25 Goriest Anime Series Of All Time

Despite animation’s reputation of being for kids, some of the best anime are also the goriest. It might not be for everyone, but for those who are interested in blood and viscera, few mediums can beat anime. Without the limitations of gore in live-action, anime is free to be incredibly creative, and incredibly detailed, with its extreme level of violence.

However, rather than just being used for shock value, gore also becomes a driving plot point in some cases, especially with anime that focus on cannibalistic creatures, anomalies of nature, and other monstrous creatures. The imaginative scope that anime provides further allows anime studios to get creative with their hyperviolent content. The best gory anime use the medium’s inherent strengths to create scenes that wouldn’t be possible in any other medium.

25

The Future Diary

Anime Series By Asread; Based On The Manga by Sakae Esuno

The Future Diary, also known as Mirai Nikki, is a psychological thriller that follows Yukiteru Amano, who is suddenly a participant in a type of battle royale game with special diaries on cellphones that predict the future where he must fight for his life against the owners of other diaries. This deadly game becomes more complicated, creating new mysteries while introducing new characters, each one more crazy and interesting with their own conflicts, who create moments of action.

Yukiteru evolves like the rest of the players, but the charming and unpredictable Yuno Gasai is the one who steals the spotlight in the series. With scenes of dismembered people, different types of deaths, abuse, and toxic and obsessive relationships, The Future Diary is somber and entertaining with thrilling moments full of tension and twists that will shock viewers.

24

Dororo

Anime Series By Tezuka Productions & MAPPA; Based On The Manga by Osamu Tezuka

Dororo is a masterful anime by the same author of Astro Boy, Osamu Tezuka, set in a historical Japanese period where the protagonist Hyakkimaru is in search of his body and has to face demonic entities to recover it. The anime stands out thanks to its stunning animation and battle choreography, but also due to its ruthless representation of the worst part of human beings and the suffering and tragic consequences of war.

The anime isn’t the typical hero’s journey as it has a great amount of graphic violence, dismemberments, and death, which serve to highlight the loss of humanity and also the search for meaning and beauty behind it. This way, viewers looking for a dark anime with characters who evolved, exciting combat scenes, drama, and sad moments that touch the heart will find Dororo more than enjoyable.

23

Re:Zero, Starting Life In Another World

Anime Series By White Fox; Based On The Light Novel By Tappei Nagatsuki

Subaru Natsuki is definitely one of the saddest anime protagonists given how he has to go through multiple deaths and carry the memories of each lifetime. After being teleported to an alternate fantasy dimension and getting brutally killed right away, he discovers that he has the power to turn back time before dying. What follows is a tragic series of events with the bloodshed increasing especially after Natsuki encounters a murderous cult.

The receivers of the violence have no age limit with even children getting severely dismembered. However, the show still doesn’t go all out with the violence as thankfully, some of the more brutal deaths happen offscreen. Even if blood is shed, the explicit impact on each dismembered organ is also not put in full focus. Still though, Re:Zero’s implied violence is more than enough for it to rank among the goriest anime.

22

Tokyo Ghoul

Anime Series By Studio Pierrot; Based On The Manga By Sui Ishida

The titular ghouls in Tokyo Ghoul refer to zombie-like creatures that feed on human flesh. As a young man named Ken Kaneki gets attacked by one such ghoul, he turns into a superpowered ghoul-human hybrid who must run from the law to survive.

Fans who were disappointed in the second season of Tokyo Ghoul should read the manga, as it takes the story in a much different direction.

Tokyo Ghoul is arguably brutal in its depiction of prolonged violence and torture, but it makes smart use of other visual elements to hide the true extent of violence. For instance, in a scene where a female ghoul is feasting on multiple bodies, the bodies are hidden within dark shadows. Similarly, a torture scene finds the character’s fingers and toes being chopped off, but audiences only catch a glimpse of the blood-stained tools. All in all, Tokyo Ghoul is fear-inducing, but its violence is relatively low when compared to other anime series of the era.

