The 35 Darkest Anime That Only Get Darker

Anime can be highly inspirational or deeply pessimistic, and some of the most fascinating are the ones that don’t shy away from dark impulses. Sometimes an anime needs to ease into its wicked nature, while other series start in bleak places and only drag audiences further down into darkness. It’s a delicate balance, but there are some exceptional anime that aren’t afraid to push boundaries and leave the audience stranded in the pitch.

Anime continues to ambitiously evolve as audiences develop higher tolerances for violence and darkness in a medium that’s no stranger to subversive storytelling. A gutting betrayal or an admission of hatred can cut much deeper than any flesh wound. There are a myriad of ways that anime can get under the audience’s skin, but there are certain series that start off in a rough place and only get much darker as they progress.

Updated by Daniel Kurland on January 15, 2025: This list has been updated to incorporate five new entries so that it’s now a ranking of 35 anime series, rather than 30. The list’s ranked order has also been slightly amended and includes more recent selections. Additionally, CBR’s latest style changes are also reflected when it comes to the list’s formatting and presentation, so that it’s more informative and visually dynamic.

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35

Yamishibai: Japanese Ghost Stories Indulges In Bite-Sized Tales Of Terror

Streaming on Crunchyroll

Anime anthology series are quite plentiful and Yamishibai: Japanese Ghost Stories has practically become a horror genre institution after 13 seasons and counting. Yamishibai has told over 150 stories, which vary wildly in quality, but still manage to consistently get under the audience’s skin. Episodes are also short and sweet and clock in between three-to-five minutes in length, which makes it an easy binge, even when it’s off its mark.

Many classic urban legends and superstitions are brought to life in Yamishibai, while more modern stories have also been tackled in its recent seasons. Yamishibai operates with a lo-fi aesthetic and its eclectic, minimalist art styles often leave a lot to be desired. It’s not as successful or genuinely scary as many other horror anime. However, it does routinely indulge in dark turns and it’s rare to get a Yamishibai episode where the main character survives. These dark, digestible episodes become cautionary, creepy tales that celebrate the macabre.

Yamishibai: Japanese Ghost Stories

Every week at 5 p.m. an old man in a yellow mask shows up at a children’s playground and tells them ghost stories based on myths and urban legends of Japanese origin. The man tells the stories on the back of his bicycle using a traditional kamishibai (Paper Drama) method and features a new tale each week.

Release Date

July 14, 2013

Seasons

12

Creator

Hiromu Kumamoto

Production Company

I Love Computer Art (ILCA)

Streaming on Netflix

Go Nagai’s original Devilman is a ’70s classic that’s received copious sequels and spin-offs. Masaaki Yuasa’s Devilman: Crybaby updates this demonic anti-hero story for the 21st century with kaleidoscopic colors, surreal visuals, and ultra-violence that will make even seasoned horror fans wince. Devilman: Crybaby sticks to the same basic premise as the original Devilman, wherein Akira Fudo learns that he’s a mythic figure — the Devilman — who is destined to save the world from descending into demonic damnation.

Akira struggles to make sense of his newfound powers as he confides in his friend, Ryo, for guidance and support. Akira’s Devilman antics begin in a foreboding and ferocious place that becomes progressively suffocating as the series continues. There’s a dark turn where Akira’s world unravels and the series takes advantage of its singular season and ends with apocalyptic peril. Plenty of dark anime deconstruct the idea of the corrupting nature of power, but few are willing to commit to such a bleak fate as Devilman: Crybaby.

With demons reawakened and humanity in turmoil, a sensitive demon-boy is led into a brutal, degenerate war against evil by his mysterious friend, Ryo.

Release Date

January 5, 2018

Seasons

1

Studio

Science SARU

MyAnimeList Score

7.75

33

Welcome To The N.H.K. Explores Paranoia & Conspiracies

Streaming on Crunchyroll

Hikikomori — individuals who suffer from reclusive social instincts that isolate them indoors and shelter them from the outside world — are delicate individuals who can be explored in many different ways in anime. Some series broadly mine this condition for laughs, but Welcome to the N.H.K. is a desperate experience that occasionally turns to black comedy to only further heighten the anime’s desperation. Welcome to the N.H.K openly dissects depression, anxiety, parasocial relationships, and an overwhelming sense of dread that can suffocate the joy from life.

