Facing imminent extinction, humanity retreated behind a series of tall, thick walls to escape their most dangerous threat – massive human-like Titans with a taste for human flesh.
With an enemy that eats humanity for fun rather than food, they are constantly threatened. As such, it is the duty of every human to defend the species.
Enter Eren Yegaer who, after his village was destroyed by Titans breaching the outer wall, he and his adopted sister Mikasa join the Survey Corps. They are one of three factions of the military that scouts and combats Titans outside the walls.
After joining in the brutal war, Eren discovers a secret about himself that could unravel what the world thinks they know about Titans.
This series truly became a powerhouse of the anime world, so it is only naturally to want more like it. If you are looking for more anime recommendations like Attack on Titan, then head on down below.
Anime Like Attack on Titan
For Fans of Defending the Last Dregs of Humanity
Kabaneri of the Iron Fortress
During the industrial revolution of their world, a monster appeared that cannot be killed unless pierced through its iron-protected heart. Those who are bitten by the creature become zombies know as Kabane.
On the island of Hinomoto, humanity has built stations to seek refuge from these creatures. Ikoma lives at a station that brings supplies to the island and has created a weapon he believes can fight these creatures.
While waiting for a chance to test it, he meets a mysterious girl named Mumei. After following her, he might just get the chance he desires.
When Attack on Titan came out, it was a sensation. The year afterwards, Wit Studio tried to capture lightning twice by releasing the incredibly similar original story that is Kabaneri of the Iron Fortress.
Both Attack on Titan and Kabaneri of the Iron Fortress feature fantastic animation, take place in a world where humanity lives behind walls due to hard to kill, flesh-eating monsters, and follows a main character who is a hybrid of human and those flesh-eating beings. It is a suspiciously similar premise.
However, while Attack on Titan continued to grab fans with its twists, Kabaneri of the Iron Fortress played the concept more straightforward. It has some political intrigue, but its not especially deep. The best element of Kabaneri of the Iron Fortress is its well-animated and choreographed action, not so much its plot.
Black Bullet
In the year 2021, a parasitic virus has ravaged humanity by turning them into monsters, driving the remaining humans into massive walled cities.
However, while a special metal can keep these monsters at bay and fight them, children are already being born with the virus dormant within them. It is decided that these “cursed children” are humanity’s best hope for fighting the virus.
In both Attack on Titan and Black Bullet, humanity has retreated behind walls in order to escape a devastating threat. While in Attack on Titan only a few people can kill Titans with any success, only a few people are special enough to kill Gastrea in Black Bullet.
However, if you liked Attack on Titan for its intricate plot, Black Bullet may not be for you. It is more a standard shounen-style anime where the action is more the star than anything else.
God Eater
In the year 2071, humanity has been pushed to the brink of extinction by man-eating monsters called Aragami. Immune to traditional weapons, they roam the land, but an organization called Fenrir with it’s human-hybrid God Eaters are the only ones capable of killing these Aragami.
Lenka is a new God Eater who must master his powers in order to have any hope of fulfilling his wish to wipe out the Aragami once and for all.
In both Attack on Titan and God Eater, humanity has been pushed back behind walls. Luckily, they developed special weapons that only a select few can wield. Those brave enough to wield them keep everyone else safe. Both main characters are similarly stubborn about wanting to fight, but also not especially good at it for a long time.
The major difference between God Eater and Attack on Titan is that God Eater is more futuristic in setting and often more sci-fi. As God Eater is a video game adaptation anime, it also doesn’t have the strongest plot. The game was about big monster hunting, so the star of the anime is also big monster hunting.
Knights of Sidonia
After Earth was destroyed by an alien race known as the Gauna, humanity fled across the galaxy in giant seed ships looking for a new home. In the year 3394, a mysterious man named Nagate Tanikaze surfaced from the bowels of the ship Sidonia and breaks his lifelong seclusion in search of food.
