
50 Shows Like Monster (2004) to Watch When You're Done
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.
Updated June 2026
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Naoki Urasawa's anime masterpiece follows a brilliant surgeon who saves a child's life, only to learn the boy grows into a monstrous serial killer — and to chase him across Europe in a moral nightmare. Slow, meticulous and deeply unsettling, it's a peerless psychological thriller. If its dread and ethical weight gripped you, seek out cerebral thriller anime and crime dramas about conscience, guilt and the nature of evil.
If you loved Monster (2004), here are 50 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 BEASTARS, Banana Fish, Kakegurui. 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.
50 Shows Similar to Monster

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 · Crime · Drama

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 · Crime

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 · Crime · Drama

Black Lagoon
2006 · Jungo Maruta
The story follows a team of pirate mercenaries known as the Lagoon Company, that smuggles goods in and around the seas of Southeast Asia in the early to mid 1990s. Their base of operations is located
In common: Animation · Crime

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 · Drama · 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 · Drama · Mystery

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 · Crime

BAKI
2018
While martial arts champion Baki Hanma trains hard to surpass his legendary father, five violent death row inmates descend upon Tokyo to take him on.
In common: Animation · Crime

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 · Drama · Mystery

Redo of Healer
2021 · Shun'ichi Okabe
In a world of monsters, adventurers and magic, some of the most gifted healers are subjugated to brute force. Keyaru gains the ability to rewind time and turns the tables on those who’ve exploited him
In common: Animation · Crime

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

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 · Drama · 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 · Drama

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 · Drama

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 · Drama

Saint Seiya
1986
Ages ago, the goddess Athena was served by fighters called Saints who channeled the power of the Cosmos within them. Now a youth named Seiya has trained to become a Saint himself by earning the mystic
In common: Animation · Drama

High School of the Dead
2010 · Hiroyuki Omori
A small group of students at Fujimi High are fighting for their lives after surviving a zombie outbreak. It is up to Takashi to unite the survivors and escape the horrors that surround them. In this n
In common: Animation · Drama

Golden Time
2013
Banri Tada is a freshman at a Tokyo law school. After an accident, he suffers severe memory loss. Despite the incident, he befriends fellow freshman, Mitsuo Yanagisawa, which leads him to the beautifu
In common: Animation · Drama

Charlotte
2015
All thanks to the special ability that he developed, Yuu was able to cheat his way into a very prestigious high school. With his power, he thought nothing was going to stand in his way, until he met
In common: Animation · Drama

Saint Seiya: The Lost Canvas
2009
The Sacred war tale that took place during the 18th century is now unveiled. Tenma, Alone and Sasha, three orphans living their childhood protecting each other and then separated at diferent ages made
In common: Animation · Drama

Candy Candy
1976
This story is about a girl, Candy, who is a orphan. She is a nice and optimistic girl and she has a warm heart. When she was a child, she lived in an orphanage called Pony's Home. She had a good frien
In common: Animation · Drama

Elementary
2012
A modern-day drama about a crime-solving duo that cracks the NYPD's most impossible cases. Following his fall from grace in London and a stint in rehab, eccentric Sherlock escapes to Manhattan where h
In common: Crime · Drama · Mystery

CSI: NY
2004
Follow the investigations of a team of NYPD forensic scientists and police officers identified as "Crime Scene Investigators".
In common: Crime · Drama · Mystery

High Potential
2024 · Kaitlin Olson
Morgan is a single mom with an exceptional mind, whose unconventional knack for solving crimes leads to an unusual and unstoppable partnership with a by-the-book seasoned detective.
In common: Crime · Drama · Mystery

Elite
2018 · Ruben Goldfarb
When three working class kids enroll in the most exclusive school in Spain, the clash between the wealthy and the poor students leads to tragedy.
In common: Crime · Drama · Mystery

White Collar
2009 · Nick Thiel
In exchange for his freedom, charming con artist Neal Caffrey provides his expertise to help straight-man FBI agent Peter Burke catch elusive white-collar criminals.
In common: Crime · Drama · Mystery

Evil
2019
Skeptical forensic psychologist Kristen Bouchard joins priest-in-training David Acosta and technology expert Ben Shakir as they investigate supposed miracles, demonic possessions, and other extraordin
In common: Crime · Drama · Mystery

