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Psychological genre is one of those genre you’d regret skipping. Check out these 8 psychological anime you must watch at least once!
The most intense moments in anime aren’t always flashy sword fights or two giant mechas blasting each other with laser cannons. Lingering and slowly rising tension can also bring the same thrilling experience in watching anime. That sums up the psychological genre.
Psychological anime often highlights the mental state of the characters. This means that the story explores more about the character’s response to the events happening around them and how they handle it. This genre takes the story deeper than any adventure exploring a fantasy land. More importantly, the psychological genre often has a dark theme around it. Let’s explore eight psychological anime you must watch!
8. Pluto
In a dystopian future, a string of robots and human deaths prompted Detective Gesicht to investigate what could be behind them. In this world, robots and artificial intelligence are widely accepted and embraced. However, there’s always a lingering question about these robots. Could robots feel hate? And how far would they take it?
This question would eventually get tangled up with Detective Gesicht’s cases. The more he investigated the murders, the more the clues pointed out that the perpetrator was a robot. A killer robot was something that hadn’t happened for years in this world.
7. The Tatami Galaxy
This anime perfectly wraps up the concept of “what if” scenarios. However, would that wishful thinking satisfy a person even if they got to experience it? The Tatami Galaxy follows our nameless protagonist and his college life. However, an encounter with a fortune-teller led him to wonder what could’ve been in his life if he had taken a different path. And so, time rewind, and he got to live another life with different choices.
However, no matter how his alternate life progressed, he couldn’t find himself satisfied. In every version he had lived, there was something that he was unhappy about. The protagonist’s surreal adventure explores self-desire and its psychological effects.
6. Puella Magi Madoka Magica
Puella Magi Madoka Magica might lead you to think this is a series for cute magical girls to shine. And that would be a wrong assumption. This anime takes the typically cheerful magical genre into a realm of tension and terror, thanks to the overarching antagonist in the anime. Kyubei was an extraterrestrial cat-like being in the series. It offered young girls the power to become a magical girl, in exchange for their souls.
Though Kyubei started as a seemingly cute alien who wanted to help these magical girls fight monsters, it couldn’t be more wrong. Kyubei was secretly a hive-mind species that used emotions as a source of energy since they didn’t have emotions themselves. Although Puella Magi Madoka Magica started off like the typical magical girl anime, the twist with Kyubei certainly gives it an unexpected turn.
5. The Promised Neverland
Speaking of unexpected turns, how would you feel if you grew up in an orphanage only to discover that you’re meant to be fed to demons instead? That’s the premise of The Promised Neverland. The poor residents of Grace Field House orphanage lived peacefully, unaware of their fate. All 37 orphans were provided with a comfortable life as long as they stayed within the perimeter.
However, everything came to light when a girl named Conny was adopted. Two other kids, Emma and Norman, followed her. What they found was nothing but Conny’s dead body. From then on, they planned their escape to the world outside of the orphanage.
What awaited them outside wasn’t pretty, either. They discovered that their orphanage was merely a farm for raising humans like cattle for consumption. They had to survive the world filled with demons and slowly uncover who was behind the inhuman orphanage they had been living in. The Promised Neverland offers a mix of horror and unsettling psychological story.
4. Re: Zero Starting Life in Another World
Although, technically, Re: Zero is an isekai, it’s swimming in psychological themes. The premise of this series is about Natsuki Subaru, who got transported into another world. However, he discovered things weren’t like his imagination of fun isekai. He quickly found himself in dangerous situations and tragically met his first death.
The key word is “first”. As horrifying as it sounds, Subaru discovered that he could come back to life at a different point in time in the past. Much like an autosave feature in a game. Though you might think it’s neat, Subaru still had to endure each pain that came with every one of his gruesome deaths. Not to mention, the stress that comes with each death. Repeatedly facing your mortality isn’t something one could do forever, despite how lighthearted Konosuba makes it.
3. Made in Abyss
One of the most well-regarded dark psychological anime, Made in Abyss, features Riko and Reg’s adventure to find Riko’s mother. The thing is, Riko’s mother went missing after she ventured into a gigantic hole in the middle of the town, appropriately called The Abyss. The Abyss was said to be a remnant of an ancient civilization. What’s terrifying about this massive cave is that anyone who dove into it would contract a mysterious illness, with only a few lucky ones who managed to surface safely.
Riko’s mother happened to be one of the Cave Raiders who didn’t return to the surface. However, a recent discovery revealed the remnants of Riko’s mother’s crew and notes. Among them, there was a message, presumably for Riko. This strengthened her determination to dive into The Abyss and begin her journey to find her mother.
2. Neon Genesis Evangelion
Ask any anime fan, there’s little to no chance that they haven’t heard about Neon Genesis Evangelion. Colloquially called Eva, this anime might come off as a giant mecha-fighting monster type. However, soon, the audience discovers that the anime takes a quite different path than the typical mecha action.
One of the main courses in Neon Genesis Evangelion is Shinji Ikari’s internal struggle. His estranged father called him to pilot a giant mecha and fight off cosmic monsters called the angels. However, throughout the story, it’s clear that Shinji had some issues. His sour relationship with his father and his overall struggle piloting the EVA mecha is a great recipe for disaster. Not to mention, Shinji’s apparent psychological issues also emerged whenever he had to interact with the love interest in the story.
1. Monster
When it comes to psychological anime, Monster is one of the top anime in the genre, and it’s for good reasons. The story takes place in 80s Germany, where a successful Japanese neurosurgeon, Dr. Tenma got his life turned upside down after an encounter with a strange patient. Dr. Tenma was on his way to success, he was a young and intelligent doctor who got engaged to the hospital director’s daughter.
At a glance, he got it all, fame, career, connection. However, his life changed when a young boy with a gunshot wound suddenly came into his care. While he was saving the boy’s life, he got called to perform another surgery. This time, he declined. Unfortunately, the other patient was an important politician, and Dr. Tenma’s decision led to his death, smearing the hospital’s reputation. Consequently, the hospital director called, and his daughter called off their engagement.
With his career plummeting, another incident changed his life for the second time. The hospital director was found dead without any apparent reason. However, his death removed the animosity toward Dr. Tenma but it did invite a suspicion to him. It later discovered that the one who murdered the hospital director was the young boy Dr. Tenma saved. Monster follows Dr. Tenma in chasing down his mysterious patient.
Conclusion
Psychological anime certainly is one of the most popular genres in the anime industry. The combination of the dark plot it often has, the thrilling tension, and the depth of the characters makes it unique from other genres. Especially, the elements of an emotional journey, internal reflection, and shocking experience often are the core parts that make up the character growth in the psychological genre. So, if you’re a fan of character-rich stories, look no further than these eight anime to check out.
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