Best Dark Romance Anime
The romance anime genre is quite complicated and full of crazy storylines as compared to other genres. Dark romance is an underrated yet interesting genre in modern anime.
Most of the anime that feature dark romance feature insane characters and a twisted storyline. Dark romance anime feature romantic storylines with a much darker and mature twist in them.
Despite being an underrated genre, many people are obsessed with the dark themes explored by such anime.
We have compiled a list of the top 15 best dark romance anime for all the fans of this genre.
Starting from number 15 we have:
15. Taboo Tattoo
Taboo Tattoo is a Japanese anime based on a manga written and illustrated by Shinjiro. The anime is produced by the studio J.C. Staff.
The main plot of the anime revolves around a martial artist who finds himself in a supernatural war of factions when he gets rewarded with the power of mysterious origin in an incident.
Akatsuka Justice, also known as Seigi, is the main protagonist of the anime. He is a middle school martial artist with a true sense of justice. Seigi saves an old man who in return gives him a mysterious tattoo that holds immense power.
At first, he was quite unsure about it as it was a mere tattoo but when a girl Bluesy Fluesy also known as Izzy begins to pursue him using the power of a similar tattoo. Seigi becomes firm about the power of the tattoo and starts working with Izzy as her partner. However, Seigi develops a hidden affection for Izzy over time
Seigi‘s tattoo holds the power to create miniature black holes that are very powerful and dangerous. On the other hand, Izzy’s tattoo allows her to turn air into bullets which are quite deadly too. However, the tattoo holders have to put their life on the line to fight against Aryabhata of the Selinistan Kingdom who wishes to change the very way this world works by destruction and dominance.
Will Seigi, Izzy, and their comrades be able to put a stop to the chaos brought by the Taboo Tattoos?
Check out the anime to find more.
The anime has a decent animation with an average plot. The anime has 1 season and 12 episodes in total.
14. Brynhildr in Darkness
Brynhildr in Darkness is a Japanese anime based on a manga written and illustrated by Lynn Okamoto. The anime is produced by the studio Arms.
The main plot of the anime revolves around a young man and his struggle to fulfill the dying wish of his childhood friend while dealing with strange supernatural events caused by witches.
Ryouta Murakami is the main protagonist of the anime who does not believe in the existence of supernatural lifeforms like aliens. On the other hand, his childhood friend Neko Kuroha firmly believes in the existence of aliens.
To prove the existence of aliens Kuroha takes Ryouta to the mountains and a tragic event results in the death of Kuroha.
Several years after the incident Ryouta is now a top high school student leading a normal life. He is working hard to prove the existence of aliens as redemption for not believing in Kuroha.
However, Ryouta’s life takes a turn when a transfer student bearing an insane resemblance to Kuroha enters his classroom.
The transfer student named Kuroneko possesses mysterious supernatural abilities which make her a witch. She predicts the death of Ryouta but ends up saving him.
As Ryouta continues to interact with Kuroneko, he begins to learn about the existence of mad scientists that make artificial witches with supernatural powers. Kuroneko is one of them and she escaped the lab with three other witches.
Will Ryota be able to protect Kuroneko, who reminds him of his beloved Kuroha and other witches from the fangs of the armed organizations that pursue them? Check out the anime to discover more.
The anime features the darkness of twisted humans that plays with the very life of innocent persons to attain powers. The anime got 1 season and 13 episodes in total.
13. Dance in the Vampire Bund
Dance in the Vampire Bund is a Japanese anime based on a manga written and illustrated by Nozumo Tamaki. The anime is produced by the studio Shaft.
The main plot of the anime revolves around the princess of vampires and her sworn protector and the worldly discrimination that won’t let them live together.
Akira Kaburagi Regendorf is the main protagonist of this anime who gets heavily injured in an accident and loses his memory and is living a normal school life.
However, his fateful encounter with Mina Tepes, the princess of all vampires, enables him to remember his past life. Akira was a werewolf and sworn protector of Mina Tepes. After recovering his memory he began to serve her again.
Mina Tepes decides to announce the existence of her species in front of the world to live together with humans and build a Vampire Bund in Tokyo. However, some human factions and Vampires weren’t happy with them so they began their plan to destroy Mina and her motives.
Mina was in love with Akira and Akira feels the same but a werewolf and vampire can not be together due to some ignorant beliefs. Will Mina and Akira be able to defend Vampire bund from extremists and break the tragic chain of discrimination?
Check out the series to find more. The anime has a unique animation and a dark romance story similar to the Twilight series. The anime has 1 season and 12 episodes in total.
