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Every once in a while you might crave certain anime that will act as some kind of palate cleanser from all the punching, screaming, and powering through through the power of friendship. It’s only human nature to wander the labyrinth of the mind and dwell on the limitless depths of the human psyche. For that matter, the best psychological anime and psychological horror anime series should keep your mind busy.
Despite being shorter than your typical shonen ride, these psychological anime will linger in the darkest recesses of your mind to keep you awake at night and echo their most disturbing moments during your silence. That’s not exactly a bad thing. If some things are going to live rent-free in your head, they might as well be the following best psychological anime.
Neon Genesis Evangelion
If Sigmund Freud was still alive, he’d probably use this anime to bolster his theories on human behavior. Neon Genesis Evangelion is mostly a mecha anime but underneath than shonen luster are several layers of Freudian concepts (namely Oedipus complex) spliced with Christian Lacanianism.
Neon Genesis Evangelion‘s premise is actually simple. A third apocalypse via weird unknown creatures threatens Earth, and it’s up to giant robots called Eva units (really just a wordplay on Eve) to stop them. Only, these robots can only be piloted by psychologically disturbed children with damaged relationships with their parents. That’s where the complexity comes in, along with the headache-inducing endings and multiple, oddly-named remakes.
Psycho-Pass
Psycho-Pass is also widely regarded as the anime take on Minority Report‘s sci-fi concept of catching criminals before they commit the crime through a psychoanalytic algorithm. You can probably tell where the conflict comes from already, with such a “perfect but flawed” justice system.
The whole anime revolves around the Sibyl System. It’s an A.I. that determines who’s going to become a latent criminal based on their psyche and stress. A rookie Enforcer named Akane drives the plot here. Her idealistic ideas about justice conflict with the Sibyl System’s pragmatism and coldness.
Steins;Gate
What would you do if you suddenly found out that you could change the present by sending text messages to the past using a microwave? The possibilities are endless. But in Steins;Gate, Okabe Rintarou, the inventor of said microwave, decided to help his friends first with their past baggage.
Okabe soon learns that you simply don’t mess with time as you will not only ruin the present or future, but you might also attract some prying eyes. Steins;Gate poses lots of philosophical questions and those go hand-in-hand with psychology. More importantly, the psychological thriller toys with the old idea of getting what you deserve.
Ergo Proxy
Speaking of philosophical entanglements, Ergo Proxy is another heavy deconstruction of concepts. This time around, it surgically slices into the innards of the essence of humanity. Because if an android suddenly gains the awareness of humans, should they be treated as such? That’s what Ergo Proxy assaults its viewers with.
At the same time, the anime is also a post-apocalypse story. Humans are struggling in their last enclosed city after a global catastrophe ruined the planet. Now, they’re corralled in their sanctuaries which have recently come under the threat of a higher life form that they previously enslaved. Quite the conundrum.
Mushishi
Alright, let’s take a break from the philosophical conflicts. Here’s one of the best psychological anime about spirituality. Mushishi revolves around the titular researchers of “Mushi” creatures which are the most basic life form in this anime world. They’re sort of spirits whom one man named Ginko believes hold the key to understanding his place in the world.
It’s a combination of supernatural mystery and episodic slice-of-life adventure for mature viewers, especially those who love some underlying existentialist themes in shows. Paired with some melancholic movie-quality visuals, this anime is hard not to love.
Monster
Crime and psychology are basically peanut butter and jelly for thriller fiction. And if you want a less futuristic crime thriller compared to Psycho-Pass then Monster offers a contemporary psychological horror anime tale. Monster explores the weight of human life through the lens of a doctor and a patient he prioritized saving based on his ideals.
Only, the patient whom he saved would later grow into the most notorious serial killer and psychopath he has known. It’s yet another heavy philosophical dilemma. The whole anime can even be summed up as the popular “trolley problem” except the doctor has already made the wrong choice and is now aboard an impending trainwreck.
Death Note
Death Note got meme’d hard thanks to Netflix, but prior to that, it was the ultimate detective anime of the 2000s decade. This particular psychological horror anime is about a bored over-achiever student named Light Yagami who happens upon a notebook that allows him to kill anyone just by writing their name. He then decided to play as a pro-death-penalty god minus the due process.
What follows is a cat-and-mouse crime game to see how much Light can still kill under the watchful eye of the most eccentric detective in fiction. Even if you don’t grasp the moral dilemmas, the psychological surprises will still grip you. More importantly, Death Note‘s profound impact on youth during its heyday likely contributed to the 2000s emo culture. That’s how psychological it was.
Serial Experiments Lain
Serial Experiments Lain was already predicting social media a decade before it became popular. The anime is about the titular young girl’s delving into the digital space and forging her own identity through the internet. That’s something a lot of people these days are doing nonchalantly.
To that end, Serial Experiments Lain‘s story is more relevant than ever. Through her obsession with the Wired (the anime’s internet network), Lain’s perception of reality suddenly becomes more twisted and distorted until she eventually loses her sense of self and her identity.
Perfect Blue
Celebrities with problematic dispositions are often intriguing as subjects for fiction and Perfect Blue spotlights this struggle of the famous. It’s a psychological horror anime movie about an actress and pop singer and her descent into madness after discovering that she has a stalker.
Perfect Blue provides you with front-row seats on the perils of fame and the dark underbelly of show business; even the faintest ghosts of the past can taint the brightest star. At the same time, you can’t help but feel the same level of hopelessness and anxiety as the anime’s protagonist. It’s as if she’s gripping your hand as the reality around her erodes and the foundation of her stardom collapses.
Paprika
In Paprika, which is a sci-fi psychological anime, you’ll not just be questioning reality, you’ll also be questioning your understanding and attention span. Because it’s one of the most colorful yet intricate anime you’ll see. Paprika follows the exploits of a scientist who also doubles as a dream detective. Using a device that lets her infiltrate people’s dreams, she helps psychiatric patients.
Trouble erupts when the device falls into the wrong hands, and dream terrorists start ruining people’s lives by subliminally persuading them to commit suicide, for example. It’s anime that constantly blurs the line between dreams and tangible reality. As a testament to how it’s one of the best psychological anime ever, Christopher Nolan even took Paprika as an inspiration for Inception. It definitely wormed its way into the brightest of minds.
