As one of the biggest names of anime to date, Attack on Titan made its mark with an intense, emotional, and gore-filled story set in a world where human-eating titans roam the land, forcing humanity to exist within the safety of protective barriers known as Wall Maria, Wall Rose and Wall Sina. Attack on Titan brings a shock factor with every episode, amplifying feelings of terror, sorrow, and rage through a visually impressive art style and dynamic animations.
Attack on Titan follows the story of Eren Yeager, who devotes his life to fighting back against the Titans after the death of his mother during the fall of Wall Maria. With his friends, Mikasa, and Armin, the trio joins the 104th Cadet Corp, where they meet fellow comrades and learn how to handle the deadly and dangerous life of the Scout Regiment.
With over 80 episodes spread across 4 seasons, Attack on Titan has been an incredibly successful show. However, with the series finale expected to release in Fall 2023, many fans are beginning to wonder what they can watch next to fill the Attack on Titan Void.
In no particular order, here are the 10 best anime like Attack on Titan:
Another
Just as Attack on Titan brings a gruesome and gore-filled story to the screen, Another has plenty of elements that bring the same disturbing feelings to viewers as they follow the story of a class of Middle School students doomed by a deadly curse. New transfer student Kouichi Sakakibara moves into this class, where he begins to notice something strange about one of his classmates. But as he tries to work out this mystery surrounding this student and the apparent curse that looms over the class, the people around Kouichi begin to die gruesome deaths in a string of freak accidents.
While Another’s takes place in a modern-day setting, it is the brutality and unforgivingness of the show towards its own characters that resembles the darker side of the much-loved hack-and-slash feel of Attack on Titan. Another also features a single 12-episode season, so it’s the perfect weekend binge for any Attack on Titan fan or horror fan in general!
Deadman Wonderland
Similarly to Attack on Titan’s Eren losing his mother in a vicious Titan invasion, Deadman Wonderland kicks off the story with protagonist Ganta witnessing the brutal murder of his entire class, being convicted as the sole survivor, and ending up in a mysterious prison where he must follow twisted rules and play a sick game – all while trying to clear his name. The fight for freedom found in Attack on Titan returns in Deadman Wonderland, accompanied by an extremely twisted and engaging plot, a highly interesting cast of characters, plenty of shock factors, and a great collection of combat scenes that are sure to keep you hooked on the show!
While Attack on Titan has the main cast of characters pitted against the threat of the Titans for survival, Deadman Wonderland brings the clash of prisoners against those who run the prison, as well as a clash between prisoners themselves, as they are forced to fight in the Carnival Corpse. Between the brutal punishments dished out, the games for survival, the weaponization of blood, and the uprising that brews within the prison, Deadma Wonderland is a gruesome and exciting journey that ensures Attack on Titan fans will have their eyes glued to the screen throughout the show’s 12 episode run.
Tokyo Ghoul
Just like Attack on Titan, Tokyo Ghoul follows the similar theme of humans being preyed on and devoured by a strange, powerful species… but instead of hulking man-eating Titans, the show is filled with the mysterious, red-eyed Ghouls – a species that can only feast on humans or other ghouls to cure their hunger. Student Ken Kaneki soon finds his life turned upside down following an organ transplant that saved his life – as it turns out, the organ belonged to the Ghoul that attacked him, and Kaneki transitions into one of these creatures himself, becoming a half-Ghoul, half-human hybrid.
Just as Eren Yeager is a monster-human hybrid with his Titan shifting abilities, Tokyo Ghoul’s Kaneki also fits this category with his new life as a half-ghoul, and must also go through a learning curve to adapt to the new abilities and life as a Ghoul – much like Eren’s struggles with understanding his Titan abilities in the early days of AoT. Tokyo Ghoul was popular enough to receive 48 episodes over four seasons, so it’s a story bound to keep fans of Attack on Titan entertained for a decent amount of time.
Future Diary
Future Diary tells the story of student Yukiteru Amano, who receives a strange cellphone that can tell him the future events of each day and soon finds himself thrown into a battle-royale scenario where he has to outmaneuver 12 other participants each with their own future diary, while they kill one another off for the prize of becoming the next God of space and time. While Attack on Titan and future Diary are rather different on the surface, both series share many core aspects and themes with one another – with unnerving twists and turn, shocking betrayals, the strategies used, and many character deaths throughout.
Just as Attack on Titan does a great job at keeping viewers on the edge of their seats with a great balance of combat-laced action, psychological thrills and twists, and a significant amount of gore, Future Diary includes all of this in the wild survival game between the future diary users. Future Diary has a brilliant cast consisting of the 12 future diary users, plus many intriguing side characters, allies, antagonists, and betrayals that are sure to keep Attack on Titan fans hooked for the show’s 26-episode run.
Kabaneri Of The Iron Fortress
Just like Attack on Titan, Kabaneri of the Iron Fortress features a story where humanity is forced to live behind a defensive fortress for safety from zombie-like monsters known as Kabane that have overrun the lands – and just as the Titans broke through Wall Maria to cause mass tragedy, the series also begins with these Kabane breaking through the fortress and causing destruction. Another parallel occurs between the protagonists of both Attack on Titan and Kabaneri of the Iron Fortress, with them becoming a half-monster hybrid of the deadly species they hate the most, in Erens case, a Titan, and in Ikoma’s case, a Kabaneri.
