Psychology in Anime
Exploring the psychological thrills of anime
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Introduction
Psychological anime primarily focusses on exploring the mental state of characters and examining the effects of certain events on their mind and behaviours. In my opinion, psychology and philosophy goes hand in hand. While psychology explores the complexities of individuals, philosophy helps us to understand the underlying events that shape those mental states. So, consider this blog as a spiritual successor to my philosophy blog. While many anime featured in that blog can also be categorised under psychological themes, there I focussed more on exploring the philosophical aspects of those stories.
Unlike philosophy, I don’t even know the basics of psychology. So, this blog takes a more casual approach and only loosely classifies them. Consider this as a simple, descriptive list of serious anime recommendations, where each item is accompanied by a unique, spoiler-free (and hopefully not too generic) plot summary.
Organisation
Psychological fiction often blends with themes like crime, mystery, thrillers, horror, drama, and more. I have tried to roughly categorise them, but since they overlap, I have also tried to make the flow between them feel natural.
I wanted to shed light on some lessor-known anime, so I will only mention popular shows in passing.
Let’s start with something fun!
Psychological Battles
This section discusses anime which are centered around mind games, where strategy and manipulation take precedence over physical strength in these battle of wits.
One Outs
One Outs is a baseball anime, but not for usual baseball fans. Instead, it is about our protagonist Tokuchi Toua, an undefeated gambler, who utilises his cleverness to win games for the team. While he may not have best physical abilities to play the game, he overcomes it by essentially reading the opponents’ mind through sheer intelligence, which allows him to not only defeat them on the field but also outsmart the dirty tricks set against him off-field.
This unorthodox portrayal of baseball doesn’t require any prior knowledge of the sport to enjoy, and that’s what makes the show fun, especially for non-baseball fans like me.
Kaiji
Kaiji is an anime similar to One Outs; Kaiji Itou, our protagonist, is another gambling addict forced into playing strategy games. But, there are two major differences: first, Kaiji isn’t invincible, and second, the stakes are much higher, with life-and-death situations that makes every decision carry greater weight. This means that across the variety of games Kaiji plays, he wins some, loses others; and when he loses, he loses big time to get sucked even deeper into the gambling rabbit hole.
Kaiji also has uncanny similarities with the Netflix TV series Squid Games1. So if you enjoyed Squid Game, you might like Kaiji as well.
Terror in Resonance
Terror in Resonance is about two terrorists Nine and Eleven Twelve who wants to destroy the world. They challenge the government with their wits and leave them helpless. Now, it turns into a classic cat-and-mouse game, with the cops trying to catch them before they pull off something huge. The series has its flaws and can be a bit messy, but the Oedipus riddles, the atmosphere, and the icelandic music more than make up for it.
Psychological battle anime from my philosophy blog: Death Parade and Psycho Pass
Related popular anime: Code Geass: Lelouch of the Rebellion, Death Note and Kaguya-sama: Love Is War
Psychological Horror
The Promised Neverland
The Promised Neverland follows the children of the Grace Field orphanage, which is renowned for their exceptionally smart kids. Here, the children are put through intense tests with questions that are well beyond their age. In their free time, everyone enjoys playing tag, but, the trio of Emma, Norman and Ray always win it in the end. They are simply unbeatable at whatever game you throw in. But one day, a twist happens when their Mom challenges them to a game of her own.
The Promised Neverland season 2 doesn’t exist, never believe anything else.
Oops! I placed this in the wrong section, this too should have been in the psychological battles section.
Anyway, let’s get started with this section, which discusses anime that are just so disturbing that they can mess people up.
Gankutsuou: The Count of Monte Cristo
There are many ways to interpret the story of Gankutsuou, which is based on the novel: The Count of Monte Cristo written by Alexandre Dumas. I see it as a tale of three families, where everything is connected in twisted ways that we could have never imagined2. It can also be seen as a coming-of-age story for our main character, Albert de Morcerf, who goes through some pretty horrifying experiences throughout the show. But at its core, the show is all about mystery revolving around the enigmatic man who goes by the name The Count of Monte Cristo.
