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A lot of people would say that the 2000s of anime was the true Renaissance of anime. It was during this time that classic hits were releasing left and right, with many of these becoming or being adapted from instant classics. 2000s was also the height of the emo culture and fashion, as well as an uptick in pink and goth looks and vibes. It only made sense that in the era of Gloomy Bears and My Chemical Romance, that some of the best anime coming out around that time trended on the horror and Gothic side. Not only were vampires and Victorian horns the hottest thing, but everyone loved embracing the dark and equally dark storylines. And there was a plethora of gothic anime to choose from. 

There were lighter Gothic animes such as Tsubasa Reservoir Chronicles and xxxHolic — gothic only in certain styles and certain themes and each getting progressively more gothic the darker the plot became. Another aspect of lighter gothic anime often was a romantic or comedy element in the overall plot. Tsubasa was obviously a romance, and xxxHolic was framed as a comedy in the anime (only really getting serious in the manga). Other lighter gothic anime were things like Chibi Vampire – a pure romantic comedy. Then there’s y’know, the harem that is known as Rosario + Vampire that was also a comedy and therefore on the lighter scale of gothic anime. 

Then there was the medium Gothic anime. These tended to be darker in theme but still had lighter elements to it. Popular anime that come to mind when thinking of this kind of gothic anime from the 2000s are anime like Vampire Knight, Rozen Maiden, Soul Eater, or even Kuroshitsuji. These certainly have gothic and spooky elements and characters– but they aren’t quite developed in terms of themes. Kuroshitsuji in particular was set in a gothic setting with all the elements of a proper gothic story but never quite fell into a good story rhythm (until much later in the manga). Vampire Knight, similarly had all the elements of a gothic anime but the anime still felt very juvenile in comparison to the true gothics. Maybe the real key here was that these anime tended to be aimed at younger audiences.

REAL gothic anime though was plentiful in this era. From Blood + , Darker than Black, D.Gray-Man, HELLSING, Death Note, Le Chevalier D’Eon, and Gankutsuo: The Count of Monte Cristo. What categorizes them as real or hard gothic anime to me is not only the art styles, but also the storylines that are heavily dramatic, harsh, or extra creepy. These anime tend to be bloody or terrifying, creating lasting impressions and die-hard fandoms that follow them. These were also literally some of the most talked about anime during the 2000s–you know, because we were all pretty moody in the 2000s. Artwork from them could be found all over the internet, there were SO many AMVs, the openings and endings could be found on playlists, and the characters would be all over profiles and mood boards. They were all visually stunning, and each story had a flair for dramatics that was also very intense (take Death Note–which needs no introduction, or Le Chevalier D’Eon which is essentially a ghost story). 

When it comes to what kind of gothic we were consuming back in the 2000s, the truth is we were all over the place. I feel like no one stuck to just light, medium, or real gothic. We all jumped around and enjoyed all kinds of gothic-esque anime. It was peak back then. It’s amazing how so many of them are considered classics or ones that every anime watcher should see now. It just goes to show, no matter the genre, anime was really making waves back in the day. And it gave us some of the best spooky shows to start. Meanwhile, drop some of your favorite gothic anime in the comments below and join us again tomorrow for 13 Days of Otakutober!

Stay weebtastic,

xoxo

Luna