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We present you the list of Detective anime you should watch right now.
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Top 19 Detective anime you should watch right now. [2026 List]
- 19. Death Note
- 18. Kusuriya no Hitorigoto
- 17. Guimi Zhi Zhu Tebie Pian: Liewu
- 16. Monster
- 15. Meitantei Precure!
- 14. Cowboy Bebop
- 13. Detective Conan
- 12. Bungou Stray Dogs
- 11. Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex
- 10. Ghost in the Shell
- 9. Hyouka
- 8. Pluto
- 7. Bungou Stray Dogs 2nd Season
- 6. Mushishi
- 5. Higurashi no Naku Koro ni
- 4. Danganronpa: Kibou no Gakuen to Zetsubou no Koukousei The Animation
- 3. Dead Mount Death Play
- 2. Fugou Keiji: Balance:Unlimited
- 1. Ghost Hunt
19. Death Note
A shinigami, as a god of death, can kill any person—provided they see their victim's face and write their victim's name in a notebook called a Death Note. One day, Ryuk, bored by the shinigami lifestyle and interested in seeing how a human would use a Death Note, drops one into the human realm.
High school student and prodigy Light Yagami stumbles upon the Death Note and—since he deplores the state of the world—tests the deadly notebook by writing a criminal's name in it. When the criminal dies immediately following his experiment with the Death Note, Light is greatly surprised and quickly recognizes how devastating the power that has fallen into his hands could be.
With this divine capability, Light decides to extinguish all criminals in order to build a new world where crime does not exist and people worship him as a god. Police, however, quickly discover that a serial killer is targeting criminals and, consequently, try to apprehend the culprit. To do this, the Japanese investigators count on the assistance of the best detective in the world: a young and eccentric man known only by the name of L.
Death Note has finished airing and it has 37 Episodes. It is also Known as: デスノート, DN
18. Kusuriya no Hitorigoto
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 heirs fall ill, she decides to step in and find a cure! This catches the eye of Jinshi, a handsome palace official who promotes her. Now, she’s making a name for herself solving medical mysteries!
The Apothecary Diaries has finished airing and it has 24 Episodes. It is also Known as: 薬屋のひとりごと, Drugstore Soliloquy
17. Guimi Zhi Zhu Tebie Pian: Liewu
Special episodes of Lord of Mysteries, taking place in season 1. Covering important scenes skipped after the end credits in Episode 10, as included:
City of Silver (Episode 1): Above the undying gray fog, Klein Moretti, the enigmatic The Fool, presided over the Tarot Club when a new, distant prayer echoed through the mists. Reaching across the veil, he summoned Derrick Berg from the City of Silver—a cursed bastion trapped within the Forsaken Land of God. Through Derrick’s haunting tales, the grim history of this sunless city was unveiled. Seeking salvation for his people, Derrick pledged his soul to The Fool’s grace. From the twenty-two Major Arcana, he chose his mantle: "The Sun."
The Marked Hunt (Episodes 2 and 3): The gathering then turned to matters of blood and ambition. "The Hanged Man," Alger Wilson, proposed a high-stakes exchange. He sought the head of Qilangos, one of the infamous seven Pirate Admirals, and tasked "Justice," Audrey Hall, with leveraging her noble influence in Backlund to hunt the wind-blessed killer.
In the foggy streets of the Loen capital, Audrey’s quest led her to the Beyonder duo, Fors Wall and Xio Derecha. As the web tightened around the Admiral, Klein sought the intervention of his mentor, the mysterious Mr. Azik. By weaving together the threads of divinity, ancient power, and mortal cunning, The Fool ensured the Tarot Club’s first great triumph: the fall of Qilangos.
