15 Best Anime Like Parasyte You Need to Watch
Parasyte is a seinen manga by Hitoshi Iwaaki. It was published between November 1988 and December 1994 and was compiled into a total of ten volumes. An anime television series aired between October 2014 and March 2015, and two live-action movies were released in November 2014 and in April 2015. A spin-off series titled Parasite Reversi, scripted and drawn by Moare Ohta, was published between March 2018 and May 2021.As far as seinen manga and anime go, Parasyte is one of the best and most popular, which is why we have decided to write about it in this article.
To honor the legacy of Parasyte, we have decided to compose a list of the best anime series like Parasyte that every fan needs to see. The list is going to include a total of 15 different titles which resemble the Parasyte anime in one way or the other.
1. Tokyo Ghoul
Original Run: July 4, 2014 – December 25, 2018
Number of Episodes: 48 (+ 2 OVA episodes)
The story of Tokyo Ghoul revolves around the student Ken Kaneki, who falls in love with a young woman named Rize Kamishiro. After meeting her, she bites his shoulder in a secluded alley and reveals that she is a ghoul, which shocks Ken.
As Rizeis about to eat Ken, several large metal poles fall on her from the construction site of a building. Roze dies in the process, while Ken is rushed to hospital with life-threatening injuries. After recovering, he is released from the hospital. On the day of his release, he finds out that he is no longer human. He looks in the mirror and shivers run down his spine because he now has one “red eye”.
He realizes that Rize’s organs were transplanted into him in the hospital. Since he now owns Rize’s organs, he is a so-called and very rarely occurring “half-ghoul”.
2. DEATH NOTE
Original Run: October 3, 2006 – June 26, 2007
Number of Episodes: 37
Light Yagami is a model student, bored with his lifestyle and tired of being surrounded by a society filled with crime and corruption. His life takes a decisive turn when one day he finds on the ground a mysterious black notebook, entitled “Death Note”, which bears the following instruction: “The human whose name will be written in this notebook will die”.
Initially skeptical of his authenticity, Light changes his mind when he successfully tests the notebook on two criminals and meets the real owner of the Death Note, a shinigami named Ryuk; he then decides to use this new power to kill all criminals, eradicate evil and become the “God of the new world”.
However, as he begins to put his purpose into practice, the growing number of unexplained deaths draws the attention of Interpol agents and the most famous private detective known as L. Thanks to Light’s recklessness, L quickly discovers that the serial killer, nicknamed by the people “Kira”, resides in Kantō and can kill people from a distance. Light learns of the investigation, as the police father joins the Japanese division that opposes Kira.
3. From the New World
Original Run: October 3, 2012 – March 27, 2013
Number of Episodes: 25
Set in a thousand-year-old Japan, Shinsekai yori tells the story of Saki, a girl from the 66th district of Kamisu. In this age all humans possess powerful telekinesis abilities and idyllically live in agrarian villages. Despite her parents’ fear that she could not awaken the power within her, Saki gains her powers at the age of twelve and joins her friends Satoru, Maria, Mamoru, Shun and Reiko at the academy to develop her powers. But the kids are unaware that the city council monitors and influences the kids through teaching.
According to some evaluation criteria, some students are removed from society, such as those who cannot master the powers, such as Reiko, or those who violate the rules. The removed students are soon forgotten by all the other children; Saki and her friends have no recollection of Reiko. Later, during a camp unsupervised by the professors, Saki and her friends come across a False White Nudibook, a legendary creature that turns out to be an ancient device containing a library. The False Nudibianco reveals to the boys the heinous crimes of their ancestors and what lies behind their powers.
4. Berserk
Original Run: October 7, 1997 – March 31, 1998 / 1 July 2016 – 23 June 2017
Number of Episodes: 25 / 24
Berserk tells the story of the meeting of Guts and Griffith, leader of the Falcon Troop, a band of mercenaries in the pay of the kingdom of Midland. From this meeting will be born an ambiguous friendship, but nevertheless efficient: the presence of Guts, warrior with the disproportionate sword, will quickly prove essential to the ambition of the young Griffith, swashbuckler and outstanding tactician.
The anime is thus the account of the rise and fall of the Falcon Troop, and of the relation between Guts and Griffith, particularly complex, between the relation of interest (Griffith uses the force of Guts), mutual respect ( both see each other as soldiers), and deep affection (each inexplicably needs the other’s presence).
5. Hell Girl
Original Run: October 4, 2005 – September 29, 2017
Number of Episodes: 90
When a person feels a grudge, Jigoku Shōjo (Hell Girl) appears and sends the person causing that hatred to Hell. However, the user must seal a contract with her before executing the revenge, and the price to pay is always that the person who accepts the contract must also go to Hell when he dies.
