What is Psychological anime?

Psychological media delve into mental or emotional states of a character in the midst of a difficult situation, letting you observe them change as tension increases. Internal monologues are a key feature, allowing narration to delve into a character's mind, revealing their innermost ideas and motivations - even as they may be driven to the brink of sanity.

Random Psychological Anime You might like

Banana Fish

(Banana Fish)

8.19

Description:

Nature made Ash Lynx beautiful; nurture made him a cold ruthless killer. A runaway brought up as the adopted heir and sex toy of "Papa" Dino Golzine, Ash, now at the rebellious age of seventeen, forsakes the kingdom held out by the devil who raised him. But the hideous secret that drove Ash's older brother mad in Iraq has suddenly fallen into Papa's insatiably ambitious hands—and it's exactly the wrong time for Eiji Okamura, a pure-hearted young photographer from Japan, to make Ash Lynx's acquaintance... (Source: VIZ)
Type

TV

Episodes

24

Rating

17+ (violence & profanity)

Status

finished

Aired

2018-07-06

Monster

(Monster)

8.23

Description:

Dr. Kenzou Tenma is a renowned brain surgeon of Japanese descent working in Europe. Highly lauded by his peers as one of the great young minds that will revolutionize the field, he is blessed with a beautiful fiancée and is on the cusp of a big promotion in the hospital he works at. But all of that is about to change with a grave dilemma that Kenzou faces one night—whether to save the life of a small boy or that of the town's mayor. Despite being pressured by his superiors to perform surgery on the mayor, his morals force him to perform the surgery on the other critical patient, saving his life and forfeiting the mayor's. A doctor is taught to believe that all life is equal; however, when a series of murders occur in the surgeon's vicinity, all of the evidence pointing to the boy he saved, Kenzou's beliefs are shaken. Along his journey to unravel the true identity of his little patient, Kenzou discovers that the fate of the world may be intertwined with the mysterious child. [Written by MAL Rewrite]
Type

TV

Episodes

74

Ep.Length

24 Min

Rating

Mild Nudity

Status

finished

Aired

2004-04-07

The Garden of Words

(The Garden of Words)

8.01

Description:

On a rainy morning in Tokyo, Takao Akizuki, an aspiring shoemaker, decides to skip class to sketch designs in a beautiful garden. This is where he meets Yukari Yukino, a beautiful yet mysterious woman, for the very first time. Offering to make her new shoes, Takao continues to meet with Yukari throughout the rainy season, and without even realizing it, the two are able to alleviate the worries hidden in their hearts just by being with each other. However, their personal struggles have not disappeared completely, and as the end of the rainy season approaches, their relationship will be put to the test. [Written by MAL Rewrite]
Type

movie

Episodes

1

Ep.Length

46 Min

Rating

Teens 13 or older

Status

finished

Aired

2013-05-31

Welcome to the N.H.K.

(Welcome to the N.H.K.)

8.16

Description:

Twenty-two-year-old college dropout Tatsuhiro Satou has been a hikikomori for almost four years now. In his isolation, he has come to believe in many obscure conspiracy theories, but there is one in particular which he holds unshakable faith in: the theory that the evil conspirator behind his shut-in NEET (Not in Employment, Education or Training) status is the Nihon Hikikomori Kyokai (NHK)—an evil and secret organization dedicated to fostering the spread of hikikomori culture. NHK ni Youkoso! is a psychological dramedy that follows Tatsuhiro as he strives to escape from the NHK's wicked machinations and the disease of self-wrought isolation, while struggling to even just leave his apartment and find a job. His unexpected encounter with the mysterious Misaki Nakahara might signal a reversal of fortune for Tatsuhiro, but with this meeting comes the inevitable cost of having to face his greatest fear—society. (Source: MAL Rewrite)
Type

TV

Episodes

24

Ep.Length

24 Min

Rating

Mild Nudity

Status

finished

Aired

2006-07-10

Danganronpa: Kibou no Gakuen to Zetsubou no Koukousei The Animation

(Danganronpa: The Animation)

7.14

Description:

Hope's Peak Academy is an elite high school that accepts only the most talented students. Individuals who successfully enroll receive their own unique titles, suitably reflective of their skills and traits. Of the fifteen candidates admitted to the peculiar school that year, Makoto Naegi is a completely ordinary individual who has been accepted by sheer chance, with the title of "Super High School-Level Luck." Naegi and his fellow classmates are initially ecstatic to be chosen to study at this prestigious institution, but these feelings of happiness are short-lived. They are soon confronted by Monokuma, the principal and resident bear, who traps them inside the school. The pupils' hopes of escape and graduation hinge on one of them successfully murdering one of their peers without being discovered. However, if the killer is caught, he or she will be executed, and the remaining survivors will be left to continue the deathmatch until only a single victor remains. [Written by MAL Rewrite]
Type

