44 Shows Like Death Note (2006) to Watch When You're Done
Updated August 2026
View Death Note details →This landmark anime hands a bored genius student a notebook that kills anyone whose name is written in it — and watches him wage a god-complex war of wits against the detective trying to stop him. Tense, cerebral and morally electric, it's a battle of two brilliant minds. If its psychological cat-and-mouse gripped you, seek out smart thriller anime and dramas where intellect, ego and justice collide.
If you loved Death Note (2006), here are 44 TV series that share its content DNA. iRankMovies measures real similarity using cosine similarity across eight weighted dimensions — genre (50%), tone (12%), pace (10%), structure (8%), era (7%), theme (6%), audience (4%) and narrative perspective (3%) — not just the rating. The closest matches according to our analysis are Toilet-Bound Hanako-kun, Death Parade, Classroom of the Elite. Every title is ranked by how closely it matches and backed by the iRank Score, a composite of IMDb, Rotten Tomatoes, Metacritic and TMDb across 12,000+ analysed titles.
The Best Shows Similar to Death Note
Selected for their real similarity in content, these are the shows that share the most with Death Note in terms of theme, narrative tone, and cinematic style. Every recommendation goes beyond genre — we evaluate the type of conflict, pacing, dramatic context, and the experience they create for viewers.
Toilet-Bound Hanako-kun
2020 · Yohei Fukui
To be united with her crush, a hopeless romantic summons the ghost in the girls' bathroom at her school. But she's shocked when the ghost is a boy!
In common: Animation · Mystery · Sci-Fi & Fantasy
Death Parade
2015
There is a place after death that’s neither heaven nor hell. A bar that serves you one chance to win. You cannot leave until the game is over, and when it is, your life may be too.
In common: Animation · Mystery
Classroom of the Elite
2017
Kiyotaka Ayanokouji enrolls at the prestigious Tokyo Koudo Ikusei Academy, but is assigned to Class 1-D, where students with behavioral problems are housed. The school awards points equivalent to 100,
In common: Animation · Mystery
xxxHOLiC
2006
Kimihiro Watanuki is a high school student plagued by ayakashi spirits, both of which are invisible to everyone else but him. The series begins when Watanuki stumbles, seemingly by chance, into a shop
In common: Animation · Sci-Fi & Fantasy
BEASTARS
2019
In a world where beasts of all kinds coexist, a gentle wolf awakens to his own predatory urges as his school deals with a murder within its midst.
In common: Animation
Banana Fish
2018 · Nobumasa Sawabe
A teenaged gang leader in New York City faces his abuser and rival gangs alongside a photojournalist from Japan as they investigate a deadly new drug.
In common: Animation
Kakegurui
2017
Run by a corrupt and sadistic school council, the “system” at Hyakkaou is based on gambling, with losers who cannot cover their debts being demeaned by their peers and forced to serve their debtholder
In common: Animation
Serial Experiments Lain
1998
Lain—driven by the abrupt suicide of a classmate—logs on to the Wired and promptly loses herself in a twisted mass of hallucinations, memories, and interconnected-psyches.