The series is basically a collection of independent stories, each of which tells the story of the suffering of a different person at the hands of one or more subjects, the contract with Enma Ai and the punishment to which the aggressor is subjected by her.
During each story, the dramas are recounted in detail from the beginning of his harassment, and progressively increasing the anguish suffered by the protagonist until he feels unable to bear his torment any longer, to the point of requiring the help of the girl from the hell.
6. Another
Original Run: January 10, 2012 – March 27, 2012
Number of Episodes: 12 (+ OVA)
In 1972, a popular and charismatic student named Misaki Yomiyama from Class 3-3 of North Yomiyama School suddenly died in the middle of the school year. Devastated by the loss, his classmates and teacher acted as if Misaki was still alive and even reserved a spot for him at the graduation ceremony.
What was even more suspicious was that Misaki appeared in the graduation photograph. In the spring of 1998, ninth-year student Kōichi Sakakibara moves from Tokyo to Yomiyama, the hometown of his late mother, because his father has gone to work on research in India. His transfer was to North Yomiyama School, to class 3-3.
Due to a pneumothorax, Kōichi had to be hospitalized just before classes began. During his hospitalization, the class representatives, Tomohiko Kazami and Yukari Sakuragi, visit him and welcome him to the school, albeit in a very gloomy way. Kōichi is eventually discharged and able to attend classes, where he soon tries to adjust to his new school environment.
7. Elfen Lied
Original Run: July 25, 2004 – October 17, 2004
Number of Episodes: 13 (+ OVA)
The story is set in Kamakura, Japan, and revolves around the Diclonius, mutant beings very similar to humans but with two strange horns on their heads and endowed with very strong invisible limbs called “vectors”. Believed to be dangerous to the normal human race, Diclonius babies are killed at birth or locked up in research laboratories, subjected to terrible torture and extremely violent experiments.
One of them, Lucy, however, manages to escape to the sea, massacring anyone who comes in front of her. She is found on the beach by two boys in a complete state of amnesia and double personality, caused by a shooter shot in the head while escaping.
The young Diclonius finds herself with a completely different personality and the two boys decide to call her with the only word she can pronounce, namely “Nyu”. Unable to leave her alone in those conditions, they take her home waiting to find out about her past. But the military does not give up and remains on the trail of her. What’s more, every time the girl hits her head she goes back to being Lucy.
8. Shiki
Original Run: July 8, 2010 – December 30, 2010
Number of Episodes: 22 + 2
The story takes place in the remote mountain village of Sotoba where ancient traditions still survive, such as the burial of the dead. At the end of a scorching summer, the Kirishiki family suddenly moves into the western-style castle that dominates the village from the top of a hill.
At the same time, a series of sudden deaths begins to decimate the inhabitants; Chief physician as well as owner of the only clinic, Toshio Ozaki, initially suspects a mysterious epidemic but, with the help of his childhood friend, Seishin Muroi, now a local temple bonze and author of successful novels, will instead discover a horrifying truth: the dead come back to life as vampires who are forced to suck the blood of other people to feed themselves, it all started with the arrival of the Kirishiki family.
One after the other, the inhabitants will begin to die and once they come back to life, they will indulge in their lowest survival instincts, as well as the excitement derived from the act of sucking blood in order to feed themselves. However, once the situation is brought to light by Dr. Ozaki the revenge of the inhabitants will be dire.
9. Psycho-Pass
Original Run: October 12, 2012 – December 12, 2019
Number of Episodes: 41
In 2112, in Japan, Sibyl, a computer system, transformed society into a “perfect world”, thanks to the ubiquitous cameras, drones and scanners, Sibyl is able to analyze and quantify the criminal intentions of a person (named “Psycho-Pass”) and determines who is likely to commit a crime.
When a citizen exceeds the norm, the inspectors of the Bureau of Public Security accompanied by their executors (person having an abnormally high “Psycho-Pass”), pursue and apprehend these people to make them undergo therapy, lock them up or shoot them down. square.
This is the world that embarks Akane Tsunemori, a new inspector who has just joined Division 1 of the Public Security Bureau. She wishes to uphold justice truly and loyally, however she learns that Sibyl’s judgments are not as perfect as her colleagues think.
10. Blade of the Immortal
Original Run: July 13, 2008 – December 28, 2008 / October 10, 2019 – March 25, 2020
Number of Episodes: 13 / 24
The story is set in Japan in the Edo era. The protagonist, Manji, is a warrior who has a great advantage over his rivals: no wound can kill him. In the past, he killed 100 other samurai, including his sister’s husband. An elderly nun, who is said to be 800 years old, grants him the gift of immortality through worms called kessenchū, which heal any wound and even restore amputated limbs even though the amputation was hours ago.
