#reminds me of Majin Bu

[roxi-chan]

OK, can we all please take a moment to acknowledge the DEDICATION these two boys have towards their ladies? Like, putting up with the most idiotic movie ever made because it's the girls' favourite?

[metalandmagi]

Hogwarts House Anime Recommendations: Slytherin

 Hello again!

It’s time for some more Hogwarts house anime recommendations! I was going to wait to work on this, but since it’s the 20th anniversary of Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s stone, I thought it would be a good time to post this one.

Hufflepuff recs

Ravenclaw recs

Gryffindor recs

This time it’s going to be some Slytherin anime recommendations! I tried to keep it varied in terms of genre, but a few are a bit similar in their descriptions. Anyway I think some of the most important traits that embody the Slytherin house are ambition, cunning, deceptiveness, and determination to reach one’s goals. So here we go!

1. Neuro: Supernatural Detective, aka Majin Tantei Nougami Neuro

This anime focuses on a high school detective named Yako Katsuragi who is famous for solving every single case that is brought to her attention. However, it is actually her “assistant” Neuro Nougami who solves the cases and has her take the credit for them. Why? Because he is a literal parrot demon from another dimension who actually physically eats mysteries. Since he’s already eaten every mystery in the demon world, he’s moved on to Earth’s mysteries and has promised that he will help Yako solve the mystery of her father’s death. 

This anime seems like the retro, more colorful, not British relative of Black Butler….even though Neuro came out only about a year earlier. It’s both hilarious and dramatic at the right moments, and I recommend watching only a little at a time as most of it is very episodic. But Neuro himself is a great example of a Slytherin, never really doing something out of the goodness of his heart, but willing to make bargains and then turn on someone as soon as he needs to. He’s extremely entertaining to watch, and my dream crossover anime would be Neuro and Sebastian with their respective charges teaming up to solve a mystery despite the time period differences….either that or competing against each other to see who can solve a mystery first.

2. Girlish Number

This anime follows the voice acting career of the young newcomer Chitose Karasuma and her various co-workers and her quest to become famous without actually having any acting talent and not working to get better. It’s mainly a slice of life story about a very conceited, annoying girl trying to become a “famous voice actor” (as if that’s not an oxymoron). And it’s hilarious!

This show proves that you don’t need to have a traditionally likeable or perfect main character to actually be entertained and want to watch her go about her business. Chitose is very frustrating because she is a total asshole, but that’s why she’s so interesting to watch. She deserves all the bad things that happen to her, and even though she does grow somewhat throughout the series, she’s still the same person deep down by the end of the show. Furthermore, not only is she a total Slytherin, but several of her co-workers appear to be as well! This anime showcases many different kinds of Slytherins that steer away from the traditional “villainous asshole” stereotype. All of the girls have their own goals and personalities, but at their core their ambition is what drives them as characters. They can be standoffish or put on a fake personality in front of others, but overall they are not bad people. It’s a very different type of show to recommend for Slytherins, but it’s a good one nonetheless.

3. Monster

This is another anime that is a bit difficult to describe briefly and vaguely because it is so complex and detailed. Essentially, it is about a surgeon named Kenzou Tenma, who one night chooses to save the life of a young boy named “Johan” rather than operate on the town’s mayor. This decision ends up haunting him for years to come, because that boy basically turns out to be the Antichrist he is suddenly surrounded by mysterious murder cases with all signs pointing to Johan.  

I’m going to be honest here; I have not finished this anime, like not even close. BUT I really want to, and even less than 20 episodes in, I can see it is a great Slytherin anime. I feel like Tenma can sometimes toe the line between Gryffindor and Slytherin, but Johan is very much a Slytherin. While Tenma is the embodiment of determination, Johan is cunning and that dark sort of cleverness personified. This show is amazing at creating a psychological thriller vibe that makes you want to know what happens around every turn. Johan himself is one of the best anime villains I’ve ever seen, both utterly terrifying and eerily calm at all times with no real motivation other than to watch the world burn from above. At least, that’s the motivation from my point in the series. This anime is a classic that I am surprised isn’t talked about more with its masterful use of build up and detailed plot that takes place over many years. It reminds me a lot of Death Note, but with older characters that have less concrete motivations. And speaking of Death Note….

4. Death Note

I HAD TO! THIS IS THE MOST SLYTHERIN ANIME OF ALL TIME! HOW COULD I NOT INCLUDE IT? I DON’T CARE IF IT’S POPULAR, I DON’T CARE IF EVERYONE HAS ALREADY WATCHED IT! IT’S JUST THAT APPROPRIATE!

