Anime like GREAT PRETENDER

Cowboy Bebop

Also known as Cowboy Bebop.

Studio: Sunrise , Bandai Visual , Bandai Entertainment
Status: Finished
Genres: Action , Adventure , Drama , Sci-Fi

Enter a world in the distant future, where Bounty Hunters roam the solar system. Spike and Jet, bounty hunting partners, set out on journeys in an ever struggling effort to win bounty rewards to survive.

While traveling, they meet up with other very interesting people. Could Faye, the beautiful and ridiculously poor gambler, Edward, the computer genius, and Ein, the engineered dog be a good addition to the group?

Tags: Space , Crime , Episodic , Ensemble Cast , Primarily Adult Cast , Tragedy , Noir , Travel , Guns , Male Protagonist , Cyberpunk , Found Family , Philosophy , Terrorism , Tomboy , Martial Arts , Cyborg , Cowboys , Amnesia , Anti-Hero , Gambling , Yakuza , Heterosexual , Drugs , Police , Female Protagonist , Cult , Tanned Skin , Nudity , Circus , Seinen

Fugou Keiji: Balance:UNLIMITED

Also known as The Millionaire Detective - Balance: UNLIMITED.

Studio: CloverWorks , Aniplex of America , Dentsu , Fuji TV , Animax , Movic , Aniplex
Status: Finished
Genres: Action , Comedy , Mystery , Sci-Fi

Based on Yasutaka Tsutsui's novel, Fugou Keiji.

The story centers around millionaire Daisuke Kambe, the heir to one of the wealthiest families in Japan, who is assigned as a detective to the Modern Crime Prevention Task Force (aka MCPTF), at the Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department. Taking full advantage of his vast family wealth, he spares no expense in solving complex crimes, and has the tendency to evaluate everything including individual human lives in terms of their monetary value. Haru Katou, a detective with a compassionate heart who believes that money isn’t everything, is chosen as Kambe’s partner but is repulsed by his materialistic attitude. Having diametrically opposing personalities, witness how the two join forces to tackle seemingly unsolvable crimes and mysteries!



Note: Although Tsutsui's novel was published between 1975 and 1977, the anime plays out in the modern era.

Tags: Detective , Police , Crime , Male Protagonist , Primarily Adult Cast , Primarily Male Cast , Urban , Tragedy , Artificial Intelligence , Kuudere , Cars , Butler , Ships

BANANA FISH

Also known as BANANA FISH.

Studio: MAPPA , Aniplex , Dentsu , Shogakukan , Movic , Fuji TV
Status: Finished
Genres: Action , Adventure , Drama , Psychological , Thriller

Nature made Ash Lynx beautiful; nurture made him a cold ruthless killer. A runaway brought up as the adopted heir and sex toy of "Papa" Dino Golzine, Ash, now at the rebellious age of seventeen, forsakes the kingdom held out by the devil who raised him. But the hideous secret that drove Ash's older brother mad in Vietnam has suddenly fallen into Papa's insatiably ambitious hands—and it's exactly the wrong time for Eiji Okamura, a pure-hearted young photographer from Japan, to make Ash Lynx's acquaintance...



Tags: Mafia , Gangs , Tragedy , Crime , Conspiracy , Drugs , Male Protagonist , Urban , Primarily Male Cast , Revenge , Guns , Coming of Age , Foreign , Boys' Love , LGBTQ+ Themes , Noir , Anti-Hero , Fugitive , Shoujo , Primarily Adult Cast , Assassins , Classic Literature , Criminal Organization , Orphan , Prison , Tanned Skin , Photography

Baccano!

Also known as Baccano!.

