Best Anime Like Death Note

Highlights

• Code Geass offers visual storytelling and explores the concept of power and its consequences.
• Death Parade delves into the philosophical questions surrounding death and the afterlife.
• Kaiji, like Death Note, is a psychological thriller filled with suspense and mind games.

Anime

such as

Naruto

and


Death Note


have been able to carve their respective niches into the mainstream media of the Western world. With

Death Note,

fans had an intricate encounter with the two main characters, Light Yagami and L. It weaved a tale that captivated fans new to anime, and even seasoned watchers of the genre. The series also showed a sense of maturity as its events raised pertinent points regarding morality and philosophy.

With there being a lot to unpack from the show itself, fans were left with a sense of dread when the series wrapped up. It left a hankering for anime that kept people on their toes and made them question life itself. Fortunately, even though there can’t be another

Death Note,

there are a few shows that maintain a high standard of both visuals and storytelling.

Update October 21, 2023 by Mark Sammut:



Death Note is eternal. Madhouse’s show is firmly established as one of the definitive gateway anime, and that seems unlikely to ever change. After finishing Light’s story, fans should check out these

anime like Death Note

.

Code Geass

Veteran watchers of anime will stand by the visual storytelling that

Code Geass

offers. Alternate timelines come into play as fans follow the exploits of Lelouch Lamperouge. A student of the Holy Britannian Empire, which has taken over Japan, Lelouch is handed Geass, also known as the “Power of Kings.”

This power forces anyone who speaks to Lelouch to obey his command, no matter how problematic or silly it may be. This, of course, brings in the issue of life or death. A student that is given a power of this enormity may not have the maturity to wield it properly or wisely.

Death Parade

Another awesome anime for anime beginners to delve into,

Death Parade

brings a lot to the table. It deals with the philosophical questions that follow the concept of death. In this show’s world, after people die, they do not go into heaven or hell. In fact, they go to a bar that is managed by Decim, a bartender.

The bar acts as a sort of purgatory as Decim plays against the person (or their

soul

?) in a random game. If the person manages to win, they will get reincarnated. However, if the person loses, their soul will head straight to a void of nothingness, and cease to exist. This is a fascinating concept, and it’s quite intriguing to watch the intricacies of the story play out.

Kaiji

Another Madhouse production,

Kaiji

is in some ways the inverse of

Death Note

. While the latter focuses on extraordinary people engaging in battles of wit, the former takes an average Joe and places him in high-stakes gambling situations.

Kaiji

is intense and unpredictable. The eponymous character finds himself in debt and accepts an invitation to take part in a series of gambles to try and wipe the slate. Freedom is not guaranteed.

While on a smaller scale,

Kaiji

is just as much about mind games as

Death Note

. Both shows are psychological thrillers overflowing with suspense, memorable characters, and crowd-pleasing (or angering) moments.

Classroom Of The Elite

Classroom of the Elite

centers around an academy filled with Japan’s finest students, all of whom are split up depending on their potential. Assigned to Class D with the other underperformers and misfits, the unassuming Ayanokouji largely wants to be left alone, which is easier said than done considering the students are expected to take part in grueling physical and mental tests.

Classroom of the Elite

is all about characters trying to outwit each other, while the protagonist pulls the strings from behind the curtain. While the show’s mind games are nowhere near as deadly as Light’s battles in

Death Note

,

Classroom of the Elite

can get quite intense at times.

Monster

Monster

is another anime that plays around with multiple heavy themes. It’s based on a manga by Naoki Urasawa and follows the life of Dr. Kenzo Tenma. Tenma is a neurosurgeon – a genius in his field, and quite successful.

After saving the life of a young boy, Tenma finds out nine years later that the serial killer that has been rampaging the city is actually the boy that he had saved all those years ago. What follows are the ups and downs of Tenma as he tries to make amends for what he considers to be a mistake. It brings in questions of ethics, morality, life, death, and consequences.

Tomodachi Game

Can you put a price on friendship?

Tomodachi Game

seeks to answer this question when five school

friends

are brought together to compete in an array of games to clear a shared debt. In the open, they agree to work together; however, if someone is willing to betray their companions, they could clear their slate and leave everyone else to the wolves.

Yuuichi Katagiri just wants to do right by his friends, but the teenager might not be as innocent as he pretends to be. The same could be said for everyone else forced to take part in this game.