Lie to Me
2009 · Brian Grazer
The world's leading deception researcher, Dr. Cal Lightman, studies facial expression, body language and tone of voice to determine when a person is lying and why, which helps law enforcement and gove
In common: Crime · Drama · Mystery

Bates Motel
2013 · Vera Farmiga
A "contemporary prequel" to the 1960 film Psycho, depicting the life of Norman Bates and his mother Norma prior to the events portrayed in Hitchcock's film, albeit in a different fictional town and in
In common: Crime · Drama · Mystery

Quantico
2015 · Michael Seitzman
A diverse group of recruits has arrived at the FBI Quantico Base for training. They are the best, the brightest and the most vetted, so it seems impossible that one of them is suspected of mastermindi
In common: Crime · Drama · Mystery

Vinland Saga
2019
For a thousand years, the Vikings have made quite a name and reputation for themselves as the strongest families with a thirst for violence. Thorfinn, the son of one of the Vikings' greatest warriors,
In common: Animation · Drama

Sin senos sí hay paraíso
2016 · Yesmer Uribe
A young woman born in a mafia-controlled town seeks revenge on those who wrongfully harmed and imprisoned her family.
In common: Crime · Drama

Violet Evergarden
2018 · Masayuki Nishide
The war is over, and Violet Evergarden needs a job. Scarred and emotionless, she takes a job as a letter writer to understand herself and her past.
In common: Animation · Drama

Money Heist: Korea - Joint Economic Area
2022 · Álex Pina
Disguised under the shadows of a mask, a crew of desperados band together under the leadership of a criminal mastermind known only as “The Professor” to pull off the biggest heist Korea has ever seen.
In common: Crime · Drama

Scream: The TV Series
2015 · Tony DiSanto
What starts as a YouTube video going viral, soon leads to problems for the teenagers of Lakewood and serves as the catalyst for a murder that opens up a window to the town's troubled past. Everyone ha
In common: Crime · Drama · Mystery

The Outsider
2020 · Marty Bowen
When an insidious supernatural force edges its way into a seemingly straightforward investigation into the gruesome murder of a young boy, it leads a seasoned cop and an unorthodox investigator to que
In common: Crime · Drama · Mystery

The Night Of
2016 · Steven Zaillian
After a night of partying with a female stranger, a man wakes up to find her stabbed to death and is charged with her murder.
In common: Crime · Drama · Mystery

The Purge
2018 · James DeMonaco
Set in a dystopian America ruled by a totalitarian political party, the series follows several seemingly unrelated characters living in a small city. Tying them all together is a mysterious savior who
In common: Crime · Drama · Mystery

Mare of Easttown
2021 · Paul Lee
A detective in a small Pennsylvania town investigates a local murder while trying to keep her life from falling apart.
In common: Crime · Drama · Mystery

Criminal Minds
2005
An elite team of FBI profilers analyze the country's most twisted criminal minds, anticipating their next moves before they strike again. The Behavioral Analysis Unit's most experienced agent is David
In common: Crime · Drama · Mystery

The Mentalist
2008 · Tom Szentgyorgyi
Patrick Jane, a former celebrity psychic medium, uses his razor sharp skills of observation and expertise at "reading" people to solve serious crimes with the California Bureau of Investigation.
In common: Crime · Drama · Mystery

The Blacklist
2013 · T Cooper
Raymond "Red" Reddington, one of the FBI's most wanted fugitives, surrenders in person at FBI Headquarters in Washington, D.C. He claims that he and the FBI have the same interests: bringing down dang
In common: Crime · Drama · Mystery

Medium
2005
Allison Dubois works in the District Attorney’s office using her natural intuition about people and her ability to communicate with the dead to help to solve crimes. Her dreams often give her clues to
In common: Crime · Drama · Mystery

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 · Drama · 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 · Drama · 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 · Drama

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

Tokyo Revengers
2021 · Haruki Satomi
Takemichi Hanagaki is a freelancer that’s reached the absolute pits of despair in his life. He finds out that the only girlfriend he ever had, in middle school, Hinata Tachibana, had been killed by th
In common: Animation · Crime

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 · Drama · Mystery