Just finished watching Gleipner and looking for some recommendations? Then you are right place as in the article we will breakdown best 10 Anime like Gleipnir.
Gleipnir is one of the biggest hit shows to air in Spring 2020. It packs good amount of action scenes and explores dark themes such as revenge, seinen, gore. It is based on the manga written by Sun Takeda which is serialized in Kodansha’s young magzine since 2015. Animation studio Pine Jam produced the anime adaptation.
The story centers around Shuichi Kagaya, who looks like an ordinary high school student but has a dark secret. He has the ability to turn into a monster that resembles a dog mascot with an oversized gun and zip at his back. His life turns upside-down when he rescues a fellow schoolmate Claire Aoki, from a warehouse fire. She blackmails Shuichi to help her search for her sister who also is a monster like him.
CONTENTS
Here is the list of 10 anime similar to Gleipnir
1. Attack on Titan
Based on the manga written by Hajime Isayama and adapted into anime by WIT, Attack on Titan or also known as Shingeki no Kyojin is very much similar to Gleipnir. Both series have main characters who have the ability to turn into giant monsters. Also, the two feature dark and violent battles and share a central theme of revenge and seeking answers.
The story takes place in a fantasy world where humanity is deprived to live within territories surrounded by walls to protect themselves from gigantic man-eating mindless Titans. Our lead character, Eren Yeager, ends up joining the military with his two childhood friends Mikasa and Armin after the Titans break through the wall and attack his hometown. Now Eren, Mikasa, and Armin must survive in a world where they not only have the Titans to fear but the very humans they are trying to save.
Attack on Titan The Final Season, the fourth season in series by MAPPA will premiere in 2021.
2. Guilty Crown
Guilty Crown is popular original anime by Production I.G. who is known for creating Haikyu!, Psycho-Pass, and Ghost in the Shell series. Both series have innocent protagonists who accidentally obtain a monstrous power and need other people to harness the true extent of their weapons. Moreover, it consists of 22 episodes with a conclusive ending which are definitely more than Gleipner, so it will be a fun watch.
The story takes place in Tokyo in 2039, after the outbreak of the “Apocalypse Virus” during what became known as the “Lost Christmas” of 2029. Since then, Japan has been under the control of the multinational organization called GHQ.
Ouma Shu is a 17 year-old boy who mistakenly obtains a rare and great power. He can use this power, “The Right Hand of the King,” to extract “voids,” or tools/weapons that are the manifestations of peoples’ hearts. He has been rather shy since a childhood tragedy, but both his personality and life change forever when he meets a girl named Yuzuriha Inori, a member of the rebel group called “Funeral Parlor,” whose members seek the restoration of self-government in Japan via the ousting of GHQ.
3. Tokyo Ghoul
Tokyo Ghoul a dark shonen anime which takes place in fantasy world of man-eating monstes calld Ghouls. Based on the the manga written by Sui Ishida, the story takes place in an alternative reality where Ghouls, creatures that looks like humans however survives on eating human flesh and has special predatory organs such as Kagune. Our main character, Ken Kaneki, a university student and a bookworm goes on a date with a beautiful lady Rize Kamishiro, who turns out to be a Ghoul and attacks him. He is taken to hospital in critical condition where he discovers that he has become a half-Ghoul afters his damaged organs are replaced with the ghoul who attacked him. Now ghoul-turned Kaneki has to face a new harsh reality if he wants to survive in a world surrounded by human and ghoul enemies.
The two series has lots of similarities but the biggest of them is the their protagonists, monster-turned innocent boys whose lives are involuntary changed but trying hard to hold onto their humanity by refusing to kill someone even if it meant their death.
Studio Pierrot produced the anime series divided over four seasons. The first seasons is a decent one while the second is an original adaptation with loose resemblance to manga’s plot. The last two seasons are heavily rushed and art style and animation are lackluster compared to first two seasons.
4. Darling in the franxx
Unlike Gleipner which is based on some sort of source material, Darling in the franxx is an original animation project between Cloverworks and Trigger. The show aired from January 2018 to July 2018. Both shows has a male-female duo pilots same powerful vehicle together as one body. The two shows are filled spectacular action scenes and a good amount of fan service moments which you surely will enjoy. It was one of the most popular show to air in 2018 and earned a large amount of viewership due to its close resemblance with mecha classic Neon Genesis Evangelion.
The story of Darling in the franxx takes place in dystopian post-apocalyptic world where humanity have abandoned the surface and lives in technologically advanced moving structures called plantations. Artificially created children called “Parasite” are raised to pilot giant mecha robots called Franxx to fight giant creatures called Klaxosaurs. This story follows Hiro, once a prodigy, and now a failure. However, just as he was about to be cast aside, he meets a mysterious girl with horns that is a Franxx pilot dubbed as The Partner Killer. It is rumoured that her partners are killed are riding with her by the third time. Despite the rumors, Hiro volunteers to become her new partner, or as Zero Two calls him, her “darling”.
5. Parasyte
Parasyte is a known classic science- fiction horror anime based on the manga from the 1980s written by Hitoshi Iwaaki. It inspired an anime television series by madhouse which aired between October 2014 and March 2015 and consists of 24 episodes.
Both have a similar main character who have recieved a strange monstrous powers from a species unknown to them and are changing due to their new inhuman powers. Being a madhouse production, it has some of the best actions I have seen in years and compelling soundtracks. If you enjoyed Gleipnir for its violence, then you will definitely love Parasyte.
