5 Best Psychological Thriller Anime That You Should Know Update 03/2024

Best Psychological Thriller Anime

In addition to the more well-known action and fantasy subgenres, niche anime subgenres are also becoming increasingly popular as people watch them at home.

To moviegoers and novelists, horror and thriller are well-known genres. Modern anime viewers have recently been focusing on a psychological thriller of a similar but unfamiliar nature. As a matter of fact, there have been a lot of outstanding psychological thriller anime out there for quite some time. In psychological thriller anime, in addition to spectacular supernatural situations and thrilling plots, there are psychological descriptions of characters.

The following is a ranking of the five greatest anime series ever produced in the genre of psychological suspense.

1. Death Note

DEATH NOTE

Japanese and international audiences alike like Death Note (), a psychological thriller anime series. Manga was serialized on Weekly Shonen Jump from 2003 to 2006, and the anime adaptation ran from 2006 to 2007 with 37 episodes. A few anime movies and love-action programs are also available.

Light Yagami, the protagonist of Death Note, discovers a Death Note in a fictional Japan. With the symbolic black note, he has the ability to kill anyone by writing their name on it. In their battles, he and another prominent character, L, seem to be engaged in a high-level game of wits.

2. Boogiepop and Others

Boogiepop and Others

As a psychological thriller anime, Boogiepop Doesn’t Laugh (also known as Boogiepop Series) falls into the horror and dark fantasy genres. Kouhei Kadono has been writing the light novel series since 1998, and this is the first adaptation. The anime series is available in two distinct editions. A 12-episode anime adaptation was published in 2000, while a second 18-episode version was released in 2019. Manga adaptations have been made of a portion of the original novel.

One of the key characters in this Japanese high school psychological thriller anime is the emblem of the series, Boogiepop, who is depicted in this film as a high school student. When something catastrophic occurs in the world, he or she assumes the identity of another student at the institution. High school students with a variety of personal issues are the focus of Boogiepop Doesn’t Laugh as well.

3. Psycho-Pass

Psycho-Pass

Psycho-Pass (PSYCHO-PASS ) is one of the most well-known and successful anime series in the genre of psychological suspense. Three seasons of the anime series have been released so far, as well as five anime movie titles.

Psycho-Pass takes place in a 2112 Japan, where the population are governed by the Sibyl System. People’s psychological moods and personalities are measured via a futuristic computer network. “Psycho-Pass” is the name given to the digits in the number. Unit One of the Criminal Investigation Department of the Ministry of Welfare Public Safety Bureau is the focus of this suspenseful and cyberpunk anime.

4. Paprika

Paprika

Paprika (), a psychological thriller and science fiction anime film directed by Satoshi Kon, is one of the most popular anime films of all time. It is based on Yasutaka Tsutsui’s 1993 novel of the same name. Since its premiere in 2006, the psychological thriller picture has been appreciated by both Japanese and global audiences.

Paprika concentrates on the film’s emblem, a device called DC Mini that has just been invented. Atsuko Chiba, a psychotherapist in Tokyo, uses the DC Mini, a device that allows users to peer into the dreams of others, to treat patients who are experiencing nightmares under the pseudonym Paprika.

5. Steins;Gate

Steins;Gate

The 2011 anime series Steins;Gate () is well-known for its blend of science fiction and psychological suspense. The 2009 Xbox 360 video game of the same name was converted into a 24-episode anime series in 2009, and a film adaptation was published in 2013. In 2018, Steins;Gate 0, the sequel to Steins;Gate, was released.

A “crazy scientist” by the name of Rintaro Okabe, Steins;Gate takes place in the year 2010 in Akihabara, Tokyo. He and other Future Gadget Laboratory members, including Itaru Hashida and a neurology researcher Kurisu Makise, try to invent a time machine. In addition, they discover a massive conspiracy around the new gizmo.