Highlights
- Survival anime brings viewers into unforgiving realities where every action is geared toward survival, showcasing the harshness of these fictional worlds.
- From prisons and death games to post-apocalyptic environments, these survival anime explore the depths of human desperation and the will to survive against all odds.
- These thrilling and often brutal shows capture the primal instinct of every living thing: the instinct to survive, making for compelling and thrilling viewing experiences.
The concept of survival in fiction may not be too dissimilar to reality, but it is undoubtedly exaggerated, as expected of a world of limitless imagination. This exaggeration, however, makes for the most compelling and thrilling experiences for viewers.
Survival anime goes hand-in-hand with harsh realities. Mostly set against the backdrop of brutal and cruel environments, viewers are immersed in these fictional worlds where a hair’s breadth separates life and death, and every action is geared toward survival. The harshness of realities for some may be higher than others, and as regards this, here are some survival anime set in the most unforgiving realities.
10 Deadman Wonderland
A prison and circus rolled into one sounds quite ludicrous, and that is precisely the case with Deadman Wonderland. The protagonist, Ganta Igarashi, is supposed to visit the Deadman Wonderland with his classmates when they are suddenly massacred by a mysterious person covered in red, leaving Ganta as the only survivor.
Being the primary suspect in the massacre, Ganta is thrust into a world of inhuman experiments, death games, and blood abilities as an inmate at Deadman Wonderland. With only the thought of survival, Ganta navigates the hellish ordeals of the prison with the hope of discovering the truth about the mysterious Red Man.
9 Btooom
Blending game mechanics into reality, Ryouka Sakamoto finds himself in a real-life adaptation of his favorite video game. Trapped alone on an unknown island with only basic supplies, Ryouka finds that fantasies should only remain as fantasies.
Faced with the fact that it’s now killed or be killed, Ryouka must use all his skills to find a way to stay alive in this game of death. Btooom! Presents viewers with some sort of battle royale feel, thus highlighting the primal instinct of every living thing: survival.
8 Promised Neverland
Raising children as livestock for the nourishment of others, The Promised Neverland captures all too well the nature of human greed and politics, except this time, it’s with a mix of the supernatural.
The series, set within Grace Field house, follows the protagonists, Ray, Emma, and Norman, who discover the horrifying truth behind their beloved home and are immediately plunged into a life of despair and stealth. With minimal resources and a glimmer of hope, their journey of survival takes off on a rocky path.
7 Gantz
Gantz takes the mysteries of death up a notch, with individuals who die suddenly finding themselves in an unsettling situation in the presence of a mysterious entity known as Gantz. This entity then forces these individuals to partake in bloody death matches.
Following the protagonists, Kei Kurono and Masaru Kato, who died unexpectedly, they become a part of this frantic game of death. Facing off against deadly opponents, they strive to survive the hellish activities by any means necessary.
6 God Eater
The series is set in a post-apocalyptic period; with humanity on the brink of extinction at the hands of man-eating monsters known as the Aragami, the hope of preservation seems glum. To counter the threat of these beasts, a group of people possessing special abilities called God Eaters emerge to help save humankind.
The series tells a thrilling tale of conviction, packed with emotion, action, and suspense, as it trails the activities of Lenka, the protagonist, and his group as they take on the hopes of what remains of humanity.
5 Phantom: Requiem For The Phantom
A case of mistaken identity takes a deadly turn in this thrilling anime. Following Zwei, a tourist visiting a foreign country, he gets his identity mistaken for someone else, and things take a hellish turn as he is thrust into a game of life and death.
Upon his capture, Zwei is brainwashed and loses all memory of his life before. He is forced to fight to the death to preserve his life and with the hopes of recovering his memories. His survival instincts are tested to their limits as he fights for survival in this bloody and unforgiving world.
4 Kabaneri Of The Iron Fortress
The show, set during the Industrial Revolution, shows humanity on the brink of collapse due to the appearance of a virus that turns people into zombie-like corpses. These corpses are known as Kabane, and following the spread of the virus, humanity is forced to adapt to the new predators.
Following the protagonist, Ikoma, a young engineer who becomes a Kabaneri: a half-human, half-kabane hybrid. Determined to survive and find the virus's root cause, Ikouma resolves to see it through to the end, no matter the cost.
3 The Future Diary
The theories of time and space overlap with a bloody game of survival. The Future Diary series follows the life of Yukiteru Amano, who discovers that his phone can predict the future, an ability the god of time and space granted him.
With this ability, he is forced into a lethal game of death with players like himself with the same power, pitting one against another to determine the next god of time and space. The series displays a combination of violent and psychological tropes, giving it an odd feeling of terror.
2 Dr. Stone
Having to build human civilization back from scratch after several millennia is genuinely unforgiving, and such is the fate of Ishigami Senku, the protagonist of Dr. Stone. The series is set in a post-apocalyptic world where, due to a phenomenon called “Petrification,” humanity's advancement is set back into the Stone Age.
Senku, a child prodigy, takes it upon himself to rebuild and continue humanity’s civilization, relying on nothing but his knowledge of science. Determined to survive and bring back technology, he begins his rebuild. Although embedded with humor and relief, the series portrays a proper understanding of the difficulty and severity of Senku’s reality.
1 Attack On Titan
Shut off on Paradis Island from the rest of the world, living in constant fear of death by man-eating titans. To say such an environment is harsh might be an understatement, as is the reality of Attack on Titan, and the series establishes the concept of survival very early.
Set in a fantasy world, it follows the protagonist, Eren Yeager, who vows an oath of extermination of all Titans after his mother's death. The series tells a compelling tale of violence, bloodshed, and politics in a world of constant death.