TV

Episodes

13

Ep.Length

24 Min

Rating

17+ (violence & profanity)

Status

finished

Aired

2013-07-05

Ghost in the Shell

(Ghost in the Shell)

8.18

Description:

2029: A female cybernetic government agent, Major Motoko Kusanagi, and the Internal Bureau of Investigations are hot on the trail of “The Puppet Master,” a mysterious and threatening computer virus capable of infiltrating human hosts. Together with her fellow agents from Section 9, Kusanagi embarks on a high-tech race against time to capture the omnipresent entity. (Source: Lionsgate Films)
Type

movie

Episodes

1

Ep.Length

83 Min

Rating

Mild Nudity

Status

finished

Aired

1995-11-18

Btooom!

(BTOOOM!)

7.31

Description:

Ryouta Sakamoto is unemployed and lives with his mother, his only real achievement being that he is Japan's top player of the popular online video game, "Btooom!" However, his peaceful life is about to change when he finds himself stranded on an island in the middle of nowhere, with a small, green crystal embedded in his left hand and no memory of how he got there. To his shock, someone has decided to recreate the game he is so fond of in real life, with the stakes being life or death. Armed with a bag full of unique bombs known as "BIM," the players are tasked with killing seven of their fellow participants to obtain their green crystals, used as proof of their victory, in order to return home. Initially condemning any form of violence, Ryouta is forced to fight when he realizes that many of the other players are not as welcoming as they may seem. Teaming up with Himiko, a fellow Btooom! player who turns out to be his in-game wife, they attempt to get off of the island together, slowly coming closer and closer to the truth behind this contest of death. [Written by MAL Rewrite]
Type

TV

Episodes

12

Ep.Length

24 Min

Rating

17+ (violence & profanity)

Status

finished

Aired

2012-10-04

Higurashi no Naku Koro ni

(When They Cry)

7.88

Description:

Keiichi Maebara has just moved to the quiet little village of Hinamizawa in the summer of 1983, and quickly becomes inseparable friends with schoolmates Rena Ryuuguu, Mion Sonozaki, Satoko Houjou, and Rika Furude. However, darkness lurks underneath the seemingly idyllic life they lead. As the village prepares for its annual festival, Keiichi learns about the local legends surrounding it. To his horror, he discovers that there have been several murders and disappearances in the village in the recent years, and that they all seem to be connected to the festival and the village's patron god, Oyashiro. Keiichi tries to ask his new friends about these incidents, but they are suspiciously silent and refuse to give him the answers he needs. As more and more bizarre events occur, he wonders just what else his friends might be keeping from him, and if he can even trust them at all. When madness and paranoia begin taking root in Keiichi's heart, he will stumble straight into the mysteries at work in Higurashi no Naku Koro ni, a story that is told across multiple arcs. [Written by MAL Rewrite]
Type

TV

Episodes

26

Ep.Length

24 Min

Rating

17+ (violence & profanity)

Status

finished

Aired

2006-04-05

Serial Experiments Lain

(Serial Experiments Lain)

8

Description:

Lain Iwakura, an awkward and introverted fourteen-year-old, is one of the many girls from her school to receive a disturbing email from her classmate Chisa Yomoda—the very same Chisa who recently committed suicide. Lain has neither the desire nor the experience to handle even basic technology; yet, when the technophobe opens the email, it leads her straight into the Wired, a virtual world of communication networks similar to what we know as the internet. Lain's life is turned upside down as she begins to encounter cryptic mysteries one after another. Strange men called the Men in Black begin to appear wherever she goes, asking her questions and somehow knowing more about her than even she herself knows. With the boundaries between reality and cyberspace rapidly blurring, Lain is plunged into more surreal and bizarre events where identity, consciousness, and perception are concepts that take on new meanings. Written by Chiaki J. Konaka, whose other works include Texhnolyze, Serial Experiments Lain is a psychological avant-garde mystery series that follows Lain as she makes crucial choices that will affect both the real world and the Wired. In closing one world and opening another, only Lain will realize the significance of their presence. [Written by MAL Rewrite]
Type

TV

Episodes

13

Ep.Length

23 Min

Rating

17+ (violence & profanity)

Status

finished

Aired

1998-07-06

Youkoso Jitsuryoku Shijou Shugi no Kyoushitsu e

(Classroom of the Elite)

7.81

Description:

