5 best anime like Chainsaw Man for fans to watch next

Chainsaw Man, the anime adaptation of Tatsuki Fujimoto’s action-horror manga about a boy named Denji with the power to transform into a man made of chainsaws, concluded its first season in late December 2022. While readers of the manga are already aware of what transpires following the season’s cliffhanger finale, fans of the anime will have to wait a bit longer for the answer to just who that dark-haired young woman seen in the post-credits of the final episode was.

While I could certainly bend your ear and spin you quite the yarn as to who that woman was and what exactly is her whole deal, I’m not gonna do it — ’cause hey, spoilers, dude! Instead, I’m going to do my part to make the wait for the announcement of a second season of Chainsaw Man more tolerable by recommending some anime that’ll scratch that nagging itch for more gore-heavy hyper-violence, adolescent vulgarity, simmering sexual tension, and crushing existential ennui. Why? Because it’s fun, that’s why — anime is fun!

These are the five most bizarre and outrageously strange anime that you need to see if you like them. Chainsaw Man.

Kizumonogatari

Image: Shaft/Aniplex

Genre: Fantasy/horror action
Directors: Akiyuki Shinbo, Tatsuya Oishi
Run time: 1h 4m (Part 1: Tekketsu); 1h 8m (Part 2: Nekketsu); 1h 23m (Part 3: Reiketsu)

As we’ve pointed out in the past, Chainsaw Man creator Tatsuki Fujimoto has cited the Kizumonogatari trilogy — in particular the finale, Kizumonogatari Part 3: Reiketsu — as an inspiration and influence on the series. Likewise, several animators on MAPPA’s 2022 anime adaptation of Chainsaw Man previously worked on the Kizumonogatari films, including key animator Atori Ozawa, episode director Hironori Tanaka, and chief animation director Tsutomu Matsūra.

The basic idea of KizumonogatariIt is as batshitty as it gets Chainsaw Man’s, if not more. The films follow Koyomi Araragi, a high school student who inadvertently stumbles across an immortal yet mortally wounded vampire by the name of (*Deep breath*) Kiss-Shot Acerola-Orion Heart-Under-Blade. Koyomi’s sire, Kiss-Shot Acerola-Orion Heart-Under-Blade. It’s a hyper-violent, hyper-horny, avant-garde horror-action anime that’s as gorgeous to look at as it is inscrutable at times to make sense of. Kizumonogatari is the only anime you should see.

Rent the Kizumonogatari trilogy Prime Video.

Dorohedoro

Image: MAPPA/Netflix

Genre:Action/Dark science fantasies
Director: Yuichiro Hayashi
Numerous episodes 12

If you enjoyed Chainsaw ManIt is your duty to do some research. Dorohedoro — MAPPA’s other dark sci-fi action series based on a cult favorite manga. The series is set in the Hole (a postapocalyptic human settlement that has been transformed by magic-wielding wizards), and follows Caiman as he attempts to recover his memories from an attack by an unknown sorcerer. With the aid of Nikaido, the owner of a nearby gyoza restaurant who found Caiman’s unconscious body and took him in, Caiman battles against and kills sorcerers wherever they turn up as he searches for the one responsible for transforming him in hopes of a cure. Did I also mention that he bites down on the faces of the sorcerers, allowing a strange entity to judge if the person responsible. It only gets more bizarre from there. Dorohedoro is an exceptional adaptation of a much-loved manga and a series equal to MAPPA’s Chainsaw ManThe project of adaptation is a product born from artistic passion and an unfettered imagination.

DorohedoroIt is streaming on Netflix.

The Maxim: Parasyte

Image by Madhouse/Sentai Filmworks

Genre: Sci-fi/horror
Director: Kenichi Shimizu
Numerous episodes 24

Based on Hitoshi Iwaaki’s 1988 sci-fi horror manga, this 2014 anime directed by Kenichi Shimizu (who, fun fact, is credited as the animation director for the 1997 Canadian-American children’s action series Mummies Alive!) and produced by studio Madhouse follows Shinichi Izumi, an ordinary high school boy who wakes up one morning to find his right hand has been devoured and replaced by a shapeshifting alien parasite called Migi (Japanese for “right”). Shinichi and Migi discover that humans are being continuously infiltrated from an extraterrestrial species of parasite-shifting parasites. This forces them to forge a relationship of mutual survival and fighting against other parasite-infected humankind. Think 2018’s Venom by way of 1978’s The Invasion by the Body Snatchers. The Maxim: Parasyte This anime is both a perfect adaptation of an iconic cult manga and a captivating gross-out action animation in its own right.

The Maxim: ParasyteYou can stream it on CrunchyrollHulu.

There are no guns in life

Image: Madhouse/Crunchyroll

Genre: Cyberpunk/action
Director: Naoyuki Itō
Numerous episodes 24

You’ve heard of Chainsaw Man’s Denji is the boy who has a chainsaw as a head. Dorohedoro’s Caiman, the man with a reptilian head, but have you heard of There are no guns in life’s Juzo Inui, the man with a gunFor a head? The anime is set in a futuristic city with humans and cyborgs. It follows an amnesiac private investigator who has a huge functioning revolver as a head. He prides himself in helping the poor and solving every case.

When a mysterious young boy named Tetsurō arrives on his doorstep, begging for his assistance, Juzo chooses to help the boy escape from a cadre of superhuman assassins hired by an unscrupulous megacorporation for some dark and terrible purpose. It’s fairly boilerplate as far as sci-fi noir anime goes, but if you’re looking for a solid action drama about a weird-looking protagonist with a (figurative) heart of gold and (literal) nerves of steel, There are no guns in lifeThis makes it a great watch.

There are no guns in lifeYou can stream it on Crunchyroll Hulu.

Gleipnir

Image: Pine Jam/Crunchyroll

Genre: Supernatural thriller/horror-action
Director: Kazuhiro Yoneda
Numerous episodes 13

Do you like to see psychosexual metaphors in anime? Well, you’re gonna get that and then some with Gleipnir, the 2020 anime adaptation of Sun Takeda’s supernatural action manga directed by Kazuhiro Yoneda (You can do it yourself!!). The series follows Shūichi Kagaya, a talented albeit meek teenager with a dark secret: He has the ability to transform into a cute anthropomorphic animal creature. It’s basically one big obvious analog for puberty à la Naota’s “N.O.” condition in FLCL.

As bad as Naota’s predicament might’ve been, however, he never had to contend with a physically abusive, libidinous, and fiery-tempered classmate who LiterallyHe climbs up all the way in his stomach and controls him as a furry-mecha pilot. GleipnirTaps into same vein as puberty-exacerbated frustration, and associated hyperviolence Chainsaw Man.

GleipnirYou can stream it on Crunchyroll.