Top 10 Anime Ghost Boys [Updated]

Halloween, come soon! In light of the upcoming spooky season, we’ve decided to bring back one of our older lists - top 10 ghost boys in anime! This list features some of our favourite ghosties, some friendly, some adorable and some not-so-friendly ghosts from a wide variety of shows. Are you scared yet? Honey’s doesn’t do too much in the line of ghost-busting, so get ready to run – run through the different shows on this list, that is!


10. Hanako – Jibaku Shounen Hanako-kun (Toilet-Bound Hanako-kun)

  • Episodes: 12
  • Aired: Not yet aired (2020 - ???)

Kamone Academy has various rumours making the rounds about the school’s Seven Mysteries. One of these mysteries is regarding Hanako-san, a ghost said to be occupying the third stall of the third-floor girls’ bathroom in the old school building. Hanako has the ability to grant any wish when he is summoned. When Yashiro Nene, a girl highly interested in romance and the occult, heads into that third stall, she meets Hanako, but he’s nothing like anything she has ever imagined.

Despite the fact that this anime hasn’t yet aired, the Hanako we’re going to be channelling will be from the other side – the manga side! Hanako is a short boy with black hair and amber eyes who wears a black school uniform. He is the middleman between the humans and the supernaturals at Kamone Academy. He’s quite childish and cheerful with a bit of a mischievous streak. Calling all friendly ghastly troublemakers – Hanako-san, are you there?


9. Daihen Zamurai – Re-Kan!

  • Episodes: 13
  • Aired: April 2015 – June 2015

Amami Hibiki is a high school girl who has the ability to see ghosts and various other supernatural phenomena. She can also speak to animals. She transfers to Hanazuka Prefectural High School, where none of her schoolmates share her supernatural abilities, befriending various normal girls at the school, including her class rep, Inoue Narumi. Narumi hates anything occult, but befriends Hibiki because of her personality. What ghastly antics await?

Daihen Zamurai (Roll Call Samurai) is the ghost of a young samurai who died of hunger. When Hibiki feeds him one day, he decides to protect and do anything for her, including answering Hibiki’s homeroom teacher’s roll call whenever she falls asleep in class! Being such a helpful ghost, Daihen Zamurai is perhaps one of the few apparitions who maintains his link to the living world out of duty and not merely out of resentment.


8. Shimao Atsushi – Natsuyuki Rendezvous (A Summer Show Rendezvous)

  • Episodes: 11
  • Aired: July 2012 – September 2012

Hazuki Ryousuke has a crush. The beautiful owner of a local flower shop has captured his attention and in order to make love blossom between himself and the subject of his affections, Shimao Rokka, he decides to get a part-time job at her shop. However, his plan to get closer to Rokka is impeded by a ghost living in her apartment who claims to be her dead husband, Shimao Atsushi. Atsushi has been watching his wife for three years since his passing and of all the people to have entered his home, Ryousuke is the only person who has noticed him. The jealous husband commits himself to thwarting Ryousuke’s advances towards Rokka, while Ryousuke tries to find a way to get the angry ghost spouse to move on as ghosts should.

Atsushi is a very interesting ghost. He remains with his wife even though she can’t see him, but for some reason, he can appear to Ryousuke like it’s nothing. This greatly confuses Ryousuke in the beginning and from the jump, you can’t help but think this jealous husband would be better off moving on. However, his enormous attachment to his wife and the flower shop have him floating around her every single day, much to Ryousuke’s chagrin. Despite thwarting Ryousuke’s attempts to woo Rokka, there is a development of mutual respect of some kind between Atsushi and Ryousuke.


7. Amidamaru – Shaman King

Natsuyuki-Rendezvous-capture-4-700x394 Top 10 Anime Ghost Boys [Updated]

  • Episodes: 64
  • Aired: July 2001 – September 2002

Every 500 years, a tournament known as the Shaman Fight is held in which shaman – people who can command spirits, go head to head in combat. The winner becomes the Shaman King, the only one capable of interacting with the Great Spirit and reshape the world as they wish using its power. While on a late-night walk, Oyamada Manta runs into his classmate Asakura You, who invites him to stargaze with his friends. These “friends” turn out to be ghosts from the local cemetery. You becomes fixated on Manta and his sixth sense, so when Manta is bullied by a local gang, You arrives on the scene with Amidamaru, the ghost of a formidable samurai. Having made a new friend, Manta begins to learn more about the world of the shamans.

