Vampires in Anime 

Dio is simply one of those characters where they'd be genuinely terrifying, if they simply weren't memed to death

Discussing Rosario+Vampire, I feel obligated to mention that the manga and the anime are completely different. The anime is pretty much pure fanservice harem comedy, while the manga turns more and more into a character driven battle series as it goes. And the art from late in the manga is jaw droppingly good.

Part of the reason "vampires" in anime are often way off the stereotype is because the English word has more specific connotations than "kyuuketsuki" - that is, "blood-sucking oni". Just as English localisation will brand pretty much anything that drinks blood as a vampire, so too does the Japanese word lump a lot of creatures into the term. The difference is that there are a lot of Asian blood-suckers that most of us aren't that familiar with. There are several creatures across Asia that share the trait of a woman's head leaving her body, flying off, and draining people's blood at night. There's Jiangshi, which originally fed on qi, but became blood-suckers due to cultural osmosis. Basically, Japanese vampires often draw from more Asian cultures than what we typically associate with the word "vampire".

the fact that there still isn't a buffy the vampire slayer anime is a crime against humanity

Well to be fair to Vanitas, it can get pretty brutal at times. I mean, they showed 4 kids getting mauled and one beheaded at the end of episode 5, and it’s not the last time something like that will happen. Knowing MochiJun the plot twists with this won’t ever stop until it’s finished. And I quite like how they use their power system, it’s a nice take on it

Fun fact: Hellsing Ultimate Abridged is a fantastic vampire dark comedy

I like how Irina worldbuilds around its vampires, and makes them downright mundane. It's not a stretch of the imagination to believe that there could be some incredibly cold-adapted "race" of humans that live in the remotest reaches of russia. Nocturalism and extremely pale skin would be great traits to have in regions with less than 3 hours of daylight, but would cause horrific sunburns and discomfort being out and about during the day. The other traits, - like Irina's strength, and the fangs - are equally possible, and I just love that sort of attention to detail. Plus those mouth shots are strangely hot.

*Other Anime Vampires:* _sonorous, eerie orchestral music_ *Alucard:* "Party! Party! Party! I wanna have a Party! I need to have a Party! You better have a Party! Woah, Party! Party! Party! You got to party hardy!

Castlevania was such a good show and the vampires have surprisingly interesting philosophies to them, as far as pride and their need for a sense of superiority is concerned. So many good things to talk about in that show, I love it.

Something that deserves to mentioned regarding "sexy vampires" is that there's an entire subgenre of yuri featuring vampires. Geoff, you don't seem to be very into yuri so I'll forgive you for not mentioning it, but seriously, when I was last in Japan (before the thing that happened in 2020 that complicated travel), the yuri section in the Akihabara manga store I visited had an entire subsection marked "vampire". Although given the "lesbian vampire" trope, that probably isn't all that surprising.

I remember discovering Shiki. A family friend's daughter, who had a Japanese sword and knife collection and slept on the floor instead of her bed, kinda cornered me in her room and kept talking about this creepy series she's been watching while playing with one of her knives. Needless to say both during and especially after watching it I was scared enough to not be able to sleep

The one I was sad you missed is "Ms. Vampire lives in my neighborhood". Its a slice of life that provides an interesting look into what difficulties and conveniences vampires would face in our modern world in a way that makes them relatable and human. Its a good watch.

Thank you Geoff for inspiring me to write gay vampire anime fanfic in the last half day before Halloween. I'll try my best. For you.

I agree about the Monogatari series, mostly. The vampire aspects are easy to overlook in the main series (except in a few arcs), but the Kizumonogatari trilogy has become one of my all-time favorite vampire movies/series of all time, up there with Bram Stoker's Dracula, Let the Right One In, and Interview with the Vampire.

INTERVIEWS WITH MONSTER GIRLS, MY BELOVED!!!!!!!!!! that series has my whole heart, it's so good and dodges so many tropes in the MOST fun ways!

I watched Shiki back at university in 2010. Even in a roomful of other people I felt simultaneously terrified and alone, and terrified that I wasn't. I still find myself thinking about it, particularly the tractor.

My favorite vampire in anime is Camilla from Yu-Gi-Oh GX. Just because she adds to the series ridiculous world building, by mentioning that vampires used to exist in the yugioh world, until a human-vampire war where only one survived. Then the existence of vampires, and the war against them, is never mentioned again.

I'm happy that someone is actually talking about Shiki, such a hidden gem.

I'm always amazed at Geoff's ability to make transitions from one anime to another so seamlessly

Devil's line is another good vampire anime with really nice animations

For me Shiki will always be the anime that did vampires right.

