# The 16 Greatest Mind-Bending Anime Series

> Reality-bending thrillers, existential nightmares and genre-shattering twists that reward a second watch — some picks divide even die-hard fans. Which messes with your head the most?

*By YPB Team · Published June 20, 2026 · https://youpick.best/ranking/the-16-greatest-mind-bending-anime-series*

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## Current results (3 votes)

1. **Neon Genesis Evangelion** — 66.67% (2 votes · score 1000/1000)
   Hideaki Anno's 1995 mecha deconstruction that spirals into psychological and philosophical territory.
2. **Devilman Crybaby** — 33.33% (1 votes · score 756/1000)
   Masaaki Yuasa's frenzied 2018 reimagining of the demonic apocalypse classic.
3. **Steins;Gate** — 0% (0 votes · score 724/1000)
   A 2011 time-travel thriller where small choices ripple into devastating consequences.
4. **Psycho-Pass** — 0% (0 votes · score 596/1000)
   A 2012 dystopia where an algorithm measures the criminal potential of every citizen.
5. **Paranoia Agent** — 0% (0 votes · score 596/1000)
   Satoshi Kon's surreal 2004 series unraveling collective anxiety and denial.
6. **Serial Experiments Lain** — 0% (0 votes · score 517/1000)
   A haunting 1998 series blurring identity, reality and the early internet.
7. **Ergo Proxy** — 0% (0 votes · score 517/1000)
   A bleak 2006 cyberpunk mystery steeped in existential philosophy.
8. **The Tatami Galaxy** — 0% (0 votes · score 517/1000)
   Masaaki Yuasa's dizzying 2010 series of looping parallel college lives.
9. **Texhnolyze** — 0% (0 votes · score 423/1000)
   A grim, abstract 2003 series about a decaying underground society and cybernetic limbs.
10. **Higurashi When They Cry** — 0% (0 votes · score 423/1000)
   A 2006 horror mystery that resets a deadly village festival across nightmarish timelines.
11. **Death Note** — 0% (0 votes · score 423/1000)
   A 2006 cat-and-mouse battle of wits between a genius killer and a brilliant detective.
12. **Code Geass** — 0% (0 votes · score 310/1000)
   A 2006 saga of mind-control powers, mechs and Machiavellian strategy.
13. **Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex** — 0% (0 votes · score 310/1000)
   A 2002 cyberpunk series probing consciousness, identity and networked society.
14. **Puella Magi Madoka Magica** — 0% (0 votes · score 310/1000)
   A 2011 series that subverts the magical-girl genre into bleak existential horror.
15. **Monster** — 0% (0 votes · score 172/1000)
   Naoki Urasawa's chilling 2004 psychological thriller chasing a charming sociopath across Europe.
16. **Re:Zero** — 0% (0 votes · score 172/1000)
   A 2016 isekai where the hero relives his death again and again to alter fate.

Tags: animation, sci-fi, japan, psychological