The 10 Most Brutal Anime (Prepare to be SHOCKED)

There are a ton of violent and intense anime, but there are some that stand out from the rest. The brutal anime on this list made my jaw drop when I first watched them. But as a lover of action-packed anime, I couldn’t get enough.

In this article, I’ll guide you through the gory, bone-crunchingly addictive world of brutal anime.

Let’s jump right in with a recent anime that changed the game with its intense action and excellent storytelling.

Attack on Titan

Attack on Titan took the world by storm with its brutality right from the start. The world in AOT is inhabited by a human civilization that lives behind a series of gigantic walls stretching for thousands of miles.

These walls are there to protect the people within from beings called Titans. These colossal humanoid Giants devour humans and seemingly have no other purpose. These mindless Giants seem to have no intelligence, but there are also special Giants that have special abilities such as crystalized armored skin or incredible speed.

One of the eeriest scenes early in the anime is when the Behemoth Giant who stood watching over the humans’ gigantic walls suddenly broke the walls for the first time in one hundred years.

Thus begins the story of Eren Jeager, our hero. His mother was eaten in front of him, which put him on the path to becoming part of the Scout Regiment, a military group that goes beyond the walls. Though Eren has an ability no one knows: he is also a Giant, waiting to be released.

Tokyo Ghoul

Ruthless creatures are slaughtering people in Tokyo in this anime. And as a terrifying twist, they have the appearance of everyday humans. These creatures are Ghouls, or cannibalistic humanoid creatures, and they can only feed on human flesh. Many ghouls also have unique abilities such as tentacles or wings to use as weapons.

Student Ken Kaneki meets a beautiful woman named Rize Kamishoro, who bluntly asked him on a date. She appears sweet and kind, but she is in fact very sinister. Kaneki discovers the horrifying truth. Walking home, she leads him to a secluded area and shows her true face—and attempts to devour him.

He wakes up in the hospital after the attack, but something is different. He learns his life was saved by transplanting Riza’s organs into his body, now dead for a still unknown reason. His journey as a hybrid between human and ghoul now begins. He hunts Ghouls with his new abilities but is also hunted by government forces. The battles are bloody, and the story keeps you satisfied. Don’t miss it.

Hellsing

Hellsing is one of the older animes that first showed me how brutal an anime can be. It’s filled with a lot of dismemberment, blood, gore, swearing, and ultra-violent fun for the whole family.

Hellsing revolves around a secret organization that takes care of supernatural threats, such as ghouls, vampires, sadistic magic priests, and the uprising of the Fourth Reich.

The leader of the organization is Sir Integra Fairbrook Wingates Hellsing. He has the authority and power to command their most powerful asset, Alucard, a truly powerful vampire with devilish abilities such as turning into a pitch-black hellhound with red eyes. He uses this ability to shred anything or anyone apart.

On a mission armed with his gigantic handguns, he comes across an injured police girl, giving her the choice between death and the life of a vampire.

Deadman Wonderland

Ganta Igarashi was framed for the brutal slaughter of a classroom full of students after a mysterious man in red appeared before the debauchery. He gets sentenced to death and thrown into the most twisted and depraved prison ever built: Deadman Wonderland.

Prisoners at this special establishment must fight gory brutal death matches, though the participants all have some special Blood ability. Ganta seems to be the only innocent person there, but he soon discovers his ability to use his blood as a weapon—a skill that the man in red might have given him.

Throughout the series, Ganta fights in battles to stay alive and attempts to find out who framed him and who is behind this grotesque prison.

Parasyte Maxim

Here’s a strange one (if the others weren’t strange enough already!). Student Shinichi Izumi lives in Tokyo with his parents. Otherworldly creatures named Parasites invade earth and take over human bodies, causing them to devour other humans. 

Shinichi was a target of one such parasite, named Migi, but it could only attach to his hand and not take control of his brain. Migi has no free will unless Shinichi says so. Though Migi can change his shape into weapons that are part of Shinichi’s hand. The relationship between the parasite and Shinichi grows more personal as they start working together to kill other parasites feeding on humans, and the ones that sense Migi is not fully in control of Shinichi.