In common: Animation · Mystery
ERASED
2016
Satoru Fujinuma is a struggling manga artist who has the ability to turn back time and prevent deaths. When his mother is killed he turns back time to solve the mystery, but ends up back in elementary
In common: Animation · Mystery
Blue Exorcist
2011 · Atsushi Higashiyama
Humans live in the world of Assiah, demons in Gehenna. The two dimensions are not meant to interfere with each other, but demons still possess creatures in Assiah in spite of this. The humans who can
In common: Animation · Mystery
Tower of God
2020 · Haruhito Nakayoshi
Reach the top, and everything will be yours. At the top of the tower exists everything in this world, and all of it can be yours. You can become a god. This is the story of the beginning and the end o
In common: Animation · Mystery
Steins;Gate
2011
A group of friends have customized their microwave so that it can send text messages to the past. As they perform different experiments, an organization named SERN who has been doing their own researc
In common: Animation · Mystery
The Promised Neverland
2019
Emma, Norman and Ray are the brightest kids at the Grace Field House orphanage. And under the care of the woman they refer to as “Mom,” all the kids have enjoyed a comfortable life. Good food, clean c
In common: Animation · Mystery
Elfen Lied
2004
The Diclonius, a mutated homo sapien that is said to be selected by God and will eventually become the destruction of mankind, possesses two horns in their heads, and has a "sixth sense" which gives i
In common: Animation
Sword Art Online
2012
In the near future, a Virtual Reality Massive Multiplayer Online Role-Playing Game (VRMMORPG) called Sword Art Online has been released where players control their avatars with their bodies using a pi
In common: Animation · Sci-Fi & Fantasy
The Misfit of Demon King Academy
2020 · Akihiro Sotokawa
Anos Voldigord was a tyrannical Demon King that eradicated humans, spirits, and even the gods, but became bored of eternal warfare and reincarnated with dreams of a peaceful world. However, what await
In common: Animation · Sci-Fi & Fantasy
Fullmetal Alchemist
2003 · Hideo Katsumata
Two young brothers are raised as alchemists, but when they are severely injured trying to perform a forbidden act, they begin searching for the one thing that can save them; the fabled philosopher's s
In common: Animation · Sci-Fi & Fantasy
Overlord
2015 · Satoshi Kobayashi
In the year 2138, virtual reality gaming is booming. Yggdrasil, a popular online game is quietly shut down one day. However, one player named Momonga decides to not log out. Momonga is then transforme
In common: Animation · Sci-Fi & Fantasy
Yu-Gi-Oh! Duel Monsters
2000
Bullies often target someone frail and weak—someone exactly like Yûgi Muto. He treasures his Millennium Puzzle, an ancient Egyptian artifact that was brought into his grandfather's game shop. Believin
In common: Animation
Digimon: Digital Monsters
1999
While at summer camp, seven kids come across seven Digivices and are transported to a strange digital world. In this new world they make friends with creatures that call themselves Digimon who were bo
In common: Animation · Sci-Fi & Fantasy
Cardcaptor Sakura
1998
Sakura Kinomoto, an elementary school student who discovers that she possesses magical powers after accidentally freeing a set of magical cards from the book they had been sealed in for years. She is
In common: Animation · Sci-Fi & Fantasy
Baki Hanma
2021
To gain the skills he needs to surpass his powerful father, Baki enters Arizona State Prison to take on the notorious inmate known as Mr. Unchained.
In common: Animation · Sci-Fi & Fantasy
Black Clover
2017
Asta and Yuno are two orphans who want the same thing: to become the Wizard King. Locked in a friendly rivalry, they work hard towards their goal. While Yuno excels at magic, Asta has a problem uncomm
In common: Animation · Sci-Fi & Fantasy
Super Dragon Ball Heroes
2018
Trunks returns from the future to train with Goku and Vegeta. However, it disappears without warning. Then the mysterious Fu bursts in, telling them that Trunks has been imprisoned in the Prison Plane
In common: Animation · Sci-Fi & Fantasy
Digimon Adventure:
2020
It's the year 2020. The Network has become something humans can no longer do without in their daily lives. But what humans don't know is that on the other side of the Network is the Digital World, a r
In common: Animation
Sailor Moon Crystal
2014
Usagi Tsukino is chosen to be a guardian of justice and is sent on a quest to locate a Silver Crystal before the Dark Kingdom invades the Earth.
In common: Animation · Sci-Fi & Fantasy
Record of Ragnarok
2021
Before eradicating humankind from the world, the gods give them one last chance to prove themselves worthy of survival. Let the Ragnarok battles begin.
In common: Animation · Sci-Fi & Fantasy
SAINT SEIYA: Knights of the Zodiac
2019
Seiya and the Knights of the Zodiac rise again to protect the reincarnation of the goddess Athena, but a dark prophecy hangs over them all.
In common: Animation · Sci-Fi & Fantasy
Saint Seiya: Soul of Gold
2015
Transcending eternity, the 12 Gold Saints return to protect love and peace on Earth! They gave their lives to destroy the Wailing Wall to break the way for Seiya and the Saints in their battle against
In common: Animation
Pokémon
1997
Join Ash accompanied by his partner Pikachu, as he travels through many regions, meets new friends and faces new challenges on his quest to become a Pokémon Master.
