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Vampire and witches are some of the most popular supernatural creatures in anime, right along with demons and yokai. They gained even more popularity in the early 2000s when anime series got pretty creative with creature lore. Some series have different categories of witches with specific powers and strengths, from elemental abilities to cast curses.

Some titles experiment with vampire lore, weaving together traditional sun-fearing vampires and formidable dhampirs. Witches and vampires are also perfect characters to incorporate into dark fantasy and gothic anime. Dark fantasy and gothic are ancient subgenres, but audiences were drawn to new takes on them in the early 2000s.

Princess Tutu Pairs a Whimsical Art Style with Heavy Themes & Evil Sorcery Series Years: 2002-2003; Streaming on Prime VideoImage via Hal Film Maker Studio.

A magical girl anime inspired by classical ballets, like Princess Tutu, doesn't seem like it would be a dark fantasy at first glance.

Fairy Tail: 100 Years Quest, the new upcoming anime series -- and sequel to the original manga by Hiro Mashima (author) and Atsuo Ueda (illustrator) -- has now released its main trailer. The video features the animes opening theme song, "Story," performed by Da-iCE.

The new Fairy Tail anime is set to premiere in Japan on July 7, 2024, and anticipation is high following the five-year gap between 100 Years Quest and the series last season, which concluded in September 2019. Five-member boy band Da-iCE previously also performed the track for One Pieces 23rd opening, "Dreamin On." Fairy Tails official website has also announced 100 Years Quests ending theme song as "Tomo yo, Koko de Sayonara da" by female idol group Boku ga Mitekatta Aozora.

Related Re:Zero Stuns With New Season 3 Trailer & Movie-Length First Episode Announcement

Re:Zero Season 3 brings the isekai series back with a bang, announcing a movie-length debut episode and building anticipation with a fresh trailer.

Gothic anime explore themes of death, morality, and supernatural elements without being pure horror. Hellsing Ultimate, Trinity Blood, & Jojo's Bizarre Adventure offer gothic elements like dark fantasy, vampires, & supernatural aspects. Anime like Berserk and Death Note explore the human psyche in a gothic setting with stress on the macabre.

The anime medium has something to offer for fans of every aesthetic and the Gothic is no exception. The Gothic has been a popular genre of literature for centuries, and it is no surprise that it has made its way into the realm of anime as well. Gothic anime are defined by their eerie, unsettling atmosphere, and an obsession with death and the macabre. Many gothic series even include classic elements like old spooky mansions, and supernatural aspects like vampires, ghouls, ghosts, and other dark fantasy-like elements.

Admittedly, the genre has evolved greatly over the last few decades with its...

The popular streaming platform Crunchyroll celebrates Halloween with free supernatural and horror-themed anime this October.

Crunchyroll announced that it will offer a carefully selected collection of spooky entertainment. These programs will be running from October 1 all the way to Halloween. This service will be free to any member with a basic account on their platform.

Related: Crunchyroll Shares Heaven Official's Blessing Season 2 Trailer

The announcement follows Crunchyroll's established tradition of providing free ad-supported content but with an exclusive Halloween twist. This collection promises a wide range of titles, featuring monsters, ghosts, ghouls, and more from different eras and with unique creative styles, courtesy of various anime studios. The collection consists of animes from the last two decades with Hell’s Paradise, a breakout hit from the Spring 2023 anime season, being its newest addition.

The diverse range of supernatural and horror-themed series in Crunchyroll's specially curated Halloween lineup includes Blood Blockade Battlefront,...

Castlevania: Nocturne is a spin-off series of the hit series Castlevania. Created by Clive Bradley, the Netflix original series is based on a video game series of the same name. Castlevania: Nocturne is set in 1792, during the French Revolution and it follows the story of Richter Belmont, as he joins forces with hunters and magicians to prevent an apocalypse. So, if you love the Castlevania spin-off series here are some similar anime you could watch next.

