Best Supernatural Anime of 2009

Koyomi Araragi, a third-year high school student, survives a vampire attack thanks to Meme Oshino, an odd man who lives in an abandoned building. Although he is restored to humanity, lingering side effects like superhuman healing and enhanced vision remain. With support from his friend and class president Tsubasa Hanekawa, Araragi tries to maintain a normal student life. When he catches fellow classmate Hitagi Senjougahara as she falls down a flight of stairs, Araragi realizes she is unnaturally weightless. Despite Senjougahara's reluctance, Araragi insists on helping her and turns to Oshino—the same man who once resolved his own crisis. Through a series of stories involving demons and gods, Bakemonogatari follows Araragi as he works to aid those suffering from supernatural afflictions.

Traveling merchant Kraft Lawrence continues his northward journey alongside the wolf goddess Holo, searching for her lost home of Yoitsu. Lawrence and his quick-witted partner make modest profits along the way, slowly gathering more clues about Holo's hometown. Yet the path to Yoitsu is rough, filled with obstacles—Lawrence encounters a charming young fellow merchant who sets his sights on the female wolf companion, making Lawrence wonder if Holo will stay with him; he and the goddess must also weigh risky business deals as Lawrence pursues his dream of owning a shop. Throughout the journey, as his resolve is tested at every turn, Lawrence must reconsider his relationship with Holo, take on new ventures, and ask himself whether it is time for him and Holo to part ways.

Tomoki Sakurai has been waking up in tears from dreams about an angel ever since he was a child. Worried about him, his childhood friend Sohara Mitsuki gets help from Eishirou Sugata, an eccentric sky enthusiast. Eishirou theorizes that the dreams are connected to the New World, a mysterious floating phenomenon that has scientists baffled. After forming the initial members of the New World Discovery Club, Eishirou organizes a meeting to watch the sky. But Tomoki's peaceful daily life is turned upside down when a strange girl falls from above and calls him her master. Heaven's Lost Property follows the everyday adventures of the New World Discovery Club as they gradually unravel the mysteries behind the Angeloids that have arrived on Earth.

Junpei Kousaka is a high school sophomore who suffers from an allergy to cats, which has led him to despise felines and anything associated with them. Unfortunately for him, he is constantly around cat enthusiasts: his family, his distant childhood friend, and even the girl he has a crush on, Kaede Mizuno. One day on his way home from school, Junpei casually tries to kick an empty can into a trash bin but fails badly. Instead of landing in the garbage, the can knocks the head off a statue of a cat deity. That very day, he is cursed with the ability to comprehend what cats say. However, he must conceal this curse from everyone, because anyone who learns of it will become more prone to accidents and share the same fate. With advice from his cat Nyamsus and having no other option, Junpei must now perform one hundred good deeds for cats in order to break the curse. If he fails to accomplish this task, he will transform into a cat, and given his allergy, that would mean certain death for him!

Zoku Natsume Yuujinchou continues the story of Takashi Natsume, a boy who has possessed the ability to see youkai since childhood, and his youkai bodyguard Madara, who goes by the nickname Nyanko-sensei. Natsume works to give back the names recorded in his "Book of Friends," a tome he inherited from his grandmother Reiko, to the youkai living in his village. Along the way, he encounters youkai who are kind, others who try to steal the Book, and those who wish him harm, all while Natsume gains deeper insight into himself and his connection with these mysterious beings.

When the sky turns crimson and the moon becomes black, monsters begin appearing on the streets, leaving Satsuki Kakeru unsure of what to do. Together with his closest friend Yuka, he attempts to figure out why they have been transported to this bizarre world, which seems completely deserted except for the two of them. Yet when the "Red Night" concludes, Kakeru and Yuka assume it was just a hallucination—until it repeats, placing them in a perilous scenario. They encounter four others facing the same ordeal: Kusakabe Misuzu, a skilled swordswoman; Tachibana Kukuri, a peculiar silent girl who bears a striking resemblance to Kakeru's deceased sister; Hirohara Yukiko, a spirited young woman whose demeanor shifts to that of a cold-blooded assassin when her glasses are taken off; and Tajima Takahisa, a youth capable of pyrokinesis. As the six unite to endure and uncover the nature of this enigmatic realm, matters worsen when six dark figures emerge before them...

The third entry in 07th Expansion's popular When They Cry series, Umineko no Naku Koro ni is set on Rokkenjima, the private island of the immensely wealthy Ushiromiya family. As has been tradition for years, the whole family gathers there for a meeting to discuss each member's current financial standing. With the family head's health declining, this year's conference also covers the topic of his inheritance and how it will be divided. The family does not realize, however, that the distribution of the old man's fortune is far from Ushiromiya Kinzou's main concern for this gathering. After his longtime friend and doctor warns him that his end is near, Kinzou becomes desperate to see the true love of his life one more time: the Golden Witch, Beatrice. Having devoted much of his later years to studying black magic, Kinzou sets in motion a ritual to resurrect his beloved as soon as his family arrives on Rokkenjima. Not long after, a powerful typhoon maroons everyone on the island, and a series of inexplicable murders begin. The eighteen people trapped there must fight for their lives in a deadly conflict between fantasy and reality.

