Anime like Death note? After all, the show ended a long time ago, but fans who fell in love with these series wanted more of it or similar anime like Death Note. Fortunately, the creative anime creators and manga writers have produced many amazing, startling dark anime series that are just as good as Death Note.
Even though Death Note was a short series, it was a brilliant piece of work. A dark psychological series has left a mark in the memories of anime lovers and probably redefined the whole Shounen genre.
Whoever has watched the series will forever remember the dark scenes and the rivalry between Light Yagami and L Lawliet.
“There is no heaven or hell. No matter what you do while you’re alive, everybody goes to the same place once you die. Death is equal.”
L
If you’re a real fan, you might remember these greatest monologues, which clearly will make you question; whether we humans have the right to sentence others to death?
“This world is rotten, and those who are making it rot deserve to die. Someone has to do it, so why not me?”
Light Yagami
Anime lover who hasn’t watched this series yet, a small summary for them, Death Note, a series based on a Japanese manga series written by Tsugumi Ohba and illustrated by Takeshi Obata. The story revolves around a teen genius named Light Yagami.
He discovers a mysterious notebook called the “Death Note,” which belonged to the God of death, Shinigami Ryuk. Ryuk later reveals that he drops the notebook out of boredom and is entertained by Light’s actions.
Why was the notebook named Death Note? Well, the notebook grants a supernatural power and the ability to kill anyone whose name is written in its pages. The series centers around the teen boy who subsequently attempts to use the notebook to get rid of individuals he considered immoral and believed to create a crime-free society.
As soon as he discovered the power of the notebook, he starts using it. As a result, many criminals around the world were surprisingly dying from heart attacks and unbelievable accidents.
So, the global media concluded that a single mastermind is behind the scenes and named him Kira (Japanese word for the killer). Later, Interpol (international criminal police organization) requested L, a paradoxical consulting detective.
Okay, now you must be thinking this story is horrifying but simple. Another twist to the story begins when a woman Miss Amane, an actress, and a model, obtains a second death note from Shinigami named Rem. In this case, she was granted the power to kill a person by knowing only the face.
If you haven’t watched it, are you sure you don’t want to watch this series? And if you have seen it already, the show has ended? I Know. Let me ease your craving for more with a list of series similar to Death Note.
In this Article
Top 10 Anime like Death Note
1. ERASED
(Genre: Psychological, Seinen, Supernatural)
Erased is a great psychological Japanese series known as Boku Dake ga Inai Machi, written and illustrated by Kei Sanbe. This story revolves around a 29 years-old man named Satoru Fujinuma, who lives in Chiba.
He possesses a special ability known as Revival, which sends him back in time, enabling him to prevent any life-threatening accident from happening again.
The twist comes in when, one day, when an unknown attacker murders his mother, his ability sends him back eighteen years into the past, and Satoru is given a chance to save his mother’s life and prevent a big incident from happening to his childhood friends.
Every scene carries a lot of emotion and heart-touching tragedy; you’ll be well entertained if you love dark, supernatural, and emotional anime.
2. ERGO PROXY
(Genre: Mystery, Psychological, sci-fi)
Ergo Proxy, a Japanese cyberpunk anime series written by Dai Sato, directed by Shuko Murase, and produced by Manglobe. The series has 23 episodes and is highly influenced by Gnosticism and Philosophy; the story begins in a post-apocalyptic dystopian future.
The series revolves around a city called Romdeau city where humans and AutoRevis lived peacefully. However, behind the people, the government was secretly conducting experiments on a mysterious humanoid life form called Proxy.
Proxy was described as immortal and God-like and held the key to the survival of humanity. Later, a series of murders committed by AutoRevis became infected with the Cogito virus, a virus that makes them self-aware. The infected AutoRevis threaten the delicate balance of Romdeau cities’.
Lastly, Re-I Mayer, who is Romdo’s granddaughter, starts investigating the mystery, as the deeper she gets, she starts to uncover a dark scheme. This mystery anime will keep you thinking and thinking.
