Anime like Appleseed (Movie)

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

JIN-ROH

Also known as Jin-Roh: The Wolf Brigade.

Studio: Production I.G , Bandai Entertainment , Discotek
Status: Finished
Genres: Action , Drama , Psychological , Romance , Thriller

In a very different Tokyo from the one we know today, the totalitarian government rules with an iron fist. But a group called "the Sect" is staging demonstrations and challenging the government's martial law. Constable Fuse of the Capital Police's Special Unit is on a mission to stop a Sect demonstration when he encounters a girl in the sewers under Tokyo.

When he fails to shoot as ordered, he is put on trial, questioned, and "re-conditioned" as a soldier. But the dead girl haunts him, both in his dreams and in the face of her sister, whom Fuse has befriended. But Fuse has made himself a target for some very powerful men... And as the world comes crashing down around him, Fuse is continually challenged to decide what is real and what is right.



Note: The film received an early premiere at the Fantasia Film Festival on August 6, 1999.

Tags: Conspiracy , Tragedy , Police , Philosophy , Espionage , Terrorism , Military , Dystopian , Noir , Politics , Seinen , Fairy Tale , Fugitive , Guns , Primarily Adult Cast , Male Protagonist , Gore , Nudity , Body Horror

Kidou Keisatsu Patlabor

Also known as Mobile Police Patlabor.

Studio: Studio DEEN , Touhouku Shinsha , Maiden Japan
Status: Finished
Genres: Comedy , Mecha , Sci-Fi

In the future, rapidly advancing technology gives birth to giant robots known as "Labors," so named for their usefulness in heavy industry. However, this also gives rise to "Labor crimes," resulting the need for a new branch of law enforcement equipped with and dedicated to the policing of Labors. When Izumi Noa, a female police officer, becomes the newest recruit of Special Vehicles Division 2, she and her top of the line "Patrol Labor" (or "Patlabor") Alphonse are swept into a series of adventures featuring crazed construction workers, eco-terrorists, and sea monsters.



Tags: Police , Real Robot , Episodic , Primarily Adult Cast , Work , Terrorism , Ensemble Cast , Conspiracy , Kaiju , Female Protagonist , Satire , Shounen

Vexille: 2077 Nihon Sakoku

Also known as Vexille: 2077 Isolation of Japan.

Studio: Funimation , TBS , Oxybot
Status: Finished
Genres: Action , Sci-Fi

In an alternate 21st century, the robotics industry undergoes a period of rapid advancement worldwide. By the year 2050, Japan has firmly established itself as the leader in robotic technology and manufacture with Daiwa Heavy Industries. As the technology evolves to include robotic enhancements to the human body, the blurring of the line between man and machine triggers a sudden shift in world opinion. In response, the U.N. passes a unilateral ban of further research and development on robotics in 2067. Japan fiercely objects to this ban, but is unable to prevent its passage. In protest, Japan withdrew from international politics and chose to pursue a policy of high-tech national isolation. While only trade continues, Japan disappears from the world scene.

Ten years later, a series of bizarre incidents lead the American technology police agency SWORD to believe that Japan has concealed extensive development of banned technologies through the use of the RACE network. SWORD dispatches a unit of special agents to infiltrate Japan and gather intelligence on the country. Vexille, a veteran agent among the group, uncovers the horrifying truth behind the ten years of isolation.

Tags: Military , CGI , Robots , Female Protagonist , Love Triangle , Dystopian , Real Robot , Full CGI , Cyberpunk , Conspiracy , Foreign , Tragedy , Post-Apocalyptic

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 , Orphan , Gangs , Male Protagonist , Urban , Body Horror , Guns , Gore , Revenge , Anti-Hero , Primarily Adult Cast , Drugs , Terrorism , Coming of Age , Nudity , Artificial Intelligence , Ensemble Cast , Tomboy , Time Skip , Time Manipulation , Software Development , Space , Robots , Cars , Age Gap

Zankyou no Terror

Also known as Terror in Resonance.

Studio: MAPPA , Aniplex , Fuji TV , Dentsu , KYORAKU
Status: Finished
Genres: Drama , Mystery , Psychological , Thriller

Painted in red, the word "VON" is all that is left behind after a terrorist attack on a nuclear facility in Japan. The government is shattered by their inability to act, and the police are left frantically searching for ways to crack down the perpetrators. The public are clueless—until, six months later, a strange video makes its way onto the internet. In it, two teenage boys who identify themselves only as "Sphinx" directly challenge the police, threatening to cause destruction and mayhem across Tokyo. Unable to stop the mass panic quickly spreading through the city and desperate for any leads in their investigation, the police struggle to act effectively against these terrorists, with Detective Kenjirou Shibazaki caught in the middle of it all.

