Halloween is tomorrow, but spooky season doesn’t officially end until Thanksgiving (at least in my opinion.) If you’re looking for some dark, end-of-the-world themed anime on Crunchyroll, then we’ve got you covered. Some of these are apocalyptic themed, but not all of them. They do all have just the right ambiance for this time of year (or any time you want some action mixed with dark themes.)
So here’s the official list of dark-themed, spooky, apocalyptic anime and how to watch each of them.
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By the way, if you’re wondering why your favorite anime isn’t in this list, it’s either because I didn’t watch it or I didn’t like it. (I think I’m the only person in the world who doesn’t love Dan Da Dan.) In the list below, I’m only featuring shows I’ve watched and truly enjoyed.
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Jujutsu Kaisen
This one is first because an entire Shibuya arc literally takes place on Halloween. You really can’t get more spooky-themed than that. It starts out like it’s going to be more lighthearted, but it gets dark fast. And through it all, it’s still a lot of fun.
You can watch it on Crunchyroll here.
Attack on Titan
I realize the chances you haven’t seen this one are pretty slim, but it’s still my absolute favorite. The plotline is so intricate, the surprises are so fun, and it can be so chilling at times. (Maybe the most chilling of all the ones on this list.)
Chainsaw Man
Chainsaw Man, Attack on Titan, and Jujutsu Kaisen are the trifecta of best action anime. This one has a lot of themes highly similar to Jujutsu Kaisen, but in some ways it’s even better. In other ways, JJK is. But I think you’ll like them both.
Solo Leveling
I adore this show. It ranks higher than JJK or Chainsaw Man for me, but not higher than Attack on Titan. It’s just a lot of fun, a good revenge story in many ways, a good story for anyone who feels economically depressed and wants to fight back… Just overall awesome, with some great spooky elements too. Oh, and the music. It is soooo good.
Eighty-Six
Eighty-Six isn’t as well known, but it stands right up there with JJK and Chainsaw Man in terms of quality and storyline. It’s a post-apocalyptic story where killer machines are slowly taking over… But they’re also taking over people’s minds, and it gets very spooky at times. There’s also an understated love story mixed in that doesn’t overtake the story, but blends in perfectly.
This only lasts one season, so it’s less of a commitment. The manga keeps going, but this one ends at a good spot.
Erased
Erased is a completely different type of story than the other anime. It’s not action-focused, but mystery-focused. It doesn’t take place on a fantastical world. Instead, it takes place in the modern day world with a fantastical element: time travel. In this story, a struggling manga artist and pizza delivery worker is sent back in time after his mom is murdered to his elementary school days, where he tries to stop a kidnapping and murder case.
Link Click
As long as we’re talking about time travel anime, I can’t not mention my current obsession, Link Click. It’s a Chinese donghua, technically, with a compelling story that just gets more intricate with every season. They just aired Season 3 Part 1’s ending, and oh my gosh. It was so beautiful and emotional… I just can’t say enough about it.
Slight spoiler: An example of how intricate this show can get. The opening OP for Season 3 Part 1 will be different in Season 3 Part 2, but if you overlay both OPs on top of each other, you get a hidden story that’s just so beautiful.
It’s not inherently spooky or apocalyptic, but it does have some mysteries and a bit of a spooky theme in some of the episodes. And it’s criminally underrated here in the U.S. It’s about two men who have a shared power that lets one of them travel into a photo, while the other one guides them through telepathy. They use that power to solve mysteries or help give people closure. But it gets a lot more convoluted than that pretty quick.
(Oh, and if you don’t love the animation of the very first episode, just keep going. It improves and there are some episodes in this most recent season that are just stunning.)
