What makes a good anime great? Awesome fight scenes? Unique superpowers? Unlikely pairings and relationships? Possibly. But what’s even better than all of that is the psychology.
It’s the psychological element that’s seamlessly integrated into the story. It should tease our brains, make us exercise our minds, think critically, and try to figure things out for ourselves first instead of getting spoon-fed with hard action and templated storytelling. If you’re looking for some of the best psychological anime titles to binge-watch, we’ve compiled them in this list!
25. Gleipnir (Manga: Shinichi Inotsume, 2020 / Manga: Sun Takeda, 2015 – Present)
Let’s get this list rolling with something recent. Released just this spring, 2020, Gleipnir is an anime about a teenage boy who finds out that he can transform into a monster that looks like a giant stuffed toy.
Despite the main character’s fluffy, harmless looks, he’s blessed with monstrous speed and strength. What seemed like a typical action/adventure anime suddenly turned dark when he encounters a vixen of a female lead, who’ll do anything to hunt down her long-lost mass murderer of a sister. That includes going inside the body of the furry pet and monster hybrid because apparently, there’s a zipper in his back, and he can be worn just like you would a costume.
Oh, and that same sister is the main character’s ex-girlfriend who chose to erase his memory to save him from an awful future.
Still with us? Good, because that’s just the first couple of episodes! There’s a lot more to uncover; you’ll end up bingeing the whole series in one sitting!
You can see the original (Japanese only) series on Amazon Prime Video here: Gleipnir
24. Psycho-Pass (Gen Urobuchi, 2012 – 2013)
If that sounded like “psychopath” to you, you’re right! The Japanese love onomatopeia, which shows in some of the titles of their manga or anime. Cultural lessons aside, the title alone is enough to give you that serious psychological anime vibe. Set in a cyberpunk future, a computer network of sorts measures people’s brains and mentalities to assess potential criminals. It gives off that Minority Report feels, but with an anime storytelling twist.
We follow a newbie inspector’s perspective as she navigates through the law enforcement system, juggling crime-busting with career and existential dilemmas. Not to mention that their all-knowing crime-prevention computer is flawed and that there are still super-criminals who can stay off the authority’s radars.
You can check out the first season on Blu-ray on Amazon here: Psycho-Pass – Season One [Blu-ray]
23. The Promised Neverland (Manga: Kaiu Shirai, 2016 – 2020 / Anime: Toshiya Ono, 2019 – Present)
Oh boy, if you’re a sucker for psychological anime, this one’s a treat! Imagine living in a utopia, only to find out that you’re getting fattened up as livestock for mysterious monsters. It’s messed up, but in the right way, because we see true resilience and ingenuity from people.
Oh, before we forget, we’re talking about prepubescent children here, and not a robust and capable adult. There are adults, but they’re on the side of the carnivorous monsters. They’re the shepherds tending to a flock of children.
It’s dark, twisted, and full of thrilling encounters between the children, their caretakers, and for a bit, their monster overlords. We see how the children work together to survive and elude their captors. Even knowing their situation’s reality, they still had to fool the adults into thinking that they’re naive, innocent kids who can’t or won’t do anything to deceive them.
The Blu-ray is on Amazon, but unfortunately is a region 2 DVD. You can check it out here: The Promised Neverland – Vol. 1 (Ep. 1-6) [Blu-ray] [2019]
22. Paprika (Novel: Yasutaka Tsutsui, 1993 / Anime: Satoshi Kon, 2006)
Believe it or not, Christopher Nolan’s Inception is loosely based on this anime. Yes, THAT Inception–a highly rated movie about highjacking one’s deepest darkest secrets through their dreams.
That’s basically what Paprika is all about, only less Leonardo DiCaprio-y and more drug-trippy color explosion. After all, this anime is about bringing your dreams to life, regardless of how twisted or sick it is. Add some detectives investigating a series of murders, a fleeing, mysterious woman, and you’ll be sure to give your brain a good exercise.
The storytelling may be a bit over the place, but it can be because this show is way ahead of its time. Released in 2006, its contemporaries are targeted to a younger audience (Digimon, Kirarin Revolution, anyone?) or angsty teens (Code Geass, Death Note).
You can get the Blu-ray from Amazon here: Paprika [Blu-ray]
21. Ergo Proxy (Dai Sato, 2006)
Released in the same year as Paprika, Ergo Proxy is another title that 21. psychological anime fans should watch. Don’t be fooled by the main heroine’s heavy mascara, because this one’s a real nail-biter.
This anime is set in a cyberpunk future where humans are forced to live inside a domed city after a global disaster decimated the population several thousand years back. Humans coexist with AutoReivs–human-like androids. But everything changed when a string of murders perpetrated by AutoReivs stirred the peace.
To further complicate things, the human government discovered a “proxy,” humanoid life forms that are god-like, immortal, and powerful. As they began experimenting on the proxies, they realized that they’re why humans survived the disaster from long ago. There are also many things they don’t know about the world they live in.
It’s easy to get sucked into the vivid storytelling. You won’t notice the time pass by until the very end of the series!
