In the very beginning, "supernatural" almost always meant ghosts and demons. Shows that focused solely on these creatures would usually tilt towards horror, and thus the genre had a limited number of fans. However, with the passage of time, the supernatural genre evolved to include a lot more elements. Vampire-human bromances, a slice of life ghost fighting, and even psychological horror shows - they are all part of an ever-widening umbrella called the "supernatural genre".
For the sake of convenience, the shounen series with OP protagonists will not be included in this list, as they tend more towards the fantasy genre. Here are the 10 best supernatural anime of the 2000s, ranked according to IMDb.
10 Dororo - IMDb rating: 8.4
Daigo Kagemitsu makes a pact with 12 demons to salvage his land, who agree but he must pay the ultimate price. He is cursed with a son who can’t hear, see, feel or do anything.
The only way this young boy will be able to go back to being normal is if he defeats those demons, one by one. With every demon he defeats, he regains an ability of his that was given away to the demons when his father made a pact with them.
9 Parasyte: The Maxim - IMDb rating: 8.4
The earth faces a sudden but discreet infiltration of aliens. While they usually take over their human host’s body, 16-year-old Shinichi Izumi has the misfortune of hosting a parasitic alien in just his right hand.
Both learn to have a symbiotic relationship, and both defend the other from hostile parasites that view any other species apart from their own, an abomination. The anime focuses a lot on Shinichi losing humanity and morality, as well as interactions with other parasites, that often turn philosophical.
8 Mushishi - IMDb rating: 8.5
This slice of life anime is extremely popular with the Supernatural fans, not because of the monsters, demons or spirits, but with the manner in which their presence is treated. Ginko is our main character, an exorcist of sorts who helps people from village to village by getting rid of the spirits or demons that plague them.
Arcs are episodic in nature, with every episode giving the audience a glimpse into an infinitely huge pool of supernatural creatures that have the capacity to create a ruckus in the human world.
7 Spirited Away - IMDb rating: 8.6
This Academy Award-winning coming-of-age fantasy movie revolves around a bratty Chihiro Ogino, whose family trip to an abandoned amusement park (en route their new home) turns into a nightmare for her. She sees ghosts and spirits abound, notices that she’s no longer in the human realm, and panics when she realizes she’s lost her parents.
Once in the spirit world, this little girl does her best to not only survive but thrive if she ever wants to leave it and reunite with her parents.
6 Code Geass: Lelouch of the Rebellion - IMDb rating: 8.6
Lelouch is an extremely intelligent and very bored teenager, who suddenly finds himself bestowed with the power of Geass, giving him the ability to make people do what he wants. While this power comes with certain limitations, it doesn’t take the young boy long to make use of his new powers to put an end to the existence of imperial Britannia.
He assumes the identity of the masked avenger Zero, and thus begins his thrilling adventure of bringing down an entire establishment, alongside an immortal being named C.C. (who was responsible for giving him his powers).
5 InuYasha: The Final Act - IMDb rating: 8.6
This shoujo revolves around the life of Kagome Higurashi, who is dragged back in time by a demon, who wants to have the wish-granting Shikon Jewel within the body of the ancient Kagome.
The sacred jewel shatters, so Kagome asks for the help of human-dog hybrid Inuyasaha to stop those jewel pieces from becoming the possessions of demons. On the way, they befriend other creatures like Miroku, Sango and Shippo, each with their own unique personalities. Their constant disagreements and regular interactions make for a lot of comic relief.
4 Gintama - IMDb rating: 8.6
Gintama is an anime that is all over the place. The plot, especially, is inconsistent. One moment the main cast is fighting off an alien invasion, while the other instant they’re all mulling over toilet problems. The stories are usually episodic, and the humor is slapstick in nature. The strength of this series is its cast, which includes Gintoki (the samurai with a heart of gold), Shinpachi (a jack of all trades), Kagura (the eternally hungry lady) and of course Sadaharu (their giant pet dog).
These four often take up odd jobs to feed themselves and needless to say, things seldom go the way they plan them to go.
3 Demon Slayer: Kimetsu No Yaiba - IMDb rating: 8.8
The premise of the show has been done to death in shounen. A small boy finds out that his family was eaten by a demon, with only his half-demon sister being left behind. He sets his heart on avenging the death of his parents, as well as finding a cure to his sister’s condition.
However, the one thing that sets aside this anime from the scores of other anime with extremely similar plotlines, is its fabulous art. Its stunning color palette catches one’s eyes immediately, the fluidity of the animation is top-notch and the fight scenes are a visual treat. Also, it has a movie in the pipeline.
2 Mushishi: Zoku-Sho - IMDb rating: 8.9
This follow-up season of Mushishi is extremely nostalgic. The snow-frosted mountains, the damp swamps, dense forests, and being out the peaceful side of nature. All while the demons and spirits bring out its vengeful side.
On his quest for knowledge, Ginko keeps on encountering more and more mystical creatures. Many episodes end on a good note, but a few of them have bittersweet endings. Each episode brings forward a new problem that Ginko has to deal with smartly, and some of them often make him question what he is doing. Conflicts are resolved fairly peacefully, going on to show that one does not need battles of epic proportions to take care of mystical creatures.
1 Death Note - IMDb rating: 9
Although Death Note is basically a psychological thriller, a game of cat-and-mouse between the murderer Kira and detective Light. One cannot deny the supernatural elements that prevail in this anime. In fact, the anime wouldn’t exist without its supernatural aspects, the most important of which are the shinigami and their objects of possession, the Death Note.
The shinigami are shown to be creatures unaffected by the functioning of the human world. The only time Ryuk considers traveling to the human world is because he was bored (and also because he wanted to gorge on apples). His boredom was how events were set into motion in the manga/anime.