It’s already hard enough for main characters in anime to achieve their goals. So, when you add supernatural elements like curses to the mix, the various obstacles they must overcome become that much harder. These curses sometimes manifest as warnings that discourage our hero from doing something stupid or defying a tradition. Other times, they’re nothing more than pranks played on the protagonist by bored gods. In any case, these supernatural events come in all shapes and sizes, adding a few twists to the story. So here are five anime about curses that are difficult to break.
Another
Many times an evil event invokes supernatural powers that inflict harm. However, the curse in Another didn’t start out that that way. Back in the ‘70s, a popular student at Yomiyama North Middle School unexpectedly dies. Instead of mourning his death and saying their final goodbyes, the students of Class 3-3 decide to carry on as if their dead friend is still alive.
From that point on, the school becomes a place plagued by death. Each year, an extra dead student or faculty member appears in the class and lives like a normal person until the school year’s end. While having a spiritual being around isn’t that bad, these particular beings bring some very bad juju with them. And not just stubbing your toe on a desk.
Several students and their family members suffer horrible and frightening deaths that many incorrectly brush off as bizarre accidents. Sure, because hitting your head while leaving the house and then getting hit by a boat while drowning is an “accident.”
Higurashi When They Cry
During the summer of 1983, a young boy named Keiichi Maebara moves to the quiet village of Hinamizawa. The small town is so remote that they’ve combined every grade into a single class. Keiichi quickly becomes friends with Rena Ryūgū, Mion Sonozaki, Satoko Hōjō, and Rika Furude and joins their after-school club to play various games. But it wouldn’t be an anime about curses if there wasn’t something sinister afoot.
As the village prepares for the annual Watanagashi festival, Keiichi learns about one of the legends surrounding the summer festivities. To his horror, he discovers that several people have disappeared, including Satoko’s brother. Various murders also seem to be connected to the festival and the village’s guardian deity, Oyashiro-sama.
Desperate to find out more, Keiichi turns to his new friends. However, their silence adds to Keiichi’s paranoia. But, the weirdness doesn’t end there. Keiichi’s curiosity will lead him straight to the dark mystery plaguing Hinamizawa and drive him to do unspeakable things.
Black Bullet
In the year 2021, humanity is on the brink of extinction due to the “Gastrea” virus, which turns people into monsters. What’s left of humanity now lives in Monolith, a city surrounded by giant barriers made out of Varanium, a metal that can subdue the Gastrea.
But the virus doesn’t only create monsters, it also curses female children by giving them superhuman abilities and turning their eyes red. As a result, these girls are called “Cursed Children,” and since the girls have trace amounts of the virus, many are abandoned by their mothers. Left to their own devices, the government uses the Cursed Children for their own end, calling them “Initiators.” Accompanied by a Promoter, a partner tasked to guide and protect them, the government sends these teams to combat the monsters that the Gastrea create.
The series follows the team of Rentaro Satomi and his Initiator Enju Aihara, as they receive a secret mission to prevent Tokyo’s destruction. However, they’ll soon discover the horrors these Cursed Children go through.
C³
Based on the light novel series by Minase Hazuki (Fate/kaleid liner Prisma Illya) comes a story about romance, action, and, of course, curses. The anime follows Haruaki Yachi, a high school student who is naturally resistant to curses — until his antique collector father sends him a mysterious heavy black cube.
That same night, Haruaki finds a naked silver-haired girl named Fear Kubrick standing in his kitchen. It turns out Fear is the human form of the black cube, which in reality is a Cursed Tool, an instrument that humans use to do evil things. Now, Haruaki must help her break the curse and leave her homicidal tendencies behind.
But this won’t be easy, especially with Fear’s sassy, loudmouth personality. To make matters worse, other cursed cubes and their owners start showing up wanting to fight them. It appears that young Haruaki isn’t resistant to curses after all.
Ranma ½
The series follows Ranma Saotome, a top martial artist and top student at his martial arts school. While practicing at one of China’s cursed training grounds, he and his father Genma accidentally fall into a cursed spring. Now every time Ranma gets splashed with cold water, he turns into a girl — a sexy red-head at that. He can only turn back into a boy when doused with hot water, but all it takes is another splash of cold to change him back.
And things get more complicated — or hilarious — when Ranma’s father sets him up to marry one of his old training partner’s, Soun Tendo, daughters. Despite Tendo knowing about Ranma’s predicament, he goes ahead with the engagement and chooses his youngest daughter Akane, a skilled martial artist who hates men.
Ranma ½ follows the hilarious adventures of Ranma and Akane as they encounter various enemies, find love, and discover different ways to annoy each other, all while their engagement hangs over their heads.