Shiki is one of my all-time favorite horror anime. Specifically I loved the combinations of horror sub-genres used in the story. First half of the story uses themes from *Invasion Of The Body Snatchers* , second half of the story uses themes from most *Zombie Apocalypse* stories (laws/morals quickly breaking down when society collapses) 👹

Interviews with Monster Girls is surprisingly wholesome with its namesake demi-humans. Its message in one episode, that we shouldn't say, "Demis are just like us," that we shouldn't just gloss over their differences, but accept them, really hits home.

Shiki is my favorite anime ever. It's a really great psychological horror. I alwars cry during the Nao ova. The buildup to the villagers finally getting the upperhand is amazing! You even feel bad for the vampires a lot of the time. And Buck-Tick 's music really makes the first opening and second ending very spooky and somber.

Castlevania was masterfully done, expected a simple 5/10 series but got a 9.6/10

Nearly 40 years later, and D still has some of the best style around. Glad to see him get the "progenitor" spot in the list

My god, when it got to Shiki, I could not have been happier. That anime still sticks with me after years, and I think you made me want to watch it for the third time. Probably my favorite anime, second only to Madoka Magica

Shiki is literally the most depressing anime I've seen. Beautifully written in my opinion too

Monogatari Vampires are some of the coolest. Kiss Shot is too awesome to have forgotten but I appreciate the coverage on cool anime Vampires. Shiki is sorely underrated and should be covered more and the Kizumonogatari trilogy is one of the most aesthetically gorgeous pieces of film ever.

Mars Red is definitely underrated and based on a play. Next you should do zombies maybe

You really needed to mention Devil's Line. I'm guessing because it is mainly a romance you haven't seen it, but its world building where vampires live among us but have restrictions upon their activity, breeding, etc. and are hidden from public knowledge to everyone but their partners and the government officials that work with them is really, really interesting. There is some thirstiness for sure but it isn't about beautiful vampire protagonists- in fact the lead guy kinda looks like he's hung over and half dead a lot of the time.

Surprised Moon Phase wasn't mentioned alongside Karin, they came out around the same time and while Moon Phase isn't exactly a romance or comedy, it does talk about the hierarchy in a vampire family.

I forgot how good the backgrounds look in seraph of the end

I'm kinda surprised to see this up, but it was mainly because I had a secret hope you were going to cover Visual Prison from this season. It's Vampires hiding within humans as Visual Kei stars for vampire-society reasons plot has been surprisingly dramatic and actually into a lot of the more vampire part of the series than I assumed it would be being a show about pretty boys singing songs, without giving Spoilers for the 4 eps out so far, at least.

My favorite vampire by far is Evangeline AK McDowell, because she's adorable and I feel sympathetic to her. The work isn't centered around her so there aren't as much detail/story as I'd like. One aspect that really moves me is how it depicts the fact that immortality breeds isolation. The fear that whatever friend you make will die and leave you alone to bear the loss eventually causing you to not want to befriend anyone anymore. Then there is how she became a monster because others viewed her as a monster. Overall, she feels strangely realistic to me. She really is oddly fleshed out when coming from a harem work where most characters are rather one dimensional and forgettable.

How proud was Geoff of the fluid animation line

rosario to vampire manga and anime are so different that you won't believe it is related. the manga is dark and cool with horror and drama

blood+ is still my favorite vampire anime. even though it fumbles the hell out of VERY sensitive topics and has the pacing of a sleep deprived college student nodding off in the middle of writing an essay. there's just something about how the chevaliers work that is *chef kiss* edit: YOO i didn't realize blood: the last vampire would get mentioned, my day's been made thank you so much lol

Jesus, Trinity Blood. I freaking loved that growing up due to the art style of the manga and it still holds a special place in my heart.

Shiki's horror isn't in the vampires, its in the people.

Best Vampire: Shaltear Bloodfallen, Overlord

Needs more Miss Vampire who Lives in My Neighborhood, which is a pretty cute slice of life thing.

Shiki is an absolute masterpiece, few shows achieve to make you doubt which one is the "good" side or even what is "good" or "bad". Few shows also achieve to portrait how cruel humans actually can be just for the sake of living and how "inhuman" they become in the process. I'll talk about a spoiler down there I would say a very shoking scene is that when the doctor uses his wife (transformed into a vampire) to experiment and find a way to defeat the vampires. At a first glance you just see it as something inhumanly posible. However a doctors duty is to prevent people from dying and you see through the whole show how frustrated he feels for not being able to save people. At this point of the series he's mentaly prepared to do anything to save as much people as posible. (Also through the whole show many characters question themself if vampires who where humans could be count as one) I just can't organice all the amazing things I would like to tell about this show sorry for the bad english, not my first language

Actually, I Am is one of funniest shows ive seen in a long time. Also if you want straight up terror and violence you cant go too far wrong with Shiki in my book.

