Best Cyberpunk Anime, Ranked

Ergo Proxy is a much darker and thrilling show than Edgerunners. The series is set in a dystopian future where, after an ecological disaster the only way to live is inside dome cities. One of those is Romdeau, where it all takes place. There, humans coexist peacefully with AutoReivs, androids build for different tasks and that are divided between human appearance and robot appearance. The story follows the detective Re-l Mayer, who is assigned to investigate a series of murders committed by AutoReivs, something unprecedented.

Soon enough, more things start to unravel. The Cogito Virus, the Proxy project, and the politics behind the scenes take the city to ruin, all from the point of view of the Regent’s (the city’s biggest political figure) granddaughter. Deep philosophical themes surround the plot at every step, even with the small cameos like naming characters after Derrida, Lacan, and Husserl, Ergo Proxy is an intellectually challenging show that has an immense value with its approach, but it also succeeds at making it exciting. The only thing this show has against is that it hasn’t being published in a lot of places.

8 Akudama Drive

• Japanese Title:
  Akudama Doraibu
  (アクダマドライブ)

• Studio:
  Pierrot

This is another show that came out not too long ago, but was able to capture the public’s attention. Akudama Drive excelled at changing the tone with plot twists wonderfully executed for a show just 12 episodes long. It is set in a futuristic Japan that has been torn to pieces by a brutal Civil War that even left a big nuclear wasteland. Inside the authoritarian regime of Kansai, the most dangerous criminals are known as “Akudama.” A group of them got together for a mysterious job offered by an anonymous contractor that involves freeing a death row prisoner. However, the job will become much more than that.

RELATED: Best Steampunk Anime, Ranked

Akudama Drive clearly reflects influence from the 80s and 90s Hollywood, chiefly from films like Reservoir Dogs and Blade Runner.The world-building and the use of cyberpunk themes as cultural critique of a police state make it a fresh and satisfying work, although the characters lack some depth. It is available to watch on Hulu and Funimation in the US.

7 Serial Experiments Lain

• Japanese Title:
  Shiriaru Ekusuperimentsu Rein
  (シリアルエクスペリメンツレイン)

• Studio:
  Triangle Staff

Serial Experiments Lain is a cult classic that brought a unique approach and a truly exceptional character development to the cyberpunk genre. It surfaces the identity crisis of the digital era like no other and portrays a disorienting atmosphere with really groundbreaking scenes and shots. The story focuses on Lain Iwakura, a 14-year-old High School student who feels “disconnected” from her social environment.

The main plot point is her relationship with The Wired, a virtual realm that contains all forms of human communication. In its 13 episodes, Lain unfolds a dense and thorough commentary on our relationship with technology and digital networks while telling the story of what this cybernetic world does to a shy student that is in a key point of her life to construct her identity. It is available to watch on Funimation.

6 Paprika

• Japanese Title:
  Papurika
  (パプリカ)

• Studio:
  Madhouse

This masterpiece by Satoshi Kon is the first film on this list. Paprika tells the story of Atsuki Chiba, a psychiatrist that with a group of investigators in a major company. The company has developed a device, called DC Mini, that allows them to consciously navigate through dreams in order ot help the detection and treatment of psychological traumas. Dr. Chiba while helping detective Toshimi Konakawa as her alter-ego in the dream world, Paprika, realizes that someone has been tampering with the DC Mini and causing incidents in the real world.

Once again, the identity questioning is one of the central topics, while using a setting in a much more near future that bring the film a more relatable nature despite the fictional components. On top of that, the splendid work on the shots and scenes by Satoshi Kon puts this film in an excellent position.

5 Neon Genesis Evangelion

• Japanese Title:
  Shin Seiki Evangerion
  (新世紀エヴァンゲリオン)

• Studio:
  Gainax/Studio Khara

There has always been debate about whether Neon Genesis Evangelion is cyberpunk, or even if it should be considered mecha. That debate only speaks to its complexity and depth. It is clear is that Hideaki Anno reinvented the concept of mecha, giving it a story with cyberpunk themes that served as inspiration for other shows, such as the highly acclaimed Code Geass.

