zombie manga. Crafted by mangaka Hanazawa Kengo, I Am a Hero creates a tale of suspense as we see the zombie virus spread across Japan infecting one person after another. With beautiful art work and a truly gripping tale spread across 22 volumes, I Am a Hero’s zombie virus leads to an interesting take on a comeback tale of a man who has lost it all and now has to try to get a new life from the ashes of the old one. Definitely check out I Am a Hero if you want a great manga to read!

Alive: Saishuu Shinkateki Shounen focuses our story on a young man named Taisuke Kanou. With a normal high school life and a normal slew of friends, life for Taisuke seems pretty average. Though this normality is shattered one day when a mysterious infection changes the world. Those infected tend to commit suicide but a small portion who are infected end up undergoing a change. This change occurs in Taisuke and now with special powers he must fight alongside others to keep his friends and his own life from being destroyed by those who wish to abuse this “gift”. Alive: Saishuu Shinkateki Shounen’s virus is one that is pretty interesting. Known as The Heart of Akuro, this alien life form isn’t a virus per say but it does infect others like a virus. Meant to separate the weak from the strong, the alien virus infects the host and causes suicide to occur if the host is weak. That sounds pretty creepy but we won’t lie it almost makes for one heck of a story. If you haven’t read Alive: Saishuu Shinkateki Shounen then we fully recommend it to see how humans survive this odd alien-like virus.

Ever hear of this old saying? History is bound to repeat itself? Well for Nagasawa Takashi, he’s about to learn the horror of that statement. An old virus known as Nightshift has returned to the world. Once infected, you become a horrifying zombie and that means for Takashi and his friends it’s time to do battle against a zombie plague. You might be thinking: wow, there are a lot of zombie viruses on our list. While you’re not wrong, very few of them have actual names. That’s what makes Nightshift—the zombie virus in question—so interesting in the manga Dawn: Tsumetai Te. With an apparent history and an actual name, we see Nightshift decimate humanity once more. How many zombie manga have a history of people surviving a zombie apocalypse to only have it happen again? Not many to say the least folks.

Sometime in a far-off future a terrible infection begins to spread in the world. Titled by man the NSS Infection, those who are infected begin to change. The virus begins to alter the infected and change their bodies into mutated husks. With no cure, the NSS Infection begins to make the world into a zombie infested wasteland. Zouichi Kanoe and his AI partner Fuyu Kanoe are hired by Toha Heavy Industries to search for those immune like Zouichi. Together these two must enter a horrific landscape in search of a means to stop the utter extinction of mankind. Coming in at number 3 on our Top 10 Manga Viruses list, we look at the NSS Infection from Biomega. Mangaka Nihei Tsutomu is known for creating tales of sci-fi and horror but Biomega is indeed a step above the rest. The NSS Infection Nihei created for Biomega seems like a scary thought when you realize it’s not just a normal zombie like virus. Within Biomega we see people with distorted proportions and zombie-like mentalities. If we’re being honest, that’s what makes the NSS Infection so terrifying and yet so interesting. It’s a twist on your normal zombie outbreak story and we always like when a zombie story isn’t done in an overly cliché manner.

Deep in Russian land a virus has been created called Bloody X. Once a victim is infected with the virus, they will perish within 3 hours. Unfortunately for the world, the virus has been taken into the hands of a terrorist organization. With the information being only visible on the online space the Japanese government is forced to take action. Hiring young Fujimaru Takagi—known online as the famous hacker The Falcon—Fujimaru must hurry to crack a series of mysterious to prevent humanity from being infected by this deadly virus. We knew going into this list of the Top 10 Manga Viruses that Bloody X from Bloody Monday would be on here. The fact that this virus seems so powerful is a scary thought indeed. A mere 3 hours after infection causes death? That alone makes the whole story of Bloody Monday a race against the clock! That’s why if you have not picked up and read Bloody Monday, you need to rectify that immediately if you love action and drama stories with a tinge of political agendas and espionage.

