What do we do now that we’ve seen all of Akira’s manga and anime adaptations? We watch more anime like Akira to experience the same emotions we did while watching Akira.
Though they may not live up to Katsuhiro Otomo’s masterpiece, they do help us devour a very similar kind of world filled with cyberpunk essentials, futuristic worlds, and glib animation. Here are some anime similar to Akira that will help you relive your feelings while watching it.
Best Anime like Akira!
10. Venus Wars
Set in the 21st century, on a recently terraformed Venus, it is the story of a war between two conflicting nations and the effect it has on a group of teenagers.
Similarities:
- Both anime appear to have the same mood at first glance, which is dark and filled with biker characters. While the setting is similar, with a dystopian futuristic world and a brooding visual style.
- Both anime have beautiful animation that is done in a similar style.
- Both of them do an excellent job of showcasing humanity and their desire to protect one another and themselves, which we as an audience can relate to.
9. Jin-Roh: The Wolf Brigade
Constable Fuse is a member of the Police Special Forces, whose mission is to keep the peace during times of civil unrest. The story begins to flow when Fuse becomes entangled in a tangle of politics, capital police, and a secret society known as Jin-Roh-The Wolf Brigade.
Similarities:
- Both anime use a similar animation style and depict violence with a similar pacing.
- Both anime series feature a troubled protagonist. They have gore and always keep you on the edge of your seat with an eerie feeling.
- Furthermore, Akira and Jin-Roh are both tenacious and dark with twists.
- Both anime explore the limits of humanity and violence while also transporting the audience to a realistic world.
8. A Wind Named Amnesia
When a sudden wind sweeps across the Earth, all human memories fade away, man’s fate changes for the worse. Now, in this primitive world with no rules, one man must fight to survive, to reclaim his future.
Similarities:
- Although the stories are different, both the anime Akira and A Wind Named Amnesia discuss the end of the world. The writers discuss the very centre of humanity and how it is destructive.
- Both animes discuss losing oneself and staying in touch with what is real and what is not.
7. King of Thorn
Medusa is a disease that spreads throughout the world and causes the body to panic shortly after infection. To prevent the spread of this disease, 160 lottery winners were chosen to be frozen until a cure could be found.
Kasumi, one of the lottery winners, wakes up years later to discover a world filled with prehistoric monsters, abandoned castles, and zombies. Kasumi and others must fight to survive against all odds. It’s a fantastic anime similar to Akira that you’ll enjoy watching.
Similarities:
- Both involve suspicious government experiments and cover-ups, and both are extremely gory, perhaps more so in King of Thorns than in Akira in terms of deaths, but both involve monstrous bioblobs attempting to crush people.
- Both anime have a sense of being false and then discovering the truth, as well as themes of people obsessed with ownership and outright cruelty to what is true.
6. Neon Genesis Evangelion
A devastating event known as the second impact has destroyed Tokyo in the future, giving rise to Tokyo III- a city that has been taken over by creatures known as Angels.
Humans can only defend themselves by using Evangelions, man-made machines controlled by three fourteen-year-olds. Japan’s fate is now in the hands of these teenagers, but will they be able to save each other?
Similarities:
- Both anime deal with parallel themes such as apocalypse, authority, and adolescence, and how humankind is frequently trapped in these world realities.
- Both anime feature a young boy who is forced to save the world, implying that adults can sometimes forget to take responsibility and that power knows no age.
- Both protagonists are experiencing the same mental turmoil and are gradually losing pieces of themselves.
5. Ghost in the Shell
The Puppet Master, a new mysterious hacker in town, creates chaos and erases and rewrites his victims’ memories.
His ultimate goal is for humans to abandon their physical bodies and become cyborgs. Is he a malicious genius, or is this the dawn of a new era for man and machine? It is a fantastic futuristic anime similar to Akira that you should watch.
Similarities:
- Both anime depict a future world with a crippling societal structure that distinguishes between today’s world and how technology has transformed people’s lives.
- Both anime deal with issues that make us question what is and is not ethical. Approaching life’s grey areas from a philosophical standpoint.
- Both anime have haunting hybrids of traditional and electronic music that play an important role in creating an atmosphere that best suits the anime.
4. Serial Experiments Lain
Lain is forced to delve deeper into the world of the “Wired” when Chisa’s friend receives an email after her suicide that says, “I have only abandoned my body, I still live here” (also known as the internet). Two worlds collide, sending everything into a spiral.
Similarities:
- The cyberpunk genre is used in both anime and isn’t afraid to make us question our surroundings. They also have similar ideas about newly discovered power and how it is used to destroy everything.
- Surreal imagery is used in both the anime to set the tone and mood as they twist the fabric of reality, revealing the unbreakable link between communal frenzy and individual isolation.
3. Elfen Lied
When Kouta and Yuka discover the blood-splattered naked body of a young girl near the beach, they know that things will change for the better or for the worse.
The duo names her Nyu because she is unable to behave and speak like a normal human being and is taken to live with them in an attempt to save her. But what neither of the teenagers realise is that Nyu is a killing machine, a failed experiment on multiple fronts. And the murderer in Nyu will soon wake up.
Similarities:
- Both anime revolve around the lunacy that both of the children inhabit as a result of their power. And how slowly they are blurring the distinction between reality and delusion.
- Elfen Lied, like Akira, depicts a government structure that experiments on people by turning them into weapons.
- Both anime depict characters who have severe mental health issues and extreme psychic powers, which force them to kill people, such as Shotaro in Akira and Nana in Elfen Lied.
2. 3×3 Eyes
Yakumo, a young boy, is raised from the dead by a race of powerful creatures known as Wu; he becomes her immortal servant, and they fight together against Benares, the invincible Wu of the dark lord Shiva.
Similarities:
- Both anime have a certain amount of comic relief to go along with the serious themes in the storyline.
- Both anime have an edge that screams that an apocalypse is imminent unless the protagonist does something; this constant hope, accompanied by the fear that everything will end, creates a very thrilling experience in both anime.
- They have similar art styles and aren’t afraid to display gore.
1. Metropolis
Metropolis is set in a high-tech city populated by both robots and humans. In this city, we meet Detective Shunsaku Ban and his sidekick Kenichi, who are looking for Dr. Laughton, a scientist who they believe is developing Tima, a super android, as a tool for the Duke of Metropolis.
This ordinary case devastates when it is revealed that the scientist was murdered. It is a fantastic anime similar to Akira that you should watch at all costs.
Similarities:
- Both anime have compelling stories while sticking to traditional character animation. Both have strength, beauty, and an unyielding storyline that will keep you on the edge of your seat.
- Both Metropolis and Akira successfully explore a man’s destructive nature, with vicious and frenzied imagery.
- Tima in Metropolis and Tetsuo in Akira are both dealing with personal issues. Both are similar in the sense that they both see the world through similar lenses.
Final Thoughts!
These are the top ten anime movies similar to Akira that we believe you should watch if you enjoyed the Akira anime. We’re sure there are other anime shows similar to Akira, but we believe these are the best.
So, what are your thoughts on our list? Do you have any other anime in mind that you believe should be included on this list? Let us know what you think in the comments section below.
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