Shinichi teaches Migi about humanity and Migi protects him with his abilities from other parasites. A truly strange relationship develops during this story with a lot of violence and brutality.

Berzerk

Guts, also known as The Black Swordsman, was previously a mercenary who wandered and traveled the world facing constant internal struggles between his own ambitions and caring for those he holds dear.

He had an extremely rough childhood and was born under the tree his mother was hung from. Guts spends most of his life in brutal combat becoming stronger through each battle. Always independent, he relies on his own strength and never loses. That is until he fights Griffith in a duel. She is the leader of the Band of Hawks, a group of mercenaries.  Upon losing, he had to join the group, as per their deal.

Within the group, he finds a sense of comradery and belonging, but also a tug-of-war between his inner darkness, his companions, and the wars raging all around him.

Death Note

Some might not say the old anime classic Death Note isn’t that brutal, but let’s see:

Light Yagami, an A+ student, finds a mysterious black notebook on the school grounds. The Book of Death, or Death Note. It was dropped one by one of the Gods of Death, Ryuk, in an attempt to ease his boredom. Once a name is written in the Death Note, that person will, without compromise, be killed by the Shinigami, or God of Death. The Shinigami will only appear to the book’s owner.

With this great power, Light is faced with what he will do with it. At first, he tests the powers of the book on criminals, believing himself to be the savior of humanity. But with time, Light becomes more enslaved by its power and nudged onward by Ryuk, who is enjoying the show. Light becomes that which he strived to eradicate by murdering anyone who opposes him, good or bad. At first, you like the hero of this story. Later, it challenges your own thoughts as to who he has become.

Another

Not your typical violence-driven gore anime, Another takes a different, yet still disturbing, approach. Kouichi is a transfer student at Yomiyama North Junior High. He is unaware of the sinister history of the school.

Kouichi is absent from school for his first month because he’s in the hospital. This is where he meets Mei Misaki for the first time, a girl wearing an eye patch. Upon returning to school, no classmate acknowledges her existence, and they all advise him to leave the matter alone, leaving him with no answers.

He doesn’t listen to his classmate’s warnings and befriends Mei. Then, he learns the dark truth about his new friend and the Curse that haunts their class. Mysterious deaths soon start occurring. Kouichi, Mei, and their classmates take it upon themselves to investigate, but that’s not as easy as it seems.

Corpse Party: Tortured Souls

If you’re a fan of gory anime, Corpse Party: Tortured Souls is certainly up your alley. Nine students celebrating their graduation decide to perform a good luck ritual, Sachiko Ever After, before they all head their separate ways. Though it doesn’t go as planned.

The ritual has other plans and sends them all to a haunted gore-filled, elementary school called Heavenly Lost. The school is plagued by murdered souls and dark spirits who are intent on slaughtering each one of them. The group fights to survive and find a way out of this nightmarish place. Discovering the horrible past of the school, they must learn what happened. Though this seems like an impossible task, and it may cost them their lives.

Blood-C

Last on the list we have the infamously bloody anime, Blood-C.

Kisaragi Saya lives near the Ukishima Shrine next to a lakeside town with her father. During the day, she’s a simple student. But when night comes, she hunts Elder Bairns, known as the Old Ones, in order to protect her village.

Possessing supernatural physical abilities, the Old Ones prey on humans, and Saya is the only one that can defeat them. Saya also has her own superhuman abilities such as enhanced endurance, strength, and speed.

She comes off as very clumsy and helpful during her day-to-day life. However, the dark truth about her personality is that she is cold and doesn’t care much for humanity. She would drink their blood if she could! However, a curse prevents her from doing that.

She is a complicated character, but she’s exceptional at exterminating the Old Ones and giving brutal anime lovers the blood and guts they crave. If you want blood, Blood-C is for you.

Brutal Anime: The More Brutal, the Better!

Looking for an anime that will make you hide your eyes? Choose a brutal anime on this list and get ready for a bloodbath! If you’re new to brutal anime, we recommend starting with Attack on Titan. It’s not as brutal as the others, and it’s known as one of the best anime of all time in general. If you’ve seen it, Hellsing is a great intro to brutal anime. It’s a classic gore-fest!