Kobato Hanato is a kind and genuine girl who has a wish to reach a certain place no matter what. To achieve this, she is assigned to assist people when they are in need. For every heart she heals, a small candy-like bead appears and goes into a special container. When the container is full, her wish will come true. While doing her job alongside her plush toy partner, Ioryogi, Kobato meets many individuals struggling with different issues. From a kid dealing with his parents to a high school girl troubled by love, and many others in between, Kobato's naturally warm smile and outgoing character are prepared to make their day better.

High school student Ibuki Keita has lived under a constant cloud of misfortune for as long as he can remember. Without any clear cause, everyone around him meets a tragic end. As a result, he has grown unwilling to form close bonds, even with his childhood friend Akane, leaving Keita alone in a life filled with hardship and shame. One evening while eating at his favorite ramen shop, Keita encounters a strange young girl named Kuro. Possessing abilities beyond those of an ordinary human, she identifies herself as a Mototsumitama. She explains the concept of "Terra," a life-energy force divided among three identical-looking individuals—a global phenomenon known as the "Doppeliner System." As a Mototsumitama, Kuro protects the "Coexistence Equilibrium," the entities that regulate the flow of Terra across the world. Keita dismisses her story until he finds himself caught in the crossfire of this hidden realm. On the brink of death, he enters into a contract with Kuro, unaware of its true significance. Now bound to her side at all times, Keita wonders if his streak of misfortune could possibly get any worse.

A direct continuation of Shikabane Hime: Aka, this story picks up six months after Tagami Keisei was killed by the Shichisei (Seven Stars), an elite group of Shikabane who act on more than just lingering regrets. Fulfilling Keisei's dying wish, Kagami Ouri entered a temporary contract with Makina to prevent her from degenerating into a full Shikabane. Since then, Ouri has been training to become a proper monk so he can maintain his contract with Makina and help her fight the Shichisei—the ones who originally murdered Makina, wiped out the entire Hoshimura family, and now have taken Keisei as well. However, the treacherous monk Shishidou Akasha has allied himself with the Shichisei in a plot to destroy all Shikabane Hime and the entire monk organization that uses them—the Kougon Sect.

Yuuri Mito lives the life of an ordinary Japanese high school student, balancing his time between attending classes, repairing motorcycles for locals, and conducting exorcisms. While the latter task might seem out of the ordinary, it is only natural given that his family resides at a shrine and handles such spiritual matters. However, Mito should have exercised more caution when he discovered an ancient artifact in the forest, particularly after a mysterious deity warned him to leave it untouched. Despite his efforts to heed her advice, the seal is inevitably broken, releasing several dangerous tayuti from their long slumber. The situation worsens when Mito attracts the attention of a stunning goddess who declares her intent to marry him. This potential romance is complicated by the fact that he is now entangled in a conflict between the entities he has unleashed. Although his physical strength may be lacking, his spiritual resolve is more than enough to make up for it.

Thirteen-year-old Hajime Yasaka relocates to the Japanese countryside to live with his grandfather. During the journey to his new residence, a disoriented Hajime stumbles into a cafe named Ark, where he instantly becomes smitten with a stunning waitress named Sayoko "Arashi" Arashiyama. Although Arashi initially ignores the boy, her demeanor shifts dramatically when she takes his hand, convincing her that the two share a special connection. Arashi is far from an ordinary adolescent; she is actually the spirit of a girl who died during World War II. By physically connecting with a man she bonds with, she acquires the power to travel through time. Overjoyed to have found someone capable of unlocking her abilities, Arashi recruits Hajime to assist in her quest to rescue civilians from the wartime devastation that took her life. Enchanted by Arashi, Hajime accepts without hesitation. However, as they delve deeper into her past, they realize that she is not the only person capable of transcending time.

The nostalgic summer of his youth persists. Still standing on the threshold between boyhood and adulthood, he forms a bond with the spirit of a young woman from the World War II era. Together with the ghosts of other girls from that period and their connected partners, they embark on new adventures, growing closer to one another while traversing time through their supernatural link. As he grapples with the desire to make his feelings for her a reality, his friend—a girl his age who disguises herself as a boy—also competes for his affection.

TV Asahi unveiled a new children's anime titled Kaidan Restaurant (Thriller Restaurant), adapted from a picture book series. Every episode is structured into three segments called "dishes": the appetizer, the main dish, and dessert. The initial two "dishes" focus on Ako Ozara, a typical sixth-grade schoolgirl, and the strange events that happen to her classmates. The final "dish" features a self-contained brief ghost story narrated by Ako and her companions.