Anime has come a long way from being colorful and light-hearted and only suited for children. Over the decades, the medium has evolved into a storytelling powerhouse capable of tackling almost any genre and subject – from high school romances to thought-provoking thrillers and everything in between. It has proven itself as a sophisticated art form that can deal with complex themes in mature ways.
Just like live-action movies and TV shows have explored R-rated material, anime too has ventured into increasingly unsettling territories. The vibrant sub genre delivers tales that are twisted enough to push viewers past their comfort zones and leave them tense and unsettled. In this list, we pick out the 20 most dark and twisted anime ever made. From gore-filled horror and dystopian sci-fi to gut-wrenching tragedies and over-the-top violence, anime has it all. So before you check them out, consider yourself warned.
20 Wonder Egg Priority (2021)
Ai Ooto is a quiet and reserved girl who is finding it difficult to deal with the grief of losing her best friend. On a midnight stroll, Ai discovers a mysterious Wonder Egg and enters a dream-like state where she must protect people from their burdens and demons. She takes it as a way to be closer to her best friend. But within these nightmarish domains, Ai and her three friends face versions of traumas that haunt their hope of redeeming themselves.
Takes a Dive Into Despair
Wonder Egg Priority deals with extremely heavy subject matter but does so with great care, nuance, and hope. The haunting egg worlds act as a mirror into the protagonists’ psyches, their tragic backstories and the very root of their mental anguish. Initially, the premise seems normal with its high school setting, but soon it becomes terrifying and chilling. It also uses symbolism as a way to talk about moving themes of trauma and healing. Overall, a resonant anime.
19 Dark Gathering (2023)
An unsettling horror anime adapted from a manga series written and illustrated by Kenichi Kondo, Dark Gathering centers around Keitarou Gentouga, a young boy who has always been able to see spirits. Now a college freshman, he tries to live a normal life. But an encounter with Yayoi Houzuki, a fellow student, turns his life around. Because like Keitarou, Yayoi can also see spirits. But unlike Keitarou, she purposely seeks them to exorcise them.
Gripping Noir Nightmare
Dark Gathering presents a fascinating setting within a genre that has overused tropes of isekai, reincarnation, and personal trauma a little too many times. The stylish anime brings out the ominous scenes. But it’s really the complex and morally gray characters, their interwoven motives (like Yayoi looking for the evil spirit that kidnapped her mother’s soul) that really turn the anime from a good one to a gripping, effective, dark and violent one.
18 Black Butler (2008 – 2011)
Black Butler is a dark fantasy/Goth-inspired anime set in Victorian-era London. It follows Ciel Phantomhive, a privileged 12-year-old heir who runs his own business. Privately, he moonlights as someone who solves criminal cases for Her Majesty. Ciel is not alone however. A mysterious butler named Sebastian Michaelis is by his side at all hours.
Even though Sebastian appears human and obeys all of Ciel’s commands, the truth is he’s a demon who has formed a contract with Ciel during his bleakest hour.
Gothic Tale Like No Other
On the surface, Black Butler appears as a mesmerizing and darkly humorous detective series set in historical England. But in every episode of the anime, there is profound darkness and ethical complexity. Ciel and Sebastian navigate their sinister pact with over-the-top violence and visually sumptuous mysteries. Additionally, Black Butler is leisurely paced, and it focuses more on the intelligent conversations of free will and fate.
17 Texhnolyze (2003)
In a futuristic underground city, humanity depends entirely on complex technological implants in order to survive. Lux, a rigidly organized dystopia, also conducts fighting tournaments as a primary entertainment. But after a fight leaves a man severely injured, he undergoes a process called “texhnolyzation” and receives prosthetic limbs.
Rumored scary and dangerous, the man finds himself caught in a rising conflict when Kazuho Yoshii, a mysterious stranger, begins to commit crime in the entire city.
Cerebral Storytelling
Texhnolyze has a slow-burning and dense narrative. One that is told with artistic brilliance. At its core is the idea of technology controlling our fate and society, especially with humanity willingly underground symbiosis with it.
The anime also has a mechanical production design that brings an already gloomy sci-fi world to a complex and disturbing life. Its cerebral storytelling and straightforward action might not offer an ideal viewing experience to some, but that does not make Texhnolyze any less bold and thought-provoking.
16 Higurashi: When They Cry (2006)
If you are someone who hates to see your favorite characters meet unexpected deaths, then Higurashi: When They Cry is not for you. The anime takes place in a seemingly peaceful rural town of Hinamizawa, where Keiichi Maebara and his school friends spend the summer of their lifetimes. But every June, during an annual festival, the entire village falls victim to grisly murder. As the core friend group tries to make sense of these events, they are exposed to unnatural truths.