Mononoke
Mononoke is surprisingly similar to Mushi-shi, but with a much edgier vibe. It is a collection of short stories of our adventurous Medicine Seller, whose goal is to defeat the evil spirits called Mononoke. To fight against them, he needs to learn about three things: its Form, Truth and Reason. And this is where the show hits, when he digs into the dark history and suffering that led to the creation of each Mononoke, leaving your mind in despair.
Also, I forgot to talk about the animation style of above two shows. They are both visually stunning and are often considered as an art-house anime.
Psychological horrors from my philosophy blog: From the New World, Land of the Lustrous, Madoka★Magica
Related popular anime: Made in Abyss, Re:ZERO -Starting Life in Another World-
Psychological Drama
Above anime are great at expressing human emotions, but they might not feel realistic due to their extreme themes or unusual settings. This section focuses more on stories with realistic settings and grounded characters.
Link Click
Link Click at least in the beginning can be considered as a toned down version of Mononoke. It is episodic, with each episode having our two main characters literally look into the past to solve the task at hand. With the past comes the trauma of the person they observe, which is usually not too distant from our everyday life; one episode even made me tear up over a locked dustbin.
By the way, there is time travel, it is just a plot device to make it easier to observe the past, don’t worry too much about it 😉. But I understand if the supernatural elements makes it unrealistic for you, just check out the next anime.
ODDTAXI
ODDTAXI is set up in Nerima, Japan. For some strange reasons, the city is filled with all sorts of animals. We experience the story through the eyes of a walrus Hiroshi Odokawa, who works as a taxi driver and rides various animals in his taxi throughout the series. The strength of ODDTAXI lies in the fact that, despite all the characters being animals, they somehow feel more human than ever, especially after we learn about the problems they face.
Alright, I hear you. The next anime will look realistic as well.
Rainbow: Criminal Seven of Compound Two Cell Six
Rainbow is a coming-of-age story of six teenagers who were arrested for serious crimes and tossed up into the harsh environment of a reformatory, where they are stripped off their humanity. It is in these conditions, with the help of Sakuragi, that the boys grow into men, as the story shines in its strongest moments and showcases their beautiful bond of friendship. While the anime has its flaws, the most prominent being the portrayal of characters as either entirely good or evil; but, apart from that it consistently leans towards realism over lofty idealism.
Welcome to the N.H.K.
Welcome to the N.H.K. is a psychological dramedy about Satou, a hikikomori (shut-in NEET3), who has been living in complete isolation for four years due to severe social withdrawal. This anime highlights the negative impacts of otaku culture and how it can prevent someone from functioning as a normal member of society. It will make you question your life, your future, and the things we often take for granted, by shedding light on how everyone struggles with their own personal battles. But beware, it might hit way too close to home and you might end up questioning your otaku habits; you may even find yourself touching grass more often.
Psychological dramas from my philosophy blog: Mushi-shi and Steins;Gate
Related popular anime: Attack on Titan and Monster
Psychological Fun
Enough of these dark depressing shows. Finally, let’s dive into some fun shows. Well, shows that are mostly fun.
The Tatami Time Machine Blues
This one is a bit tricky to explain. First of all, the story of The Tatami Time Machine Blues is based on the novel: Summer Time Machine Blues written by Makoto Ueda. But then, it is rewritten with the characters from The Tatami Galaxy anime such that it feels like one big episode of The Tatami Galaxy, making this its spin-off. But, you don’t need to watch anything else to enjoy it; just jump in and the main story wraps up in the first five episodes.
The anime itself is fun, wholesome, and centers around a hypothetical scenario where a time machine suddenly appears, leading to all kinds of interesting events that the characters and audience can learn from.
Related fun psychological anime: Mob Psycho 100 and Welcome to Irabu’s Office (an anime which actually deals with psychology unlike this post)
Conclusion
And that’s it from my side! Hope you enjoyed reading this and found some interesting anime to check out!