The List
7 of Anime's Friendliest Ghosts
by Lynzee Loveridge,
They haunt our homes, slam our doors, and break our best china. Poltergeists, vengeful spirits, and the residual energy of the wrongfully killed wreck all kinds of havoc. But what if all ghosts aren't creeping out of abandoned wells or hiding in the closet crawlspace? There's a few out there that just wanna chill and watch Netflix with you.
7. Gengar (Pokémon) Gastly, Haunter, and Gengar were the Pokémon franchise's original spooky trio. They lurked in a ominous looking tower shrouded in mist. They make short work out of scaring the show's cast, but the group has more in common with Casper's uncles than Sadako. The scare tactics are more akin to pranks. Another Gengar belonging to the gym leader Morty shows up later in the show and also exemplifies the "mischievous" over "scary" traits and even helps Ash recover two of his Pokémon from Team Rocket.
6. Elaine (The Seven Deadly Sins) Elaine is the sister of the Fairy King and the long-time protector of the Fountain of Youth before her death. She now resides in the Capital of the Dead, a glittering after-world full of emerald-like stones. Elaine at one time possessed fairy powers like wind manipulation and the ability to read a person's true intentions. As a fairy-ghost, she continues to harbor feelings for Ban and is most concerned with his safety and well-being.
5. Mayoi Hachikuji (Bakemonotagari) Mayoi is a wandering spirit that stalks individuals who are avoiding returning home, causing them to also wander aimlessly. The only "haunting" aspect of her though is an obnoxious personality. By all appearances she's an average 5th grade girl with a really large backpack. She's friendly enough, although she's prone to biting Koyomi who, in turn, teases her incessantly.
4. Hibiki's Spirits (Re-Kan!) Hibiki is gifted with the ability to see spirits. Fortunately for her, all the ghosts she encounters regularly humorous and not at all scary looking. She interacts with a dead samurai, the bathroom ghost Hanako, a perverted cat, a stylish kogal, and a few others. All the ghosts are helpful to Hibiki, except for the cat that tries to catch a peek of her underwear. The spirits hang around for New Years parties, help locate missing children, and just make the holidays more fun for Hibiki and her friends.
3. Yūko Kanoe (Dusk maiden of Amnesia) Yūko died at Seikyō Academy but has forgotten the circumstances surrounding her death. She drifts through the school and has garnered superstitious stories from the school's students thanks to her classic Japanese horror look. She lacks classic ghost abilities but is still invisible to most people. She's very "friendly" with the series' protagonist, Teiichi, whom she openly flirts with and assists in recovering her memories.
2. Mavis (Fairy Tail) Mavis died before the Fairy Tail anime's timeline but she continues to help the show's characters instead of heading on into the afterlife. Mavis is the original founder of the Fairy Tail Guild and hangs out on the mystical Tenrō Island. From there, she lends her powers to Cana and casts defensive spells when her guild members are under attack. She puts a strong emphasis the strength of trust and friendship, although she has an intimidating side to her for anyone who seeks to hurt her guild members.
1. Menma (anohana) Meiko, aka Menma, was a cheerful girl and a member of the Super Peace Busters with her friends Jinta, Atsumu, Naruko, Chiriko, and Tetsudō. Her untimely death had a far-reaching effect on her surviving friends lives, so much so that when she reappears to Jinta one summer day many years later, all of the crew have drifted apart. Menma's reappearance works as a catalyst to bring lingering issues to the forefront, all in the name of granting her final wish. The result is the ghost healing the rifts left between her former friends.
The new poll: Who is your Love Live! waifu?
The old poll: What's your favorite zombie-based anime series? Attack on Titan was a write-in answer and while they aren't zombies in a traditional sense, there's enough similarities that I'll allow it.
- Highschool of the Dead 22.1%
- Is This a Zombie? 15.7%
- Attack on Titan 12.1%
- Tokyo Ghoul 9.8%
- Sankarea: Undying Love 7.9%
- Gungrave 4.8%
- Sunday Without God 4.7%
- Bleach 4.4%
- Zombie-Loan 4.3%
- Le Chevalier D'Eon 4.2%
- School-Live! 2.7%
- Corpse Princess 2.0%
- One Piece (Thriller Bark arc) 1.8%
- Shiki 1.1%
- Tokko 0.7%
When she isn't compiling lists of tropes, topics, and characters, Lynzee works as the Interest Editor for Anime News Network and posts pictures of her son on Twitter @ANN_Lynzee.
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