Why Can’t Anime Create Good Horror?
Just in time for Halloween, I decided to take a few moments to talk about the horror in anime, and more so, how it’s barely horror at all. I’m sure we’ve all seen our share of people commenting about this subject, often asking: “Does anyone know a genuinely scary horror anime?”. I like to think the question is actually a pretty valid one. If you were to take a look at some of the horrors out there (ie. Another), despite being part of the genre, it still never succeeds at being something scary to nearly any who watch it, but why? Well, I’ll try to take a stab at some of the factors behind this.
First off, for the most part, I’m easy to scare. If you put me in a dark room and turn on nearly any horror film, I’ll probably freak out at one point or another throughout its hour and a half run. As for anime, there has yet to be a single anime that truly scared me as much as any horror films have, but there are some that have come close to having some genuinely freaky moments. In Higurashi for example, not knowing what to expect in the first arc, did cause me to at least be put ill at ease. Otherwise, Ghost Hunt had some good moments too. Besides those two I can’t think of any others off the top of my head, but there may have been another at one point that gave me the creeps at some point.
As with most of the population, I’m usually very drawn to the horror genre for that constant fill of fear I seem to always crave. Also as art forms go, when you get a good horror film, they can really be one of the most well directed films out there. It’s an underrated genre, but the ability to scare others is something not much are able to do. With all that said, if I were to simply focus on the Asian horror film, even specifically Japanese ones, there is clearly a lot of talent there. I think the problem with anime is ultimately the medium. Cartoons just aren’t that scary.
For starts, the format is a big issue. Stretching a horror out to twelve or more episodes just doesn’t really work. To create a horror story, pacing is key. A good deal of horror films tend to get scarier as they go, but right from the get go the atmosphere is created and the tension only continues to rise from there. It works for the most part, but with anime you’re either stuck with building up that tension throughout all the episodes, or just giving each episode it’s own build-up of “terror”and then big moment of horror. Only to do the same thing next week. And that’s where the problems begin, the fact that there is a next week.
Within twenty minutes you can only deliver so much creepiness, so essentially, once you may actually start to get the audience feel ill at ease, the episode’s done. People then forget about it for another week, and the writers have to start back at square one each week building up that unexpected doom once again. As you can see, it just doesn’t work.
Even in the West, the difficulties in making a horror tv series are pretty clear, considering there are practically none out there. Of course, there’s been the hit series American Horror Story, but even that fails to be all that scary. It also has forty minutes per episodes, and that helps it create better delivery, and even though it may scare some, it is constantly walking along that border of being the most hilarious series on tv too. Point is, when it comes to horror anime series, they’re already put at a disadvantage because of the format.
Another aspect, that may not apply to all but most definitely a few, is the clear culture differences to the West. A good deal of Japanese horror stories deal with their own monsters and ghouls that may not scare us here. I like to think it may go both ways, in that people in Japan may not find something like the Boogeyman scary while we may not be scared by some apparently spooky Youkai. Take for example an anime like Aoi Bungaku. The collection of stories are all based off of stories that tons of people in Japan have already heard of. Some of those stories probably had a deeper impact for people of Japan because they’ve heard the tales, and so it’s usually their own environment that becomes what is feared.
One of the things horror anime seems to always want to attach to its genre (unsuccessfully) is gore. Gore usually doesn’t work to scare people in an animated form. A good deal of people are already desensitized to blood being splattered on screen anyway, and so having that extra lack of realism by making it animated doesn’t help.
There may be a few exceptions, but so many anime seem to assume that if there’s a lot of blood, it should be scary. Series like Higurashi, Another, Blood+, Blood C, Deadman Wonderland, Elfen Lied, Umineko and more all seem to feel that’s the best way to scare their audience. It’s a bit weird for them to resort to that considering blood is just a stroll in the park for an anime fan. Maybe not too that extent for everyone, but I assume it can’t be that big of a deal since there already is a decent amount of blood shown in some children’s programming like One Piece and Hunter x Hunter.
Lastly, there also is simply a big difference in what Japan considers horror and what the West does. Perfect Blue, for example, is a film that is constantly up for debate whether it is horror or not. Japan has a thin line sometimes between what’s horror and what’s fits more their psychological genre. The thing is, some of the series that only fit the psychological genre could easily be considered horror in North America. When Japan wants to discuss disturbing themes, they never hold back!
Just look at a series like Bokurano, Serial Experiments Lain, or even Ghost Hound. The disturbing and creepy atmosphere you find in a series like that could easily outbeat half of the horror-tagged anime series out there. Even the latest Shinsekai Yori, which doesn’t even fit the psychological genre, has a really disturbing atmosphere to it too.
