10 best anime like Devilman Crybaby you should watch

Devilman Crybaby is a dark and violent anime that explores mature themes like sexuality, violence, and the loss of humanity. With its striking visuals, emotionally intense story, and visceral action, Devilman Crybaby has captured the attention of anime fans looking for something outside the norm.

If you enjoyed the grim, thought-provoking nature of Devilman Crybaby, here are 10 other anime that explore similarly dark themes while telling compelling stories. These anime deliver intense emotional narratives, extreme violence, or both, in service of exploring the darker sides of humanity.

Disclaimer: This list is not ranked in any particular order and reflects the writer's opinions.

Top 10 anime picks for fans of Devilman Crybaby

1) Parasyte: The Maxim

Parasyte: The Maxim (Image via Madhouse)

Like Devilman Crybaby, Parasyte: The Maxim focuses on a male protagonist who finds himself fused with a parasitic entity, granting him incredible powers while also warring for control of his body. It’s a gruesome anime with plenty of body horror and a significant amount of gore.

As the parasites secretly invade human society, the main character must learn to control his new abilities to fight back against the infestation. Parasyte explores philosophical themes about human nature while also delivering some extreme violence. Fans of body horror and survival stories may enjoy this one.

2) Attack on Titan

Few anime can match the tense action and bleak tone of Attack on Titan. Humanity lives inside walled cities to protect themselves from the Titans, massive humanoid creatures that devour people. When the Titans breach the walls and invade the city, a young man named Eren Yeager vows to wipe out the Titans and reclaim the world for humanity.

Similar to Devilman Crybaby, Attack on Titan is a violent, apocalyptic anime, where humanity is always on the brink of extinction from monstrous threats. It also features dark conspiracies and the gradual loss of the characters' humanity as they are exposed to greater violence and death throughout the series.

3) Elfen Lied

Fans of gore and horror may appreciate Elfen Lied, a controversial anime famous for its graphic content. The plot involves mutated humans with incredible psychic powers that grant them invisible telekinetic hands strong enough to rip people and objects to shreds.

A strange girl named Lucy escapes her captors, only to be hit by a bullet that causes her murderous alternate personality to emerge. This series, much like Devilman Crybaby, explores complex themes about discrimination as well as the savage potential lurking within humanity. It’s not an anime experience meant for the faint of heart.

4) Berserk

This dark medieval fantasy centers on Guts, a lone mercenary warrior haunted by trauma. He joins the charismatic Griffith and his band of mercenaries, finding purpose in fighting for them, only to have Griffith's ambitions lead to a horrific sequence of events that changes everything.

Like Devilman Crybaby, Berserk goes to some extremely grim places, with scenes of violence that cement its reputation as one of the most intense and disturbing anime ever made. However, its rich storytelling and complex characters anchor the graphic content and make it compelling for fans of very adult, dark fantasy stories.

5) Genocyber

This gory 1990s anime OVA follows two psychic sisters who can tap into an apocalyptic power known as Genocyber. Various factions seek to control the sisters and wield the devastating psychic weapon for their ends.

Genocyber influenced later series like Evangelion but went even further with its extreme violence, body transformations, and citywide destruction. Similar to Devilman Crybaby, it’s a raw, no-holds-barred anime that embraces a high degree of intensity in its visuals and content.

6) Hellsing Ultimate

Vampires go to war in this violent supernatural action anime. The Hellsing Organization employs the ultimate vampire Alucard and his newly-sired assistant, Seras, to hunt down and destroy other supernatural threats to England.

Hellsing Ultimate embraces the bloodshed inherent in its premise, resulting in intensely gory fight scenes as Alucard unleashes his full vampiric abilities against swarms of enemies. It also features occult themes and a strong dose of black humor. The combination makes it an excellent choice for Devilman Crybaby fans who enjoy their action anime with vampires and violence turned way up.

7) Claymore

In a medieval world plagued by shape-shifting monsters called Yoma that feed on human innards, an organization creates an army of half-human, half-Yoma warriors called Claymores to exterminate the threat. The series follows the Claymore named Clare as she fights both Yoma and her own inner demon while uncovering secrets about the true nature of the Claymores.

Claymore, much like Devilman Crybaby, features extensive monster violence with a sizable body count. It also explores the loss of humanity as Clare struggles not to lose herself to her Yoma side. Its creative fantasy world, amounter action, and themes of discrimination and prejudice make it a good recommendation.

8) Corpse Princess

Corpse Princess focuses on an undead girl named Makina Hoshimura, who is resurrected to serve as a Shikabane Hime—a corpse princess contracted to slay other undead beings threatening society. She teams up with a monk named Keisei Tagami to carry out her duties.

Fans of Devilman Crybaby’s darker take on the magical girl genre may appreciate this series’ horror-fantasy mashup of zombie hunting in a magic-infused modern Japan. It has plenty of intense action, along with some body horror and occult themes that easily earn its R rating.

9) High School of the Dead

High School of the Dead (Image via Madhouse)

When a zombie outbreak claims most of Japan, a group of high school students and the school nurse must band together to survive the apocalypse. This ecchi anime blends zombie horror violence and fan service in copious amounts. Like Devilman Crybaby, it pulls no punches, showcasing severed limbs and brutal kills in its tense scenes of zombie survival action.

Viewers who enjoy B-movie-style grindhouse anime with intense visuals and content will probably get a kick out of High School of the Dead. It’s perfect for viewers who liked Devilman Crybaby’s extremes but wanted more zombies.

10) Goblin Slayer

A young priestess joins her first adventuring party, only to have it swiftly ambushed and slaughtered by vicious goblins. After a mysterious armored figure saves her from being killed, she follows him on his singular quest to eliminate every goblin from the realm.

Goblin Slayer’s first episode sets the tone for this dark, visceral, fantasy anime that doesn’t flinch from violence. It ventures into mature territory, helping to cement the goblins as irredeemable monsters that the audience wants to see butchered in creative ways.

Viewers who found Devilman Crybaby’s content compelling and not gratuitous may be the audience Goblin Slayer seeks.

Conclusion

In conclusion, Devilman Crybaby breaks boundaries with its mesmerizing art style, emotive storytelling, and unflinching extremes. For anime fans hungry for more thought-provoking series that embrace dark and intense content, the selections above offer more than enough bloodshed, demons, monsters, psychic powers, and shocking plot twists to scratch that devilish itch.

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