Unlike live-action, animation gives viewers more room to use their imaginations and gives them more visual freedom. Most people’s first thoughts about anime are probably of Studio Ghibli’s works, which usually have cutely drawn characters in over-the-top fantasy settings. However, anime has a lot of potentials to be much better than what people think it will be.
If you grew up watching shows like Cowboy Bebop and Neon Genesis Evangelion on Cowboy Bebop and Adult Swim, or if Cowboy Bebop and Neon Genesis Evangelion were your first anime shows, these suggestions will prove to you that anime is a genre with many different types.
10 Dark and Gritty Anime Series for People Who Think Anime Are For Kids https://t.co/MlyEzpoOHo
Before the terrible CGI remake came out in 2016, the 1997 series was the first anime version of the groundbreaking adult manga Berserk by the late manga artist Kentaro Miura. It was also the one that fans and critics liked the most.
Berserk looked at a wide range of topics, from child abuse to post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Many people were disgusted and scared by the darker, more realistic take on the fantasy adventure genre, which put more emphasis on the horrors of war and the evil of demons. The series can be seen as a prequel to Guts’ fame as the respected Black Swordsman. Even though the ending is abrupt and leaves people with more questions and fears, Berserk is still a must-see because of its exciting, popcorn-worthy violence and because it never loses sight of the complexity of people, even when they are at war.
10 Dark and Gritty Anime Series
‘Shigurui’
Shigurui starts with a fight between the one-armed Fujiki Gennosuke and the blind Irako Seigen, which may be one of the most daring and realistic depictions of a samurai ever made. In the past, wooden swords were used, but this time, real swords are used.
Before they became who they are now, Gennosuke and Seigen were both students of Iwamoto Kogan, the best swordsman in Japan. Kogan did a lot of creepy things that will make the audience’s skin crawl. Both swordsmen show who will be the last man standing, even though they are at a disadvantage, by describing how their lives are linked by jealousy, anger, sex, and taboos.
‘Elfen Lied’
Elfen Lied, the anime that inspired the hit show Stranger Things, doesn’t hold back when it comes to showing how cruel people can be. Dog lovers should also look away from a certain scenes in the show.
Two college students find a girl who is hurt and has short horns on her head. She seems sweet and innocent, so they decide to help her. They didn’t know that behind the girl’s sweet and carefree attitude were murderous tendencies. She had developed a split personality when she ran away from the cruel experiments she had been subjected to in a government lab. The girl’s name is Lucy, and she is a Diclonius, which is a special kind of human with the ability to move things with her mind. Soon, the two students will be caught up in a world of lies, government plots, and very violent acts.
‘Rainbow’
Even though it has a happy name, Rainbow is an honest look at the promise of a second chance at life. The series takes place in Japan in 1955 and tells the stories of seven young people who are sent to the Shounan Reform School.
A cruel prison guard and a doctor who likes young boys offer to make the kids’ lives as hard as possible. With the help of Rokurouta Sakuragi, an older cellmate and former boxer, the prisoners must stay positive and do whatever it takes to stay alive so they can see life after redemption and the promise of a reunion in the world after the war.
‘Black Lagoon’
Cowboy Bebop fans who wanted more shootouts and badass anime women with foul mouths should check out Black Lagoon, a fun mix of One Piece’s pirate pilgrimages and John Woo’s signature style of action movies. Even a character named Chang is a lot like Chow Yun-dual-gun-wielding fat characters in John Woo’s movies.
After being held at gunpoint, Rokurou Okajima reluctantly joins the Lagoon Company. He soon has to get used to the dangerous life of a mercenary, which includes illegal transactions, kidnappings, gun battles, and constant rough encounters. He is joined by Revy, a Chinese-American gunslinger with a short fuse who likes to kill people and smoke a lot.
‘Gankutsuou: The Count of Monte Cristo’
Gankutsuou: The Count of Monte Cristo is a loose adaptation of the same-named novel by Alexandre Dumas. It is more than just a revenge story, though. Gankutsuou is set in the future, where humans and aliens live together and mecha are a normal part of life. There are many differences between Gankutsuou and its source.
‘Vinland Saga’
Fans of the manga “Vinland Saga” probably didn’t expect the anime to be so true to the story and surprisingly fun to watch. The series is about Thorfinn, a young mercenary who works for Askeladd, a skilled swordsman and leader of a group of Vikings. There are references to Nordic sagas in the series.
Askeladd killed Thorfinn’s father when Thorfinn was a child, so Thorfinn swore revenge and is working on his fighting skills so that he can challenge Askeladd to a duel one day. Even though Thorfinn used to want to live in a peaceful place without war or killing, his instinct to stay alive gets stronger as the war between the English and the Danes gets worse.
‘Monster’
The monster was the first manga by Naoki Urasawa that people all over the world knew about. It was based on the 1960s American crime show The Fugitive. Its 74-episode anime adaptation is great in its own right. With help from long-time Studio Ghibli animator Kitaro Kosaka and a haunting ending theme sung by English songwriter David Sylvian, it carefully shows each character’s complex motivations.
After saving Johann Liebert as a child from the town mayor many years ago, skilled brain surgeon Kenzou Tenma goes through a lot of emotional turmoil when he finds out that Johann is a psychopath who makes people give in to their cardinal sins and commit crimes or even commit suicide. Kenzou wants to stop Johann from doing bad things, so he starts looking into Johann’s past. He finds something much worse, especially things that happened at an orphanage called 511 Kinderheim.
‘Basilisk’
Think of Battle Royale from 2000 or The Hunger Games from 2012 but set in feudal Japan in 1614. Basilisk is about two rival clans of ninjas who are forced to fight each other so that the grandson of shogun Tokugawa Ieyasu can decide who will be the next heir.
Ten of the best warriors from each clan, Tsubagakure of Iga and Manjidani of Kouga, were chosen for the deadly competition. They represent the heirs to each possible shogunate. Gennosuke Kouga, heir to the Kouga clan, and Oboro Iga, heir to the Iga clan, are torn by their love for each other. They must decide whether to kill the person they love or lead their clans to slaughter.
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