The 14 Best Dark Fantasy Anime of All Time

Some of these built the genre; others just made it bleed more. Every pairing forces a choice about what dark is supposed to mean.

1. 1
   Attack on Titan

   Hajime Isayama's walled-city war story, where the fantasy premise is a delivery system for atrocity and consequence.
2. 2
   Berserk (1997)

   The original adaptation of Kentaro Miura's mercenary epic, still the genre's reference point.
3. 3
   Hellsing Ultimate

   A 2006 OVA series about a vampire employed to destroy other vampires for the British crown.
4. 4
   Made in Abyss

   A deceptively cute 2017 series about children descending into a pit that maims everyone who climbs back out.
5. 5
   Devilman Crybaby

   Masaaki Yuasa's 2018 reimagining of Go Nagai's demon manga, which ends the world on purpose.
6. 6
   Claymore

   A 2007 series about half-demon women hired to kill the monsters they are slowly becoming.
7. 7
   Vinland Saga

   A Viking revenge story that gradually argues itself out of believing in revenge.
8. 8
   Jujutsu Kaisen

   Modern sorcerers fight curses born from human fear, and the body count stays high.
9. 9
   Chainsaw Man

   A teenage devil hunter with a chainsaw for a head, in a world where devils are named after fears.
10. 10
    Demon Slayer

    A Taisho-era swordsman hunts the demons that killed his family and turned his sister.
11. 11
    Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood

    Two brothers pay a physical price for alchemy in a story that keeps escalating what the price is.
12. 12
    Tokyo Ghoul

    A student is turned half-ghoul and has to eat people to survive in modern Tokyo.
13. 13
    Dorohedoro

    A grimy, funny fantasy about sorcerers, body horror and gyoza, set across two connected worlds.
14. 14
    Puella Magi Madoka Magica

    A magical-girl series that reveals the contract behind the magic to be a trap.

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