The anime’s main character, Tatsuiro Sato, has warm tendencies, and it’s infinitely easy to root for his success. Sato’s affable nature only makes it harder to watch him suffer and lose touch with reality — and himself. Sato strives to break free from his habits and end the toxic cycle that controls his life, but he can’t get past his paranoid belief that a mysterious organization – the NHK – controls society. Welcome to the N.H.K. is an enlightening character study that takes its issues seriously, but it’s not for the faint of heart.

Welcome to the N.H.K.

This surreal dramedy follows Satou Tatsuhiro as he attempts to escape the evil machinations of the NHK.

Release Date

July 9, 2006

Studio

Gonzo

Creator

Tatsuhiko Takimoto

32

Speed Grapher Follows Desperate Down-And-Out Workers In a Crushing System

Streaming on Crunchyroll

Speed Grapher is a psychologically taxing supernatural drama from 2005 that frequently slips through the cracks. The anime was born out of Japan’s economically driven society, where financial success translates to happiness and everyone else can feel trapped or even take their own lives when they feel like they don’t have any other options. These themes are explored in plenty of anime and Japanese dramas, but Speed Grapher was specifically made for mature audiences who are aware of this schism.

The anime intentionally features a stripped-down production so that its condemning story leaves a greater impression than the visuals or special effects. Speed Grapher focuses on Tatsumi Saiga, a former war photographer who becomes ingratiated with a young fetish club worker whose bodily fluids can grant people unusual powers. These powers often reflect their innermost desires and secrets, which, in Saiga’s case, gives him the ability to destroy anything that he photographs with his camera. Saiga and the club worker, Kagura, are soon on the run from dark forces, which push them down a progressively dark path.

Speed Grapher

Release Date

April 8, 2005

31

Genocyber Uses Psychic Experiments To Unleash A Destructive Monster

Currently Unavailable on Streaming

Genocyber: The Beauty Devil from Psychic World first found life as a disturbing body horror cyberpunk manga experience before it proceeded to unnerve audiences as a five-episode OVA that’s one of the darkest anime to come out of the early ’90s. Genocyber is emblematic of the extremely violent anime OVAs that dominated the ’80s and ‘90s, but there’s still a darkness to the storytelling and characters that would hit hard even without these brutal acts. Genocyber‘s core story is about a young girl with powerful abilities who can become the all-destructive Genocyber under the right circumstances.

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The anime shares a lot in common with Elfen Lied when it comes to human experiments and turning innocent people into weapons, but Genocyber features greater devastation. The Earth is practically empty from the titular monster’s actions once everything is said and done. Some anime shy away from extremism or at least exhibit shame over these depraved acts. Genocyber embraces the opposite perspective with wanton jubilation over its mayhem. Nihilism reigns supreme in Genocyber, where brutal deaths are accepted as an inevitability of life.

Genocyber

A nightmarish combination of cybernetics and psychic potential. At its core: the tortured souls of 2 human beings. Many desire to control this monstrosity, but can its hatred be contained? Battle erupts, and the cyberpunk world of the future is about to explode with violence!

Release Date

March 2, 1994

Production Company

Artmic, Bandai Visual Company

30

Now And Then, Here And There Is An Emotional Roller Coaster\

Available to Rent or Buy on Prime Video

Now and Then, Here and There takes the standard isekai formula and uses it as a grueling opportunity to immerse its lead character, Shu, into oblivion. Shu goes out of his way to help a strange girl, Lala-Ru, who is in the process of being attacked by powerful dragon mechas. Shu’s interference winds up sending both him and Lala-Ru to a desolate world that may, in fact, be a futuristic version of Earth. Shu and Lala-Ru’s new destination is filled with warfare and oppression, while hope, survival, and water are scarce resources.