Castlevania (Netflix) Credit – Netflix

Synopsis: Inspired by the computer game series of the same name, Castlevania is an animated series that centers on Vlad Dracula Tepe (Graham McTavish), who’s attempting to wipe out humanity as retribution for the Church burning his wife Lisa (Emily Swallow) at the stake. It appears that no one can stop the hurricane of destruction that Dracula has unleashed upon 15th-century Eastern Europe. But vampire hunter Trevor Belmont (Richard Armitage...

As a special treat for horror fans this Halloween season, Crunchyroll will have a wide variety of horror-themed anime to stream for free (with ads) throughout October, including Junji Ito Collection, Mieruko-chan, Hellsing, and many more!

You can check out the full list of free (with ads) anime streaming on Crunchyroll this October, and to learn more about the streaming service, visit:

https://www.crunchyroll.com/

Press Release: Culver City, California – Crunchyroll has harvested a bounty of treats to fulfill anime fans’ needs for something chilling this Halloween. Beginning on October 1 and only through the rest of the month, select titles across the spooky spectrum will be free to watch with ads for anyone who has signed up for a free user account with Crunchyroll. Those titles include Tokyo Ghoul, Zombie Land Saga, Mieruko-chan, Blue Exorcist, this year’s new breakout hit from studio Mappa Hell’s Paradise, and more.

See...

Vampires may be powerful and dangerous, but some of them are so charming, intelligent, and gorgeous that fans can't help but swoon over them. Beauty aside, some have wonderful qualities which make them desirable waifus, like bravery and the capacity for undying love. Vampires in general are highly romantic figures in literature, movies, and anime – crushing on them isn't anything new.

The danger of vampires is part of their romantic appeal for many otaku. It's understandable that characters like Carmilla from Castlevania have a vampy appeal that sends fans' hearts beating. Villainous, bloodthirsty vampires may not be great partners in real life, but in anime world, the rules are a bit different.

Related: 10 Best Vampire Romance Anime To Watch Right Now

Mireille Manson (Trinity Blood)

Mireille Manson is a gorgeous, gothic queen in Trinity Blood with her wavy raven hair, lined eyes, and vermilion lipstick. Looks aside, her skills with...

Vampires may be one of the most popular supernatural creatures in horror and anime in general, but they're not known for their noble nature. Many are immortal and their strength plus the endless years passing tends to make them apathetic, even misanthropic. Eternity and watching generations pass may fascinate and humble some, but others find it monotonous, and it brings out the worst in them.

Historically in storytelling, a vampire's urges aren't easy to control, either. But there are some vampires who see eons pass, and it encourages them to choose compassion and take a protective stance toward humanity. Though their bloodlust limits their relationships often, they prioritize honor.

Related: 10 Best Romantic Horror Anime

Abel Nightroad (Trinity Blood)

Abel Nightroad wasn't always a standup guy in Trinity Blood. For a long time, he equated all of humanity with the cruel ones that participated in the Red Mars Project. He was wrong to do so,...

Though most anime are adapted from manga, there are some classics that use light novels as their source material. Light novels are young adult novels with fast-paced prose and a handful of illustrations throughout the chapters. They make great starting points for shonen and shojo anime because the target demographics are similar in age and they use a lot of the same preferred genre conventions.

Some light novels are so old that they're hard to find in print. However, if some classic anime adapted from light novels were rebooted, it would bring new interest to their out-of-print progenitors. Light novels are growing more and more popular around the world. It's more common to see them translated into English and adapted into anime as well. This could be the perfect time to reboot some classic anime that sprang out of popular light novels.

Related: 15 Manga With Incredibly Artwork

Humanity Has Declined...

This article contains spoilers for "The Last of Us" and its video game source material.

The original Joel Miller shows up in HBO's adaptation of "The Last of Us" — just not in his original part. Troy Baker, who voiced and mo-capped Joel in the video game, plays James, the right-hand man of Bible-quoting cannibal David (Scott Shepherd). It might seem like a downgrade, but Baker was surprised to get even that substantive a part.

