Top 10 Apocalyptic Anime
#10: “Vivy: Fluorite Eye's Song” (2021)
We all know that it’s only a matter of time before robots take over and assume their rightful place as the dominant force in this world. Hopefully, we’ll have someone like Vivy on hand before it comes a’ calling. Originally an android programmed to entertain and sing, Vivy finds herself inexplicably recruited as a time-travelling agent in order to alter events that will eventually cause the machine uprising. Topics of depression, purpose, identity and connections are thoroughly explored here, all interlaced with some of sci-fi anime’s most explosive action scenes, as Vivy wrestles with just how far-reaching the consequences can be when you start scrambling timelines.
#9: “School-Live!” (2015)
Anime girls and zombies go hand in hand. Don’t ask us why, they just do. One of the best examples has to be this unorthodox take on surviving amidst an undead apocalypse, where a group of students struggle to survive…all the while trying to maintain the illusion that everything is a-okay. This is all due to the likes of Yuki, a cheery cherub of a girl whose mental state is dangerously close to snapping, leading her friends to keep up an act that they’re all living the ideal shojo slice of life. Unfortunately for them, the zombies aren’t in on the act, and have no problem when it comes to ripping teenage girls apart.
#8 “Violence Jack” (1986-90)
What happens when you give the creator who gave us Devilman free reign to let loose with his own take on a post-apocalyptic wasteland? Some truly unhinged depravity, that’s what. As the titular Jack slaughters his way across a decimated world, armed only with brute strength and the thinnest of moral compasses, everything around him is one act of barbarity after another. Cannibalism, assault of every kind, slavery, torture, whatever sick ideas you can imagine, chances are Jack will encounter it. It’s…certainly an excessive experience, that’s for sure.
#7: “Attack on Titan” (2013-2023)
From hiding behind immense walls as giant humanoid monsters stalk the outer fringes of the wilds, to the conspiracies of the outside world as prejudice, brutality and inequality run rampant, few anime have sown as much sorrow as Attack on Titan. With death ever-looming, there’s no denying that in spite of various civilizations still prospering, life is already hell for the masses. And just in case that wasn’t enough of a traditional apocalypse for you, Eren’s blood-soaked efforts to secure freedom for himself and those he loves gave us a body count so high it was practically an extinction level event.
#6: “Trigun” (1998)
Don’t let Vash’s goofy demeanour and tongue-in-cheek fight scenes fool you, beneath the surface of his smile as well the dusty remains of the old world are nothing but grim reminders of the legion’s dead. Even if you disregard his inhuman origins and the tragedy of his upbringing, the gunslinging reality he now inhabits is one where countless innocents fall by the wayside, either to savages who are quick on the draw or to true monsters like Legato Bluesummers, dead set on making Vash betray his own ideals of peace. Come for a desperado action, stay for the traumatised character study.
#5: “Girls' Last Tour” (2017)
The end of all things doesn’t always have to be bleak. Sometimes it can just be chill. As is the case with Yuri and Chito – two survivors wandering the ruins of the old world in their signature tank, taking each day at a time and soaking in the decimated sights. This is probably the most relaxing portrayal of the end times you’re likely to see in an anime. While most of humanity has been decimated and civilisation eroded with them, the show presents it in such a calming manner that it's oddly refreshing. Just think of it as a road trip between two cute anime girls…and try not to ponder on the billions dead.
#4: “Heavenly Delusion” (2023)
There are few modern anime out there that can hook us in so deeply while presenting such an unrelentingly morose world that raises more questions than it answers. That’s just how Maru and Kiruko roll. Divided between two narratives, one focusing on our leading duo as they explore a post-apocalyptic landscape rifle with danger, the other a sanctuary full of children with some peculiar shenanigans operating behind the scenes. The storytelling on display here is masterful, but make no mistake, this anime goes to the darkest of places, to the point where the monsters that roam free are the least of your concerns.
#3: “Blame” (2017)
And back to the machines. Only now with an even more hopeless outlook. After an error in programming, a hyper-advanced system goes out of control, rapidly expanding the borders of a cybernetic city, with any humans caught within its radius deemed as illegal and therefore sentenced to death. Murderous machines, edgy anime boys with doomsday laser glocks, pockets of outsiders fighting for survival, this flick knows how to mesh a repentantly dark story with some of the most awesome sci-fi action you’re likely to watch.
#2: “Fist of the North Star” (1984-88)
The world has been ravaged, raiders run rampant, and there are few good souls left willing to defend the innocent. And yet, this might just be the safest apocalypse of the bunch. Why? Because of Kenshiro. The man so badass that with a poke of his finger he can cause heads to literally explode. Undefeatable, unbreakable, and so full of retro anime machismo it goes beyond parody all the way to becoming awesome again, Kenshiro’s one man struggle to save his beloved while punching through an entire wasteland filled with villains is practically timeless by this point.
#1: “Neon Genesis Evangelion” (1995-96)
The rapture is here, too bad the angels involved are actually alien monstrosities with plans to finish off the last remnants of humanity. Thus begins Shinji’s torment as he along with other child soldiers find themselves roped into becoming EVA-Pilots, battling against the Angel incursion while dealing with their own brand of trauma, hormones and some of the worst examples for parents you’ll ever find in an anime. Whether you prefer the original or the Rebuild verse, there are no happy endings to be found here – only a desperate struggle against the inevitable. Turns out that even giant robots can prolong the inevitable.
Which anime would you watch on repeat during an apocalypse? Let us know in the comments!