Oddly animated by the same Studio OLM that has delighted the hearts of children worldwide with Pokemon, its also made perhaps the most grim, dark anime to ever exist that’s left mature viewers hopeless, in shambles, and yet somehow still wanting more: Berserk. Unrelentingly disturbing, gritty, violent, hopeless, bleak, and morally ambiguous — if you’ve watched Berserk, you know that this anime encapsulates the very essence of what the subgenre of grimdark is. Although literally Guts-wrenching, the show and its characters carry a certain visceral depth to them that meticulously dissects the themes of free will, perseverance, human connection, and the corruption therein.
But let’s way you’ve finished the entire series, even the most recent adaptation that has questionable quality, just to attempt to fill the dark, gaping hole the hellish whirlwind of a story and characters have left. What now? Well, fear not (well, maybe there’s plenty of reason to fear), for there are plenty of anime out there that may not be as good as Berserk, but they can definitely try to be just as hopeless and miserable to watch.
Claymore
When Raki’s village is plagued by a shapeshifting, bloodthirsty demon known as a youma, a lone swordswoman arrives to vanquish it. But she’s no ordinary knight; she’s what’s known as a Claymore: a half-human, half-youma being whose purpose in life is to exterminate such monsters. When Raki is spared from the demonic fate that killed his family, he’s subsequently banished by his own village in fear of him being inflicted as a youma himself. Deciding to accompany the Claymore woman, Clare, the two travel together to defeat youma, the mysteries of the Claymore, while Clare’s own motives begin to unravel.
Any fan of Berserk could surely appreciate a lone knight character armed with nothing but a sword and traveling around as a mercenary, defeating demons. While the two share familiar premises, you’ll be quickly pleased to find a wholly different story experience with Claymore.
Claymore can be streamed on Crunchyroll.
Devilman: Crybaby
When Akira Fudou, an unassuming, weak, highly sympathetic crybaby, is asked to assist his childhood friend Ryou Asuka in uncovering devils, Akira surprisingly immediately accepts, and the two head for a place called Sabbath. Being an underground party filled with debauchery and degeneracy, it becomes a breeding ground for demon possession, turning the rave into a bloodbath. Akira, in his attempt to save Ryou, becomes merged with a demon himself, becoming a Devilman. With a newfound power but still a soft heart, Akira works alongside Ryou to exterminate other demons and save those they hold dear.
With yet more demons to defeat in a morally dark world, Devilman: Crybaby offers Berserk fans just what the clinically depressed doctor ordered.
Devilman: Crybaby can be streamed on Netflix.
Goblin Slayer
While Goblins cause their own serious problems and damage, they are still somehow seen as a non-threat, raiding towns to kidnap women of any species for breeding purposes while the problem goes ignored as adventurers turn their noses up at the low-level creatures in favor of larger bounties. When 15-year-old Priestess joins a team of eager rookies to fight some goblins, the inexperienced team is quickly overtaken by the “low-level” monsters. But when the Silver rank Goblin Slayer swoops in to rescue the Priestess and destroy the entire group of goblins, she decides to accompany him on his goblin-vanquishing endeavor. Along with the Priestess, High Elf, Dwarf, and Lizardman, the Goblin Slayer won’t rest until he puts an end to the overlooked, despicable creatures.
Though some anime, like Berserk, tend to focus on threats typically considered higher-priority or more fearsome, Goblin Slayer brings to light just how many problems ignoring “lesser” threats can give rise to.
Goblin Slayer can be streamed on Crunchyroll.
Monster
When renowned neurosurgeon Dr. Kenzou Tenma is faced with the moral dilemma of either saving a child’s life or following orders to perform surgery on the town’s mayor, he manages to save the life of the young boy, Johan Liebert. Unfortunately, Tenma’s good intentions come with their own consequences. Years later, beyond losing his job and fiancée, deaths mysteriously begin cropping up, with suspicions pointing a finger at Tenma himself, forcing him to face the consequences of his choices and the monster he allowed to live.
Although the conflicts in Monster aren’t as gratuitously bloody and Johan doesn’t get as much screen time as Griffith, his manipulative tactics are just as conniving, creating havoc and ambiguous remorse in the whisper of his wake.
Monster can be streamed on Netflix.
Hellsing Ultimate
Hellsing, headed by Sir Integra Fairbrook Wingates Hellsing, is an organization that specializes in the supernatural extermination of creatures of darkness threatening humanity. However, even with a vast military armed with powerful weapons, there is one weapon that stands fathoms above any other that Integra prides herself on in wielding: the vampire Alucard. Being one of the very monsters the supernatural extermination organization intends to eliminate, Alucard presents a power that gives Hellsing the upper hand in any fight. Alongside the only vampire companion he’d ever created himself, police girl Seras Victoria, Alucard and the organization face increasingly growing threats, some coming from strangely human origins.