Gut-Wrenching Murder Mystery
Higurashi: When They Cry is that rare horror series that genuinely succeeds in disturbing its audience. It starts off normally, acquainting us with Keiichi and his friends, but doesn’t waste a minute in maximizing the shock value with its realistic and uneasy portrayal of gruesome slayings.
It all ties back to the local deity, Oyashiro, and yet, the larger mystery is too ghastly to anticipate. Overall, the idyllic setting, folklore vibes, unnerving music and depressing tone, makes Higurashi a stand-out anime series.
15 Blue Gender (1999 – 2000)
Not too far into the future, humanity has been driven to a space station called Second Earth due to the emergence of terrifying insect-like aliens known as the Blue. They have little regard for human life, which has changed the world greatly. Yuji Kaido, who suffers from a disease known as B-Cells, wakes up from a coma that lasted decades and joins forces with an elite group that has come to extract him. But he soon gets embroiled in an extraterrestrial conflict.
The Alien Invaders Are Terrifying
We have seen post-apocalyptic stories before, but none of those offer a look on humanity’s fragile coexistence in a manner that is as cold-blooded and unflinching as Blue Gender. The grotesque monsters and their haunting acts of violence, the hopeless and expressionless faces of the characters, the genuinely eerie scores and the existential horror that settles in when even the heroes cannot control and adapt the food chain creates a dreadful environment.
Episodic in nature, the anime is too much to take in all at once.
14 Paranoia Agent (2004 – 2005)
Created by Satoshi Kon, who is the great mind behind Perfect Blue and Paprika, two of the most challenging psychological thrillers of all time, Paranoia Agent takes you to Musashino City, where otherwise ordinary citizens start falling prey to violent, unexplained attacks blamed on a mysterious attacker known only as Lil’ Slugger.
But as panic rises and police investigations grow rampant, we begin to wonder: are these crimes truly random? Or are some individuals cracking under the strain of urban life?
Absurd Psychological Horror
By pulling on a city’s collective subconscious and blurring the lines between fantasy and reality, Paranoia Agent defies all genre conventions. Satoshi’s direction perfectly captures how today’s society oscillates from being sane one minute to losing their minds another and juxtaposes it with bone-chilling scares.
The episodic arcs make it hard to follow certain storylines and raise maddening questions about the ending. But the series harbors profound examinations of everyday lives, and for that, it is a masterpiece.
13 Chainsaw Man (2022)
Chainsaw Man is an anime that constantly tests its protagonist’s limits. Set in an alternate version of Japan, it follows Denji, a teenager struggling with his deadbeat father’s death and bullies at school. His only friend is Pochita, a cute dog-like devil. When Denji is killed, Pochita uses the leverage from an old curse and merges his soul with that of the devil. Denji awakens with overwhelming power, joins a special division, and faces strange new enemies.
Combines Shounen and Cyberpunk
Nothing short of a sensory feast, Chainsaw Man combines the best elements of shounen with a cyberpunk tone and delivers a story that is frenetic, inventive, and over-the-top. Every battle and creature design pushes creative boundaries, and through it all, the focus never shift’s from Denji’s coming-of-age story. He goes from being a teenager to a soulless killing machine to an empathetic individual learning to love again.
12 Corpse Party: Tortured Souls (2013)
Based on a horror adventure game of the same name developed by Team GrisGris, Corpse Party: Tortured Souls is a four-part sequel to the Corpse Party: Missing Footage OVA.
It follows the same premise as the source material and tells the story of a group of high school students, who gather at Kisaragi Academy to perform a ritual that would make them better friends. But they become victims of a deadly curse that transports them to Heavenly Host Elementary School, where school students died gruesome deaths.
Claws At Your Psyche
Corpse Party: Tortured Souls uses extreme gore, disturbing imagery and an unnerving soundtrack to crawl its way under your skin. The characters who once seemed spirited each meet their tragic end as the brutal ghost story unravels. The splatter effects are as powerful as they are unsettling and the overall tone of the anime is gloomy and bleak. The series has a divisive audience – one half is fascinated by the depiction of horror and the other simply cannot stand it.
11 Deadman Wonderland (2011)
Middle-schooler Ganta Igarashi expects a memorable day ahead of him when his class prepares to go on a field trip to the titular amusement park, which also functions as a prison. But when his classmates are mysteriously murdered by a mysterious man in red, Ganta is framed for the incident and sent to the notorious prison. There, inmates are forced to battle in constantly bizarre games for amusement. With the help of another inmate, he discovers the prison’s true purpose.
