Amidst the success of various anime and other demon media, these seven stand out as some of the best. These show and movies are guaranteed to keep you enthralled through an action-packed story that will always leave your mind spinning.
The “demon king anime series” is a genre of anime that depicts demons as the main characters. The genre has been around for quite some time and there are many different series and movies to choose from.
When it comes to supernatural and fantasy culture, demon anime series and movies have an allure that other non-human species just don’t have. The terrifying cultural reputation of demons is a wonderful shorthand for “huge evil is incredibly OP,” which makes us root even harder for our protagonist.
But that’s just one way to produce a demon anime; in other iterations of the notion, the demon will be an anti-hero whose moral alignment is always in doubt, keeping us on the edge of our seats.
Some programs and films go over and above by using a demon protagonist to explore topics of community and even bigotry. This is most often seen in a half-demon, half-human protagonist or a demon protagonist in love with a human. Didn’t I just practically explain InuYasha?
While the classic isekai anime will never go out of style, it’s time to spotlight some modern demon anime series and give them the attention they deserve. Expect to see no InuYasha or that other 90s anime with a protagonist who turns out to be a demon, since it would be a huge spoiler if they were included.
1. Slayer of Demons
Let’s get this one out of the way early since you probably saw it coming. With a title like Monster Slayer, it’s clear that this program will include more than one demon. Though the shounen protagonist battling supernatural horrors has been done to death and back, this demon anime keeps things interesting by making one of the main characters a demon.
Instead of a calm and controlled masculine demon or a beautiful femme fatale demon on their side, the show’s major demon protagonist is the protagonist’s sister. Because of this crucial distinction, the demon protagonist in Demon Slayer does not follow known clichés. Instead, it’s like seeing Tanjiro play the role of a concerned big brother doing his hardest to save his sister from a disease that threatens to rob her of her humanity.
In a word, Demon Slayer is an action historical fantasy set in early twentieth-century Japan. Despite the fact that Japan is evolving, the dangers lurking in its shadowed woods and dark alleys are the same as they were decades ago. One of them comes upon the Kamados, an impoverished family living in the countryside of Japan.
Tanjiro returns home to a severely damaged hut and the bodies of his family after leaving home to sell charcoal to support his mother and siblings. He swiftly finds that his sister Nezuko is still alive and seems to be on the verge of becoming a full-fledged monster.
Naturally, he defends her from a demon slayer named Giy, who subsequently takes pity on the siblings and recruits Tanjiro into the Demon Slayer Corps. Tanjiro joins forces with Nezuko to fight demons in order to avenge his family and heal his sister.
2. The Butler (Black)
Despite the fact that this demon anime was produced in 2014, it remains one of the greatest of the best, particularly if you’re trying to attract someone into anime or if you don’t usually watch historical anime.
Earl Ciel Phantomhive’s life is chronicled in Black Butler as he attempts to pass himself off as a regular, or as normal as he can be, adolescent. To be clear, Ciel isn’t the devil here, despite what the picture would suggest.
Sebastian Michaelis, his butler, is really the devil. Ciel’s sigil is really a seal that represents their contract. Sebastian has an identical one on the back of his left hand, which he conceals with his butler’s gloves.
But how can a little kid come into contact with a demon? Ciel was abducted by cultists who intended to use him as a human sacrifice after his parents were murdered. He’s desperate to live by any means necessary after weeks of maltreatment and impending death.
Ciel inadvertently summons Sebastian after screaming out that he wanted aid, regardless of who provided it or what the cost was. Since then, the master and butler have worked together to solve mysteries all around Victorian England.
Don’t worry if that’s too shounen for you. The Black Butler understands how to keep the fujoshis entertained. Yana Toboso’s portfolio is equal parts shounen and equal parts shotacon, and the anime is based on her manga of the same name. Sebastian and Ciel will have some, ahem, suspiciously non-heterosexual moments.
3. Maoyuu Maou Yuusha Maoyuu Maou Yuusha Maoyuu Maou Yu
Do you want to see a monster anime with a totally unique plot?
Maoyuu Maou Yuusha, also known as Archenemy and Hero, is a fantasy medieval romance between a demon and a human. While the program features Romeo + Juliet-like elements, it flips the demon-human relationship notion on its head by having the female character play the demon lord and the male character play the hero.
You would imagine that the male hero persuades her to change her ways, but it’s really the other way around. The female demon enlists the aid of the male hero in order to continue the struggle between humans and demons.
Without the isekai element, our male protagonist, Hero, is your usual strong isekai fantasy lead. Hero has a strong sense of justice, but it’s a touch too black and white for him. All he knows is that war is evil and peace is wonderful, so he fights the Demon King, who is really a Demon Queen, to bring the conflict to a stop.
The Demon Queen is a brilliant woman with progressive ideas for the world that demons and humans inhabit. Her objective is to find a way to end the war and continue the technical advancements that have resulted from it while maintaining the unity that has arisen among human countries as a result of the war effort. Hero agrees to aid her after being persuaded by peer-reviewed scrolls and statistics.
