10 best mystery anime that you should try

Mystery Anime that contains nail-biting mystery and suspense themes are some of the most popular and engaging shows to watch. The unexpected twists and turns in the plot leave viewers constantly guessing. The mystery genre has produced some true anime classics over the years.

These anime build atmosphere and suspense beautifully through their storytelling and aesthetics. It’s always satisfying when clever detective work and plot surprises come together at the end to reveal the truth. If you enjoy trying to solve fictional crimes and mysteries yourself, here are 10 great mystery anime to try.

10 best mystery anime you can't miss

1) Detective Conan

Detective Conan (Image via TMS Entertainment)

Detective Conan follows the adventures of high school detective prodigy Shinichi Kudou. While investigating a mysterious crime syndicate, Shinichi is turned into a child by an experimental poison. To conceal his identity, Shinichi takes on the alias Conan Edogawa and continues solving crimes while searching for a cure.

With over 1,000 anime episodes, it has perfected the classic murder mystery formula. Most episodes center around self-contained mysteries. These run the gamut from locked-room murders to kidnappings. Conan consistently pieces together clues and reveals the culprit before they can strike again.

Elements of an overarching plot and complex criminal organizations keep longtime viewers invested. With new mysteries around every corner, Detective Conan has kept fans hooked for over 20 years, making it a quintessential mystery anime.

2) Baccano!

This supernatural mystery anime tells an intricate tale about alchemists, gangsters, and immortals in Prohibition-era America. The story seems chaotically complex at first with multiple plotlines occurring out of chronological order. The motives and connections between a sprawling ensemble cast remain shrouded in uncertainty.

Clever narrative tricks make the gradual reveal of character backstories and plots highly satisfying. The alchemical secrets behind the characters’ links and immortality tie the different story arcs together inventively by the finale.

Baccano! shines through top-notch animation, stylish fight choreography, and a smooth jazz soundtrack befitting the classic time-period anime. With thieves, assassins, serial killers, and other criminals crossing paths, there’s no shortage of bloody confrontations either, making it a standout in mystery anime.

3) The Promised Neverland

The Promised Neverland (Image via CloverWorks)

The Promised Neverland presents a chilling mystery in an unexpected place—an idyllic orphanage. Children live happy lives at Grace Field House until they get adopted. When two orphans discover the adoptions hide a sinister secret, a tense plot full of intrigue and danger unfolds.

Emma, Norman, and Ray begin planning their escape after discovering the sinister truth about their isolated world. Nightmarish revelations await them at every turn. With genius intellect far beyond their years, observing, deducting, and outwitting their enemy becomes key to their survival in this mystery anime.

A cat-and-mouse game between the children and the demonic forces managing the orphanage drives the suspense. The unusual character dynamics make The Promised Neverland a wholly unique mystery anime. Seeing the young heroes apply their intelligence to outthink a formidable foe proves utterly gripping.

4) Monster

This psychological thriller anime follows Kenzo Tenma, a Japanese surgeon living in Germany whose life enters turmoil after getting dangerously involved with a young sociopath named Johan Liebert. What makes Monster so compelling is its grounded real-world setting and emphasis on human evil.

Johan’s utterly amoral philosophy and hidden history remain disturbing enigmas for much of the series. The writing convincingly conveys his ability to manipulate others to disturbing ends through intricate plotting and a magnetic personality.

As Dr. Tenma’s obsession with finding and stopping Johan grows, it brings turmoil to his personal life, and soon ethical dilemmas arise. It keeps viewers constantly uneasy with slow-building tension rather than jump scares. Moral ambiguity and brilliant characterization stick with viewers long after viewing this mystery anime.

5) Death Note

Death Note gained massive popularity during the anime boom of the 2000s thanks enormously to its thrilling cat-and-mouse narrative. The discovery of a notebook that kills anyone whose name is written in it sparks a battle of wits between master detective 'L' and the ambitious genius Light Yagami, now known as 'Kira'.

Light strives to create his vision of a crime-free world through the notebook’s lethal power, while L uses every resource available to uncover his nemesis’ identity. Plot twists and ethical dilemmas abound, anchored by sophisticated scheming from both sides.

Sharp direction makes mundane conversations electric. The striking visual iconography of the Death Note itself and the Shinigami who accompany it also help cement Death Note as a modern classic in mystery anime.

