Hi all! So my boyfriend has recently gotten me into anime, and I'm looking for new suggestions.

I like: Mystery! Give me all your mystery suggestions, supernatural and/or fantasy elements welcome. I am a true crime lover so darker mysteries are very welcome! Horror/Thriller/Psychological Supernatural/paranormal I'm also willing to look at more action, fantasy, comedy, and/or slice of life options as well.

Dislike: An absurd amount of fanservice. I don't mind some if the plot and characters are worth it. I am 26 and prefer more relatable anime, so anime with strictly child characters are not my favorite so far. High school is alright. I'm just not very into anything too cutesy.

I am mostly caught up on My Hero Academia, Erased, and Tokyo Ghoul. I have also watched Hitori no Shita: The Outcast, Death Parade, Death Note, King's Game, Angels of Death, and ODDTAXI. I did NOT particularly care for Fruits Basket. I tried about 5 episodes and just can't get into it. I have also tried Sailor Moon but the cutesy-ness of it is a little much for me.

Please let me know which platform(s) your suggestions stream on if you know. I have hulu, netflix, and my boyfriend has crunchyroll as well. Thanks guys!

so, i just wanna preface this by saying that when i was first getting into anime, i found it a lot easier to start with the shorter series. now that i'm older and have a better attention span it's different, but just so you kinda know what's guiding my decisions lol

• samurai champloo (hulu) - short action, mystery, slice-of-life-ish anime set in meiji-era japan with a hip-hop twist. nujabes did the music and he's kind of a legend
• elfen lied (hulu) - another short one, this is much more on the horror/thriller spectrum. admittedly it's been a long time since i've seen it, so idk if it still holds up but i really enjoyed it. there's a lot of gore just in case that's not your thing
• serial experiments lain (it used to be on funimation's youtube channel, not sure if it still is) - honestly idek how to explain this one. it's a mindfuck. has something to do with humanity and computers... i gotta rewatch that again

hmm i thought i'd have more but i think those three are some good ones to get you started and maybe lead you to other anime you'll also like :)

Thank you! I have seen Elfen Lied on there but haven't watched it yet. I will check these out :)

I watch anime on Crunchyroll, so I can give some recommendations from over there:

In/Spectre - Mystery/supernatural series - You've got a "god of wisdom" who solves problems for supernatural creatures, a man who supernatural creatures fear, and them working together to solve things. It's also only 12 episodes, so fairly short.

Another - Horror/mystery series that's also only one season. There's an "extra person" in a cursed classroom, and unless the "extra person" is killed, people associated with the class will die throughout the school year.

Parasyte - Another horror series, this one's more of a psychological body horror series with aliens. I don't want to give too much away on this!

If you need more, I'll have to go back in my history to see what else I've watched that fits. I tend to watch several series each season, so I'm probably missing something at some point!

Thanks so much you guys! I will try to check all of these out!

Action Demon Slayer - CR/Hulu Jujutsu Kaisen - CR

Horror Parasyte - Netflix

Slice of Life/Comedy Food Wars (There is a fair bit of over the top fan service in this, but it's almost all to convey how good the food is lol) - CR

Feels Violet Evergarden - Netflix

Thank you!

Gangsta, Trinity Blood, High Rise Invasion, Higurashi No Naku Koro Ni are all fantastic, the last three being horror/supernatural, Gangsta and Trinity Blood are particularly my favorites. Also Erased, really great short series.

Thanks! And yes, I loved Erased.

My personal top favorite anime is Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood, which I think did well balancing their light and dark themes and overall have good action and plot.

Another one my fam likes is Black Butler, set in Victorian London with a very strong supernatural element; lots of action, darkness, and drama, and lots of interesting characters.

Of the two, I think Black Butler fits your parameters better, though. It's a good dark one, though the first episode initially acts otherwise. I'd compare it a little bit to Death Note.

For horror/dark the first thing that came to mind was Hellsing Ultimate. It's not especially scary or anything but it's bloody and edgy and doesn't take itself too seriously. The mangaka Hirano also wrote a series called Drifters about historical figures transported to another world to battle each other.

Some series I personally like are Zombieland Saga, Mob Psycho, Kyousougiga, Classicaloid, and Evangelion.

Thanks! I'll check them out. My bf recommended Black Butler to me too I just haven't gotten around to watching it haha.

For the fanservice thing this anime kind of sucks but the plot is one of my favorites, I'd suggest Higurashi When they Cry series. It's a horror/mystery anime. The original, I haven't even seen the new one. It's got enough gross fanservice that I TOTALLY get not watching it though. This series has multiple seasons, but it's not a crazy amount of episodes.

It might not look like it, but Madoka Magica's got a good amount of messed up things in it. A lot of religious background references and good music, too. WAY less fanservice, 12 episodes.

Last one that I can think of is Corpse Party. This one's VERY gorey, but it's got plot. It's actually got a couple of games to go with it too! The anime is 4 episodes long, but I don't remember how long each episode is. Regardless, pretty short with occasional fanservice.

At the top of my head, I can't remember many. Higurashi stayed with me for MONTHS after watching it, the plot felt relentless but to be fair I was in middle school so I might have seen it with rose colored glasses.

Also, it might not be everyones thing, but the Ghost Stories english dub is really funny.

Thanks for the options!

Sounds like you could enjoy Jujutsu Kaisen I'd also recommend Kakegurui but you have to beware of the fanservice-y-type things they do. It's hard to explain but... the anime is about a school of obscenely rich kids whose entire hierarchy is based on gambling. They don't bet with money because they already have plenty of it, so they'll bet crazy stuff like their body parts. The main character gets an absurd amount of satisfaction from gambling, which is why its borderline-fanservice but I think you'll understand it's supposed to make her look insane and not, like... sexy

baccano! is a good sort of supernatural action. (13 episodes.) future diary (mirai nikki) gave me thriller vibes that reminded me of death note at times. (26 episodes. some fan servicey moments, but it's been a hot second since I watched it.) puella magi madoka magica is my long time favorite, so i'll second that. (12 episodes, or the first two movies cover the plot of the anime with enhanced animation and less filler.) i always reccommend nichijou to people, it's slice of life episodic gag, not genre relevant, just a fun watch. (26 episodes.)

mushishi! it's a folklore anime with quite a lot of mystery and some v creepy (borderline psych-horror) moments.

if you like mysteries AND dark stuff, i absolutely recommend ID: Invaded

it's a 13 episode series and is best gone into blind bc of how tight the writing is, its very nice. the only thing i'll say about the plot is that it's about a team of investigators who specialize in serial killers.

it does not shy away from the dark and disturbing things that comes with having serial killers as a story feature (i cant watch one of the episodes bc of a major squick of mine), but it never feels exploitative as some media does

the characters are all really well written and likable, tho what you like them for can vary, some terrible (affectionate) people in this one XD, the music is fantastic, and the animation is really good

tldr i love this anime and i sobbed my eyes out during the climax and had tons of fun putting together clues in the narrative

someone else already said higurashi: when they cry so seconding that !!! there is some fanservice but i don't think there's a ton, even if there is the plot definitely makes it worth it :]

bungo stray dogs and mob psycho 100 both have supernatural elements, i recommend the latter for anyone regardless of preferences tbh it's just a very solid 10/10 anime. both have comedy elements as well hehe

chainsaw man is currently airing and has a ton of hype surrounding it but it rlly is amazing, highly recommend