Even better, the program avoids the common cliche of female characters squabbling over the main guy. Despite the fact that Demon King and Female Knight are love competitors, the two are friends and have great respect for one another. Female Knight ultimately goes into Demon King’s castle to teach swordsmanship.
4. Nura: The Yokai Clan’s Ascension
Nura: Rise of the Yokai Clan could suit the bill for you if you’re seeking for an InuYasha experience that isn’t InuYasha.
Nura: Rise of the Yokai Clan, like InuYasha, has a part-demon, part-human protagonist. Because it is his father, not our protagonist Rikuo Nura, who is a half-demon, the events of the novel begin 400 years before he is even born.
His grandpa, the famed Nurarihyon, met Yohime, the daughter of an aristocratic clan, 400 years ago. Yohime is recognized as Kyoto’s #1 beauty and is proven to have magical healing skills as well as a golden heart in the romance of the Past Arc, which has some highly folkloric themes.
Nurarihyon is drawn to her because of her goodness and beauty, and the demon lord offers to show her the actual world. He finally whisks her away from her corrupt aristocratic family, and she joins the Nura Clan, the largest yokai clan in Japan’s eastern provinces.
Following the death of Nurarihyon’s son, the Nura Clan starts to lose power and influence, giving the clan little option but to begin preparing Rikuo Nura to become the clan’s next demon king.
Rikuo, on the other hand, has different ideas. He doesn’t want to take over his father’s position since he’s only three-quarters human, so he continues performing nice things to avoid accepting his yokai lineage.
Claymore is number five.
You may recall seeing this demon anime in passing if you were watching Animax in the late 2000s or early 2010s. Claymore is definitely one of the least well-known series on our list, and it is seldom included in anime lists or recommended to anyone seeking for something to watch.
However, the show’s lack of popularity has little to do with the show’s real quality, and is more likely due to its less typical visual style, which does not instantly indicate that it is an anime, as Claymore gives the idea that it is a Western animation.
Claymore is a criminally underappreciated anime series about Claire, a human-Yoma hybrid. The Organization’s goal is to hold Yoma at bay by teaching Claymores. Yoma are shapeshifting demons that threaten to destroy the Earth. Everything you read after this will sound like a mix of Attack on Titan and The Witcher.
The demon slayers in this scenario are known as “Claymore.” It’s a moniker given to them by ordinary people in reference to the enormous swords with which they butcher Yoma. The humans also refer to them as “silver-eyed witches,” referring to their less-than-human characteristics, since the true weapons are the Claymores’ biological mutations, not their swords.
Human orphans are usually taken by the Organization, who may sometimes buy them from their parents so that they can be taught martial arts and trained as fighters. These youngsters are then grafted with Yoma flesh and blood, which gives them superhuman strength and speed to help them fight.
Unlike AoT, you never obtain overwhelming Yoma hybrids in this series since the Claymores must depend on their training and wits to get an advantage against the much stronger Yoma. Overall, it’s a well executed series that’s ideal for senior demon anime viewers bored of the usual shounen protagonist.
Wicked City is number six on the list.
Not all outstanding demon anime programs are series; others are films that slipped under the radar and are still mostly unnoticed by the anime community.
Wicked Metropolis is a film noir anime film set in an alternative universe, especially a 1980s city, where most people are unaware of the dangers lurking in the Black World, a demon realm linked to the human world.
The fragile peace between the human and demon realms is protected by a shaky peace pact. Both races deploy covert spies known collectively as the Black Guard to enforce the treaty’s conditions.
The Black Guard dispatches two of its spies to guard a diplomat called Giuseppe Mayart who has been dispatched to represent the demons ahead of the renewal of the peace deal. The two companions, however, have their job cut out for them with anti-peace zealots on the loose.
This anime film about demons takes some unexpected twists. For comparison, it’s approximately as strange and R-rated as Akira, so you may want to avoid watching it in public.
7. The Millenium Dragon’s Legend
Last but not least, there’s Legend of the Millenium Dragon, an isekai demon anime film with a shounen protagonist who is transported back in time to put an end to the demon-human battle.
Though the film seems to be similar to your standard shounen series, Legend of the Millenium Dragon includes various Japanese folklore themes and characters, making it feel like you’re watching a Studio Ghibli film.
For starters, it’s set in the Heian era, which means our protagonist, Jun Tendo, ends up 1,200 years in the past. As if life without internet wasn’t horrible enough, he now needs to track down the fabled Yamata no Orochi, a Japanese mythology dragon with eight heads and eight tails, and persuade him to aid in the peace endeavor.
That concludes our demon anime round-up. A Little Bit Demonic: The Lesser Key of Solomon and Its 72 Demons is a good book to read if you want to learn more about demons.
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Frequently Asked Questions
Which is the best demon anime?
What anime should I watch if I liked demon slayer?
A: If you liked the demon slayer anime, I recommend watching Mob Psycho 100.
Does Tanjiro become a demon?
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