Best Supernatural Anime of 2005

Mushi represent the most fundamental expressions of life, existing solely to be, entirely free from the constraints of moral concepts like good and evil. These entities manifest in myriad forms, capable of imitating elements of nature such as flora, illness, and even atmospheric events like rainbows. However, this description barely scratches the surface of the mysterious beings that populate the world of Mushishi; labeling them as life is itself a reduction. Comprehensive knowledge about Mushi is rare, as most people remain oblivious to their presence. This ignorance fuels the constant inquiries of Ginko, a Mushishi who dedicates his life to studying these creatures to comprehend their role within the natural order. He follows whispers of events potentially linked to Mushi, driven by the hope that uncovering their truth might ultimately reveal the very meaning of existence.

Saya Otonashi leads an ordinary life with her adopted family in Okinawa City, appearing to be a typical high school girl. Her only unusual traits are a tendency toward anemia and a complete lack of memories from before the past year. But Saya's forgotten history resurfaces when she is attacked at school by a blood-drinking creature. A mysterious man named Haji intervenes to drive the monster away. When he forces her to drink his blood, Saya enters a trance and uses her own blood as a weapon to easily kill the beast. Saya discovers the existence of Red Shield, an organization created specifically to combat these monstrous beings. Together with Haji, she must join forces with Red Shield to battle the terrifying creatures and uncover the truth behind her lost memories.

The saying goes that one who seeks revenge must dig two graves—and this holds especially true for visitors of the Hell Correspondence website. At midnight, this eerie web domain becomes active, and anyone who types the name of a person they resent will receive a visit from Ai Enma, the Hell Girl. Ai explains that she will condemn the target’s soul to hell, but the requester will also be sent to hell after death. For some, this cost is far too great; for others, the fate of their afterlife matters little compared to the torment they endure in their daily lives. But one thing remains certain: the Hell Girl will always be available to those in need of vengeance, as she stoically carries out her duty of transporting souls into the abyss.

Guided by a childhood story from his mother, Yukito Kunisaki travels in search of the Winged Maiden, a figure bound to the sky long ago. While performing puppet shows to earn a living, he arrives in a small town intending only a brief stop. His plans change when he encounters Misuzu, an unusual girl who invites him to stay. Settling into the quaint community, Yukito befriends the residents and learns of their struggles, choosing to assist them and pausing his quest. As his bond with Misuzu and the town deepens, he must wonder if his search for the Winged Maiden will ever succeed, or if she is nearer than he imagined.

Vampires are supernatural beings that have existed for centuries, feeding on the life force of unsuspecting humans at night. But high school student Karin Maaka stands out even among her own kind. Unlike the rest of her vampire family, Karin has suffered since childhood from polycythemia—a rare condition that causes her to periodically generate an excessive amount of blood. The more blood she produces, the more dizzy and anemic she becomes, often resulting in frequent nosebleeds. Her sole remedy? Force her surplus blood onto random strangers, which surprisingly makes these "victims" feel more energetic and cheerful than before. With the help of her siblings—Anju, her reserved yet loving younger sister, and Ren, her womanizing older brother—who cover up her actions by erasing the affected humans' memories, nobody suspects anything. That is, until Karin's new classmate, Kenta Usui, transfers in and begins to notice her peculiar behavior. And to complicate matters further, Karin finds that her blood reacts strangely whenever Kenta is near.

In a world where humans can have their desires fulfilled through the Goddess Help Hotline, a man named Keiichi Morisato accidentally summons the goddess Belldandy and jokingly says she should stay with him forever. Unfortunately for him, his "wish" comes true. Suddenly, Keiichi finds himself living alone with this beautiful woman, which leads to him being expelled from the all-male dormitory he resided in. However, after they find a place to stay at a Buddhist temple, the relationship between Keiichi and Belldandy begins to develop. Though they are both shy and somewhat uneasy around each other at first, what lies ahead for these two strangers may turn out to be an unexpected romance.

In the world of Loveless, every person is born with cat ears and a tail, which vanish only if that individual engages in sexual intercourse. As a result, these features have become symbols of virginity and innocence. Combat is exclusively conducted by "fighting pairs" or couples, consisting of a Sacrifice, who absorbs damage, and a Fighter, who launches attacks. Ritsuka Aoyagi is a 12-year-old boy suffering from amnesia for reasons unknown. His brother was recently killed, and as if his life hasn't been difficult enough, on his first day at a new school, he is approached by a stranger named Agatsuma Soubi, who claims to have known his deceased brother. Ritsuka learns that Agatsuma and his brother were once a fighting pair, and that Agatsuma has now inherited Ritsuka in his brother's absence. Together, they seek the truth behind his brother's death and the organization called the "Seven Moons," which may be responsible. Meanwhile, Ritsuka and Agatsuma seem to be growing closer than they ever intended.

