19+ Best Mystery Anime Of All Time (Ranked)

Everyone likes mysteries. Be it complex masterpieces that tell compelling storylines which keep you at the edge of your seat and makes you wonder what is happening, or cheap shows that leave you thinking was there ever a real mystery, there’s something for everyone?

As such we at MyAnimeGuru have brought you a list of the 17+ Best Mystery Anime of All Time (Ranked). This list will be based on the depth of storylines, how compelling and unique the mysteries are, and how likable the characters are.

Japan and anime especially love mysteries. This love is translated into the dozens of mystery titles that have been released over the years, and with summer fast approaching, we know, all of our readers are waiting for some good content to binge.

List of Best Mystery Anime

So without further Ado, let’s start the list of the best mystery anime.

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20. Bungou Stray Dogs

Bungo

Episodes – 49 + 1 Movie |Year – 2015-2023

Tt follows Atsushi who is thrown out of his orphanage and is on the verge of starving to death. By chance, he meets two strange men who call themselves Dazai Osamu and Doppo. They are part of the Armed Detective Agency, a group that deals with issues not even the police can handle.

These two men have mysterious powers like many others in the city, known as “Bungo”, named after famous authors, and have abilities based on these names. They are here to solve a case and Atsushi is now involved. What mysteries will be uncovered in this, see in one of the best mystery anime.

Books Worth Reading:

19. Serial Experiments Lain

Lain

Episodes – 13 | Year – 1998

Even though Chise Yamada is already dead after she committed suicide, some girls from her class get an email from her. While all the others thought it was just a hoax, one of Chise’s friends, Lain Iwakura thinks, there’s some deeper mystery at play and tries to uncover them on her own.

She starts searching the Wired, a computer network akin to the Internet, for solutions after asking her father for a new NAVI. This tale follows a young girl on her quest to solve the weird mystery of her friend’s death and is one of the best mystery anime.

Books Worth Reading:

18. Gosick

Gosick

Episodes – 24 | Year – 2011

Kazuya is an exchange student from Japan in the small European country of Saubure. There he wants to make friends with everyone but due to his jet-black hair and the legend of a black reaper and his resemblance to that story, make his classmates fear him.

One day as he wanders to the top of the library, he sees there’s a botanical garden there, along with a blonde-haired small girl named Victorique. These two bond over the many mysteries they’re involved in and eventually become friends to something more, in one of the best mystery anime.

17. B: The Beginning

B: The Beginning

Episodes – 18 | Year – 2018

In the island kingdom of Cremona, a mysterious killer is on the loose. This killer is known as Killer B for the B-looking mark it engraves on its victims. The police force is after this criminal and trying to find him but there is a bigger conspiracy happening behind the scenes.

Books Worth Reading:

Koku is a young boy with a mysterious past and a link to an experiment carried out to create perfect humans. Failing to catch the killer, the police take the help of Keith Flick, a master detective who has a connection with both the killer and the legends. It is one of the best mystery anime.

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16. Death Parade

Death parade

Episodes – 12 | Year – 2015

After a girl dies, she finds herself in a mysterious place. While it looks like a club, in reality, this is a place of judgment for those in the afterlife. When 2 people die at the same time, they come here, to decide who will live again and who will go to limbo and is overseered by the Bartender Decim.

Decim judges them and makes the two people play various games to see who is fit for living again and whose soul will disappear. He however finds it very hard to decide the fate of this girl and starts questioning himself. Find out more in one of the best mystery anime.

15. Future Diary

Future Diary

Episodes – 26 + 1 OVA | Year – 2011

Books Worth Reading:

Yuki is a distracted and unassuming kid who doesn’t care about the real world. His only real hobby is writing everything he sees in his mobile diary while conversing with a Lord of Time in his imaginary world. His carefree world however is soon going to be embroiled in an array of conspiracies.

One day he gets a message that the battle to become the new Lord of Time has started and he is suddenly thrust into a mysterious battle between 13 people where the last man standing will get everything. Can Yukei uncover all the mysteries? See you in one of the best mystery anime.

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14. Bacanno!

Baccano

Episodes – 16 | Year – 2007

A tale that seems to span over multiple timelines which at first glance seem unrelated but in reality are all interconnected. A gang war between rival mafia groups, the trail of blood left on the journey of the train, Flying Pussyfoot, a mad scientist trying to retrieve his elixir, and the 1711 ship where this all started.

