Anime like Itou Junji: Collection

Uzumaki

Also known as Uzumaki.

Studio: Production I.G , Adult Swim , Akatsuki , Fugaku
Status: Finished
Genres: Drama , Horror , Mystery , Psychological , Supernatural

Kurozu-cho, a small fogbound town on the coast of Japan, is cursed. According to Shuichi Saito, the withdrawn boyfriend of teenager Kirie Goshima, their town is haunted not by a person or being but by a pattern: uzumaki, the spiral, the hypnotic secret shape of the world. It manifests itself in small ways: seashells, ferns, whirlpools in water, whirlwinds in air. And in large ways: the spiral marks on people's bodies, the insane obsessions of Shuichi's father, the voice from the cochlea in your inner ear. As the madness spreads, the inhabitants of Kurouzu-cho are pulled ever deeper, as if into a whirlpool from which there is no return...



Tags: Achromatic , Cosmic Horror , Body Horror , Gore , Tragedy , CGI , Rotoscoping , Natural Disaster , Denpa , Female Protagonist , Augmented Reality , Seinen , Survival , Primarily Teen Cast , Urban Fantasy , Coastal , Episodic , Lost Civilization , Surreal Comedy , Heterosexual , Cannibalism , Curses , Philosophy , Shapeshifting , Monster Boy , Unrequited Love , Detective , Yandere , Ships

Yami Shibai

Also known as Theatre of Darkness: Yamishibai.

Studio: ILCA
Status: Finished
Genres: Horror , Supernatural

A picture-story style of animation whose motif is surrounded and based off the rumors, and urban legends throughout the history of Japan.



Tags: Episodic , Demons , Ghost , Anthology , Body Horror , Tragedy , Trains , Urban Fantasy

Mieruko-chan

Also known as Mieruko-chan.

Studio: Passione , KADOKAWA , Magic Capsule , Docomo Anime Store , BS Nippon , AT-X , Kadokawa Media House , TOKYO MX
Status: Finished
Genres: Comedy , Horror , Slice of Life , Supernatural

She can see dead people…she just chooses to ignore them. That’s Miko’s plan, anyway, but it doesn’t seem to be working for her in this love letter to the horror genre that will send shivers down your spine—and occasionally tickle your funny bone.



Tags: Ghost , Primarily Teen Cast , Female Protagonist , Primarily Female Cast , Urban Fantasy , Body Horror , Youkai , Seinen , School , Gods , Nudity , Animals , Bullying , Yuri

Migi to Dali

Also known as Migi&Dali.

Studio: GEEKTOYS , CompTown , KADOKAWA , Nikkatsu , flying DOG , Bit grooove promotion
Status: Finished
Genres: Drama , Mystery , Slice of Life

After finally adopting a child, the Sonoyamas were unprepared for the mystery that would soon unravel. Hitori seems to be the perfect son for his loving parents. He's handsome, intelligent, and grateful for his new lavish life—but he has a dark secret. Hitori is actually the twins Migi and Dali pretending to be one boy. And they have a terrifying motive behind their hidden identity.



Tags: Twins , Male Protagonist , Revenge , Family Life , Conspiracy , Found Family , Adoption , Surreal Comedy , Seinen , Tragedy , Bullying , Age Regression , School , Estranged Family , Crossdressing , Anti-Hero , Historical , Time Skip , Love Triangle , Coming of Age , Incest

Aoi Bungaku Series

Also known as Blue Literature Series.

Studio: MADHOUSE
Status: Finished
Genres: Drama , Psychological , Romance , Thriller

Anthology series adapting six modern classics of Japanese literature:

No Longer Human (Ningen Shikkaku) by Dazai Osamu — A high school student becomes lost and alienated. Despondent and aimless, he falls into a cycle of self abuse, depression and drugs that taints his life for years. Told in three chapters, each chapter deals with a different point in his life and the final chapter leaves him standing alone — an empty and hollow caricature of his former self.

In the Forest, Under Cherries in Full Bloom (Sakura no Mori no Mankai no Shita) by Sakaguchi Ango — A love story between a 12th-century woman and a mountain bandit who abducts her.

Run, Melos! (Hashire, Melos!) by Dazai Osamu — An updated retelling of a classic Greek tale of the story of Damon and Pythias. Unwavering friendship is the most prominent theme of this retelling. Despite facing hardships, the protagonist Melos does his best to save his friend's life, and in the end his efforts are rewarded.

Hell Screen (Jigoku Hen) by Akutagawa Ryuunosuke — A famous artist is commissioned by a great lord to create a series of paintings depicting scenes of the Buddhist Hell. The artist is unable to paint scenes that he has not seen himself, prompting him to torture and torment the Lord's staff to create his imagined images of hell. His creative efforts taint the household, as the story descends into madness and destruction.

Kokoro by Natsume Souseki — A 1914 tale of a young man's life journey during the Meiji era. The work deals with the transition from the Japanese Meiji society to the modern era, by exploring the friendship between a young man and an older man he calls Sensei. It continues the theme of isolation developed in Souseki's previous works, here in the context of interwoven strands of egoism and guilt, as opposed to shame.

The Spider's Thread (Kumo no Ito) by Akutagawa Ryuunosuke — The Buddha Shakyamuni chances to notice a cold-hearted criminal suffering in Hell. But this criminal did perform one single act of kindness in not stepping on a spider in a forest. Moved by this selfless act, Shakyamuni takes the silvery thread of a spider in Paradise and lowers it down into Hell, but it falls upon the criminal to seize the opportunity and pull himself out — if he can.



Tags: Classic Literature , Tragedy , Philosophy , Anthology , Historical , Suicide , Autobiographical , Urban , Primarily Adult Cast , Drawing , War , Gore , Ojou-sama , Politics , Rural , Demons , Writing , Psychosexual , Religion , Trains , Female Harem , Fairy Tale , Afterlife , Delinquents , Mythology

Gyo

Also known as GYO: Tokyo Fish Attack.

