10 best revenge anime series that you should watch

Revenge is a common theme across genres, but revenge anime tends to portray it in a manner deemed gratifying and cathartic. Unlike mundane revenge tales, revenge anime features overpowered protagonists seeking vengeance through elaborate plans, intense training montages, and visceral fight scenes.

Revenge anime comes in many forms, from horror and tragedy to action and adventure, but they always manage to give viewers an emotionally resonant storyline to follow. Here are 10 of the greatest revenge anime series that you should watch if you want to experience a unique take on the revenge theme.

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

Dororo, Vinland Saga, and 8 other must-watch revenge anime series

1) Afro Samurai

Afro Samurai follows the story of Afro, a young boy who witnesses the murder of his father at the hands of a gunslinger named Justice. After training hard for years, Afro sets out on a quest to take revenge on Justice and claim the ceremonial Number One headband that will mark him as the greatest fighter in the land.

With stylish animation and choreography, Afro Samurai delivers thrilling action sequences as Afro cuts a swath through all manner of fighters and assassins standing in his way.

This revenge anime explores the futility of vengeance even as Afro pursues it with a single-minded focus, making for a complex character study. Samuel L. Jackson gives a memorable voice performance as Afro in the English dub.

2) 91 Days

Set during the Prohibition era in the United States, 91 Days follows Angelo Lagusa, who has vowed to exact revenge against the Vanetti crime family after they killed his parents and brother.

Angelo infiltrates the Vanetti family under the false name Avilio Bruno and slowly works his way into their inner circle, befriending the don’s son Nero while secretly plotting the destruction of the entire Vanetti syndicate. 91 Days is a quintessential example of a revenge anime with its gripping narrative.

With a 1920s aesthetic and soundtrack reminiscent of mafia films like The Godfather, 91 Days builds suspense around whether Angelo will satisfy his long-held desire for vengeance or be thwarted by the bonds he forms with his family's killers.

3) Dororo

A pivotal series in the revenge anime genre, Dororo presents a darker, more mature take on Osamu Tezuka’s classic manga. The 2019 adaptation focuses on Hyakkimaru, whose body was dismembered by demons at birth due to a pact made by his father.

Hyakkimaru regains a portion of his stolen body parts whenever he slays one of the 48 demons that took them from him. With the help of an orphan thief named Dororo, he travels across feudal Japan to hunt down the demons one by one.

Dororo depicts the bloody confrontations between Hyakkimaru and various gruesome demons in harrowing detail. This revenge series takes audiences on an emotional rollercoaster ride as Hyakkimaru wrestles with difficult questions about what it means to be human.

4) Vinland Saga

In the realm of historical revenge anime, Vinland Saga stands out. This anime focuses on the Danish invasion of England in the 11th century, with the protagonist Thorfinn thirsting to avenge his father Thors’ murder at the hands of Askeladd, the cunning leader of a band of Viking mercenaries.

After being enslaved by Askeladd for years, Thorfinn joins his crew hoping for a chance to duel him to the death. Animated by Wit Studio, the animation studio brings the Viking era to life in vivid detail, with some extremely hard-hitting action sequences depicting the brutality of combat with swords, spears, and axes.

Thorfinn, deeply traumatized by his father's death, is driven by a relentless quest for revenge, leading to profound character development. Though initially violent, the series later evolves into an exploration of pacifism.

5) Goblin Slayer

In a dark fantasy world overrun by goblins, only the Goblin Slayer concerns himself with hunting down every last member of this weak but vicious species. Having lost his village to a goblin horde as a child, he harbors a passionate loathing towards them that fuels his bloody occupation.

Each goblin quest brings horrifying yet cathartic vengeance against these cruel creatures that represent the worst of human nature. Studio White Fox pulls no punches in depicting the gritty, explicit violence in Goblin Slayer, though it is in service of a serious exploration of trauma and revenge.

Flashes of the Goblin Slayer’s past reveal the tragic root of his obsession, even as his cold tunnel vision brings collateral damage. This popular revenge anime builds to a finale that highlights the cyclical nature of retribution.

6) Hellsing Ultimate

This dark fantasy OVA based on the manga by Kouta Hirano focuses on powerful vampire Alucard and his human master Integra Hellsing, who lead the monster-hunting organization Hellsing in violently confronting undead threats to Britain.

