While 2023 is light on horror (for now!), that doesn’t mean there aren’t shows to get excited about. With adaptations from horror masters Junji Ito and Shigeru Mizaki, this year is about quality over quantity, and there’s sure to be something that excites every horror fan. Here is every horror anime series announced so far for 2023.
4 Uzumaki
Uzumaki is a series that every horror animanga fan has at least heard of. As Junji Ito’s possibly most iconic series, Uzumaki follows Kirie Goshima, her boyfriend Shuichi Saito and, most importantly, the descent into madness of the entire town of Kurouzu-cho. Cursed by supernatural events related to spirals, Kurouzu-cho faces impossible and terrifying challenges. These include the twisted flesh of ill-fated citizens, grotesque transformations into snails, hypnotizing hair, devastating typhoons, and much more.
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The animation style of Uzumaki is incredibly unique, and addresses one of the challenges of horror anime: remaining faithful to source material. The production is entirely black and white, and retains many impressive details of the original Manga. The full length series covers every story in the Uzumaki collection. Due to several complications owing to the COVID-19 pandemic, production and release on Uzumaki has been delayed multiple times. 2023 is likely to be its year, though!
3 Akuma-Kun
Akuma-Kun is an adaptation of the 1983 anime of the same name, based on the classic Manga series by Shigeru Mizuki. The charming series follows the same basic premise in each iteration (of which there are several). The protagonist is a child prodigy that only appears once every 10,000 years, who is always nicknamed ‘Akuma-Kun.’ Akuma-Kun wants to create a peaceful world for all humans to live happily, and believes the only way for him to do that is to harness the power of demons.
The series draws on Mizuki’s expert knowledge on folklore and demons, and has inspired countless series. In this, Mizuki coined the term ‘Mahojin,’ or summoning circle, a staple of anime that can be seen in Fullmetal Alchemist, Black Butler, and many more. The exact release date of Akuma-Kun is unknown, though it could potentially be released in March, in line with celebrations for the 101st anniversary of Shigeru Mizuki’s birth.
2 Dark Gathering
Based on an original Manga by Kenichi Kondo, Dark Gathering is a new horror anime slated for Summer 2023. From Studio OLM (Pokemon, Beserk, Komi Can’t Communicate), Dark Gathering follows protagonist Keitarou Gentouga, a college freshman who hates ghosts. Unfortunately, he has something of a knack for attracting them, leading to a catastrophic event that gave him a permanent spiritual injury and caught his friend in the crossfire.
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This event caused Kondo to become something of a shut-in. The series follows his attempts at rehabilitation and re-mingling with society. As part of his rehabilitation, in his part-time job as a private tutor, he comes across Yayoi Houzuki, a child prodigy with a similar spiritual attraction as Gentouga. Through this, the unfortunate protagonist is dragged to haunted spot after haunted spot against his will.
1 Junji Ito Maniac: Japanese Tales Of The Macabre
The most anticipated horror release of 2023, Junji Ito Maniac is the latest anime adaptation of horror author Junji Ito’s classic short stories. Produced by Netflix, the horror anthology features some of Ito’s most iconic short stories, as well as some lesser known terrifying tales.
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These animated short stories include:
The Strange Hikizuri Siblings: The Seance The Story of the Mysterious Tunnel Ice Cream Truck The Hanging Balloons The Room with Four Walls Where the Sandman Lives Intruder The Long Hair in the Attic Mold Library Vision Tomb Town Layers of Fear The Thing that Drifted Ashore Tomie: Photo Unendurable Labyrinth Bullied The Back Alley Headless Statue Whispering Woman Soichi’s Beloved Pet
Returning from Crunchyroll’s Junji Ito Collection is Yūji Mitsuya as the voice of Soichi, a haunted, nail-biting (metal nails, not fingernails) child with a sinister habit of playing supernatural tricks. While Junji Ito is a beloved horror author and his stories are renowned, the Junji Ito Collection was widely rebuked by fans for being poorly animated, voiced, and lacking good pacing. Only time will tell whether Netflix’s attempt will meet the same fate, releasing January 19 worldwide.
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