Anime like Mardock Scramble: The Second Combustion

Cowboy Bebop

Also known as Cowboy Bebop.

Studio: Sunrise
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

PSYCHO-PASS

Also known as PSYCHO-PASS.

Studio: Production I.G
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 , Primarily Adult Cast , Philosophy , Urban , Female Protagonist , Artificial Intelligence , Conspiracy , Revenge , Male Protagonist , Fugitive , Guns , Anti-Hero , Terrorism , Augmented Reality , Gore , Class Struggle , Tragedy , Robots , Body Horror , Nudity ,

Cyberpunk: Edgerunners

Also known as Cyberpunk: Edgerunners.

Studio: Trigger
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

serial experiments lain

Also known as Serial Experiments Lain.

Studio: Triangle Staff
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 , Gods , Cosmic Horror , Conspiracy , Cult , Video Games , Suicide , Religion , Urban , Meta , Tragedy , Primarily Female Cast , Amnesia , Afterlife , Adoption , POV , Orphan , Anti-Hero , Drugs , Trains , Aliens , School , Isekai , Death Game , Age Gap , Bullying

AKIRA

Also known as Akira.

Studio: Tokyo Movie Shinsha
Status: Finished
Genres: Action , Adventure , Horror , Psychological , Sci-Fi , Supernatural

It's the year 2019, thirty-one years have passed since the start of World War III. A top-secret child with amazing powers of the mind breaks free from custody and accidentally gets a motorcycle gang involved in the project. This incident triggers psychic powers within one of the gang members, Tetsuo, and he is taken by the army to be experimented on. His mind has been altered and is now on the path of war, seeking revenge on the society that once called him weak.



Tags: Cyberpunk , Post-Apocalyptic , Dystopian , Super Power , Urban , Tragedy , Male Protagonist , Seinen , Delinquents , Body Horror , Primarily Male Cast , Motorcycles , Anti-Hero , Conspiracy , Urban Fantasy , Gangs , Military , Gore , Philosophy , Crime , Orphan , Politics , Mythology , Aliens , Nudity

Vivy: Fluorite Eye’s Song

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

Studio: Wit Studio
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 , Terrorism , Philosophy , 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

GHOST IN THE SHELL: Koukaku Kidoutai

Also known as Ghost in the Shell.

Studio: Production I.G
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

Akudama Drive

Also known as Akudama Drive.

Studio: Studio Pierrot
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

Ergo Proxy

Also known as Ergo Proxy.

Studio: Manglobe
Status: Finished
Genres: Adventure , Mystery , Psychological , Sci-Fi

Something is wrong in the perfect domed city of Romdo. Between the sudden rash of murders and a virus affecting all AutoReivs-cyborg companions and workers who assist the people of Romdo - all is not right in their dome home. Detective Re-l Meyer begins to investigate, seeking answers to the weird occurrences that are happening more and more around her. But when she begins to uncover the truth, her world is turned upside down.

First, the strange immigrant Vincent Law goes missing and then a monster appears before her, shaking her to her core. But this monster is something more, something dangerous and sinister. With each question and mystery, she is led back to the creature. But what is it really? What purpose does it serve? A sign of the end or a sign of a new beginning? Whatever it is, it repeatedly brings her back to Vincent and soon, alongside his journey back to another dome world called, Mosk. As they make their way across scarred and deserted Earth, Re-l and Vincent will learn more about the monster and the "awakening"-which could be more of an ending than a beginning.



Note: Episode 1 received an advanced broadcast on channel WOWOW on February 5, 2006. The start date reflects the start of the regular series broadcasting.

Tags: Post-Apocalyptic , Philosophy , Dissociative Identities , Dystopian , Cyberpunk , Primarily Adult Cast , Robots , Amnesia , Conspiracy , Noir , Clone , Artificial Intelligence , Fugitive , Female Protagonist , Memory Manipulation , Travel , Lost Civilization , Male Protagonist , Tragedy , Found Family , Denpa , Kuudere , Anti-Hero , Detective , Revenge , Pandemic , Angels , Heterosexual , Gods , Aviation , Survival , Police , Unrequited Love , Guns , Coming of Age , Meta

PSYCHO-PASS 2

Also known as PSYCHO-PASS 2.

Studio: Tatsunoko Production
Status: Finished
Genres: Action , Psychological , Sci-Fi , Thriller

Taking place one-and-a-half years after Psycho-Pass, having learned the true nature of the Sibyl System, Akane Tsunemori chose to obey the system, believing in both humanity and the legal order. She's part of a new police section and spends her everyday life facing down criminals. Unbeknownst to Akane, however, a monster who will shake the system to its core is about to appear before her.