Parasyte centers on a male 17-year-old high school student named Shinichi Izumi, who lives with his mother and father in a quiet neighborhood in Tokyo, Japan. One night, strange worm-like creatures with drills as a ‘head’ called Parasytes appear on Earth, taking over the brains of human hosts by entering through their ears or noses. One Parasite attempts to crawl into Shinichi’s nose while he sleeps, but fails as Shinichi wakes up, and enters his body by burrowing into his hand instead. In the Japanese version, it takes over his right hand and is named Migi.
Because Shinichi was able to prevent Migi from travelling further up into his brain, both beings retain their separate intellect and personality. As the duo encounter other Parasites, they capitalize on their strange situation and gradually form a strong bond, working together to survive. This gives them an edge in battling other Parasites who frequently attack the pair upon realization that Shinichi’s human brain is still intact. Shinichi feels compelled to fight other Parasites, who devour humans as food, while enlisting Migi’s help.
6. Darwin’s Game
It is based on the manga written and drawn by FLIPFLOPs and adapted into animation by Nexus studio.
The two series are very much alike as they are centered around similar theme of “death game” where characters have to fight and kill each other for points. The main characters are both noob with no idea how to use their powers. Furthermore Shuka in Darwin’s Game and Claire Aoki are both crazy and psycho girls and have feelings for the main character. The two also awesome soundtracks and animation.
The story revolves around Suou Kaname, who after receiving an invitation starts playing a mysterious game called Darwin’s Game. However, he is attacked by his opponent in real life with an intent to take his life. After narrowly winning his first fight, he discovers a hidden world of players who kills each other to earn points. Those who play the game are given a Sigil, an ability that varies from player to player. Trapped in this game of relentless murder and conquest, Kaname determines to clear the game, and seek out and kill the Game Master.
7. Mirai Nikki
Mirai Nikki or also known as Future Dairy has a close resemblance to Gleipnir. Both series are centered around innocent male characters who dominated by their female partners with yandere vibes. Also the two series are relatively edgy and contains a fair amount of violence and bloodshed fight scenes.
Mirai Nikki is based on the manga series by Sakae Esuno which was adapted into an anime by studio Asread and aired from October 10, 2011 to April 16, 2012.
Lonely high school student, Yukiteru Amano, spends his days writing a diary on his cellphone, while conversing with his two seemingly imaginary friends Deus Ex Machina, who is the god of time and space, and Murmur, the god’s servant. Revealing himself to be an actual entity, Deus grants Yukiteru a “Random Diary,” which shows highly descriptive entries based on the future and forces him into a bloody battle royale with 11 other holders of similarly powerful future diaries.
With the last person standing designated as the new god of time and space, Yukiteru must find and kill the other 11 in order to survive. He reluctantly teams up with his obsessive stalker Yuno Gasai (who also possesses such a diary), and she takes it upon herself to ensure his safety. But there’s more to the girl than meets the eye, as she might have other plans for her unrequited love.
8. Dorohedoro
Dorohedoro is a edgy dark fantasy anime based on the manga by Q Hayashida. It inspired an anime in 2019 by Studio MAPPA. The story takes place in a post-apocalyptic world which is spilt into two parts as a human world and a sorcerer world. Despite the two appears same, the two are distinct species, where the former is evolved naturally, while the latter was created by a primordial devil named Chidaruma.
It centers around Caiman and his search for his real which identity after a transformation by a sorcerer lefts him with a lizard head with no memories of his former life. Together with his female friend Nikaido, he violently assaults the sorceress living in the hole he violently assaults sorcerers in the Hole, with the aim of taking their heads into his mouth, where a strange face will appear and confirm whether the sorcerer he has bitten onto was the one responsible for his transformation or not. En, the leader of syndicate “The En Family”, gets world of lizard man slaughtering his people, he sends a group of “Cleaners” to get rid of him, which ignites a war between the two.
Both anime series has protagonist who have turned into a monstrous entity with their memories erased. The character designs also are unique and gothic visual scenes will leave you terrified to the bone.
Dorohedoro is currently available on Netflix.
9. Dororo
Dororo is yet another MAPPA production on the list which is reboot to 50 year old manga written by legendry author and the creator of Astro boy Osamu Tezuka. Unlike the original anime, the 2019 reboot is equally violent and dark which doesn’t why away from showing the worst your protagonist Hyakkimaru goes through.
Hyakkimaru is borned to a warlord Samurai who batters away his newborn son’s organs to forty-eight demons in exchange for dominance on the battlefield. Yet, the abandoned infant survives thanks to a medicine man who equips him with primitive prosthetics—lethal ones with which the wronged son will use to hunt down the multitude of demons to reclaim his body one piece at a time, before confronting his father. On his journeys the young hero encounters an orphan Dororo, who claims to be the greatest thief in Japan.
10. Highschool of the Dead
If you are here looking for something ecchi and perverted with great action and violent themes, then Highschool of the dead is perfect watch for you. It is based manga written Daisuke Satō and Illustrated Shōji Satō. Madhouse brought the manga into life with a 12-episode television anime which aired in July 2020. The show has some of the most popular Ecchi moments especially sniper shot scene below.
Highschool of the dead takes place in present day Japan where a virus has struck the world that turns humans into zombies. And as the name suggests the show surrounds arround bunch of highschool student mainly Takashi Kimuro who is forced to kill his best friend who has turned into zombies. Vowing to protect Rei Miyamoto, the girlfriend of the man he just executed, they narrowly escape their death trap of a school, only to be greeted with a society that has already fallen.
That’s all for today. I hope you enjoyed reading our list. For more such recommendations stay tuned on our website.