Lord of Mysteries Specials has finished airing and it has 3 Episodes. It is also Known as: Guimi Zhi Zhu Te Bie Pian: Liewu, Lord of Mysteries Special: Prey, Lord of The Mysteries Special: Prey, City of Silver, The Marked Hunt, 诡秘之主特别篇
16. Monster
Dr. Kenzou Tenma is a renowned brain surgeon of Japanese descent working in Europe. Highly lauded by his peers as one of the great young minds that will revolutionize the field, he is blessed with a beautiful fiancée and is on the cusp of a big promotion in the hospital he works at. But all of that is about to change with a grave dilemma that Kenzou faces one night—whether to save the life of a small boy or that of the town's mayor. Despite being pressured by his superiors to perform surgery on the mayor, his morals force him to perform the surgery on the other critical patient, saving his life and forfeiting the mayor's. A doctor is taught to believe that all life is equal; however, when a series of murders occur in the surgeon's vicinity, all of the evidence pointing to the boy he saved, Kenzou's beliefs are shaken. Along his journey to unravel the true identity of his little patient, Kenzou discovers that the fate of the world may be intertwined with the mysterious child.
Monster has finished airing and it has 74 Episodes. It is also Known as: モンスター, Monster
15. Meitantei Precure!
The 23rd installment of the long-running Precure series.
Anna Akechi is a second-year junior high student living in Makoto Mirai Town. On her 14th birthday, she has a chance encounter with a fairy named Pochitan, and a magical pendant caused her to travel back in time from 2027 to 1999! In the Makoto Mirai Town 28 years in the past, Anna meets Mikuru Kobayashi, a girl her age who wants to become a great detective.
Meanwhile, people in town are in trouble as their prized possessions are being stolen from under their noses - the cause being a group of Phantom Thieves. To stop them, Anna and Mikuru turn into Pretty Cures! Maybe if they solve these mysteries, Anna can find her way back to her own time?
Meitantei Precure! is currently airing and will have 51 Episodes. It is also Known as: 名探偵プリキュア！, Star Detective Precure!, TanPre (たんプリ)
14. Cowboy Bebop
In the year 2071, humanity has colonized several of the planets and moons of the solar system leaving the now uninhabitable surface of planet Earth behind. The Inter Solar System Police attempts to keep peace in the galaxy, aided in part by outlaw bounty hunters, referred to as "Cowboys". The ragtag team aboard the spaceship Bebop are two such individuals.
Mellow and carefree Spike Spiegel is balanced by his boisterous, pragmatic partner Jet Black as the pair makes a living chasing bounties and collecting rewards. Thrown off course by the addition of new members that they meet in their travels—Ein, a genetically engineered, highly intelligent Welsh Corgi; femme fatale Faye Valentine, an enigmatic trickster with memory loss; and the strange computer whiz kid Edward Wong—the crew embarks on thrilling adventures that unravel each member's dark and mysterious past little by little.
Well-balanced with high density action and light-hearted comedy, Cowboy Bebop is a space Western classic and an homage to the smooth and improvised music it is named after.
Cowboy Bebop has finished airing and it has 26 Episodes. It is also Known as: カウボーイビバップ, COWBOY BEBOP
13. Detective Conan
Shinichi Kudou, a great mystery expert at only seventeen, is already well known for having solved several challenging cases. One day, when Shinichi sees two suspicious men and decides to follow them, he inadvertently becomes witness to a disturbing illegal activity. When the men catch Shinichi, they dose him with an experimental drug formulated by their criminal organization and abandon him to die. However, to his own astonishment, Shinichi is still alive and soon wakes up, but now, he has the body of a seven-year-old, perfectly preserving his original intelligence. He hides his real identity from everyone, including his childhood friend Ran Mouri and her father, private detective Kogorou Mouri, and takes on the alias of Conan Edogawa (inspired by the mystery writers Arthur Conan Doyle and Ranpo Edogawa). Animated by TMS and adapted from the manga by Gosho Aoyama, Detective Conan follows Shinichi who, as Conan, starts secretly solving the senior Mouri's cases from behind the scenes with his still exceptional sleuthing skills, while covertly investigating the organization responsible for his current state, hoping to reverse the drug's effects someday.
Detective Conan is currently airing and will have Episodes. It is also Known as: Meitantei Conan, 名探偵コナン, Case Closed: One Truth Prevails
12. Bungou Stray Dogs
For weeks, Atsushi Nakajima's orphanage has been plagued by a mystical tiger that only he seems to be aware of. Suspected to be behind the strange incidents, the 18-year-old is abruptly kicked out of the orphanage and left hungry, homeless, and wandering through the city.