21

Vinland Saga

Anime Series By Wit Studio & MAPPA; Based On The Manga By Makoto Yukimura

Vinland Saga is a fictional account of the life of Thorfinn Karlsefni, the first viking to form a major settlement in North America i.e. Vinland. After watching his father die before his eyes, Thorfinn devotes his life to getting revenge on his murderer, with Thorfinn becoming a brutal killer in the process, himself, but it’s not long before Thorfinn is completely broken and forced to question what the right thing for him to do is.

Vinland Saga is centered around decrying the idea of violence being a necessity, and to help illustrate that point, almost every fight scene in Vinland Saga has highly detailed blood and gore as people are repeatedly killed and dismembered, especially in season 1 when action was still the main focus. Few anime do as good a job of showing how terrifying murder can be as Vinland Saga, and that’s what makes its gore so great.

20

Neon Genesis Evangelion

Anime Series By Studio Khara; Directed by Hideaki Anno

Largely considered one of the most depressing anime of all time, Neon Genesis Evangelion blends mech-violence with deep concepts of religion and philosophy. The central conflict is between human-engineered mech suits called EVAs and gigantic alien creatures known as the Angels.

With even the mech-suits secreting a red blood-like fluid, the battles seem to be extremely bloody with both the EVAs and Angels’ blood and organs spraying everywhere. However, with some deaths happening offscreen and the human severity limited, Neon Genesis Evangelion seems to be way darker in its exploration of human depression and trauma rather than its brutal violence.

19

Berserk

Anime Series By OLM, INC.; Based On The Manga By Kentaro Miura

Berserk opens on Guts, a one-eyed man with a giant sword comparable to a hunk of iron, fighting a demon in a bloody battle as he looks for relief from an unknown trauma. Everything that follows is an exploration into Guts’ past to show all the trauma and tragedy he and his friends suffered for him to get to where he is, today.

Though the series is currently unavailable to stream, Crunchyroll recently started selling a Blu-ray collection of the series.

The 1997 adaptation of Berserk has long been one of the most iconic dark fantasy stories in anime, and it’s easy to see why that is. With its stellar direction and gruesome depiction of violence, fantasy or otherwise, the 1997 adaptation of Berserk is a landmark in fantasy action that is still the best adaptation of the original manga after almost 30 years. While the series will probably never receive a complete adaptation, the 1997 one does the best job of capturing the darkness of its story, and that’s plenty worth mentioning.

18

Terra Formars

Anime Series By Liden Films; Based On The manga By Yū Sasuga & Kenichi Tachibana

In Terra Formars‘ future, six space explorers encounter humanoid bugs on Mars only to be brutally slain by them. This leads to an all-out war between the two races with constant scenes of killing and torture between the creatures and humans. While the violence would indeed be shocking for some viewers, as is evident from some scenes even being censored on Japanese television, Terra Formars is relatively lighter in comparison as most of the bloodshed takes place in fast fighting sequences, so viewers don’t get much time to process the explicit details.

17

Another

Anime Series By P.A. Works; Based On the novel by Yukito Ayatsuji

Another is a horror anime whose plot leans closer to the suspense genre, yet it doesn’t fall short of bloody and graphic deaths at any time. The anime revolves around a curse that affects an entire class, which causes the students to suffer horrible incidents one by one and gives the series a similar feeling to the film franchise The Final Destination.

However, Another also explores other aspects of this curse, focusing on how fear affects people and showcasing what people are willing to do to ensure their own survival. A short and intriguing anime, Another is a perfect series to binge-watch as it captivates the viewers and leaves them craving to know the truth behind the school mystery. Additionally, some of the deaths in Another are so shocking that they are just impossible to forget.

16

Dark Gathering

Anime Series By OLM, Inc.; Based On The Manga By Kenichi Kondo

OLM, Inc.’s Dark Gathering stars Keitaro Gentoga, a college student whose tutoring job brings him into contact with Yayoi Hozuki, a young girl with supernatural abilities who uses them to capture and enslave violent spirits. All of that is so Yayoi can eventually defeat the spirit that stole her mother’s soul, and much to Keitaro’s dismay, he gets dragged into the dangerous and horrifying battles she undergoes for her mission.