The friendship that forms between Shu and Lala-Ru is incredibly earnest, especially as they’re forced to navigate through such a barren, punishing wasteland. Now and Then, Here and There doesn’t shy away from the oppressive nature of war and its harrowing content brings Grave of the Fireflies to mind. However, the anime goes even further when it comes to complex moral issues and an unflinching look into slavery, using children as weapons, and sexual abuse. There’s even a recurring image of a dead cat that becomes a powerful motif throughout the anime.

Now and Then, Here and There

Release Date

October 14, 1999

29

From the New World Has The Planet Descend Into Darkness

Not Currently Available on Streaming

Initially released as a novel before then being adapted into a dystopian 25-episode anime by A-1 Pictures, From the New World is a dark fantasy thriller that doesn’t pull any punches. From the New World is set in a bleak version of the world where 0.3 percent of the population develop psychic abilities, yet this is still enough for their use to drastically alter the world’s environment. It’s heartbreaking that the advent of psychic abilities prompts society to use this power for violent crimes and reprehensible acts. Society collapses and a world war further destabilizes the planet.

The growing prevalence of psychically-adept individuals triggers stark social conditioning and genetic modification to pacify those with these powers from hurting one another. From the New World repeatedly highlights that society will abuse power rather than use it to heal the world. The anime continually introduces more oppressive measures that are meant to repress and destroy innocent individuals. This is merely the tip of the iceberg in From the New World, the likes of which only hits harder since the series processes this pain through a group of pre-teens.

From the New World

In a post-apocalyptic world set a thousand years after our era, the remaining humans, now with telekinesis, live in a seemingly peaceful society, but dark secrets of the past will soon be discovered by a small group of friends.

Release Date

February 3, 2004

Creator(s)

Satoshi Kon

Studio

A-1 Pictures

28

Ergo Proxy Unleashes An Oppressive Android Society

Streaming on Crunchyroll

There are many post-apocalyptic anime that explore futuristic societies that have gone awry through an increased reliance on technology. Ergo Proxy, a 2000s anime gem that frequently slips through the cracks, feels like an even more nihilistic Ghost in the Shell or Nier: Automata Ver1.1a. The anime begins in an accepted place of hopelessness where society has grown accustomed to life in a domed city that’s peaceful, but restricting.

This peace begins to unravel as murders, a spreading virus, and a corrupt government coalesce in this supposed hamlet. Ergo Proxy reinforces the idea that ignorance is bliss, which is suddenly too much for its three main characters to accept. No stone goes unturned in Ergo Proxy, which preaches that peace always comes at a price.

Ergo Proxy

In a post-apocalyptic future humans live in peace with androids in a domed city. However, a strange series of murders has intruded into bored inspector Re-l Mayer’s life.

Release Date

February 25, 2006

Studio

Manglobe

Seasons

1

27

Psycho-Pass Gives Power to a Punishing Police State In a Dystopian Future

Streaming on Crunchyroll

Psycho-Pass is a fascinating look into a broken future that feels like an anime version of Minority Report. Japan adopts a stifling program called the Sibyl System where police and investigators actively scan the public’s mental state in order to assess their likelihood of committing crimes and stopping them before they happen. This premise, in itself, is a tough pill to swallow. It’s set in a futuristic world that removes the public’s freedom and agency, only to give this power to a punishing police force.

Psycho-Pass begins with a look into the conflicted nature of Akane Tsunemori, a novice inspector, who begins to question the system that holds society together. There was a five-year gap between Psycho-Pass‘ second and third seasons, which many presumed would be its end. Psycho-Pass Providence, an original feature film that was released four years later in 2023, successfully builds upon the anime’s authoritarian future state dystopia fears. Providence‘s ability to breathe more life into the unnerving sci-fi series means that more Psycho-Pass could easily be on the way.

Psycho-Pass

Believing in humanity and order, policewoman Akane Tsunemori obeys the ruling, computerized, precognitive Sibyl System. But when she faces a criminal mastermind who can elude this perfect system, she questions both Sibyl and herself.

