9 Best Anime Like Tokyo Ghoul (Super Similar Shows)

Are you looking for good anime like Tokyo Ghoul?

Well you’ve come to the right place. We’ll be going over similar shows to Tokyo Ghoul. The top of the top.

In no particular order…

1. Parasyte

What’s this all about?

Here’s what’s going on…

…parasites are invading the Earth. These parasites dig into a human’s brain and take over with complete control.

Feasting on human flesh in order to survive on planet Earth. The main character, Shinichi, a high school student.

Woke up to find a parasite going through his arm and actually stopped it. Now the parasite is stuck in his right arms.

So instead of taking over his brain, it took over his right arm. Forming this freaky alien creature that looks disgusting. 

This parasite who is named Migi makes a deal with Shinichi. The deal was that Migi won’t harm Shinichi as long as Shinichi doesn’t harm him.

They have to learn to live with each other in the same body.

As time goes on, they both encounter true parasites. Parasites that have 100% taken over a creature.

Fending for themselves by killing these other parasites with his right hand morphing into a weapon.

How’s this similar

Parasyte is similar to Tokyo Ghoul when it comes to character development.

You see, both Shinichi and Kaneki start off as frail schoolboys.

Neither one of them wants any trouble. But then trouble is forced on them, this in turn transforms them.

Making them so much stronger, not just physically but mentally. They’re no longer afraid of a fight.

2. Attack on titan

If you haven’t already seen Attack on Titan, where in the world have you been.?

Attack on Titan is one of the few shows responsible for getting people into anime. 

What’s it about?

You’re put into a world where humans are no longer on top of the food chain.

The beings that are, are called titans. They’re huge giants that only have a hunger for humans.

And I mean ONLY hunger for humans. What’s interesting is these titans can’t even digest the humans they eat.

After eating a human, after some time the titan will simply throw it up like a cat throwing up a furball.

So what’s the mystery behind these titans? How did the titans appear? Well that’s the mystery they’re trying to solve.

Oh, and this show takes place in a medieval-like setting.

Guns are useless so instead, they use ODM gear. This allows them to maneuver around the place and slash-up the titans.

People who have watched anime for decades are saying this is one of the best anime of the modern age. And they don’t say that lightly…

…this anime has so many ups and downs. Betrayal in every corner and plenty of WTF moments.

How is this like Tokyo Ghoul?

First of all, it’s filled with blood… lots of it. There are creatures trying to eat people, and it’s filled with action.

There’s betrayal that’s going to make your blood boil and you’ll come across satisfying moments.

What more do you want in an anime similar to Tokyo Ghoul?

3. Kabaneri of the Iron Fortress

Have you ever wanted to watch a good zombie anime?

Well you don’t need to look any further.

What’s this all about?

This zombie anime takes place in a steampunk setting where there are old-school samurai and modern trains. The setting is masterful…

The country of Japan has been overrun by mindless beasts known as kabane or corpses.

Humans are living within giant walls that also have a fully functioning railroad system. 

These trains are constantly on the go carrying supplies to different places. And as a result, under constant attack from hoard of kabanae. 

Humans deal with them by striking them in the heart or just holding them off. If you get bitten, then tough luck. You’re going to become one of them.

You follow a young boy called Ikoma. He’s a brilliant engineer that creates a piercing gun which makes it easier to kill the Kabane. Oh, and he gets bit…

…but instead of becoming a corpse, he gets superpowers. Yaaaay!

For this to happen is incredibly rare and there are only a few humans who have undergone this transformation.

There’s also another character who gets a lot of screen time named Mumei. She is super strong.

How’s this similar?

This is an incredibly cold anime. Experiments are done on children and people are dying all over the damn place.

At first you think a character is bad-ass but then they get their ‘ass’ kicked.

Similar to how we thought Kenki transformed into this super strong character but he could also get his ass kicked pretty badly.

4. DeadMan Wonderland

So when you jump into this anime, you’re going to be mad.

WHY?

