Top 20 Cyberpunk anime you should watch right now. [2024 List]

20. Maou 2099

​The cyberpunk metropolis Shinjuku—a massive city-state bedecked with neon signs, towering skyscrapers, and the latest cutting-edge technology. It is here, in year 2099 of the Fused Era, where the legendary Demon Lord Veltol has his second coming five centuries in the making. But this landscape is nothing like the one he conquered all those years ago, for the fusion of magic and engineering has elevated civilization to dazzling, unprecedented heights. Veltol may have been reduced to a historical footnote, but make no mistake...this brave new world will be his for the taking!

Demon Lord 2099 is currently airing and will have 12 Episodes. It is also Known as: 魔王2099, Maou 2099

19. Cyberpunk: Edgerunners

An original anime series set in the universe of Cyberpunk 2077.

In a dystopia riddled with corruption and cybernetic implants, a talented but reckless street kid strives to become a mercenary outlaw — an edgerunner.

CYBERPUNK: EDGERUNNERS has finished airing and it has 10 Episodes. It is also Known as: サイバーパンク エッジランナーズ, Cyberpunk: Edgerunners

18. Psycho-Pass

Justice, and the enforcement of it, has changed. In the 22nd century, Japan enforces the Sibyl System, an objective means of determining the threat level of each citizen by examining their mental state for signs of criminal intent, known as their Psycho-Pass. Inspectors uphold the law by subjugating, often with lethal force, anyone harboring the slightest ill-will; alongside them are Enforcers, jaded Inspectors that have become latent criminals, granted relative freedom in exchange for carrying out the Inspectors' dirty work.
Into this world steps Akane Tsunemori, a young woman with an honest desire to uphold justice. However, as she works alongside veteran Enforcer Shinya Kougami, she soon learns that the Sibyl System's judgments are not as perfect as her fellow Inspectors assume. With everything she has known turned on its head, Akane wrestles with the question of what justice truly is, and whether it can be upheld through the use of a system that may already be corrupt.

Psycho-Pass has finished airing and it has 22 Episodes. It is also Known as: サイコパス, Psychopath

17. Serial Experiments Lain

Lain Iwakura, an awkward and introverted fourteen-year-old, is one of the many girls from her school to receive a disturbing email from her classmate Chisa Yomoda—the very same Chisa who recently committed suicide. Lain has neither the desire nor the experience to handle even basic technology; yet, when the technophobe opens the email, it leads her straight into the Wired, a virtual world of communication networks similar to what we know as the internet. Lain's life is turned upside down as she begins to encounter cryptic mysteries one after another. Strange men called the Men in Black begin to appear wherever she goes, asking her questions and somehow knowing more about her than even she herself knows. With the boundaries between reality and cyberspace rapidly blurring, Lain is plunged into more surreal and bizarre events where identity, consciousness, and perception are concepts that take on new meanings.

Written by Chiaki J. Konaka, whose other works include Texhnolyze, Serial Experiments Lain is a psychological avant-garde mystery series that follows Lain as she makes crucial choices that will affect both the real world and the Wired. In closing one world and opening another, only Lain will realize the significance of their presence.

Serial Experiments Lain has finished airing and it has 13 Episodes. It is also Known as: シリアルエクスペリメンツレイン, Serial Experiments Lain

16. Ghost in the Shell

2029: A female cybernetic government agent, Major Motoko Kusanagi, and the Internal Bureau of Investigations are hot on the trail of “The Puppet Master,” a mysterious and threatening computer virus capable of infiltrating human hosts. Together with her fellow agents from Section 9, Kusanagi embarks on a high-tech race against time to capture the omnipresent entity.

Ghost in the Shell has finished airing and it has 1 Episodes. It is also Known as: GHOST IN THE SHELL（攻殻機動隊）, Koukaku Kidoutai

15. Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex

In the not so distant future, mankind has advanced to a state where complete body transplants from flesh to machine is possible. This allows for great increases in both physical and cybernetic prowess and blurring the lines between the two worlds. However, criminals can also make full use of such technology, leading to new and sometimes, very dangerous crimes. In response to such innovative new methods, the Japanese Government has established Section 9, an independently operating police unit which deals with such highly sensitive crimes.
Led by Daisuke Aramaki and Motoko Kusanagi, Section 9 deals with such crimes over the entire social spectrum, usually with success. However, when faced with a new A level hacker nicknamed "The Laughing Man," the team is thrown into a dangerous cat and mouse game, following the hacker's trail as it leaves its mark on Japan.

Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex has finished airing and it has 26 Episodes. It is also Known as: Koukaku Kidoutai: Stand Alone Complex, 攻殻機動隊 STAND ALONE COMPLEX, Ghost in the Shell SAC

14. Akira

Japan, 1988. An explosion caused by a young boy with psychic powers tears through the city of Tokyo and ignites the fuse that leads to World War III. In order to prevent any further destruction, he is captured and taken into custody, never to be heard from again. Now, in the year 2019, a restored version of the city known as Neo-Tokyo—an area rife with gang violence and terrorism against the current government—stands in its place. Here, Shoutarou Kaneda leads "the Capsules," a group of misfits known for riding large, custom motorcycles and being in constant conflict with their rivals "the Clowns."

