Chainsaw Man is about a fairly happy-go-lucky yet lonely lad who, through a series of unfortunate events, ends up merged with a powerful supernatural entity in an unprecedented way and thus has no choice but to join an organisation dedicated to holding back the wave of said devious creatures or, alternatively, be executed. Jujutsu Kaisen is also about such a fairly happy-go-lucky, lonely lad, who also merges with an OP supernatural entity, and… you get the picture. These two shows are literally carbon copies of each other when you get down to it; from their MC’s personalities and appreciation for the voluptuous feminine form to their acidic and jaded BFF dudes, to their gently unhinged figures of authority, to their brash, wilful and extremely violent female friends.

If you like dark urban fantasy, fun and snarky character dynamics, some badass supernatural-ability-based action and are looking for a similar general premise, then Jujutsu Kaisen should be at the very top of your watchlist

Devils, blood, humanity at the end of its tether, and some disturbingly gooey body modification. Nope, we’re not describing Chainsaw Man (though if the shoe fits…), but another anime that should be at the very top of your watchlist if you had fun with Denji and crew: Devilman Crybaby. When weak-hearted but kind Akira is asked by his childhood friend Ryou to investigate devils, he finds himself at a hedonistically debaucherous underground rave. Amidst this mosh pit of death, blood and degenerates things take a turn for the worse when devils start taking possession of the partygoers, beginning a wave of grotesque body modifications as humanity has quite literally left the building.

Unfortunately for Akira, he happens to be one of the poor souls who is taken over by a devil, Amon, turning him into a Devilman—a being with the power to defeat demons. While with great power comes great responsibility, more often than not, it’s also accompanied by greater consequences and Akira finds a more primeval and insatiable part of himself awakening. As this crybaby comes to terms with his new reality and decides to take on the demons with his bleeding heart and BFF, he also begins to war with his two dissonant selves: the one with the bleeding heart and the one who likes to make others bleed.

Devilman Crybaby is dark, violent, and bloody. It’s particularly thrilling psychologically as poor Akira is constantly at odds with Amon (Sukuna and Itadori 3.0 right?). It twists and bends in unpredictable ways just like Chainsaw Man, albeit with a far more tortured protagonist. So if you liked Chainsaw Man and are looking for a more serious, angsty vibe and some really out-there and out-of-this-world graphics, then Devilman Crybaby should be next on your list!

Strong preying on the weak, that’s about how primeval and animalistic it can get. However, if you’re talking about the Hole District you’d be dead wrong because here, people can be quite literally animalistic; not to mention sadistic and cruel given that Magic Users like to experiment on, mutilate and murder Hole-dwellers for the lols. That brings us to Dorohedoro’s Kaiman, a man cursed to have a lizard’s head yet one of the few who can stand up against the magic users, given his immunity to magic (cursed head, aside). Add that immunity to some good old-fashioned amnesia and torturous nightmares, and you’ve got Kaiman-The Man With a Mission. And what is that mission? To beat up all magic users that cross his path so he can get some answers to how he ended up the way he did, and hopefully (read: tragically optimistically), a cure.

Just like Denji, Kaiman uses his unwanted abilities to hunt those who inflict upon others similar injustices they’ve inflicted on them. Just like Denji, Kaiman lives in an unimaginable hellscape (let's be honest, devil-afflicted society or sadistic magic user-afflicted society, they’re both hell). And just like Denji, Kaiman is ruled 50% by his own agenda and 50% by his stomach (honestly it’s up there with Food Wars when it comes to food appreciation). Dark, twisty, but humorous in an oddly light-hearted and sardonic way in spite of their bleak reality, both Chainsaw Man and Dorohedoro hit the same spot, so if you’re looking to scratch that same itch, take a gander into Kaiman’s world. It’s brutal, but fun all the same!

If the invasive species which threatens all of humanity, body horror, and the underdog story of the MC low-key mastering said species is what got you into Chainsaw Man, then Parasyte: The Maxim is the perfect act to follow! While Chainsaw Man begins with reality already in the midst of dealing with the devil crisis and where violent, bloody deaths littering the streets is a norm, Parasyte starts a wee bit before life as we know it comes crashing down—it begins with the descent of a parasitic alien species quite literally out of nowhere. These terrifying, ever-hungry creatures invade their hosts until they inevitably acquire full control of their bodies before setting off on feeding frenzies to assuage their insatiable appetites. And if that wasn’t nightmarish enough, once they acquire control of their hosts, they’re able to morph into a variety of forms, each deadlier than the last.

Our MC, Shinichi Izumi, is an unsuspecting civilian who unfortunately falls prey to a parasite looking for a host. However, the silver lining (if you can even call it that) is that it takes over his right arm after having failed to take possession of his brain. The parasite, aptly named Migi, is now unable to relocate and is forced to live on in Shinichi’s right arm (the alternative being certain death). This forces both host and parasite into an uneasy and tenuous symbiotic relationship as the other parasite begins to come after this new threat: the hybrid that is Shinichi and Migi.

So if symbiotic relationships between supernatural natural enemies are your thing, and you love an underdog who’s on a quest to save the world and get the girl of his dreams in times of war with an invading species, then Parasyte: The Maxim should be queued up next on your watchlist after Chainsaw Man!

Denji’s violent beginnings were quite a kickoff into the gory and glorious world of Chainsaw Man. Ken Kaneki’s origins in Tokyo Ghoul are similarly horrific. In a world infested with ghouls—flesh-eating monsters which seamlessly pass for humans—Ken has the unfortunate luck to be, wait for it, asked out on a date. While he might appear to be literally living Denji’s dream, things take a turn for the worse almost immediately when the lady in question turns out to be a ghoul who's been looking at Ken more as a snack, and less as a romantic partner. After a rather brutal assault, Ken somehow awakens in a hospital to a new nightmare: to save his life the very same ghoul’s organs have been transplanted into him (honestly, Pochita and Denji’s situation seems almost cathartic in comparison), which begins his horrific transformation into a ghoul and the spiral into the gruesome and bloody conflict between ghouls and the agencies responsible for stopping them.

So, persecuted for having been transformed against his will—check. Dragged into violent conflict on whose outcome all of society is contingent upon—check. Blood and guts—check. We think it’s pretty safe to say that if you enjoyed Chainsaw Man but crave an MC who may not be as easily adaptable (read: realistically traumatised) Tokyo Ghoul is the anime for you!

When talking about death and devilish entities, it’s practically a crime not to mention Demon Slayer. One of the most popular shounen of the current generation of anime, Demon Slayer has all the makings of an epic anime (and boy, has it lived up to those expectations). When Tanjirou Kamado finds his family massacred by an unknown demon, you would think his situation couldn’t possibly get worse. Except they can and they do: his beloved little sister Nezuko has been turned into the very creature that caused this bloodshed.

As a newly-minted flesh-eating demon, Nezuko has a major target on her back: a là Demon Slayer Corps. So as any good brother and filial son would, Tanjirou decides to take on the impossible to-do list of becoming a demon slayer, tracking down the demon that murdered his family and avenging them, and finally returning his sister to human form—which has never been done before, mind you. Cool, cool, cool, cool, cool. Well, predictably Tanjirou is soon met with mountains of insurmountable obstacles, however, with his badass sword and even badder demon blood-arts performing sister in tow, he takes them on with all the confidence, optimism, and grit of a shounen protagonist. So if you like the wholesome human-demon relationship that transcends societal norms, some epic demon/devil-slaying fights, and characters that overcome tsunamis of pain (of both the physical and emotional variety), Demon Slayer should 100% be next on your list.