After being discovered, he finds himself dragged into the military just in time for a Gauna attack and discovers that he may just be the hero that the Sidonia needs.
Knights of Sidonia and Attack on Titan shares the common theme of humanity fighting against greater enemies for so long they are nearing extinction.
In both Attack on Titan and Knights of Sidonia, death is a very possible reality. You can and will see characters die, though Attack on Titan does that a lot more frequently and graphically.
Unlike Attack on Titan, Knight of Sidonia is very much a sci-fi mecha anime. However, both series share fairly unique and interesting plots.
Seraph of the End
After a mysterious virus killed every human over 13 years old, the vampires rose up with a promise to protect the survivors. The only thing they asked in return is donations of blood.
For Yuuichirou and Mikaela, they have grown tired of being livestock and pose a daring escape plan. It ultimately fails with only Yuuichirou left alive. However, after joining up with a mercenary company, he swears vengeance on the vampires, no matter the cost.
Both Attack on Titan and Seraph of the End take place in a world that has ended and the last dregs of humanity fight back against a powerful enemy that wishes to eat them. In Seraph of the End, that enemy is vampires, so they pose a more intelligent threat than titans.
Now, while Attack on Titan moves on to plot twists and deeper less-titan-related intrigue, Seraph of the End is more akin to a standard shounen battler. The main characters do a mission, they fight a guy, they power up, and then repeat.
86
For years, the Republic of San Magnolia has been at war with the Giadian Empire. They were constantly plagued by their hordes of unmanned drones until the government created an unmanned solution of their own, finally able to wage their war without casualties.
However, that is not quite the truth. The “unmanned” combat weapons are actually used by those of the 86th sector of the Republic, but they are not considered even human.
This is the tale of both Shin, an 86er and battle commander, and Lena, their sympathetic handler who remotely commands the detachment from inside the city.
While 86 deals with similar topics of endless warfare against a never-ending enemy and discrimination like Attack on Titan, it does so with a distinct focus on the emotional aspect of that. Both series show the characters devastated by the (frequent) deaths of their comrades, but 86 really forces you to feel it.
86 is innately different by being a sci-fi mecha story, but it has the same depth of plot that Attack on Titan develops as it goes on and does love a good twist. If you are looking for another high-quality anime where the plot is just as good as the beautifully animated battles, 86 is very much that.
Fire Force
A phenomenon has started overtaking mankind – one where people spontaneously combust and turn into destructive fire demons called Infernals.
To fight these demons, special fire forces were established full of those with dedication and powers to control fire.
This is the story of Fire Force 8 and their newest recruit – Shinra, who aims to become a hero and discover the truth behind the Infernals.
While Fire Force is distinctly less mature in its storytelling, it does have some very impressive, fast-paced battles. Furthermore, like Attack on Titan, it follows humanity that has been pushed to a small area in their dying world.
Fire Force has story telling that it more like standard shounen action anime. However, the actual plot of Fire Force does deal with a similar sort of corruption and secrecy inside on organization traceable to the very top.
Deca-Dence
Driven to the point of extinction by creatures known as the Gadoll, humanity now lives out of a large mobile fortress known as Deca-Dence.
Inside, the residents are separated into Gears, warriors that fight the Gadoll, and Tankers who maintain the fortress. Natsume, a Tanker, has dreams of becoming a Gear, but is forced into armor repair where she meets a surly senpai named Kaburagi that has more skills than he lets on.
The world of Deca-Dence is set up in a very similar way to Attack on Titan. People live in relative safety except for the people that go out to fight what has overwhelmed the world. However, like Attack on Titan, not everything is as it seems.
That said, Deca-Dence plays its hand in the second episode and shows you the true state of the world. From there, it is about fixing it. While you can say that the end of Attack on Titan is about “fixing the state of the world” too, Deca-Dence goes about doing it in the more usual idealistic anime way, not the dark way Eren pursues.
Blue Gender
In the near future, humanity has been replaced on the top of the food chain by a race of bug-like aliens called Blue. Retreating to their space stations, humanity hopes to reclaim Earth someday in the future.
