Some Japanese anime series are firmly grounded in reality, such as slice-of-life stories or heavy-hitting dramas. Other anime focus on science fiction, such as Ghost in the Shell. Meanwhile, some of the most memorable, enchanting anime movies and shows belong in the fantasy/supernatural genre. The best supernatural anime represent the peak of humanity's imagination, showing off all kinds of critters, magic, spirits, and much more. Such anime often feel like a fairy tale.

The best supernatural anime series take place in the real world but add some fantastical elements, ranging from curses and fairies to the spirits of the dead or even a portal to a magical realm. Absolutely anything can happen when the mundane meets the supernatural in such anime, and anime fans love being taken on a breathtaking journey to impossible worlds of magic and monsters.

Updated on February 20th, 2024 by Louis Kemner: This list of the best supernatural anime has been updated to adhere to CBR's current publication standards and includes brand-new entries as well.

10 Tokyo Ghoul Humanizes the Monsters of the Night

Tokyo Ghoul Scores:

• MyAnimeList: 7.79
• IMDb: 7.7
• Anime Planet: 4.14/5

Tokyo Ghoul has won over many fans with its expert blend of brutal action sequences, intriguing themes, and memorable characters. In this alternate version of Japan, ghouls hunt human beings in Tokyo's streets, and only trained CCG investigators can fight back against them. However, while the investigators think they're the good guys, some of them are pretty wicked, and there are some innocent ghouls, too.

Once protagonist Ken Kaneki becomes a half-ghoul, he will launch an idealistic mission to reconcile the two feuding sides, because there is good on each side. Ken knows that the world is "wrong," in his own words, and innocent ghouls shouldn't have to pay for the crimes of monstrous ones. Along the way, Ken will also look into the mystery of why he received ghoul organs to begin with, a medical procedure that changed his life forever as a half-other anime character. It's a solid watch, but it will probably appeal more to seinen action fans than fans of traditional supernatural stories, limiting Tokyo Ghoul's universal appeal.

9 The Ancient Magus' Bride Thrusts Chise Into a New World of Monsters and Magic

The Ancient Magus' Bride Scores:

• MyAnimeList: 8.06
• IMDb: 7.7
• Anime Planet: 4.18/5

The Ancient Magus' Bride is a classic example of a supernatural anime with strong fantasy elements. The heroine, Chise Hatori, isn't quite an isekai character, but she will still explore a wild new world of magic and monsters that co-exists with her own. In this anime, the world of monsters and 21st-century life exist side by side, and people like Chise can freely explore both.

Chise begins the story in dire straits, being a shackled slave available for purchase at an underground auction. Her life changes for the better when the skull-headed wizard Elias buys her and then frees her, declaring Chise his bride and his apprentice. Elias and Chise soon become good friends and lovers, all while Elias shows Chise the magic of his world, one that exists just beyond human civilization.

8 Miss Kobayashi's Dragon Maid is a Delightful Reverse-Isekai With Dragons

Miss Kobayashi's Dragon Maid Scores:

• MyAnimeList: 7.95
• IMDb: 7.7
• Anime Planet: 4.12/5

Miss Kobayashi's Dragon Maid may be one of the silliest supernatural anime series, but it's still a compelling and deceptively heartfelt story about totally different beings from different worlds coming together as friends. This is a supernatural anime with strong reverse-isekai vibes, since dragons and similar creatures visit Earth from their own fantasy realm.

One fateful night, an ordinary office worker named Kobayashi found a dragon and removed the sword stuck deep in that dragon's scaly hide, allowing that dragon to recover. The grateful dragon assumed a female human form and introduced herself later to Kobayashi as Tohru, offering to work as Kobayashi's live-in maid to return the favor. What follows is a wacky, amusing tale of more and more fantasy creatures getting used to life in modern Japan while in human disguises.

7 Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba Is All About Fighting Monsters of the Night at Swordpoint

Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba Scores:

• MyAnimeList: 4.48
• IMDb: 8.6
• Anime Planet: 4.47/5

In Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba, while their son Tanjiro Kamado is away, the Kamado family is killed by the king of demons, Muzan Kibutsuji. All except Tanjiro's sister, Nezuko, who has become a blood-thirsty demon herself. Tanjiro vows revenge and holds onto the remaining humanity his sister shows. The two work alongside the Demon Slayer Corps to get their vengeance against the supernatural forces of their world.

Demon Slayer is a "monster hunter" anime like Jujutsu Kaisen and Chainsaw Man, but with a stronger theme of empathy and understanding. In Demon Slayer, Tanjiro actually reaches out to touch the hearts of the demons he slays, since all demons were once humans with very real fears, hopes, and emotions. In Tanjiro's eyes, everyone in the demon vs human conflict is a victim, but he will still do his duty and protect humanity from those creatures as he seeks a cure for Nezuko's own demon status.

6 Rascal Does Not Dream Of Bunny Girl Senpai Is an Emotionally Charged Exploration of Adolescence

Rascal Does Not Dream Of Bunny Girl Senpai Scores:

• MyAnimeList: 8.23
• IMDb: 8.0
• Anime Planet: 4.19/5

Rascal Does Not Dream of Bunny Girl Senpai is a supernatural anime series that only lightly dabbles in the supernatural, meaning it can also appeal to fans of more realistic, grounded anime. There are no reverse-isekai monsters or portals to a fairy tale land in Rascal. Instead, the supernatural part is subtle, creating some realistic, relatable human drama.