Karin doesn’t get enough love as a series. Still one of my favorite romance manga. So, thanks for giving it a mention!

“Dio is a super badass vampire who survived 100 years in the ocean” -Jotaro

Forgetting about Kiss-Shot Acerola-Orion Heart-Under-Blade the iron blooded, hot blooded, cold blooded vampire. Such sins shan't be forgotten nor forgiven

Shiki is such an underatted anime 😔 I'm always happy when people talk about it or just so mention how good it is

Devils Line was an enjoyable take on the vampire mythology. It’s a “what if they tried to coexist in modern Japan” settings. It’s a shojo manga and it’s primarily about the love story between the mc’s but the world building is solid, the action is nice when it happens, and there is an overarching plot apart from the love story that drives things forward.

I always find it a touch disheartening how underappreciated Vampire princes Miyu seems to be. The visuals are cool as heck and the vibes are all round chilling. It's a tragic story about eternity and loneliness, with themes grieving that which is lost or forgotten and those who would abandon their humanity. I have found few other anime that produce the same kind of spooky sensation. And I love how it asks you to look at monsters and choices and justice from different perspectives. I've rewatched both the ova and tv series near annually for basically a decade now and it still hasn't lost it's touch for me. Anyway my partner and I will be wearing our Miyu and Rava cosplays for halloween this year.

I think my favourite anime with Vamps is Baccano by a wide margin.

vampire knight is my guilty pleasure. a friend recommended it as a hate watch and every so often i go back to laugh at it. vampire knight, my trashy beloved, how i adore you

I'm a little bummed you didn't bring up Hakuouki - the anime strongly hints at it but the game straight up confirms that the ochimizu elixir is made from vampire blood (specifically that of the Western variety as opposed to the Japanese Oni seen in-series like the FMC or main antagonist). But you DID talk about The Vampire Dies in No Time a lot and even my beloved Mars Red, so all is well.

I would suggest trinity blood. Im surprised you put it in the “twilight” category. Id be curious what you think of it after seeing it.

I'm glad you didn't exclude Vampire Princess Miyu *entirely*, but as the signature work of the whole shoujo horror canon, it merits more than a passing glance. The original 4-part OVA is a perfect bite-sized slice of atmospheric goodness for a Halloween movie night; and the sprawling media mix offers plenty for the curious to sink their teeth into (so to speak). Now, with that out of my system -- you and I are definitely aligned on Shiki, one of the most harrowing inquiries into human nature I've ever seen.

Devil's Line is also a fantastic romance/drama/action anime with great vampires! Also, Blood+ was a very fun anime, love seeing the original movie getting the props it deserves! :3 Also Trinity Blood doesn't get enough hype for the vampire/political drama that it is. Abel Nightroad is a got dang badass.

I really loved Vanitas no carate and I'm really excited to see the second season.

I love it whenever Shiki gets the recognition it deserves.

Vampire princess Miyu will always have a place in my heart. It was one of the first animes I ever watched.

Shiki is the first vampire anime I ever watched, it gave me a whole new respect for the Vampire/Human Condition..

Vampire Princess Miyu was the very first Vampire anime I saw, so has a special, if vaguely remembered, place in my heart. Pretty sure it was kinda slow and trashily dubbed in retrospect, but still good.

I liked the Interviews with Monster Girls nods- it's an anime I found surprisingly wholesome. Specifically the answer the teacher gives in episode 4 to "do you see Hikari as a person or a vampire?" stuck with me. It's rare when media actually manages to use supernatural creatures and tensions with humans as an allegory for marginalized identities and allyship in a non-demeaning way. However they knocked it out of the park with a human teacher trying to learn more about the monster students under his care so he can do well by them. It was approached with a thoughtfulness I rarely see.

I fucking lost it at "Dracula Backwardses", when the intro is making you laugh already, you know it's gonna be a good video.

Shiki really spooked me and that was probably on me. It was my bright idea to binge the show at 2am, alone in a big house, on a bed in the attic...

Shiki is so good, for so many reasons, but I struggle recommending it to friends because I can never find a site they can stream it on.

Karin was one of my first anime and I loved it. I think technically third one I watched after Loveless and witch hunter Robin, but it was the first I watched by myself instead of with my highschool girlfriend. No one (who watches anime that I hang out with) ever talks about it so I'm so happy you did.

Good points on Shiki. The only horror anime that really stuck with me tbh.

Once I saw the title I was wondering if you were gonna mention any of my favourite bishi vamps only for you to have a whole section dedicated to it. Bravo. Vanitas is amazing in world-building, art, voice cast, it has everything. I also watched a couple of the others here, its nice to see show I watched get brought up here.