12. Scum’s Wish
Scum’s Wish is a Japanese anime based on a manga written and illustrated by Mengo Yokoyari. The anime is produced by the studio Lerche.
The main plot of the anime revolves around two young high school students suffering from unrequited love and their daily life of giving comfort to each other.
Mugi Awaya is the main protagonist of the anime who comes across Akane Minagawa, his previous music tutor and crush. Mugi was happy to meet his crush again but the fact that Akane is in a relationship with Narumi Kanai, the homeroom teacher of a class, saddens him to the core.
Mugi meets Hanabi Yasuraoka who was also suffering from unrequited love as his childhood friend and crush, Narumi Kanai is in a relationship with a music teacher Akane Minagawa. They both begin to hang out together. Eventually, they start experiencing physical intimacy to ward off their loneliness.
The two of them start a fake relationship and become quite popular in the school as the perfect couple but the reality was different. They both made a pact to be together emotionally and physically until their true loved ones express the same feelings as themselves.
What will fate have in store for these love birds? Check out the anime to discover more.
The anime has a weird yet interesting plot as it deals directly with the human’s understanding of love and hate. The anime has 1 season and 12 episodes.
11. Sankarea: Undying Love
Sankarea: Undying Love is a Japanese anime based on a manga written and illustrated by Mitsuru Hattori. The anime is produced by Studio Deen.
The main plot of the anime revolves around a boy who is obsessed with zombies and his struggle to keep his girlfriend alive after she has been turned into a zombie.
Chihiro Furuya is the main protagonist of the anime who has a strange obsession with zombies and his ultimate fantasy was having a zombie girlfriend. He meets Rea Sanka, the top student of his school who was surfing from depression. Rea feels comfortable talking to Chihiro and they become friends.
One day, Chihiro’s cat dies in an accident so Chihiro decides to revive his cat with a resurrection potion, and miraculously succeeds in doing so. On the same day, Rea also gets involved in an accident and dies. However, she drank the remaining resurrection potion before the accident so she ends up being revived as a zombie.
With this strange situation in place, what will be Chihiro’s course of action? Check out the anime to discover more.
The anime has a unique plot with a fantasy that is loved by many people. It will make you laugh with its twisted and dark sense of humor. The anime has 1 season and 12 episodes in total.
10. God Eater
God Eater is a Japanese anime based on an original video game of the same name. It is produced by studio Ufotable.
Set in the year 2071, the story of this anime revolves around humanity fighting Aragami Monsters which are produced by Oracle cells and protecting the rest of humanity.
The story is set in a world where human experiments on oracle cells have produced fierce and devastating monsters called “Aragami”. Humanity’s last resort is Fenrir where God Eaters live. The weapon wielded by these warriors is called the God Arc.
Lenk Utsugi is the main protagonist of the anime who passes the test required to become a God Eater. He enters Fenrir with only one goal in mind: “Destroy Aragami”.
Lenka has a dark past. His whole family was killed by Aragam. To prevent more deaths like this, he takes on his god arc to kill the Aragami monsters for a better tomorrow.
Will Lenka be able to save this cursed world from monsters? Check out the anime to find more.
The whole anime has an interesting and mystery-oriented plot. It also has a beautiful art style and if you’re a fan of the original video game then this should be a must-watch. It consists of 1 season and 13 episodes in total.
9. Goblin Slayer
Goblin Slayer is a Japanese anime based on a light novel written by Kumo Kagyu and illustrated by Noboru Kannatsuki. The anime is produced by the studio White Fox.
The whole anime revolves around the adventurers on a quest to eradicate all the goblins from the world.
Goblin Slayer is the main protagonist of the anime who wants to kill the disgusting goblins because of his tragic past. The goblins are quite dangerous because of their ability to learn and adapt.
Goblin Slayer meets Priestess who recently started her adventure career and goes off for a goblin slaying quest with a beginner party. Unfortunately, the whole party ends up getting brutally killed by the goblins.
However, the Priestess was saved by the Goblin Slayer, and eventually, she becomes his party member and decides to aid him to her fullest.
Will Goblin Slayer and his party members slay the entire race of dreadful goblins from the world? Check out the anime to discover more.
The anime got 1 season and 12 episodes in total.
8. Akame ga Kill
Akame ga Kill is a Japanese anime based on a manga written and illustrated by Tetsuya Tashiro. The anime is produced by “Square Enix”.
The whole anime revolves around a group of vigilante assassins judging the evils of the kingdom whom the law cannot judge while fighting the injustice created by the corrupt system of the kingdom.
