pop culture – Anime Hanabi

2 goth anime characters — Loli, Victorian, vampire, traditional, goth!

Maybe it’s the chill in the air. Maybe it’s the shorter, darker days of autumn. Maybe it’s the spooky spell that Halloween casts over this time of year. But, whatever the cause, this is the season that everyone gets in touch with their inner goth. Granted, some never get out of touch, but for everyone else, this is a strange time of year when you find yourself gobbling up more candy than usual, you realized that black really does go with everything, or you go a little too heavy on the smoky eye shadow. Maybe you just can’t wait to stab a face into a pumpkin every evening. Of course, how your gothiness develops is different for each person. Is ripped T-shirts, guitar riffs, and devouring evil souls is your style? Or maybe, your goth is filled with black frilly skirts with heaps of lace, mind controlling beverages served in bone china tea cups, and mysterious manors? Is your gothiness more historic, with elegant robes, forgotten folktales, and things inhabiting shadows? Whatever your personal goth is, there is of course an anime to match! You knew I was going to bring it back around to anime, right. I have a one track mind. So, here are a few series to fulfill your gothiest cravings!

Soul Eater

The only place as Halloween-tastic as The Nightmare before Christmas’ Halloween Town is the world of Soul Eater. In Death city Nevada, Maka is a top student at Death Weapon Meister Academy with her human/weapon partner Soul Eater. She was just about to become an official Meister herself, when one little mistake threw a great big black cat into the works. Now Maka has to start from the beginning, feeding 99 evil souls and one witch’s soul to Soul Eater, so Maka can be a Meister and Soul Eater can become the ultimate weapon.

Maka swinging her weapon — Cool in pigtails

Though the plot of this anime is pretty cool, the series is actually surprisingly weird and at times kind of goofy. The quirks of the characters in Soul Eater vary from Death the Kid’s phobia of asymmetry to Black Star’s need to be in the spotlight at all times, no matter what. Even top student Maka has her own issues which usually end in comically violent ways. All this energetic craziness is set in a world of dead trees, creepy fortresses, and purple skys with a moon that bleeds. It’s this perfect balance with over-the-top rock star characters, explosive action, and silliness that makes Soul Eater the anime such a fun series. So if you are into rocking out punk goth style, than this is the anime for you.

DWMA at night — Would you like this to be your school? You might be Punk Goth.

Shadow House

If your style of gothiness is more loli, than Shadow House is the anime for you. Set in a secluded and mysterious country estate in the mountains, Shadow House is filled with people that look like 3D shadows and their human twin called a living doll who works to serve the shadows as their personal maids or butlers.

emilyko and kate — A lady and her maid, so Loli Goth!

The main character of this series is Emilyko, a cheerful and energetic maid that eagerly cleans up after her shadow twin (Kate). Though she might be a little clumsy, she doesn’t let anything get her down. Emilyko’s counter part is nearly the exact opposite, Kate is cool to the point of being a bit cold at first. She spends her time quietly reading, sipping tea, and observing the mysterious changes in Shadow House. If Kate is a cool headed worldly detective, than Emilyko is the spunky small town hero.

Tactics

If your kind of gothiness craves the traditional, with folktales and stories told around the fire, or maybe it includes a kimono or two than Tactics is the anime for you. An older anime, Tactics has the same old world folksy feel of Natsume Yujincho but with a Taisho twist. It’s a fun blend of the ancient meeting with the modern and it has some really traditional Japanese folktales along with a little bit of Western cultural occult stuff too. Well, it does take place in the Taisho era.

kantaro with coin — he can see ghosts but money eludes him

The main character of Tactics is Kantaro Ichinomiya, much like Natsume, he has been able to see monsters and ghosts since he was a child. Considering that being able to see ghosts and such is a little weird to the average person, Kantaro has been treated pretty badly by the humans around him. So instead of trying to fit in, he just made friends with the monsters that he can see. With the help of his friend Yoko (a fox yokai) Kantaro becomes a folklorist/writer. In his folktale studies he finds out that a person can gain a huge amount of power if he makes a contract with the great tengu of the mountain.

Pretty early in the series Kantaro finds the tengu and names him Haruka, making a contract with the tengu, and becoming his friend. Or at least trying to, Haruka is kind of cold at first and doesn’t trust this new folklorist, doesn’t like this new era very much and is kind of aloof. But, Haruka seems to be okay with wearing a modern Western style suit, Hmm.