Release Date

October 11, 2012

Cast

Kana Hanazawa
, Miyuki Sawashiro
, Noriko Hidaka
, Shizuka Itou
, Kenji Nojima
, Takahiro Sakurai
, Tomokazu Seki
, Robert McCollum

Studio

Production I.G, Tatsunoko Production

26

Corpse Party: Tortured Souls Exposes Young Kids To Death & Doom

Not Currently Available on Streaming

Corpse Party: Tortured Souls is a four-episode OVA follow-up to Corpse Party: Missing Footage, which in itself is based upon a visual novel horror-adventure game. A group of classmates performs a ritual that inadvertently sends them to the cursed Heavenly Host Elementary School in an alternate realm. Vengeful spirits, vicious torture, and frayed mental states are par for the course in this bleak alternate world. Apocalyptic isekai horror anime that subject innocent characters to ghost or zombie encounters can run out of steam over time.

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However, four episodes is the perfect length for Corpse Party to get lost in darkness without ever needing to pull back. There are some truly monstrous visuals and ideas that come out of the series, especially since it deals with young children who are subjected to brutal deaths. No one is safe in Corpse Party and it’s an extremely tense ride that crams in more violence than many shows that are three-times as long.

After performing a charm that would supposedly unite them as friends, a group of students are teleported to the mysterious Heavenly Host Elementary School where they are visited by the spirits of the school’s murdered students.

Release Date

July 24, 2013

Seasons

1

25

Chainsaw Man Subjects Denji To Constant Pain & Heartache

Streaming on Crunchyroll

Tatsuki Fujimoto’s Chainsaw Man is one of the shōnen genre’s “Dark Trio,” so it shouldn’t come as a surprise that it begins in cruel territory that only continues to kick its characters while they’re down. Denji, Chainsaw Man‘s reluctant hero, begins the series with nothing other than a monumental debt to his name.

Denji becomes the revered Chainsaw Devil and gains a new lease on life through the violent execution of other Devils. However, Denji’s team of government Devil Hunters exposes him to constant pain and heartache. He’s forced to watch his best friends perish, and those he trusts most of all, like Makima, are actually manipulating him for ulterior means. Denji is given hope for a better life and then has this hope crushed at every turn, making Chainsaw Man one of the best dark anime of recent memory.

Following a betrayal, a young man left for dead is reborn as a powerful devil-human hybrid after merging with his pet devil and is soon enlisted into an organization dedicated to hunting devils. When his father died, Denji was stuck with a huge debt and no way to pay it back.

Release Date

October 11, 2022

Seasons

1

Studio

MAPPA

24

Deadman Wonderland Frames An Average High Schooler For Murder

Streaming on Crunchyroll

Death game series have never been more popular, and Deadman Wonderland morbidly mixes a prison with an amusement park where massacres are the main attraction. Ganta Igarashi is a humble high schooler who gets framed for murdering his entire class, which sends him to this dark detention center that’s privy to even greater horrors.

Beyond the endless bloodshed and psychological manipulation, Ganta doesn’t even get closure on why he’s been set up and that some of the people he’s trusted most in life are actually his greatest enemies. Deadman Wonderland lacks a proper ending, which complements the anime’s nihilism and the idea that victory is futile. It’s a dark anime that doesn’t try to make its viewers feel better by the end.

After being falsely convicted for the murder of his entire class, a young man must learn to survive in a mysterious prison with a perverted take on incarceration while also looking to clear his name.

Release Date

April 1, 2011

Seasons

1

23

Berserk Follows Guts On A Relentless Quest For Revenge

Streaming on Crunchyroll

Berserk is held in high-esteem as the premier “dark fantasy” series and it definitely lives up to this reputation. Guts is a stoic, suffering warrior who wields a gargantuan blade that nearly verges on the point of parody. Guts’ roots depict an honorable soldier, but a lifetime of betrayal and bloodshed hardens him and puts him on a relentless quest for revenge.

