11 Anime Series The Blend Horror and Comedy

While Pikotaro can take a pineapple and a pen, smash them together, and make a pineapple pen, other things don’t smush that easily. Two of those things are the genres of horror and comedy. Certainly there are a few black comedies anime series out there, but those aren’t always horror anime. It takes some talent to be horrific and hilarious all in the same anime series.

Dorohedoro

This series is the perfect amalgamation of horror and comedy. It can go from comic relief to pure gore in literal seconds. Furthermore, horrific things like opening ones chest to sign a contract with another is treated as a completely normal occurrence and not shocking to the characters at all. Dorohedoro is a series that is carried by amazing characters, and even the serious antagonist of the series is comedic in his own ways.

Danganronpa

This series is a special beast. It is a murder mystery initially about kids stuck locked in a school to play a killing game. However, the characters are all so over the top in their personalities and the punishment games are, well, black comedy at its finest. Danganronpa, for the most part, doesn’t try to be comedic, but it definitely has some levity to it despite the circumstance.

Sankarea

While a romance between a human and a girl that dies and becomes a zombie doesn’t have to be macabre, Sankarea thankfully goes that route. The girl teeters between cute and creepy, the whole series has a certain eeriness to it, and it has ecchi comedy that you, quite frankly might not know you even wanted.

Junji Ito Collection

Junji Ito is a master of horror manga, but this animated collection can be a little hit and miss with how they are adapted. Some of his horror series do find the hilarious in horrific circumstances, but other go for the straight terror and end up fumbling into hilarity. It’s a mix bad of black comedy, horror, and “so bad its funny.”

Yamishibai

In a similar vein to the Junji Ito Collection, Yamishibai is a short episode series where each episode is a short horror story. Some of them are downright terrifying, and others adds a little more levity. Luckily, there are very few episodes that are in the “so bad its funny” sort of vein, so there’s that.

Bludgeoning Angel Dokuro-Chan

This series is an interesting one. There are a lot of violent tsunderes in anime, and it is always played for laughs. This series, too, is laughs, but also so horribly gruesome. It is perhaps less on the horror side unless you consider gore to be horror.

Ghost Stories

In order for Ghost Stories to be both horror and comedy, you must watch the dubbed version. As they didn’t have a proper translation, they just sort of said “fuck it” and did a comedy dub. The actual ghost stories are kept intact for the most part, and they can be quite creepy sometimes, but the dub adds a beloved dose of levity.

Gegege no Kintarou

This is in the same vein as Ghost Stories, but it doesn’t have a comedy dub. It is essentially a paranormal sort of show, but with some levity injected mostly from the silly characters. It is on the less creepy side of horror most of the time, though.

Parasyte

This is more of an action-oriented series. However, it has its fun moments like any action anime really needs to. Furthermore, when people’s heads start splitting open and beloved characters are suddenly rent asunder, well, it can be pretty horrific too.

Ghost Hunt

While paranormal series in general are usually on the lighter side of horror in terms of scariness, Ghost Hunt can bring a lot of creepiness to it. It also highlights actual ghost hunting techniques, which is interesting. However, as there is also a light romantic subplot, there are a few moments of hilarity as well.

Zombieland Saga

While Zombieland Saga is a little light on the horror. It provides some grand comedy. It is an idol show, but all the girls are dead. So they deal with rotting and limbs falling off.

Do you have more anime that combine the two diametrically opposed genres of comedy and horror? Let fans know in the comments section below.