38 Shows Like Serial Experiments Lain (1998) to Watch When You're Done
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.
Updated June 2026
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If you loved Serial Experiments Lain (1998), here are 38 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 Neon Genesis Evangelion, 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.
38 Shows Similar to Serial Experiments Lain
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 · Drama · 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 · 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
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 · Drama
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 · 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
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
Death Note
2006
Light Yagami is an ace student with great prospects—and he’s bored out of his mind. But all that changes when he finds the Death Note, a notebook dropped by a rogue Shinigami death god. Any human whos
In common: Animation · Mystery · 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 · Drama · Mystery
Cyberpunk: Edgerunners
2022 · Taiki Sakurai
In a dystopia riddled with corruption and cybernetic implants, a talented but reckless street kid strives to become a mercenary outlaw — an edgerunner.
In common: Animation · Drama
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
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
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
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
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 · 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
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 · 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
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
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 · Sci-Fi & Fantasy
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 · Sci-Fi & Fantasy
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
Alice in Borderland
2020 · Kaata Sakamoto
With his two friends, a video-game-obsessed young man finds himself in a strange version of Tokyo where they must compete in dangerous games to win.
In common: Drama · Mystery
Revenge
2011
When Emily Thorne moves to the Hamptons, everyone wonders about the new girl, but she knows everything about them, including what they did to her family. Years ago, they took everything from her. Now,
In common: Drama · Mystery
Servant
2019 · M. Night Shyamalan
A Philadelphia couple are in mourning after an unspeakable tragedy creates a rift in their marriage and opens the door for a mysterious force to enter their home.
In common: Drama · Mystery
Yellowjackets
2021 · Brad Van Arragon
This equal parts survival epic, psychological horror story and coming-of-age drama tells the saga of a team of wildly talented high school girls soccer players who become the (un)lucky survivors of a
In common: Drama · Mystery
Twin Peaks
1990 · Sabrina S. Sutherland
The body of Laura Palmer is washed up on a beach near the small Washington state town of Twin Peaks. FBI Special Agent Dale Cooper is called in to investigate her strange demise only to uncover a web
In common: Drama · Mystery
BLUE LOCK
2022 · Junichi Kimura
High school soccer players from across Japan gather for a controversial project designed to create the best — and most egoistic — striker in the world.
In common: Animation · Drama
My Dress-Up Darling
2022 · Hirotaka Kaneko
High schooler Wakana Gojo wants to become a kashirashi—a master craftsman who makes traditional Japanese Hina dolls. Though he's gung-ho about the craft, he knows nothing about the latest trends, and
In common: Animation · 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
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
Tokyo Ghoul
2014 · Kazumichi Ueda
Ken Kaneki, a bookworm college student, meets Rize, a girl his own age with whom he shares many interests.
In common: Animation · Drama · Sci-Fi & Fantasy