So glad you talked about the Yaoi masterpiece that is Seraph. Also the manga "Happiness" is fantastic if only for the art alone

One that was missed was Devil's Line and it's sorely under appreciated. Check out the anime which is the first half of the story and if you liked that the manga wraps it up perfectly! Edit: Also a shout out to Moon Phase and Princess Ressurection. Lastly a shout out to Ga Rei Zero which I think counts if we're gunna include Demon Slayer. ;)

If I remember correctly the anime gankutsuoh, the anime adaptation of count of Monte Cristo was set in solar system with vampires, so that's worth a mention

Shiki sounds good. I'm going to look for it now!

Back when I was in my teens, Alucard from Hellsing was one of the first characters that made me realise animated characters can be hot/attractive too. I still love him very much

THANK YOU FOR ONCE AGAIN GIVING KEKKAI SENSEN MORE ATTENTION. I try to convince all my friends who watch anime to watch it, but no one keeps up after a few episodes 😞

Shiki is my favorite horror anime of all time! Thanks for mentioning it!

So glad you mentioned Owari no Seraph / Seraph of the End!

Holy shit, I had COMPLETELY forgotten about Karin. Guess I know what my obligatory Halloween anime binge this year is going to be (≧▽≦)

Your brief overview of Alucard had more research than Death Battle's. Fitting since you are an objective source and DB's heads wanted Dio to win that fight

A bit sad Vampire Princess Miyu was only a foot note. But I’m too busy wanting to rewatch Shiki now. Yes that opening slaps

Ah Shiki, I so wasn't prepared for its....everything when I watched it but I love it so. Every one should really watch it because it is beautiful, creepy, interesting and so much more.

My favorite vamp anime is Black Blood Brothers. It's a fun little story with interesting characters, and I enjoy the main brothers' dynamic a lot

Karin will always be a favourite of mine, it's so well done.

Kekkai Sensen's vampires are probably my favorite kind. Absolutely untouchable monsters, undying, cunning, merciless. It's just amazing.

Kabaneri of the Iron Fortress: What if vampire apocalypse, but with trains and steampunk? All aboard the badass train!

I loved Hakari from 'Interviews with Monster Girl.' She's a great allegory for disabled/neurodivergent people, she is never defined as just a vampire and is so passionate and caring for fellow demihumans

if only silver wolf: bloodborne was more well known, I would've assured it would've made it into this list because of how each vampire in the series is unique but not far off from the stereotypes we know of. then again, this is anime only so, all I can hope is it would get its adaptation.

Shiki Admirer Here 👏🏻. It's Ultra Pure Horror. I still sometimes listen to it's OST.

"I'm getting AHEAD of myself" [cut to Dio] I see what you did there.

Great, now I wanna watch Helsing Abridged again. Funny how any clip from Helsing does that to me. Actually, the same happens with SAO.

Omg I remember Karin! And oh lord, hearing the name Vampire Knight brings back the emo fangirl war flashbacks. And oh my gosh, I’m so glad someone mentioned Blood-C along with Blood: The Last Vampire. While’s it’s not CLAMP’s best written story, it’s definitely their goriest. And Blood: The Last Vampire is definitely my favorite on this list. I’ll have to give your other recommendations a look, especially Shiki, because I tried watching it years ago, and I couldn’t get past the character designs. But I love a good horror story, so I think I’ll give it another go around

My favorite anime vampire is Boris from Shaman King. The manga goes to great lengths to explain how his vampiric abilities work sensibly within the shaman power system, so he can feasibly justify how he has powers like regeneration and mind control. The first anime adaption also dedicates a lot more time to his childhood, his ideology, and how he met his ironic comrade. His story arc is short, but it's one of the most tightly-written arcs in Shaman King.

Every time you talk about Shiki I start feeling like I want to give it another shot, but I cannot take it seriously with those visuals. It is based of a manga based on a novel, so maybe I'll have better luck with one of those.

MB is single-handedly holding up the popularity of Shiki. And I'm glad, it's the best horror anime for me, since it combines the classic gothic horror, adding psychological torture of the viewer and a bit of gore.

It's really nice seeing Karin get some love

Ok, those clips from Vampire Hunter D looks absolutely stunning!! I have to watch that now!

amazing video ! Vanitas is amazing btw ! such great art style, epic OP and a great character duo

I'm glad you mentioned Mars Red. Coming from a stageplay, I find it refreshing how the vampires act a little more like humans, with some additional powers.

It makes me really happy to hear you mention Karin. It's a show that I remember fondly, and I wouldn't have thought it'd get a mention in 2021.

*sees footage of Chibi Vampire* oh hey time to remember how aggravating that ending felt

I’m so glad that someone else appreciates shiki as much as I do, it’s incredibly underrated for how well it did psychological horror.