These isolated incidents are connected by a cast of characters, bound by alchemy and survival, and will see how things that seem as disconnected as they can be, can be a reality much closer and part of the bigger picture. It is one of the best mystery anime.

Books Worth Reading:

13. Steins Gate

Steins  gate

Episodes – 48 + 1 OVA + 1 Movie | 2011

The members of the future gadget research laboratory spend their days in constant silly shticks which involve inventing unique items which in reality are just junk. The lab is presided over by mad scientist Okabe along with his air-headed childhood friend Mayuri and his otaku hacker friend, Itaru.

However, their latest invention which is called the phone microwave turns out to be something much more sinister and when a criminal organization gets involved and death strikes, it comes all down to Okabe to save the lost lives. Can Okabe do it? Find it in one of the best mystery anime.

12. Bakemonogatari

image 93 9

Episodes – 15 | Year – 2009

After his encounter with a strange vampire in the summer, Koyomi Araragi was turned into a vampire, but after much effort, he was able to return to being a human, however, it left him susceptible to strange supernatural phenomena.

Books Worth Reading:

This includes being able to see girls who are afflicted with unique circumstances like a girl who weighs nothing, a girl whose arm turns into that of a monkey’s, and a girl who never seems to find her way home. Being the nice guy, Araragi decides to help them by uncovering the mysteries in one of the best mystery anime.

11. Another

Another

Episodes – 12 | Year – 2012

Kouichi transfers to a new school after a long hospital visit and sees that his new class is shrouded in deep mysteries and a sense of impending terror. At the center of this heavy atmosphere sits the eye-patch-wearing Mei Misaki, a girl who seems to doesn’t exist for her classmates.

He is immediately drawn to her and gets warned by his friends that it is better to ignore the girl since if he doesn’t something bad will happen. He soon realizes that there was much truth to the warning and soon the calamity strikes. Can Kouichi and Mei survive, and find in one of the best mystery anime?

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10. Hyouka

Hyouka

Episodes – 22 | Year – 2012

Books Worth Reading:

When energy-conservative Oreki joins the classic literature club, he realizes he got into something much more than he bargained for. He reluctantly gets dragged into the investigation of an event that happened 45 years ago and the real truth behind it.

Accompanied by his friends, he gets into many other such mishaps and has to use his resourcefulness and deductive ability to find the solutions to the mysteries behind the happenings as he has also to deal with his club activities and work against deadlines. It is one of the best mystery anime.

9. Spiral: The Bonds of Reasoning

Spiral

Episodes – 25 | Year – 2002

Ayumu’s brother Kiyokata was a genius detective but one day he disappeared without any trace and the clue left to Ayumu was that it had something to do with the mysterious Blade Children. Now 2 years later a string of murders and horrifying mysteries emerge.

And all of this has something to do with the Blade Children. Now together with the school journalist Hiyono and his brother’s former fiancee, Ayumu tries to uncover the truth of his brother’s disappearance and the truth of the Blade children in one of the best mystery anime.

Books Worth Reading:

8. Higurashi: When They Cry

Higurashi

Episodes – 26 | Year – 2006

Keiichi Maebara moves to the small town of Hinamizawa and lives a peaceful life with his new friends who all seem to be nice people. However, appearances can be deceiving, and after a murder happens in Hinamizawa and everything changes. Keiichi realizes that the town is shrouded in mysteries.

This incident leads, Keiichi to distrust those who he saw as friends and realize there’s something sinister going on behind the scenes. After horrific events keep happening one after another, Keiichi has to survive somehow. But can he uncover the truth or is he doomed too, find out in one of the best mystery anime.

7. Pandora Hearts

Pandora hearts

Episodes – 25 | Year – 2009

On his 15th Birthday, Nobleman Oz is suddenly thrust into a mysterious otherwordly prison known as Abyss. Here he is attacked by lifeforms known as chains but is then saved by one of them named Alice. Oz forges a contract with Alice which allows them both to escape the Abyss.

Books Worth Reading:

Back in the real world, they are both recruited by the Pandora organization which tries to research the mysteries of the Abyss as well as find ways to separate a chain and a human while also trying to find the 3 strangers who thrust Oz into the Abyss. It is one of the best mystery anime.