Studio: Aniplex , Brain's Base , Aniplex of America , Sakura Create , Happinet Pictures
Status: Finished
Genres: Action , Mystery , Supernatural

During the early 1930s in Chicago, the transcontinental train, Flying Pussyfoot, is starting its legendary journey that will leave a trail of blood all over the country. At the same time in New York, the ambitious scientist Szilard and his unwilling aide Ennis, are looking for missing bottles of the immortality elixir. In addition, a war between the mafia groups is getting worse. On board the Advena Avis, in 1711, alchemists are about to learn the price of immortality.

Based on the award winning light novels of the same name, this anime adaptation follows several events that initially seem unrelated, both in time and place, but are part of a much bigger story—one of alchemy, survival and immortality. Merging these events together are the kindhearted would-be thieves, Isaac and Miria, connecting various people, all of them with their own hidden ambitions and agendas, and creating lifelong bonds and consequences for everyone involved.



Tags: Mafia , Ensemble Cast , Crime , Achronological Order , Historical , Trains , Urban Fantasy , Foreign , Noir , Primarily Adult Cast , Alchemy , Guns , Gore , Travel , Urban , Demons , Meta , Disability , Surreal Comedy , Vore

SPY×FAMILY

Also known as SPY x FAMILY.

Studio: CloverWorks , Wit Studio , Toho , Shueisha , TV Tokyo , Shogakukan-Shueisha Productions
Status: Finished
Genres: Action , Comedy , Slice of Life , Supernatural

Everyone has a part of themselves they cannot show to anyone else.

At a time when all nations of the world were involved in a fierce war of information happening behind closed doors, Ostania and Westalis had been in a state of cold war against one another for decades. The Westalis Intelligence Services' Eastern-Focused Division (WISE) sends their most talented spy, "Twilight," on a top-secret mission to investigate the movements of Donovan Desmond, the chairman of Ostania's National Unity Party, who is threatening peace efforts between the two nations.

This mission is known as "Operation Strix." It consists of "putting together a family in one week in order to infiltrate social gatherings organized by the elite school that Desmond's son attends."

"Twilight" takes on the identity of psychiatrist Loid Forger and starts looking for family members. But Anya, the daughter he adopts, turns out to have the ability to read people's minds, while his wife, Yor, is an assassin! With it being in each of their own interests to keep these facts hidden, they start living together while concealing their true identities from one another.
World peace is now in the hands of this brand-new family as they embark on an adventure full of surprises.



Tags: Espionage , Family Life , Found Family , Shounen , Assassins , Conspiracy , Fake Relationship , Adoption , Male Protagonist , Female Protagonist , Crime , Foreign , Slapstick , Urban , Super Power , School , Ensemble Cast , Heterosexual , Surreal Comedy , Parenthood , Parody , Episodic , Guns , Politics , Martial Arts , Orphan , Urban Fantasy , Bullying , Tsundere

91Days

Also known as 91 Days.

Studio: Shuka , Shouchiku
Status: Finished
Genres: Action , Drama , Psychological

The "classic mafia drama" takes place during the prohibition era. In the Lawless district the law has no power, the mafia rule the streets, and the illegally made liquor flows freely. At one time Avilio lived in this district, but after a mafia dispute ended in the murder of his family, he went into hiding. Later, Avilio receives a letter from a mysterious person that ignites his passion for revenge and leads him to return to Lawless. There, he infiltrates the Vanetti family and gets close to Nero.



Tags: Revenge , Mafia , Tragedy , Crime , Male Protagonist , Gangs , Anti-Hero , Noir , Assassins , Foreign , Guns , Primarily Male Cast , Historical , Criminal Organization , Politics , Espionage , Primarily Adult Cast , Tanned Skin , Cannibalism , Time Skip , CGI , Orphan

Super Crooks

Also known as Super Crooks.

