There's so much variety on display across the many different genres of anime out there. Anime can cater towards the interests of the mainstream as well as niche subject matter and both of these types of series can successfully exist together. Attack on Titan is one of the biggest anime hits of the past decade and it's set to wrap up its prolific run with its final season.

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Attack on Titan has gotten a lot of attention for how it doesn't cheat its way out of tough situations and that death is always right around the corner. Attack on Titan's final run looks like it will contain the series' darkest material yet, but there are also many other upsetting series that are just as grim, if not worse.

10 Happy Sugar Life Blurs The Lines Between Savior & Psycho

Satou gets murderous over Shio in Happy Sugar Life

Happy Sugar Life doesn't depict a world in peril like Attack on Titan, but sometimes a personal and intimate attack can hit harder than the concentrated efforts of any army. At first glance, Happy Sugar Life comes across as a sweet story about Satou, a teenager who goes out of her way to protect the innocent Shio.

The problem is that Satou's obsession over Shio's purity reaches murderous levels of devotion. Shio has no idea that she's under the care of a mentally unstable individual who's the last person that she should give her trust and love to.

9 Elfen Lied Paints A Bleak Picture Towards Humanity

Lucy escapes her captors in Elfen Lied Episode 1.

There are so many anime and science fiction stories that begin with the same basic framework as Elfen Lied, a series where a precocious college student encounters Lucy, a displaced member of a powerful alien race.

Elfen Lied plays out like a nightmare version of E.T. and any hope for understanding and empathy between humans and the Diclonii gets consistently discouraged. It's easy to picture an optimistic take on Elfen Lied where Kouta and Lucy are able to live together against the odds, but Elfen Lied's grim finale discourages individuality and freedom.

8 Higurashi: When They Cry Subjects Its Characters To Endless, Looping Misery

Rika Higurashi

One of the unique benefits of anime is that there are a bunch of programs that wade through pitch-black themes and subject matter but turn to cute character designs and bright color palettes. Any outsider would take a look at Higurashi: When They Cry and think it's perfectly suitable for children.

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Higurashi lulls the audience into a sense of comfortable familiarity before it strikes with a narrative that's full of grisly murders, but also a challenging time loop dynamic that truly creates a sense of hopelessness for its characters. Some characters have been executed hundreds of times over.

7 Made In Abyss Reveals Its Dark Tendencies When It's Too Late To Turn Back

Reg in Made in Abyss anime

Made in Abyss is another masterpiece of an anime that works all the better because of how it gradually eases both the characters and the audience into increasing levels of dread. Riko is an orphan who bravely descends into a giant hole known as the Abyss to fulfill her dream of being a Cave Raider and finding her mother.

Made in Abyss has the makings of a fun adventure story, yet it's a dark horror story in reality. Riko's journey becomes a harrowing experience the closer that she gets to her alleged goal. The Abyss's secrets may not be worth pursuing.

6 Texhnolyze Reiterates The World's Hopeless, Nihilistic Nature

Ichise has his arm severed for punishment in Texhnolyze.

Attack on Titan is an undeniably dark show that's full of death and betrayal, but it's not necessarily a program that's nihilistic. Texhnolyze, on the other hand, proudly embraces its nihilistic impulses right from the first episode and the anime is basically a meditation on the empty nature of humanity.

Ichise is a fighter who's forced to go on the run because his ideals get in the way with the underground dystopia's way of life. Ichise's struggle only gets harder and Texhnolyze will leave most audiences feeling hollow.

5 Neon Genesis Evangelion Turns To The End Of The World To Prompt Growth

Rei Haunts The Horizon In The End Of Evangelion

Few anime have a reputation that precedes itself quite like Neon Genesis Evangelion. The experimental series remains highly discussed and there are a wealth of different ways to analyze the anime. Evangelion is technically a mecha series and it does revolve around giant kaiju-esque battles, but its approach towards humanity's salvation is considerably abstract.

Depression hangs over the characters and subject matter in Evangelion and an apocalypse can sometimes seem like a peaceful alternative to life. The series concludes with some reaffirming ideas, but it's a dark journey to get there.

4 Devilman Crybaby Rages & Destroys The World

Satan Mourns Akira In Devilman Crybaby

Go Nagai's Devilman series has been around for fifty years in various forms and there's an evergreen quality to his signature horror series. Devilman Crybaby is anime auteur Masaaki Yuasa's interpretation of Nagai's original series and the result is a series that's as visually stunning as it is thematically dark.

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Akira's temperamental experience with his new Devilman powers result in mass fatalities and episodes are frequently drenched in blood. However, Devilman Crybaby really becomes a story about Akira and Ryo's bond. They're such a destructive combination that they doom the world and are left with nothing.

3 Paranoia Agent Speaks To The Creeping, Haunting Fear That's In Everyone

Anime Makoto with a bat Paranoia agent

Satoshi Kon is responsible for a large amount of prolific anime content in a relatively short period of time. Kon's cinematic contributions like Perfect Blue and Paprika consider very dark ideas, but it's Kon's television series, Paranoia Agent, that functions as his most effective dissection of mental health and psychological ailments.

Paranoia Agent is told from the perspective of many different characters, all of whom are plagued by a delinquent assailant with a bat known as Lil' Slugger. Paranoia Agent looks at the power of mob mentality and psychological manipulation, which nobody is immune towards.

2 Blue Literature: No Longer Human Presents Depressing Looks At Lost Souls

Anime Blue Literature No Longer Human Remorse

Blue Literature: No Longer Human takes a unique approach to the anthology genre as it tells six depressing tales across 12 episodes. Each of the stories in Blue Literature stand on their own, but they're thematically linked by dark themes that all depict individuals at rock bottom.

The different stories in Blue Literature explore topics like addiction, abduction, and various toxic relationships that either highlight the depravity of humanity or how easy it is for weak individuals to just give up. Blue Literature is expertly constructed, but it's definitely a downer series.

1 Now And Then, Here And There Gets Comfortable In Its Desolation

main characters of now and then, here and there

Now and Then, Here and There operates like an isekai series that's stripped of joy and transports its characters to a depressing wasteland where survival is a luxury and freedom is forbidden. Shu's selfless desire to save a mysterious girl is the perfect trigger for his descent into dystopia.

Now and Then, Here and There makes such an impression because it begins in a bleak place and the audience almost gets accustomed to this constant dread by the end of the anime. There's never an opportunity for relief.

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