In common: Animation · Sci-Fi & Fantasy
Naruto Shippūden
2007
After 2 and a half years Naruto finally returns to his village of Konoha, and sets about putting his ambitions to work. It will not be easy though as he has amassed a few more dangerous enemies, in th
In common: Animation · Sci-Fi & Fantasy
Winx Club
2004
In a magical universe, witches, warriors begin fighting in the name of good .vs. evil! At a magic school, five teenage girls are selected to defend the universe with their magic.
In common: Animation
Scooby-Doo! Mystery Incorporated
2010
This incarnation of the popular cartoon series finds Scooby and the gang living in Crystal Cove, a small town with a long history of ghost sightings, monster tales and other mysteries ripe for the sle
In common: Animation · Mystery
Hellsing
2001
Vampires exist. It is the duty of Hellsing, an organization sponsored by the British government, to hide that frightening fact and protect the blissfully unaware populace. Lately, vampire activity ha
In common: Animation · Sci-Fi & Fantasy
The Apothecary Diaries
2023 · Takahiro Sato
Maomao lived a peaceful life with her apothecary father. Until one day, she's sold as a lowly servant to the emperor's palace. But she wasn't meant for a compliant life among royalty. So when imperial
In common: Animation · Mystery
Monster
2004
Kenzou Tenma, a Japanese brain surgeon in Germany, finds his life in utter turmoil after getting involved with a psychopath that was once a former patient.
In common: Animation
Detective Conan
1996
The son of a world famous mystery writer, Jimmy Kudo, has achieved his own notoriety by assisting the local police as a student detective. He has always been able to solve the most difficult of crimin
In common: Animation
Another
2012 · Tsuneo Takechi
When Kouichi arrives at his new school, he immediately senses something frightening in the atmosphere of his new class, something that no student wants to talk about and that seems to be related to a
In common: Animation · Mystery
Re:ZERO -Starting Life in Another World-
2016
Natsuki Subaru, an ordinary high school student, is on his way home from the convenience store when he finds himself transported to another world. As he's lost and confused in a new world where he
In common: Animation
Parasyte -the maxim-
2014
A species of parasitic aliens descends on Earth and quickly infiltrates humanity by entering the brains of vulnerable targets; insatiable beings that gain total control of their host and are capable o
In common: Animation
Neon Genesis Evangelion
1995 · Hideaki Anno
At the turn of the century, the Angels returned to Earth, seeking to wipe out humanity in an apocalyptic fury. Devastated, mankind's last remnants moved underground to wait for the day when the Angels
In common: Animation · Sci-Fi & Fantasy
Hellsing Ultimate
2006
For over a century, the mysterious Hellsing Organization has been secretly protecting the British Empire from the undead. When Sir Integra Hellsing succeeded as the head of the organization, she also
In common: Animation · Sci-Fi & Fantasy
Code Geass: Lelouch of the Rebellion
2006
Japan has been invaded and conquered by the Britannian Empire. Japan is now known as Area 11 and its citizens known as Elevens. The Britannian Empire takes away Japan's autonomous power and imposes it
In common: Animation
Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood
2009
Disregard for alchemy’s laws ripped half of Edward Elric’s limbs from his body and left his brother Alphonse’s soul clinging to a suit of armor. To restore what was lost, the brothers seek the Philoso
In common: Animation
Popular Animation movies
Spirited Away
2001 · Hayao Miyazaki
A young girl, Chihiro, becomes trapped in a strange new world of spirits. When her parents undergo a mysterious transformation, she must call upon the courage she never knew she had to free her family
Violet Evergarden: The Movie
2020 · Taichi Ishidate
As the world moves on from the war and technological advances bring changes to her life, Violet still hopes to see her lost commanding officer again.
Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse
2018 · Bob Persichetti
Struggling to find his place in the world while juggling school and family, Brooklyn teenager Miles Morales is unexpectedly bitten by a radioactive spider and develops unfathomable powers just like th
Toy Story 3
2010 · Lee Unkrich
Woody, Buzz, and the rest of Andy's toys haven't been played with in years. With Andy about to go to college, the gang find themselves accidentally left at a nefarious day care center. The toys must b