For the most part, when it comes to anime, it’s hard for it to succeed at being a horror. Perhaps the better way to put it would just be to fit the horror genre, because otherwise you don’t have to look too far to find some near horrific imagery in themes outside the horror genre of anime. Japan is a place that has truly witnessed some terrifying things in its history, just watch Barefoot Gen where you see melting bodies caused by radiation, and try to tell me you weren’t in the least disturbed! I’m sure I’m probably just scratching the surface behind all the possible reasons, and there were a few generalization. I’m well aware there are probably a few exceptions to every example I make. After all, what people find scary or spooky really can be different depending on who you talk to!
Your point about anime being inherently unable to scare people is worth some more consideration. While the idea of “good horror” is both cultural and personal, anime perhaps lacks the visceral, “real” and potentially feasible qualities live-action horror does. The question you might want to consider is not “Why isn’t anime scary,” but, “What do quality live-action horrors have in common?”
Have you ever seen the anime Shiki? While the show probably doesn’t scare anyone in the traditional “I’m gonna piss myself” sense, it is one of the better horror shows I’ve seen, and maintains the air of steady tension and excellent pacing you spoke of for good horror shows. http://www.anime-guardians.com/2012/08/shiki.html
[Reply]
windyturnip Reply:
November 1st, 2012 at 9:17 pm
You hit all the main points I could think of. When it comes down to it, we just can’t relate to anime as easily as live action shows. Even then, movies do a much better job of maintaining a sense of fear and suspense merely because they only have to keep it up for an hour or so.
I’m sure anime could be scary if somebody went out and tried, but they will likely never be able to compete with the best live action movies. Anime can do some things better than any other medium, but horror just isn’t one of them.
[Reply]
lostty Reply:
November 4th, 2012 at 5:48 pm
@Nelson: I have seen Shiki, and it definitely had the pacing done right. Though, the first 5 episodes were a bit too slow for even me. Anyway, you’re question is a good one, and definitely one worth thinking about. If you look at the great horror films out there, and compare it to some of the better horror anime, some of the elements can be seen in both.
@windyturnip: Exactly! Anime is forced to attempt to keep us interesting for as long as possible, where a horror film does it in such a short amount of time. It definitely makes a big difference. Anime clearly has a lot going for it in terms of how it can present a story, but you may be right, that producing the needed realism that horror often needs just may be something they can never quite accomplish.
[Reply]
I think that it’s because of the complex definition of Horror, and poor tagging based on only using facets of that definition.
If I were to compare Another to American Horror Story (I’ve seen about four-and-a-half hours of each so far, so I feel like I’m in a reasonable position to compare them) at the best that Japan and America respectively have to offer in terms of horror television, Another is creepier.
There are very few overt scares to Another, and the format is almost like Lost in their inability to answer any questions until quite a bit later in the story. However, they manage to achieve what I would consider a very interesting atmosphere very early in the series, which pervades the first three episodes or so (up until the first death), that reminds of any time you deal with someone who is well and truly mad. You’re not sure what is going on in their world but it’s certainly wrong and possibly dangerous.
Eventually they turn it into a ghost mystery, which I didn’t mind too much. The creepiness factor tends to fall off around that point; in fact, we even get into a number of happy/loving scenes between the hero and heroine. It’s a good show but it’s not all that scary, for a few episodes. Then we start to really get into trying to understand (my personal favorite part of horror, which is rarely covered at all in American horror stories in general) what can be done to save these people. As the mystery begins to come together, though, things escalate and it becomes tense if not altogether creepy.
Still, in my opinion Another’s early ‘something is wrong’ feeling continues to pervade throughout the show. Except for the episode or so that they’re developing a relationship between the hero and heroine.
The first four-and-a-half hours of American Horror Story are weird. Episode 1 opens with strong scares, reminiscent of traditional American horror film storytelling. There’s a kill off-screen but we’re not left doubting what happened and the only question is why, which draws us into the story where we might find out why.
Then it becomes a weird sex thing for the next 2 episodes. There’s some interesting stuff with the boy (Tate) but they blow their load too early revealing that he, along with two other characters, are ghosts, or seem to be ghosts.
A gay couple shows up, and the hero continues on his strange erotic adventure on cable television, going out of town. His house is attacked for what might be the first genuinely creepy scene in the show (appealing to adult fears–it works).
The show is a group cast, with different members on different lines (to the point I had seen when I gave up on it during first viewing, there were three, only two of which were motivated by main characters–the deteriorating relationship between the man and his wife, which had an AWKWARD amount of eroticism; the budding relationship between Tate and the daughter; and, finally, the neighbor Constance’s growing dislike of the family, of which we see only parts) All of these lines move on very different pacing schemes, with the Tate story providing all of the scares for the early show but evolving near the end of my tenure into a different story altogether about an unrequited romance when the daughter starts to be afraid of Tate.
I’m told that American Horror Story deserves a second chance because after the fifth hour it gets good. I’m planning to give it that chance, probably even in the next few days, but it starts VERY slow. Another had one episode that really didn’t have much in the way of scares (and it ended on a death). American Horror Story had two entire arcs whose only purpose seemed to be setup, with no scares to be had. I can’t compare that favorably, at this point.