During one of these battles, Shoutarou's best friend Tetsuo Shima is caught up in an accident with an esper who finds himself in the streets of Tokyo after escaping confinement from a government institution. Through this encounter, Tetsuo begins to develop his own mysterious abilities, as the government seeks to quarantine this latest psychic in a desperate attempt to prevent him from unleashing the destructive power that could once again bring the city to its knees.

Akira has finished airing and it has 1 Episodes. It is also Known as: AKIRA（アキラ）, Akira

13. Akudama Drive

Many years ago, a Great Civil War ravaged Japan, leaving the country fragmented between two regions: Kansai and Kanto. In Kansai, a group of six Akudama carry out missions given to them by a mysterious black cat, while evading the police. But a dangerous journey is about to unfold when a civilian girl becomes twisted into the Akudama’s way of life and witnesses their criminal drives.

Akudama Drive has finished airing and it has 12 Episodes. It is also Known as: アクダマドライブ, 아쿠다마 드라이브

12. Metallic Rouge

Metallic Rouge takes place in a a world where humans and androids coexist. The story follows Rouge, an android girl, who is on a mission on Mars with her partner Naomi. The mission is to murder nine artificial humans who are hostile to the government.

Metallic Rouge has finished airing and it has 13 Episodes. It is also Known as: メタリックルージュ, Metallic Rouge

11. Psycho-Pass 2

A year and a half after the events of the original sci-fi psychological thriller, Akane Tsunemori continues her work as an inspector—enforcing the Sibyl System's judgments. Joining her are new enforcers and junior inspector Mika Shimotsuki, a young woman blindly and inflexibly loyal to Sibyl. As Akane ponders both the nature of her job and the legitimacy of Sibyl's verdicts, a disturbing new menace emerges.
A mysterious figure has discovered a way to control the Crime Coefficient—a number compiled from mental scans that allows Sibyl to gauge psychological health and identify potential criminals. Through these means, he is able to murder an enforcer, leaving behind a cryptic clue: "WC?" scrawled in blood on a wall.
Akane and the rest of Division 1 soon find themselves playing a deadly game against their new foe, coming face-to-face with a conspiracy threatening not only the authority of the Sibyl System, but the very foundation of Akane's own convictions.

Psycho-Pass 2 has finished airing and it has 11 Episodes. It is also Known as: PSYCHO-PASS サイコパス 2, Psycho-Pass Second Season, Psychopath 2nd Season

10. Bubblegum Crisis

In the near future, Tokyo was left flattened as a result from a great earthquake. A new city, MegaTokyo, was then recreated due in no small part from the aid of a multi-million dollar company, Genom Corp. Genom created and mass-produced biomechanical creatures called Boomers to aid in the restoration of MegaTokyo. When the Boomers began to run out of control, the ADPolice at first tried to stop them, but they proved to be far more difficult to deal with than was first imagined. Under the ever looming Boomer threat, a group of four girls from varying degrees of society banded together. Calling themselves The Knight Sabers, they were the only ones with enough firepower and resourcefullness to defend the fledgling MegaTokyo from Genom and it's berserk Boomers.

Bubblegum Crisis has finished airing and it has 8 Episodes. It is also Known as: バブルガムクライシス, Bubblegum Crisis 2032, Bubblegum Crisis 2033

9. Psycho-Pass 3

"Justice" opens up a new world. In the near future, the Sybil System, a surveillance network that quantifies human souls, maintains public order. In a changing world, detectives with Dominators, guns that measure "Crime Coefficients," pursue "latent criminals" before they commit crimes. The third series of PSYCHO-PASS follows two inspectors seeking the truth: Arata Shindou and Kei Mikhail Ignatov.

Psycho-Pass 3 has finished airing and it has 8 Episodes. It is also Known as: PSYCHO-PASS サイコパス 3, Psycho-Pass 3

8. Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex 2nd GIG

Following the closure of the "Laughing Man" case, Section 9 is re-established by Japan's newly elected Prime Minister, Youko Kayabuki, to combat the persistent threat of cyber-terrorism.
A group calling themselves "The Individual Eleven" has begun committing acts of terror across Japan. While Motoko Kusanagi, Daisuke Aramaki, Batou, and the other members of Section 9 investigate this new menace, the Japanese government faces a separate crisis, as foreign refugees displaced by the Third World War seek asylum in Japan. But as the members of the special-ops team continually encounter Gouda Kazundo—a leading member of the Cabinet Intelligence Service—in their hunt, they begin to suspect that he may be involved, and that the events of the refugee crisis and The Individual Eleven may be more connected than they realize...

Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex 2nd GIG has finished airing and it has 26 Episodes. It is also Known as: Koukaku Kidoutai S.A.C. 2nd GIG, 攻殻機動隊 S.A.C. 2nd GIG, , Ghost In The Shell S.A.C. 2nd GIG

7. Texhnolyze

Cult-favorite Yoshitoshi ABe tempts us to witness man's downward spiral in a future overrun by violence, greed, and depravity. After Ichise loses an arm and leg, he's equipped with experimental robotic limbs against his will. When an army of men transformed into terrifying machines invades his city, Ichise rages against humanity's demise—but can his actions actually be the catalyst?

Texhnolyze has finished airing and it has 22 Episodes. It is also Known as: TEXHNOLYZE, Technolyze

6. Lazarus

The year is 2052—an era of unprecedented peace and prosperity prevails across the globe. The reason for this: mankind has been freed from sickness and pain. Nobel Prize winning neuroscientist Dr. Skinner has developed a miracle cure-all drug with no apparent drawbacks called Hapuna. Hapuna soon becomes ubiquitous... and essential. However, soon after Hapuna is officially introduced, Dr. Skinner vanishes.

Three years later, the world has moved on. But Dr. Skinner has returned—this time, as a harbinger of doom. Skinner announces that Hapuna has a short half-life. Everyone who has taken it will die approximately three years later. Death is coming for this sinful world—and coming soon.

As a response to this threat, a special task force of 5 agents is gathered from across the world to save humanity from Skinner’s plan. This group is called "Lazarus." Can they find Skinner and develop a vaccine before time runs out?

Lazarus has not yet aired. It will air on December 31, 2025. It is also Known as: ラザロ, Lazarus

5. Love, Death + Robots

Sentient dairy products, werewolf soldiers, robots gone wild, garbage monsters, cyborg bounty hunters, alien spiders and blood-thirsty demons from hell - all converge in eighteen NSFW animated stories.

Love, Death + Robots has finished airing and it has 18 Episodes. It is also Known as: Love, Death & Robots, Love, Death and Robots, ❤️☠️🤖

4. Virgin Punk

Virgin Punk has not yet aired. It will air on July 31, 2025. It is also Known as: ヴァージン・パンク, Clockwork Girl

3. RD Sennou Chousashitsu

2061 AD. Fifty years have passed since mankind developed the Network society. It was anticipated that this new infrastructure would realize a utopia where people connected with each other at the level of consciousness. However, new social problems such as personal data leaks and proliferation of manipulated information began to surface. Nevertheless, people still relied on the Network to exchange information, and proved unable to opt to abandon it.
In due course, a new Network realm with more effective security measures was developed. This was called Meta Real Network, usually abbreviated as "the Metal."
The Metal accommodated personal memory data within protected virtual stand-alone organic cyber enclaves called bubble shells and eventually pervaded the everyday lives of people.
However, people gradually learned to release and explode their instincts within the secure environment of the Metal. The unleashed instincts pushed each individual's consciousness to drown in the sea of information and to be exposed to the pressures of desire. Meanwhile, norms and regulations continued to bind their real world lives. Thus, strange friction between the two worlds began to manifest themselves as aberrations beyond the bounds of the imaginable.
Experts who challenged the deep sea of the Metal to investigate and decipher such aberrations were called cyber divers.
This is a story of a cyber diver, Masamichi Haru, who investigates the incidents that lie between Reality and the Metal.

RD Sennou Chousashitsu has finished airing and it has 26 Episodes. It is also Known as: RD 潜脳調査室, Real Drive

2. Blade Runner: Black Lotus

Los Angeles 2032. A young woman wakes up with no memories and possessing deadly skills. The only clues to her mystery are a locked data device and a tattoo of a black lotus. Putting together the pieces, she must hunt down the people responsible for her brutal and bloody past to find the truth of her lost identity.

Blade Runner: Black Lotus has finished airing and it has 13 Episodes. It is also Known as: Blade Runner: Black Lotus

1. PSYCHO-PASS PROVIDENCE

January 2118. Chief Inspector of the Criminal Investigation Department, Akane Tsunemori, receives a report of an incident on a foreign vessel – the body of Professor Milicia Stronskaya has been discovered. Behind the incident is a group known as the Peacebreakers, a foreign paramilitary organization and a new outside threat who are targeting the professor's research papers known as the “Stronskaya Document.” Reunited with Shinya Kogami, a former fugitive from the Criminal Investigation Department, Akane grapples with a case that quickly escalates beyond their expectations. The Stronskaya Papers could reveal a truth that would shake Japan's government, and even the Sibyl System, to the core. It is in this untold story that the missing link is revealed.

Psycho-Pass: Providence has finished airing and it has 1 Episodes. It is also Known as: PSYCHO-PASS サイコパス PROVIDENCE, PSYCHO-PASS PROVIDENCE