Horror anime centered around ghosts and exorcisms have become increasingly common, but what sets Dark Gathering apart is that Dark Gathering always goes as far as possible with its horror to make its ghosts as horrifying as possible, whether that’s through the torment they put the cast through or just from their rich designs. Dark Gathering has largely flown under the radar, but anyone looking for something filled with great horror and gore would be remiss to pass it up.

15

Elfen Lied

Anime Series By Arms,& Studio Guts; Based On The Manga by Lynn Okamoto

Elfen Lied is a classic anime that mixes horror with science fiction. The anime revolves around Lucy, who has a somewhat peculiar personality and supernatural powers after she escapes from a high-security facility and is helped by Kouta. However, as the plot progresses, more details of Lucy’s past are discovered, in addition to presenting characters with tragic pasts, bringing out the drama of the series amid the violence.

Elfen Lied‘s story is raw and dark and doesn’t hold back when it comes to brutal scenes full of blood, amputations, and visceras mixed with touches of ecchi. This violence only accentuates the vengeful nature of the Diclonius species and those behind the research facility and doesn’t distract from the intriguing story that manages to engage the viewers to find out what will happen to Lucy next.

Anime Series By Liden Films; Based On The Manga By Kazushi Hagiwara

Liden Films’ Bastard!! Heavy Metal, Dark Fantasy takes place in a post-apocalyptic world where the villainous Dark Rebel Army is making plans to revive the demon Anthrasax and destroy the world. To counter the threat, the high priest of the kingdom of Metallicana revives Dark Schneider, the world’s most powerful dark wizard sealed inside an unassuming child, to stop them, but Dark Schneider’s violent tendencies and womanizing ways make that easier said than done.

As the title would imply, Bastard!! Heavy Metal, Dark Fantasy fully embraces the typical standards of dark fantasy to be as bloody and raunchy as possible, something further emphasized by its constant references to heavy metal bands of the 1980s. It’s a series that perfectly embodies the style of the 1980s, and any fans of gore are sure to get a lot out of it.

13

Parasyte -The Maxim-

Anime Series By Madhouse; Based On The Manga By Hitoshi Iwaaki

In 2014’s Parasyte -the maxim- an alien race of parasitic beings invades Earth in the dead of night to take over the bodies of countless people, and through pure chance, Shinichi gets away with a parasite only invading his right arm. Now, Shinichi and the parasite dubbed “Migi” form an unlikely alliance as they battle aggressive parasites feeding on humans and Shinichi begins to question his humanity.

In addition to the manga and anime adaptation, Parasyte also has a two-part movie adaptation.

Parasyte -the maxim- was the long-awaited adaptation of the classic manga, and it did a great job of bringing it to life for modern audiences. Parasyte -the maxim-‘s art and animation both did a great job of capturing the gruesome combat and body horror of the original manga, and with the stellar writing and cosmetic changes to the setting to be more modern, it’s an incredible series to watch from start to finish. It’s always hard for stories to balance story and gore, but Parasyte -the maxim- more than succeeds in that regard.

12

Attack On Titan

Anime Series By Wit Studio & MAPPA; Based On The Manga By Hajime Isayama

A show that focuses on flesh-eating titans is bound to be gory right from the first episode. All through the iconic anime, Attack on Titan features scenes of humans being squashed or bitten into by the colossal creatures with some scenes being deliberately slowed-down to disturb viewers. At times, the humans also fight back slicing and dicing them in innovative ways. While the manga might be far gorier than the anime, Attack on Titan has still become iconic for its brutally stylistic violence that is increasingly integral to the plot and the fast-paced action sequences.

11

Hell’s Paradise: Jigokuraku

Anime Series By MAPPA; Based On The Manga By Yuji Kaku

Another Studio MAPPA anime with plenty of gore is 2023’s Hell’s Paradise: Jigokuraku. To earn his freedom and return home to his wife, ninja master Gabimaru joins a platoon of death row criminals on an expedition to an island said to hold the elixir of life that can grant someone immortality. What awaits Gabimaru, however, is an island filled with all manner of monsters trying to kill them on sight, with some being shockingly more human than others.