[Reply]
Horror is hard to pull off well in anime, but I have seen a few pretty good ones. Blue Gender is probably one of my favorite, but also Gantz, and I did see a really messed up anime movie called Genocyber.. damn it was messed up.
[Reply]
Blast Hardcheese Reply:
November 4th, 2012 at 5:04 pm
Never saw Genocyber, but the others are more action in a horrifying world than traditional horror.
I felt Blue Gender got a bit less tense when I saw how commited the writers were to murdering every single character except the male and female lead.
[Reply]
It’s a very simple answer…..CAUSE IT’S A CARTOON
[Reply]
Really?
Berserk comes to mind..that anime is not horror but the ending was horrific!
my friend I really was not prepared for how that show’s story took a completely different sharp left turn to the cemetery! from hack and slash action adventure story to an ending i almost can not stomach
[Reply]
Linsolv Reply:
November 5th, 2012 at 4:44 pm
It only gets worse from there.
The manga is DARK.
[Reply]
As another note (after my essay earlier…) a big problem with it besides the format (TV shows are generally not scary; it’s no mistake that after forty years of television, people still only really remember ‘Are You Afraid of the Dark’ fondly as a horror program).
Horror is, as a general rule, a participatory art form more than any other. You get out of it what you put into it. That’s why there are so many more horror VNs than horror anime, and the anime is never as scary.
Chaos;Head? Scary. Chaos;Head anime? OH WOW I HAD BEEN ACTING ON ASSUMPTIONS BUT THIS IS AWFUL. I thought I should do my research before I just declared it “not scary,” but really? That hero looks like he has down syndrome, not at all the way he should look.
Higurashi? Reputation for scary. I wouldn’t know, I haven’t had time to play much. Higurashi anime? Not scary.
Similar for Umineko, but with more of a focus on the mystery aspect than the horror.
Again with Silent Hill, which had 4 good games (then they broke up Team Silent…) and 2 terrible, godawful films.
It seems to me that the story keeps repeating itself: Games and reading, the two places that horror thrives (though there is bad horror gaming and bad horror fiction, the good stuff is so much better) are not-coincidentally the two most engaging forms of entertainment, since they both require thought to be put into it. It forces the player/reader to bring to it a certain amount of thought, and therefor to bring to it a certain amount of themselves and their own past experiences that add to the experience.
Compare to anime and TV in general, where most people watch it while doing something else, whether it’s knitting or checking email or writing goddamn novels that intrude into other people’s otherwise normal blog-reading experience. :p A lot of that personal investment that allows the consumer to internalize the scares is lost because of that distance.
[Reply]
I can only think of simple reasons why horror fails.
The first one is because you only go to horror movies for the head count rather than actual physical and mental scares. Seriously, in the majority of horror themed media (Except video games to an extent), does anyone REALLY care about who survives?
2nd: Speaking of scares, when the rate of horror shows relying on jump scares or blood and gore drops, I’ll be motivated to pay money to see a horror show.
3rd: Are cartoons/anime or any form of animated media for that matter, scary? Higurashi, Devil Lady, Another, RAINBOW, Elfen Lied, HOTD, Gyo, etc, etc, etc. Anime with a “horror” theme are creepy and freaky at best, but never scary and frankly, why should they be? Why should animation be scary? It just doesn’t work.
Maybe I’m saying these things because I was more freaked out by the Fatal Frame series and Silent Hill 3 than animated “horror” shows. Oh my gosh, this reminds me of the Haunted House in Vampire the Masquerade: Bloodlines. Oh dear, I’ve gone off track and started talking about scary video games rather than animation. Sorry.
Overlord-G´s latest post ..OG’s Birthday Special: favorite yuri kiss scenes
[Reply]
i would say anime Can make horrors. but japanese lives too much into a “Kawaii” calture (my opinion)
[Reply]
Linsolv Reply:
November 15th, 2012 at 8:58 am
That’s a naive comment if I ever heard it.
If you think Japan lives in a “‘Kawaii’ calture” (sic), then do your homework on non-kawaii anime. From least offensive to most, here’s a few things to pass a week or two: Tekkonkinkreet (non-cute art), Mononoke [not related to the Miyazaki film by a similar name] (non-cute art, dark themes), Elfen Lied (wow things got dark fast on this list), Berserk.
For manga, feel free to read Shamo and Berserk, my favorite examples of “wow this is dark.”
The art form is capable of, and frequently used for, dark and adult stories.
[Reply]
I am familiar with most of your refernces and even though i agree to an extend I think I still enjoy the ‘japanese’ horror anyway even if it doesn’t scare me all that much. HOWEVER only once was I SO disturbed I actually wished I never saw the movie. It’s called ‘Gyo’. Tell me ur opinion
[Reply]