Studio: bones , Netflix , Sound Team Don Juan
Status: Finished
Genres: Action , Drama , Thriller

One last heist. That's what they all say, right? Just one final score, and everyone can retire and take up fishing. Thing is, the jails are filled with super villains who thought the same thing, and got busted. But the Heat's in a jam. He's run up the kind of gambling debt that - if he can't pay it back in cash - will be paid in blood. Nobody wants to see the most beloved supercrook of all time rubbed out by the mob - especially his biggest fan, Johnny Bolt. And Johnny's got a plan to help the Heat and make all his buddies disgustingly rich at the same time. Unfortunately for Johnny's recruits, they have to head to Spain and rob the world's most notorious super villain blind. And that's where things get tricky.



Tags: Crime , Primarily Adult Cast , Super Power , Superhero , Anti-Hero , Prison , Foreign , Time Skip , Ensemble Cast , Heterosexual , Male Protagonist , Gore , Primarily Male Cast , Urban Fantasy , Gambling , Fugitive , Nudity , Zombie , Tomboy , LGBTQ+ Themes

Buddy Daddies

Also known as Buddy Daddies.

Studio: P.A. Works , Aniplex , ABC Animation , Nagoya Broadcasting Network , Nitroplus , TOKYO MX , BS11 , Movic
Status: Finished
Genres: Action , Comedy , Drama , Slice of Life

Assassins Kazuki Kurusu and Rei Suwa meet Miri, a girl looking for her father on Christmas Day. Kazuki, Rei, and Miri unexpectedly end up living together.

Follows Kazuki Kurusu, a criminal contractor/coordinator who lives with his best friend, Rei Suwa, a professional assassin who has been raised from childhood to be a contract killer. Kazuki is outgoing and loves gambling and women, while Rei is a man of few words who spends his off time playing video games. One day, the two buddies end up caring for Miri Unasaka, a four year old girl whose father is a mafia boss, after Miri accidentally wanders into a firefight in a hotel while looking for her father.

Tags: Family Life , Found Family , Adoption , Assassins , Crime , Male Protagonist , Work , Guns , Espionage , Urban , Primarily Adult Cast , Mafia , Tragedy , Surreal Comedy , Heterosexual , Parenthood , School , Gore , Video Games , Time Skip

Michiko to Hatchin

Also known as Michiko & Hatchin.

Studio: Manglobe , Media Factory , Hakuhodo DY Music & Pictures , Shouchiku , Fuji TV , Yomiko Advertising
Status: Finished
Genres: Action , Adventure

After escaping from prison, the criminal Michiko rescues an abused girl known as Hatchin. The two are about as opposite as they come, but their fates become intertwined through the connection of a man from both their pasts. On the run from the police and Hatchin's abusive foster parents, the unlikely duo set out to find this man and ultimately discover their freedom.



Tags: Crime , Fugitive , Tanned Skin , Female Protagonist , Gangs , Foreign , Travel , Anti-Hero , Tomboy , Urban , Primarily Female Cast , Primarily Adult Cast , Guns , Police , Found Family , Mopeds , Episodic , Parenthood , Coming of Age , Drugs , Nudity , Martial Arts , Tragedy , Unrequited Love , Circus , Crossdressing , Time Skip , Femboy

Lupin III

Also known as Lupin the 3rd.

Studio: Tokyo Movie Shinsha , Discotek
Status: Finished
Genres: Adventure , Comedy

Hard-boiled, cocky, classy and silly. These words only begin to describe the amazing master thief Lupin the Third. With the help of some quick gunplay by his partner Jigen, Lupin takes on the world in elaborate heists, classic car chases, and nasty explosions. Fujiko, a buxom redhead with a penchant for betrayal, always gets tangled up in Lupin's capers. The stoic but swift swordsman Goemon is just as inclined to kill Lupin as he is to help him. And Lupin can never seem to lose the relentless Tokyo Police Inspector Zenigata. What sort of trouble will this band of misfits get into next?



Tags: Seinen , Anti-Hero , Fugitive , Episodic , Crime , Male Protagonist , Guns , Primarily Adult Cast , Mafia , Detective , Cars , Police , Samurai , Travel , Crossdressing , Football , Yakuza , Prison