Ask John: Are Any Anime Like Hotel Transylvania?

Question:
I recently watched Hotel Transylvania, an American animated film that’s a light-hearted parody of vampires and monsters in pop culture. I thought it was really funny and it made me curious to know if there were animes out there that are similar.

Answer:

Although typical American anime fans aren’t familiar with most, if not all of them, anime actually has quite a number of worthwhile and entertaining monster parodies. The majority of them are little known in America because they’re older shows that haven’t been officially released in America. In fact, out of Japan’s rather large number of monster comedy anime, only two have ever reached American home video.

The 2005 Karin anime television series, based on the manga by Yuna Kagezaki, was briefly released on domestic DVD by Geneon. However, the show has been out of print domestically for several years and is now quite difficult and expensive to obtain. This amusing shoujo-esque comedy about a high-school age vampiress who expels excess blood instead of consuming it is actually seemingly heavily inspired by the equally entertaining but less known (in America) 1982 TV series Tokimeki Tonight, based on the shoujo horror comedy manga by Koi Ikeno (which itself takes inspiration from the earlier shoujo manga Himitsu no Akko-chan). Like Karin, Tokimeki Tonight also revolves around a high school girl who happens to be a vampire and falls in love with a normal human boy, much to the dismay of her supernatural family.

Only roughly half of the 1999 Munsters-esque original anime television series Tenshi ni Narumon was released on American DVD by Synch Point under the translated title “I’m Gonna Be An Angel!” Although the series primarily focused on romantic and slapstick comedy rather than horror, it told the story of a human boy drawn into a family that included an angel, an invisible woman, a Frankenstein-like monster, a pair of witches, a vampire, and an elf. The series also introduces a demon and a catgirl and does turn a bit darker and more morose towards its climax. The show is often discounted for its bright, bouncy look and initial tone, but viewers that enjoy it tend to tremendously love the show.

Production I.G’s 2001 twenty-six episode TV series Vampiyan Kids, in fact, could practically be the predecessor of Hotel Transylvania as it is also the story of a cute vampire girl who falls in love with a human boy against the wishes of her father who mistrusts humans. The very cute, fast-paced, and fun show seems remarkably similar to Genndy Tartakovsky & Sony Pictures’ Hotel Transylvania.

Don Dracula, Osamu Tezuka’s 1979 parodical take on Bram Stoker’s Dracula novel, was adapted into a 1982 anime TV series, but only 8 episodes were produced before funding for the production was cut due to the series’ sponsor going out of business. The odd comedy series migrated Dracula, his vampire daughter, and his manservant Igor to Japan and revolved around Dracula trying to adjust to “living” in Japan while being constantly pursued by his nemesis Professor Hellsing, who is always prevented from driving a stake through Dracula’s heart by the distraction of his hemorrhoid pains. (I did say that the series is odd.)

Katsuhiro Otomo & Shinji Kimura’s 2002 children’s picture book Hipira-kun was faithfully adapted into a 10 mini-episode CG anime television series in 2009. The amusing anime revolved around the misadventures of Hipira, a mischievous young vampire boy who found himself facing giant toads, ghosts, zombies, and even sunlight.

Japan has plenty of dark and foreboding horror anime, including children’s horror adventure anime like Ge Ge Ge no Kitaro & Yokai Ningen Bem (1968), Dororon Enma-kun (1973), and Mitsume ga Tooru (1990). Among these numerous shows, the 1989 Akuma-kun TV anime, based on Ge Ge Ge no Kitaro creator Shigeru Mizuki’s 1963 manga, tends to be a bit more lighthearted and comedy-oriented than most of its nearest relatives. Conceptually, Akuma-kun is very similar to creator Fujiko Fujio’s 1965 Kaibutsu-kun horror adventure manga that was adapted into anime TV series in 1968 & 1980. The series revolved around “Monster Boy” and his monster friends who visit the human world but find themselves opposed by antagonistic monsters.

Anime certainly has many more horror anime, but titles ranging from Devilman to Vampire Hunter D to High School Mystery: Gakuen Nanafushigi, to Gakuen Mokushiroku: High School of the Dead, to Rosario to Vampire aren’t parodical comedies in the same vein (no pun intended) as Hotel Transylvania.