The 10 Darkest Anime Series of All Time, Ranked

Dark anime features dark themes told in the right way. It’s not often that a series can tell such a dark narrative, but some series do it well. Dark anime series can highlight the parts of life that other anime series don’t want to touch, finding interesting areas to explore in hopeless worlds. Series like Neon Genesis Evangelion do a great job of pitting their protagonist against nearly unbeatable odds, forcing their main character to find unbeatable inner strength if they want to win in the entire scenario.

Other series, such as Supreme Lord, are dark for an entirely different reason. Their worlds aren’t as difficult to live in as other series, so they find ways to dominate and subjugate the people around them, making them dark for other characters. For a series to be considered a good dark anime, it needs to present dark themes, moments of hopelessness and almost invincible odds.

10

Neon Genesis Evangelion

Animated by Gainax and Tatsunoko, by Hideaki Anno

Neon Genesis Evangelion is not only one of the best dark anime of all time, is a staple of modern anime. It is a thought-provoking, often disturbing series that repeatedly questions the identity, purpose and meaning of life itself. It features several of anime’s most tragic events of mass destruction, killing nearly the entire population of Earth on a few different occasions. Saying that it is difficult to live in the world of Neon Genesis would be an understatement and a half.

The main character Shinji Ikari has had a difficult life. His mother died when he was young, and when that happened, his father completely abandoned him. His father, Gendo Ikari, only called Shinji back to his workplace when he needed to use his son. If using his own son wasn’t bad enough, Gendo wanted to use Shinji to wipe out all life on Earth in another impact, just so he could be reunited with his wife. It’s a dark anime that only gets darker as the series progresses, with little to no hope found.

9

Nier: Automaton Ver 1.1a

Animated by A-1 Pictures, based on the video game by PlatinumGames and Square Enix

Nier: Automaton Ver 1.1a is an excellent anime adaptation of the video game Nier: Automata. It’s a series, like Neon Genesis, which explores themes of identity, purpose and even destiny, three ideas not found in most other light anime series. Few characters survive the events of Nier:Automata, and depending on which ending the viewer saw, neither character survived. The entire plot of Nier is a game in which the main characters 2B, 9S and A2 are pawns, and it is only too late for them to realize their true roles in the series.

2B is tasked with killing 9S every time he comes too close to discovering the truth, forcing her to take her lover’s life more than 40 times. 9S can’t handle the truth and breaks down mentally repeatedly. Even though the ending shown in the series revives the main cast, it comes at the cost of literally all. They have no more friends, humanity has been gone for yearsand it will be up to them if the Earth is to be rebuilt in any meaningful way.

8

Supreme Lord

Animated by Madhouse, based on the light novel written by Kugane Maruyama and illustrated by so-bin

Supreme Lord It’s an interesting dark animeas it’s not particularly dark for the main character, Ainz Ooal Gown. Sure, he’s trapped inside the video game Yggdrasil, but he’s closer to a God than a regular character. He is one of the most powerful isekai protagonists and is more than happy to show it off. Ainz is essentially alone in his new world. He hasn’t encountered any other non-NPCs yet, so he’s the only real person trapped in the video game that he knows of. Although he leads a rather solitary existence, he is not going to stop there.

Ainz is brutal, cunning and willing to kill hundreds of thousands of enemy soldiers in seconds. He has decided to become the titular Overlord of his new world and will stop at nothing to achieve his goals. Although being alone in his new world was quite dark for Ainz, he made the world much darker for everyone else. When they see the Sorcerer King up close, death is never far behind.

7

chainsaw man

Animated by Mappa, based on the manga by Tatsuki Fujimoto

chainsaw man is one of the few shows that can be both dark and hilarious. Power and Denji’s relationship is one of the funniest in the anime, but unfortunately for the pair of psychopaths, the world they are in is as dark as possible. The first season of chainsaw man It features so many deaths of main characters that it feels like the series is messing with the viewer. There is no other series as big as chainsaw man so willing to kill off so many important characters in such a short amount of time.

Aside from the series of deaths of main characters, the world of chainsaw man it’s dark. It’s a world basically ruled by demons and people who use their power for evil. For the few characters who seek to face this evil, your days are numbered. They are outnumbered, outgunned, and betrayed more times than they can count.

6

The Saga of Tanya the Wicked

Animated by NUT, based on the light novel written by Carlo Zen and illustrated by Shinobu Shinotsuki

The Saga of Tanya the Wicked is one of the darkest isekai series available. It stars a salaryman who was killed by a disgruntled co-worker. When he goes to the afterlife, he abandons Being X, the supposed metaphysical God of his universe. Frustrated and intrigued by the salaryman’s righteous indignation, he decides to reincarnate the man in the body of a little girl, named Tanya von Degurechaff. Tanya’s mindset is exactly the same as when she was a salaryman and with her new power she will continue blaspheming her ‘creator’.

