15 Best Anime Like Akira You Need to Watch
Akira is one of the best-known and highest praised anime of all time. So, it is not a wonder that fans of it want more. This is the reason we have decided to make this article and bring you the best anime like Akira you can watch today.
Some of the anime on our list are movies, while others are anime series, still, whichever you choose to watch, you will have the same feeling as watching Akira. Now, let’s start with our list of the best anime like Akira.
Neon Genesis Evangelion (1995–1996)
Neon Genesis Evangelion is a Japanese mecha anime television series produced by Gainax and animated by Tatsunoko, directed by Hideaki Anno and broadcast on TV Tokyo from October 1995 to March 1996. Evangelion is set fifteen years after a worldwide cataclysm, particularly in the futuristic fortified city of Tokyo-3.
The protagonist is Shinji Ikari, a teenage boy who was recruited by his father Gendo to the shadowy organization Nerv to pilot a giant bio-machine mecha named “Evangelion” into combat against beings known as “Angels”.
The series explores the experiences and emotions of Evangelion pilots and members of Nerv as they try to prevent Angels from causing more cataclysms. In the process, they are called upon to understand the ultimate causes of events and the motives for human action.
The series has been described as a deconstruction of the mecha genre and it features archetypal imagery derived from Shinto cosmology as well as Jewish and Christian mystical traditions, including Midrashic tales and Kabbalah. The psychoanalytic accounts of human behavior put forward by Freud and Jung are also prominently featured.
Dennou Coil (2007)
Den-noh Coil is a Japanese science fiction anime television series created, directed and written by Mitsuo Iso and produced by Madhouse. It aired 26 episodes from May to December 2007 on NHK Educational TV. It is a pioneering work that depicts daily life in a world where AR (augmented reality) technology, in which layers created by computer networks are superimposed on the real world, and MR (mixed reality) technology, in which high-resolution holograms are projected onto the real world and can be manipulated.
It has received high praise among Japanese science fiction anime for its fusion of old-fashioned Japanese scenery and urban legends, a modern version of the Japanese folklore Kaidan, with a futuristic worldview, and for its story of children playing in an augmented reality world using a device called “Den-noh Megane” (cyber glasses), as if anticipating the subsequent emergence of smart glasses.
Den-noh Coil has won several awards, including the Grand Prize of the 29th Nihon SF Taisho Award, the 39th Seiun Award in 2008 and the Excellence Prize for animation at the 11th Japan Media Arts Festival in 2007.
Freedom Project (2006– )
Freedom Project is a Japanese promotional project by Nissin Cup Noodles for its 35th anniversary in 2006. As part of the project, the 7-part OVA series, titled Freedom, was commissioned with and designed by Katsuhiro Otomo (anime Steamboy and the manga Akira and its film adaptation) serving as the character and mecha designer.
The series is directed by Shuhei Morita, creator of the award-winning animation short Kakurenbo, and is authored by celebrated writers Dai Satō, Katsuhiko Chiba and Yuuichi Nomura. The series openly displays its sponsor’s product placement in numerous scenes in which characters are shown consuming Nissin Cup Noodles.
Freedom is about a child, Takeru, discovering a secret that could change the very society he depends upon. Civilization on Earth was destroyed by a permanent abnormal climate shift. Cities with millions of people had been built on the far side of the Moon and became the only place where humanity still survived. The remaining population declared the foundation of Republic Eden, then set forth expanding those lunar colonies that loved peace and freedom.
More than 160 years have passed since then. In Eden, children complete their compulsory education program when they are 15 years old. They are then integrated into society as citizens. During their brief moratorium, they are granted freedom. Like other boys, Takeru decides to take part in a race with his friends using machines particular to the Moon, called “Vehicle”. But what distinguishes Takeru is that he has constructed his own vehicle. When his vehicle catches fire on a public road he is sentenced to 10 hours of “volunteer” work outside the dome, where he discovers the remains of a small crashed capsule bearing photographs and articles seemingly sent from Earth. Structures visible in the background identify the location they were taken as the Kennedy launch facility in Florida.