3. JIGOKU SHOUJO
(Genre: Horror, Mystery, Psychological, Supernatural)
Jigoku Shoujo, also known as Hell girl (the girl from hell), is a Japanese supernatural series visualized by Hiroshi Watanabe. This series focuses on human emotions like hatred, revenge, injustice, etc. Throughout the series, you’ll encounter these sets of emotions overflowing through the side characters and their short story. The story revolves around a Girl from Hell named Ai Emma and a Hell correspondence site.
When a person is tormented and reaches the point where they seek revenge, they take help from the hell correspondence website and submits the request. Then Ai Emma appears and gives the person a doll with a red string on its neck.
When the string is pulled, the named antagonist is punished by Ai and her companion without judging if the person is guilty or not. In the end, they offer the last chance to repent; if refused, then ferries send them to hell. But the price of the contract is that the person making the request will also have to go to hell when their life is over.
As the story goes on, the darker it gets, and more new characters get involved with hell, making the series more interesting and entertaining.
4. DARKER THAN BLACK: KURO NO KEIYAKUSHA
(Genre: Action, Mystery, Sci-fi, Super Power)
Darker than Black is a mystery-driven Japanese series created and directed by Tensai Okamura and animated by Bones. This series is set in a world where two mysterious gates open in the sky; one appeared in South American, known as “Heaven’s Gate,” and the second one above Japan, known as “Hell’s Gate.”
The sudden appearance of such a big anomaly replaced the real stars with the fake ones in the sky, and eventually, it was altering human life and wreaking havoc in the landscape. The twist came when people possessing special abilities like supernatural power emerged; they were known as “Contractors.”
These individuals were known as murder in cold blood, and their abilities are gained at the cost of their humanity. The story revolves around a Chinese contractor Hei (codename) and has the nickname of Black Reaper.
He undertakes various assassination and espionage missions in Tokyo under the direction of a corporation named Syndicate. Across the series, Hei reveals the master plan of the Syndicate and faces contractors from other groups who want to destroy the Syndicate.
As the story goes on, the series gets more entertaining with sickening truth, dark conspiracy, and mystery. This series has two seasons up to date, but fans are hoping for the 3rd season too.
5. PSYCHO-PASS
(Genre: Action, Sci-fi, Police, Psychological)
Psycho-Pass is a Japanese cyberpunk psychological anime series written by Gen Urobuchi, produced by Production I.G and co-directed by Naoyoshi Shiotani and Katsuyuki Motohiro. This series starts in a future authoritarian dystopia where the sibyl system governs Japan.
A powerful biomechanical public sensor using a cymatics scan endlessly measures the mental state of the citizen passing by. The goal of this omnipresent public sensor is to determine the threat level of the person; the result was called Psycho-Pass.
This series is seen through the eyes of Akane Tsunemori, a rookie inspector within division one of the Ministry of Welfare Public Safety Bureau’s Criminal Investigation Department. The series explores societal and psychological aspects of human society where the organization is trying to keep up a peaceful environment for the citizens.
However, some critics have raised a question: Would it be fair to charge individuals whose psycho-pass shows a high tendency to commit a crime but haven’t committed any crime yet? is it morally acceptable?
6. DEMON SLAYER: KIMETSU NO YAIBA
(Genre: Action, Demons, Historical, Shounen, Supernatural)
Demon Slayer, a 26-episode series produced by Ufotable based on a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Koyoharu Gotouge. This anime was released in October 2020 and became the highest-grossing anime series of all time. Meanwhile, anime fans praise the animation and the incredible fight sequences.
Well, the story begins in Taisho-era Japan, following Tanjiro Kamado and his sister Nezuko Kamado. Tanjiro was a kind and intelligent boy who lived with his family; after his father’s death, he was the only source of income for his family. One day a tragedy occurs; while he was at work, his family is attacked and slaughtered by demons.
Fortunately, his sister survives the incident. However, his sister becomes the host of the demon’s curse, and she transforms into a demon but surprisingly still shows signs of human emotion and actions. Eventually, Tanjiro and Nezuko get involved in the secret society of the Demon Slayer Corps, which has been secretly fighting against the demons for countries.
Later, Tanjiro is recruited by a demon slayer named Giyu Tomioka, who deliberately helps him become a demon slayer. So, then their journey starts searching for a cure to help his sister and avenge the deaths of the rest of his family.