Features Gruesome Fight Sequences
Infamous for its graphic violence, Deadman Wonderland manages to balance the gore with thoughtful character arcs and a jarring allegory on punishment, human experimentation, and corporate corruption. Its premise of making prisoners engage in deadly and gruesome battles maintains tension throughout. While some fans still prefer the manga over the incomplete anime, the latter has some deeply engaging plot points and thrilling visuals to keep you hooked.
10 Puella Magi Madoka Magica (2011)
Traditionally, magic girls’ stories revolve around adorable little girls brought together by a magically-abled being, who gives them supernatural abilities and delegates them with protecting the Earth from all sorts of evil. Puella Magi Madoka Magica infuses the same premise with a dark twist.
Madoka Kaname and Sayaka Miki, two girls with regular lives, encounter a strange cat named Kyuubey, who can grant them one wish, but in return they must hunt, battle, and defeat witches that spread despair in the world.
Deceptively Dark
Like we said before, on the surface, the anime seems like a standard in the Mahou Shoujo genre. But it ingeniously subverts and deconstructs every “magical girl” trope by adding haunting and emotional depth to its story.
Both the characters’ journeys reveal cleverly written commentary on adolescence, sacrifice, and the cost of power. Additionally, the series has its own unique animation and a pulse-pounding soundtrack that makes its bold, gut-wrenching finale shatter all your expectations and leave you shocked.
9 Attack on Titan (2013 – 2023)
One of the most popular anime series of the past decade, Attack on Titan introduces us to a dystopian world surrounded by enormous walls that were built by remaining survivors when man-eating Titans ascended on Earth and drove humans to near extinction. Eren Jaeger, who witnessed the destruction of his home and the death of his mother during the invasion, is among the few who volunteer to go outside and take what’s theirs when a colossal Titan breaches the way and wreaks havoc.
Masterclass in Horror and Action
Attack On Titan is a masterclass of tension, brutality and emotionally charged storytelling. Told through epic battles with increasingly intelligent adversaries, it is filled with plot twists and jarring production values to put viewers right in the shadows of the characters.
Apart from the spectacle, however, the anime also navigates deeper themes about human nature, war, and the challenging preconceptions of both. The characters and their layered narratives keep you intrigued and appalled from start to finish.
8 Tokyo Ghoul (2014)
Ken Kaneki is a shy college student who wants to stay unbothered by the existence of flesh-eating “ghouls” in society. But after he falls for an attractive woman named Rize Kamishiro and learns a dark secret, he wakes up to discover that a dying Rize forcefully implanted her organs in his body to save his life. Now a half-ghoul himself, Ken must deal with his hunger for human flesh and navigate the dark alleys of Tokyo, which are ripe with ghoul investigators.
Stylish Horror With Depth
Tokyo Ghoul makes it impossible for you to root for the good guys and fills you with empathy for man-eaters. Such is the dread-soaked world of this anime, where neither species fully understands the other and they indulge in brutal battles every chance they get. Ken’s internal conflict where he tries to grapple with his monstrous cravings and longs for the very ghouls who see him as an abomination drives the plot forward. It is a visceral and unforgettable premise that’s still relevant.
7 Elfen Lied (2004)
In Elfen Lied, Japanese scientists have been conducting research on the Diclonius, who are a special breed of humans with telekinetic abilities. Lucy, born with invisible telekinetic arms, is a Diclonius that has been subjected to horrifying experiments; the torture leaving her mind shattered and humanity altered.
When she finally escapes, the trauma leaves Lucy violent and homicidal towards all humans. But she also loses her memories and is saved by two college students, Kouta and his cousin Yuka.
Leaves You Shaken to the Core
Matt and Ross Duffer, the creative brothers behind Netflix’s Stranger Things have cited Elfen Lied as an inspiration for their show. While the similarities are scarce, the latter pulls no punches in delivering some of anime’s most unsettling, heartbreaking and brutal scenes. It uses hair-raising violence and unfiltered gore, with a moody jazz score to enhance the atmospheric dread. Moreover, the story raises questions about ethics and alienation and government secrecy.
6 The Promised Neverland (2019 – 2021)
The Promised Neverland takes place against the backdrop of an idyllic orphanage named the Grace Field House. Hidden deep in the forest and surrounded by a gated entrance, it houses children who live in blissful ignorance of the outside world. All they do is play and study under close inspection of Isabella, their “Mama.” However, when three older kids begin to suspect that their mother is hiding something sinister, they try to plan an escape and things go really wrong really fast.