6. Psycho-Pass

Psycho-pass

Episodes – 41 Episodes + 5 Movies | Year – 2012

In a world where technology can predict the entirety of one’s life, finding out about potential criminals and those who are found as latent criminals are generally eliminated by special police officers called inspectors. But sometimes they also find themselves recruited as enforcers.

Their role is to assist the police and are more or less seen as hunting. New inspector Akane finds her working with one of these enforcers and tries to work without any prejudice. But will she and her new partner be able to uncover all the mysteries without dying? Find it in one of the best mystery anime.

5. Monster

Monster

Episodes – 74 | Year – 2004

Books Worth Reading:

Dr Tenma is one of the best heart surgeons and one day he is presented with a dilemma. Whether to operate on a young boy or the aged mayor of the city. However, against his boss’s wishes, he operates on the young boy and saves his life. This is a decision that he comes to regret years later.

The young boy grows up to be Johan Liebert, a heinous murderer who has killed many and is insanely smart and the authorities can’t seem to catch him. Now it’s up to Tenma to uncover all the mysteries and clues to reach Johan and kill the monster he created himself in one of the best mystery anime.

4. Erased

Erased

Episodes – 12 | Year – 2016

Satoru is a struggling manga artist who is trying hard to make a name for himself. But the only thing he is frustrated about isn’t simply his life but also a strange ability. He is forced to prevent accidents and deaths by continually traveling to the past until he can reverse the situation.

One day after he is framed as a killer after an accident and is thrust into the past. But this time it’s not mere moments ago but back in time when he was a grade-schooler. Now he has to prevent his then-classmate Kayo from going missing to return to the future in one of the best mystery anime.

Books Worth Reading:

3. The File of Young Kindaichi

Kindaichi

Episodes – 195 + 2 Movies | Year 1996-2015

It follows Kindaichi Hajime an otherwise unremarkable and normal high-schooler who in reality is a genius and has an IQ of more than 180. In addition to his IQ, he is also a remarkable detective with deducting skills that will put anyone to shame.

He is the grandson of a famous detective and is regularly asked for help by the Tokyo Police Detective Kenmochi as well as Superintendent Akechi. See how the humble Kindaichi upholds his grandpa’s legacy and solves the greatest mysteries in one of the best mystery anime.

2. Death Note

Death Note

Episodes – 37 | Year – 2006

The genius high-school student Light Yagami is bored all the time but one day he gets a notebook called Death Note and is informed by the Shinigami, Ryuk that anyone whose name is written in it will die. Now with this new power in his hands, he decides will get the world rid of all crime and evil.

Books Worth Reading:

As he goes on a reign of terror calling himself Kira, and killing anyone he deems unfit for his new world, many die, including criminals and innocent people. The Genius Detective L decides to bring Kira to justice. Will Kira prevail in his ambition or will L catch him first? Find it in one of the best mystery anime.

1. Detective Conan

Detective conan-best mystery anime

Episodes – 1081+ | Year – 1996

Perhaps the most famous mystery anime, it follows Shinichi, a teenage detective famous for being extremely smart and always solving cases. One day as he is at an amusement park with his childhood friend Ran, he witnesses something suspicious and tries to investigate.

He instead gets knocked unconscious by the criminals and is instead forced to ingest a drug that turns him into a child. Now helpless, he dons the name Conan and moves in with Ran, whose father is a famous detective in hopes of finding clues to returning to his own body. It is the best mystery anime.

Conclusion

And so folks, this was our list of the 17+ Best Mystery Anime of All Time. This list took quite a while to make since we tried to add both well-known names as well as keep some hidden gems for you so that your experience will be good.

If you liked this list please connect with us and in the meantime, binge on the best mystery anime, till our next steller article comes. See ya.

Source – Anilist

FAQ Section

What is the best mystery anime?

According to popular scores, Monster by Naoki Urasawa is considered the best mystery anime.

Which was the longest-running mystery anime?

Detective Conan(1996) which is still ongoing after 23 years and 1080+ episodes.

Who is the best mystery anime villain?

Johan Liebert from Monster(2004) is the best anime mystery villain

Deepanjan Mitra

Reading Manga and watching Anime is my fav past-time. Since watching my first anime in 2012, Ive been an avid fan. Football, Pro wrestling and Heavy Metal are my fav interests . Read More

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