The anime chronicles their escalating war against a Nazi vampire faction hoping to conquer England. With Alucard voiced spectacularly by Crispin Freeman in the English dub, Hellsing Ultimate features insanely over-the-top action sequences as the ridiculously powerful vampire unleashes his full deadly abilities against hordes of enemies.

His quest for revenge against the Nazis, who almost killed him 60 years ago, drives the plot while also exploring thought-provoking philosophy about the fine line between human and monster.

7) Inuyashiki

Both a superhero and revenge story, Inuyashiki focuses on the elderly Inuyashiki Ichiro, who is dying of cancer. He becomes an unwilling cyborg after aliens blow up his human body, granting him incredible new abilities.

While he decides to become a vigilante hero with his powers, a psychopathic teenager named Shishigami Hiro, who was altered by the same aliens, chooses to embark on a killing spree, murdering innocent people, including Ichiro’s family, for his own amusement.

As Ichiro hunts down Shishigami to stop more killings, the revenge anime by MAPPA delves into themes of good, evil, and morality. Inuyashiki impresses with its CGI and fight animation, ultimately questioning the justification of vengeance against deeply flawed individuals.

8) Attack on Titan

In a world where the remnants of humanity live inside cities surrounded by massive walls guarding them from man-eating Titans, Attack on Titan focuses heavily on revenge.

Protagonist Eren Yeager dedicates himself to wiping out the Titans after they kill his mother, while the secret history of his father, Grisha, and the nation of Marley, who created the Titans, is slowly revealed across four seasons of intrigue and betrayal.

Animated beautifully by studios Wit Studio and MAPPA, Attack on Titan employs dark fantasy, military action, and apocalyptic horror to explore how the desire for vengeance can give rise to endless cycles of violence on both individual and societal levels.

9) Code Geass

Set in an alternate timeline where the Holy Britannian Empire has conquered much of the world, including Japan, Code Geass focuses on exiled Britannian prince Lelouch vi Britannia.

Lelouch gains the power of absolute obedience, dubbed Geass, and becomes determined to overthrow Britannia, seeking vengeance against his father, Emperor Charles Zi Britannia, after he failed to protect his wife and Lelouch's mother against her killers. Lelouch's sister, Nunnally, who witnessed the act, lost both her eyes due to shock.

Under the persona Zero, he leads an ever-escalating rebellion while trying to discover the truth about his mother’s assassination. With masterful writing by Ichirō Ōkouchi, Code Geass delivers pulse-pounding mecha action sequences and Machiavellian political intrigue in equal measure.

Lelouch makes for a thrilling morally ambiguous antihero, as the brilliance he shows wielding soldiers like chess pieces is matched only by the arrogance that ultimately threatens to undo his quest for justice.

10) Berserk

No revenge anime tops Berserk when it comes to delivering an operatic-level revenge tragedy. It centers on stoic warrior Guts, who joins the charismatic mercenary leader Griffith’s Band of the Hawk following a duel between them. The two form an unbreakable bond, with Guts helping Griffith toward his dream conquest.

But Griffith’s heartbreaking betrayal during the Eclipse ceremony sets Guts on a dark lonely path hunting down demonic Apostles. Directed by Naohito Takahashi, the original 1997 anime adaptation covers Guts’ tragic past and the Golden Age arc when he begins his fated relationship with Griffith.

Its ending is one of the most shocking and unforgettable in anime history. While newer series like the 2012 Golden Age compilation trilogy and 2016’s Berserk cover events after the Eclipse ceremony, the heart of Guts’ intensely personal quest for vengeance lies in those earliest episodes.

Conclusion

In conclusion, revenge may be an ugly concept, but it has captivated audiences across all storytelling mediums since ancient times. There is something raw and instinctively compelling about seeing someone right wrong against them by any means necessary—a theme that revenge anime masterfully encapsulates.

Whether the revenge seekers in the titles above are bloodthirsty killers or wronged heroes ultimately depends on perspective. But most of these revenge anime demonstrate how pursuing vengeance leaves terrible scars on the soul, continuing cycles of violence instead of healing pain.

Watching these revenge anime makes the viewer question where the thirst for vengeance comes from and whether any justice gained from retaliation is worth the costs.

Edited by Babylona Bora