Anime like AKIRA

Shin Seiki Evangelion

Also known as Neon Genesis Evangelion.

Studio: Gainax , TV Tokyo , ADV Films , Kadokawa Shoten , NAS , Tatsunoko Production , GKids , Madman Entertainment
Status: Finished
Genres: Action , Drama , Mecha , Mystery , Psychological , Sci-Fi

In the year 2015, the Angels, huge, tremendously powerful, alien war machines, appear in Tokyo for the second time. The only hope for Mankind's survival lies in the Evangelion, a humanoid fighting machine developed by NERV, a special United Nations agency. Capable of withstanding anything the Angels can dish out, the Evangelion's one drawback lies in the limited number of people able to pilot them. Only a handful of teenagers, all born fourteen years ago, nine months after the Angels first appeared, are able to interface with the Evangelion. One such teenager is Shinji Ikari, whose father heads the NERV team that developed and maintains the Evangelion. Thrust into a maelstrom of battle and events that he does not understand, Shinji is forced to plumb the depths of his own inner resources for the courage and strength to not only fight, but to survive, or risk losing everything.



Note: Later releases include edited versions of Episodes 21-24 called the "Director's Cut" with some visual editing and adding extra scenes that appeared in the theatrical recap 'Death'.

Tags: Philosophy , Psychosexual , Coming of Age , Tragedy , Denpa , Super Robot , Dystopian , Post-Apocalyptic , Angels , Primarily Teen Cast , Suicide , Kaiju , Conspiracy , Male Protagonist , Aliens , Body Horror , Religion , Mythology , Military , Clone , Tokusatsu , Kuudere , Tsundere , Politics , Bisexual , Gore , Trains , Boys' Love , Espionage , Nudity , LGBTQ+ Themes , Episodic

GHOST IN THE SHELL: Koukaku Kidoutai

Also known as Ghost in the Shell.

Studio: Production I.G , Bandai Visual , Kodansha , Manga Entertainment
Status: Finished
Genres: Action , Psychological , Sci-Fi

2029: A female cybernetic government agent, Major Motoko Kusanagi, and the Internal Bureau of Investigations are hot on the trail of “The Puppet Master,” a mysterious and threatening computer virus capable of infiltrating human hosts. Together with her fellow agents from Section 9, Kusanagi embarks on a high-tech race against time to capture the omnipresent entity.



Tags: Cyberpunk , Artificial Intelligence , Philosophy , Urban , Robots , Cyborg , Police , Primarily Male Cast , Female Protagonist , Primarily Adult Cast , Seinen , Noir , Dystopian , Crime , Guns , Espionage , Nudity , Gore , CGI

Shin Seiki Evangelion Movie: Air / Magokoro wo, Kimi ni

Also known as Neon Genesis Evangelion: The End of Evangelion.

Studio: Gainax , Production I.G , TV Tokyo , Toei Animation , Kadokawa Shoten , Movic , Sega Games , TV Tokyo Music , Selecta Visión
Status: Finished
Genres: Action , Drama , Mecha , Psychological , Sci-Fi

NERV faces a brutal attack from SEELE, but with Asuka in a coma, and Shinji in a nervous breakdown, things soon turn into the surreal. This movie provides a concurrent ending to the final two episodes of the show Neon Genesis Evangelion.



Tags: Philosophy , Tragedy , Dystopian , Coming of Age , Post-Apocalyptic , Denpa , Meta , Gods , Body Horror , Conspiracy , Male Protagonist , Gore , Super Robot , Afterlife , Mythology , Kaiju , Robots , Cosmic Horror , Female Protagonist , Religion , Psychosexual , Primarily Teen Cast , Guns , Kuudere , Nudity , Masturbation , Clone , Tsundere , Politics , Space

DEVILMAN crybaby

Also known as Devilman Crybaby.

Studio: Science SARU , Aniplex , Netflix , Dynamic Planning
Status: Finished
Genres: Action , Drama , Horror , Psychological , Supernatural

New Devilman project marking Go Nagai's 50th anniversary as a creator.

The protagonist Akira Fudou learns from his best friend, Ryou Asuka, that an ancient race of demons has returned to take back the world from humans. Ryou tells Akira that the only way to defeat the demons is to incorporate their supernatural powers, and suggests that he unite with a demon himself. Akira succeeds in transforming into Devilman, who possesses both the powers of a demon and the soul of a human. The battle of Devilman and Akira Fudou begins.



Tags: Demons , Tragedy , Body Horror , Gore , Urban Fantasy , Gods , Shapeshifting , Psychosexual , Male Protagonist , Philosophy , Cosmic Horror , War , Monster Boy , Nudity , Angels , Henshin , Anti-Hero , Coming of Age , Cannibalism , Revenge , LGBTQ+ Themes , Athletics , Mythology , Unrequited Love , Heterosexual , Drugs , Masturbation , Meta , Bisexual , Boys' Love , Public Sex , Afterlife , Motorcycles , Politics , Hip-hop Music , Shounen

Cyberpunk: Edgerunners

Also known as Cyberpunk: Edgerunners.

Studio: Trigger , CD PROJEKT RED , Netflix
Status: Finished
Genres: Action , Drama , Psychological , Sci-Fi

An original anime series set in in the universe of Cyberpunk 2077.

Cyberpunk: Edgerunners tells a standalone, 10-episode story about a street kid trying to survive in a technology and body modification-obsessed city of the future. Having everything to lose, he chooses to stay alive by becoming an edgerunner—a mercenary outlaw also known as a cyberpunk.



Note: The first episode received a pre-screening at Anime Expo on July 2, 2022. The first 3 dubbed episodes were streamed on Twitch as part of a co-stream promotion on September 12, a day before the show’s premiere.