Infatuated with a young woman in the photograph, Takeru attempts to research conditions on Earth and finds that the library’s information on the home planet is heavily censored. Furthermore, nobody is permitted to travel far enough from the dome over the lunar surface to get within visual range. He discovers a small enclave of people living in a facility outside of Eden’s centralized control, and after befriending the enclave’s leader is given access to a moon rover with sufficient range to get a view of Earth. He sees that the Earth is blue; it has recovered from the disaster that befell it and is now habitable again. The authorities of Eden pursue Takeru, attempting to suppress this discovery, but Takeru and his friend Bismarck manage to commandeer an old “escape” rocket and leave Eden to explore Earth firsthand.
The escape rocket’s capsule comes down slightly off course, landing in the ruins of Las Vegas, and Takeru and Bismarck use Takeru’s vehicle to make the overland trek across the United States.
Black Magic M-66 (1987)
Black Magic M-66 is a Japanese sci-fi manga and medium-length anime film from 1987. The author of the story is Masamune Shirow, who also got the right to direct it. The story revolves around a renegade female android who pursues a girl in order to kill her, but she is protected and saved by a journalist. The story reminded some of Cameron’s Terminator.
Due to a malfunction, one rainy night, the military aircraft crashes in the forest and its cargo is released: two killer androids in female form. Part-time journalist Sybil manages to listen in on the government frequency in her apartment to hear the secret conversation of the army, which is putting the entire area under its ring and blockade. He quickly travels to the forest with his camera and witnesses how the army manages to eliminate one android, but the other escapes. Scientist Matthew, who invented them, fearfully explains to the colonel that the android accidentally uploaded a test program in which his granddaughter Feris is the target during a malfunction, and is therefore probably heading to the city to kill her.
Sybil manages to find Feris in a cafe and take her to safety in a building, to several soldiers guarding her. However, the android is unstoppable and chases them around the building and even in the elevator. When the army shoots at him from a helicopter, it causes the building to collapse. However, Sybil and Feris are saved as the android falls from a great height onto the street where Matthew deactivates it. Sybil is not particularly rewarded for her efforts, but at least she is happy to have helped Feris.
Metropolis (2001)
Metropolis is a 2001 Japanese animated futuristic dieselpunk drama film based upon Osamu Tezuka’s 1949 manga of the same name. The film was directed by Rintaro, written by Katsuhiro Otomo, and produced by Madhouse, with conceptual support from Tezuka Productions.
As humans and robots live together in the great city of Metropolis, severe community structures and prejudice dominate. Each new day brings more unrest and violence.
The Japanese detective Shunsaku Ban and his nephew Kenichi arrive at Metropolis to search for the scientist Dr. Laughton, suspected of violating human rights by trading organs. Kenichi discovers a girl with no memory of her past life in the scientist’s lab. In order to help her, he decides to run away with her.
To find Duke Red, the man ruling from the shadows, his uncle follows him and penetrates the city’s dark secrets. In the meantime, Kenichi desperately tries to protect the mysterious girl. There are, however, deep reasons why Duke Red and his adoptive son chase after the girl. It has to do with her true identity and the struggle for dominance in Metropolis.
Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind (1984)
Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Hayao Miyazaki. It tells the story of Nausicaä, a princess of a small kingdom on a post-apocalyptic Earth with a toxic ecosystem, who becomes involved in a war between kingdoms while an environmental disaster threatens humankind.
The story is set in the future at the closing of the ceramic era, 1,000 years after the Seven Days of Fire, a cataclysmic global war, in which industrial civilization self-destructed. Although humanity survived, the land surface of the Earth is still heavily polluted and the seas have become poisonous.
Most of the world is covered by the Sea of Corruption, a toxic forest of fungal life and plants which is steadily encroaching on the remaining open land. It is protected by large mutant insects, including the massive Ohmu. Humanity clings to survival in the polluted lands beyond the forest, periodically engaging in bouts of internecine fighting for the scarce resources that remain.