The pivotal feud between Guts and former friend, Griffith, is devastating on its own. However, Guts takes on humanity’s most vile individuals and malevolent demonic spirits who relish pain and perversion. Many sequences in Berserk, particularly the ’17 anime, are genuinely hard to watch. For those who can stomach it, though, this makes Berserk one of the best, darkest anime choices.

Berserk

Guts, a wandering mercenary, joins the Band of the Hawk after being defeated in a duel by Griffith, the group’s leader and founder. Together, they dominate every battle, but something menacing lurks in the shadows.

Created by

Kentaro Miura

First Film

Berserk: The Golden Age Arc 1: The Egg of the King

First TV Show

Berserk

22

The Promised Neverland Puts A Dark Twist On A Peaceful Orphanage

Streaming on Crunchyroll

The Promised Neverland is a masterpiece of bold twists that recontextualizes a peaceful orphanage into a holding cell where children become food for terrifying monsters. A risky escape ensues that only further highlights how little Emma and her friends know about the world’s dark realities.

They’re thrust into a deadly existence that would be a lot for anyone to endure, let alone a group of pre-teens. A fumbled second season confirms that The Promised Neverland’s manga is the superior way to experience this story. However, both evocative, thought-provoking seasons raise unruly questions about the state of mankind and if it’s destined to expire, cementing The Promised Neverland’s position as a great dark anime.

When three gifted kids at an isolated idyllic orphanage discover the secret and sinister purpose they were raised for, they look for a way to escape from their evil caretaker and lead the other children in a risky escape plan.

Release Date

April 14, 2019

Creator

Kaiu Shirai

Studio

CloverWorks

21

Kaneki’s Violently Pulled Between Two Different Worlds In Tokyo Ghoul

Streaming on Hulu

Tokyo Ghoul is set in a dangerous world that’s divided between humans and flesh-eating ghouls, which have become an increasing scourge on society. Kaneki Ken is an ordinary teenager who gets viciously wounded in this dark anime’s first episode, and would be dead if not for a serendipitous organ transplant from a ghoul.

Kaneki survives, but must now spend his days as the first human-ghoul hybrid, which eats away at his psyche, destroys his identity, and pulls him between two very different worlds. His internal struggle never gets easier and concludes with him being transformed into an apocalyptic creature who stands no chance at returning to a normal existence. Tokyo Ghoul‘s 10th anniversary makes it the perfect time to revisit — or check out for the first time — this pitch black anime.

Tokyo Ghoul

A Tokyo college student is attacked by a ghoul, a superpowered human who feeds on human flesh. He survives, but has become part ghoul and becomes a fugitive on the run.

Release Date

July 4, 2014

Studio

Pierrot

20

Blue Literature Explores The Idea That Humanity Is Inherently Flawed

Currently Unavailable on Streaming

Blue Otherwise, otherwise known as Aoi Bungaku, adapts six classic Japanese stories across a dozen episodes. Blue Literature receives some understandable criticism for the varying qualities between stories due to the different production teams that work on them, but they’re unilaterally praised for telling mature stories in an anthology context. Blue Literature digs deep into human psychology and posits that people are inherently flawed.

6:51

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This dark anime unpacks love affairs, betrayal, and free-floating suffering. The anime may only be a dozen episodes, but audiences need to be careful about binge-watching this series. Watching too many episodes in succession is guaranteed to bring down one’s mood. No one leaves any Blue Literature episodes better off than when they started.

Blue Literature

An anthology series that adapts six Japanese short stories created by Japanese writers Natsume Sōseki, Osamu Dazai, and Ryūnosuke Akutagawa.

Release Date

October 11, 2009

19

Inuyashiki & Hiro Are Turned Into Feared Cyborgs In Inuyashiki

Streaming on Crunchyroll

Inuyashiki is a must-watch dark anime that accomplishes an incredible amount in only 11 episodes. Inuyashiki Ichiro, a neglected 58-year-old, and Hiro Shishigami, a volatile teenager, both get turned into unbelievable cyborgs after they witness the same mysterious extraterrestrial event. This metamorphosis turns Hiro into a terrifying, homidical threat, while Inuyashiki struggles to find the courage to end his reign of terror.

