10 Anime Like Angels of Death

Serial killers, religion, violence, all in a story based on a video game. This is the simplest way to describe Angels of Death. Although it is a drama-horror title, what really strikes you with this anime is the mystery part of the story, intriguing and confusing at the same time.

The protagonist, Rachel, wakes up and finds herself trapped in the basement of an abandoned building. She has no memories of her past or how she got there so she starts wandering around feeling lost. As she traverses through the building she meets Zack, a serial killer covered in bandages. They make up a promise to each other that he will kill her as long as she helps him get out of this place, and so they start moving through the strange building where they have to work together in order to escape.

So if you are looking for other horror related titles that will mess with your head and you enjoy watching people struggle by playing violent games then you have come to the right place. So let’s just cut to the chase.

Angels of Death Series Review

Deadman Wonderland

Spring 2011
12 Episodes

Ganta Igarashi finds himself framed for a gruesome crime at school he didn’t commit. He witnessed his entire class being slaughtered by the mysterious ‘Red Man’ and was labeled a mass murderer and sentenced to death. He was then sent to a private prison called ‘Deadman Wonderland’ where he tries to survive daily battle-royale-style games in his attempt to discover the truth behind the incident.

Both shows have very similar settings and plot, and great resemblance in their characters: Ganta and Shiro work together in order to escape from the prison, like Rachel and Zack who promise to fulfill each other’s wishes when they escape from the building. It is the same kind of ‘closed-space’ horror with a variety of psychopathic antagonists that make the main characters go through some violent challenges. The main difference is that Angels of Death has more riddles and mystery and will make you feel more video-game-like.

Danganronpa: The Animation

Summer 2013
13 Episodes

Hope’s Peak Private Academy is a high-school that accepts only the brightest and most talented students. Naegi, who seems to be a very ordinary individual with no talents whatsoever, has been accepted into a class of 15 students through a lottery system and soon finds out that this prestigious institution is not what it appears to be. They are confronted by the teddy-bear-like principal Monokuma, who traps them inside the school and informs them that that the only way to graduate is to murder a fellow student and fool everyone in a trial that determines life or death.

Danganronpa is a very successful game series in Japan and will definitely give you the same vibe as Angels of Death. Although, it is more of a high-stakes-game title, both stories involve being stuck in a weird unfamiliar building memory loss and killing for survival. Kirigiri and Rachel have quite similar kuudere personalities as well.

Danganronpa 3 Future Arc Episode 1 Review: “Third Time’s the Charm”

Btooom!

Fall 2012
12 Episodes

Even though Ryouta is an unemployed 22-year-old that spends his days at home playing a game called Btooom, he is actually Japan’s top in-game player. His life suddenly takes a weird turn when he is dropped on a tropical island and is asked to play Btooom, but this time, for real. Ryouta and the rest of the players must now fight to death and the only way to win is by killing seven other players.

Btooom! has a lot of mature themes with explicit violence and sexual content but the overall storytelling is very similar to Angels of Death. It shows two characters working together in order to survive and find a way to escape their current situation.

Made in Abyss

Summer 2017
13 Episodes

The Abyss is an enormous gap stretching down into the depths of the earth, filled with wonders and terrors that only the bravest explores known as Divers have sought out and fearlessly descended into its darkest realms. Riko has spent her entire childhood dreaming of going to the Abyss, following the steps of her mother who disappeared in it years ago. One day as she was wondering around, she discovered a boy who seems to be coming from the Abyss and appears to be a sort of robot. He might be the key into helping her find her missing mother.

In both shows, the protagonists are only kids that are going through different levels of hardships. Every step they take, brings more challenges, which makes them count on each other even more while trying to escape the terrors that await them.

10 Anime Like Made in Abyss

Death Parade

Winter 2015
12 Episodes

What exactly lies after death? Is it heaven or hell? Actually, there is only a bar that stands between reincarnation and endless abyss. In the world of Quindecim, lives are being judged by an arbiter named Decim who acts like a bartender but he actually challenges humans to games to see if they are worthy of moving on or perish.

