Have you exhausted your Law and Orders, CSIs, and 21 Jump Streets? Well, it sounds like you have a thirst for police dramas, and a pretty big one. If you somehow exhausted all your normal television options, there is always anime. What’s more, anime and it lack of shackles to reality can go above and beyond the call of duty when it comes to police dramas. If you have a serious thirst for justice, give these anime recommendations a try.
Best Police Drama Anime
Ghost in the Shell
Although it has a few iterations at this point, no matter what Ghost in the Shell you watch, it is going to be a cyberpunk police drama. In it, flesh and machine are melded in most people and it creates a unique capacity for crime as well as unique ways for the police to fight these crimes. Enter Section 9, an elite unit of police that deal with the most above and beyond crimes.
Psycho-Pass
In Psycho Pass, the world has advanced so far that they can predict which people are going to commit crimes before they even commit them. This means that the police can technically stop crime by stopping these potential criminals. The show focuses on the morality of that as well as the fact that they have people with criminal inclinations doing the dirty work for the police as well.
Paranoia Agent
As a psychological thriller that often tells short stories, not all of Paranoia Agent is a police drama. There is something odd going on in the city, and much of that deals with attacks by a kid on roller blades with a golden bat. The police are investigating these incidents and turning up nothing but dead ends.
Patlabor: The Mobile Police
Mechs. Every police drama would be better with mechs. That is what Patlabor works with. In the future, mechs called labors are used for everything, but they are machines controlled by humans. So when humans decide to use them for crime, the police needs mechs of their own to fight them. This anime series tells the stories of the men and women in the labor-wielding Second Special Vehicles Division.
B The Beginning
It is, as it turns out, kind of hard to concisely sum up the plot of B The Beginning without either spoiling it or sounding completely insane. Instead the long and short of it is that this is the tale of a police officer that is hunting a serial killer. You will find that this blends a lot of the darkness and grey morality of shows like Psycho Pass and Death Note while telling several stories across the characters.
Active Raid
In a futuristic and post-disaster Japan, Unit Eight of the police force is charged with handling criminals that uses special wearable technology called willwear to commit crime. In order to battle these criminals, the members are themselves given willwear, though heavily criticized by the public as the unit is kind of a hot mess. This is the story of the newest member sent to straighten them out.
You’re Under Arrest
Natsumi is heading for her first day on the police force, unfortunately she gets pulled over for reckless driving by what turns out to be her new partner. Yes, that’s right. This here is a buddy cop anime. It doesn’t deal with some high-minded serial killer chase either. Instead it is two ladies giving out traffic tickets, pulling over reckless drivers, and bonding.
Cop Craft
In this world, a gate opened up over the Pacific that allowed beings from Earth and the other world to pass back and forth. Up sprang San Teresa City, a city that melded the denizens of the two worlds. Like with any large metropolis, it created wealthy citizens and those who are not so lucky. This is the story of two police officers, Kei – and average detective, and Tirana, a knight from the other world. They keep the peace and show how two cultures can find common ground.
Heat Guy J
The city of Judoh is one ran more so by the mafia than the police. However, Daisuke and his android J work for the Special Services Division to crack down on crime. Essentially this is a buddy cop series in every way, but where one party is a technically illegal android and the other is a wise cracking human.
Ryoko’s Case File
Ryoko is a young investigator working for the police force. She specializes in the truly bizarre cases that wander into the realms of supernatural. On the outside, this looks like a standard detective series, but really it is about a woman that investigates the supernatural cases for the police.
Dominion Tank Police
Made by the same person that created Ghost in the Shell, it seems Shirow had more fun and less psychology with this one. Its about police. In a tank. Fighting silly villains. If you aren’t so much into the “drama” part of police drama, then this is a lovely distraction.
Got any more anime recommendations for those looking for police drama? Well, let folks know in the comments section below.