The death of his sister leads him to accept the mission that will end his immortality: he must kill 1,000 evil men to redeem himself. Manji crosses paths with a young woman named Rin Asano and promises to help her avenge her family, who was killed by a group of expert swordsmen led by Kagehisa Anotsu. Anotsu killed Rin’s father and her entire dōjō.
Anotsu’s mission is for his dōjō, the Ittō-ryū, based more on individual skill than technique, to unify all fencing schools in the country, and he has already begun to take or destroy other fencing schools. In addition, another group called Mugai-ryū is created and opposed to Ittō-ryū. His true leadership and motivation are a mystery, but his methods (any tactics that lead to victory) resemble those of the Ittō-ryū.
11. 🢒M⊙NS†ER🢐
Original Run: April 7, 2004 – September 28, 2005
Number of Episodes: 74
The story begins in Germany in 1986, at the Eisler Memorial Hospital in Düsseldorf. Kenzô Tenma, the main character, is a young Japanese neurosurgeon with exceptional skills. He is engaged to Eva Heineman, the daughter of the director of the hospital, and is destined for a brilliant career.
However, one day, he refuses to give priority to his care to the mayor of the city and prefers to operate on a boy injured by a bullet in the head, who arrived at the hospital before the mayor. The boy’s twin sister, very shocked, is also hospitalized; their adoptive parents have just been brutally murdered in their home.
The boy gets out of it, but the mayor, entrusted to another surgeon, dies. Dr. Tenma is then demoted by the director of the hospital, and his fiancée leaves him. Shortly after, the boy and his sister disappear, following the mysterious murders of three senior officials of the establishment, including the director. Nine years later, Tenma discovers the perpetrator of the murders: Johann, this 10-year-old boy he had saved seems to have become a monster spreading terror around him.
It is Inspector Runge of the criminal police – a rigid man with an obsessive tendency – who takes charge of the investigation after the German provincial police; he obviously suspects Tenma, who had obtained the position of head of the surgery department following the deaths of his colleagues. Relying on the facts rather than the growing rumors surrounding Dr. Tenma’s personality, Rünge pursues him relentlessly, while the latter is in search of Johann, to stop him.
12. Gungrave
Original Run: October 7, 2003 – March 30, 2004
Number of Episodes: 26
The story begins and a truck is surrounded by human-looking monsters. A scientist and a young girl find themselves on board in a very delicate situation. Fortunately, the scientist wakes up Brandon. The man is a real war machine, he easily exterminates the crowd of monsters using his two huge weapons (the Cerberus). But what is behind this attack, what is the story of our protagonists, and who is really Brandon alias “Beyond the Grave”. This is what we discover during a long flashback retracing the lives of two young thugs entering the criminal organization that runs their town.
13. DEVILMAN crybaby
Original Run: January 5, 2018
Number of Episodes: 10
Akira Fudo is informed by his best friend, Ryo Asuka, that the ancient race of Demons taking possession of the bodies of humans in order to possess them, has returned to Earth to take them back. Believing that the only way to defeat the Demons is to prove their existence to humans, Ryo suggests that Akira accompany him to see Demons take possession of humans.
Merging himself with Amon, the Lord of Demons, Akira transforms into the Devilman, a human with the powers of a Demon while retaining his own heart.
14. Claymore
Original Run: April 4, 2007 – September 26, 2007
Number of Episodes: 26
Claymores are half-human, half-demon warriors called upon by villagers to protect themselves from monsters such as demons. Feared and dreaded, they are distinguished by their silver eyes and the gigantic sword they carry on their backs, hence their names by humans of “silver-eyed witches” or “Claymore” (the name of the type of sword they use). Claire is one of them.
Called to a village to eliminate the demons that attack and devour the population, she kills the penultimate member, who has become a monster, of an already decimated family. The last survivor, Raki, finding himself alone, then decides to follow her in her bloodthirsty adventures, as a cook. He will gradually discover the secrets and the tragic destiny of these singular women.
15. Hellsing Ultimate
Original Run: October 10, 2001 – January 16, 2002
Number of Episodes: 13 (+10 OVA episodes)
The Royal Knights of Protestant Order are a noble house of London led by Abraham Van Helsing. For generations, he has been fighting against creatures that most ordinary people are unaware of like vampires, ghouls, and any non-human entity that is generally referred to as a “monster”.
The Order operates in great secrecy and has long been a paramilitary organization in the service of her Majesty. Leading the organization is Sir Integra Fairbrook Wingates Hellsing, a direct descendant of the first Lord Hellsing. Still a teenager, she is forced to take control of the Order.
Her father Arthur, sick and close to his death, orders his daughter, should she feel threatened, to go down to the basement of the mansion, where there is something able to protect her.