On Earth, the cryogenically frozen Yuji Kaido is awakened after being frozen to halt his disease. Joining a team of soldiers sent to extract him, it isn’t long before he is forced to come to terms with the bloody horrors of his new reality.
If modern animation hasn’t made it so you struggle to watch older anime, Blue Gender is an apocalypse classic. Like Attack on Titan, you watch the character fight against a vicious foe that has overrun the Earth. It also has a cold and skilled female companion to the main character very much like Mikasa.
While Blue Gender is more a sci-fi story, it does have a unique and interesting plot that more than makes up for the older animation.
For Fans of Vicious Action
Terra Formars
After sending cockroaches and algae to terraform Mars as a second home for the now-overcrowded Earth, their efforts are coming back to bite them years in the future.
Not only is an alien disease ravaging humanity on Earth, but the cockroaches evolved in murderous giants with a vendetta against humanity on Mars.
Determining the disease came from Mars, a team of genetically-modified heroes from around the world are sent to the red planet and must fight in order to gather samples that will help create a cure.
In terms of violence, Attack on Titan and Terra Formars are on par. Both anime are about fighting human-like creatures that are not quite what they seem, and the story goes from light-hearted character bonding to brutal death and mayhem in seconds.
However, while Attack on Titan succeeds in melding a complex story with moments of grand action, Terra Formars is less successful. It is either all grand action or all intrigue. Both are there in Terra Formars, but the balance between the two is not very nuanced.
Tokyo Ghoul
The citizens of Tokyo now live in fear of vicious creatures called ghouls that blend in alongside humans and feast on their flesh.
One day, Ken Kaneki, a shy college student, meets a girl called Rize who is also an avid reader like him. Unfortunately, as he finds out on his first date, Rize turns out to be a ghoul.
Just when she is about to eat him, Kaneki is saved, barely clinging to life. In the process of surviving this attack, Kaneki finds out that he has now become a ghoul.
In both Attack on Titan and Tokyo Ghoul, the protagonists start off as normal humans and then become essentially what they are fighting/are afraid of later. However, while Eren still fights titans, Kaneki is, for a time, just trying to stay hidden and alive.
Although Tokyo Ghoul takes longer to get there, both Attack on Titan and Tokyo Ghoul are great for people that like an above average amount of gore in their action anime.
Unfortunately, while Attack on Titan often gets better as it goes on, Tokyo Ghoul can’t say the same.
Akame ga Kill
Tatsumi is a naive boy from a rural village that makes the trip to the city in order to join the military and help his hometown.
However, after he is rejected, he ends up joining Night Raid, a group of assassins part of a revolutionary movement to overthrow the government.
From there, he must fight a brutal and increasingly bloody shadow war.
Both Attack on Titan and Akame ga Kill are anime where major or even main characters can and might die. While neither anime is without plot armor for some characters, not everyone gets it and the characters you think do have plot armor are just wearing some flimsy cardboard.
Attack on Titan was memorable for killing off what seemed like important characters, and Akame ga Kill was the anime that made people realize that they liked that in a series.
Vinland Saga
Ravaging every land they touch, Vikings have become renowned for their thirst and talent for violence.
Thorfinn, a son of a great Viking warrior, spends his childhood on the battlefield in order to reap his vengeance on his father’s murderer. A man who murdered his family in front of him, plucked him from his home, and now commands him in a band of warriors.
In both Attack on Titan and Vinland Saga, you essentially watch a boy become hardened by the reality of the world around him. While Vinland Saga has more grounded action, it is just as vicious and the political intrigue is equally as interesting.
That said, Eren and Thorfinn has two very different approaches to life after being sufficiently hardened by reality.
Demon Slayer
After the death of his father, Tanjirou has taken up the role of the man of the home, supporting his mother and five siblings. However, after selling charcoal in town, he returns to tragedy.
