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12 Most Iconic Anime Ghost Hunters

The world is dangerous for many anime characters, surrounded by killers, monsters, evil armies, demons, and creatures stranger still. One of the most persistent threats these characters face no longer has a mortal form: ghosts.

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Whether they died by violence, illness, accident, or some other tragedy, the spirits of the departed remain to haunt the living. Some of these retain much of what made them human, while others are reduced to twisted curses, existing only to torment the living. With so many ghosts around to cause trouble, it's no surprise that anime is full of ghost hunters doing their best to track down and combat these elusive threats. Here are some of anime's most iconic.

Updated February 20, 2023, by Via Erhard: Over the years anime fans could meet some truly powerful anime ghost hunters who fearlessly faced vicious and hostile ghosts and spirits. While most ghost anime shows have an eerie and spooky vibe, anime lovers can also find fun and action-filled fantasy and even thought-provoking anime ghost stories with wise and powerful ghost hunters.

These unforgettable and powerful anime ghost hunters all have special abilities that help them during their battles with ghosts and make the stories more complex and interesting. Thanks to these iconic anime ghost stories, fans could even learn about Japanese mythology and its various gods, spirits, and customs.

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12 Ginko – Mushishi

Mushishi is often praised as one of the greatest seinen anime shows of all time and its lead Ginko is a friendly and wise ghost hunter. Ginko is a Mushishi who travels around Japan while trying to help people with their Mushi-related problems.

Mushi are a kind of spirit that can cause serious problems and come in many different shapes. While Ginko doesn't stay for long in the same place he still cares about people and does everything in his power to help them with their supernatural issues. Ginko also loves his job and is always excited to find new Mushi species he hasn't seen before.

11 Hamaji – Fuse: Memoirs Of A Huntress

Fuse: Memoirs of a Huntress' beautiful story was inspired by Kyokutei Bakin's 19th-century epic novel the Nanso Satomi Hakkenden. Its most powerful ghost hunter is Hamaji who is also the anime's lead. Even though she spent most of her life in the mountains she eventually moved to the city of Edo to help her brother hunt for creatures.

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These creatures are called fuse and their mother was from the spirit realm, and they were known to eat people's essence. Since the government was hunting for them and offered a nice reward there were only a few of them left alive. So, Hamaji and her brother set out to hunt them down and collect the reward.

10 Rin – Blue Exorcist

Rin is one of the most iconic anime exorcists who didn't only hunt and fought against evil spirits but terrifying demons too. Blue Exorcist's most powerful exorcist was only a teenage boy who had special supernatural abilities thanks to his dead, Satan.

Even though Rin inherited Satan's powers he decided that he doesn't want to follow in his father's footsteps and instead becomes an honorable exorcist along with his twin brother Yukio and uses his powers to fight evil. Rin is one of the strongest anime ghost hunters with many superhuman abilities including superhuman strength, and regenerative abilities, and he even has a partial demon form.

9 Mikami – Ghost Sweeper Mikami

Mikami is one of the most stylish anime ghost hunters of all time who was the owner of a private exorcist company. She and her assistants helped people with their ghost and spirit-related problems. This fun classic ghost anime series is set in a fictional version of Japan where ghosts have lost their homes due to overdevelopment.

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Mikami and other Ghost Sweepers work hard to help people with their ghost issues who hire them for good money. Ghost Sweeper Mikami has great characters as well as fun adventures and is filled with all kinds of unique ghosts.

8 Mai Taniyama – Ghost Hunt

An anime with the name Ghost Hunt had better have a good ghost hunter or two, and thankfully it does. Mai Taniyama gets drawn into her fellow student's mission to investigate a supposedly haunted building at their school, which turns out to be only the first step in her ghost-hunting career.

With the help of other exorcists, mediums, and other talented ghost hunters, Mai does her best to combat the supernatural wherever she can as a member of Shibuya Psychic Research. In time, she grows more confident and also more powerful, discovering she may have a unique ability or two of her own. The spirits she confronts may not be as powerful as the devils in Chainsaw Man,but that doesn't mean Mai has an easy time.

7 Nobara Kugisaki – Jujutsu Kaisen

Jujutsu Kaisen became a smash-hit that for many fans raised the bar for characters, action, and thrilling plot development in anime. Its cast of talented and deadly characters is a huge part of the series's success, including stand-outs like Nobara Kugisaki.

