10 best anime to watch if you like Love, Death & Robots

Love, Death & Robots is a popular American adult animated anthology web television series on Netflix. With its unique combination of thought-provoking stories told through stunning animation, it has gained a huge fan following globally.

Fans who enjoyed Love, Death & Robots and are looking for some similar anime to watch next, then they have landed in the right place. There are several brilliant anime out there that have dark, philosophical themes and avant-garde animation styles akin to Love, Death & Robots.

Let's explore the 10 best anime that anime fans of Love, Death & Robots are sure to appreciate.

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

10 best anime for fans of Love, Death & Robots

1) Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex

Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex (Image via Production I.G)

Set in a cyberpunk future, Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex is a dark and atmospheric anime classic that explores thought-provoking philosophical questions about technology, identity, and what it means to be human.

Much like Love, Death & Robots, each episode examines these complex issues through the lens of sci-fi, action, and police stories. The series has stunningly detailed animation and visuals that still hold up great even today. Fans of LDR's futuristic and dystopian technology landscapes will surely enjoy this one.

2) Akira

If fans liked LDR's eccentric visual flare and boundary-pushing animation, then the iconic 1988 anime film Akira is a must-watch. Set in a dystopian, cyberpunk Neo Tokyo in 2019, Akira's animation and visuals were well ahead of its time and still feel fresh even today.

From the gritty cityscapes to the grotesque body horror visuals, Akira's trippy avant-garde animation style clearly inspired LDR's aesthetic. Its dark and violent story explores complex philosophical themes like the ethics of science and human consciousness. It is considered a true anime classic by many fans.

3) Genius Party & Genius Party Beyond

Genius Party & Genius Party Beyond (Image via Studio 4°C)

This pair of anthology anime films brings together some of the most unique and creative anime shorts from acclaimed directors. Much like Love, Death & Robots, the Genius Party anthologies feature a diverse collection of animation styles and thought-provoking stories ranging from abstract to dystopian to surreal.

Some standout shorts are Doorbell with its ominous sense of impending doom, Deathtic 4 with stylized horror visuals, and the existential Limit Cycle. If you enjoy LDR for its distinctive variety, check these out.

4) Memories

Memories is another brilliant anime anthology film with 3 shorts: Magnetic Rose, a haunting sci-fi space odyssey about loneliness; Stink Bomb, a dark comedy about chemical weapons; and Cannon Fodder, a minimalist commentary on endless wars. Each short has wildly differing visual styles and themes much like Love, Death & Robots episodes.

Magnetic Rose especially feels similar to LDR with its photorealistic animation and moody philosophical themes. For anime fans who like specific shorts rather than full seasons, Memories is ideal.

5) Paranoia Agent

This psychological thriller anime series comes from the acclaimed director Satoshi Kon (Paprika, Perfect Blue). It follows an enigmatic kid nicknamed "Lil Slugger" who terrorizes Tokyo citizens by assaulting them with a bent golden baseball bat.

Much like many episodes of Love, Death & Robots, Paranoia Agent explores the darker recesses of the human psyche through the lens of a gritty, almost hallucinogenic crime story. From its eccentric visuals to its explorations of despair and madness, fans of LDR's darker content should check this out.

6) Serial Experiments Lain

Serial Experiments Lain (Image via Triangle Staff)

This cult classic series from the late 90s has a huge influence on cyberpunk and philosophical anime even today. The story follows an introverted girl called Lain who discovers the strange online world of "The Wired" and starts questioning the reality of her own identity and existence.

With its relatively slow pace and avant-garde visuals, Lain may not be for everyone. But for fans of Love, Death & Robots' more surreal and existential shorts which play with concepts of artificial reality and consciousness, Lain covers very similar ground albeit in a slower, dream-like manner.

7) Neo Tokyo

Neo Tokyo (Image via Madhouse, Project Team Argos, and APPP)

Like Memories, Neo Tokyo is an 80s anthology anime film containing three shorts that offer intriguing philosophical takes on human-machine relationships and existentialism through the common cyberpunk lens.

The Running Man short tells a gripping tale of a lethal race car driver in a bleak futuristic world, highlighting fierce rivalry and a fight for survival. With LDR's cyberpunk and dystopian roots, Neo Tokyo should greatly appeal to its fans despite being older anime.

8) Boogiepop Phantom

This peculiar supernatural anime series isn't talked about much but offers the kind of avant-garde visuals, non-linear storyline, and thematic explorations of the human psyche that fans of Love, Death & Robots would certainly enjoy.

Set in an unnamed Japanese city, it chronicles the sudden appearance of a mysterious synthetic being called Boogiepop and its connections with strange happenings among the city's inhabitants, including the series' psychologically damaged characters.

For Love, Death & Robots fans looking for something more obscure but creative, this anime could be considered as a good watch.

9) Texhnolyze

A dark cyberpunk anime classic, Texhnolyze takes place in the underground city of Lux - a gloomy, gritty place filled with despair, tragedy, violence, and gang wars involving the Organo corporation.

It focuses on the story of a prize boxer named Ichise who loses his arm and leg to satisfy the whims of Lux's cruel leaders. Texhnolyze is visually stunning yet extremely bleak in its explorations of the human condition in a dark dystopian world. Perfect for fans who loved Love, Death & Robots' darker episodes.

10) Genocidal Organ

For Love, Death & Robots fans who enjoyed the more politically charged shorts criticizing war, capitalism, and power structures, the 2017 anime film Genocidal Organ is right up that alley.

Set in a dystopian future where the threat of terrorism and drone warfare loom large, Genocidal Organ explores the dark side of psychology and linguistics weaponized to control human minds.

Visually stunning and thematically dark, Genocidal Organ examines the ethics of waging peace through psychological operations in wartime. With complex philosophies and geopolitical issues woven into its cyberpunk setting, fans of Love, Death & Robots' more political shorts should appreciate this gritty anime gem.

Conclusion

The philosophical, avant-garde, and genre-blending nature of Love, Death & Robots has made it a hugely influential series - especially inspiring more dark, adult-oriented storytelling in Western animation. It has clearly shown that there's a big audience hungry for short animated stories that break creative boundaries.

While we await new seasons of this wonderful series, the 10 anime above are bound to appeal greatly to Love, Death & Robots fans looking to fill its void or discover groundbreaking and creative anime. So be sure to check them out!