While starving on a riverbank, Atsushi saves a rather eccentric man named Osamu Dazai from drowning. Whimsical suicide enthusiast and supernatural detective, Dazai has been investigating the same tiger that has been terrorizing the boy. Together with Dazai's partner Doppo Kunikida, they solve the mystery, but its resolution leaves Atsushi in a tight spot. As various odd events take place, Atsushi is coerced into joining their firm of supernatural investigators, taking on unusual cases the police cannot handle, alongside his numerous enigmatic co-workers.
Bungo Stray Dogs has finished airing and it has 12 Episodes. It is also Known as: 文豪ストレイドッグス, Literary Stray Dogs
11. 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
10. 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
9. Hyouka
Energy-conservative high school student Houtarou Oreki ends up with more than he bargained for when he signs up for the Classics Club at his sister's behest—especially when he realizes how deep-rooted the club's history really is. Begrudgingly, Oreki is dragged into an investigation concerning the 45-year-old mystery that surrounds the club room.
Accompanied by his fellow club members, the knowledgeable Satoshi Fukube, the stern but benign Mayaka Ibara, and the ever-curious Eru Chitanda, Oreki must combat deadlines and lack of information with resourcefulness and hidden talent, in order to not only find the truth buried beneath the dust of works created years before them, but of other small side cases as well.
Based on the award-winning Koten-bu light novel series, and directed by Yasuhiro Takemoto of Suzumiya Haruhi no Shoushitsu, Hyouka shows that normal life can be full of small mysteries, be it family history, a student film, or even the withered flowers that make up a ghost story.
Hyouka has finished airing and it has 22 Episodes. It is also Known as: 氷菓, Hyou-ka, Hyouka: You can't escape, Hyou-ka: You can't escape, Hyoka
8. Pluto
A murder occurs in an orderly world where robots are unable to kill humans. The robotic Europol investigator Gesicht takes the case, but the mystery deepens when he finds no trace of a human at the scene of the crime. As he pursues the truth, Gesicht uncovers the most evil manifestation of hate that history ever seen, one that is bent on bringing destruction to the world ...
PLUTO has finished airing and it has 8 Episodes. It is also Known as: プルートウ, Pluto: Urasawa x Tezuka
7. Bungou Stray Dogs 2nd Season
Guild has entered Yokohoma city. Along with the city, they want Atsushi of The Armed Detective Agency too. As Port Mafia want the city for themselves, a three way war seems unavoidable. While fighting, Atsushi & Akutagawa find help in strange places. And in the background, Dazai continues his endless scheming.
Bungo Stray Dogs 2 has finished airing and it has 12 Episodes. It is also Known as: 文豪ストレイドッグス, Bungou Stray Dogs 2nd Season
6. Mushishi
"Mushi": the most basic forms of life in the world. They exist without any goals or purposes aside from simply "being." They are beyond the shackles of the words "good" and "evil." Mushi can exist in countless forms and are capable of mimicking things from the natural world such as plants, diseases, and even phenomena like rainbows.
This is, however, just a vague definition of these entities that inhabit the vibrant world of Mushishi, as to even call them a form of life would be an oversimplification. Detailed information on Mushi is scarce because the majority of humans are unaware of their existence.
So what are Mushi and why do they exist? This is the question that a "Mushi-shi," Ginko, ponders constantly. Mushi-shi are those who research Mushi in hopes of understanding their place in the world's hierarchy of life.
Ginko chases rumors of occurrences that could be tied to Mushi, all for the sake of finding an answer.
It could, after all, lead to the meaning of life itself.
Mushi-Shi has finished airing and it has 26 Episodes. It is also Known as: 蟲師, Mushishi
5. Higurashi no Naku Koro ni
Keiichi Maebara has just moved to the quiet little village of Hinamizawa in the summer of 1983, and quickly becomes inseparable friends with schoolmates Rena Ryuuguu, Mion Sonozaki, Satoko Houjou, and Rika Furude. However, darkness lurks underneath the seemingly idyllic life they lead.
