Anime like KEY THE METAL IDOL

serial experiments lain

Also known as Serial Experiments Lain.

Studio: TV Tokyo , NBCUniversal Entertainment Japan , Genco , Funimation , Triangle Staff , Pioneer LDC , TV Tokyo Music , Fujipacific Music
Status: Finished
Genres: Drama , Mystery , Psychological , Sci-Fi , Supernatural

We're all connected... There is the world around us, a world of people, tactile sensation, and culture. There is the wired world, inside the computer, of images, personalities, virtual experiences, and a culture all of its own. The day after a classmate commits suicide, Lain, a 14-year-old girl, discovers how closely the two worlds are linked when she receives an e-mail from the dead girl: I just abandoned my body. I still live here...

Has the line between the real world and the wired world begun to blur?



Tags: Denpa , Virtual World , Philosophy , Dissociative Identities , Augmented Reality , Female Protagonist , Memory Manipulation , Artificial Intelligence , Software Development , Cyberpunk , Cosmic Horror , Gods , Conspiracy , Cult , Video Games , Suicide , Religion , Urban , Meta , Tragedy , Primarily Female Cast , Amnesia , Afterlife , Adoption , Orphan , POV , Anti-Hero , Drugs , Trains , Aliens , School , Death Game , Age Gap , Bullying , Zombie , Yuri

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 , Meta , Primarily Adult Cast , Work , Philosophy , Filmmaking , Tragedy , Gore , Nudity , Noir

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

Boogiepop wa Warawanai: Boogiepop Phantom

Also known as Boogiepop Phantom.

Studio: MADHOUSE , VAP , d-rights , The Right Stuf International , Triangle Staff
Status: Finished
Genres: Drama , Horror , Mystery , Psychological , Supernatural

Five years ago, a string of grisly murders shook the city to its core and now the rumors have begun once more. Boogiepop... Everyone knows about Boogiepop: meet her one dark night and you are taken. People tell each other the stories and laugh: no one believes that she can possibly exist in this day and age. Still, strange things appear to be going on and the darkness is taking on many forms. Something is out there. Are you safe?



Tags: Denpa , Achronological Order , Urban Fantasy , Philosophy , Dissociative Identities , Crime , Bullying , Episodic , Female Protagonist , Suicide , Drugs , Agender , Kuudere , Conspiracy

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 , War , Guns , Terrorism , Dystopian , Musical Theater , Cyberpunk , Primarily Female Cast , Kuudere , Memory Manipulation , Conspiracy , Anthropomorphism , Idol , Politics , Dissociative Identities , Rehabilitation , Amnesia , Primarily Adult Cast , Martial Arts , Suicide , Body Swapping , Nudity , Heterosexual , Marriage , Space , CGI , Gangs

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

Alien 9

Also known as Alien Nine.

Studio: J.C.STAFF , Genco , MediaNet , Central Park Media , Nippon Columbia , AT-X , Bandai Visual , Hanabee Entertainment
Status: Finished
Genres: Drama , Horror , Psychological , Sci-Fi , Slice of Life

Yuri Ootani, a girl who has been afraid of aliens, has been chosen to be on the alien party with the class president Kumi Kawamura, whose only intention to join the alien party is to get out of presidential duties, as well as Kasumi Tomine who is perfect at everything she does, including fighting all the aliens that come in their way.

Tags: Aliens , Coming of Age , Body Horror , Denpa , Primarily Child Cast , Cosmic Horror , Female Protagonist , Primarily Female Cast , School , School Club , Tragedy , Philosophy , Seinen , Post-Apocalyptic , Gore , Dullahan , Nudity , Vore

Kachou Ouji

Also known as The Legend of Black Heaven.

Studio: AIC , Pioneer LDC , APPP
Status: Finished
Genres: Adventure , Comedy , Music , Sci-Fi , Slice of Life

Ouji Tanaka has a wife, a child and a mundane job as a salary man in Tokyo's modern society. But life wasn't dull for him to begin with; 15 years ago, he was known as "Gabriel", leader of a short-lived heavy metal band called Black Heaven. Ouji's life gets a sudden change in direction when he is invited by a mysterious blonde woman named Layla to pick up his Gibson Flying V and once again display his "legendary" guitar skills, not knowing that his music generates power for a massive weapon in an intergalactic war.



Tags: Band , Family Life , Rock Music , Space , Male Protagonist , Surreal Comedy , War , Metal Music , Netorare , Rotoscoping , CGI , Nudity , Aliens

TEXHNOLYZE

Also known as Texhnolyze.

Studio: MADHOUSE , Group TAC , Funimation , Rondo Robe , Fuji TV , Pioneer LDC
Status: Finished
Genres: Action , Drama , Psychological , Sci-Fi

In a man-made underground society, descendants of a banished generation vie for control of the crumbling city of Lux. Ichise, an orphan turned prize fighter, loses a leg and an arm to satisfy an enraged fight promoter. On the brink of death he is taken in by a young woman doctor and used as a guinea pig for the next evolution of Texhnolyze. With his new limbs, Ichise is taken under the wing of Oonishi, a powerful leader of Organ, an organization with some hold on Lux. As Ichise is drawn deeper into a war for territorial control of the city, he learns of his possible future from the young girl prophet Ran, who guides him from the shadows in his darkest times. With the explosion of the warfare, Ichise must uncover the truth about Lux and fight for his survival as he realizes his destiny.



Tags: Dystopian , Cyberpunk , Philosophy , Noir , Tragedy , Primarily Adult Cast , Urban , Survival , Mafia , Denpa , Post-Apocalyptic , Class Struggle , Disability , Gangs , Crime , Male Protagonist , Cyborg , Guns , Terrorism , Amputation , Primarily Male Cast , Gore , Lost Civilization , Female Protagonist , War , Conspiracy , Cult , Suicide , Afterlife , Heterosexual , Drugs , Boxing

Kurau Phantom Memory

Also known as Kurau Phantom Memory.

Studio: bones , ADV Films , Funimation , Media Factory
Status: Finished
Genres: Action , Drama , Sci-Fi

In a world of mercenary agents, Kurau is a martial arts master and elite thief—but she has a secret. Her body has been fused with a binary alien life form called the Rynax. Every moment Kurau lives is lived twice, one alien sharing her consciousness, the other still waiting to be born. The truth about Kurau has begun to spread, and now the ultimate agent is the ultimate target.



Tags: Fugitive , Space , Super Power , Philosophy , Aliens , Crime , Foreign , Female Protagonist , Urban Fantasy , Coming of Age , Episodic , Shapeshifting , Dissociative Identities , Kuudere , Nudity