All his family was brutally slaughtered, save for one of his sisters. Unfortunately, she has been attacked by a demon and mingled their blood, turning her into a demon as well.
However, she still shows signs of humanity, thrusting Tanjirou onto a quest to find a way to change his sister back and preserve what is left of his family.
Demon Slayer is set in a Taisho Era Japan that is riddled with demons, and that provides a pretty stark contrast to Attack on Titan’s European-inspired fictional world. However, both series are about main characters that had their families destroyed and vowed to kill the creatures that did it. They also have a very clingy female companion who is gifted in fighting.
However, while Eren is always some form of a ball of rage, Tanjiro is more the empathic sort of shounen protagonist. Furthermore, while Attack on Titan twists its plot frequently, Demon Slayer is more of a straightforward shounen battler.
Parasyte
One night, sixteen-year-old Shinichi Izumi was peacefully sleeping when a race of parasitic aliens descended on Earth.
One parasite infects Shinichi, trying to get to his brain to take over his body, but ends up getting stuck in his right hand. Unable to relocate to the brain, the alien, named Migi, now has no choice but to learn to coexist with Shinichi in his body in order to stay alive.
Unfortunately, the other parasitic aliens are not so friendly with humans or to parasites that failed to complete their mission.
While not quite as naked and occasionally hilarious as titans, Parasyte focuses on a world that is quickly ending due to a body snatcher-style alien invasion. Like titans, many of these parasites feel nothing for humans and kill without reason. Unlike titans, some parasites do actually embrace the human experience a bit.
Both Parasyte and Attack on Titan feature main characters that become a hybrid with the things that are destroying humanity. They then use that power to fight back.
While both series are shounen anime, they are different from shounen battlers. They tell a more linear and mature story that reaches its conclusion without padding out the story.
For Fans of Futility and Suffering
Neon Genesis Evangelion
The world is on the brink of destruction following the landing of the Angels, massive monsters that want nothing more than to kill and destroy. The only hope lies with the select few that can pilot government agency Nerv’s special Evangelion-type mechs.
The pilot must be compatible in order to pilot the Evangelions, and for Nerv leader, Gendo Ikari, one of those compatible few is his son, Shinji.
With the fate of mankind on his shoulders and fights that often mean death for the pilots, is 14-year-old Shinji up to the task?
Nobody does suffering quite like NGE. If you liked the extra helping of angst that Attack on Titan mixed into things, Neon Genesis Evangelion builds a whole plot around it.
Outside of that, both Attack on Titan and Neon Genesis Evangelion are about mankind on the brink. They are fighting back against seemingly unfeeling beings that are decimating them. However, while the plot starts about that fight, both series twist in such a way that, by the end, it really isn’t so much about fighting those beings anymore.
While NGE is a mecha anime, some might call Titan Shifters just fleshy mechs.
Claymore
In Claymore, the world is overcome with demons called Yoma that constantly plague humanity. After Raki’s parents were killed by Yoma, he teams up with Claire, a Claymore, an order of powerful half-human, half-Yoma women that are shunned by society but fight to rid the world of Yoma.
Together, each learns more about the each other and work towards their own goals.
Dark and vaguely medieval, Claymore and Attack on Titan share many aspects in their bleak settings. Claire and Mikasa also share several personality traits. However, unlike Attack on Titan, Claymore has humans still living rather normally in the world, not behind big walls.
Both Attack on Titan and Claymore are about main characters that are man-eating monster slayers. However, a monster slaying anime is what Claymore remains while Attack on Titan grows into a larger plot.
The biggest difference between these two series is often tone. The world of Attack on Titan is a brutal one, but most people live rather happy, small lives. In Claymore, the world is bleak. Everything is terrible, everyone is terrible, and happiness is sparse and always fleeting.
Fullmetal Alchemist – Brotherhood
Talented in the art of alchemy, brothers Edward and Al Elric tried to bring their mother back from the dead, something that goes against all alchemic principles.