It’s terrifying to see Hiro use his power to trap the nation in fear and accrue a hefty body count. Meanwhile, Inuyashiki struggles to accept himself as a worthy hero to take out this threat. There’s an optimistic finish to Inuyashiki where both central characters find acceptance from their loved ones, but they’re still forced to self-destruct themselves to take out a meteor and protect the greater good. It’s a bittersweet finish in every regard.

Inuyashiki: Last Hero

Ichirou Inuyashiki, a middle-aged office worker encounters aliens and is gifted with alien technology and limitless powers.

Release Date

October 13, 2017

Studio

MAPPA

Creator

Hiroya Oku

18

​Rainbow Centers Around Unfair Detainment Practices In The 1950s

Streaming on Crunchyroll

Rainbow‘s title is meant to be ironic and highlight how the world is a grim place that’s bereft of rainbows and pretty ideas. Rainbow kicks off with a warning about explicit content, and it certainly stays true to this promise. Rainbow‘s depiction of the incarceration and abuse of six junior delinquents in an unconventional reformatory school is hard to watch, even for seasoned anime drama fans.

These victims have each other to lean on, but their lives are otherwise void of joy. Set in the ’50s, Rainbow takes advantage of the decade’s unfair practices when it comes to detainment and rehabilitation. It’s uncomfortable territory that shines an important light on an inhumane era that’s since gotten better, but sadly not by much.

Rainbow: Nisha Rokubō no Shichinin

Set in 1955, the anime follows the story of seven teenagers locked in a reformatory, waiting for a ray of light in a daily hell of suffering and humiliation, focusing especially on how they faced life once regained freedom.

Release Date

April 6, 2010

17

Terror In Resonance Turns Innocent Children Into Obedient Soldiers

Streaming on Crunchyroll

Shinichiro Watanabe is best known for more playful anime like Cowboy Bebop, Samurai Champloo, and Space Dandy. However, Terror in Resonance is one of the director’s strongest series because of its fearless look into terrorism and the ability to erase children’s innocence through their transformation into compliant soldiers. Terrorism is rarely an optimistic topic for a series to handle, but endless nihilism pervades this tight 11-episode anime.

Terror in Resonance has a polarizing ending due to the death of Twelve, which many consider to be unfairly cruel. Terror in Resonance finds it necessary to push its story to the darkest point possible. It’s full of crushing casualties that sadden the audience because it’s the reality of these destructive stories. Terror in Resonance has no interest in placating or condescending to its crowd.

Terror in Resonance

Tokyo has been decimated by a terrorist attack, the only clue to the culprit’s identity is a bizarre internet video. Two mysterious children form Sphinx, a clandestine entity determined to pull the trigger on this world.

Release Date

July 11, 2014

Seasons

1

Studio

MAPPA

16

Serial Experiments Lain Tackles Society’s Reliance On The Internet For Self-Identity

Currently Unavailable on Streaming

Serial Experiments Lain is a dark anime from the ’90s that’s incredibly prescient with its deconstruction of society’s reliance on technology — specifically the Internet — when it comes to identity and community. Serial Experiments Lain begins in an emotionally sterile place as a young girl ends her own life and leaves plenty of her former friends, including Lain Iwakura, feeling numb.

Lain begins to receive posthumous e-mails from her fallen friend that lead her into the expansive virtual world of The Wired. Lain’s own case of digital martyrdom is heartbreaking. However, Serial Experiments Lain ends on a bleak note that reiterates how the world is hopelessly addicted to digital connection. 25 years later, this phenomenon has only grown more debilitating.

Serial Experiments Lain

Strange things start happening when a withdrawn girl named Lain becomes obsessed with an interconnected virtual realm known as “The Wired”.

Release Date

July 13, 1999

Studio

Triangle Staff

Seasons

1