Zombies and ghouls are a real cult in the West and had a significant effect on Japanese culture as well.
The anime industry is no exception as we are getting more and more series featuring them. From brain-eating monsters to idols and bizarre romantic scenarios, this trope has taken different turns throughout Japanese animation.
Let us introduce you to our list of the best zombie anime out there, according to our tastes. We want to clarify that everything in this top is subjective and entries are not listed based on their ranking.
Table of Contents
17. GYO: Tokyo Fish Attack
The story revolves around Kaori, a girl on vacation with her friends coming close to marrying Tadashi, a sound technician living in Tokyo.
The unpredictable happens during the vacation: Japan is being invaded by zombie fishes of all types, including terrifying sharks and octopi, as Kaori loses every means of contacting her boyfriend.
The original work is Junji Itō’s manga Gyo, which is way more haunting and credible. The biggest problem with GYO: Tokyo Fish Attack is exactly that, you can’t take it seriously, it’s just a mix of random events merged.
The background of the characters is extremely forced and can come across as hilarious. We recommend this series to all those people that enjoy B movies and want to watch zombie fishes (who wouldn’t!?).
16. Seoul Station
A Korean-made movie, released in 2016 and featuring one of the most popular themes in Korea, which fits perfectly with our theme of this list: zombies.
A homeless man in Seoul Station suddenly starts going crazy, eventually turning into a zombie. Within a short period, the entire city is overrun by the epidemic forcing the survivors to flee and fight relentlessly to survive.
Seoul Station is a movie produced and set in Korea, which therefore features a unique style typical of Korean productions. Definitely interesting if you want to see something different from the usual and change the atmosphere.
15. Zombie-Loan
A captivating anime released in 2007, based on the shonen manga of the same name written by PEACH-PIT.
The protagonist of the story is high school girl Kita Michiru, a girl like any other who wears flashy, round eyeglasses that make her recognizable even from miles away.
But it is to her amazement that one day when she takes them off, she realizes that she sees the world in a totally different and decidedly strange way. She realizes that she can see around the necks of certain people a strange black ring.
A short anime of just 11 episodes, which is well worth watching because of its action moments, accompanied by a great soundtrack that will keep the pace going.
14. Highschool of the Dead
In High School of the Dead, a mysterious deadly disease has spread throughout the world, with catastrophic repercussions for humanity, resulting in attacks caused by the living dead, called Them.
A group of high school students in Japan has banded together to escape the zombie onslaught, while also trying to figure out who or what is responsible for the ongoing apocalypse.
The manga blatantly references the corresponding horror film strand, not failing to pay homage to films such as Dawn of the Dead and 28 Days Later, as well as video games such as Resident Evil.
But don’t expect anything serious or even a masterpiece.
High School of the Dead was blatantly created to entertain without commitment with its exaggerated gore scenes and an inordinate amount of ecchi and fanservice.
13. School-Live!
School-Live is a 2015 anime based on a Seinen manga, which plays on the surprise effect quite often.
What seems with all the premises a very normal slice-of-life anime, where the cheerful protagonist Takeya Yuki lives her school life in a sunny and energetic way.
She’s enrolled in the school club School Life with her friends, a seemingly happy and cheerful setting.
Don’t worry though, because this scenario of happiness will soon be interrupted by a terrible and violent zombie invasion, which will send the school into a panic.
An interesting anime to watch because of its constant twists and changes in the atmosphere, which will be the main focus.
12. Is This a Zombie?
Expect anything from this anime, trust us. Is This a Zombie, an anime released in 2011, combines in itself several themes and genres, starting from no-sense comedy to horror and splatter, managing to include ecchi and harem elements as well.
But don’t think that it ends here, because the list is still long. There will be magical and majokko elements, with a touch of the supernatural.
The plot revolves around listless high schooler Ayumu Aikawa, who following a chain of events finds himself dead from murder.
When all seems over, he finds himself alive again, revived by the mysterious necromancer Yu in the form of a zombie.
Ayumu will then find himself in an unfamiliar world, surrounded by sorceresses, zombie ninjas, and vampires.