Tatsumi is the main protagonist of the anime, a skilled swordsman set on a journey to help his poor village. Tatsumi gets impressed by the kingdom’s luxuries, unaware of the darkness that lies in it.
Tatsumi finds out the reality of this kingdom when he witnesses his friends getting toyed to death. There he meets the members of the secret organization “Night Raid” and by turns of fate, he finds himself a part of the organization, from here the journey of Tatsumi with his companions fighting for true justice starts.
Tatsumi meets Akame, the top assassin of the Night Raid with a deadly imperial arm (an ancient weapon) called Murasame.
At first, Tatsumi considered Akame a cold ruthless killer but in reality, she is very kind and caring for her comrades.
Will Tatsumi be able to survive this onerous journey of an assassin? Check out the anime to find out more. The anime has a dark plot and a dark romantic storyline as well. The anime has 1 season and 24 episodes in total.
7. Elfen Lied
Elfen Lied is a Japanese anime based on a manga written and illustrated by Lynn Okamoto. The anime is produced by the studio Arms.
The main plot of the anime revolves around a rare human with destructive abilities and the cruel experiments of humans on her that result in the death of the masses.
Kouta is the main protagonist of the anime. He is an ordinary human living a normal life as a student. He meets Lucy who is a Diclonius, a special species of humans born with horns and telekinetic invisible hands that are quite destructive.
Lucy was held in a government laboratory with strict security. Somehow she escapes and kills all the people in the laboratory as revenge. Lucy also gets injured and develops an alter ego of a child-like person whose personality is named Nyu.
Nyu meets Kouta and Yuka, who start taking care of her. They are ignorant of the fact that she is a Diclonius and a killer. Nyu and Kouta were childhood friends and they fell in love with each other but then Nyu was separated from him.
Nyu’s whole life is a tragedy as her parents left her in an orphanage where children bullied her and as a result, Nyu massacred them all. The only love she received in this world was from Kouta and his cousin Yuka.
With the organization coming to capture Nyu again, what will be Kouta’s course of action?. Check out the anime to discover more. The anime represents the darkness lurking in our society and the ugliness of humans that enables them to create such monsters from innocent souls.
The anime got 1 season and 13 episodes in total.
6. Another
Another is a Japanese anime based on a light novel written and illustrated by Yukito Ayatsuji. The anime is produced by the studio P.A. Works.
The whole anime revolves around a middle schooler and his involvement in the strange paranormal phenomenon lurking around his school and classmates.
Kouichi Sakakibara is the main protagonist of the anime who transfers to a middle school in north Yomiyama. It has been cursed since the death of a popular student, Misaki.
The students in class 3-3 begin to experience paranormal phenomena after the death of Misaki. When Kouichi gets transferred to this school he becomes curious about the nature of the paranormal deaths of students.
He meets Mei Misaki, a fellow student in his class whose existence is not acknowledged by his classmates even though she was present right in front of them. They refused to accept it because of the tragic curse that lurks within their class. However, Kouchi begins to interact with her and eventually becomes friends with her.
Kouchi learns about the curse and the fact that his classmates consider Mei non-existent to balance out the number of students in the class as there is a dead student in their class (Misaki Yomiyama). This step was taken as a countermeasure to the dreadful curse.
Will Kouchi be able to stay silent about it or will he pursue the origin of this curse? Check out the anime to discover more. The anime has a horror plot with dark romance. The anime has 1 season and 12 episodes in total.
5. Future Diary
Future Diary is a Japanese anime based on a manga written and illustrated by Sakae Esuno. The anime is produced by the studio Asread.
The main plot of the anime revolves around a young high schooler and his involvement in a deadly battle royale to choose the new god of space and time.
Yukiteru Amano is the main protagonist of the anime who was living a lonely life. His only friends were Deus Ex Machina, the god of time and space, and his servant Murmur. Yukiteru considered Deus a creation of his imagination but his existence was real.
Deus grants Yukiteru a future diary and forces him to join the deadly battle royale that decides the new god of space and time.
Yukiteru’s life becomes a living hell when he gets to know that he has to kill the 11 other participants of this battle royal to survive or else they will kill him.
Yukiteru meets Yuno Gasai, the girl who has been stalking him for quite some time. Yuno is also a participant in this battle royale and is in love with Yukiteru.
Yuno and Yukiteru team up to survive this game of survival. However, things take a turn when the secret of Yuno Gasai’s love for Yukuteru is revealed.