Zankyou no Terror tells the story of Nine and Twelve, the two boys behind the masked figures of Sphinx. They should not exist, yet they stand strong in a world of deception and secrets while they make the city fall around them, all in the hopes of burying their own tragic truth.



Tags: Terrorism , Anti-Hero , Detective , Tragedy , Crime , Revenge , Male Protagonist , Orphan , Urban , Police , Politics , Primarily Male Cast , Female Protagonist , Heterosexual , Mythology , Motorcycles , Suicide , Software Development , Guns , Time Skip

PSYCHO-PASS

Also known as PSYCHO-PASS.

Studio: Production I.G , Fuji TV , Nitroplus , Sony Music Entertainment , KYORAKU , Toho , Funimation , Dentsu
Status: Finished
Genres: Action , Psychological , Sci-Fi , Thriller

Justice, and the enforcement of it, has changed. In the 22nd century, Japan enforces the Sibyl System, an objective means of determining the threat level of each citizen by examining their mental state for signs of criminal intent, known as their Psycho-Pass. Inspectors uphold the law by subjugating, often with lethal force, anyone harboring the slightest ill-will; alongside them are Enforcers, jaded Inspectors that have become latent criminals, granted relative freedom in exchange for carrying out the Inspectors' dirty work.

Into this world steps Akane Tsunemori, a young woman with an honest desire to uphold justice. However, as she works alongside veteran Enforcer Shinya Kougami, she soon learns that the Sibyl System's judgments are not as perfect as her fellow Inspectors assume. With everything she has known turned on its head, Akane wrestles with the question of what justice truly is, and whether it can be upheld through the use of a system that may already be corrupt.



Note: In the Summer 2014 season, Psycho-Pass was rebroadcast and re-edited to fit into an hour time-slot, ending up in 11 one-hour episodes. This edit included added scenes at the beginning and middle of the episodes, as well as fixing and improving animation.

Tags: Detective , Police , Dystopian , Cyberpunk , Crime , Philosophy , Primarily Adult Cast , Urban , Female Protagonist , Artificial Intelligence , Conspiracy , Revenge , Male Protagonist , Fugitive , Guns , Anti-Hero , Terrorism , Augmented Reality , Gore , Class Struggle , Tragedy , Robots , Body Horror , Nudity ,

86: Eighty Six

Also known as 86 EIGHTY-SIX.

Studio: A-1 Pictures , Aniplex , KADOKAWA , BANDAI SPIRITS
Status: Finished
Genres: Action , Drama , Mecha , Sci-Fi

Called “Juggernaut,” these are the unmanned combat drones developed by the Republic of San Magnolia in answer to the attacks by the autonomous unmanned drones of the neighboring Empire of Giad, the “Legion”. But they’re only unmanned in name. In reality, they are piloted by the Eighty-sixers—those considered to be less than human and treated as mere tools.

Determined to achieve his own mysterious ends, Shin, the captain of Spearhead Squadron, which is comprised of Eighty-sixers, continues to fight a hopeless war on a battlefield where only death awaits him.



Tags: War , Class Struggle , Military , Tragedy , Dystopian , Survival , Politics , Proxy Battle , Female Protagonist , Post-Apocalyptic , Memory Manipulation , Robots , Male Protagonist , Conspiracy , Real Robot , Guns , Primarily Teen Cast , Ensemble Cast , Achronological Order , Ghost , Artificial Intelligence , CGI , Necromancy , Gore , Super Power , Unrequited Love , Lost Civilization , Kuudere , Travel , POV , Nudity , Body Horror

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 , Fugitive , Dystopian , Tragedy , Female Protagonist , Ensemble Cast , Primarily Adult Cast , Gore , Prison , Conspiracy , Politics , Yandere , Found Family , Artificial Intelligence , CGI , Motorcycles , Tomboy , Trains , Virtual World , Kuudere , Space , Tanned Skin

Vivy: Fluorite Eye’s Song

Also known as Vivy -Fluorite Eye's Song-.

Studio: WIT STUDIO , Aniplex of America , Aniplex
Status: Finished
Genres: Action , Drama , Music , Sci-Fi , Thriller

An AI named Matsumoto appears before Vivy, the world’s first autonomous humanoid AI. Matsumoto’s mission is to rewrite history together with Vivy, in order to stop the war between AI and humans that will happen one century later.



Tags: Artificial Intelligence , Robots , Female Protagonist , Time Manipulation , Tragedy , Time Skip , Philosophy , Terrorism , War , Guns , Dystopian , Musical Theater , Cyberpunk , Primarily Female Cast , Kuudere , Memory Manipulation , Anthropomorphism , Idol , Conspiracy , Politics , Dissociative Identities , Rehabilitation , Primarily Adult Cast , Amnesia , Martial Arts , Suicide , Body Swapping , Nudity , Heterosexual , Marriage , Space , CGI , Gangs