And then, still stunned, the boy will be assigned to the ranks of the warrior division of one of the magical warriors, Haruma.
11. The Empire of Corpses
The Empire of Corpses is a movie released in 2015 that goes to combine the horror-zombie theme with steampunk settings in a very interesting mix.
In a 19th-century alternate world, reanimated corpses, called Frankensteins, have been developed that help humans with heavy labor or are used as soldiers.
The protagonist is John Watson, a young scientist who is chosen by the government to become a secret agent and retrieve important and dangerous notes from a Russian scientist.
He will find himself traveling the world, accompanied by the Frankenstein named Friday.
The Empire of Corpses is an intriguing and innovative movie, whether you like the genre or not it ends up being interesting to watch.
Its steampunk-horror settings and distinctive animation style contribute to the twist of the figure of the zombie, putting it side by side with man.
10. Sunday Without God
Let’s now have look at an apocalyptic-style anime with zombies, adding a touch of mystery and fantasy, perfect if you like anime where the mystery is gradually resolved.
In an alternate, dystopian world, God has decided, disappointed by their behavior, to leave humankind and the planet to their fate as punishment.
Because of this condition, humans can no longer have children, but as a result, they can’t die either.
Thus is born the figure of the Gravekeeper, a shaman-like people with the task of bringing people who died before the divine sentence back to life, to repopulate the planet.
The protagonist of the story is Ai, a young 12-year-old girl who fills the role of Gravekeeper, who one day will come face to face with a boy who will start firing on the crowd indiscriminately.
9. Soul Eater
Soul Eater is an extremely popular and well-known battle shonen in the 2000s when it was broadcast.
The background is the Shinigami World where the enemies are the Kishin, dark humans devoted to evil who kill to increase their power.
The 2 main characters are Maka Albarn and his human weapon Soul Eater, capable of becoming a scythe with which to reap the souls of enemies.
Both of them and their classmates attend the Shinigami School, where they prepare to face and exorcise the threat under the guidance of professors in the various missions given to the protagonists.
One of the best recommendations on the list if we talk about the quality, but one of the worst if the focus is the zombie theme.
In fact, Soul Eater within its quirky and imaginative story will have some zombies, but only in a few scenes, and even those few are mostly comical.
Nonetheless, it’s a great entry due to its exhilarating situations and lightness.
8. Gungrave
This anime is based on a videogame. Many of you must be turning up your noses by now since, we agree with you, these often turn out to be disappointing and commercial moves.
But that may not be the case this time, with Gungrave possibly turning out to be a surprise even despite the premise.
The protagonist Brandon Heat awakens after a state of oblivion, bewildered and in need of constant care because of his condition, making him a sort of zombie.
He remembers nothing of his past life, let alone who he was before falling into that deep sleep. Indeed, every time he tries to make his way through his memories he falls prey to deep crisis and suffering.
What he does know, however, is that he now possesses enormous powers and extraordinary strength. Thus begins his journey to find his identity.
7. Corpse Princess
Corpse Princess is an anime directed by Gainax and feel., based on revenge and the relationship between life and death.
The main character Makina Hoshimura turns into a Shikabane Hime (zombie) after she is brutally murdered by a secret organization.
This is possible thanks to the effort of the Kougun Cult, as they want her to kill other corpses, for this reason, they will grant her access to Heaven, as long as she kills 108 of them.
Corpse Princess is extremely action-packed and entertaining, although it doesn’t excel in anything.
Like many anime in this listicle, it’s just a decent show to watch if you like the zombie genre since there is nothing revolutionary about this series.
6. Tokyo Ghoul
One of the most famous and talked-about anime of recent years, which has been at the center of attention for a variety of reasons, mainly because of its fluctuating animated adaptation.
The story revolves around Ken Kaneki, an ordinary college-going boy who lives in a town where strange and violent murders are happening.
According to the police investigation, these deaths are caused by Ghouls, mysterious and unknown creatures that feed on the bodies of their victims. No one has ever seen them even in passing.
As already mentioned, Tokyo Ghoul is a much-discussed anime because of its uncertain and not exactly faithful animated adaptation, but still, it’s one of the best horror anime you can find on Hulu.