Amidamaru is a 600-year-old samurai ghost who serves as Asakura’s guardian. Having killed several times in his life, Amidamaru has earned himself great notoriety; which has prevailed all the way to the current day. Be that as it may, Amidamaru is a character who has values that he adheres to no matter what happens. He never stole a sword from the various corpses scattered around him despite being too poor to afford quality swords.


6. Alaudi – Katekyo Hitman Reborn (REBORN!)

  • Episodes: 203
  • Aired: October 2006 – September 2010

Sawada Tsunayoshi is a middle schooler who is simply not good at anything. Talentless and clumsy, he has been dubbed “Loser Tsuna” by his peers. His life takes a strange turn when Reborn, a hitman who also happens to be a baby, arrives at his doorstep claiming to have been sent by the Vongola Family – the strongest mafia family in Italy! Reborn’s mission is to take Loser Tsuna and turn him into a suitable heir to the top seat in the Vongola Family due to the retirement of the ninth boss of the family. With so much expectation placed on Tsuna’s shoulders, will he be able to grow into the greatness his family expects?

Being the first-generation Cloud Guardian of the Vongola Famiglia, he was the family’s first external advisor, having founded the independent intelligence agency CEDEF. He’s a loner who is confident in his own strength while displaying a sober level-headedness. He did; however, display a similar level of bloodthirstiness as Hibari Kyouya, which is significant given the various number of similarities between the two characters.



5. Shibata Yuuichi – BLEACH

  • Episodes: 366
  • Aired: October 2004 – March 2012

15-year-old Kurosaki Ichigo is a high school student who has always had the ability to see ghosts. One night, a woman dressed in a black kimono appears in his room, armed with a sword. She claims to be a Shinigami, an entity like the grim-reaper which is tasked with the ushering of human souls to the realm of Soul Society, while also combating evil spirits known as Hollows. When one such Hollow attacks Ichigo’s family and leaves the Shinigami gravely wounded, she offers to give him some of her power so he may defeat it. From that day forth, Kurosaki Ichigo’s abnormal life took yet another abnormal turn.

Shibata Yuuichi was a little boy who unfortunately witnessed his mother being murdered by a prominent serial killer who later became the Hollow known as Shrieker. While Shrieker was killing Yuuichi’s mother on a balcony, Yuuichi grabbed his shoelaces and that sent him tumbling to his demise. As a Hollow, Shrieker trapped Yuuichi’s soul in a parakeet. He promised Yuuichi that if he could run away from Shrieker for three whole months, he’d bring his mother back to life. This was a complete lie; however, Yuuichi’s ordeal came to an end when Chad and Ichigo came to intervene. He now lives in Soul Society in his normal form.


4. Johnny – Beelzebub

  • Episodes: 60
  • Aired: January 2011 – March 2015

Ishiyama High is a school made up of delinquents. These delinquents run the show; however, everyone at the school knows not to mess with first year student Oga Tatsumi – also known as “the Rampaging Ogre”. One day, Oga finds a man floating down the river and decides to fish him out. While on the bank, the man splits in half and out emerges a baby, which quickly attaches itself to Oga’s back. It turns out that the baby is none other than Kaiser de Emperana Beelzebub IV – the son of the Demon Lord! Now juggling his newfound parenthood, Oga also has to deal with confrontations from all manner of demons, including Baby Beel’s demon maidservant, Hildegard. In this world of demons and delinquent high schoolers, raising the next demon lord is every bit the challenge that one expects it to be!

Being one of the lesser characters in Beelzebub, Johnny was the ghost of a human being haunting the halls of Saint Ishiyama Academy. He has blonde hair and blue eyes. He possesses Furuichi in order to be able to contact Yuko, a girl he’d known from when they were both alive. Yuko had a crush on Johnny but never had the courage to say anything about it, so when she died, she haunted the St. Ishiyama High nurse office hoping to meet Johnny again. After Furuichi gives her some advice, she and Johnny confess their love and they pass over together.


3. Ekubo (Dimple) – Mob Psycho 100

  • Episodes: 12
  • Aired: July 2016 – September 2016

Episodes: 12
Aired: July 2016 – September 2016
Kageyama “Mob” Shigeo is a 14-year-old who, from an early age, has possessed incredible latent psychic potential. However, he soon realises the potential danger of his abilities and vows to suppress his powers. In an attempt to learn how to control his powers, Mob takes up one Arataka Reigen, a con artist claiming to be a psychic, up to be his mentor. Reigen; however, uses Shigeo’s authentic powers to make a quick buck. Mob now participates in exorcisms and various other paranormal activities every single day; however, if his emotions go unchecked his powers stand to cause incredible destruction for the world around him and he simply can’t be stopped.