A secret tournament is taking place to decide who will become the next ruler of the Heavenly World. In this contest, 100 Heavenly Beings, called "God Candidates," must each choose a middle school student on Earth to receive their power. These chosen students then battle one another on behalf of their God Candidates. The winner of the tournament receives the "Blank Talent," which lets them pick any unique ability they desire, while their God Candidate becomes the "God" and king of the Heavenly World. Kousuke Ueki, a middle school student, is chosen by his homeroom teacher Kobayashi and given the power to turn trash into trees. Despite worries from his classmate Ai Mori, Ueki sets out to follow his own sense of justice after seeing others misuse their powers for selfish reasons. As he faces skilled power users like Seiichirou Sano, Rinko Jerrard, Robert Haydn, and Hideyoshi Soya, he discovers that reaching his goal will be much more difficult than he thought.

As the story of Rozen Maiden draws to a close, a new story begins in Rozen Maiden: Träumend. Shinku and the other sentient dolls from the Rozen Maiden collection continue their daily life at Jun Sakurada's residence. Having grown accustomed to his role as Shinku's partner in the perilous Alice Game, Jun overcomes his previous anxieties and gets ready to go back to school. Even though Shinku and the other dolls spend their days leisurely in the comfort of Jun's home, dark times approach with the arrival of a new adversary: Barasuishou, the seventh Rozen Maiden. However, Barasuishou remains an enigma even to her fellow dolls, none of whom had ever seen her before. Shinku interprets this as an indication that the Alice Game is nearing its conclusion, meaning the dolls will soon be compelled to battle each other. Troubled by the impending conflict and nightmares about another doll, Shinku starts to distance herself from the others. If she hopes to achieve victory, it will demand a heavy price—the lives of her sisters.

Satonaka Ikkou is a sixteen-year-old boy in his first year of training at the Saienji Buddhist Temple. His parents sent him there to be trained by the Saienji Priestess, who is his grandmother. At the temple, he is surrounded by beautiful female priestesses-in-training. Whenever Ikko sees a girl naked, he gains the ability to transform into a super-monk and carry out massive exorcisms for the temple's benefit.

In the laid-back 1980s, Yurie Hitotsubashi is a typical middle schooler in Onomichi, a coastal city on Japan’s inland sea. Her daily life revolves around studying for tests and trying to get the attention of Kenji, the oblivious boy she has a crush on. One day at lunch, she casually tells her friend Mitsue that she transformed into a goddess the previous night. Their classmate Matsuri sees an opportunity and quickly adopts Yurie’s new status to save her family’s failing Shinto shrine. Matsuri plans to replace their ineffective local deity, Yashima-sama, with Yurie to boost the shrine’s popularity and revenue. With Matsuri acting as her manager, Yurie must handle divine duties like granting wishes, lifting curses, encountering aliens, and attending conventions for deities. Throughout all this, she continues attending school and striving to gather the courage to confess her feelings to Kenji.

Tazusa Sakurano is a figure skater with a clear path to the Olympics, with her fate hanging in the balance at a single competition in Canada. During her routine, she falls and strikes her head on the ice, losing consciousness. Coincidentally, Canadian stunt pilot Pete Pumps crashes in a fiery explosion. Following her crushing defeat, Tazusa returns to Japan but begins hearing a mysterious voice in her mind. The truth is that upon reaching heaven, Pete was barred from entry due to his sins and instructed to wait for 100 days, resulting in his soul being trapped inside Tazusa’s body. Refusing to let this intrusion derail her life, even with an extra presence in her mind, Tazusa continues her skating career, hoping that her uninvited roommate might actually assist her in reaching her dreams.

Hatsune-Jima was once famous for its cherry trees that would bloom regardless of the season. Two years ago, the island's cherry trees lost that ability and became ordinary trees that only bloom in spring. Jun'ichi Asakura is now a graduating senior at Kazami Academy, surrounded by many close friends, both old and new. On a stormy summer day, a mysterious young girl named Aisia arrives at Jun'ichi's door. She is looking for Sakura's grandmother to study magic, ultimately hoping to bring happiness to everyone. When she discovers that grandmother Yoshino died long ago, she mistakenly assumes (thanks to his poor judgment) that Jun'ichi can teach her. Even after she finally understands the only magic he can perform is conjuring Japanese sweets, Aisia continues her search for magic on Hatsune-Jima. Amid the chaos of her search, Kazami Academy hires new medical staff.

Set in Meiji 38 (1905), as the Russo-Japanese War drags on with increasing difficulty, the Raimu Squad is reorganized under new leadership. The squad consists entirely of girls who, despite their unique designation of "Raimu," lead lives much like any other students, longing for love and normalcy. Inukai Tsuyoshiro, a young man recently appointed as the squad's leader, is driven by a fierce ambition to fight for his country. Upon meeting the five female members, a new chapter in the story of the Raimu begins.