10 best anime to watch if you like Final Destination

The Final Destination horror franchise follows groups of people who narrowly avoid sudden disasters, only to then be systematically killed in bizarre accidents by unseen forces of fate.

This premise of doomed characters struggling in vain against gruesome and inevitable demises makes for a uniquely macabre viewing experience. Anime has no shortage of series that explore similar styles and ideas, where tragedy and death take on lives of their own beyond human understanding or control.

The entries on this list all feature foreboding plots centered around creative end scenarios, making them perfect anime picks for Final Destination fans to appreciate.

Note: the opinions expressed are solely those of the author.

10 must-watch anime for fans of Final Destination

1. Another

Another is a 12-episode horror mystery anime adapted from Yukito Ayatsuji's popular novel. The story follows Kouichi, a high school student who transfers into class 3-3, where he quickly notices his new classmates acting strange whenever the name Mei Misaki comes up.

As Kouichi digs deeper, he learns Mei is ignored due to a superstition to counter a deadly class curse. Even more disturbing, a longstanding curse looms over 3-3 that seems to cause students and their relatives to die in unusual ways in cursed years.

With no obvious pattern or reason behind the gruesome deaths across different generations of 3-3 students, Kouichi races to solve the creepy mystery before more of his unsuspecting classmates lose their lives. With eerie visuals and creative deaths, Another channels classic J-Horror to chilling effect.

2. Corpse Party: Tortured Souls

Corpse Party: Tortured Souls (Image via Asread)

This 4-episode OVA anime adapts the classic horror video game series Corpse Party. It follows a group of students from Kisaragi Academy who get transported to the haunted grounds of Heavenly Host Elementary School after performing a ritual.

Now trapped alongside the tortured souls of previous victims, the students must try to find a way out before joining the body count themselves. As the students explore the decaying school, they uncover the grisly tales of spirits who continue enacting their pain and suffering upon any who enter Heavenly Host.

All the while, the anime builds suspense masterfully before unleashing graphic demise scenarios on both minor and major characters alike. Loaded with disturbing imagery and dread-filled atmosphere from start to finish, Corpse Party delivers a terrifying viewing experience perfect for Final Destination fans.

3. Higurashi: When They Cry

Higurashi: When They Cry is a classic horror anime series for fans of Final Destination with multiple seasons, each containing several story arcs that deepen the mystery. On the surface, it covers a quiet rural village preparing for its annual Watanagashi Festival to honor the local god, Oyashiro.

Beneath the peaceful façade, however, lies a troubling legend of murders and disappearances coinciding with the festival for the past several years. The various arcs explore bits and pieces of this mystery through the eyes of different villagers.

It builds suspense through paranoia-driven breakdowns and violence linked to Oyashiro's Curse. Despite some highly comic moments, it turns up the tension as villagers descend into madness and graphic killings influenced by the tragic story behind the annual Watanagashi festival.

4. Paranoia Agent

This avant-garde psychological thriller comes from the late, legendary director Satoshi Kon. The show's plot starts simple — there are rumors of an unhinged youth attacking random people with a baseball bat nicknamed "Lil' Slugger."

As two detectives investigate this mysterious assailant, the attacks become more bizarre while the list of victims continues growing. Eventually, the detectives uncover a conspiracy involving an interconnected web of people who spawned the 'Lil' Slugger' urban legend to cope with their extreme stresses.

Blending mystery, psychological tension, and gallows humor, Paranoia Agent takes viewers down an increasingly weird and terrifying path that Final Destination fans are sure to appreciate.

5. Deadman Wonderland

Deadman Wonderland follows high schooler Ganta, who inexplicably finds his entire classroom murdered before getting framed for the crime. Sentenced to death, Ganta is incarcerated in Deadman Wonderland, a macabre theme park showcasing convicts in deadly public competitions.

While uncovering the truth behind the attack and his imprisonment, Ganta awakens a strange power — the ability to weaponize his blood. He soon realizes the sadistic Promoter not only knows about these inmates' superpowers but also masterminds the Deadmen battles for spectator amusement.