The male lead, Sakuta, meets several people, mostly young women around his own age, who are experiencing a supernatural phenomenon known as Adolescence Syndrome. Such a condition affects people in different ways. While Sakuta strives to help these afflicted youths, he learns more about their deep-seated insecurities and desires. This includes young Mai Sakurajima, who can't get people to look at her even when she wears a bunny girl in public. Such a compelling, heartfelt narrative makes Rascal the middle ground among the best supernatural anime of all.

5 Mob Psycho 100 Stars a Timid Boy With Extraordinary Psychic Powers

Mob Psycho 100 Scores:

• MyAnimeList: 8.49
• IMDb: 8.6
• Anime Planet: 4.32/5

Fans adore Mob Psycho 100 as a wacky yet gripping supernatural anime from the same creator as the famed One-Punch Man series. Mob Psycho 100 follows a quiet, kind boy named Shigeo Kageyama, nicknamed Mob, who has immense psychic powers. Mob just wants a quiet, ordinary life, but his psychic powers keep getting him dragged into all kinds of adventures.

Mob's main adventure begins when he meets a businessman named Reigen, who runs his own enterprise of catching and exorcising spirits. Reigen is practically a hack who can only talk the talk about spirits, but if Reigen can combine his business acumen and knowledge with Mob's genuine skills, the two of them may accomplish a lot together. Making things interesting, Mob builds up stress over time, and once that gauge reaches 100, his true potential will erupt, which can totally transform the world around him.

4 Oshi no Ko's Main Characters Are Magically Reborn Into an Idol's Family

Oshi no Ko Scores:

• MyAnimeList: 8.7
• IMDb: 8.4
• Anime Planet: 4.42/5

Oshi no Ko is one of several supernatural anime series where the supernatural part is really just a narrative tool to set the story into motion. When the story begins, a doctor and his young patient both perish. Then they are reborn by supernatural means as the twin son and daughter of their favorite pop idol, Ai Hoshino. That premise is played for laughs at first, but then Aquamarine and Ruby Hoshino will realize just how serious things can be when their mother is a pop idol.

After a tragic turn of events, Aqua and Ruby take their new lives in a totally different direction, and they each run the risk of losing themselves in the process. Ruby is determined to follow in her mother's footsteps, no matter how predatory the idol industry can be, and Aqua's own mission will take him down a dark path from which there may be no return.

3 Fruits Basket Is About Second Chances in a Cursed Family

Fruits Basket Scores:

• MyAnimeList: 8.21
• IMDb: 8.6
• Anime Planet: 4.32/5

Author Natsuki Takaya's Fruits Basket still stands tall as a shojo manga/anime icon, especially after the gorgeous 2019 reboot anime breathed new life into this classic love story. Fruits Basket elegantly blends supernatural fantasy and curses with realistic, hard-hitting drama and romance, creating a narrative that appeals to shojo fans of all kinds, and even shonen fans for that matter.

Heroine Tohru Honda is a highly empathetic but otherwise ordinary teenage girl who gets mixed up in the Sohma family's business, which will change everyone's lives forever. Twelve members of the Sohma family contain spirits of the Chinese zodiac's animals, a heavy burden made that much worse by the family head's abusive ways. The cursed Sohmas are miserable and feel lost, but with Tohru's heartfelt support, cursed people like Yuki, Kyo, and Isuzu can retake control of their lives and seek true happiness at last.

2 Your Name. Swaps a Boy's and Girl's Bodies as Disaster Looms

Your Name. Scores:

• MyAnimeList: 8.84
• IMDb: 8.4
• Anime Planet: 4.49/5

This animated film combines romance and drama with the supernatural. High school student Mitsuha Miyamizu, who lives in the countryside and dreams of city life, and high school students/part-timer Taki Tachibana, who lives in the city of Mitsuha's dreams, wake up in each other's bodies. Now the two must find one another while impacting each other's lives through their actions in their new bodies.

The film won numerous awards, including the LAFCA Animation Award in 2016, the Best Animated Film in 2017 by Mainichi Film Awards, and the Grand Prize Award at the 20th Japan Media Arts Festival. The appeal isn't just the body-swap fun, but the increasing tension and mystery as this supernatural anime plays out. There is something very wrong with Mitsuha's world out there in Japan's countryside, and Taki is determined to get to the bottom of it, with his supernatural body-swap powers to help him along the way. With such a breathtaking narrative, it's no wonder Your Name. is director Makoto Shinkai's best movie and one of the best supernatural anime overall.

1 Spirited Away Combines Monsters and Magic With Commentary on Japan's Past and Present

Spirited Away Scores:

• MyAnimeList: 8.77
• IMDb: 8.6
• Anime Planet: 4.43/5

A Studio Ghibli film from Hayao Miyazaki, Spirited Away follows the young girl Chihiro as she travels to the spirit world. Trapped with her parents turned into pigs, Chihiro finds herself working at a bathhouse, learning to survive among the numerous spirits while searching for a way to save her parents and get home.

Spirited Away was the highest-grossing film in Japanese history. It won several prestigious awards, including the Oscar for Best Animated Feature at the 75th Academy Awards in 2003. Part of the appeal is Spirited Away's gorgeous and creative visuals, but it's not just a visual treat. This anime movie also has deep, meaningful themes and commentary about Japanese society, past and present. It even has themes of environmentalism and coming of age. All this is expertly written and presented, making Spirited Away a timeless masterpiece and the single best supernatural anime of all.