Top 20 Bloodiest Anime of All Time
Top 20 Bloodiest Anime
Top 10 Bloodiest Anime
Welcome to WatchMojo, and today we’re counting down our picks for the Top 20 Bloodiest Anime. For this list, we’ll be looking at the goriest series the medium has to offer! Youtube is going to have a field day with this one. Let us know in the comments which of these had your stomach churning.
#20: “Blood +” (2005-06)
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With a name like this, it’s only natural that this series more than delivers on carnage and splattery setpieces. It follows an amnesiac named Saya on the quest to recover her identity, though that takes a bit of a backseat when blood-drinking Chiropterans begin causing mayhem across the planet. Thankfully, even if Saya doesn’t know who she is, the one thing she did retain was how to slice-and-dice with her katana. That, plus her special blood that kills Chiropterans, means she has a habit of leaving monster remains in her wake.
#19: “Another” (2012)
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Making new friends is tough enough even without a lethal curse seriously limiting your options. The show doesn’t hold back the gore as Koichi’s social circle shrinks in increasingly gruesome ways, and naturally, not many people want to befriend someone who’s weekend plans are booked with funerals. It seems he’ll have to settle for a lackluster social life, since his attempts at exorcizing the curse only cause his more skittish companions to pick up a knife. Apparently, the only way to even make it to the weekend is to avoid stairs, motorboats, each other, and everything in between. To be fair, nobody ever said friendship was easy.
#18: “Claymore” (2007)
It may take place in a world nearly overrun by man-eating beasts, but this show is just as full with Yoma guts as anything else. This is mainly courtesy of Clare, a human-Yoma hybrid who makes a living showing monsters the pointy end of her signature claymore; for a fee, of course. The Yoma possess increased strength and shape-shifting abilities, but it doesn’t end up doing them much good when Clare has access to the same. The only thing scarier than her prowess with a two-handed sword is that, since she’s ranked the weakest of the Claymores, there’s 46 others out there with an even bloodier track record.
#17: “Corpse Party” (2012-13)
At this shindig, there’s no dancefloor, attendance is mandatory, and the other guests are to die for. Adapted from an infamous survival horror game series, this pair of OVA’s stick to the formula of their source material; namely, throwing characters into spooky settings and picking them off in astonishingly brutal fashion. After the shocking first entry proved no one is safe from the horror, the sequel upped the ante with enough carnage to paint the walls red, and not with paint. There aren’t many guests left alive at the end of this party, and the ones that do are in desperate need of a shower.
#16: “Blue Gender” (1999-2000)
Beneath the slick, sci-fi exterior of these mechs lies a surprisingly vicious amount of graphic violence. It’s not wholly unexpected from a series about aliens that harvest people for food, but the insectoid Blue aren’t even the biggest offender of the bloodshed. Instead, that honor goes to humanity’s robotic retaliation, which tends to turn the invaders crimson before they go down for good. The show certainly doesn’t try to obscure this fact, and will even linger on lengthy closeups of the alien’s innards for good measure. They may be fighting for society’s survival, but it often feels like these mechs are trying to dissect the Blue instead of defeat them.
#15: “Baki” Franchise (2000-)
Compared to psychotic murderers, ancient curses, and bloodthirsty aliens, martial arts may not seem all that dangerous. But, rest assured, most fighters in this shounen leave the ring drenched in more than just sweat. Baki may know how to throw a good right hook, but surpassing his legendary father is easier said than done when these no-holds-barred matches occasionally have lethal outcomes. With more than just pride on the line, nearly every single match in the series ends with someone in need of a transfusion. Despite this, Baki’s been roughing up underground rings for the better part of 25 years, and with each new animated iteration, his knuckles seem to only get bloodier.
#14: “Gantz” (2004)
As early as the series’ opening, decapitory minutes, it’s clear that this is going to be a violent ride. It achieves that promise through the mysterious Gantz, which offers a second chance at life for anyone who kills enough aliens. However, there are a few notable caveats. If the players abandon their mission, they die. If they fail to eliminate the target, they die. If they even talk about Gantz, they die. You get the point. The aliens usually go down easy enough, but disobeying players are treated to an exploding head. We can’t decide what’s worse, having your mind implode, or being left with the cleanup.
#13: “Deadman Wonderland” (2011)
When Ganta is framed for a murder-spree he didn’t commit, he’s sentenced to a prison that adds new meaning to the idea of a life sentence. Cruel and unusual punishment doesn’t even scratch the surface of a jail-turned-amusement park where the inmates are the main attraction. And yet, the pernicious games of life and death aren’t even the full extent of this show's gory mayhem. Ganta and the others have learned to manipulate their own blood to give them a scarlet-colored edge in combat. It’s hard to get messier than a fight where bleeding is both the outcome and the weapon of choice.
#12: “Elfen Lied” (2004)
There’s a deep and haunting tale about innocence, humanity, and prejudice here, it just also happens to be gory enough to warrant a powerwash. Lucy is your average teenage girl, except she has horns, was raised in a lab, and has lethal, telekinetic arms called “vectors.” To say she knows how to use them would be a massive understatement. The series doubles down on the disturbing reality of Lucy’s psychotic rampages, dismembered bodies and all, but that’s the point. “Elfen Lied” masterfully uses hyper-violence as its own character, and that kind of novel creativity cements Lucy’s vengeful adventures as a criminally underrated gem. Or, in this case, a blood ruby.
#11: “Shiki” (2010)
They say it takes a village to raise a child, but the same could be said about getting rid of vampiric demons. There’s no real limit to the extent of self-defense in a life-and-death situation, but these villagers certainly went the extra mile in taking their home back from the murderous Shiki. Even to former friends and family, anyone who had turned was given a stake to the chest, or worse. Messy? Absolutely, but it’s hard not to be a little impressed at their lack of hesitation. Even if they easily go overboard by the time everything is up in flames.