When things go horribly wrong, Edward loses his left leg and Al loses his whole body, only saved after his brother sacrifices an arm to bind his soul to a suit of armor.
Three years later, the brothers set out on a journey to find a mythical relic that may be able to return Al to his body once again. However, throughout their travels, the brothers find themselves pulled into a series of events that threaten everyone.
If there is any modern anime that has been able to give the legendarily beloved reputation that Fullmetal Alchemist has a run for its money, it would be Attack on Titan.
Both Attack on Titan and Fullmetal Alchemist are shounen anime of a different breed. Instead of just being arc-based to send characters to another cool battle, both series tell rather linear, mature stories. They maintain the perfect balance between big fights, strong storytelling, and visceral emotional moments.
Outside of a similar high-quality storytelling, both Attack on Titan and Fullmetal Alchemist have plots of similar building intrigue. The characters initially start with one simple goal, and that gets increasingly twisted as they learn more about and get tangled up in the intrigue in their world.
Berserk
Gutts has been a mercenary for as long as he can remember, caring for nothing but moving to the next battle.
One fateful battle puts him at odds with the rapidly rising mercenary group, the Band of the Hawk. Their charismatic, idealistic leader Griffith soon makes him join by force, but the bond he forms with the Band of the Hawk may very well mean the end of the world.
Both Attack on Titan and Berserk start off in pretty standard medieval Europe-style worlds. However, unlike actual medieval Europe, they have an above average amount of demons that are feasting on humanity running around. The main characters, fueled by rage, are dedicated to decimating these beings.
While Attack on Titan starts with the world already overrun by titans, Berserk actually shows how demons overran what was once a rather normal world. What the series both share is a point of singularity that drives the main character to be as rage-fueled and revenge-minded as they are.
Both Attack on Titan and Berserk are brutal and graphic series and tell an excellent dark story.
The Promised Neverland
Grace Fields House is a home for orphans. However, even though they have no blood families, they are all one big family. That is, until the age of twelve when they are adopted out.
The kids also know that they are not allowed outside the fenced yard, but one day, two children break that rule. They then discover that the children who are “adopted” are actually subjected to something much darker.
Though The Promised Neverland is less viciously violent, it does foster the same sense of dread and hopelessness that you find often in Attack on Titan.
Furthermore, like Attack on Titan, the world you are shown in the beginning is not actually how the world is. Finding out what is really going on is part of the twist.
Guilty Crown
After being ravaged by the Apocalypse Virus, Japan has fallen under control of the GHQ, an independent military force dedicated to the restoration of order. However, a guerrilla group called Funeral Parlor seeks to put an end to their despotism.
After a fateful run in with a key member of Funeral Parlor, weak and anti-social Shuu Ouma finds himself with a powerful new weapon, the ability to pull out manifestations of a person’s personality to wield as weapons.
Now he must make use of it in order to free Japan once and for all.
While vastly different in plot and setting, both Attack on Titan and Guilty Crown do a good job of creating conflicted main characters and do complex political intrigue rather well.
While Attack on Titan is a little more immediately obvious with it, both do suffering rather well too.
From the New World
After a small portion of humanity suddenly developed psychokinetic powers, the world underwent a rapid transformation. After 1,000 years of turbulent history where regular humans struggled against those with powers, we focus in on Kamisu 66, a small town where 12-year-old Saki Watanabe finally awakened her powers.
This awakening means she is finally able to join her friends at the Sage Academy. However, things in Saki’s life do not remain as simple as those precious days.
With missing children in the village, rebellious rumblings, and a world steeped in myth and mystery, Saki and her friends are about to face the shocking truths of their peaceful society.
While From the New World is lower action and often slower moving compared to Attack on Titan, what it shares is a passion for showing you the darker truths of the world.
In both Attack on Titan and From the New World, the world the characters know is not actually how the world is. As they grow up, they learn the truth and it affects them in a variety of ways.
Do you have more anime recommendations like Attack on Titan? Let fans know in the comments section below.
