No doubt, Death Note is the only anime that introduced me to the anime world. And I’m sure, it is the first anime that introduced you to Japanese culture as well. I mean the show has everything I ever wanted from my binge-watching journey. The freaky and twisted protagonist, and a disruptive society waiting to be manipulative, sign me up, please!
Anyway, today we’ll be looking at the top 5 anime/manga similar to Death Note. We will be taking into account things like anti-hero protagonists, the game of the wits, and the concept of justice for the weak. So without further ado, let’s dive straight into these five shows similar to Death Note.
5 manga and anime like Death Note
Attack On Titan
Yes, you’ve heard it right. Attack on Titan is similar to Death Note. It might not be similar to Death Note in the first two seasons but as soon as you pass the third, you’ll realize that Eren, the protagonist of AOT, has a lot in common with our anti-hero Light.
In Attack on Titan, Eren, who once wanted to take revenge on titans for killing his mother, turns into a titan himself. And light, who once wanted to punish all the murderers, becomes a murderer himself. So you might want to watch these two amazing shows and dive deep into the anti-hero segment of anime and manga.
Lost+Brain
This is my personal favorite manga, and I finished it last month. The story, characters, and entire settings of the manga are similar to Death Note.
But instead of using Death Notes as a way to manipulate people, Ren Hiyama, the protagonist of Lost+Brain, uses hypnosis to control people and fuels his will to change the world into a zone where human weakness doesn’t exist.
I read the manga in one sitting, and oh boy the climax is soo good that I don’t want to reveal it here. Just read it, and I am sure you’ll love the characters who spit an image of every DN character.
Berserk
I know you heard about it but never gave it a chance. But trust me, once you enter into the world of guts, there is going back to your personal world.
I am currently reading the manga, and so far, I can guarantee that if Light knew how to use a sword, there would be a battle that could destroy the entire world. There is a smirking similarity between Light and Guts.
While Light uses his brain to fight with the world, Guts uses his 1.90 meters almighty sword Dragon Slayer.
Readers must note that while Death Note has a little bit of graphics in the episodes, Berserk is full of it, and every episode/chapter unravels more disgusting things one after another.
Code Geass
Right off the bat, Code Geass is the epitome of storytelling, and it’s hard to ignore a show that does show many things in just 25 episodes.
Ask any veteran anime watcher, and he/she will tell you about the legacy of Code Geass, and how it influenced modern shows like Death Note, Tokyo Ghoul, and others.
The concept of the anti-hero is not new, and several anime/manga tried their hand at the anti-hero genre, but no one came close to Code Geass, and it had achieved since its release in 2006.
If are looking for some heavy brain lifting along with some mecha, I highly recommend watching Code Geass at least once in your life.
Monster
The Monster was released in 2004, and after almost a decade, people started recognizing the work of Naoki Urasawa as the show had a similar vibe to Death Note.
The story follows the life of Dr. Kenzo Tenma who saves a life of a young child by sacrificing the life of a local minister. The boy, who was once a lighthearted individual, turns into the evil version of light.
Johan Liebert is the antagonist of Monster, and he shares a drastic personality type with Light. As both the individuals consider themselves as the chosen one, and the god of the new world.
If you are looking for more battle of wits kind of series, then you should consider Monster as your go-to anime.
Final thoughts
So that’s all folks. I hope you liked my compilation of the top 5 shows similar to Death Note. While researching this article, I saw many websites that were adding “Future Diary” as a similar anime to Death Note.
As a regular anime reviewer, I can say it’s important to give factual information to your readers, and these five shows are similar to Death Note in almost every aspect mentioned.
Please do let me know in the comment section if there are any other shows which share similarities to Death Note.
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