Starting out as the leader of the cult known as (LOL), Dimple was an evil spirit who wanted to become a god. After Mob shows up to one of the (LOL) meetings, Dimple is easily defeated and begins following Mob around. He initially wanted to use Mob’s body to pursue godhood but now would rather turn Mob into a god in and of himself. Dimple is a green wisp of smoke with rosy red cheeks and often wears a smile. He also doesn’t think of himself as one of the dead.


2. Nendou Sr – Saiki Kusuo no Ψ-nan (The Disastrous Life of Saiki K.)

  • Episodes: 120
  • Aired: July 2016 – December 2016

Saiki Kusuo is a high school student with a special talent: he is an ESPer. Gifted with various supernatural abilities, Kusuo can’t help but feel cursed due to the inconveniences created by the existence of these powers. Trying his best to live a normal life, he unwillingly attracts the attention of eccentric characters such as the air-headed Nendou Riki and Kaidou Shun, the delusional. With every passing day, Kusuo realises that the normal life he so desperately craves is further away than he thought.

The overarching banter when it comes to the Nendou family is the fact that they all look exactly the same. This is especially true when it comes to Nendou Riki’s father, Takeuchi Riki, who died prior to Riki’s birth. They are the same in appearance and personality, although it is wholly debatable who has more brain cells between the two. Takeuchi’s first appearance in the show was when he was presented as Toritsuka Reita’s spirit guardian. He often feels compelled to help Nendou Riki without realising who he is, which perhaps shows that his parental duties do cross over into the afterlife.


1. Yukine – Noragami

  • Episodes: 12
  • Aired: January 2014 – March 2014

The Yato God is a minor deity who calls himself a “Delivery God”, dreaming of one day having millions of worshippers. However, he currently has no shrine dedicated to his name. His days are spent collecting five-yen coins per odd job, at least until his sentient weapon partner becomes sick of the life they live and leaves him. Yato’s luck finally changes when 15-year-old Iki Hiyori saves Yato from a car accident, sustaining no serious injury, apart from the fact that her soul is now loose and capable of leaving her body. She demands that Yato turn her body back to normal, but his condition is that she helps him find a new weapon partner – perhaps he’ll find one who won’t leave this time around.

Yukine was the ghost of a teenage boy who is initially cold and cruel, mad about the fact that he’s dead. He starts off doing mischievous things like stealing because people cannot see him. After undergoing a heavy punishment from Yato, Yukine begins to grow more as a personality and his compassion for the people he forms bonds with becomes a central element to his character. Yukine’s human past is a mystery for the most part; however, it can be surmised that he didn’t quite have the best time because Yato cried in reaction to receiving Yukine’s forgotten memories. Now playing the role of Yato’s trusted weapon, Sekki, Yukine is incredibly powerful and can do things if he tries hard enough.


Final Thoughts

Digging up the haunted past is fun, but being able to add more to it is even better! Our updated list of ghost boys shows the variety of depiction that is so central to anime, but also shows how there is a hefty number of ghastly characters that one can get to know and enjoy! Are there other ghost boys we haven’t mentioned on this list? Drop a comment below and let us know what you think!

Natsuyuki-Rendezvous-capture-4-700x394 Top 10 Anime Ghost Boys [Updated]

Writer

Author: Hoshi-kun

I’m South African, harbouring an obsession for anything remotely related to Japan, mostly anime, of course. I draw sometimes. Some people call me Naledi, it’s my real name, or something like that. People think I’m stoic because I don’t smile often (I do sometimes). I like languages. Hoshi-kun and Naledi are the same side of the same coin.

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Original Article Below

Natsuyuki-Rendezvous-capture-4-700x394 Top 10 Anime Ghost Boys [Updated]

Introduction:

October is upon us, which means pumpkin spice lattes, pumpkin cake, pumpkin everything everywhere. Well, outside of celebrating those glorious orange orbs, October gives reason to delve into the things that are often seen as mysterious or haunted. Now, Halloween shines light, or perhaps it should be night, upon a lot of monsters, but there is truly only one creature that captures the ideal haunted narrative: the ghost. Ghosts are the manifestation of the dead and in many anime can even take possession of an object or body. They tend to stay in a particular location or follow around a particular character, and this proximity to person or place tends to create an appearance of being haunted. Before we get into discussing the origins of ghost tales, let’s just get into the top ten ghost boys in anime.

10. Alaude from Katekyo Hitman Reborn

  • Episodes: 203
  • Aired: Oct. 2006 – Sep. 2010

Katekyo Hitman Reborn follows Tsunayoshi Sawada as he’s trained to become the ninth boss of a mobster family. One of the people judging the performance of the main cast of characters is Alaude, one of the First Guardians for the Vongola Family.

