Anime like Paprika

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

Mousou Dairinin

Also known as Paranoia Agent.

Studio: MADHOUSE , Asmik Ace , Geneon Entertainment , Tohokushinsha Film Corporation , WOWOW , Techno Sound , Chaos Union
Status: Finished
Genres: Drama , Mystery , Psychological , Supernatural , Thriller

An elementary school kid dubbed with the title "shounen bat" or "lil slugger" has been going around attacking people with his bent, golden bat. Now, two detectives are investigating so they can stop this kid from making any more attacks, but they will find out soon enough... that this case is much more than they expected.



Tags: Denpa , Crime , Detective , Ensemble Cast , Urban Fantasy , Police , Female Protagonist , Meta , Urban , Episodic , Philosophy , Dissociative Identities , Disability , Satire , Suicide , Male Protagonist , Nudity , Primarily Adult Cast , Chuunibyou , Ghost , Prostitution , Cosmic Horror , LGBTQ+ Themes

Wonder Egg Priority

Also known as WONDER EGG PRIORITY.

Studio: CloverWorks , Aniplex , D.N. Dream Partners , NTV Music , Nippon Television Network
Status: Finished
Genres: Action , Drama , Fantasy , Mystery , Psychological , Sci-Fi , Thriller

This is the story of Ai, an introverted girl whose fate is forever changed when she acquires a mysterious “Wonder Egg” from a deserted arcade. That night, her dreams blend into reality, and as other girls obtain their own Wonder Eggs, Ai discovers new friends—and the magic within herself.



Tags: Tragedy , Female Protagonist , Primarily Female Cast , Urban Fantasy , Suicide , Bullying , Coming of Age , Alternate Universe , Primarily Teen Cast , Denpa , Philosophy , Ensemble Cast , Hikikomori , Afterlife , LGBTQ+ Themes , Artificial Intelligence , Body Horror , Transgender , School , CGI , Tomboy , Age Gap , Episodic , Gore , Kuudere , Isekai , Guns , Idol

Sennen Joyuu

Also known as Millennium Actress.

Studio: MADHOUSE , Genco , WOWOW , KLOCKWORX , Kadokawa Shoten , Bandai Visual , Techno Sound , Chaos Union
Status: Finished
Genres: Drama , Fantasy , Romance

Millennium Actress blurs the lines between the past and the present, and truth and fiction, when a documentary filmmaker fulfills his quest to find the legendary actress Chiyoko Fujiwara, and learn why she mysteriously vanished at the height of her brilliant career. When Chiyoko grants the filmmaker’s request, he, in turn, presents her with a token – a key she had lost and thought was gone forever. The filmmaker could not have imagined that the key would not only unlock the long-held secrets of Chiyoko’s life, but also his own.



Note: The film received an early premiere at the Fantasia Film Festival on July 28, 2001.

Tags: Acting , Biographical , Historical , Meta , Primarily Adult Cast , Female Protagonist , Work , Unrequited Love , Time Skip , Heterosexual , Coming of Age , War , Snowscape , Filmmaking , Class Struggle , Anachronism , Denpa , Fugitive , Swordplay , Age Gap

Tokyo Godfathers

Also known as Tokyo Godfathers.

Studio: MADHOUSE , Sony Pictures Entertainment , Dentsu , Genco , Techno Sound
Status: Finished
Genres: Adventure , Comedy , Drama

In modern-day Tokyo, three homeless people’s lives are changed forever when they discover a baby girl at a garbage dump on Christmas Eve. As the New Year fast approaches, these three forgotten members of society band together to solve the mystery of the abandoned child and the fate of her parents. Along the way, encounters with seemingly unrelated events and people force them to confront their own haunted pasts, as they learn to face their future, together.



Note: The film received an early premiere at the Big Apple Anime Fest on August 30, 2003.

Tags: Found Family , Snowscape , Homeless , Urban , Family Life , Tragedy , Primarily Adult Cast , Estranged Family , Transgender , Male Protagonist , Female Protagonist , LGBTQ+ Themes , Class Struggle , Delinquents , Ensemble Cast , Suicide , Surreal Comedy , Rotoscoping , Language Barrier , Tanned Skin , Guns , Yakuza

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

ID: INVADED

Also known as ID: INVADED.

Studio: NAZ , Funimation , KADOKAWA
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 , Augmented Reality , Primarily Adult Cast , Prison , Meta , Revenge , Anti-Hero , Male Protagonist , Female Protagonist , Philosophy , Amnesia , Cyberpunk , Gore , Time Manipulation , CGI , Suicide , Guns

Yoru wa Mijikashi Arukeyo Otome

Also known as The Night is Short, Walk on Girl.

Studio: Science SARU
Status: Finished
Genres: Comedy , Romance

A black haired girl is walking around the streets of Kyoto, from the night scene of Pontocho to a second-hand book fair in Shimogamo, then off to a college fair. The main character that has a romantic feeling for her secretly follows her around and looks for the opportunities to run into her in a manner that seems like a coincidence. Unfortunately for him, she is not interested in love yet, so she does not notice his feelings. What awaits these two characters are a series of crazy incidents caused by bizarre individuals, such as a person who introduces himself as Tengu, the god of second-hand books, or a money lender, who collects young men's underwear and lives on a three story barge.



Tags: Surreal Comedy , Female Protagonist , Primarily Adult Cast , Philosophy , Coming of Age , Bar , Musical Theater , Heterosexual , College , LGBTQ+ Themes , Crossdressing , Trains

PUPARIA

Status: Finished
Genres: Fantasy , Psychological

Independent Short by Shingo Tamagawa.

Tags: No Dialogue , Environmental , Denpa , Anachronism , Anthropomorphism , Animals , Female Protagonist , Agender

AKIRA

Also known as Akira.

Studio: Tokyo Movie Shinsha , Funimation , Mainichi Broadcasting System , Kodansha , Bandai Entertainment , Toho , Madman Entertainment
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 , Primarily Male Cast , Seinen , Delinquents , Body Horror , Urban Fantasy , Motorcycles , Anti-Hero , Conspiracy , Gangs , Military , Gore , Philosophy , Crime , Orphan , Politics , Mythology , Aliens , Nudity