So we of course recommend, if you have the desire and finances, to approach the work through the manga, although the anime deserves to be seen for the good animation and soundtrack.
5. Sankarea: Undying Love
Chihiro Furuya is addicted to horror and zombies and he has always wished for a zombie girlfriend. Sankarea follows the story of this bizarre main character as his dream comes true at the beginning of the series.
In the attempt of resurrecting his run-over cat Baabu, Chihiro tries to create a resurrecting potion with the help of a girl named Rea Sanka. The experiment is a success and the depressed Rea drinks the potion to commit suicide.
However, things don’t go as planned and she is turned into a living zombie. Both Chihiro and Rea have to adapt to this new and unsolicited situation and the result is quite comical.
If you want to watch something light-hearted and funny with a dash of romance with demons in its setting, Sankarea a great choice.
Zombies are one of the central topics of this work and the combination with the slice-of-life component is interesting and effective.
4. Zombieland Saga
Zombieland Saga is nothing else than a comedic take on the idol genre… but with zombies. The show features 7 girls revived from different historical eras forming a band.
The protagonist Sakura Minamoto gets hit by a truck and ends up in a comatose state. She wakes up 10 years later to find out she is in the Saga Prefecture as a zombie.
A man named Koutarou Tatsumi tells Sakura that he resurrected her along with 6 other girls to revive Saga’s economy through an idol group.
The most important detail of Zombieland Saga is that these girls don’t remember their past.
This series can be considered one of the best 2018 series and music anime in general, as it’s capable of blending fun and sad moments.
After dying in a car accident, high school student Kei Nagai returns to life discovering that he is an Ajin. Ajins are immortal beings capable of healing all kinds of wounds, and because of this endowment, he is considered a threat to humankind.
Whenever an Ajin appears, governments intervene by force to capture him or her and make him or her a guinea pig for experiments. Thus begins his escape.
An anime that makes action its workhorse, with breathtaking battles that will keep you in suspense. But the real feather in the cap of this work is the group of villains, truly believable and fascinating.
2. Kabaneri of the Iron Fortress
Kabaneri of the Iron Fortress is an anime that we have already discussed several times for its great quality.
It’s worth mentioning that this series is one of the best supernatural anime in a historical context, being set in Japan’s indutrial revolution
The world of Kabaneri shows us a post-apocalyptic scenario, where the Kabane infects people, making them like zombies with the only weakness in their hearts.
But Ikoma, one of the survivors, manages to create a weapon that turns the Kabane back to normal without killing them, thus giving new hope to humankind.
A great dark fantasy setting and lots of action make this anime an easy recommendation, which goes on to combine classic shonen themes with a post-apocalyptic andscenario.
Note should also be made of the excellent animation by Studio Wit, the same as anime such as Attack on Titan in the first 3 seasons and Vinland Saga, but also many others.
1. Hellsing Ultimate
The name of the series comes from the homonym secret organization Hellsing, whose duty is to hide the existence of Vampires and to keep the population safe.
It’s financed and supported by the British government and its current leader is Integra Hellsing. The main character Alucard works for Hellsing as a vampire exterminator, being himself a member of the vampire race. He is supported by his new assistant Seras Victoria, a former policewoman who he saved in the past.
Integra Hellsing, the current leader of the organization, is worried about a new wave of vampire attacks and the problem seems much bigger than she expected.
The mysterious group called Millenium is plotting to throw England into disarray, and maybe threaten even the entire world.
There are Ghouls throughout the series, you can think of them as zombie-like vampires, so it’s one of the many types Alucard will face.
Hellsing Ultimate is an anime recognized by the masses as a small masterpiece. You can say it’s among the best vampire anime due to its complexity and its badass main character.
And this is certainly because of its excellent action, its gorgeous and recognizable settings, and an excess of gore but that works, totally contextualized and great.
Anime lover and a big fan of the 90s. He has previous experience working with foreign websites and now he is willing to move things even further.
When he is not writing for Nihonime.com, Zeruan spends most of his time reading, coding and developing marketing strategies.