Tanya herself is a wild animal. She’s a one-man walking army, more than happy to lead her enemies to slaughter. Being X is still actively working against her, empowering her enemies to try and kill her when she least expects it. The Saga of Tanya the Wicked is set in a world where gods are not only real, but they are actively working against the main character.

5

Dororo

Animated by MAPPA, based on the manga by Osamu Tezuka

Dororo is one of the first mature anime series ever, created by the ‘God of Manga’ Osamu Tezuka. It’s a heartbreaking series at its core. The main character Dororo is a thief who meets his fellow protagonist Hyakkimaru. Hyakkimaru was born without eyes, ears, limbs and even internal organs, forcing him to live a blind life in great pain. He was born with so many afflictions because his father, the ruler of the land, made a pact with several demons to gain considerable power by sacrificing his son to the demons.

Hyakkimaru then kills the demons that feed on his life force, recovering his body in the process. Unfortunately, Hyamkkimaru’s father was using his son’s body to nourish his people’s lands. Although Hyakkimaru is right when it comes to reclaiming his own body, this comes at the expense of the prosperity of the land. It’s a lose-lose situation for the boy who had no say in the exchange in the first place.

4

Grimgar, Ashes and Illusions

Animated by A-1 Pictures, based on the light novel written by Ao Jūmonji and illustrated by Eiri Shirai

Grimgar, Ashes and Illusions is one of the deepest isekai series out there. It’s also one of the most realistic isekai series, as it places normal Japanese children in a world full of monsters and magic. While most other series would give their main character considerable powers or incredible allies, the characters in Grimgar are as normal as they seem, and that’s not good. They are forced to kill monsters to become stronger, but it’s not that easy.

The first few episodes of the series feature the main cast struggling to kill a single goblin, the weakest monster in their new world. When they finally kill the goblin, a creature that desperately tried to cling to its own life as they would, they react appropriately. They vomit, have mental breakdownsand can barely continue their missions. It’s one of the few series that brings some realism to such an unrealistic genre and forces its normal, everyday characters into some of the most difficult situations they could have imagined.

3

Furious

Animated by OLM, based on the manga by Kentaro Miura

Furious is an essentially dark anime. It’s such a good, dark anime that legendary creator Kentaro Miura’s influence can be found throughout the medium. Guts is the Black Swordsman, a tenacious and tragic character who has suffered more losses than most other anime characters combined. He was born into war, was only used as a tool during his childhood, and eventually suffered one of anime’s greatest betrayals.

There isn’t much Furious this is not aggressively dark. Guts was born from a hanged pregnant corpse, his love interest lost his sanity when they were betrayed, and everyone he once called friends was sacrificed by another of his closest friends. He can barely understand how dark the world is, and it’s not hard to see why. Fortunately, with his Berserker armor and his Dragon Slayer sword, Guts is able to at least cut through his enemies on his way to finding the truth.

2

Re:Zero – Starting life in another world

Animated by White Fox, based on the light novel written by Tappei Nagatsuki and illustrated by Shin’ichirō Ōtsuka

It’s hard not to feel bad for Natsuki Subaru in Re:Zero. He was isekaied to a new world without his permission, and when he got there, he was given one of the most bittersweet powers in anime. Subaru has the ability to return through death, and as the name implies, he is able to return to a predetermined point in time after dying. While it may seem like a useful skill, and sometimes it is, It’s absolutely horrible. Subaru feels each death as a normal person would.

Instead of a normal person suffering a single death, Subaru has died dozens of times. He died so many times that he even went temporarily insane in some parts of the show. He is also unable to open up about his affliction, as the Witch Factor will stifle him from speaking, prevent him from speaking altogether, or kill the people around him to keep him submerged in a world of loneliness.

1

Attack on Titan

Animated by Studio Wit and MAPPA, based on the manga by Hajime Isayama

Attack on Titan is the best dark anime for a few main reasons. Its first episode is easily one of the darkest in the anime. Eren’s world is peaceful, small, but not too bad. He lives with his family in the Walls, and although he is curious about the world outside them, he is relatively happy within them. This changes when the Colossal Titan and the Armored Titan tear down Wall Maria, sending Titans and debris flying, gruesomely killing thousands of people.

The main character, Eren Yeager, becomes evil incarnate. He sees the devastation in the world and assumes his only option is to return that same devastation to the people who hurt him. He plans to kill 80% of the world’s population, and unlike most evil characters, he succeeds. He massacres billions of innocent people to protect his friends, a decision most of them don’t even agree with. In most shows, when the enemy turns evil, the main character overcomes them with inherent goodness. Eren decided to do the opposite and become even darker than the villains themselves.