The Death of Anime: Don’t worry, it’s not as scary as it sounds!

It’s too late, that bubbly, bright eyed anime high school girl has already been run over by Truck-kun. Or maybe Bus-san was the one who did it? That that tough but lovable boy next door has already met his fate much too soon. That plane has already crashed, the bridge has already crumbled, and that little kid that randomly runs out into the busy street has already been saved at the cost of someone else. Yes, unfortunately all these once lively anime characters are now dead. . . . But don’t feel sad for them, though their time as normal, everyday high school students was short, they’re not resting in peace just yet. From rocking out on stage with their friends to chasing after a god of calamity, these anime characters still have a full after-life waiting for them!

Zombie Land Saga

In the anime Zombie Land Saga, Sakura Minamoto is a fresh faced high school girl that just wants to be a pop idol. She knew all the songs and dances from her favorite idol band, and she even had an audition that was waiting for her! With a spring in her step and a slice of toast in her mouth, she bounded toward her future with enthusiasm. . . and right into the road in front of Truck-kun. Years later she is brought back to life to sing once again with her new “legendary” band mates.

Though she’s finally getting her wish granted, being an un-dead idol is a lot harder than she thought. When she first wakes up, she is the only member of her band that doesn’t act like a zombie. She even had to wrangle her zombie band members for their first live performance. Thankfully it was a heavy metal music venue so no one noticed that her band was dead. Even as her band mates wake up one by one, the road to stardom doesn’t get much smoother for Sakura. With a band manager that is insane, limbs and heads that keep popping off, and idol drama from across the ages, it’s a tough job to make her pop idol dreams come true.

Noragami

In Noragami, Hiori Iki is a normal, pro-wrestling and MMA obsessed middle school girl. She just wants to laugh with her friends, cheer on her favorite pro-wrestler, and maybe even get a boyfriend one day. And then a boy crosses her path, a boy chasing a cat . . . right into traffic. Seeing as the boy and cat were just about to get run over by a bus, Hiori bravely jumps in to help. And the results weren’t exactly what she was expecting. The cat was saved! The boy was saved! Hiori– not so much. Don’t worry, she isn’t really dead, but she’s not completely alive either.

Hiori is stuck in a kind of half living state where she can accidentally slip out of her body and go bouncing around in her astral body. Considering that Hiori doesn’t have great control over when she slips into her astral form and her regular body is just abandoned in random locations in a deep sleep, Hiori isnt’ a huge fan of this problem. And surprise, the only one who can solve this problem is the boy she saved from Bus-san. He’s actually a minor god of calamity named Yato (even if he had been hit by the bus he probably would have been fine) and after accepting a donation of five yen, he has vowed to get Hiori back into her body permanently. Unfortunately, he’s kind of a dead-beat and isn’t the most reliable god on the block, so Hiori is stuck harassing him to do his job.

Haibane Renmei

Unlike the rest of the anime in this list, Haibane Renmei isn’t about zombies, or astral bodies, or ghosts, it’s about angels. This gentle slice of life anime starts with Rakka a high school girl falling through the sky. It’s a dream, and when she wakes up she finds herself in the quiet little village of Glie surrounded by friendly winged and haloed girls of different ages called Haibane. Through some pain and a bit of silliness, Rakka also gets wings and a halo and slowly learns about the new world she has been born into.

Though the villagers are kind and the other Haibane are friendly, not everything in this place is carefree and lighthearted. There’s a huge wall surrounding the village, and the Haibane are forbidden to approach the wall, the Haibane also can’t own anything new, and can’t use money (though all of the older ones are expected to have a job). These rules are enforced by the Haibane Renmei, a secret society that watches over the Haibane.

YuYu Hakusho

Yu Yu Hakusho is about Yusuke Urameshi, a high school delinquent that might be trouble at school by is really a lot nicer than he looks. Unfortunately for Yusuke, he sees a random little kid run into a busy street and he dashes across traffic to save random-chan. Much like in the more recent Noragami series, the child is saved from a traffic related death, but Yusuke doesn’t have nearly as happy of an ending. Unlike Hiori, Yusuke isn’t just knocked out of his body for a short while, he mostly dies. As in his mom as a funeral and everything. But lucky for Yusuke, the son of the king (Koenma) of the underworld is so surprised by Yusuke’s selfless act that the teen is given another chance to come back to life. There’s just one little catch, Yusuke has to prove that he is worthy of being brought back to life. The thing is, Yusuke might not have been all bad, but he wasn’t all that good either. So now he has to team up with Botan (a lady ferryman of the river styx) and complete a series of tests to earn his life back.

And for an honorable mention, Zombie Loan. I haven’t watched much of it, but it is all about zombies and cheating death by taking out a loan that you have to pay back.

Do you have any favorite anime that feature main characters that aren’t quite alive? Leave a comment below!

The anime exclamation of the week is: Hayaku! meaning Hurry!

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I’m currently watching:

• Zombie Loan
• Kageki Shojo
• Over Lord
• Case Closed
• Super Lovers
• Night Beyond the Tricornered Window
• Visual Prison
• Fena: Pirate Princess
• Backflip
• Mars Red
• Takt Op. Destiny
• The Great Jahy will Not Be Defeated!
• Sakugan
• Hells
• Cardfight Vanguard Overdress
• Drug Store in Another World
• Bungo Stray Dogs
• Tokyo Revengers
• The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya
• Inari Kon Kon
• Life Lessons with Uramichi Oniisan
• Rampo Kitan
• Mieruko-chan
• Obey Me!
• Taisho Otome Fairy Tale