Tags: Cyberpunk , Tragedy , Crime , Dystopian , Cyborg , Class Struggle , Gangs , Male Protagonist , Urban , Orphan , Body Horror , Guns , Gore , Revenge , Primarily Adult Cast , Anti-Hero , Drugs , Heterosexual , Terrorism , Coming of Age , Nudity , Artificial Intelligence , Ensemble Cast , Time Skip , Time Manipulation , Software Development , Space , Cars , Age Gap , Robots

Akudama Drive

Also known as Akudama Drive.

Studio: Studio Pierrot , Delfi Sound , NBCUniversal Entertainment Japan
Status: Finished
Genres: Action , Drama , Sci-Fi , Thriller

Many years ago, a Great Civil War ravaged Japan, leaving the country fragmented between two regions: Kansai and Kanto. In Kansai, a group of six Akudama carry out missions given to them by a mysterious black cat, while evading the police. But a dangerous journey is about to unfold when a civilian girl becomes twisted into the Akudama’s way of life and witnesses their criminal drives.



Note: On May 28, 2021, a director's cut of the final episode was released which included approximately 5 minutes of new content.

Tags: Anti-Hero , Urban , Crime , Cyberpunk , Dystopian , Fugitive , Tragedy , Female Protagonist , Ensemble Cast , Primarily Adult Cast , Gore , Prison , Conspiracy , Politics , Yandere , Artificial Intelligence , CGI , Motorcycles , Tomboy , Trains , Virtual World , Tanned Skin , Kuudere , Space

Metropolis

Studio: MADHOUSE , Kadokawa Shoten
Status: Finished
Genres: Adventure , Drama , Romance , Sci-Fi

In the great city of Metropolis, severe community structures and prejudice dominate a world where humans and robots live together. Unrest and violence increase with each new day.

Searching for the scientist Dr. Laughton, suspected to violate human rights by trading organs, the Japanese detective Shunsaku Ban and his nephew Kenichi arrive at Metropolis. In the scientist's laboratory, Kenichi discovers a girl without any memory of her past life. He decides to help her, so they run away together. His uncle follows him and penetrates the dark secrets of the city to find Duke Red, the man ruling from the shadows. Meanwhile, Kenichi desperately tries to protect the mysterious girl from the people hunting her. However, Duke Red and his adoptive son have their own deep reasons for chasing the girl. These reasons are connected to her true identity and the struggle for the domination of Metropolis...

[Written by MAL Rewrite]

Tags: Robots , Dystopian , Artificial Intelligence , Fugitive , Urban , Detective , Politics , Cyberpunk , Police , Male Protagonist , Crime , Class Struggle , Terrorism , Kids , Foreign , CGI

PLUTO

Also known as PLUTO.

Studio: Studio M2 , Genco , Netflix
Status: Finished
Genres: Action , Mecha , Mystery , Psychological , Sci-Fi

A murder occurs in an orderly world where robots are unable to kill humans. The robotic Europol investigator Gesicht takes the case, but the mystery deepens when he finds no trace of a human at the scene of the crime. As he pursues the truth, Gesicht uncovers the most evil manifestation of hate that history has ever seen, one that is bent on bringing destruction to the world ...



Tags: Robots , Artificial Intelligence , Revenge , Detective , Seinen , Police , Ensemble Cast , Crime , Conspiracy , Tragedy , Memory Manipulation , Politics , War , Philosophy , Urban , Foreign , Male Protagonist , Amnesia , Dystopian , Terrorism , Noir , Travel , Guns , Primarily Adult Cast , Primarily Male Cast , Adoption , Cyberpunk , Anachronism , Cult , Proxy Battle , Nudity

MEMORIES

Also known as Memories.

Studio: MADHOUSE , Horipro , Studio 4°C
Status: Finished
Genres: Adventure , Comedy , Drama , Horror , Mystery , Psychological , Sci-Fi

Memories is a compilation of three standalone short films encompassing different genres.

Magnetic Rose — a science fiction tale that tells a chilling story of love, loss, and the unwillingness to forget.
Stink Bomb — a tongue-in-cheek story of a chemical researcher who is just looking for a way to get rid of his cold... so why is everybody around him dying?
Cannon Fodder — an introspective tale about modern wars and simply following orders.

Tags: Anthology , Steampunk , Politics , Dystopian , Space , Cyberpunk , Military , War , Guns , Episodic , Primarily Adult Cast , Tragedy , Primarily Male Cast , Male Protagonist , Work , Seinen , Mopeds , Memory Manipulation

PERFECT BLUE

Also known as Perfect Blue.

Studio: MADHOUSE , Rex Entertainment , ONIRO , Techno Sound , GKids
Status: Finished
Genres: Drama , Horror , Psychological , Thriller

Rising pop star Mima has quit singing to pursue a career as an actress and model, but her fans aren’t ready to see her go... Encouraged by her managers, Mima takes on a recurring role on a popular TV show, when suddenly her handlers and collaborators begin turning up murdered. Harboring feelings of guilt and haunted by visions of her former self, Mima’s reality and fantasy meld into a frenzied paranoia. As her stalker closes in, in person and online, the threat he poses is more real than even Mima knows, in this iconic psychological thriller that has frequently been hailed as one of the most important animated films of all time.



Note: The film received an early premiere at the Fantasia Film Festival on August 5, 1997.

Tags: Dissociative Identities , Denpa , Female Protagonist , Acting , Idol , Otaku Culture , Primarily Adult Cast , Meta , Work , Philosophy , Tragedy , Gore , Nudity , Filmmaking , Noir