The dark fantasy anime Shingeki no Kyojin is a wonderful blend of entertainment, action, drama, and mystery. The sci-fi fantasy anime revolves around humans who are on the verge of extinction by the attack of giant humanoid creatures called Titans. The anime revolves around two kids Eren Yeager and Armin who join the Survey Corps to fight back the Titans.
Every fan of dark fantasy action anime is sure to love anime like Shingeki No Kyojin that has a lot of mysteries in its crazy fights scenes and brutal deaths. There are many other dark action fantasy anime out there. Here’s our top 10 anime list of similar series.
Goblin Slayer
Goblin Slayer is an anime adapted from the Japanese dark fantasy light novel series of the same name. The characters in the show don’t have specific names but are referred to by their classes like Priestess, Goblin Slayer, High Elf Archer, Dwarf Shaman, Lizard Priest, Cow Girl and Guild Girl. The story set in a fantasy world follows priestess, an inexperienced adventurer who joins a group of adventurers in a guild for a contract job. All the member in the group get killed and Princess is saved by a mysterious man called Goblin Slayer. Goblin Slayer is an anime like Attack On Titan with similar main characters who set out to eliminate the monsters that have been terrorizing people.
Berserk
This dark fantasy horror anime series Berserk is an adaptation of the Japanese manga series of the same name. Berserk which is regarded as a major favourite among those who like dark stories focuses on mostly early arcs. The story follows a warrior named Guts and a mercenary group called Band of the Hawk. Griffith, the angelically charismatic leader of the mercenary group forces Gut to join his forces upon defeating him in battle but their friendship remains pretty distant and mysterious. The anime has some major horror scenes and betrayal in this story. The anime is worth the wait like Shingeki no Kyojin with a medieval setting, monsters, and humans’ fighting like never before.
Claymore
The dark fantasy adventure anime series Claymore is an adaptation of the manga series of the same name. The show is set on a fictional medieval island with 47 districts where humanoid shape-shifting creatures attack and eat humans. The story follows a group of half monster-half human women in armoured uniforms known for their claymore swords and silver eyes who kill the monsters for a fee. A claymore warrior is assigned to each of the 47 districts in the island. Claymore has shallow similarities with Shingeki no Kyojin as both involve the fight for a better future, teamwork and sacrifice. There is pain and sorrow felt in both series but of a different calibre.
Elfen Lied
Elfen Lied, the anime adapted from the Japanese manga series of the same name focuses on a fantasy race called Diclonius who resembles humans and the only difference is that they have little horns. Lucy, the main character of the anime is a Diclonius who is trapped in an experimental facility and gets amnesia during an escape. Diclonius are considered as monsters due to the violence they unleash on humans, invisible arms that they control, ability to grasp and go through solid objects which allows them to tear things apart. Elfen Lied is one of the animes like Attack on Titan as both deals with creatures that are a big threat to humankind and have the same tear-jerking and emotional story between mankind and the ‘creature’.
Seraph of the End
The dark fantasy anime Seraph of the End which is an adaptation of the manga series of the same name is set in a post-apocalyptic world that allegedly comes to an end by a “human-made” virus, killing all the people in the world except children under the age of thirteen. Vampires and other monster take over the world making the situation worse and humans are forced to donate blood to these creatures as a trade for protection. The anime with dark themes and good action follows two gentle and fluffy orphan friends, one sacrifices his life to vampires so that the other may live while the other one seeks out revenge and wants to destroy all vampires. Seraph of the End is a good anime like Attack on Titan as both the anime is set in a world where humanity is at the brink of extinction and is endangered by another species. Both the anime takes place in a dark and serious atmosphere with similar animation style
Neon Genesis Evangelion
The Japanese action anime Neon Genesis Evangelion directed by Hideaki Anno is regarded as a masterpiece television series of all time with its eventual shift from a standard giant fighting robots show into a post-modern meditation on the darkest depths of depression. Neon Genesis Evangelion is similar to Shingeki no Kyojin as both revolve around young people forced to join the fight against powerful enemies. Shingeki which is heavily inspired by Evangelion is similar to occurrences of tragic events and the use of giant humanoids in the fights. The series with one season with 26 episodes has rated 8.5 on IMDb. This sci-fi fantasy anime is also an action-packed adventure experience which you cannot expect to understand what’s going on the first watch.
Castlevania
This Netflix Original Anime Series created by Warren Ellis released in 2020 is based on Castlevania: Dracula’s Curse, the 3rd instalment of the Japanese video game series of the same name by Konami. The horror anime series has three seasons of which the third one was released after the success of the first two parts. Many of the popular anime was originally made in Japanese and later dubbed in English, but this show was originally made in English. The series is packed with action, mystery, vampires, and witty one-liners which makes it a must-watch a sci-fi anime series. The show involves a lot of dark monsters and vampires with Dracula as the main villain. The anime combines fantastic action sequences with humour, tragedy, and very well-written characters.
Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann
The mecha anime television series directed by Hiroyuki Imaishi is set in a future where people live their entire life underground and the earth is ruled by the iron-fisted Spiral King, Lordgenome. The series with 27 episodes is about two teenage brothers Simon and Kamina who have plans to see the world and sky and escape to the surface to fight against the dictator’s forces and explore land above ground. The anime is similar to Shingeki no Kyojin with strong character stories, sense of moving forward, great animation. Both the anime are much similar in a storyline where the main character is being trapped with giant monsters.
Fullmetal Alchemist
This anime series directed by Seiji Mizushima is an adaptation of the Japanese adventure, dark fantasy, steampunk shōnen manga series, written and illustrated by Hiromu Arakawa. FMA is much similar to Shingeki no Kyojin with a strong plot, character and music. The main characters of both the anime refused to move on and dedicated their lives for revenge and redemption. The anime based on the European Industrial Revolution is set in the fictional universe in which alchemy is one of the advanced natural techniques based on the scientific laws of equal exchange. The series revolves around two alchemist brothers named Edward and Alphonse Elric, who are in an adventurous search for the philosopher’s stone to restore their bodies after an unsuccessful attempt with alchemy to bring their mother back to life. The story has been adapted into two anime television series and two animated films by the Japan-based anime studio, Bones Inc.
Tokyo Ghoul
Tokyo Ghoul is an anime adapted from the Japanese dark fantasy manga series of the same name. The anime is set in an alternate world where ghouls, creatures that look like humans who survive by eating human flesh, live secretly among humans. The ghouls hiding their true nature to prevent themselves from getting identified by the authorities. Kaneki, the protagonist of Tokyo Ghoul is a monster-human hybrid who is similar to the character of ‘Eren’ in Shingeki no Kyojin. The ghouls possess a lot of super-human-like powers and can become berserk when they get too hungry or excited. The story follows how Kaneki learns to survive after he turns half-ghoul after a surgery in which a ghoul’s organs were transplanted in his body.
What do you think of our list? Dark, mysterious and spooky enough?
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