Cartoon Sunday: Goth Chicks In Animation

Yuuko Ichihara (xxxHolic)

How's it going my gumdrops? Did you enjoy yesterday's Song Saturday blog about The Cure and the Goth Sub-culture in general?

Yesterday, you may recall, that I explained about Goths and the sub-culture on here and on Anime League. For today's Cartoon Sunday, let's revisit the topic of being Goth.

Allow me to acknowledge some Goth female characters in animation. There appears to be more Goth female characters in animation than we have realized. So, with that being said, it's only fair to acknowledge a few of them.

In the illustration above, we have Yuuko Ichihara. The characters in the Seinen Supernatural Horror Comedy Anime, xxxHolic have freaky illustrations.

The characters normally have long, spaghetti legs like Jack Skellington from The Nightmare Before Christmas.

Like I explained last year, Yuuko Ichihara is a powerful witch, who owns a shop and grants people their wishes. I believe Yuuko is more like a cunning and opportunistic genie.

Most of her jobs consist of dealing with supernatural beings. In case you haven't already, I suggest clicking on the link above Yuuko's picture.

Next, we have Creepy Susie.

Creepy Susie (The Oblongs)

Some of you may remember Angus Oblong's shortly lived cartoon, The Oblongs from The WB. Creepy Susie is supposedly a 10-year-old character from the series.

Most people don't know that The Oblongs was based on Creepy Susie And 13 Other Tragic Tales For Troubled Children. This was a 1999 collection of illustrated short stories written by Angus Oblong.

This young, creepy, Goth Valley Girl is obsessed with death, was born on Halloween, and can tell an animal's gender by the taste of its blood.

Otherwise, there is Germaine Endez.

Germaine Endez (Neurotically Yours)

If you have been subscribed to It's Not All Gumdrops & Unicorns for the last 3 1/2 years, you KNOW how much I enjoy watching Goth webisodes featuring the slutty Goth-Punk protagonist, Germaine and her pet, squirrel Foamy. 

Who doesn't love Foamy?! That pet squirrel speaks THE TRUTH!

As for Germaine, she has been restyled a plethora of times throughout the decade. This character has been illustrated as fat, skinny, busty, flat-chested, constantly changes hair styles, etc.

The protagonist is a struggling poet/author desperately seeking to be published and works unstable jobs. At the same time, she has an identity crisis and Foamy The Squirrel helps to keep her grounded.

Meanwhile, here are some other Goth female characters, which have been shown in other Anime besides xxxHolic. There is my long-time favorite, Sunako Nakahara.

Sunako Nakahara (The Wallflower)

Despite the fact this homely recluse fears "beautiful people" (mostly attracive men), I love Sunako Nakahara. Sunako is a creepy Goth protagonist that resonates with me on MANY levels. She loves sitting in her bedroom and watching Horror movies ALONE. Sunako's also self-sufficient around the house.

 

I wanted to at least share a gif of The "Goth-Loli Sisters" from The Wallflower, but had no such luck. However, The Goth-Loli Sisters from this Shojo Horror Comedy are NOT  the only Gothic Lolita Anime characters in existence.

In substitution of The Goth-Loli Sisters from The Wallflower, there is Hildegarde from the Shonen Supernatural Action Comedy Anime, Beelzebub.

Hildegarde a.k.a. "Hilda" (Beelzebub)

Hildegarde is the main female protagonist in Beelzebub. She is a Demon Maid, who acts as the "adoptive" mother and nurse of Beelzebub IV. "Baby Beel" is the son of Beelzebub III and Iris and was sent to the Human World.

It has been a few years, since I last streamed this series. Too bad there wasn't another season of Beelzebub. Maybe someday it will get a decent English dub.

Last, but SURELY not the least of an acknowledgement is Saki Hanajima.

Saki Hanajima (Fruits Basket)

 

I have always loved this Fruits Basket character. I can't decide which character is creepier, Saki or her younger brother, Megumi. Both characters have psychic abilities.

When Saki Hanajima is not wearing her high school uniform, she normally wears a black cloak or a veil with her black dresses. I will NEVER forget that scene of her gothing up The Sohmas urinal for New Year's Eve.

Staring at the appalled expression on Shigure Sohma's face was hilarious. Anyway, if you would like to learn more about Goth chicks in animation, check out WatchMojo's choices for Top 10 Animated Goth Girls below.

