If you enjoyed the suspense, mystery, andhorror elementsof the 2012 anime Another, then you will find the following list appealing. Each anime listed shares a similar sense of unease and tension, intricate narratives that keep viewers guessing, with intense character-driven stories from Higurashi: When They Cry to Corpse Party: Tortured Souls.
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Whether it’s tales of cursed villages, psychological thrillers with deadly games, or heart-wrenching stories of survival, these anime series examine human nature under extreme circumstances and grapple with questions of morality, perseverance, and the supernatural. So, get ready for a thrilling journey into the darker side of anime.
10Hell Girl
Hell Girl revolves around Ai Enma, the mysterious girl who fulfills people’s revenge requests via the Hell Correspondence website, which is only accessible at midnight. Once someone requests revenge, Ai delivers a doll with a red string.
When the string is pulled, the target is immediately sent to Hell, but there’s a price: the requester will also go to Hell after their life ends. The anime explores various tales of vengeance, sorrow, and profound human emotions while revealing Ai’s tragic past and questioning the morality of her service.
9Ghost Hound
Ghost Hound is a psychological, supernatural anime focusing on three boys in the remote town of Suiten, Japan. Tarō Komori, who was kidnapped and traumatized as a child, along with Makoto and Masayuki, start to experience Unseen World - a different dimension overlaying reality.
These out-of-body experiences occur with a series of strange, inexplicable events in the town. As they explore the Unseen World, they uncover secrets about their pasts. The series combines neuroscience, psychology, and Shinto spirituality, creating a fascinating exploration of the nature of consciousness, perception, and reality.
8School-Live!
School-Live! follows the life of Yuki Takeya, a cheery schoolgirl, and her friends at Megurigaoka Private High School. However, this school life is a delusion as Yuki’s friends maintain this facade to protect Yuki from the horrifying reality that they are survivors of a zombie outbreak.
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The girls and their teacher navigate the challenges of everyday life and survival amid the post-apocalyptic setting. The anime offers a grim and sometimes tragic survival storyline, offering a unique contrast that tests the resilience of the girls' friendship and sanity.
7Deadman Wonderland
Deadman Wonderland is a gripping tale of Ganta Igarashi, an ordinary student who becomes the sole survivor of a classroom massacre. Falsely accused of the crime, Ganta is sent to Deadman Wonderland, a unique prison that also serves as a twisted amusement park where inmates are the main attractions.
Ganta discovers he possesses a Branch of Sin power to control his blood as a weapon and is thrust into brutal gladiatorial games for survival. Simultaneously, he seeks to unveil the truth about the Red Man, the real perpetrator of the massacre.
Blood-C follows Saya Kisaragi, a seemingly normal girl living a dual life. By day, she’s a cheerful and clumsy schoolgirl, but by night, she transforms into a sword-wielding protector, battling against ancient creatures known as Elder Bairns that threaten her peaceful village.
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Guided by her father, Tadayoshi, Saya’s violent battles reveal she possesses supernatural abilities. As she delves deeper into her duty, the line between her two lives blurs, and she begins to uncover chilling truths about the world. Blood-C is filled with horror, action, and mystery, keeping viewers on edge.
5Elfen Lied
Elfen Lied centers on Lucy, a special breed of human called Diclonius, born with a short pair of horns and telekinetic abilities. Captured by the government and subjected to brutal experiments, Lucy escapes but suffers a head injury, resulting in a split personality: the harmless Nyu and the deadly Lucy.
Two locals, Kouta and Yuka, find and take her in, unaware of her violent side or painful past. The series highlights social alienation, identity, prejudice, and the value of humanity, presenting a tragic tale of love, loss, and redemption.
Shiki tells a chilling tale set in Sotoba, a quiet village in Japan, which becomes plagued by a mysterious and deadly disease after the arrival of the Kirishiki family. The village’s physician, Dr. Toshio Ozaki, begins to suspect an epidemic.
As the death toll rises, 15-year-old Natsuno Yuuki becomes increasingly convinced that the Kirishikis are vampires. The story escalates into a desperate fight for survival as the villagers battle the Shiki (corpse demons) and their human allies. Shiki presents a unique perspective on thevampire genre.
3Corpse Party: Tortured Souls
Corpse Party: Tortured Souls is a chilling anime series that follows a group of high school students who unwittingly invoke an ancient curse. After performing a friendship ritual, they find themselves transported to Heavenly Host Elementary School, a demolished institution in a different dimension, where countless children were brutally murdered.
Stranded in this nightmarish reality, the students are haunted by the vengeful spirits of the deceased and must uncover the school’s dark secrets to survive. The series combines survival, the supernatural, and the horrific consequences of meddling with the unknown.
2Future Diary
Future Diary is about Yukiteru Amano, a loner who prefers recording life to living it. A God named Deus Ex Machina grants Yukiteru a Future Diary, a cell phone log of all future events. Suddenly, he’s thrust into a deadly battle royale with 11 other diary holders.
The prize is becoming the new God of Time and Space. Among the competitors is Yuno Gasai, a fellow student, obsessively in love with Yukiteru. The series is a suspensefulpsychological thrillerabout survival, trust, and the complexities of human nature.
1Higurashi: When They Cry
Higurashi: When They Cryunfolds in the rural village of Hinamizawa. Keiichi Maebara moves to the village and quickly becomes friends with a group of girls. However, he soon discovers the town’s dark history of strange deaths and disappearances that occur during the annual festival.
As he delves deeper into these mysteries, Keiichi finds himself living out multiple scenarios, each ending in a horrifying tragedy. These timelines reset, presenting a new view of the same period, like a Groundhog Day loop with a deadly outcome each time.
