10 best amnesia anime that you should watch

Amnesia anime offers a compelling plot device that captivates viewers with its intrigue, mystery, and drama. Viewers love to see characters losing or recovering memories, as it allows personalities to be rediscovered, relationships reforged, and new mysteries revealed.

Many esteemed amnesia anime use some form of amnesia or memory loss as a core part of the narrative or character development. When characters lose memories, uncertainty drives them to rediscover their past or start anew, often leading to dramatic backstory reveals and heightened tension.

Memory loss may even fuel complex conspiracies or throw the nature of reality itself into question. If you like anime that explore memory loss, identity crises, and unraveling intriguing mysteries, check out these top 10 amnesia anime that capture various compelling angles on the narrative power of amnesia.

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

10 captivating amnesia anime you can’t miss

1) Angel Beats!

Angel Beats! follows the adventures of students in the afterlife who died with unfulfilled lives or deep regrets. The protagonist, Otonashi, initially struggles to recall his memories upon arriving in the afterlife.

As he interacts with other students and supernatural foes, he slowly recovers fragments of his past, while working to understand the unusual world he now inhabits. Over 13 episodes, Otonashi pieces together the mystery of the chaotic Afterlife Battlefront and the sad stories of its members.

Angel Beats! uses amnesia anime elements to create an air of uncertainty regarding the characters. This draws viewers in as backstories and motivations are slowly revealed. With dark humor offsetting dramatic reveals, this amnesiac anime offers laughs alongside mystery.

2) Golden Time

In Golden Time, the protagonist, Tada Banri, awakens following an accident with no memories of his past or even a sense of personal identity. As he adjusts to a new college environment and relationships, he works to uncover his forgotten history.

While otherwise a breezy slice-of-life romance, the mystery surrounding Banri's amnesia adds layers of intrigue. Viewers watch Banri struggle between wanting to know more about his past and fearing what unpleasant revelations that past may hold.

In the process, he comes to question what fundamentally defines identity in this amnesia anime. Golden Time explores love and friendship with characters suffering identity crises driven by amnesia. Viewers will find the story both charming and thoughtful.

3) Re:Zero - Starting Life in Another World

Re:Zero - Starting Life in Another World (Image via White Fox)

When high school student Subaru is suddenly transported to a fantasy world, he discovers he has the mysterious power "Return by Death," which sends him back in time whenever he dies.

Subaru retains his memories from previous loops, while enduring the physical and psychological trauma of each death, forcing him to strategize and grow with each painful iteration. Subaru navigates a magical realm, enduring traumatic deaths and emotionally grappling with resetting relationships after each revival.

Re:Zero is a must-watch amnesia anime that uses its video game-like respawn mechanic to create tense drama as foes become mysteries again, and hard lessons must be relearned.

4) Amnesia

True to its title, Amnesia centers on a heroine who wakes up one morning having lost all memories of her boyfriend and past experiences with him. As she tries figuring out her previous relationships while forging new ones in the present, two worlds collide.

Playing with romance and the implications of memory loss, this amnesia anime takes viewers through the heroine's struggles to make sense of her personal life. Relying only on the accounts of others while left with lingering emotions she can't place, she must decide who and what to trust.

Amnesia employs amnesia to throw relationships and personal identity into question, hooking viewers with drama and intrigue.

5) Plastic Memories

In a future where androids with human emotions exist as friends and family before reaching a point where their memories are erased, Plastic Memories follows Tsukasa— a human who falls in love with an android named Isla whose expiry date is approaching fast.

The idea of losing memories permeates the story, as the couple grapples with treasuring their remaining time together while mourning the impending erasure of memories they've built.

This heart-wrenching amnesia anime uses memory loss centered on androids to provide thoughtful commentary on the value of memories in relationships.

6) Elfen Lied

This violent psychological thriller follows Lucy, a genetic mutant with violent tendencies and a traumatic past.

At the start of the series, she's shot in the head, resulting in a split personality deeply rooted in her traumatic past and Diclonius nature. Her new persona, Nyu, has a distinctly different nature, and has no access to Lucy's inner life or memories prior to the injury.

As the amnesiac protagonist interacts with others, the dark truth of Lucy's history drips out slowly for dramatic reveals. For fans of psychological drama, Elfen Lied is a gripping amnesia anime that dramatizes Lucy's dark past.

7) Steins;Gate

Eccentric scientist Rintaro Okabe experiences massive shifts in the world line due to time travel experiments.

While adapting to the altered present requires some acclimation, what proves most challenging is how only he retains memories across world lines due to his "Reading Steiner" ability, while others remain unaware of alternative timelines.

As relationships and backstories transform between world lines, Steins;Gate leverages Okabe's unique burden of remembering alternate realities to emphasize the poignancy surrounding memory loss. It captures the discomfort faced when loved ones no longer recall bonding moments that never technically occurred.

8) The Big O

The setting of The Big O is a city whose inhabitants all simultaneously lost their memories forty years prior.

With no past or identity, the people must rebuild society while haunted by existential questions— Why did mass amnesia strike? Do their former selves still exist beneath the surface? If memories define individuals, who are they without a history?

The anime noir follows Roger Smith, as he solves mysteries by digging into the city's lost past while confronting dilemmas around memory, selfhood, and reality. By depicting society-wide amnesia, The Big O is a unique amnesia anime that uses uncertainty surrounding memory loss to fuel intrigue.

9) Kanon

It follows Yuichi Aizawa, who returns to a town he last visited as a child but has lost all memory of being there or the friends he made. Upon reconnecting with several girls from his foggy past, he works to uncover what happened during that childhood visit, and the promises certain girls maintain he made back then.

With fragments of memories slowly returning, alongside revelations about the health situations facing some heroines, Yuichi must decipher the truth of the mysterious seven years from his amnesiac past to understand the present.

Kanon leverages the protagonist’s partial childhood amnesia to add mystery and eventual emotional resonance when long-forgotten memories return.

10) Charlotte

While many characters in Charlotte possess superpowers, protagonist Yuu Otosaka has the ability to temporarily possess others' bodies and use their abilities during possession. However, continually using his powers puts a mental strain on himself that hampers his normal high school life.

The anime explores the difficulties of memory loss through its consequences on daily life. This amnesia anime shows relationships challenged and characters frustrated by the inability to recall important details from their lives, making it a compelling exploration of identity.

Conclusion

From identity struggles to challenging relationships to fueling mysteries, amnesia anime proves a compelling plot device for anime storytelling.

If you enjoy unraveling stories structured around memory loss and characters rediscovering themselves, give these top 10 amnesia anime a watch. They capture various angles on the intrigue amnesia inspires.