Keiichi Maebara has gone with his family from the city to a small little town called Hinamizawa. Here in the year of 1983, the town seems almost isolated from the world with an eerie calm and old style feeling. Though quickly, Keiichi is able to make the most out of his new home and even befriends a group of girls like Rena Ryuuguu and Mion Sonozaki. However, Hinamizawa holds a dark past that is hidden away from most. Whether he wishes to or not, Keiichi is about to learn the darkness that looms of Hinamizawa as he and his friends begin to experience it firsthand… Now, we won’t spoil anything much here but one of the major themes of Higurashi no Naku Koro ni: Onikakushi-hen is the Hinamizawa Syndrome. This odd “virus” seems to infect the host through unknown means and makes them experience terrible symptoms such as hallucinations, formication—which is what the syndrome is loosely based on—and violent urges to name a few. While most who aren’t privy to the world of Higurashi no Naku Koro ni: Onikakushi-hen might argue this isn’t a virus. We shall only say that as the story progresses—this is a mystery manga after all—you will understand why we placed Hinamizawa Syndrome at number one on our list of the Top 10 Manga Viruses. Trust us, you want to read Higurashi no Naku Koro ni: Onikakushi-hen as this mystery manga is one of the best out there.

The main reason we consider Hanako-kun a love letter to motion manga lies in the nature of the visuals. The art and animation of Hanako-kun make use of minor movements in each shot or scene, but it doesn’t feel stiff or strange because the movements are fluid despite being very basic. We have many shots in which there are only one or two things in motion in the shot with a lot of camera panning and zooming. Due to the fact that the motion of the animation isn’t the main attraction when it comes to the visuals, Toilet-Bound Hanako-kun has stellar character designs, backgrounds and use of colour that may lead it to being one of 2020’s best visual exploits in the anime medium. Having said this about the motion, we still have to commend Hanako-kun for being able to make some incredibly striking scenes, especially in more dramatic moments. This gives the show a contrast from its general feel yet even in these moments, we can feel how the scenes retain a static impression with minimal yet effective animation.

Building on the previous point about the minimal movement in each Hanako-kun scene, we have to mention the other truth about this show: each different shot has a very comic-book feel to it as the image is presented with quite a bit of camera panning from scene to scene. This gives the viewer the feeling that each scene is being scanned the same way a pair of eyes would scan the page, looking at smaller details and taking in the whole picture at once. Even the way in which some of the visuals of the characters against the backdrop are punctuated with shots of the background in between gives the anime a visually stimulating aesthetic.

Japanese culture highly values privacy, politeness, and not bothering other people. As such, public displays of affection are seen as tacky and disruptive, to the point where many Japanese parents won’t even kiss in front of their children and couples won’t embrace in public. Naturally, this makes direct confessions of love much more difficult, not to mention the fact that teenagers and young adults are buried in so much work that they hardly have time to pursue relationships at all. Online apps, singles mixers, and even arranged marriages tend to prevail over one-on-one romantic interactions in this labyrinthine landscape of love. The prized confession (kokuhaku) comes when someone declares their love for their sweetheart, usually with the connotation that they want to be exclusive and potentially get married one day. “I love you” (aishiteru) is seen as overblown and dramatic, so the more discrete “I like you” (suki) or “I really like you” (daisuki) are used instead in confessions and daily life. Plus, if someone’s crush rejects them, they can save face by pretending they weren’t all that serious to begin with. However, just getting to this point takes a mountain of courage that some people can’t muster, no matter how much they pine for the one they love. Truly, the Japanese dating world is a tricky business.

Anime tends to follow these same customs, whether the work is set in Japan or not. Sousuke and Chidori from Full Metal Panic took 13 real-life years to hold hands, Natsu and Lucy’s relationship was still ambiguous after Fairy Tail ended, and Kaguya-sama: Love is War took non-confrontational dating culture to its logical extreme by making its entire plot about two tsunderes trying to force the other to confess first. Confident and boisterous characters like Edward Elric suddenly turn bashful when the subject of their crush comes up, and Sayaka from Mahou Shoujo Madoka Magica lets her life fall apart instead of admitting her feelings to the boy she likes. It can be infuriating to watch as a Western viewer, but this indirect style of love is so ingrained into Japanese culture that it persists even in fiction.