The ability for space travel has been lost but the earth-bound remnants of humanity can still use gliders and powered aircraft for exploration, transportation and warfare. (Powered land vehicles are mostly nonexistent, with humanity regressed to dependence on riding animals and beasts-of-burden.)
Genocyber (1994– )
Genocyber: The Beauty Devil from Psychic World is a 1992 Japanese manga series by Tony Takezaki. One volume of the manga was published and the story remains unfinished. It was adapted by Koichi Ohata into five-part original video animation (OVA) series in 1994. The plot of the anime differs significantly from the manga. Both are notable for their extreme graphic violence.
A nightmarish combination of cybernetics and psychic potential. At its core: the tortured souls of 2 human beings. Many desire to control this monstrosity, but can its hatred be contained? Battle erupts, and the cyberpunk world of the future is about to explode with violence!
Psycho-Pass (2012– )
Psycho-Pass is a Japanese cyberpunk psychological thriller anime television series produced by Production I.G. It was co-directed by Naoyoshi Shiotani and Katsuyuki Motohiro and written by Gen Urobuchi, with character designs by Akira Amano and featuring music by Yugo Kanno. The series aired on Fuji TV’s Noitamina programming block between October 2012 and March 2013.
Set in a dystopia of Sibyl System’s governance of Japan, the plot follows the young woman Akane Tsunemori. She is introduced as a novice Inspector assigned to Division One of the Public Safety Bureau’s Criminal Investigation Division, in charge of solving crimes with latent criminals, Enforcers.
Elfen Lied (2004)
Elfen Lied is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Lynn Okamoto. It was originally serialized in Shueisha’s Weekly Young Jump from June 2002 to August 2005, with the 107 chapters collected into twelve tankōbon volumes.
Elfen Lied revolves around the interactions, views, emotions, and differences between human beings and the Diclonii, a mutant species similar to humans in build but distinguishable by two horns on their heads and “vectors”, transparent telekinetically controlled arms that have the power to manipulate and cut objects within their reach. The series is centered on the teenage Diclonius girl “Lucy” who was rejected by human beings and subsequently wants revenge.
Ghost in the Shell (1995)
Ghost in the Shell is a 1995 adult animated neo-noir cyberpunk thriller film directed by Mamoru Oshii and adapted by frequent Oshii collaborator Kazunori Itō. The film is based on the manga of the same name by Masamune Shirow. It stars the voices of Atsuko Tanaka, Akio Ōtsuka, and Iemasa Kayumi. It is a Japanese-British international co-production, executive produced by Kodansha, Bandai Visual and Manga Entertainment, with animation provided by Production I.G.
The film is set in 2029 Japan, and follows Motoko Kusanagi, a cyborg public-security agent, who hunts a mysterious hacker known as the Puppet Master. The narrative incorporates philosophical themes that focus on self-identity in a technologically advanced world. The music, composed by Kenji Kawai, includes vocals in the classical Japanese language. The film’s visuals were created through a combination of traditional cel animation and CGI animation.
Neo Tokyo (1987)
Neo Tokyo, also titled Manie-Manie on its title card, is a 1987 anime science fiction anthology film produced by Project Team Argos and Madhouse. Conceived and produced by Madhouse founders Masao Maruyama and Rintaro, it adapts short stories by Taku Mayumura featured in the 1986 collection of the same Japanese title and is executive produced by publisher Haruki Kadokawa.
The 50-minute-long film has three segments, each under a different screenwriter and film director: Rintaro’s “Labyrinth Labyrinthos,” an exploration into the maze of a little girl’s mind, Yoshiaki Kawajiri’s “Running Man,” focusing on a deadly auto race, and Katsuhiro Ōtomo’s “Construction Cancellation Order,” a cautionary tale about man’s dependency on technology.