Now Alaude was specifically the first boss’s Cloud Guardian and also acted as the head of a secret intelligence agency. These positions were not given to him by luck or accident. He’s a strong and stoic man, considered the strongest of the First Guardians, who followed a specific style of justice, which relied more on restraining the enemies. This is why his preferred weapon is a set of handcuffs.


9. Oscar H. Genius from Panty & Stocking with Garterbelt

  • Episodes: 13
  • Aired: Oct. 2010 – Dec. 2010

Panty and Stocking follows the Anarchy Sisters who were booted from heaven. Now, taking down the ghosts that terrorize Daten City, the two fallen angels are trying to collect enough Heaven Coins to get back to heaven. One of the ghosts they face up against in this series is Oscar H. Genius.

Oscar H. Genius, also known as Ugly Snot, is one of the few ghosts powerful enough to take human form. He took form when one unlucky human being happened to die after tripping on a discarded booger. Now that’s an embarrassing way to go and a surefire way to die with regrets. As a vengeful ghosts, Oscar H. Genius constructs a nasal masturbation fetish throughout Daten City. In other words, he got people really into picking their noses and hoped he could make them do it enough that they would die from dehydration. That’s one very particular way to haunt the living world.


8. Linn Regiostar from Hayate no Gotoku! (Hayate the Combat Butler)

  • Episodes: 52
  • Aired: Apr. 2007 – Mar. 2008

Hayate Ayasaki is one of the unluckiest people alive. He was abandoned by his parents and sold to the yakuza to pay off a 150-million yen debt at a very young age. Well, even when he’s ____, his horrible luck continues as he has to deal with the strange oddities that accompany the work of a butler. One such out-of-this-world situation that he must handle is the relationship with a perverted ghost.

Linn Regiostar, who’s name before the dubbed version was Linn Regiostar, was the father of the Church of Alexander Mark and is now a ghost who enjoys pestering Hayate on a constant basis. One of his more enjoyable hobbies is planting unwanted sexual thoughts into Hayate’s mind. His other main hobby is RPGs and it’s pretty clear that the mangaka wanted to give a shout out to some personal favorites through the narrative of Rean, who has an extreme love for the Dragon Quest series.


7. Atsushi Shimao from Natsuyuki Rendezvous

  • Episodes: 11
  • Aired: Jul. 2012 – Sep. 2012

Natsuyuki Rendezvous follows the way that a very unique love triangle unfolds. It’s extremely particular because one of the members involved in this triangle is a ghost, and he isn’t too thrilled with the other guy creeping in on his wife.

Atsushi Shimao is the late husband of Rocca, and he’s been watching her daily over the past three years since he’s departed. This makes it quite obvious as to how much the man loves his wife and just how caring he was/is towards her. However, jealousy does tend to rear its face when Rocky starts getting closer to Rocca, and things get a tad bit creepy when Atsushi possesses Rocky’s body.


6. Pete Pumps from Ginban Kaleidoscope (Skating Rink Kaleidoscope)

  • Episodes: 12
  • Aired: Oct. 2005 – Dec. 2005

Ginban Kaleidoscope focuses on the relationship between the ghost Pete Pumps and the living girl Tazusa, as Pete resides within her body. You see, Pete was a 16-year-old stunt pilot who died, and apparently needs to wait 100 days before ascending. Thus, he makes a home for himself in a currently living and potential Olympic figure skater, Tazusa.

Yeah, it’s a bit of a creepy situation, and it probably doesn’t make Tazusa feel anymore comfortable that Pete is clearly interested in her from the beginning. However, he’s able to make her fall for him by constantly pushing her to become a better skater and overall person. He helps her with media attention and performances to the point that her dreams are actually coming true.


5. Amidamaru from Shaman King

  • Episodes: 64
  • Aired: Jul. 2001 – Sep. 2002

Shaman King follows a host of shamans, those who can control ghosts and spirits, as they begin the Shaman Fight, a tournament held every 500 years to decide who solely gets to contact the Great Spirit. One of the main contestants in this tournament is You Asakura and his faithful partner ghost, Amidamaru.

Amidamaru is an extremely powerful ghost who takes You to the top of the competition. When we meet him, he comes off as a very serious individual who is extremely devoted his companion. As a human, he was training to be a samurai in order to protect the orphans he lived among, and he never went against his code of honor. This code of honor, which holds friendship to the highest degree, is actually what got him killed as he decided to save his best friend’s life instead of following his daimyo’s command.