Many fans of Attack on Titan are sure to find some familiarity in Kabaneri of the Iron Fortress, as it is an anime produced by Wit Studio, the same studio responsible for the production of Attack on Titan’s first three seasons, and both series shared the same director. Kabaneri of the Iron Fortress is extremely easy for an Attack on Titan fan to jump into, with 12 episodes contained in a single season – making it the perfect choice for an Attack on Titan fan looking for their next weekend anime binge.
Black Bullet
Similarly to Attack on Titan, Black Bullet takes place in a world where humanity is confined to living within a protective barrier named Monolith – but instead of being protected from man-eating Titans, humanity is trying to keep safe from a parasitic virus known as Gastrea, that infects humans and turns them into monsters with supernatural abilities. Humanity’s last hope is a string of children that were born infected with this virus, granting them a strange immunity in which they keep their physical human form, yet gain the supernatural abilities of the Gastrea.
Protagonist Rentaro Satomi teams up with these children and ventures outside Monolith to fight back against the Gastrea to grant humanity’s freedom – just as Eren, Mikasa, and Armin joined the Scouts to fight back against the Titans outside the safety of the Walls. Full of beautiful animation techniques and a great soundtrack, while only spanning across a single 13-episode season, this is a quick and engaging anime title for Attack on Titan fans to tick off from their watchlists.
Claymore
Claymore’s brutality, violence and gore are right on par with Attack on Titan, taking place in a world where half-human, half-demon species known as Claymores are created to destroy the man-eating demon species called Yoma. Both shows have a number of things in common, with Claymores featuring a heavily female-fronted cast that all bring the same familiar badass, monster-slashing vibes of Attack on Titan’s Mikasa Ackerman throughout the 47 districts in which they are stationed.
Claymore follows a similar plotline to Attack on Titan, with the main protagonist, Clair, losing both her parents to the slaughter of a Yoma, much like Eren losing his mother to the unsettling Smiling Titan in the beginning of Attack on Titan. Claymore has an array of seriously hectic combat scenes, plenty of conflict between characters, and a dark and dramatic story that will keep fans of Attack on Titan hooked on the show for the entire 26-episode duration.
Death Note
Death Note revolves around a student named Light Yagami, who comes across a Death Note – a book from the world of the Shinigami that allows the holder to write the names of others inside, resulting in their deaths. Just as Attack on Titan, death note is full of plenty of twists and turns and deaths at every corner – though unlike Attack on Titan’s much more brutal, gory showcase, Death Note instead runs on a much more psychological scale, with the true shock factor of the show being Light’s downward spiral into madness.
Similar to Attack on Titan, Death Note also features a protagonist that shifts into more of an antagonist as the story progresses, regarding Light’s obsession over Death Note, as well as how this obsession consumes him and causes him to have more increasingly villain motives – similar to Eren Yeager’s character evolution. With one of the most fascinating and engaging plotlines and 37 episodes of pure psychological twists and turns, Death Note is a fresh change of pace for any Attack on Titan fan.
Parasyte
Parasyte brings the same elements to the screen that can be found in Attack on Titan, with the story taking place in a world infested with alien-like parasites that can possess humans. The story of Parasyte follows Shinichi Izumi, a boy who survives being possessed by a parasite named Migi – resulting in him becoming a half-human half-monster hybrid and shifting his view on the world around him, much like Eren in Attack on Titan once he unlocks his Titan shifting abilities.
Parasyte also brings the same levels of gore and horror as in Attack on Titan, with shocking, sudden, and gruesome deaths equaling a large kill count that continues to rise with each episode. Parasyte brings an impressive soundtrack, uses great pacing to tell the story, and the lethality of the parasites is most certainly on par with the horrific man-eating Titans of Attack on Titan – so this one is an anime fans won’t want to miss out on!
Elfen Lied
Elfen Lied is an anime that follows protagonist Lucy, who is a rare human mutant called a Diclonius, again sharing that parallel with Attack on Titan’s Eren Yeager. Diclonius have absurdly powerful supernatural abilities that make them a threat to humans, but after suffering the loss of her memories as a test subject Diclonius, Lucy takes a stand and begins fighting back against the other Diclonius – just like Eren using his Titan shifting abilities to fight back agains the other Titans.
Elfen Lied is definitely not for the faint of heart, as an anime with a name well known for its shocking and violent content, brutal and bloody deaths, and an excessive kill count, which is only amplified and emphasized with a great soundtrack. Elfen Lied also runs over a single 13-episode season, so it’s perfect for an Attack on Titan fan’s next weekend horror-inspired anime marathon and will be sure to keep everyone’s eyes glued to the screen.
If you’re a true Attack on Titan fan, check out our other content! We have quizzes that will let you find out which AOT character, or AOT Titan you are most like, as well as an AOT trivia quiz for you to test your knowledge on the franchise! Or perhaps if you’re looking for more anime recommendations, you can check out our lists on the best anime of October 2022, or the best anime available on Netflix!
Published: Oct 21, 2022 09:34 am