Behind it all lurk darker motives tied to the park's shadowy origins. Deadman Wonderland delivers a thriller viewing experience with creative fights and death-defying stunt exhibitions worthy of Final Destination's affinity for morbid spectacle.

6. Shiki

Shiki begins with the focus on a puzzling epidemic — a mysterious plague is draining life from a small rural town. Escalating cases stir unease along with strange rumors of families spotting their recently deceased loved ones roaming about at night.

Before long, a wave of bizarre murders sweeps the town, confirming the worst superstitions that vampiric creatures have begun preying upon the villagers after sunset. In addition to graphic death depictions, it notably examines the conflicts from both human and vampire perspectives as the crisis pushes rationality aside.

Former neighbors and friends descend into bloody vengeance fueled by their mortal fears and desperation to survive this supernatural infestation. With layered tragedy permeating its creepy premise, Shiki weaves a poignant, macabre web sure to appeal to Final Destination devotees.

7. Elfen Lied

Elfen Lied presents an ethical thought experiment in the form of various human-like mutants with incredible psychic powers. The plot starts when one of these humanoid experiments — Lucy, who develops an innocent personality called "Nyu" after a head injury suppresses her violent memories — escapes her captivity.

Lucy's amnesia and altered personality embroil some regular townsfolk who must then help protect her from the facility that wants her back. Notable for its graphic yet artistic violence and gore, the show features many shockingly graphic confrontations once the psychic mutants inevitably cross paths again.

With loss and innocence themes layered atop the tense action and body horror vibes throughout, Elfen Lied is a strong selection for viewers who enjoyed Final Destination's visceral, gorier elements.

8. Future Diary

Future Diary packs a thriller plot fueled by action and psychological tension with a dash of romance mixed in. The show's supernatural premise involves several characters receiving "future diaries" from Deus Ex Machina, the god of time and space, diaries which predict their futures in various ways.

The twist is that the god plans to pick the sole diary holder survivor at the end to become his successor. This launches the diary owners into a last-man-standing battle royale full of ever-shifting alliances and betrayals as they manipulate fate itself to eliminate each other.

With cunning schemes and creative murder machinations driving the tension episode-to-episode, Future Diary offers a continuously twisty viewing experience perfect for Final Destination fans.

9. Tokyo Ghoul

In a world where bloodthirsty creatures called "Ghouls" live secretly amongst humans and feed on their flesh, it explores the conflicts between the two groups from several intriguing lenses.

After a Ghoul attack nearly kills him, college student Kaneki is transformed into a half-human, half-Ghoul hybrid. Forced to abandon his normal life, Kaneki has to learn how to fit in and survive amongst a faction of peaceful Ghouls, while also struggling with his own Ghoul urges and identity.

The show's dark themes question the morality around killing others for survival, whether human or Ghoul. Backed by stylish urban fantasy visuals and plenty of bloody action, too, Tokyo Ghoul offers a gripping experience for Final Destination aficionados.

10. Death Parade

In Death Parade, the recently deceased all awaken in Quindecim — a mysterious bar where they're forced by a stoic bartender named Decim to compete in random games and bets. The outcomes judge the true nature of their souls, with some contestants being reincarnated while others are sent into the empty void.

As the games ramp up in intensity episode by episode, viewers learn more about Decim's own origins and purpose while witnessing how the games creatively expose contestants' hidden guilts and shames.

Death Parade provides an inventive take on concepts of morality around death and the afterlife, earning its place as a must-watch among fans of the peculiar, often philosophical tones within the Final Destination franchise.

Conclusion

The Final Destination movies carved out a unique place in supernatural horror with their memorable Rube Goldberg-style demise scenarios and concepts challenging ideas about fate and free will.

Japanese animation has plenty to offer viewers who want to explore similar genres and themes of grim inevitability, gruesome endings, and macabre creativity. From cursed villages to sadistic afterlife games, this list highlights 10 anime Final Destination fans will enjoy.

So check out these great anime if you just can't ever get enough of watching characters grapple against seemingly certain death at every turn in Final Destination.