In addition to original music by Godiego’s Mickie Yoshino, two prominently feature famous pieces of Western classical music: the first of Erik Satie’s Gymnopédies and the “Toreador Song” of Georges Bizet’s Carmen in “Labyrinth” and “Morning Mood” from Edvard Grieg’s Peer Gynt score, in an ironic manner, in “The Order.”
Tekkonkinkreet (2006)
Tekkonkinkreet, also known as Black & White, is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Taiyō Matsumoto, originally serialized from 1993 to 1994 in Shogakukan’s seinen manga magazine Big Comic Spirits. The story takes place in the fictional city of Takaramachi (Treasure Town) and centers on a pair of orphaned street kids – the tough, canny, Black, and the childish, innocent, White, together known as the Cats – as they deal with yakuza attempting to take over Treasure Town.
A pilot film directed by Kōji Morimoto was released in January 1999. A feature-length anime film directed by Michael Arias and animated by Studio 4°C premiered in Japan in December 2006.
Steamboy (2004)
Steamboy is a 2004 Japanese animated steampunk action film produced by Sunrise, directed and co-written by Katsuhiro Otomo, his second major anime release as a director, following Akira (1988). The film was released in Japan by Toho on July 17, 2004. Steamboy was the most expensive Japanese anime film up until then with a ¥2.4 billion ($26 million) production budget, having been in production for ten years and utilizing more than 180,000 drawings and 440 CG cuts.
In 1860s Britain, a boy inventor finds himself caught in the middle of a deadly conflict over a revolutionary advance in steam power.
Memories (1995)
Memories is a 1995 Japanese animated science fiction anthology film with Katsuhiro Otomo as executive producer, and based on three of his manga short stories. The film is composed of three shorts: Magnetic Rose, directed by Studio 4°C co-founder Kōji Morimoto and written by Satoshi Kon; Stink Bomb, directed by Tensai Okamura of Darker than Black fame and written by Otomo, and Cannon Fodder, written and directed by Otomo himself.
– Magnetic Rose
A pair of engineers, Heintz Beckner and Miguel Costrela, find a derelict mansion after tracking a distress signal to an abandoned space station. In their investigation, they uncover a dark secret surrounding Eva Friedel, a renowned opera singer with a tragic past. Soon, they begin to experience hallucinations, and they must maintain their sanity in order to escape.
– Stink Bomb
To cure a cold, Nobuo Tanaka consumes some pills at his laboratory. Unbeknownst to him, the pills contain experimental drugs that increase his flatulence to lethal levels. His superiors order him to retreat to the company headquarters in Tokyo as the toxic gas escaping him kills everyone in his vicinity. While the police, military, and foreign adversaries are hot on his trail, Nobuo struggles with his deadly odor on the journey to the city.
– Cannon Fodder
It is the desire of a young boy who lives in a fortress city full of cannons to become a revered artillery officer like his father. Even though there is no evidence of an enemy nation, he cannot resist the urge to participate in the city’s daily bombardment routines. He dreams of one day firing a cannon for his homeland, whether he is at school or just before bed.
Serial Experiments Lain (1998)
Serial Experiments Lain is a Japanese anime television series created and co-produced by Yasuyuki Ueda, written by Chiaki J. Konaka and directed by Ryūtarō Nakamura. Animated by Triangle Staff and featuring original character designs by Yoshitoshi ABe, the series was broadcast for 13 episodes on TV Tokyo and its affiliates from July to September 1998. The series follows Lain Iwakura, an adolescent girl in suburban Japan, and her relation to the Wired, a global communications network similar to the internet.
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Lain features surreal and avant-garde imagery and explores philosophical topics such as reality, identity, and communication. The series incorporates creative influences from computer history, cyberpunk, and conspiracy theory. Critics and fans have praised Lain for its originality, visuals, atmosphere, themes, and its dark depiction of a world fraught with paranoia, social alienation, and reliance on technology considered insightful of 21st-century life. It received the Excellence Prize at the Japan Media Arts Festival in 1998.