Speaking to Deadline about his experience on the series, Baker described how Naughty Dog co-president Neil Druckmann came to him with the part:

"Neil was coy about this potential role. He was like, 'So, there's a character that we have in mind for you, if you're interested. If you don't feel interested, it's totally fine.' And I'm like, 'Dude, if there's anything for me ..." Look, I thought I was going to be a Clicker.

Actors Vic Mignogna and Aaron Dismuke, best known for voicing Ed and Al Elric in hit anime Fullmetal Alchemist, have been announced as special guests at the McM Birmingham Comic Con.

As well as playing Ed, Mignogna (above, on right) has performed in a host of major anime series, from Broly in the Dragon Ball Z films to Ikkaku Madarame in Bleach and Tamaki in Ouran High School Host Club. Other shows featuring Vic include Vampire Knight; Soul Eater; Naruto Shippuden; Hetalia: Axis Powers; Full Metal Panic! and Tsubasa: Reservoir Chronicle.

Aaron Dismuke (above, on left) has been a voice actor since he was nine, taking on roles such as Hiro Sohma in Fruits Basket; Ouri Kagami in Corpse Princess and Leon Elliot in Black Cat. Other anime that Aaron has voiced include Trinity Blood; Ouran High School Host Club; Big Windup! and YuYu Hakusho.

Aaron and Vic will be...

When the month-long celebration of gaming in London, the London Games Festival, came to close, it could mean only one thing: time for the Movies, Comics and Media expo in the heart of London's docklands. Within the halls of the Excel centre, thousands of fans hungry for a taste of the latest games, movies and animé coming to British shore's gathered waiting to be amazed. Of course, this being the close of the London Games Festival, Expo wasn't going to disappoint.

If 2D fighting is more your thing, then two different developers can offer two very different experiences. First off is the well known Capcom, and their latest addition to their Vs series of fighters, Marvel Vs Capcom 3. Following on from it's predecessors, you select three fighters to battle with, switching between them mid-battle to unleash hyper combos and screen-filling combination attacks. It's a beauty to behold, with newcomers like...

See Sam and Dean like you’ve never seen them before. Well, actually exactly like you’ve seen them in their hunting adventures, but this time it’s animated! From series creator Eric Kripke and Madhouse, the anime studio that brought you Death Note, Vampire Hunter D, and Summer Wars, comes Supernatural: The Animation. This project is expected to yield twenty-two episodes for Warner Bros Home Video and will ship on DVD and Blu-Ray in Japan on January 12, 2011. No word yet on when it will be available to the American market.

The anime adapts the first two seasons of live-action CW series Supernatural starring Jared Padalecki and Jensen Ackles as the demon-hunting Winchester brothers. According to Anime News Network:

“The anime project will not only remake the best episodes from the live-action version, but also depict original episodes not seen in the live-action version. Those original episodes will include prologues of the Winchester brothers’ childhood,...

Online retailer Amazon.com has reduced the price for several anime series and movies. Most of them are from FUNimation, so check the disc detail page (using the disc icon) first to see if these are HD upscales and if they will play on your non-Region A player.

The Sky Crawlers – $12.99

Fullmetal Alchemist: Conqueror of Shamballa – $10.99

Paprika – $14.99

Blood: The Last Vampire – $9.99

Witchblade: The Complete Series – $22.99

Gunslinger Girl: The Complete First Season – $21.49

Gunslinger Girl: Il Teatrino – $21.49

Tekkonkinkreet – $13.49

Samurai 7: The Complete Series – $29.99

Vexille – $15.99

Burst Angel: The Complete Collection – $32.99

Evangelion: 1.11 You Are (Not) Alone – $16.49

Basilisk: The Complete Series – $28.99

Heroic Age: The Complete Series – $24.99

D. Gray-Man: Season One, Part One – $26.49

Claymore: Complete Series Box Set – $29.49

Trinity Blood: Complete Series Box Set- $29.99

Clamp Double Feature: Tsubasa RESERVoir CHRoNiCLE and xxxHOLiC – $14.99

Big thanks to Jeremy for the heads up!