Kiyotaka Ayanokoji has just enrolled at Tokyo Koudo Ikusei Senior High School, where it's said that 100% of students go on to college or find employment. But he ends up in Class 1-D, which is full of all the school's problem children. What's more, every month, the school awards students points with a cash value of 100,000 yen, and the classes employ a laissez-faire policy in which talking, sleeping, and even sabotage are permitted during class. One month later, Ayanokoji, Horikita, and the students of Class D learn the truth of the system in place within their school... (Source: Crunchyroll)
Type

TV

Episodes

12

Ep.Length

24 Min

Rating

Teens 13 or older

Status

finished

Aired

2017-07-12

Perfect Blue

(Perfect Blue)

8.2

Description:

Perfect Blue revolves around the main protagonist, Mima Kirigoe, a member of a pop idol group named “CHAM!”. After evaluating her situation, she decides to give up her idol status to pursue a career as an actress, what she believes to be the next step in making a name for herself in the industry. However, one of her most hardcore fans, Me-Mania, is less than happy about the path she has decided to take. Now reborn as an actress, Mima accepts an interesting role, ignoring her manager, Rumi Hidaka's reservations about it. While on set, strange things begin to happen to people who are involved with the film. As time goes on, Mima begins to break down mentally, struggling to distinguish fantasy from reality. Will Mima be able to escape the grip of her stalker and turn in a break out performance, or will she descend into madness?
Type

movie

Episodes

1

Ep.Length

80 Min

Rating

Mild Nudity

Status

finished

Aired

1998-02-28

Ergo Proxy

(Ergo Proxy)

7.84

Description:

Thousands of years after Earth's atmosphere was destroyed, adventure blooms in the strangest of places. The domed city of Romdo is supposed to be perfect, but Re-l Mayer, a young female inspector from the Civilian Intelligence Office, knows better. In this place where humans and robots coexist, she receives a strange message: something is awakening! (Source: Funimation)
Type

TV

Episodes

23

Ep.Length

25 Min

Rating

Violence, Profanity

Status

finished

Aired

2006-02-25

Zetsuen no Tempest

(Blast of Tempest)

7.89

Description:

Yoshino Takigawa, an ordinary teenager, is secretly dating his best friend Mahiro's younger sister. But when his girlfriend Aika mysteriously dies, Mahiro disappears, vowing to find the one responsible and make them pay for murdering his beloved sister. Yoshino continues his life as usual and has not heard from Mahiro in a month—until he is confronted by a strange girl who holds him at gunpoint, and his best friend arrives in the nick of time to save him. Yoshino learns that Mahiro has enlisted the help of a witch named Hakaze Kusaribe to find Aika's killer and of the existence of an entity known as the "Tree of Exodus." The witch's brother selfishly desires to make use of its power, in spite of the impending peril to the world. However, Hakaze is banished to a deserted island, and it is now up to Yoshino and Mahiro to help her save the world, while inching ever closer to the truth behind Aika's death. [Written by MAL Rewrite]
Type

TV

Episodes

24

Ep.Length

24 Min

Rating

Teens 13 or older

Status

finished

Aired

2012-10-05

Psycho-Pass 2

(Psycho-Pass 2)

7.3

Description:

A year and a half after the events of the original sci-fi psychological thriller, Akane Tsunemori continues her work as an inspector—enforcing the Sibyl System's judgments. Joining her are new enforcers and junior inspector Mika Shimotsuki, a young woman blindly and inflexibly loyal to Sibyl. As Akane ponders both the nature of her job and the legitimacy of Sibyl's verdicts, a disturbing new menace emerges. A mysterious figure has discovered a way to control the Crime Coefficient—a number compiled from mental scans that allows Sibyl to gauge psychological health and identify potential criminals. Through these means, he is able to murder an enforcer, leaving behind a cryptic clue: "WC?" scrawled in blood on a wall. Akane and the rest of Division 1 soon find themselves playing a deadly game against their new foe, coming face-to-face with a conspiracy threatening not only the authority of the Sibyl System, but the very foundation of Akane's own convictions. [Written by MAL Rewrite]
Type

TV

Episodes

11

Ep.Length

23 Min

Rating

17+ (violence & profanity)

Status

finished

Aired

2014-10-10

Re:Zero kara Hajimeru Isekai Seikatsu 2

(Re:ZERO -Starting Life in Another World- Season 2)

8.18

Description:

Even after dying countless times, Subaru finally ended the threat of the White Whale and defeated the Witch Cult's Sin Archbishop representing sloth, Petelgeuse Romaneeconti. But only shortly after overcoming a tragic ending and reuniting with his beloved Emilia, Subaru learns that Rem has been erased from this world, having fallen victim to the White Whale's Fog of Elimination in the midst of Subaru's death loop. With the White Whale now gone, Subaru and Emilia are forced to confront a reality they never dreamed would happen. (Source: Crunchyroll)
Type