WatchMojo's Top 10 Animated Goth Girls (2016)

Cartoon Sunday: xxxHolic

How's it going my gumdrops? I watched the premiere of the Shonen Jump Action Anime, Hunter X Hunter, this morning. 

Much like I expected, this series is overrated. I have been reading and hearing about Hunter X Hunter for years on YouTube, social media, and Adult Swim's forum.

I am still REELING over the fact, that Adult Swim replaced Parasyte -The Maxim- with a very prepubescent series.

This is all the more reason why Cartoon Network should've kept Toonami on their OWN network rather than on Adult Swim.

When Adult Swim acquired the Toonami block, it was originally suppose to premiere more mature animation, which would appeal to the ADULT  viewers as opposed to Incels. 

After watching this 2011 remake of Hunter X Hunter, it felt like I was watching Naruto meets One Piece. 

Even though I enjoyed watching the original Naruto years ago on Cartoon Network, I was never a One Piece fan. 

Regardless, Hunter X Hunter does NOT  belong on Adult Swim. It belongs on Cartoon Network. The same thing applies for Samurai Jack.

With the direction Adult Swim is going with their version of Toonami this year, I think I will only watch Naruto Shippuden as a recap, in English. At least Naruto Shippuden has more mature content than Hunter X Hunter.

Adult Swim could've replaced Parasyte with Tokyo Ghoul, but that would've been too logical for Jason DeMarco and the idiots at Adult Swim. Then again, I have to remind myself that the network only acquired the Toonami block to pander to their crybaby fans, who remain stuck on their childhood nostalgia.

Aside from Adult Swim's Toonami, I just started watching xxxHolic last night. This Seinen Supernatural Horror Comedy Anime released, 10 years ago. 

I meant to stream xxxHolic much sooner, but I was always sidetracked with something else. Either I was streaming another series, or there was something else I needed to do.

Here it is a decade later and I am just NOW streaming this series. So far, I have only watched episode 1 and I like xxxHolic. Whenever I saw the billboard advertisements on Anime websites years ago, it automatically made me think about Hell Girl. 

xxxHolic's Yuuko Ichihara somewhat resembles an adult version of Ai Enma from the Hell Girl franchise.

Yuuko Ichihara is a powerful witch, who owns a shop and grants people their wishes. In my opinion, Yuuko seems more like an evil and opportunistic genie. Most of her jobs consist of dealing with supernatural beings.

Meanwhile, the protagonist Kimihiro Watanuki is a teenage boy, who suffers from the ability to see supernatural spirits and monsters. They are better known as "yokai" in Japanese folklore. 

The yokai are only visible to Kimihiro and he looks like a weirdo making a fool out of himself in public.

Eventually, the protagonist literally stumbles upon Yuuko Ichihara's shop and she grants Kimihiro's wish. 

Of course, granting his wish to NOT see anymore yokai has a catch to it. Because Kimihiro has no money to pay for granting his wish, Yuuko makes Kimihiro her part-time chef and housekeeper. In addition, she sends him on supernatural errands.

So far, I like watching xxxHolic. I can't believe it took me literally a decade to finally stream this Anime. 

My goal is to try binge watching xxxHolic as much as possible. With that being said, you have the ability to stream this Seinen Supernatural Horror Comedy Anime in English or Japanese on Hulu. 

You have 2 optional links below. Anyway, here is xxxHolic for today's Cartoon Sunday.

xxxHolic Season 1: Episode 1 (2006) [Japanese]

xxxHolic Season 1: Episode 1 (2006) [English]

Cartoon Sunday: Hell Girl (Anime) Pilot

How's it going my gumdrops? Since Halloween will soon be approaching, today, I have the pilot episode of the Hell Girl Anime. 

 

Do you remember, when I reviewed this Shojo Horror Mystery Anime earlier this March?

 

If not, you still have plenty of time to watch and learn about this creepy series. It mostly focuses on REVENGE, but comes with a DOUBLE edged sword, so to say.

 

In case you missed my Horror Anime Review, you can learn more about Hell Girl by reading about the Shojo in the link below. 

 

Cartoon Sunday: Anna H's Horror Anime Reviews (2014)

Anyway, here's the link to Hell Girl for Cartoon Sunday.

Hell Girl (Anime) Pilot [English Dub] (2005)

Let me know what you think!