The world of anime, if you’re just venturing out, is a big, scary looking mess of animation. There’s all these colourful looking cover arts and genres named in an – often – unfamiliar language.
This time around, we’re looking into one of my favourite genres – mystery. Why is it one of my favourites? Well, you never really know what you’re in for. All sorts of plot twists could happen in a mystery anime and that’s why I’m super excited to share three of my favourite mystery anime with you today!
You might think “mystery” and automatically think a murder mystery, but that’s not really the case in this selection. I’m giving you an adventure mystery in Made in Abyss, a dream-based mystery movie that is Paprika and a murder mystery with a time travelling twist with ERASED.
You can watch Made in Abyss and ERASED on the following platforms:
- Crunchyroll
- Netflix
- Viewster
- Animax
- HiDive
Paprika is also available to be purchased on Amazon.
So, what are we are looking at here? Well…
The Abyss is a gaping chasm that stretches into the centre of the earth, full of creatures of all shapes and sizes and ancient relics. Many questions have been left without an answer, with those brave enough to become Divers seeking to solve these mysteries by diving into its seemingly endless depths. The bravest of these, the White Whistles, are hailed as heroes by those who remain on the surface. Riko is the daughter of the missing White Whistle – Lyza the Annihilator. She aspires to be just like her mother and explore the depths of the Abyss herself. As a novice Red Whistle herself, she is only permitted to roam around the Abyss’ upper layer. That is, until, she encounters a mysterious robot who looks just like any ordinary boy. Naming him Reg, Riko is certain that the technology used to create him comes from the depths of the Abyss and so together they proceed to take on an adventure that will ultimately test their limits. Approximate time to finish: 5.4 hours
Tragedy is about to strike when Satoru Fujinuma suddenly finds himself several minutes before the incident takes place. The 29 year-old mangaka takes advantage of this occurance – which he calls a Revival – to save lives. However, when he himself is accused of murdering someone close to him, Satoru is sent back to the past again, but this time to 1988. He soon realises that this murder may be related to an abduction and killing of one of his classmates, the mysterious Kayo Hinazuki, and that this Revival is his chance to make things right. Approximate time to finish: 4.6 hours
Dreams can reveal a lot about a person. They show one’s desires, aspirations and repressed memories. One lab in particular has been developing a device called the DC Mini, a device with the power to delve into other people’s dreams. Endless hours of work have gone in to this project with the aim to use the device on patients and hopefully cure their psychological disorders. However, with this comes tremendous responsibility and, in the wrong hands, the DC Mini could instead be used for psychological terrorism and cause mental breakdowns. When this technology is stolen and people begin to act strangely, there’s definitely a problem and its up to the lab technicians to search in both the real and dream worlds in order to find their mental terrorist. Duration of the film: 90 minutes
There’s definitely some good choices here, if I do say so myself! What about you? What are your feelings to mystery anime? Seen any of these shows? If so, what’s your opinion on them? Let me know in the comments below!
Until next time!
– Amelia xo
I absolutely love Erased. In fact I loved it so much that I bought the manga and the limited editions of the blu-ray/dvd boxed sets. Terrific and at the same time tragic story as wel…and very, very beautiful. The live action series for it was very good too. If you haven’t seen that yet I highly recommend it. It’s one of the better live action adaptations out there 😊
I haven’t seen the live action yet but I do definitely plan to! Thanks for the recommendation! 🙂
Also loved Erased.
Made in Abyss was interesting but without an end it isn’t something I could recommend as a mystery. Though I guess there is a second season coming which might help with that not-concluded feeling.
I definitely see your point here! I really just recommended it for a “you never know what’s around the corner”-type mystery, but the non-conclusive ending and the upcoming second season should, really, add to the mystery regardless.
Aside from the anime’s ending, Erased was great.
Made in Abyss doesn’t seem like the kind of show that should or would be marketed as a mystery, but I can kind of see where you got the idea from – the OP and the overall tone of the series definitely has a sort of mystery feel to it. Then again, I’ve only seen the first episode at this point in time, so I probably shouldn’t be saying anything about it…
I certainly get what you mean with ERASED’s ending, but it was certainly an enjoyable show for the most part.
Some of the episodes in Made in Abyss certainly do make you unsure of what’s going to happen and so I put it in here as a sort of “adventure mystery” more than anything. Plus, as I said to Karandi, the non-conclusive ending definitely adds a mysterious tone to it. Well, until S2 airs, of course!