My Home Hero

Death Note

focuses on extraordinary people, crafting a battle of wits between two geniuses; conversely,

My Home Hero

puts an ordinary family in an extraordinary situation, challenging them to rise to the occasion. Tetsuo is a fairly typical father who has a strained relationship with his daughter. While he is somewhat seen as spineless, he proves to be anything but when he accidentally hears his daughter’s boyfriend talk about abusing her. Tetsuo kills him, and the murder becomes even more complicated when it is revealed that the deceased is the son of a made man.

My Home Hero

follows Tetsuo and his wife as they try to get out of a sticky situation. If they want to survive, they will need to outwit a few different characters who all have blood on their hands. Moving at a blistering pace and prioritizing cliffhangers and twists above everything else,

My Home Hero

is a fun one-cour show.

The Future Diary

Another anime about a teenager who is granted an extremely powerful book,

The Future Diary

follows Yukiteru Amano as he enters a battle royale to determine a new god. Also taking part in this contest are various other intelligent and dangerous individuals, including a girl who has a rather unsettling fixation on Yuki.

The Future Diary

is a thrill ride from beginning to end, all centered around a twisted relationship that is definitely not as one-sided as Light and Misa’s dynamic in

Death Note

. Yuki’s personality is far removed from Light’s, with the former teenager being far more insecure and hesitant to indulge in morally gray acts.

My Home Hero

A Spring 2023 anime,

My Home Hero

might not go down as one of the year’s best shows, but it will rank among the most suspenseful. Tetsuo Tosu is an ordinary dad who, one day, learns his daughter is being abused by her boyfriend, who happens to be part of the criminal world. Long story short, Tetsuo kills the boyfriend, setting him down a terrifying path filled with lies, manipulation, fear, and the occasional torture session. Throughout it all, Tetsuo and his wife, Kasen, try to stay one step ahead of Kyoichi Majima, the gang member tasked with finding the boyfriend’s killer.

Relatively grounded when compared to

Death Note

,

My Home Hero

shows the distance parents are willing to go to protect their children. The anime is plot-driven to a fault, as its characters are always barreling toward the next twist or revelation. Consequently, the show’s pacing can be a bit too fast at times, although the story itself is engaging.

Ghost In The Shell

Aside from ScarJo’s rendition of

Ghost In The Shell,

people may have heard of this anime before for its nuanced storytelling. Apart from hordes of suspense and the waiting games that are synonymous with a lot of anime,

Ghost In The Shell

also plays around with philosophical themes of transhumanism and what it means to be human.

Artificial implants are available aplenty and everyone has access to them, including criminals. The protagonists have to catch a hacker called The Laughing Man, as they deal with multiple crimes and other side issues. Of course, there is the question of “how “human” are humans if they have artificial implants?”.

Steins;Gate

In

Steins; Gate,

Rintaro Okabe is a college student whose favorite task is to discuss conspiracy theories. He’s a college student who also considers himself to be a genius. Okabe shares his main interest with a few others from his college, who love talking and discussing scientific theories such as time traveling and multiverses.

This anime is also quite psychological and philosophical, as it delves deep into the curious

nature

of human beings, and the mysterious state of the universe itself. Watch this one for complex scientific theories and masterful writing.

Link Click

A donghua,

Link Click

is a detective story about two guys who run a private agency. Cheng Xiaoshi and Lu Guang take on special cases of a personal nature, with their clients generally looking to move past a regret or to rediscover information lost to them. By using a photo, Cheng can travel back in time and take over the photographer’s body, allowing him to gather data. In the meantime, Lu keeps track of everything while trying to ensure they do not change history.

Link Click

starts out as a case-of-the-week show, and these episodes are entertaining and well-written. However, the Chinese anime eventually shifts to serial storytelling as the protagonists find themselves in the crosshairs of a serial killer with his own unique abilities.

Parasyte – The Maxim –

This is a different take on the “alien parasite takes over the body trope”. Alien parasites do invade the Earth and settle themselves inside the bodies of humans. However, there is one particular alien parasite that didn’t quite manage to do its job. It tries to burrow into the head of a student named Shinichi but is unable to complete the process.

It then finds out that its alien comrades hate it and want it killed. The parasite and Shinichi are forced to work together and save themselves from subsequent dangers. Along the way, both learn a little something about life and share their experiences as different beings. There’s an almost absurd comedic vibe to this anime, making it worth a watch!

