Top 7 Freakiest Anime Moments

No matter how you like your scares, there's always an anime for that. Celebrate the whole month of October by watching a few of these anime – the perfect chills and thrills for this Halloween!

MAJOR spoiler alert, folks. 

For THAT reason alone, proceed with caution. 

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1. Akira

This is a film that will not let you breathe. High-speed motorcycle chases, widespread property damage, overwhelming carnage – the images come faster than your senses become ready for them. 

Tetsuo’s grotesque transformation is easily the most memorable part of the movie, but the various individual deaths (notably that of Kaori who, apart from being brutalized, is engulfed by a giant skin pore) and the “toy attack” of the shriveled psionic children are equally disturbing. 

The fact that most of the characters of Akira are children makes the premise of this anime classic even scarier. In a rebuilt future that fails to outlive its violent past, the young pay with their hopes and their lives.

2. Neon Genesis Evangelion

Even if you chose to ignore the already disturbing quieting implications of the Spear of Longinus being in Adam’s side, the fact that the other-worldly enemies are called Angels, or the mere idea of children piloting semi-sentient weapons of mass destruction, Evangelion’s visuals alone will rattle you. 

The terror peaks with the savage mutilation of Eva 04 at the hands (and teeth) of Eva 02, and although “The End of Eva” is one of the most drawn-out conclusions in recent memory, little else can be as chilling as the destruction of an entire reality over which Rei Ayanami’s face is looming.

via GIPHY

RELATED: Get To Know The Neon Genesis Evangelion Characters

3. Mermaid’s Scar/Forest

There is something really unsettling about a child-villain, never mind if he’s hundreds of years old. That he brought about the death of the nanny who truly cared for him is both horrific and tragic. And he doesn’t just kill her either, he turns her into a monster.

It is a tale of revenge, cowardice, and desperation. What will people do for a chance at immortality? Drink the blood of a mermaid? Eat its flesh? I’ll pass on the sushi.

4. Another

If Final Destination freaked you out, this one is up on your ally. There are some pretty graphic scenes in this anime, and I mean "pretty" in more ways than one. 

A memorable one was when Yukari Sakuragi stumbled and fell down while running on a flight of stairs, dropping her umbrella. The umbrella then impales Yukari through her throat. 

You’ll never look at umbrellas the same way again.

Related: Another - Anime Review

5. Ghost Hunt

A group of paranormal investigators looks into reported spiritual activities and tries to solve them. This is the ONLY anime series that genuinely gave me the jump scare ever. 

There is this one particular arc, where Mai Taniyama had a dream in which she experienced the death of someone from the estate. In Mai’s dream, there was no dialogue, no explanation while she was strapped in a dark room. 

The heavy breathing, the footsteps slowly moving closer leaving trails of blood, the sense of claustrophobia leaves you anxious in a darkroom and the apparition showing out of nowhere is enough to freak you out. You might want to leave the lights on for that one.

6. Miyazaki Moments

The ohmu of Nausicaa frightened me when I was younger. Years later, I’ve watched Mononoke-hime and I’d find the apocalyptic climax vastly unnerving especially where the head of the Shishi Gami is severed and it continues to grin. 

Finally, Spirited Away, Miyazaki burned into my memory of how much a child can fear unfamiliar places and shadows.

7. Perfect Blue 

A scary anime doesn’t have to have elements of science fiction or fantasy. Sometimes, it’s all in the mind… at least that’s what you think. Satoshi Kon’s masterpiece of a thriller touches on Japanese pop icon phenomena like Idol Singers and Soap Opera Stars to Serial Killers. 

Mima, an idol singer turned actress, is haunted by a twisted version of her pop star self not to mention a menacing stalker. 

Is she just cracking up or is someone really out to get her? The plot is filled with truly weird twists and turns as it deftly maneuvers the viewer further into Mima’s warped mind.

Related: The Dark Side of Stan Culture: Perfect Blue

And Now, The Runners-Up

Blue Submarine No 6

Queasy Scene No 1: The death of The Muteo, The sea turning as red as the genetically-engineered sperm whale’s blood was, pardon the pun, gut-wrenching.
Queasy Scene No 2: Verg, the drooly shark leader of the chimeras, chomping on the fish-girl’s ear is also something I’m not aching to see again.

Galaxy Express 999

Shadow of the Faltering Planet gave me nightmares when I was younger. The faceless guardian of the Graves of Ice on Pluto was given a mysterious faraway voice in the Signature Edition’s English dub and it still make me shudder to hear her mutter amid Tetsuro’s screams, “So warm / so warm / stay with me forever…”

Memories by Katsuhiro Otomo

With the classic opera references emphasized by Yoko Kanno’s truly awe-inspiring score, “Magnetic Rose” is by far the most dramatic of the three short tales presented in this trilogy. 

Two space workers receive a strange SOS. They investigate, only to find themselves confronting their own fears and memories of a long-dead opera diva.

Urotsukidoji! Legend of The Overfiend

Some tentacles had eyeballs. You won’t catch me saying more.


And that's about it! Which scene from an anime do you find so freaky that you can't forget about it? Leave a comment below.

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