#10: “Parasyte -the maxim-” (2014-15)
Everyone makes mistakes, and when an attempted body-snatching goes wrong, the parasitic Migi is left only in control of the host's right arm. It’s great news for the teenaged Shinichi, but retaining most of his motor functions also comes with a moral obligation to fight against the invading aliens. Predictably, ripping out alien organs isn’t a very clean process, especially since Shinichi’s up against creatures that aren’t willing to go down quietly. His heroism is a bit barbaric, but he’s still single handedly lowering the average body count of infected hosts.
#9: “Ninja Scroll” (1993)
One mercenary, eight ninjas, and plenty of grisly fights - this is how you make a classic anime flick. The straightforward story is really just an excuse to set up a series of epic brawls between Jubei and several supernatural shinobi, but that’s okay when the combat is as spectacular as it is here. Each combatant has a unique, magical gimmick, but the film grounds the flurries with sudden and visceral splashes of violence. In the face of mystical arts, Jubei sending each competitor to a grossly indulgent demise is all the more satisfying. It may sound wrong, but watching a sword impale a skull has never felt so right.
#8: “Tokyo Ghoul” (2014-15)
Kaneki may be doing all he can to substitute from eating humans since becoming a ghoul hybrid, but that clearly wasn’t enough to slake this series’ hunger for bloodshed. Eating habits aside, the series continually dives into even more gruesome depths with horrid murders or lengthy torture scenes. It’s downright disturbing, and a little remarkable, as body-horror and excessive gore permeate even the climactic action sequences. At this point, it’s not the violence that’s surprising, it’s that Kaneki’s managed to keep his new white hair from getting tinged red.
#7: “Highschool of the Dead” (2010)
Even though there’s no laundry in the apocalypse, these stranded students have no qualms staining their clothes if it means bludgeoning a few more undead adversaries. After zombies break out in, you guessed it, a highschool, various busty and resourceful students become a walking endorsement for “survival of the fittest.” When the series’ scope grows beyond the school grounds, so does the body count. Just goes to show that fan service, guts and an abundance of undead all go hand in hand.
#6: “Attack on Titan” (2013-)
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Dying in the hands of these titular beasts may not be pretty, but at least it’s quick. The Titans are a vicious and ever-present threat to humanity, and nearly every episode reminds audiences that they’d happily eat the entirety of Paradis for dinner if given the chance. It seems there’s no end to the horrifying and painful deaths that can befall the Survey Corp here, but in a small glimmer of retribution, Titan’s aren’t wholly safe from the same kind of shocking bloodshed. Whether it’s being eaten alive, smushed in their grip, or simply trampled into dirt, there doesn’t seem to be a way for humans or Titans to escape the cycle of death. At least until Eren…
#5: “Genocyber” (1994)
As a general rule of thumb, you should never create an all-powerful bio-weapon without an “off” switch. Driven only by the impulses of two young girls, the unbeatable Genocyber carves an indiscriminately bloody path through the once peaceful Earth. The sadistic spectacle features some of the most graphic imagery in animation, even by today’s standards. It doesn’t help that half the carnage comes from the trigger-happy response of a society looking for a reason to shoot. The overwhelming nihilistic approach and utter lack of restraint make for a shocking, war-torn series of OVA’s where nothing is off limits!
#4: “Higurashi When They Cry” Franchise (2006-)
Even the most tortured characters eventually find mercy in death, but these guys don’t have that luxury. That’s not to say this visual novel adaptation has no killing; quite the opposite, actually. When the main cast inevitably meets their twisted fate at the end of each arc, the timeline resets and picks them off all over again in more creatively demented ways. Their deaths are never quick, and never painless, which makes it hurt even more when they spontaneously return only to face more untold horrors. It’s not pleasant, but it is eerily entrancing.
#3: “Hellsing Ultimate” (2006-12)
Vampires can’t survive without blood, and neither can this gruesome fright-fest. The franchises’ identity was already soaked in red before, but this OVA series upped the ultra-violent action up to an eleven, especially in regard to the original blood-sucker himself. Alucard’s allegiance to the Hellsing family thankfully hasn’t quelled his appetite for tearing into necks, which comes in handy against legions of supernatural forces. There’s been gorey anime before, but few have come close to the pure scale of seeing entire armies reduced to splatters on the sidewalk. But that’s just how Alucard rolls.
#2: “Berserk” (1997)
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It’s fitting that a mercenary named Guts is intimately familiar with the actual stuff. There’s not many conflicts in this mini masterpiece that don’t end with someone’s insides suddenly on the outside. The series wasn’t shy about showing the grisly consequences of combat, but the macabre events of the Eclipse makes all that look like child’s play. The iconic sequence graphically depicts most of the main cast turning into puddles of loose limbs and dismembered organs at the hands of the apostles. The only thing more vibrant than the blood splatter is Guts’ constant struggle against a world set on crushing him.
#1: “Devilman Crybaby” (2018)
It takes serious skill to turn an already controversially grim manga into one of the most hyper-violent shows ever made. Uninhibited by editorial oversight or demographical concerns, the creators of this “Devilman” reimagining shattered the industry’s gory limits with an unflinchingly brutal savagery. The series drowned itself in an ocean of uncensored bloodshed, but never sank too far to lose sight of its intimate tale about Akira and Ryo’s lovers quarrel for humanity’s fate. It’s a serious contender for one of the most graphic anime ever produced, but for those with stomachs of steel, this red-stained love story is a bloody good time.