Tags: Detective , Police , Crime , Cyberpunk , Female Protagonist , Urban , Philosophy , Gore , Dystopian , Primarily Adult Cast , Terrorism , Guns , Augmented Reality , Robots , Video Games

Paprika

Also known as Paprika.

Studio: MADHOUSE
Status: Finished
Genres: Fantasy , Mystery , Psychological , Sci-Fi , Thriller

Prepare to enter the realm of fantasy and imagination where reality and dreams collide in a kaleidoscopic mindscape of sheer visual genius. The magical tale centers on a revolutionary machine that allows scientists to enter and record a subject's dream. After being stolen, a fearless detective and brilliant therapist join forces to recover the device before it falls into the hands of a dream terrorist.



Note: The film received an early premiere at the 63rd Venice International Film Festival on September 2, 2006.

Tags: Dissociative Identities , Female Protagonist , Primarily Adult Cast , Body Horror , Meta , Crime , Denpa , Software Development , Conspiracy , Terrorism , Philosophy , Detective , Police , Mythology , Heterosexual , Circus , Unrequited Love , LGBTQ+ Themes , Nudity , Cyberpunk

Megalo Box

Also known as Megalobox.

Studio: TMS Entertainment
Status: Finished
Genres: Action , Drama , Sci-Fi , Sports

"To be quiet and do as you're told, that's the cowardly choice." These are the words of Junk Dog, an underground fighter of Megalo Box, an evolution of boxing that utilizes mechanical limbs known as Gear to enhance the speed and power of its users. Despite the young man's brimming potential as a boxer, the illegal nature of his participation forces him to make a living off of throwing matches as dictated by his boss Gansaku Nanbu. However, this all changes when the Megalo Box champion Yuuri enters his shabby ring under the guise of just another challenger. Taken out in a single round, Junk Dog is left with a challenge: "If you're serious about fighting me again, then fight your way up to me and my ring."

Filled with overwhelming excitement and backed by the criminal syndicate responsible for his thrown matches, Junk Dog enters Megalonia: a world-spanning tournament that will decide the strongest Megalo Boxer of them all. Having no name of his own, he takes on the moniker of "Joe" as he begins his climb from the very bottom of the ranked list of fighters. With only three months left to qualify, Joe must face off against opponents the likes of which he has never fought in order to meet the challenge of his rival.



Tags: Boxing , Martial Arts , Male Protagonist , Athletics , Primarily Male Cast , Revenge , Primarily Adult Cast , Cyberpunk , Disability , Dystopian , Yakuza , Artificial Intelligence , Tanned Skin , Delinquents , Time Skip , Motorcycles , Drugs

ID: INVADED

Also known as ID: INVADED.

Studio: NAZ
Status: Finished
Genres: Drama , Mystery , Psychological , Sci-Fi , Thriller

Welcome to Kura, an organization that investigates crime using the Mizuhanome system which senses the drive to kill. Sakaido is a brilliant detective and pilot of the Mizuhanome. To solve a case, he enters the world of the killer's unconscious mind: the id well. In the shadows of brutal and puzzling cases lurks John Walker, the Serial Killer Creator. Where will Sakaido's pursuit lead?



Tags: Detective , Virtual World , Crime , Alternate Universe , Police , Tragedy , Memory Manipulation , Urban Fantasy , Primarily Adult Cast , Augmented Reality , Prison , Meta , Revenge , Anti-Hero , Philosophy , Amnesia , Male Protagonist , Female Protagonist , Gore , Time Manipulation , Cyberpunk , CGI , Suicide , Guns

Carole & Tuesday

Also known as Carole & Tuesday.

Studio: bones
Status: Finished
Genres: Drama , Music , Sci-Fi

Fifty years have passed since mankind began migrating to the new frontier: Mars.
It's an age where most culture is produced by AI, and people are content to be passive consumers.

There's a girl.
Scrapping a living in the metropolis of Alba City, she's working part-time while trying to become a musician. She's always felt like something is missing.
Her name is Carole.

There's a girl.
Born to a wealthy family in the provincial town of Herschel City, she dreams of becoming a musician, but nobody around her understands. She feels like the loneliest person in the world.
Her name is Tuesday.

A chance meeting brings them together.
They want to sing.
They want to make music.
Together, they feel like they just might have a chance.

The two of them may only create a tiny wave.
But that wave will eventually grow into something larger...



Tags: Band , Female Protagonist , Cyberpunk , Artificial Intelligence , Urban , Politics , Tanned Skin , Foreign , Dystopian , Post-Apocalyptic , Drugs , Rotoscoping , Gender Bending , LGBTQ+ Themes , Terrorism , Bisexual , Agender , Anachronism

NO.6

Also known as No.6.