Will Yukiteru be able to survive this deadly game with Gasai Yuno as his partner? Check out the anime to find out more. This is the perfect dark romance anime that you could find anywhere. The anime got 1 season and 27 episodes including an OVA episode.
4. Erased
Erased is a Japanese anime based on a manga written and illustrated by Kei Sanbe. The anime is produced by A-1 Pictures.
The main plot of the anime revolves around a middle-aged manga artist and his strange ability to go back in time and prevent a disaster from happening.
Satoru Fjinuma is the main protagonist of the anime. He is a middle-aged man working as a manga artist and a delivery man. He has a mysterious ability named “Revival” that allows him to travel back in time to prevent a mishap from happening. Satoru has been using this ability to save people from dreadful accidents.
However, Satoru’s life takes a turn when he gets accused of murdering his mother. He decides to travel back in time to prevent his mother’s death to prove his innocence. However, changing the past is not as easy as it sounds. Satoru realizes the consequences he has to face for altering the past.
Satoru travels 18 years back in time and learns about the connection between his mother’s murder and the kidnapper that kidnaped his three classmates. One of the kidnapped classmates was Kayo Hinazuki, a loner going through depression. Satoru consoles her and eventually, they become friends. It is hinted that Satoru begins to have feelings for her.
Will Satoru be able to save his mother and his classmates and his beloved one from the tragedies of the past? Check out the anime to discover more. The anime has 1 season and 12 episodes in total.
3. Death Parade
Death Parade is an original Japanese anime that is produced by the studio Madhouse.
The main plot of the anime revolves around the events related to death and the arbiter that judges the fate of a person after death.
Decim is the protagonist of the anime. He is a bartender of Quindecim, and an arbiter assigned with the task to judge the deceased people. In the beginning, Decim was like a robot merely carrying out his duties according to the rules defined by others.
He drags the dead people who lost their memory of being dead into a game that shows the inner nature of the people playing it. Their nature is revealed in the game of death which decides their fate.
Decim meets Chiyuki who comes to Quindecim after her death but surprisingly she is aware of the fact that she is dead. Because of her self-awareness, Decim could not judge her and she temporarily became his assistant after Nona removed her memories.
Decim’s life changes when Chiyuki becomes his assistant. She always criticizes the way the arbiter judges people. In her view, it was the extreme living conditions that were causing the people to become evil. The two of them continue to share a close relationship until the judgment day of Chiyuki.
What will be the result of a human working with an arbiter? Check out the anime to find out more.
The anime has 1 season and 12 episodes in total.
2. Parasyte the Maxim
Parasyte the Maxim is a Japanese anime based on a manga written and illustrated by Hitoshi Iwaaki. It is created by studio Madhouse.
The main plot of the anime revolves around parasitic aliens and the chaos of humans brought by them.
Shinichi Izumi is the main protagonist of the anime, gets infected with a parasitic alien but his instant action against him prevents the parasyte from taking over his brain. The parasyte remains in his right hand and becomes a part of him.
Shinichi and the parasite eventually became friends to survive together and he named the parasyte “Migi”.
However, Migi is not the only parasite that came to earth. Hundreds of other parasites also came and have taken over or killed countless humans.
Shinichi and Migi must work together to stop these parasites from killing people. Shinichi saves Satomi Murano, his love interest from hostile parasites. She is the only one who knows about Shinichi’s non-human abilities.
With the life of countless humans at stake, what will be Shinichi’s course of action? Check out the anime to find out.
The anime got 1 season and 24 episodes in total.
1. The Promised Neverland
The Promised Neverland is a Japanese anime based on a manga written by Kaiu Shirai and illustrated by Posuka Demizu. The anime is produced by the studio CloverWorks.
The main plot of the anime revolves around the children living in a faraway orphanage and their struggle to escape the despair that is approaching them.
Ray, Emma, and Norman are the main characters of the anime who were spending peaceful days at the orphanage. But soon the peaceful days are turned into nightmares as they come to know that they are the living stock for the demons. All the children that are being raised will eventually become the food of wicked demons.
Norman and Emma decide to escape from this orphanage with all the other children. Ray also decides to help them but escaping the orphanage is not easy.
The caretaker of the orphanage, Isabella, also known as Mama—holds a twisted personality and she will not let the children escape that easily.
The trio devises a master plan to escape from the orphanage using their high intelligence.
Will Ray, Emma, and Norman be able to save the children including themselves from a cruel fate? Check out the anime to find out more.
The anime has a darkness-oriented plot with a mature storyline. The anime has 2 seasons and 23 episodes in total.
Thank you for reading!
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