RELATED: Best Nihilistic Anime, Ranked

Set in a post-apocalyptic world, the futuristic city of Tokyo-3 has to defend itself from the attack of powerful beings known as Angels. The only way for humanity to protect itself is with the use of EVAs, gigantic weaponized robots, in the hands of a few selected children. One of them is Shinji Ikari, forced by his father Gendo Ikari to pilot the Unit-01. What starts as simple fight with robots quickly turns into a psychological thriller loaded with philosophical conjectures. Both the original series and the movies, including The End of Evangelion and the reboot, are a must-watch for anyone interested in the cyberpunk genre.

4 Cowboy Bebop

• Japanese Title:
  Kaubōi Bibappu
  (カウボーイビバップ)

• Studio:
  Sunrise

Cowboy Bebop is one of those shows that barely needs any introduction. A futuristic space-western with both cyberpunk and neo-noir traits, the show follows Spike and Jet, a couple of bounty hunters on the spaceship Bebop, traveling around the solar system on the lookout for a criminal or two to make ends meet.

As the story progresses, more about the characters’ pasts is revealed. Two more characters are added, Faye Valentine and Edward. These four lost souls, accompanied by one of the greatest soundtracks ever made, will conquer the spectator’s heart, to just break it with one of the best endings in anime history. The show is available on Netflix, Hulu and Funimation.

3 Psycho-Pass

• Japanese Title:
  Saiko Pasu
  (サイコパス)

• Studio:
  Production I.G

No one went as far as Psycho-Pass when it came to utilizing the cyberpunk genre to explore philosophical inquietudes. The show’s detailed setting reflects an authoritarian society ruled by a system that automatically calculates a person’s crime coefficient; in other words, their probability of committing a crime. If it goes over the established maximum, they can be detained or even executed. It also records their personality traits and their mental health. All together, this creates the Psycho-Pass, the form of identification in this futuristic world.

Through the eyes of Akane Tsunemori, an Inspector of the police force that oversees the population crime coefficient, the show displays the holes and contradictions of this allegedly utopian society which is makes it even more interesting given that she is a character with strong utilitarian values. The show is available to watch on Amazon Prime Video.

2 Ghost In The Shell

• Japanese title:
  Kōkaku Kidōtai
  (攻殻機動隊)

• Studio:
  Production I.G

All is left to mention is the classics, the films that set the example for this genre to develop. They have been subject of thousands of analyses and academic papers. In that category, there’s only enough space for two, and one of them is Ghost in the Shell. Both Masamune Shirow’s manga and Mamoru Oshii’s film adaptation shaped the entire idea of cyberpunk, not only in Japan, but around the world.

Related: Best Anime Like Psycho-Pass

Set in the year 2029, technology has evolved to a point where almost every part of the body can be switched to a cybernetic component while maintaining consciousness, which is referred as “ghost.” The story follows Major Motoko Kusanagi in her journey to discover not only herself but the essence of humanity, the concept of identity and existence.

1 Akira

• Japanese Title:
  Akira
  (アキラ)

• Studio:
  TMS Entertainment

The Akira manga gave birth to the cyberpunk genre in the manga/anime industry with its release in 1982. The anime adaptation, though it differs in some points from the manga (which was unfinished at the time the film was made), is considered alongside Blade Runner to be a major icon and reference for cyberpunk cinema. Akira put anime in the map internationally, something that continued with Ghost in the Shell a few years later.

The story by Katsuhiro Otomo is centered in Neo-Tokyo, 30 years after the devastation of World War III. Two members of a biker gang, Tetsuo and Kaneda, stumble across a secret government project that intends to create mass destruction weapons by biologically enginiering children. The themes, design, world-building and animation presented in Akira are still a major cinematic influence.

More: Kotaro Lives Alone And The Problem Of Japan’s Lost Children