Whats your personal favorite use of shinigami symbolism in anime?

DarkGamerA said:
First ofcourse stating the obvious .. shinigami from death note ws great

Then I like noragami (not sure if he was actually god of death or not ..) gotta re-watch it again I forgot what he was god of...

Fario-P said:
TWEWY does have some cool shinigami, but other than them I think Full Moon wo Sagashite have my personal favorites.

Crow_Black said:


I just found a shinigami shojo romance just this moment as soon as you posted.

Its a short read but still something may worth looking into.

Fario-P said:
Shinigami Lovers, huh... maybe I'll give it a read sometime. Thanks for the recommendation.

Katou81 said:
Bleach is my favorite. I am biased towards it because it was my first anime, but I really think the idea behind zanpaktou and bankai was creative and well done

Catalano said:
probably shinigami no ballad, an anime about a cute shinigami helping dead souls come to an understanding about their deaths, it's kinda wholesome and positive even though it delves into deaths and stuff

Fario-P said:
I'm surprised you didn't mention Bleach! Were its shinigami not "shinigami-esque" enough?

Catalano said:
probably shinigami no ballad, an anime about a cute shinigami helping dead souls come to an understanding about their deaths, it's kinda wholesome and positive even though it delves into deaths and stuff

Catalano said:

well everyone mentioned Bleach and it's popular, we need to promote the not-so-well-known stuff from time to time

Nekoburger said:
Other shinigami wish they could be as cool as Ryuk.

Jamison2210 said:
There are no actual shinigami in Gosick (probably...), but the MC is called that because of his black hair

I know this is a terrible example, but I got nothing lol

Acausal said:
Definitely Bleach (I think it has beautiful symbolism in general). Kubo created this military organisation with its own code of battle which contains a large ensemble of unique characters with sick character designs and all of whom which have their own philosophy. I very much like how the governing system of the Soul Society is written as morally gray, creating this cynical and nihilistic tone of the Bleach world. The Shinigami aren't heroes who fight evil, they are simply first and foremost arbiters of order who's job it is to effectively uphold the staus quo of the universe by mainting its balance, thus preventing its collapse, by any means necessary against anyone who may threaten that staus quo. The Can't Fear Your Own World light novel sequel to the manga delves into this more and gave Bleach genuinely great lore and worldbuilding.

Fario-P said:
There just isn't enough shinigami anime/manga in my opinion... @Lucifrost @Catalano what do you think on this topic?

Catalano said:

well everyone mentioned Bleach and it's popular, we need to promote the not-so-well-known stuff from time to time

Lucifrost said:

I don't have any strong opinions on shinigami.

Fario-P said:
Huh? Not even on the Death Note shinigami?

ryo-san said:
The shinigami from the manga Kamakura monogatari is unique and super friendly... She even gives life loan so the dead person can say goodbye to his friends and family and patch up broken relationships and make amends and leave without any worries...
This can mean sometime that dead person can become a youkai and live in the town or if they become evil they are sent to hell...
She also helps the main character to escape the after world after his wife's soul was stolen and got sent to the world of dead by an evil youkai..(this is strictly prohibited but she put her job on the line to help her friends)

She takes the dead to the after world on a train and the view is extraordinary...
In the after world people just live normally..

Lucifrost said:

Not really. They're merely a plot device, albeit amusing at times.

Lucifrost said:

Not really. They're merely a plot device, albeit amusing at times.

ryo-san said:
I really liked the short anime the Ballard of a shinigami..the shinigami Momo is very nice and cute .
The stories are really emotional and shows what a terrible job being a shinigami is...

kyoukai no Rinne, is another shinigami i like... It's by rumiko Takahashi so of course it's a beautiful story, comedy, fights etc...

RentNoGirlfriend said:
None others than the Shinigami Oujo Desumi Magahara from Koi wa sekai seifuku no ato de

Crow_Black said:


first time i heard about it at least with what i can remember.

ryo-san said:


She is a normal girl not a shinigami..

It's just a moniker. She doesn't have the powers of a shinigami...just a girl who is in love with her rival nemesis...the anime has nothing to do with shinigami.

ryo-san said:
She is a normal girl not a shinigami..

It's just a moniker. She doesn't have the powers of a shinigami...just a girl who is in love with her rival nemesis...the anime has nothing to do with shinigami.

RentNoGirlfriend said:
She has a skull on the hoodie, which is the same of the gekko minions but better

ryo-san said:
Wearing a skull doesn't make a shinigami... A lot of the others wear skull...

Crow_Black said:
skeleton with a black coat

ryo-san said:
My fav is the angry beast princess..

Nekoburger said:
Other shinigami wish they could be as cool as Ryuk.

Maou_heika said:
Full Moon would be my favorite in this aspect. There's Death Note too but I love it for the mind games not because of Shinigami.

I had started reading a manga called Shinigami ni Totsugu Hi which was pretty interesting (based on the first volume at least), unfortunately had to put it on hold since I couldn't find the rest of the volumes anywhere at the time.

Fario-P said:
Never before have withdrawal symptoms looked so entertaining.


the subtitles tho lol

Aritabias said:
Although he isn't someone from the shinigami realm, the MC from 86 is nicknamed as the "Headless Reaper" or just "Reaper" by the members of his squadron. The reason being is that he is the sole survivor of his previous squadrons and some other stuff which are spoilers. The anime even depicts him as the Headless Reaper in some shots by seperating his head from his body.


This one uses the rocks in the background as a symbolism for black wings.

Crow_Black said:

I was half expecting you, to mention TWEWY for obvious reasons lol. Maybe you can make a reccomendation for 86 fans to get into TWEWY.

Aritabias said:

TWEWY anime doesn't exist lol


That's going to be hard. There aren't many similarities between the two but I'll try recommending it.

Crow_Black said:

Oh yeah, its going to be worth it and also kagerou project is something i know you'll like. Do check it out.

Aritabias said:

Ah I remember that! The manga was still ongoing when I first heard about it. I'll check out the LN in the future.

k11chi said:
bleach because its so hilarious how they're always the main reason for every world-ending conflict in the manga and light novels