This week sees the release of several new movies and TV shows, some for the first time ever on Blu-ray. Of the ones coming out this week, we’re excited for The Blind Side, the new season of Mad Men, the Blu-ray release of The African Queen, The Men Who Stare at Goats, Fantastic Mr. Fox and the Criterion Collection Blu-ray of Akira Kurosawa’s masterpiece Yojimbo, with Toshirô Mifune (pictured above). Yes, it’s black and white, get over it.

Check them out:

Movies

After Dark Horrorfest Vol. 4 (Dread / The Final / The Graves / The Hidden / Kill Theory / Lake Mungo / The Reeds / Zombies of Mass Destruction) ~ Don McManus, Ryanne Duzich, Teddy Dunn, and Daniel Franzese (Blu-ray and DVD)

Bigger Than Life (The Criterion Collection) ~ James Mason, Barbara Rush, Walter Matthau (Blu-ray)

Brothers ~ Jake Gyllenhaal, Tobey Maguire, Natalie Portman (Blu-ray and DVD)

Days of Heaven (The Criterion Collection) ~ Richard Gere, Brooke Adams,...

Definitely the biggest DVD release this week is the After Dark Horrorfest box set with, if not eight films worth dying for, at least a couple that are worth your time; and the fun of the thing is figuring out which ones they are. But that's not all that's coming out March 23rd; read on for the rest.

For the first time on Blu-ray we have the complete series Trinity Blood about two races, Terran and Methuselah, human and vampire, that are locked in a struggle for existence and on the brink of war. Vamp fans also can nab Gothic Horror Collection 1 - Nosferatu + Vampyr + Le Vampire.

Your tastes run more toward creature features? Then don't overlook Banshee!!! -- yes, those three exclamation points are part of the title!!! Lol!!! Or check out Carny, with Lou Diamond Phillips, about the Jersey Devil.

Heard about chemtrail conspiracies? Then you might be interested in Toxic Skies.

“A sound soul dwells within a sound mind, and a sound body…”

Or so Laura Bailey, the voice of Maka, tells us at the beginning of each episode of Soul Eater. While she doesn’t give us any details about the percentages of recommended daily allowances, we can tell you that Soul Eater, the latest hit series from Funimation, is 100% awesome.

If you’ve been to an anime convention in the last year or so, chances are you’ve already witnessed the phenomenon that is Soul Eater. Starting its tour of our shores as a manga serialized in Yen Press, the series went on to be collected into volumes, giving U.S. fans a taste of what the process is normally like in Japan as a title gains popularity. It exploded onto the con scene, with hundreds of cosplayers taking part in some of the biggest photo shoots I’ve ever seen.

Picture a world where people gather and interact in joy and harmony, where groups of gaily-clad youths break into spontaneous song and dance at regular intervals, where spontaneous conga lines of diverse peoples stretch for blocks and wind through the market stalls, where merchants sell and people buy with easy affability and business is brisk, where people debate the topics of the day with great thoughtfulness and passion and the powers-that-be listen to the people-at-large. The Twilight Zone? Are you some sort of philosopher, or something? Well…no and yes. I just spent a weekend at my first New York Anime Festival at the Javitz Center in Manhattan and I found myself intermittently amused, bemused, overwhelmed, and overjoyed.

Think about it. Everyone has watched an animated something in their lifetime, no matter how old. From Looney Tunes to Disney to Hanna-Barbera to Pixar, we’ve experienced this media and it...

I’ve been promising this Nhk review for a long time. While I Could blame the delay on a massive, world wide conspiracy (which in light of the show’s premise would be completely appropriate), the truth is, its hard for me to write about a show that I *really* like. Sounds counter-intuitive, I know. You’d think the more I like something, the easier it would be to gush about it, but for me, it doesn’t work that way. If I think something is pretty good or just “okay”, its easy to talk about it. But if I really think its great, my opinion comes out something like, “Nhk: watch it.” — which would be a great review coming from Yuki Nagato, but it doesn’t really work here.

Welcome to the Nhk is special to me for several reasons. For one thing, it was among the last shows...