A huge enjoyment from watching anime comes from the cultural immersion of getting to vicariously experience Japan's various customs and ideologies from the lives of 2D characters. So much of Japan's distinct aesthetic sensibilities are embedded in everyone's favorite anime, and it teaches fans across the world about the various beliefs of the people in the far East.
One of the most recurring and defined cultural themes across anime is their strong attachment to Japanese mythology. Whether kids are befriending yokai or demon hunters are fighting oni, the extravagant spiritual figures and legends within Japanese mythology have done a good job of making themselves known and feared within anime. For this list, let's take a look at a few key anime that have taken heavy inspiration from Japanese mythology.
10 Sarazanmai
In this anime, Kunihiki Ikuhara taps into the lore of the frog like amphibious spirit of Japan's depths and gives them his special brand of surreal and intense imagery. After three boys accidentally break a kappa statue, they find that they've been cursed and connected to its leading deity to combat a new spiritual threat in the world.
In exchange for receiving a kappa's special dish, the boys themselves transform into kappas to combat the various monstrous personifications of people's deepest, darkest desires. With incredible sakuga and the kind of anime panache that can only come from an Ikuhara anime, Sarazanmai is just one of those series that's hard to forget.
9 Mushishi
Mushishi is an anime that directly inhabits some of Japan's deepest sects of mythology and folktales. Using various inspirations for its occult nature, this series focuses on one of its titular "Mushishi," Ginko, as he examines and investigates the various occurrences of spirits within his world.
Pondering what it truly means to be alive and being, Ginko's exploration brings the viewer to both intimate and spectacular settings of mythology that define life at its more strange and base.
8 Inuyasha
Inuyasha is often revered for introducing a lot of people to anime. For the few kids who risked staying up at night to watch Toonami, Inuyasha brought young viewers a special brand of adventure and bloody battle that both reveled in the romance of Japanese lore as well as terrified with the legends' surreal monsters.
From a mangaka famous for her Shoujo writing, Inuyasha focuses on a very unique love story that has the modern reincarnation of Japanese priestess connect with the demon that she once tried to slay, as they venture across ancient Japan for the shards of a powerful crystal.
7 In/Spectre
The most recent entry on this list, In/Spectre brings the viewer to Japanese lore by embedding it with the kind of small town mystery only found in Twin Peaks with a similar level of personality and candor to match. Kotoko Iwanaga was chosen by a band of forest spirits to become their god when she was just a little girl.
Having sacrificed an eye and a leg to do so, Kotoko now acts as both a mediator and an investigator to the spirits' various issues, while she also pursues her own romantic interest with a new boy on the block with his own unique attachment to the occult.
6 Naruto
One would be hard pressed to find another anime based on Japanese culture and lore that is as big and popular as Naruto. (There's Dragon Ball, but alien fights kind of washes the experience down.) This Shounen giant focuses on a world of ninjas years after the mysterious attack by the wrathful Nine-Tailed Fox.
When the story begins, the fox's current vessel, Naruto Uzumaki, tries to work his way up to becoming his village's leader by working past his isolation and curse to become a great ninja. Using literal personifications of Japanese magic and direct usage of various spirits and monsters, Naruto is an exhilarating and action packed series that can get anyone invested in the lore.
5 Ghost Stories
For those who want a less serious interpretation of the mythology, Ghost Stories really is the go to for a good laugh. Now, to be fair, Ghost Stories was at one point a sincere examination of the folklore and spirits that can haunt the abandoned house next door.
However, due to poor sales within Japan and special permission given to the English voice cast, Ghost Stories has become a cult hit thanks to its hilarious, improvised dialogue. Even for those who don't have time to sit through an entire anime, the entire Ghost Stories experience is available in various YouTube snippets circulating the interwebs.
4 Spirited Away
How can one really talk about Japanese mythology inspired anime without referencing the man who somehow made the monsters and spirits more magical? While Hiyao Miyazaki classics like My Neighbor Totoro and Princess Mononoke could certainly find their way here, this list will be giving its Ghibli spot to perhaps the biggest and most critically acclaimed film of them all.
Spirited Away tells the story of a young Chihiro, when her family becomes stranded in the spirit world during an ill advised venture into a strange, off road tunnel. Having to summon up some new bravery, Chihiro must work her way through a bathhouse for some of Japan's most legendary spirits as she works to free herself and turn her peg-transformed parents back to normal.
3 Hotarubi No Mori E
Who says Japanese mythology just has to be strange or action-ey? Sometimes the occult can tug at people's heart strings, make them fall in love, and, just as suddenly as they appeared, make everyone cry. Hotarubi no Mori E examines the unique love story of a young girl who spends all of her summers with a mysterious, masked spirit.
However, because no one can have nice things, she can never touch the spirit lest she risks him disappearing. Still managing to create an intimate, Summer time romance, this anime brings fans a magical experience in more ways than one.
2 The Boy And The Beast
While Miyazaki is a definitive purveyor of Japanese mythology in film, he is not the only one. A rising star in the animation scene, Mamoru Hosoda has crafted a variety of animated spectacles that are enjoyable for the entire family.
One of his best films just so happens to feature a young run away who finds a new family with a mighty Japanese god who is in desperate need of some disciples. In a film with magical caricatures of Japanese spirits, well-choreographed martial arts, and a charming, central duo, The Boy and the Beast is a fine entry to the director's growing list of instant classics.
1 Noragami
Last but not least, this list reaches an instant classic of the modern age. Noragami focuses on a down-on-his-luck deity who is not only low on worshippers but suddenly finds himself without a weapon partner.
After a fateful meeting with a girl who naively tries to save him from being hit by a car, that deity finds an unsuspecting new friend who must now help him find a new partner unless she wants to stay a floating spirit forever. Noragami is a beautiful anime from Studio Bones whose animation, character designs, and incredible action all serve to give old legends a fresh coat of stylized paint.