In addition to having great action and writing, Hell’s Paradise: Jigokuraku features lots of horrific monster designs and grotesque imagery from start to finish, and the stellar direction and execution of it all does a lot to keep it from being pure schlock. There are few modern anime that handle gore as well as it does, and the upcoming Hell’s Paradise season 2 is bound to take that even further.

10

Deadman Wonderland

Anime Series By Manglobe; Based On The Manga By Jinsei Kataoka & Kazuma Kondou

An innocent high-schooler is imprisoned for mass-murdering his entire classroom. But this isn’t even the worst part as he must now participate in a deadly prison tournament to stay alive. Chopped up by knives is just the tip of the iceberg as all sorts of weapons are used in Deadman Wonderland ranging from swords and guns to flamethrowers and bombs.

The fighting even involves fantasy elements with some characters can use their own blood as weapons or armor. However, this comes with the downside of Deadman Wonderland’s characters needing to maim themselves first to release that blood, a practice that is followed by zoom-in shots of the graphic acts.

9

Hellsing Ultimate

Anime Series By Graphinica; Based On The Manga By Kouta Hirano

Set in the aftermath of the Second World War, Hellsing Ultimate deals with vampire Nazis wreaking havoc in Britain while the anti-vampire organization Hellsing seeks to bring an end to this orgy of blood.

The adrenaline-heavy series Hellsing Ultimate is filled with bodies being dismembered, impaled, and blasted in full glory. One of the highest-rated horror anime, the antagonism of the blood-suckers in Hellsing Ultimate knows no bounds as they not only bite their victims, they often end up burning them, gunning them down in collective slaughters. As expected, the violent revenge against the miscreants is also expectedly bloody. The ultimate conclusion is that no matter which side gets more gory in their methods, peace is to come to none.

8

Blood-C

Anime Series By Production I.G; Created By CLAMP

Blood-C deals with the everyday life of a seemingly ordinary girl called Saya who leads the life of a student by day and a monster-hunter by night. Much like other supernatural monster anime series, gruesome deaths obviously serve as recurring themes. Heads and limbs being torn apart is quite a normal occurrence in Blood-C. The goriest scenes though are of monsters feasting on their victims, each killing accompanied by its own unique method.

Terror is aroused not just by the splatter of blood and crushing of bones but by the fact that nobody in Blood-C dies a quick and easy death. Everyone has to go through agonizing acts of sadism before they finally take their last breath with their deaths lasting for a good deal of seconds (sometimes up to a minute). As the screaming victims get ripped apart, viewers are bound to remember the feeding scenes in Attack on Titan but Blood-C follows a way more brutal approach.

7

Dorohedoro

Anime Series By MAPPA; Based On The Manga by Q Hayashida

While Dorohedoro is the first anime from the MAPPA studio whose animation focuses on CGI, it brilliantly conveys the aesthetic and explicit content of its source material. Furthermore, even though it still pales before the graphic violence of its manga, Dorohedoro is one of the best gore animes whose brutal moments cover the vast majority of the series, and yet this isn’t used as a shock element as it naturally blends in the atmosphere of the dark and messy world that the story takes place.

The anime follows Kaiman, a man who doesn’t remember his life before waking up with a lizard’s head who is in search of his identity accompanied by his friend Nikaido. With dismemberments, brutal beatings, explosions, and blood in industrial quantities, Dorohedoro has a lot of action and isn’t suitable for the sensitive public but knows how to perfectly balance it with wholesome and comedic scenes.

6

Chainsaw Man

Anime Series By MAPPA; Based On The Manga By Tatsuki Fujimoto

Much like the Chainsaw Man manga, the anime is bloody in all creative ways. After all, viewers are bound to expect tons of blood splashing all over the skin given the lead character is a devil-human hybrid with chainsaws literally popping out of his head and arms.

The evolution of the main character into a chainsaw-wielding monster comes with a painful evolution process as the chainsaws cut through his own body. Even the death scenes in Chainsaw Man are intentionally prolonged, and it takes time for the titular protagonist to make a kill given how the chainsaws take time to grind through human flesh.