Features Plenty of Gut Punches
By combining pulse-pounding adventure and deliciously twisted plot points, The Promised Neverland tells a story that won’t let you sleep for nights. The core mystery, which is that the orphanage is really a farm that raises the brightest children as livestock for demonic exploitation, comes as a shock.
The stunning animation brings the contrast between the lush orphanage life and the grim monster realm life to screen with impeccable detail. The writing is also psychologically dense, which makes the series an intelligent watch.
5 Berserk (1997)
Set against the backdrop of a dark medieval war-torn kingdom, Berserk follows Guys, the most feared and skilled mercenary hunter. His physical strength and prowess with a sword are unmatched. But when he joins forces with a team of strangers led by Griffith, his friendship and loyalty is tested against a mysterious past trauma that still haunts him. From dark prophecies to long-forgotten dreams, Berserk has it all.
Brains and Brawn Combined
Despite only being 25 episodes long (as compared to the 300+ chapters’ worth of content in the manga), Berserk manages to capture the essence and magic of its source material. It immerses viewers in a world that is as brutal and unforgiving as its protagonist.
As a hapless avenger stuck in never-ending wars, he is trying to cling to the last remnants of his fading humanity. Grim and dark, the series amplifies his story with a metal score and old school animation. That said, Berserk has long solidified its status as the king of Seinen.
4 Inuyashiki (2017)
At just 11 episodes long, Inuyashiki is one of those anime series that you can easily binge in a day. It centers around 58-year-old Ichirou Inuyashiki, whose family seems to have given up on him. Due to his declining health, he does not have long to live. One night, a bright light consumes him and he gets transformed into an indestructible android. At first, Ichirou is thrilled by his new abilities. But it isn’t long until has to use them against Hiro Shishigami, a new genocidal force in town.
A Violent Sci-Fi Epic
By blending philosophical sci-fi, ultraviolence, and unusual kills, Inuyashiki shocks its audiences. Ichirou’s journey from being a washed-up old man to a reluctant savior is paced with emotion and nuance. But it is Hiro’s terrifying transformation into a destructive force that stuns all. From the fantastic battles to the intimate character studies, every aspect of the series deeply resonates with the audiences.
3 Made in Abyss (2017)
From well-animated fight scenes to lighthearted adventure, Made in Abyss has a lot to offer. But the good things are just a foil for its twisted center. The titular Abyss is a massive chasm in the middle of an ancient forest. Home to relics and remnants of a long-lost civilization, it has been explored by many. When Riko, an orphaned girl, tries to dive into its untold depths in search of her missing mother, she encounters a humanoid robot on a similar quest. Their path, as you would expect, is bizarre and perilous.
Starts Beautiful, Turns Harrowing
From the very first episode, the anime delivers breathtaking vistas, waterfalls, and uniquely animated flowers. The pervasive sense of dread is built up eventually, and when the innocent-looking characters face unfathomable horrors and descend into absolute madness, you realize just how dark and macabre their world is. However, what stays with you most is how the series portrays resilience in the darkest of hours. A work that’s equal parts disturbing and inspiring.
2 Another (2012)
A horror anime set in an unassuming high school setting, Another follows Kouichi Sakakibara, who has returned to after a month’s worth of sick leave only to realize that mysterious deaths have been plaguing his school. Drawn to the enigmatic Mei Misaki, he begins investigating the events and ends up uncovering an ominous secret about the property.
Creepy and Tense
Another is a gripping thriller that effortlessly worms its way under your skin. Its mundane high school setting acts as the perfect veil for more sinister truths to emerge. The foreshadowing is subtle at first, but as the mystery builds, it unnerves you and makes you anticipate the main characters’ gruesome fate. The animation is on point. The use of silence, lighting, and camera angles heightens the paranoia. While the ending left fans polarized, Another succeeds in leaving viewers horrified.
1 Monster (2004)
Monster follows respected brain surgeon, Dr. Kenzou Tenma, who is well on his way to being the best in the profession. But one night, he saves the life of a young boy named Johan Liebert instead of the town’s mayor, a choice which leads to consequences almost a decade later, when the boy resurfaces as a criminal and is responsible for a series of random yet Sinister murders, all of which lead back to Tenma. Losing his social standing, Tenma embarks on a transatlantic hunt for the murderer.
Ponders Human Nature
Unlike other psychological thrillers, Monster is a deliberative, slow-burn, and nuanced character study that poses questions about human nature. While Tenma’s character provokes a familiar good vs. evil discussion, Johan turns out to be the anime’s most enigmatic, confounding and compelling antagonist due to his lack of remorse or rational thinking. The sprawling plot, realistic storytelling, scarce dialogue and ever-evolving depiction of violence make it a modern classic.