7. FUTURE DIARY
(Genre: Action, Shounen, Supernatural)
Future Diary, also known as Mirai Nikki, is a manga series written and illustrated by Sakae Esuno. The series revolves around a dairy game; it is a deadly survival game between 12 different players given the future diaries, a special diary that predicts the future up to 90 days.
The series follows Yukiteru Amano, a 14 years-old boy, a daydreaming, slightly insane loner living his ordinary life, who observes and writes down the event on his cell phone. His only friends are Deus Ex Machina, the God of time and space, and his assistant Muru Muru.
It all started when one day, his only friend Deus turned Yukiteru’s cell phone into a future diary and gave him a task to find and kill the other 11 players. The winner was supposed to succeed Deus as God and prevent the Apocalypse.
The story holds many dark scenes and great conspiracy. Aren’t you getting curious to know how the story ends?
8. TERROR IN RESONANCE
(Genre: Psychological, thriller)
Terror in Resonance, also known as Zankyou no Terror and Terror in Tokyo, is a Japanese anime series created and directed by Shinichiro Watanabe and produced by MAPPA. This story revolves around two teenage kids who go by the names Nines and Twelve.
They were the only survivors of a mysterious secret experiment run by the Rising peace Academy. At the same time, the experiment aimed to develop 26 orphaned children with Savant syndrome into highly intelligent human weapons.
One day, the story began when these two survivors steal a prototype bomb in a terrorist attack and make a video where they called themselves “Sphinx” and threaten to destroy Tokyo unless a cryptic riddle can be solved.
Later they befriend a girl named Lisa, who unintentionally gets caught up in their plans to expose the sinful experiments of the organization.
9. MONSTER
(Genre: Horror, Seinen, Thriller, vampire)
Monster, this anime is based on Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Naoki Urasawa. The series follows a Japanese surgeon known as Kenzo Tenma; he was living in Germany. He was a talented young neurosurgeon, employed at Eisler Memorial Hospital in Duesseldorf, Germany.
However, at the beginning of the series, he was getting used by the hospital director, the director was selfish, and for him, the patient’s life was not equal. Certainly, Tenma decides to seize the chance to change things in the hospital when two kids, Johan and Anna Liebert, are brought to the hospital.
He successfully operates Johan, and he is saved, while the director asks Tenma to operate on Mayor Roedecker, who arrived late. Later, Tenma loses his social respect. However, mysteriously the director Heinemann and other doctors who came in Tenma’s way are killed, and the two kids disappeared from the hospital.
Given that, the police suspected Tenma but couldn’t prove him guilty as they didn’t have any evidence against him. Nine years later, Tenma’s life enters into turmoil when he saves a criminal named Adolf Junkers, who mutters about a “Monster.” Later, one of his former patients, Johan, is a dangerous serial killer who kills Junker in Infront of his eyes.
What do you think happened to Johan and his sister Anna? How did Johan turn into a serial killer? And why did all the people who came in Tenma’s way were killed? And by who?
10. BABYLON
(Genre: Thriller)
Babylon adapted from a Japanese novel series written by Mado Nozaki and illustrated by Zain. This series revolves around a character named Zen Seizaki and a main antagonist character Ai Magase. Zen Seizaki is a public prosecutor in the newly created Shiniki district of Tokyo and investigates a pharmaceutical company promoting a defective drug.
He finds an anesthetist’s dead body and a bloodstained document during the investigation, which consists of hair and skin covered with the letter F.
Whereas the investigations lead to a mysterious plot involving the mayoral elections and manipulation of the citizens to embrace new legislation legalizing suicide.
Seiki discovers, Ai Magase, a sinister woman, was behind the deaths of all those who oppose her. Ai Nagase could disguise into different women. She uses her unique voice qualities to manipulate and convince people that ending their lives is good, eventually leading the person to commit suicide.
Well, there are more similar anime series like Death Note, which I haven’t mentioned in the above section are:
11. STEINS; GATE
12. FILE OF YOUNG KINDAICHI
13. DEATH PARADE
14. CODE GEASS
15. YOUJO SENKI
16. ZETSUEN NO TEMPEST
17. ONE OUTS
I hope you’ll enjoy this highly recommended anime series. Tanoshi!
