31/10/2020: Halloween manga, anime and games to enjoy this weekend
- BTC No Pico
- Oct 31, 2020
- 4 min read
Ohaiyo minna! It's been a long time since you've heard from us because we've all been very busy at work - gomenasaiiiiiiii ~~~
For our first post in a long while, we'll do something topical for the season and recommend some things you can do this weekend to enjoy the Halloween vibe. It's a good chance to take a break before the exam season really kicks into gear, so don't be afraid to sink a few hours into reading or watching a show or playing a game or you'll go crazy from all that studying - and we wouldn't want that, would we?
Manga
First off, let's look at a few spooky manga that will send shivers down your spine. Really, you could just look at any of the horror lists on our site but we'll share a couple of good ones for this post:
1) Pumpkin Night
Here's a very gory, violent slasher featuring a killer high school girl who wears a pumpkin on her head. It's your typical dead-girl-comes-back-for-revenge (but not exactly, also) that has a lot of fun playing with slasher tropes. For some reason, the scanlators have translated the thing entirely into Cockney slang and internet lingo, which is pretty funny.
2) Zashiki Onna
I've recommended this so many times that you probably already know it. It's a spooky single story about a creepy stalker lady who may be a ghost of some kind. So creepy! There's even a scene where a buff character tries to take on the lady physically and it doesn't quite go how you'd expect it, so this series is actually pretty unique.
3) Sayuri
A seemingly typical haunted house story that puts a slight spin on things. The way the heroes try to win at the end is quite unique and it's a brief but memorable journey.
4) 6000
It's a bit like that movie starring the girl from Twilight (Underwater) where there's a disaster in an underwater station and there are monsters running about (zombies, in this case). It's a thrilling, relatively short read - great for an afternoon's break.
5) Kuro Ihon; Aka Ihon; Shiro Ihon
This one is a short story anthology of really scary stories! The artwork is stellar and it makes you feel like you're at a campfire listening to spooky tales.
For more series:
Anime & Movies
Here're some slightly scary anime that you might enjoy over the weekend. We've excluded long series that will take way too long, so it won't disrupt your studying. (So no Blood, even though it's a great show.)
1) Shiki
Vampire anime set in a small countryside village. It's very well-written and the build up and explanation of the lore is superb. Excellent for an evening/afternoon of enjoyment.
2) Another
It's basically Final Destination for anime. It's a personal favourite and I think you'll like it as much I do. A little gory, but I actually think the underlying mystery is pretty engaging as well so it's not entirely brainless. It's good for a quick viewing!
3) Ghost Stories (English dub)
Here's one that's a little different. The original anime was pretty bland and forgettable so the American company that got the rights just had the voice actors do whatever they wanted and it became absolutely ridiculous. It's extremely funny and you'll definitely laugh your troubles away.
4) Perfect Blue (movie)
Often hailed as one of the best psychological thrillers, and possibly Satoshi Kon's magnum opus, Perfect Blue is about a pop idol trying to make it as an actress but she has to contend with what she thinks is a stalker and her slipping grasp on reality. Cue nightmarish dream sequences, psychedelic chases and a visual representation of what it feels like to have the walls close in while everything is tearing at your frayed nerves!
5) Paranoia Agent
A psychological thriller anime directed by Satoshi Kon about this weirdo who goes around beating people with a baseball bat. It follows the people who get beaten by him and the detectives trying to arrest him and there's this sort of supernatural element but I can't get into it without spoiling anything. Really, really, really good.
6) Higurashi When They Cry
This anime follows a group of friends in a small town and then strange things happen that usually lead to violence and then somehow the timeline resets over and over and over until they solve the mystery. It's really quite suspenseful and I enjoyed the ending greatly.
Games
Well, I can't in good conscious ask you to start gaming when exams are so close since you'll probably get distracted and stuff, but I can at least recommend some Let's Plays of Japanese games that you're sure to enjoy.
1) Resident Evil 2 Remake (The Rad Brad)
To be honest, I never played the original Resident Evil 2 because I was too young and I didn't know how to work the Playstation handed down from an older cousin, but I ended up enjoying Resident Evil a lot so I was pretty excited when this one came out. The graphics are really good and the changes to the story and gameplay make it really fun to watch.
2) Corpse Party (PewDiePie)
OK so a bunch of kids do a friendship ritual (dumbasses) and get sent to a cursed school in another dimension with lots of other dead kids and ghosts and it's very scary. It's gory and violent but I genuinely enjoyed the story. I like this particular playthrough because he gets the good ending and I really hate the bad endings...
3) The Evil Within (Markiplier)
I don't even know how to explain The Evil Within but it's seriously scary and it's very, very, very exciting to watch.
4) Outlast (PewDiePie)
I know I said Japanese games but I'm cheating because this is such a scary game! You're a reporter who goes to an insane asylum to get a scoop but there's crazy inmates running around killing people and then some supernatural shit at the end.
Ok, that's it for now! I'm not sure when we'll post again but we'll try to post a little more consistently soon once we get sorted out. I hope we've managed to give you some ideas on how to relax this weekend - and it's really important that you do because you've got to remember to take breaks! See you soon and all the best for finals!
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