Another anime title that involves characters traversing different levels and completing games in order to continue their journey. Death Parade and Angels of Death really like to question the past of their characters along with presenting different theories, perspectives and perceptions of death. The overall vibe is quite similar and the amazing visuals of Death Parade will definitely give you something to look at.

Higurashi: When They Cry

Spring 2006
26 Episodes

Maebara Keiichi, an ordinary high school boy, has just transferred in the school of Hinamizawa, a small rural village. He leads a quite peaceful life where he becomes friends with a group of what-they-seem-to-be innocent and kind schoolgirls. Suddenly after a series of bizarre events that happen in the mysterious city of Hinamizawa he becomes entangled in a never-ending cycle of violence, fear, and death.

Even though Angels of Death falls less in comparison with Higurashi: When They Cry, which is one of the greatest horror anime titles out there, both of these shows are adaptations of horror games that do one thing really well: they know how to create a mystery story that will keep you watching.

Paranoia Agent

Winter 2004
13 Episodes

On the streets of Tokyo, there is a new menace that everyone is talking about. A young boy by the name of Shounen Bat wears roller skates and a baseball cap and likes to whack people on the head with a golden baseball bat. As more and more people fall victim to the notorious golden bat, the news start to circulate around town and the police tries to find out if there is a pattern to all this chaos.

These shows share in common the ability to make you completely clueless as to what exactly is happening. They are not easy to grasp or straightforward and they just love to mess up with the viewer’s mind. Paranoia Agent is way more trippy and experimental than Angels of Death but it can definitely make you experience another uncomfortable side of horror.

Ao Oni: The Animation

Fall 2016
13 Episodes

In the abandoned mansion outside of town, there are rumors of it being haunted by weird monsters. Hiroshi and his classmates Takuro, Takeshi, and Mika decide to visit the house to find out if the rumors are true, only to be attacked and chased down by a bizarre monster called the Ao Oni. They now have to try to solve various puzzles in the mansion in order to escape, but as they fail to do so, the Ao Oni keeps pestering them even after they meet several horrible endings.

Ao Oni is way more comedic than Angels of Death, but what makes these two very similar is the fact that they were both based after original RPG Maker games. The way they solve the puzzles, the way things occur during the story and the occasional gag and jokes of Ao Oni will surely remind you of Angels of Death, or vice versa.

Corpse Party: Tortured Souls

2013
4 Episodes

One rainy night after a school festival, friends gather up together to perform a charm that will unite them forever as friends. Once the ritual of the charm is performed they are suddenly transported to Heavenly Host, an elementary school that was destroyed years ago due to a series of murders that took place. As they try to regroup and escape from the living nightmare, they found themselves in they soon find out that they are actually at the mercy of the vengeful ghosts of the past.

Okay, this show is incredibly grotesque compared to Angels of Death. It is also another anime adaptation of a horror RPG Maker game that I definitely recommend you to play. The characters in both shows are trapped into places that they don’t really know how they got there and the mystery of the stories is equally intriguing and well-paced.

Vatican Miracle Examiner

Summer 2017
12 Episodes

Okay, before you start throwing things on your screen and think that I have lost my mind, let me explain. Angels of Death is an anime that emphasizes greatly on the part of religion, God, and faith in general, so I really wanted to add something similar in that aspect. Sure, Vatican Miracle Examiner is no masterpiece but I think the way it presents Christianity and its whole mystery vibe might be enjoyed from fans of Angels of Death.

Hiraga Josef Ko and Roberto Nicholas are two priests working for an organization that belongs to the Vatican, which is dedicated in investigating alleged miracles. During their investigations they usually get involved in mysterious incidents and events, which they end up solving since most of the time they are related to the miracles. After dealing with a lot of cases, they find out that there is a hidden organization that tries to control the Vatican and make profit out of it in very shady ways.

Vatican Miracle Examiner (Summer 2017) Series Review

Escape rooms with the right amount of horror.

Angels of Darkness is a weird experience. It brings together many genres; it is a nice mystery kind of light-novel-like story, with games and riddles as well as some good horror and violence elements, so recommending titles that resemble it perfectly was a very hard task. In any case, try to enjoy this list and let us know if you have any other titles that you would suggest to Angels of Death fans.

More anime recommendations from MANGA.TOKYO!