Because something messed up… and I mean REALLY messed up stuff happens from the very beginning.

What is it about?

You follow a young schoolboy named Ganta and Ganta’s classmates are all suddenly slaughtered in front of him.

CAN IT GET ANY WORSE?

Of course it does…

…he’s framed for the murder of his class and is known is the boy who butchered his classmates.

So who actually killed his classmates? It’s a mystery. We just know he wears a red cloak and mask and Ganta sees him very briefly.

So now Ganta has seen his class mated slaughtered and is blamed for it?

It can’t get any worse… can it?

Yup, it does get a lot worse.

Ganta is sent to prison but it’s no ordinary prison. No, ‘course not.

He was sent to death row in DeadMan Wonderland! But it’s no wonderland, that’s for sure.

Saying that these inmates are treated poorly would be a major understatement.

These inmates have to fight for their lives in deadly competitions for amusement for the public.

Oh and these inmates are forced to wear a collar which pumps a poison into them and they have to participate in these deadly competitions just to live a few more days.

And the cycle keeps repeating.

But luckily for Ganta, he has superpowers. Ganta can manipulate blood and make it do whatever he wants.

What makes this like Tokyo Ghoul?

Both Kaneki and Ganta are schoolboys that are suddenly thrown into a miserable world.

They both have to fight for their life every day and they both possess superhuman abilities.

DeadMan Wonderland is filled with betrayal and has plenty of gore.

5. Hellsing Ultimate

If you’re looking for as much blood as possible, then look no further.

What’s it all about?

You follow a vampire named Alucard. He goes around shooting vampires with his dual pistol.

The goals of Alucard are simple. Kill all whoever threatens the crown. 

WHY?

Because this anime takes place in Britain and anyone who does not agree with Britain gets killed. 

There are different levels of enemies. You get your standard vampire who’s pretty much as weak as a human.

You get hoards of artificially created vampires. And you get some cathedral warriors who want to wipe out all evil.

As time goes on, foes get stronger and stronger. You’re not just dealing with mindless hoards but skilled fighters with different abilities.

How’s it similar?

To be completely honest, Tokyo Ghoul was one of those few anime that had an insane amount of blood and disturbing sound effects to go with it.

Hellsing Ultimate also lives up to that. Even surpasses it. 

The similarity between the two is there’s plenty of blood and lots more fighting.

Even if you’re not sold on this being similar, it’s worth a shot.

6. Akame Ga Kill

What’s it all about?

You follow a young boy called Tatsumi.

He’s the greatest swordsman in his village and he travels to the capital of the kingdom along with 2 friends to earn some money.

He gets separated from his friends and needs to fend for himself. Suddenly a random girl allows Tatsumi to stay at her place for the night…

…During the deep darkness of the night, they’re attacked by Knightraid, a group of assassins.

A little while later Tatsumi decides to join this group of assassins (we won’t reveal why because of spoilers). Just know it was a crazy twist in the story.

A common theme in this show is people aren’t who they appear to be. In fact, the country is ruled by fear.

The kingdom even has an Emperor who genuinely wants to do good for his kingdom.

However, the Emperor is just a child and is manipulated by the Prime Minister.

In the past there was an Emperor who knew he was going to die, so in order to preserve his legacy, he created imperial arms.

Imperial arms are magical types of weapons that have supernatural abilities.

Every time imperial arm users face each other, it means someone’s going to die.

What’s incredible is imperial arms aren’t just slashing weapons like swords.

They come in all sorts of shapes, sizes, and have different abilities.

So when 2 users meet with completely different fight styles, you know someone will die but how will they die?

It’s incredibly fun to watch these battles and see how they play out.

How is this like Tokyo Ghoul?

Akame Ga kill is similar to Tokyo Ghoul when it comes to brutality. As you read above, things aren’t as they seem.

This show is not afraid of killing its major characters, by the end of it, many people feel empty because there’s nothing left.

With the imperial arms, there’s plenty of blood baths happening on-screen. And the main character, Tatsumi is also a similar age to Kaneki.