This is my favorite anime of all time, and it’s been that way for about 10 years since I first saw it. Yes it’s very flawed, but I could not make a Slytherin recommendation list without putting in this freaking anime. In case anyone is newer to anime, lives under a rock, or just hasn’t watched it for whatever reason, (stop what you’re doing and go watch it right now) this anime is about a highschool boy named Light Yagami who finds a notebook that was dropped by a shinigami. He eventually finds out that this notebook can kill people 40 seconds after writing a person’s name. Essentially, he starts off wanting to use the death note to make the world a better place, killing off dangerous criminals and so forth. But it is clear from episode one that this kid is not right in the head, and really wants to use it to basically become a god and control the world. He is pursued by the greatest detective in the world, who goes solely by the name of L. An epic psychological mystery thriller ensues.

I believe this is the most Slytherin anime to ever Slytherin. I might be throwing myself under the bus here, but I strongly believe that all three of the main characters, meaning L, Light, and Misa are hard core Slytherins. Light is the most obvious, but I can also make an argument for L and Misa. L is revealed several times to not be a really “good” person. He constantly lies about everything, from the percents he spits out to the gravity of certain situations and their possible repercussions. And Misa can also be cunning and very deceptive when she wants to be and is extremely determined to aid Light in any way possible because it helps her overall goal of being with him. Even going beyond episode 25- which seriously people you have to watch the whole freaking series if you want a good grasp of the anime and it’s overall conclusion- I even think Mello and Near are Slytherins. Yes, I’m in the minority and actually like the entire series (not just the first 25 episodes), but the way the story unfolds and all the characters interact is just dripping with deceptiveness and cunning plans that will keep you glued to the screen. I believe it’s the ultimate Slytherin anime.

5. Baccano!... And Durarara!!

What’s this? Another double recommendation? Yes, because I figured these two fit pretty well together considering they apparently take place in the same universe. Again both of these are very detailed and heavy plot oriented anime, so they’re a bit difficult to describe vaguely. These are also two shows in which I much prefer the dub over the subbed version. They’re both great, but I like having it dubbed for the sake of keeping character voices and narration sorted out.

With Baccano! I like the way it comes up when you google it: “A fantasy caper involving alchemists, gangsters and immortality is spread over several decades” except that I’d say it takes place in America over several timelines rather than just decades. Overall this anime tells the story in a very circular fashion, and it definitely is not something you’ll just want to have on in the background. In my own words...it’s about a bunch of wacky characters, some of whom are immortal, who do a bunch of stuff in the 1930s. It involves a train, gangsters, and multiple costume changes. But seriously it’s a great anime, and if you need to be convinced to watch it, just check out the opening song.

Durarara!! is very similar, in the sense of it’s style of storytelling being very circular, focusing on the POVs of multiple characters and being overall very confusing to watch the first time through. However, this anime takes place in modern day Ikebukuro and the timelines generally do not go between several years. Durarara!! is about….well a lot of people...but mainly about a mysterious “biker” named Celty who spends the series looking for her head. Yes her literal head. She is headless. And she’s awesome. Again, it involves many wacky characters, gang fights, otakus, mythical creatures, and urban legends of the big city life. Both of these shows are great examples of Slytherin ideals, not necessarily because of the characters’ houses (although there are definitely a few good Slytherins in there) but because of the actual atmosphere and deceptiveness laced throughout the stories. The characters are cunning, suave, villainous and heroic alike. Overall, they simply show that people are flawed. There can be some really screwed up characters out there, but at the end of the day, everyone has their own motivations and ambitions, and some people are not afraid to step on others to get what they want while also trying to be good friends.

+6 Bonus Tokyo Babylon

I also wanted to mention Tokyo Babylon, in case anyone hasn’t seen it. It’s sort of cheating, because this is actually a series of OVAs based on the CLAMP manga, but I thought I should put it in here anyway. It is another supernatural mystery/detective story that will rip your heart out in the end. The characters are very gay and also very Slytherin-esque. Against popular opinion, I would wager that the main character Subaru is an interesting example of a Slytherin, especially in the manga, in which he will flat out lie to people in incredibly emotional situations in order to do what he believes is the right thing. I wanted to include it because I thought that it shows how even sweet cinnamon rolls like Subaru can be cold and calculating when they need to be.

So those are just a few Slytherin house anime recommendations. I hope those are interesting for some people, and happy 20th anniversary of the book that started it all.