TV

Episodes

13

Ep.Length

24 Min

Rating

Violence, Profanity

Status

finished

Aired

2020-07-08

91 Days

(91 Days)

7.77

Description:

During Prohibition, the law held no power and the mafia ruled the town. The story takes place in Lawless, a town thriving on black market sales of illicitly brewed liquor. One day, Avilio receives a letter from a mysterious sender, prompting him to return to Lawless for revenge. He then infiltrates the Vanetti family, the ones responsible for his family's murder, and sets about befriending the don's son, Nero, to set his vengeance in motion. Killing brings more killing, and revenge spawns more revenge. How will the 91-day story of these men guided by a tragic fate end? (Source: Crunchyroll)
Type

TV

Episodes

12

Ep.Length

24 Min

Rating

17+ (violence & profanity)

Status

finished

Aired

2016-07-09

The Tatami Galaxy

(The Tatami Galaxy)

8.16

Description:

One autumn evening at a mysterious ramen stand behind the Shimogamo Shrine, a lonely third-year college student bumps into a man with an eggplant-shaped head who calls himself a god of matrimony. Meeting this man causes the student to reflect upon his past two years at college—two years bitterly spent trying to break up couples on campus with his only friend Ozu, a ghoulish-looking man seemingly set on making his life as miserable as possible. Resolving to make the most out of the rest of his college life, the student attempts to ask out the unsociable but kind-hearted underclassman Akashi, yet fails to follow through, prompting him to regret not living out his college life differently. As soon as this thought passes through his head, however, he is hurtled through time and space to the beginning of his years at college and given another chance to live his life. Surreal, artistic, and mind-bending, Yojouhan Shinwa Taikei chronicles the misadventures of a young man on a journey to make friends, find love, and experience the rose-colored campus life he always dreamed of. (Source: MAL Rewrite)
Type

TV

Episodes

11

Ep.Length

23 Min

Rating

Violence, Profanity

Status

finished

Aired

2010-04-23

Paprika

(Paprika)

8.03

Description:

In the real world, she is the renowned and highly intelligent Dr. Atsuko Chiba. In the dream world, she is the spunky redhead Paprika. Thanks to a new technology developed at Chiba’s lab called a DC Mini, Paprika is able to jump into people’s dreams with the ease of a driver switching lanes. The dream machine allows her to see into the dreamers’ deepest thoughts by entering and analyzing their dreams, then using that information to resolve emotional and psychological issues. Even the inventors aren't sure of the true extent of the power of the DC Mini. Just imagine the world of good this kind of technology can do… unless it falls into the wrong hands. A prototype DC Mini has been stolen, and Paprika is on the case. It’s up to this dream detective to track down and stop the thief through the psychedelic backdrop of people’s dreams. Paprika will need to hurry, before the dream machine does some serious damage.
Type

movie

Episodes

1

Ep.Length

90 Min

Rating

Mild Nudity

Status

finished

Aired

2006-11-25

Grisaia no Kajitsu

(The Fruit of Grisaia)

7.42

Description:

Yuuji Kazami is a transfer student who has just been admitted into Mihama Academy. He wants to live an ordinary high school life, but this dream of his may not come true any time soon as Mihama Academy is quite the opposite. Consisting of only the principal and five other students, all of whom are girls, Yuuji becomes acquainted with each of them, discovering more about their personalities as socialization is inevitable. Slowly, he begins to learn about the truth behind the small group of students occupying the academy—they each have their own share of traumatic experiences which are tucked away from the world. Mihama Academy acts as a home for these girls, they are the "fruit" which fell from their trees and have begun to decay. It is up to Yuuji to become the catalyst to save them from themselves, but how can he save another when he cannot even save himself? [Written by MAL Rewrite]
Type

TV

Episodes

13

Ep.Length

23 Min

Rating

Mild Nudity

Status

finished

Aired

2014-10-05

Yakusoku no Neverland 2nd Season

(The Promised Neverland Season 2)

6.2

Description:

Fifteen children escape Grace Field House, a false paradise, hoping for a chance at freedom. Instead, they encounter plants and animals they have never before seen, and are chased by demons. The outside world is so beautiful, and yet is almost too cruel to face. Even so, the children refuse to give up. They are guided in their search for better lives only by a message from Minerva and a pen Norman left behind in order to fulfill their promise to return to the House to save those of their family who are still trapped within. (Source: Aniplex of America) Note: Episode 1 streamed early on Amazon Prime on Jan 7, 2021. The regular TV broadcast started on Jan 8, 2021.
Type

TV

Episodes

11

Ep.Length

22 Min

Rating

17+ (violence & profanity)

Status

finished

Aired

2021-01-08

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