Studio: Aniplex , ufotable , Aniplex of America , Hanabee Entertainment
Status: Finished
Genres: Drama , Horror , Mystery , Psychological , Sci-Fi

Something in Okinawa reeks, and it isn't long before Kaori and her friends realize that the smell is coming from dead fish, which are walking out of the sea. The fish are fused to metal legs and are infected with a disease contractable by humans that was invented as a weapon by unknown sources. After what happens to Tadashi, Kaori finds herself in a new world very much like the old one but with the stench of death.

Tags: Gore , Post-Apocalyptic , Seinen , Coastal , Urban , Body Horror , CGI , Tragedy , Female Protagonist , Primarily Adult Cast , Pandemic , Fishing , Nudity , Animals

Hakaba Kitarou

Also known as Graveyard Kitaro.

Studio: Toei Animation , Sony Music Entertainment , Fujipacific Music
Status: Finished
Genres: Horror , Supernatural

Kitarou is a youkai boy born in a cemetery, and aside from his mostly-decayed father, the last living member of the Ghost tribe. He is missing his left eye, but his hair usually covers the empty socket. He fights for peace between humans and youkai, which generally involves protecting the former from the wiles of the latter.

This version of the Kitarou story is based on the original Hakaba Kitarou manga, the manga which inspired the popular Gegege no Kitarou series in the late 60's.



Tags: Youkai , Suicide , Tragedy , Orphan , Anti-Hero , Mythology , Episodic , Male Protagonist , Kemonomimi , Homeless , Zombie , Body Horror , Gods , Vampire , Nekomimi , Afterlife , Werewolf , Skeleton , Ghost

Fujimoto Tatsuki 17-26

Also known as Tatsuki Fujimoto 17-26.

Studio: ZEXCS , Lapin Track , 100studio , Studio Kafka , P.A.WORKS , Avex Pictures , GRAPH77
Status: Finished
Genres: Action , Comedy , Drama , Romance , Sci-Fi , Slice of Life , Supernatural

An anthology series adapting 8 short stories created by manga artist Tatsuki Fujimoto between ages 17 and 26.

1) A Couple Clucking Chickens Were Still Kickin' in the Schoolyard (Dir. Seishirou Nagaya, ZEXCS)
2) Sasaki Stopped a Bullet (Dir. Nobukage Kimura, Lapin Track)
3) Love is Blind (Dir. Nobuyuki Takeuchi, Lapin Track)
4) Shikaku (Dir. Naoya Ando, GRAPH77)
5) Mermaid Rhapsody (Dir. Tetsuaki Watanabe, 100Studio)
6) Woke-Up-as-a-Girl Syndrome (Dir. Kazuaki Terasawa, Studio Kafka)
7) Nayuta of the Prophecy (Dir. Tetsuaki Watanabe, 100Studio)
8) Sisters (Dir. Osamu Honma, P.A.WORKS)

Note: This anime had a pre-release world premiere at the "Global Stage Hollywood 2025" film festival on October 5, 2025. A general two-week theatrical run in Japan divided into two parts released on the same day October 17, 2025. The anime series later streamed worldwide in Amazon Prime Video on November 8, 2025.

Tags: Episodic , Anthology , Surreal Comedy , Urban Fantasy , Female Protagonist , School , Male Protagonist , Magic , Urban , Family Life , Found Family , Aliens , Heterosexual , Dystopian , Assassins , Coastal , Monster Girl , Shapeshifting , Gender Bending , Nudity , Mermaid , Vampire , Drawing , LGBTQ+ Themes , Language Barrier , Time Skip , Disability , Transgender , Shounen , Fugitive , Henshin , Space , Modeling , Kaiju

Kyoufu Shinbun (2014)

Status: Finished
Genres: Horror

Rei Kigata is a boy, a first year middle schooler at Ishido Middle School. He is not a believer of any paranormal phenomena such as existence of ghosts or spirits in any kind, but one day at midnight, while he is in sleep, a mysterious newspaper called “Horror News” is delivered to his room. The newspaper tells a story in which one of his teachers at the school will get killed in a car accident the following morning and Kigata will be a witness of the accident. The story turns into a fact in the following day and since then, the mysterious newspaper is delivered everyday.



Tags: Ghost , School , Philosophy , Aliens , Vampire , Gore

Grimm Kumikyoku

Also known as The Grimm Variations.

Studio: Netflix , WIT STUDIO
Status: Finished
Genres: Fantasy , Psychological , Sci-Fi , Thriller

Once upon a time, brothers Jacob and Wilhelm collected fairy tales from across the land and made them into a book. They also had a much younger sister, the innocent and curious Charlotte, who they loved very much. One day, while the brothers were telling Charlotte a fairy tale like usual, they saw that she had a somewhat melancholy look on her face. She asked them, "Do you suppose they really lived happily ever after?"

The pages of Grimms' Fairy Tales, written by Jacob and Wilhelm, are now presented from the unique perspective of Charlotte, who sees the stories quite differently from her brothers.



Tags: Fairy Tale , Episodic , Classic Literature , Anthology , Guns , Historical , Magic , Denpa , Gore , Post-Apocalyptic , Disability , Rural , Conspiracy , Writing , Virtual World , Witch , Arranged Marriage , Bar , Cyberpunk , Cowboys , Male Protagonist , Female Protagonist , Heterosexual , Augmented Reality , Space , Body Horror , Nudity , Desert , Robots , Yandere , Dystopian , Age Gap , Elf , Body Swapping , Urban , Unrequited Love , Bisexual , Cannibalism , Twins ,