4. Alexander the Great from Fate/Zero

  • Episodes: 25
  • Aired: Oct. 2011 – Jun. 2012

Fate/Zero follows the events of the Fourth Holy Grail War, which happens to be, canonically, the bloodiest of the Holy Grail Wars. Though the main protagonist is Emiya Kiritsugu, the show closely depicts the struggles and ideologies of each character, forcing us to see just how cruel and unbiased death can be. It also made the entire cast extremely memorable, but one character in particular struck everyone’s heart: Rider.

The role of the Rider class in Fate/Zero was filled by the Greek hero Alexander the Great. During his first appearance, you’re not just stunned by his physical presence, but by his almost childish demeanor. In other words, upon arriving in our world, he seems more interested in learning about today’s culture more than fighting the war. It is true that this man wants to live this current reappearance in reality to its upmost, but he is also a very serious and considerate warrior. Everything he does is to instill his young master with important life principles as well as encourage others to grasp life to its fullest. He fully believes that the role of hero is something to aspire to, and even if you don’t agree with his arguments of a king’s role, you still find yourself truly engaged with the character.


3. Yuuta Iridatsu from Punch Line

  • Episodes: 12
  • Aired: Apr. 2015 – Jun. 2015

The story of Punch Line throws us into a world of superpowers and super destruction. At the center of it all is Yuuta Iridatsu, who’s soul separates from its physical body when seeing a girl’s panties once. When he sees two panties, then a meteor hits Earth.

Now Yuuta’s backstory is quite a complicated one. [SPOILER] Yuuta’s body is that of a girl, but the soul of a boy (Pine) has been switched into her body. This was due to an incident that occurred while they were trying to escape from a lab that was performing experiments on them. On a day-to-day basis, Yuuta is a pretty normal teen. He goes with the flow, is a little lazy, and gets really embarrassed when seeing a girl’s panties. However, he has shown himself to be quite emotional when a friend is in danger and willing to risk getting hurt.


2. Kazuma from Noragami Aragoto

  • Episodes: 13
  • Aired: Oct. 2015 – Dec. 2015

Noragami Aragoto intensely follows the relationships between Bishamon and her host of Regalia that stay within her shrine/mansion. Though, we still see our beloved Yato and Yuki throughout the series, Studio Bones clearly wanted us viewers to see the struggles and tribulations of being a high-ranked god and having a ton of Regalia.

Kazuma is the leader of Bishamon’s Regalia (an exemplar), both on and off the field of battle. He is precise, careful, thoughtful, and incredibly powerful. He is also a man of his word and willing to protect those who have lent a helping hand in the past, even if it means tricking his goddess. We see this a couple times while Bishamon chases down Yato. Though many see him simply as a tactician, [SPOILER] he lays down the law on Takemikazuchi’s most powerful Regalia, the one that is known as the Thunder Blade.


1.Sai from Hikaru no Go

  • Episodes: 75
  • Aired: Oct. 2001 – Mar. 2003

Hikaru no Go throws viewers into the world of competitive Go, as we follow Hikaru Shindo, under the guidance of Fujiwara no Sai, into competition after competition. The one thing to understand about this show is that Fujiwara no Sai is a spirit from the Heian era of Japan and now resides within Hikaru.

In his original life, Sai was the mentor of Hikaru Shindo and played Go constantly in order to play what he would consider the “divine move”. Now living vicariously through Hikaru, he is still searching for that move as he challenge’s the world’s best players through Go. As a Go player, Sai is clearly one of the best, able to take upon just about any player in any time period. As a human, he is kind, compassionate, emotional, and patient. He’s a great mentor to anyone he plays Go with and cares deeply about those he has a relationship with.

Natsuyuki-Rendezvous-capture-4-700x394 Top 10 Anime Ghost Boys [Updated]


Final Thoughts:

Clearly, it’s an awesome experience to be possessed by a ghost. So grab your Ouija Boards and start trying to call forth someone from the afterlife. Okay, maybe don’t go that far, but you do you this Halloween and be sure to give yourself a proper scare. With all that said, were there any ghost characters that you wanted to see on this list?

Natsuyuki-Rendezvous-capture-4-700x394 Top 10 Anime Ghost Boys [Updated]

Writer

Author: Yoko Dev

Hello, my anime peers. I’m from the states, but have taken an indefinite leave to travel while freelancing. Outside of a deep admiration for anime that started long ago, I love to read, write, and play video games. The main issue of traveling so far has been not having a console.

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Natsuyuki-Rendezvous-capture-4-700x394 Top 10 Anime Ghost Boys [Updated]

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