Full of supernatural horror and gore, Hellsing Ultimate doesn’t fail in satisfying Berserk fans’ craving for a main character more than willing to dominate in any bloody battle.
Hellsing Ultimate can be streamed on Crunchyroll.
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Chainsaw Man
Denji and his pet chainsaw devil, Pochita, slay devils for a living. Unfortunately, it’s not much of one since every penny they make seems to be siphoned back into the pockets of the yakuza to pay off his deadbeat father’s debt instead of going towards Denji’s dream of living a normal, happy life, especially as a teenager. But that dream is dashed when the yakuza betrays him, costing him his life. Fortunately, when Pochita merges with Denji, it extends his life and grants him demonic chainsaw powers. Now posing a risk to society, the Public Safety Bureau allows him to live so long as he follows the orders of elite devil hunter Makima. With newfound hope for the life he’s always dreamed of, Denji is willing to give it his all in every fight he faces.
While chasing an ideal life that’s not quite the same as Guts or Griffith, Denji fights just as fiercely for a life he’s always dreamed of to come to fruition, no matter how much blood he has to shed.
Chainsaw Man can be streamed on Crunchyroll and Hulu.
Vinland Saga
Thorfinn, born in his homeland of Iceland, had once received a bespoke piece of advice from his father: “You have no enemies, nobody does. There is nobody who it’s okay to hurt.” But when a man named Askeladd kills his father, Thorfinn takes up work as a mercenary, seeking revenge with death and war becoming the reality Thorfinn endures in his daily life. With constant war between England and the Danes, the Vikings actually enjoy making a living collecting the spoils and making names for themselves. Recalling tales from sailors he’d heard as a young lad, tales of a land warm and fertile and free of fighting, Thorfinn seeks the legendary Vinland.
Like the Band of the Hawk in Berserk, the Vikings in Vinland Saga live to fight. And akin to Guts, Thorfinn fights in the hope that he can eventually find something more to live for himself. But where the two vastly differ is in how Thorfinn’s views on violence drastically change over the course of the story.
Vinland Saga can be streamed on Netflix, Prime Video, and Crunchyroll.
Grimgar: Ashes and Illusions
When a group of six strangers – Haruhiro, Manato, Yume, Shihoru, Moguzo, and Ranta – are thrown into the strange land of Grimgar, where their only solid memories are their names, they’re forced to accept a well-paying job to get by as soldiers in the Reserve Army. Although Grimgar feels like a familiar video game-like world, the group faces very real dangers with no hope for respawns. Together, they must struggle to survive in a very real, very hostile world they’d been thrown into.
In this dark isekai, instead of the characters getting perks like choices having redoes and death being trivial, Grimgar gives a more realistic depiction of what it would be like to be thrown headfirst into an unknown, hostile world, much like how Guts must face his own harsh realities and blurry morals.
Grimgar: Ashes and Illusions can be streamed on Crunchyroll.
Elfen Lied
Lucy, a being with horns and invisible telekinetic hands known as a Diclonius, finally jumps at the chance to escape her entrapment and torture of government experimentation, leaving a bloodbath in her wake. With her mind not only corrupted from the torture of experimentation, Lucy also sustains a head injury that leaves her with a split personality. When she stumbles into the care of college students Kouta and his cousin Yuka, they’re none the wiser at the harmless, mentally childish Lucy when they find themselves in the middle of a dangerous government conspiracy.
Like that of Griffith, Lucy’s danger lies hidden under a veneer of innocent looks, a larger conspiracy looming in wait to pounce on its unknowing victims. While certainly controversial as far as anime goes, Elfen Lied is sure to leave a lasting impression on viewers.
Elfen Lied can be streamed on Prime Video.
Dororo
With his land in despair, the greedy samurai lord Daigo Kagemitsu makes a deal with 12 demons to grant him power and prosperity, but at the cost of his firstborn son. Somehow living but born without limbs, nose, eyes, ears, nor skin, the child was disposed of in a river to be forgotten. Saved by a medicine man, Hyakkimaru is given weaponized prosthetics and grows up able to fend for himself. Not just being able to live despite being unable to see, hear, or feel, but fending off the demons hunting him as sacrifice. One day, an orphan named Dororo decides to accompany Hyakkimaru on his journey to destroy each demon to regain the pieces of himself that had been refused to him from birth.
Like Guts on his adventure as a wandering mercenary, Hyakkimaru and Dororo face not just demons threatening them with evisceration, but the demons of peoples’ hearts they meet on their journey.
Dororo can be streamed on Prime Video, Hulu, and HIDIVE.
The post 10 Best Anime to Watch if You Like Berserk appeared first on ComicBook.com.
