Dark fantasy – it’s Lord of The Rings if everyone was a little bit Patrick Bateman! While the genre tends to be dominated by prestige titles like Game of Thrones and The Witcher, dark fantasy is making waves in the anime world. Some of these grimdark tales are so hopeless, so brutal, so nightmarish that they could make Joffrey Baratheon squirm – without the aid of strangulation poison. Here are 10 of the best dark fantasy anime series around – consider yourself warned.
Mononoke
Mononoke is a dark historical fantasy series set in a heightened Edo period Japan. The plot follows a mysterious man known as The Medicine Seller as he travels the kaleidoscopic countryside searching for spirits to exorcise. A “monster of the week” miniseries, each episode focuses on a fresh cast of characters haunted by ancient foes. Before The Medicine Seller can draw his exorcising sword and banish the spirit, he needs to find the identity and motive of the monster – only then will the blade activate. It’s a surreal spiritual detective series – YuYu Hakusho on Burning Man levels of acid. While the show only ran for one season, the story is far from over, and a three part film trilogy is currently in production. Mononoke The Movie: The Phantom In The Rain should be next on your watchlist.
Berserk
Arguably the greatest work of dark fantasy in any medium, Kentaro Miura’s Berserk inspired countless grimdark stories including the Dark Souls series. While the critically acclaimed manga has suffered from some famously bad animated interpretations, the 1997 version of Berserk‘s Golden Age Arc is a consummate classic. It’s the story of Guts, a linebacker sized mercenary who wields a sword the size of a four door sedan. He’s on a quest to hunt down a former comrade who branded him for demonic sacrifice – and he’ll slay every demon that stands in between him and revenge. It’s a famously brutal series featuring graphic depictions of physical and sexual violence, compounded with infernal creature character designs that could make H.R. Giger clutch his pearls. But beneath the horror, it’s a series about survival – the portrait of a warrior who refuses to give in no matter the odds.
Claymore
Perhaps the most underrated dark fantasy series on this list, Claymore is the story of a monster hunter named Clare – employed by a shadowy organization to hunt down shapeshifting people eaters called Yoma. A supernatural warrior called a “Claymore” for the swords her order carries, Clare attained monstrously enhanced strength and speed by ingesting a bit of Yoma flesh. Her order ensures all Claymores are female, a precaution taken due to the disastrous results of feeding Yoma meat to men. Unable to resist the transformative allure of the flesh, fellas tend to transform into “Awakened Beings” – creatures of divine power and infernal hunger. Nothing that can’t be solved by sticking a sword in it until it dies! Clare is more than qualified for the job.
Fate/Zero
Fate/Zero is a supernatural battle royal set in modern day Japan. At key points in human history, the fabled Holy Grail materializes in the world – offering divine power to anyone who can claim it. Ancient families of mages have spent centuries duking it out for the relic, but none have emerged victorious. Now the Fourth Holy Grail war is beginning, and modern mages are summoning historical warriors to serve as familiars in the struggle to come. What happens when a middle schooler summons Alexander the Great? A sociopath conjures the child-killing Bluebeard? A heartless mercenary teams up with chivalric King Arthur? You’ve got the makings for an awesome series of fights on your hands.
Re:Zero
Re:Zero ain’t your grandmother’s isekai – it’s a death-haunted departure from the light fantasy norm. Subaru Natsuki is a hikikomori, an adolescent recluse who, like many NEETs, finds himself inexplicably summoned to a parallel fantasy realm. Unlike most isekai main characters, he dies almost instantly while trying to help out his new elf friend – only to reawaken a few hours in the past. Subaru discovers that death gives him the power to turn back time, an ability that will certainly be useful while serving as a bodyguard for the Kingdom of Lugunica’s potential new queen. In order to stop his royal bestie from getting assassinated, he’ll just have to take the hits himself. The darkest part? While Subaru recalls the trauma of every one of his deaths, no one else does – it’s a mortal burden he must bear alone.