Studio: bones
Status: Finished
Genres: Action , Drama , Psychological , Sci-Fi

In a near future world, after the last great war, most of mankind lives in a handful of city states. There, for the privileged elite, life should be perfect. But for young Shion, the only thing perfect has been the nightmare his life has become since letting a strange boy called Rat spend the night in his apartment.

Banished to the outskirts of the city and stripped of all privileges for helping the mysterious stranger who has since disappeared, Shion now finds himself in even worse danger as his inquiry into a new series of mysterious deaths results in his being arrested on suspicion of murder!

But even as Shion is being sent to the city's Correctional Institute, the long-missing Rat reappears to rescue him! Now on the run, the two young men have only one chance at survival: uncover the mysterious secrets that lie at the sinister heart of No. 6!



Tags: Dystopian , Conspiracy , Time Skip , Cyberpunk , Boys' Love , Fugitive , Memory Manipulation , Animals , Revenge , Male Protagonist , Survival , Shoujo , Urban , Classic Literature , Gender Bending , Tragedy , Agender , Love Triangle , Crossdressing , Yandere

REDLINE

Also known as Redline.

Studio: MADHOUSE
Status: Finished
Genres: Action , Romance , Sci-Fi , Sports

Redline is about the biggest and most deadly racing tournament in the universe. Only held once every five years, everyone wants to stake their claim to fame, including JP, a reckless dare-devil driver oblivious to speed limits with his ultra-customized car - all the while, organized crime and militaristic governments want to leverage the race to their own ends. Amongst the other elite rival drivers in the tournament, JP falls for the alluring Sonoshee - but will she prove his undoing, or can a high speed romance survive a mass destruction race?



Tags: Cars , Primarily Adult Cast , Male Protagonist , Cyborg , Space , Cyberpunk , Aliens , Female Protagonist , Crime , Heterosexual , Robots , Military , Gambling , Anthropomorphism , Politics , Nudity , Primarily Male Cast

Kimi to Boku no Saigo no Senjou, Aruiwa Sekai ga Hajimaru Seisen

Also known as Our Last Crusade or the Rise of a New World.

Studio: SILVER LINK.
Status: Finished
Genres: Action , Fantasy , Romance

Embroiled in a hundred-year war, young Iska is sent to assassinate the Ice Calamity Witch, Aliceliese. Meant to murder each other, their initial encounter on the battleground creates doubt in their missions, but finding common ground together would make them traitors to their own countries. Though circumstances previously made them enemies, their now conflicted hearts may just make them lovers!



Tags: War , Magic , Witch , Male Protagonist , Swordplay , Female Protagonist , Politics , Heterosexual , Military , Martial Arts , Tsundere , Cyberpunk , Demons , Afterlife

Cowboy Bebop: Tengoku no Tobira

Also known as Cowboy Bebop: The Movie - Knockin' on Heaven's Door.

Studio: bones , Sunrise
Status: Finished
Genres: Action , Drama , Mystery , Sci-Fi

As the Cowboy Bebop crew travels the stars, they learn of the largest bounty yet, a huge 300 million Woolongs. Apparently, someone is wielding a hugely powerful chemical weapon, and of course the authorities are at a loss to stop it. The war to take down the most dangerous criminal yet forces the crew to face a true madman, with bare hope to succeed.



Tags: Terrorism , Primarily Adult Cast , Philosophy , Crime , Noir , Anti-Hero , Amnesia , Space , Guns , Male Protagonist , Cyberpunk , Ensemble Cast , Martial Arts , Military , Foreign , Female Protagonist , Work , Tomboy , Cyborg

Sabikui Bisco

Also known as Sabikui Bisco.

Studio: OZ , NAZ
Status: Finished
Genres: Action , Adventure , Fantasy

Japan’s post-apocalyptic wasteland replete with dust can only be saved by one thing—fungus. Bisco Akaboshi, a wanted criminal and skilled archer, searches for a legendary mushroom, known as Sabikui, said to devour any and all rust. Joining him on this epic saga to save the country is a giant crab and a young doctor. Can this unlikely trio find the fabled fungi and save the land?



Tags: Post-Apocalyptic , Medicine , Male Protagonist , Pandemic , Archery , Drugs , Boys' Love , Terrorism , Tragedy , Desert , Anti-Hero , Kaiju , Cyberpunk , Bisexual , Heterosexual , Animals , Guns , Motorcycles

PLUTO

Also known as PLUTO.

Studio: Studio M2
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