6) Steins;Gate

Few anime execute tightly-plotted narratives focused on the consequences of time travel better than Steins;Gate. Eccentric "Mad Scientist" Rintarou Okabe accidentally discovers time travel through the creation of a microwave-powered gadget.

However, when lab meddling with the past to undo a tragedy unexpectedly creates devastating results for the present, Okabe desperately attempts to revert things while facing ominous opposition. With research about the real scientific concepts behind time travel weaved in, Steins;Gate crafts a clever self-consistent story.

Okabe makes for an unreliable but likable protagonist, faced with constantly escalating stakes. The supporting cast of distinct characters, including the genius but neurotic Kurisu and skilled hacker Daru, make the viewer deeply invested in reaching the elusive "perfect" conclusion in this mystery anime.

7) Erased

Erased follows struggling manga artist Satoru Fujinuma, who possesses a strange ability allowing him to travel back in time before life-threatening incidents to prevent them. After his mother is murdered and he becomes the prime suspect, Satoru's special power sends him back 18 years to his elementary school days.

He must now relive his traumatic childhood and figure out which one of his former classmates could be the potential murderer growing up to target him and his mother in the future.

Erased is a gripping psychological thriller because of how it makes inspecting ordinary characters and occurrences for ominous significance utterly compelling. It also interweaves Satoru’s own past regrets and maturity as an adult revisiting childhood problems with empathetic wisdom.

8) Moriarty The Patriot

Moriarty the Patriot (Image via Production I.G)

Moriarty the Patriot turns Sherlock Holmes's mythos on its head by telling Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s famous crime stories from the perspective of Holmes’s greatest rival, William James Moriarty.

William James Moriarty and his brothers, Louis and Albert, secretly orchestrate crimes to dismantle Britain's corrupt nobility responsible for their family's suffering. With intricate mind games and Machiavellian manipulation, the sinister siblings prove a formidable challenge for even London’s greatest detective Sherlock Holmes.

Stylish art direction and animated internal monologues make following the Moriarty brothers’ cunning plans as they predict their enemies’ moves compelling and rewarding. The historical 19th-century setting echoes modern real-world class issues, giving political depth to this mystery anime.

9) Bungo Stray Dogs

Bungo Stray Dogs (Image via Studio Bones)

For a more over-the-top take on mystery solving, Bungo Stray Dogs uses the detective fiction genre as a launchpad for zany supernatural action. Orphaned Atsushi joins the Armed Detective Agency whose members possess strange superpowers named after famous literary works.

With characters like Edgar Allan Poe possessing supernatural abilities, unnatural crimes around the city keep Atsushi and the other gifted detectives busy solving uncanny cases.

Detective Club hijinks with vampiric immortals, magical theft through doorways, invisibility, and other such eccentric abilities drive both stand-alone capers and connected narrative arcs propelled by likable characters, making it an unconventional mystery anime.

10) The File Of Young Kindaichi

The File of Young Kindaichi (Image via Toei Animation)

Classic murder mystery fans should check out titles starring teen sleuth Kindaichi Hajime like The File of Young Kindaichi. He travels to different suspiciously sinister locations like ghost towns or doomed hotels, inevitably getting wrapped up in puzzling murder cases upon arrival that only his genius intellect can navigate.

The long-running Young Kindaichi series knows well how to execute formulaic but engaging plot blueprints familiar from Agatha Christie and Doyle. Strange deductions, secret passageways, masked killers, and tense confrontations, this anime cover all the classic elements.

Yet solid clue placement and acting make even repetitious elements entertaining. With several anime seasons and live actions dramas to marathon, Kindaichi devotees need not worry about running out of eerie adventures to enjoy in this classic mystery anime.

Conclusion

Great mystery stories allow viewers to feel the excitement of puzzling out solutions themselves. The best mystery anime guides audiences through even fantastical plots allowing shocks and surprises with clever internal consistencies rather than random gotchas.

There’s something for all tastes whether you prefer gritty crime drama, cultural commentary, or Holmesian whimsy as a backdrop for following along with uncanny investigations. Mastermind geniuses and talented detectives make mysteries endlessly rewatchable as you spot missed clues.

With so many quality shows keeping fans guessing, mystery anime will doubtless continue producing memorable sleuth stories. So turn down the lights and turn up the volume to experience these chilling, thrilling worlds where uncovering the next clue could unravel sinister conspiracies or hidden truths.