Attack On Titan
Attack On Titan is the peak of grimdark anime glory, a prestige series regarded as a modern day classic. A pre-industrial kingdom is protected from the man-eating giants that roam the lands beyond by a towering wall – a wall that’s swiftly kicked down by a colossus in the first episode. After his mother is devoured, a young boy named Eren Jaeger makes an anime protagonist vow to slay all of the Titans – joining humanity’s airborne army dedicated to eradicating the threat. What starts as a simple story of man vs. monster quickly evolves into a complicated political thriller that doubles as a sweeping sci-fi. As Eren learns of a way to transform into the monsters he fights, he discovers a conspiracy that dates back to the days of antiquity – a long-buried history of blood that will come to light in the modern age.
Puella Magi Madoka Magica
Don’t let the cherubic faces of its protagonists fool you, Puella Magi Madonna Magica treats children about as well as a Stephen King novel. A subversion of “magical girl” anime, this series follows a group of middle schoolers who discover an adorable little kitten that promises them special powers – for an unintended price. The cat-like Kyubey is actually a member of an alien race that harvests the emotions of magical girls to stave off the heat death of the universe. When a magical girl is sapped of her hopes, she’s transformed into a witch that feeds off despair – and Kyubey moves on to a new target, continuing the cycle. Watching this series is like opening the door for a baby faced Trick-or-Treater who turns out to be an actual monster under the mask. Bad things aren’t supposed to happen to magical girls, but bad things do.
Devilman Crybaby
Devilman Crybaby is a ten episode miniseries, and thank Heaven for that – I don’t think I could stomach another season. Set in a world where demons prey upon humanity, young Akira Fudo becomes possessed by a devil at an infernal sex party. Rather than being consumed outright (like the rest of the part goers in a sex/violence sequence that is forever branded into my nightmares) Akira is transformed into a devilman – a human able to control their demonic abilities. Aided by his sociopathic best friend who harbors a secret queer crush, Akira attempts to stave off the inevitable destruction of the planet by – it doesn’t end well. This anime is a pure tragedy, the likes of which haven’t been seen since Shakespeare wrote a play about that Danish guy that talks to skulls. A psychosexual coming-of-age downward spiral into apocalypse, this Devilman Crybaby is series that you must see once – and you’ll never want to watch again.
Dorororo
Dorororo is about a young man with one of the worst cases of daddy issues in anime history. In exchange for power and wealth, a Japanese feudal lord made a deal with 48 demons – giving each a body part belonging to his newborn son. To save the life of her disfigured baby, Hyakkimaru’s mother sends her son downriver in a basket like Moses of old. The boy is rescued by a skilled doctor, who builds Hyakkimaru a set of prosthetic limbs (with demon killing blades inside). Accompanied by a genderqueer young thief, Hyakkimaru sets out on a quest to recover his stolen body parts and confront his deadbeat dad. A transmasc pickpocket and a twink with knives for arms? My kind of demon slaying duo. Historical fantasy combines with action horror to create an underrated dark opus.
Full Metal Alchemist: Brotherhood
The Breaking Bad of anime, Full Metal Alchemist: Brotherhood is five perfect seasons of chemical madness. In a world where the magic of alchemy allows human beings to change the shape of matter, twin brothers Alphonse and Edward attempt to do the impossible: transmute their dead mother’s soul back into her body. It doesn’t go as planned, and their body parts are stolen in the alchemical ritual. Armed with metal protheses, Edward sets out on a quest to get his little brother’s body back – whose soul bonded to a suit of armor. As the brothers travel the kingdom they call home, they uncover a conspiracy corruption that reaches the very highest levels of the authoritarian government. It’s Avatar: The Last Airbender if Ba Sing Se was a fascist dictatorship, and two brothers had to wield the elements to root out political corruption that traces its roots to the ancient past. Is it the greatest anime ever made? It may just be.
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