You can check out the complete series on Blu-ray on Amazon: Ergo Proxy: The Complete Series [Blu-ray]
20. Re: Zero – Starting Life in Another World (Novel Series: Tappei Nagatsuki, 2012 – Present / Anime: Masahiro Yokotani, 2016 – Present)
After traveling back in time to 2006 and getting rewarded with two notable psychological anime titles, let’s flash forward ten years to 2016 when futuristic themes were replaced by tons of isekai (getting transported to another world) titles.
The cream of the crop of this year when it comes to psychological anime is, without a doubt, Re: Zero, as it seamlessly mixes fantasy and adventure with dark and twisted storylines.
Usually, when you get isekai-d to another world, you’re given a superpower, a unique weapon, or both. You’re an overpowered being who lords over everyone. This time though, the main character has to navigate his way with no unique power, weapon, or even superior intellect. All he has is the ability to “reset” to a save point after he dies. It took him quite a few painful, traumatic “resets” to truly understand his power and realize his purpose in this new world.
You can get season one (part one) on Blu-ray on Amazon here: Re:ZERO: Starting Life in Another World – Season One Part One [Blu-ray]
19. Kakegurui: Compulsive Gambler (Homura Kawamoto, 2014 – Present / Anime: Yasuko Kobayashi, 2017)
Are you tired of the dark, twisted environments, sadistic characters, and a piling body count you commonly see in a psychological anime? Then let Kakegurui be your palate cleanser.
This one’s a full-fledged psychological anime. This time though, the story revolves around gambling. From simple money-games to high-stakes, life-or-death (okay, I lied about the dark, twisted nature of the anime), this title will have you begging for more!
Oh, and did I forget that this was set in a prestigious school full of the world’s most influential people’s kids? That’s why they’re betting money, property, and even their freedom like there’s no tomorrow.
The main heroine’s a cheerful-looking beauty, but beneath that precocious exterior lies a compulsive gambler who’ll do anything to outsmart and outplay her opponents. The right choice of words, considering how every gambling match becomes a game of survival!
Unfortunately, Region 1 DVDs with English are hard to come by. If you want to check out the Japanese version, the Blu-ray of that can be found on Amazon Japan here: Kakegurui 1 [Blu-ray]
18. Kaguya-sama: Love is War (Manga: Aka Akasaka, 2015 – Present / Anime: Yasuhiro Nakanishi, 2019)
I may have lied a bit about the dark and twisted nature of Kakegurui, so we’ll go with a relatively “innocent” psychological anime this time around.
Kaguya-sama: Love is War is about two teenagers who are playing hard-to-get with each other. They’re both members of their school’s student council, and they’re trying to one-up each other by making them confess their love first. Both of them like each other, but are both afraid of making the first move. Instead, they’ll go to great lengths to put the other in awkward, confusing situations to force them to spill their guts first. Not literally.
The thing is, they’re both brilliant, and both try to stay one step ahead of each other. It’s a chess match for a confession, and they often end up drawing blanks or have their schemes backfire hilariously.
You can check out the DVD on Amazon here: Kaguya-sama Love Is War Blu-ray
17. ERASED (Kei Sanbe, 2012 – 2016 / Anime: Taku Kishimoto, 2016)
Enough of the palate cleansers, let’s get back to what psychological anime is known for: gripping, twisted storytelling. And you’ll get plenty of that with ERASED, a sci-fi, time travel-themed mystery that will have you staring at your screen for hours.
Without spoiling any details, the anime is all about going back in time to solve a cold case. A murder of an acquaintance, and understanding the circumstances behind it, can be too much to bear for the now-young protagonist. With his memories of the present intact, he’ll do his best within his power to change the course of events, get to the bottom of the case, and somehow try to survive to return to his present timeline.
And because the main characters are young children, there’s a sense of powerlessness that makes everything doubly tricky. Indeed an edge-of-your-seat series, you’ll go through episodes quickly, so make sure to have plenty of snacks ready!
Unfortunately, Amazon only has the Region B/2 Blu-ray. You check it out here: Erased Vol 1 (Eps 1-6) [Blu-ray]
16. Puella Magi Madoka Magica (Gen Urobuchi, 2011)
Continuing the prepubescent protagonists’ trend, we head over to a title that you’d likely question if it belongs to the list. Yes, Puella Magi Madoka Magica is a magical girl anime about young girls with more than enough power to level an entire city. But this one exposes what lies beneath their cute colorful interiors. They’re overworked, bound by an unfair contract, and treated as weapons or tools by those who made them.
In reality, magical girls live a cruel, inescapable life. They begin to lose pieces of themselves when they accept the job. Even the perk of getting a wish granted for taking the contract can often backfire and have unfavorable results. This is why the remaining magical girls must figure out a way to solve this before they all lose their sanity and turn into witches–the very enemy they’ve been hired to fight.
Amazon only has a region 0 Blu-ray, which will not work in the USA. If you have a player than can play this, check out the series here: Puella Magi Madoka Magica Complete Series Collection [Blu-ray]
15. Welcome to the N.H.K. (Tatsuhiko Takimoto, 2002 / Anime: Satoru Nishizono, 2006)
