Not every anime is meant to give its viewers complete clarity. There is a certain type of deep, philosophical anime series that can oftenleave the viewer with more questions than answers, making them wonder what they just watched after it’s all over. These anime series are incredibly hard to pull off, but when they’re done successfully, they’re always a hit.
The bestphilosophical anime series tackle themes other series might be afraid of includingin their stories. These thoughtful series aren’t afraid, however, and dive head first into some of the most thought-provoking and mentally stimulating ideas any anime can feature. If a particular show or movie can ask and answer these complicated questions well, they almost always stand head and shoulders above any other anime in their genre.
Ghost in the Shell
Ghost in the Shellisn’t just a solid name for an anime, it’s widely regarded as one of thebest anime movies of all time. It’s such a popular series that it even received a live-action movie adaptation starring Scarlett Johansson in 2017. The series stars Major Motoko Kusanagi, a cyborg serving the public with her assault squad. She’s hunting the expert hacker “Puppet Master” in a dystopian New Port City filled with crime, corruption, and everything else that could be expected from the bleak setting.
Ghost in the Shellis one of the deepest anime movies around because of the themes that it explores.It tackles themes of identity, reality, and more in a technologically advanced world.Nothing is as it seems inGhost in the Shell,and every moment is so much more than it appears to be on the surface. It’s one of the best anime series for anyone who doesn’t mind leaving a series with a lot more questions than answers.
Puella Magi Madoka Magicais one of the most deceptive anime series around. On its surface, it’s a wonderful anime about magical girls and the fun times they have together. After just a few episodes, however,Madoka Magicaleaves viewers wondering what they just saw. Without giving too much of the plot away, it quicklyshifts from a happy-go-lucky series into a brutal, dark animethat few can forget.
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What makesMadoka Magicastand out are the surreal themes it faces.After convincing viewers that it’s just an entertaining, lighthearted series, it becomes clear thatMadoka Magicais anything but easygoing. The fact that the first impression the anime leaves viewers with is so much different than what the series actually turns out to be is a huge part of the series' surrealism. Nothing is as it seems in the world ofMadoka Magica,and that’s the best part of the show.
Attack on Titan
Attack on Titancaptivated audiences for a decade while it was running. It’s a dark, bleak anime series withplenty of great Titan fights, an amazing world just waiting to be explored, and one of the most complicated main characters in anime. Eren Yeager starts the series as a fun-loving boy who wants nothing more than to hang out with his friends and to learn more about the world outside the Walls that they’re trapped in.
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By the end of the series, he becomes death incarnate.Attack on Titanis one of the best series for its views on morality, fatalism, and so much more.Eren ends up destroying 80% of the world’s population not just as an act of revenge, but as a means of protecting his home country against the threats that face them. Logically, his initial intention to save his home is understandable, but that might not make his decision the correct course of action in the end.
Monsteris one of the best slow-burning anime series around. It features Dr. Tenma as he tries to stop the titular monster he inadvertently created. As a doctor, it was Dr. Tenma’s responsibility to save Johan and his sister Anna when they entered the hospital, but if Dr. Tenma had known what Johan was capable of, he would never have done it.
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Monstertakes a while to pick up steam, but that’s only because the series takes a lot of time with its deeply philosophical themes.One of the biggest themes the show features is nature vs. nuture,unpacking whether a person’s true nature is something that can be changed or if it’s inherent to who they are. While the show doesn’t provide any answers, it does provide a ton of questions to keep any viewer guessing long after the final episode.
Code Geassis an anime about how even when everything seems to be perfect, things can still unexpectedly go wrong, and how unlimited power can be more of a curse than a blessing. The character at the forefront of the action is Lelouch Lamperouge. He’s gifted the powers of the Geass early in the series, giving him the ability to make anyone follow his bidding by simply looking at them and telling them what to do. While this may seem like a simple enough premise on its surface, it quickly turns into a complicated disaster.
Code Geassshows that not everything goes well, even with absolute power.Lelouch starts the series as a near omnipotent being before falling victim to the same power that earned him the position he sought after. Even after putting several important pieces into play,Code Geassproves that getting everything one ever wanted is hardly for the best.
Death Note
Death Noteis one of themost controversial anime series of all time. It stars Light Yagami as he finds a titular Death Note, a notebook that allows him to kill anyone in the world by simply writing their name in the book. Light thinks that he’s doing the right thing by killing a slew of criminals in an attempt to create a crime-free world. While it seems noble on the surface, it might be much less than that.
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Death Notehas earned its fame through its exploration of morality.Sure, it might seem like a just idea for Light to take out the world’s criminals, but he might not be the perfect person to decide whether someone lives or dies. The show is complicated from the beginning, perfect for someone who wants to ponder ethical dilemmas while they’re watching a solid anime series.
Steins;Gateis surprisingly deep. On its surface, it’s a cute series about a couple of incredibly intelligent friends who like inventing things and exploring the depths of their own imaginations. Just underneath the surface, however, is a deeply philosophicalanime series that gets increasingly bleak and darkas it progresses.
Steins;Gateis all about time travel. Main character Rintaro Okabe bit off more than he could chew when he inadvertently invented a time machine with his friends.Some of the most gripping themes that the anime tackles include PTSD, time travel, and fate itself.Even though the main characters are some of the smartest in anime, even they are helpless to fate itself, often traveling back in time again and again to prevent events that feel inevitable.
Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhoodis a great, multi-faceted anime series that excels in so many different areas. The story is about brothers Alphonse and Edward Elric as they look to master Alchemy in an attempt to beat death itself. The series starts with the death of their mother. The boys decide to break all rules imaginable and try to resurrect her, losing more than they could have ever imagined in the process.
Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhoodexplores themes of the truth, reality, and death itself.While the boys rightfully want to get their mother back, they learn that they might not have a right to transmute the very rules that establish the world that they’re living in. It’s a cold, harsh reality that they come to terms with while fighting monstrous enemies, adventuring across the world, and dealing with some of themost powerful villains in anime.
Out of all the deep, philosophical anime series out there,Re:Zero - Starting Life in Another Worldmight be the most brutal. The series surrounds Subaru Natsuki as he looks to navigate the new world he’s transported to. While it seems idyllic on its surface, Subaru’s new world does not actually fit this description. He’s met with challenge after challenge, dying several times before he can even get a grip on the new reality he’s faced with.
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Re:Zerois one of thebest series in the isekai genrethat is so much deeper than it appears to be.Subaru faces themes of hope, fate, and more inRe:Zero.He never knows what the right answer is, which is ironic given his ability to Return by Death. He often finds the correct path, only to be met with increasingly cruel deaths that slowly chip away at his sanity as they occur over and over again.
Not only isNeon Genesis Evangelionone of the smartest series, it’s easily one of thebest anime series of all time. It’s hard to describe whatNeon Genesis Evangelionis about precisely because of how deep it is. At its core, it’s a story about Shinji Ikari, a young boy summoned to pilot the Evangelion units in an attempt to defend what’s left of humanity from the Angels looking to tear everything apart.
Neon Genesis Evangelionwill make a viewer think about things that they’ve never thought about before.It explores themes of hope, justice, and what it means to be real. To call it confusing is a massive understatement to many in the best way possible. It’s a series so deep and philosophical that watching it a second time might not even provide all the answers that viewers are looking for. It stands alone as a twisting, winding series that keeps its viewers on the edge of their seats during every single episode.