Ergo Proxy

Ergo Proxy

takes place in a future where the Earth has faced an ecological disaster. Due to this, it is no longer inhabitable as we know it. Humans have to create and occupy special domes that mimic habitable conditions. Since humans are still recovering from the disaster, androids by the name of AutoRevis are created to speed up the process.

However, the AutoRevis start to gain self-awareness with a virus called “cogito virus.” The main protagonist, Re-I Mayer, decides to find out what is causing the AutoRevis to behave this way. It is with this psychological and thrilling intrigue that the anime captures the viewer’s attention.

Terror In Resonance

Terror in Resonance

shares a lot in common with

Death Note

. Both anime revolve around genius protagonists doing questionable acts in the name of a self-identified greater good. Their actions attract the attention of the police, with the detectives serving antagonistic but not necessarily villainous roles.

Terror in Resonance

is more of a mystery anime than

Death Note

, as audiences are not provided as free access to the leads as they are to Light.

Terror in Resonance

is also grounded in reality far more than

Death Note

; outside the over-the-top nature of the characters’ mind games, a lot of what happens in the anime could feasibly transpire in the real world.

Oshi No Ko

One of the most popular anime of 2023,

Oshi no Ko

does not really have any peers in terms of content. The anime takes ideas from the thriller, slice of life, idol, and reincarnation genres and themes, weaving a strange thread that seems to be always on the edge of buckling under its own ambition. Yet, the story clicks, and a lot of that has to do with the quality of the characters and the anime consistently nailing its big moments.

Determined to get revenge for the death of his famous mother, Aqua joins the entertainment industry in order to track down the killer, a process that starts with him searching for his father. In the meantime, Aqua’s sister, Ruby, tries to follow in her mother’s footsteps by reviving her idol group.

Akagi

Based on Nobuyuki Fukumoto’s lengthy seinen gambling manga,

Akagi

is all about mahjong. On the

surface

, that might not sound particularly exciting, however, the anime uses the board game as a way to fuel its eponymous protagonist’s gambling addiction. The ultimate thrill-seeker, Akagi’s interest in a match is directly tied to his potential losses, and he is more than willing to put his life on the line.

Every match boils down to a battle of nerves, wits, and tactics, with Akagi and his enemies utilizing mahjong as a hammer to break each other. Eventually, Akagi finds himself sitting opposite Iwao Washizu, a powerful criminal overlord who is borderline evil. While the protagonist tends to be stone-faced, Iwao is the exact opposite, and he can out cheese Light on his best day.

Kaguya-sama: Love Is War

In terms of tone and genre,

Kaguya-sama: Love Is War

and

Death Note

are nothing alike. The former starts out as a comedy with hints of romance before shifting to a romance with splashes of laughter. Except for a few backstories, A-1’s show is generally lighthearted and features exactly zero serial killers, although some characters are occasionally murdered by words.

Despite these differences,

Kaguya-sama

could very well hit the mark with

Death Note

fans who love Light and L’s rivalry. At Shuchiin Academy, Miyuki and Kaguya not only run the student council but are also considered geniuses. The two teenagers have mutual crushes on each other, but they are hesitant to be the first to reveal their interest out of fear that it could be used against them. As a result, the two engage in hilarious and pointless mind games to try and get the other person to come clean.

The Promise Neverland

This dark and gritty anime is about Emma, an orphan who lives at the Grace Field House. Lady Mary takes care of the children in the house and all seems to be well. In reality, Lady Mary is responsible for kidnapping these children and selling them to demons who devour them.

Similar to

Death Note

in its approach to the narrative,

The Promise Neverland

likes to hold its viewers in bated breath. There’s very little predictability in how the story pans out, and multiple characters go through extensive arcs. Unfortunately, season 2 is generally regarded as a step down from its fantastic predecessor, but season 1 is great enough to merit a watch on its own.

Psycho-Pass

Psycho-Pass

talks about a future (the year 2113) where the Sibyl System has been set up to find out the probability of people committing crimes. The “Psycho-Pass” itself is the measuring system used for checking the probability. Two enforcers, Akane Tsunemori and Shinya Kougami work together to track down possible criminals based on the “Psycho-Pass” rating.

However, things change when they realize that the Sibyl System, like any other artificial system of profiling, is flawed in nature. In essence, this show brings up themes of utilitarianism and consequentialism. It also raises pertinent questions on morality, ethics, and law. Viewers will also enjoy the character development of the show’s protagonists.

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