Anime Protagonists That Are Ghosts
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Highlights
- Anime often features protagonists who are ghosts, adding a unique twist to the story.
- These ghostly protagonists face challenges and quests to fulfill their wishes or find their memories.
- Ghost characters like Sai, Yuko, Menma, Fuyumi, Kobato, Hanako, Yuuna, and Yami Yugi play important roles in their respective anime.
The sky’s the limit when it comes to the types of characters that can show up in anime. Whether it’s zombies, vampires, or yokai, fans can always expect the unexpected, and while protagonists are often normal characters so that they are more relatable to readers, other times they can also be just as bizarre.
Ghosts are common elements in anime, whether they are the subject of spooky stories or run-of-the-mill monsters that the heroes have to fight. Sometimes, however, the main characters end up being the ghosts themselves, leading to a whole slew of problems. Here are some anime protagonists that are ghosts.
8 Sai (Hikaru No Go)
Grade schooler Hikaru Shindo is a pretty normal kid until one day he gets saddled with the spirit of Sai, a Go player from the Heian era. Wanting desperately to play Go in the modern world, Sai begs Hikaru to start playing Go, and the boy reluctantly accepts.
In the beginning, Hikaru merely moved as Sai instructed, acting as a physical medium for him to play against opponents in the modern era. As time passed, however, Hikaru began learning Go in earnest and began playing with his own skill rather than Sai’s. Though Sai’s role diminished halfway through the series before disappearing altogether, he is nevertheless a vital part of the series.
7 Yuko Kanoe (Dusk Maiden Of Amnesia)
Teiichi Niya gets lost in one of the older buildings in his new school when he runs into Yuko Kanoe, who introduces herself as a ghost with no memories of when she was alive. Teiichi and Yuko believe that she will pass on once she recovers her memories and learns what her regrets are and investigates the Seven Mysteries of the school in order to do so.
While the premises are the same, the anime and manga take entirely different tracks, with the anime introducing original characters that slightly change the outcome of the story. Nevertheless, in both versions, the story is focused on Yuko and her search for her missing memories.
6 Meiko Honma (Anohana)
Meiko “Menma” Honma was part of a vibrant group of friends until she died in an accident. Five years after her death, she appears to Jinta Yadomi and asks him to help her grant her wish so that she can move on to the afterlife.
Jinta is initially reluctant, but when he slowly realizes that Menma is real, he starts gathering all his old friends to figure out exactly what Menma’s wish was. This brings back together the old group that used to hang out, with Menma at the center of it.
5 Fuyumi Yanagi (Blood Lad)
Fuyumi Yanagi was just a normal girl who ended up lost in the underworld. Though she is taken in by the human-loving vampire Staz, she accidentally loses her life, turning her into a ghost. As a ghost, Fuyumi is forced to keep drinking Staz’s blood to not fade away.
Staz, feeling responsible for Fuyumi’s death, decides to find a way to resurrect her so that she can return to the human world. While Fuyumi is not very active in the story, she is ultimately a catalyst for many of its events.
4 Kobato (Kobato)
Kobato is an incredibly kind girl with one very important task: to help heal the hearts of the people around her. The more hearts that Kobato heals, the more a bottle in her possession fills up. Once the bottle is full, she will be allowed entry to a certain place.
The end of the anime reveals a certain twist: Kobato had died a long time ago, and she was wandering the Earth as a spirit. By filling the bottle, she was able to pass on and be reborn in a new life.
3 Hanako (Toilet-bound Hanako-kun)
Nene Yashiro, wishing for a boyfriend, attempts to call on the powers of Hanako, the Seventh Mystery of Kamone Academy. Instead, she becomes bound to him as his assistant as he attempts to keep the supernatural forces surrounding the school in check.
Hanako has many tasks as he goes about his duties, including fighting evil forces and adjusting occult rumors. As a spirit, Hanako had a different identity when he was alive, but keeps it a secret from others.
2 Yuuna Yunohana (Yuuna And The Haunted Hot Springs)
While staying at the haunted Yuragi Inn, psychic Kogarashi Fuyuzora encounters Yuuna, a ghost who is inexplicably bound to the inn. Unable to remember her past or what regrets bound her to the world of the living, Kogarashi decides to help her find her memories so that she can pass on peacefully.
While the anime ends rather early on, the manga goes further into the story, revealing Yuuna’s backstory and the complicated reason why she became a spirit in the first place. In the meantime, all sorts of ghostly hijinks involving Yuuna’s abilities occur as Kogarashi tries to investigate her background.
1 Yami Yugi (Yu-Gi-Oh!)
Once an ancient Egyptian pharaoh who had the power to summon monsters, Yami Yugi became the alter ego of Yugi Mutou, a game-loving boy who managed to solve the Millennium Puzzle. Taking Yugi’s place whenever he needed him, Yami Yugi defeated many enemies in the iconic card game Duel Monsters.
Yami Yugi’s mastery of the Duel Monsters game ultimately allowed him to confront several specters of the past as he struggled to remember not only his past life but his original name. While he and Yugi were forced to go through many trials, the pharaoh was ultimately able to remember his past life and pass on.
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