The Best Dark Cyberpunk Anime to Watch (Classics and New Releases)
Neon rain, corporate overlords, bodies that are more machine than human. Cyberpunk anime has been asking what makes us human for decades. Here are the dark ones worth your time, from classics to new releases.
1. Cyberpunk: EdgerunnersNetflix · 2022
A street kid in Night City turns to cyberware and crime to survive, and pushes his body further than it was ever meant to go. Explosive, colorful and heartbreaking.
The modern cyberpunk anime everyone talks about.
2. Ghost in the ShellFilm · 1995
A cyborg agent hunts a mysterious hacker and starts asking what's left of her own humanity. Quiet, philosophical and hugely influential.
The foundation. Follow it with the series Stand Alone Complex (2002).
3. AkiraFilm · 1988
In Neo-Tokyo, a biker gang gets caught up in a secret government project when one of its members develops terrifying powers.
Still one of the most stunning animated films ever made.
4. Psycho-PassSeries · 2012
A crime-prevention system reads people's minds and flags them before they act. A rookie inspector starts to question whether the system is justice at all.
Cyberpunk as a crime thriller.
5. Ergo ProxySeries · 2006
In a domed city where humans live alongside androids, an investigator is drawn into a mystery about strange beings called Proxies.
Gothic, slow and moody. A hidden gem for fans of atmosphere.
6. Serial Experiments LainSeries · 1998
A quiet girl gets pulled into the Wired, a network that blurs reality, identity and the internet. Eerie and decades ahead of its time.
The psychological horror side of cyberpunk.
7. Akudama DriveSeries · 2020
Criminals with code names take on a job in a neon Kansai and get hunted by brutal executioners.
Fast, stylish and violent.
8. Digital BloodlinesNew series · premieres Fri 10/30
A new dark gothic cyberpunk anime. In Neonexus, the machines do the work, and some of them bleed. A detective with secrets of his own and an activist who refuses to stay quiet are pulled into a case the city would rather forget. Meet the characters and see the teaser.
New episodes every Friday, starting 10/30 on YouTube, with comic sheets and novels alongside.
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