As the village prepares for its annual festival, Keiichi learns about the local legends surrounding it. To his horror, he discovers that there have been several murders and disappearances in the village in the recent years, and that they all seem to be connected to the festival and the village's patron god, Oyashiro. Keiichi tries to ask his new friends about these incidents, but they are suspiciously silent and refuse to give him the answers he needs. As more and more bizarre events occur, he wonders just what else his friends might be keeping from him, and if he can even trust them at all.
When madness and paranoia begin taking root in Keiichi's heart, he will stumble straight into the mysteries at work in Higurashi no Naku Koro ni, a story that is told across multiple arcs.
When They Cry has finished airing and it has 26 Episodes. It is also Known as: ひぐらしのなく頃に, When the Cicadas Cry, The Moment the Cicadas Cry
4. Danganronpa: Kibou no Gakuen to Zetsubou no Koukousei The Animation
Hope's Peak Academy is an elite high school that accepts only the most talented students. Individuals who successfully enroll receive their own unique titles, suitably reflective of their skills and traits. Of the fifteen candidates admitted to the peculiar school that year, Makoto Naegi is a completely ordinary individual who has been accepted by sheer chance, with the title of "Super High School-Level Luck."
Naegi and his fellow classmates are initially ecstatic to be chosen to study at this prestigious institution, but these feelings of happiness are short-lived. They are soon confronted by Monokuma, the principal and resident bear, who traps them inside the school. The pupils' hopes of escape and graduation hinge on one of them successfully murdering one of their peers without being discovered. However, if the killer is caught, he or she will be executed, and the remaining survivors will be left to continue the deathmatch until only a single victor remains.
Danganronpa: The Animation has finished airing and it has 13 Episodes. It is also Known as: ダンガンロンパ 希望の学園と絶望の高校生 THE ANIMATION, Dangan Ronpa: The Animation
3. Dead Mount Death Play
It's a showdown for the ages as the legendary hero takes on the corpse god necromancer, but when the dust settles, something isn't quite right... In the final moments of their epic confrontation, the corpse god's final gambit shot was wholly unexpected -- reincarnation magic! Across space and time, a boy named Polka Shinoyama awakens feeling...not quite himself...... Who could've expected that the climactic battle between good and evil would turn out like this??
Dead Mount Death Play has finished airing and it has 12 Episodes. It is also Known as: デッドマウント・デスプレイ, Dead Mount Death Play
2. Fugou Keiji: Balance:Unlimited
Detective Daisuke Kanbe has no problems using his own fortune to solve crimes even if he assesses human lives based on their financial worth. Compassionate Haru Katosees all life as sacred and is sickened by Daisuke’s materialistic ways. Can they stop butting heads and overcome their opposing world views for the sake of solving the toughest crimes in the precinct?
Fugou Keiji: Balance:Unlimited has finished airing and it has 11 Episodes. It is also Known as: 富豪刑事 Balance:UNLIMITED, Fugou Keiji: Balance:Unlimited
1. Ghost Hunt
While at school, Taniyama Mai and her friends like to exchange ghost stories. Apparently, there is an abandoned school building on their campus that is the center of many ghost stories. During the story, they are interrupted by a mysterious male figure. The person turns out to be Shibuya Kazuya, a 17-year-old who is president of the Shibuya Psychic Research Company. He was called by the principal to investigate the stories surrounding the abandoned school building.
The next day, on the way to school, Mai passes the school building in question. While examining a strange camera she spotted inside, she gets surprised by Kazuya's assistant. Unknowingly interfering with the investigation, Mai breaks the camera and Kazuya's assistant gets injured.
Kazuya forcefully hires Mai in order to pay for the camera and replace his injured assistant. From that point on, Mai begins to learn about the paranormal world and the profession of ghost hunting.
Ghost Hunt has finished airing and it has 25 Episodes. It is also Known as: ゴーストハント, Ghost Hunt