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Wielding a hammer, nails, and curse doll, Nobara is a force to be reckoned with when it comes to taking down Curses, a race of creatures formed from negative psychic energy. From her confidence to her unforgettable look to her incredible abilities, Nobara is without a doubt one of the best, and most interesting, ghost hunters around. There might be a handful of even more iconic characters, but there are few if any that would be a better ally in a fight.

6 Kouichi Sakakibara – Another

Being an ethereal spirit is already pretty interesting, but putting an eye patch on it makes a ghost that much more intriguing. Maybe that's part of the reason that Kouichi Sakakibara is so obsessed with Yomiyama North Middle School's resident ghost Mei Misaki.

Another stands out as one of the darkest, yes, most haunting ghost-hunting anime around, so it's no surprise that some viewers have just as much trouble getting through it as Kouichi seems to. His stubborn perseverance, even when he should obviously quit, helps set him apart from a legion of other hunters, even if he is a questionable protagonist at times.

5 Mob – Mob Psycho 100

Mob Psycho 100 is one of the most visually distinct anime around, with characters, special abilities, and even settings that can't help but capture the eye. Mob himself is a dead-eyed little boy with a bowl-cut and overwhelming supernatural powers, which is just part of what makes him so memorable.

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Mob isn't just a fantastic ghost hunter: he's a gullible one. Watching his supposed mentor mislead, manipulate, and exploit him–all to cover up his own lack of psychic ability–is one of the show's highlights. Mob is fantastic on his own, but watching him be led astray again and again, failing to pick up on the less-than-subtle clues, is even better. For high-caliber ghost-hunting action and stunning visuals, Mob is hard to beat.

4 Korra – The Legend Of Korra

The Legend of Korra isn't a ghost-hunting anime, and Avatar Korra isn't a traditional ghost-hunter, but as the bridge between the human and spirit realm, she faces spirits of all varieties. Though she isn't wandering around with holy water or an EMF detector, Korra is more than equipped to deal with the strange creatures that she faces.

She may have a hard time confronting some of her own demons, but when her world and those she cares about are threatened, Korra has no problem charging into battle against the ghosts that threaten to destroy everything she loves. There's a reason Korra is at the heart of the best episodes in this kid-friendly franchise.

3 Satoru Gojo – Jujutsu Kaisen

Arguably the strongest jujutsu sorcerer in Jujutsu Kaisen, Satoru Gojo isn't just one of the strongest characters in his own anime, he's one of the strongest ghost-hunters in any anime. Gojo devotes himself to more than just the exorcism of Curses, however.

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Gojo is responsible for training the next generation of sorcerers. Without him, characters like Nobara Kugisaki, Yuji Itadori, and Megumi Fushiguro may never have developed their skills in the way that they did. While Nobara's look is arguably more iconic than Gojo's, Gojo is a fantastic character and ghost-hunter in his own right. His power is just the tip of that iceberg.

2 Yusuke Urameshi – Yu Yu Hakusho

Yu Yu Hakusho is a classic shonen anime with fans all over the world, and its protagonist Yusuke Urameshi is why. After sacrificing himself to save the life of a young boy, teenage punk Yusuke is resurrected as a Spirit Detective and tasked with solving crimes in the Human World involving the supernatural.

His Spirit Gun is an anime weapon almost as iconic as Goku's kamehameha, and between his slicked-back hair and bad attitude, Yusuke has a way of sticking in fans' minds. While he starts the series with a nasty demeanor, he sees a lot of growth, making him one of the rounder characters in the ghost-hunter lineup as he fights his way through the Dark Tournament.

1 The Medicine Seller – Mononoke

The protagonist of Toei Animation's avant-garde anime Mononoke is the Medicine Seller, an enigmatic merchant who uses his expertise in the supernatural to find, identify, and destroy spirits. Everything about the Medicine Seller, from his look to his mannerisms to his mysterious title, attracts the viewer's attention.

Mononoke is an extraordinary achievement in anime, but even if he had appeared in a mediocre anime the Medicine Seller likely would have been one of the most engaging ghost-hunters of all time. For style as much as effectiveness, the Medicine Seller must be counted amongst the very best.

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