In the world of anime, everything goes: be it catboys and catgirls, lolis and shotas, incest, or even pairing humans (usually girls) with supernatural creatures (usually male) that are way older than the entire ancestral bloodline of the girl.
The latter is quite telling of how questionable relationships have been normalized in anime, but that is a discussion for another day. Today, here’s a look at 10 of the most popular human x supernatural creature pairings in anime.
10 Blue Exorcist
This shounen anime takes place in a world where the supernatural has formed an uneasy coexistence with the humans. However, one day young Rin Okumura starts witnessing strange creatures, only for it to be revealed that this is because he’s the son of Satan.
However, Rin rejects his demon side and decides to go to a school that trains exorcists, where his brother (Yukio) and his future love interest (Shiemi) are also training to become different types of exorcists.
9 Noragami
As a minor God, Yato is often ignored by most believers, who prefer to pray to bigger and more powerful gods. One day, a young high school girl named Hiyori saves him from being run over by a bus (not knowing that he’s immortal), and in doing so, her soul gains the ability to leave her body.
In exchange for things going back to normal, she agrees to become Yato’s partner, and unbeknownst to both, their lives do a complete 180.
8 Durarara!
Shinra Kishitani is a doctor who takes a special interest in everything supernatural, much like his roommate Celty Sturluson. Celty is a Dullahan (an Irish fairy) who ended up in Japan after searching exhaustively for her missing head.
In the quiet and strange town of Ikebukuro, where a lot of mysterious things happen, the relationship between these two is actually one of the lesser startling aspects of people’s lives.
7 The Devil Is A Part Timer
In the land of Ente Isla, the battle between good and evil rages on. On the verge of defeat, the Demon Lord Satan quickly escapes through a portal, but the heroine Emilia immediately follows him. The two end up on Earth, losing all their powers.
This comedy anime then focuses on the struggles these former legends (one human and one the devil himself) have to face on a daily basis, adjusting into a life without their powers. And of course, how they slowly get to trust and bond with each other.
6 Inuyasha
This classic shoujo revolves around the love of a young teenage school girl (Kagome Higurashi) and a young hybrid dog-demon/human (Inuyasha). Kagome requests for Inuyasha’s help to stop an evil demon from getting a hold of the wish-granting Shikon Jewel (which resides inside her) in order to stop the world from being destroyed.
Initially, in disagreement with each other, the pair soon realizes that they have a lot more in common with each other than they realized.
5 Inu x Boku SS Special
The extremely rich and sheltered Ririchiyo Shirakiin wants to change her life, so she decides to live by herself. Her friend helps her stay at an elite apartment complex where some very unique people stay (including non-humans).
The extremely handsome but shy nine-tailed spirit fox, Soushi, is assigned as her bodyguard, and over the passage of time, Ririchiyo realizes that her lacking communication skills actually improve when she’s by this creature’s side.
4 Kamisama Kiss
Nanami Momozono is an average high school girl who ends up being homeless because of her father’s accrued debt. A man offers to let her stay in a rundown shrine that he owns, but she isn’t convinced as the place is in a dilapidated condition.
When she tries to leave, she’s stopped by the fox familiar (Tomoe), who believes her to be Mikage. But once he realizes she’s actually a human, he does his best to do (or rather, not do) anything that would make Nanami leave.
3 Wolf Children
Hana is a college student who falls for a werewolf. Their love is mutual, so after being in a relationship, the two decide to have a family. However, soon after the birth of their children, the father dies.
Hana is now left to deal with two were-children all by herself, which is made more difficult by the fact that her late husband never once explained his condition or his ancestry to her.
2 Sankarea - Undying Love
This one has an extremely rare pairing – that of a human with a zombie! Chihiro Furuya has always dreamt of wanting a zombie girlfriend, and things get into motion when he tries to revive his dead cat with a homemade resurrection potion.
Rea Sanka, his classmate, gets caught up in his misadventures and mistakenly drinks the potion, believing it would kill her. It does, but it also brings her back to life, and now these two school children spend the rest of their time trying to figure out how to camouflage an actual zombie as a living, breathing schoolgirl.
1 The Ancient Magus’ Bride
Teenage schoolgirl Chise Hatori is sold off at an auction where she’s bought by a magus named Elias Ainsworth. He’s bought the girl for one purpose – to make a bride out of her. In order to do so, he teleports with her to his city in rural England. Here, Chise is made to work hard on multiple things, including knowing how to be an efficient apprentice to this mysterious magus.