7. Berserk 1997

Berserk is one of those crazy anime that you enjoyed but you also wish you never watched.

What’s it about?

You follow a man named Guts. And he fully lives up to that name because whenever you see him, you know he’s about to spill some “Guts”.

From a young age he joined a group of bandits named The Band of the Hawks.

Their leader is named Griffith. Another incredibly strong character in the show.

But what makes Griffith shine is not his raw power but his incredibly sharp intelligence.

The Banks of the Hawks have never lost a fight in their life. They eventually become a mercenary army and do contracts for different kingdoms.

It’s set in a medieval world, where things are incredibly harsh. 

Guts was born from a hanging corpse.

He was then adopted by a woman named Shisu. Shisu later died from a disease when Guts was only 3 years old.

He’s then taken under the care of Gambino who’s merciless on Guts and even tortures him.

Gambino even allowed one of his soldiers to have kid Guts for a night. Yup, that’s pretty messed up.

He’s been through a lot of crap and he keeps going through that crap as time goes on.

How’s this similar?

Berserk is similar to Tokyo Ghoul in the sense it’s extremely dark. In fact, Berserk is the darkest anime and manga I’ve gone through in my entire life.

Oh, and there’s a massive betrayal in this show that you won’t see coming. Till this day I’m still shocked.

8. Psycho Pass

Imagine living in a world where your entire life is governed. Where your life is decided for you.

Where the government 100% decides what morality is…

What is it about?

This show is set in a futuristic version of Japan.

A breakthrough has been made in technology that can accurately determine any person’s mental state.

Creating a society that is governed by an algorithm that decides what job will suit you best.

What you are and aren’t capable of for the betterment of society. This technology is called the civil system.

The civil system is capable of determining that likeliness of whether you could ever commit a crime.

Even 5 year olds can and were considered criminals by this system. 

You follow the MWPSB, a group of inspectors that are armed with dominators.

A dominator is able to directly connect with the civil system. Enabling the dominator to pass out judgment on any individual.

It will judge your mental status and inclination towards things, also known as Psycho Pass.

The Psycho Pass will give you a number when it’s judging you. Have a high number and you’ll be incapacitated and brought in for rehabilitation.

If it’s too high, you’ll be executed on the spot.

This story focuses on the possibility of some criminals being able to by-pass the system. 

How’s this similar?

This anime isn’t similar to Tokyo Ghoul directly. However, watchers have said it gives off an incredibly similar vibe/feeling to Tokyo Ghoul.

HOW?

Both worlds are cold and cruel. They both take place in societies that have already determined what’s right and wrong without exception.

For example, in Tokyo Ghoul, all the ghouls are already bad. Without any exception.

In the same way, Psycho Pass determines many people are criminals in an incredibly cold manner.

For example, even those that have fought along the side of the inspectors and trusted the civil system.

Eventually the civil system declared these inspectors outcasts because of the mental health effects the job had on the inspectors.

9. Shiki

One of the things that got so many of us into anime is how it’s not afraid to go against the norm.

Or at least the norms in the West. And Shiki is no different, it’s not afraid of doing things completely different from Hollywood.

What’s it about?

This show is about vampires and no, there’s no crappy romance in this.

In fact, this show is pretty sad.

This anime takes place in a tiny village in Japan where everyone knows each other.

One day a new family moves into the village, and they’ve settled in a giant castle. 

Very shortly after the family moved in, people started dying. They get a cold and suddenly die.

Now, this isn’t like Hellsing. There aren’t hunters coming to kill vampires. In fact, there’s not a lot of action.

How’s this similar to Tokyo Ghoul?

As I mentioned, this anime is sad.

People in the village didn’t ask for trouble and they got plenty of it all because a family of vampires decided to move in.

You want the best for characters but good things don’t happen very much.

The only downside to this anime is it’s incredibly slow. So if you’re looking for a fast pace, action anime, you probably want to skip this one.

Conclusion

So those were the top best anime like Tokyo Ghoul.

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