The Abyss is a massive chasm that exists to be explored. White Whistles are the names of explorers who dive down into the Abyss. Riko is the daughter of a White Whistle who actually went missing during a dive and is now looking for answers. However, she’s a total noob and is not allowed to dive down into the lower levels yet. This alone provides her with the opportunity to meet someone named Reg. Convinced that he’s a young boy with amnesia, Riko is sure beyond a shadow of a doubt that what she needs to help him reclaim his memories lies deep in the Abyss. So, they do what any unsupervised children will do and head into the depths of the Abyss, however, they do not realize just what is down there and how cruel reality can be.

Both Made in Abyss and Dennou Coil feature a cast of children, rather than middle school or high school students, investigating a mystery. Both mysteries end up presenting a life-threatening crisis to the children, but both groups are so innocent that they do not realize the danger. Something also shared by these two is a fantastic world that is both captivating and interesting enough that you want to stick around to learn more. Above all else, these two anime tell of a world that’s right next to ours; you just need the courage to go on in. Oh and of course, there’s a lovely shock packed away in the series.

Following an outbreak of psychic powers in children, the world changed almost overnight. Suddenly humanity was on its knees before it was decided that those with powers would retreat into isolation. Peace has come now to the society and Saki is a 12-year-old girl who is learning how to use her new powers in school with her other five classmates. Things go amuck when Saki starts asking about a classmate that she could have sworn was in their class, but no one can remember them. She starts to dig deeper and suddenly this happy, idyllic life is not what she thought it was. Cracks appearing in the foundation, she decides to go against the rules and help someone. From that moment on, the wheels of fate begin to turn to bring reality to these peace-loving individuals.

Shinsekai Yori, like Dennou Coil, focuses on a band of children who are exploring. What starts out as curiosity rapidly evolves into something much more dangerous. Sci-fi plays in both series in different ways. An overall arching theme is the concept of the loss of innocence and children becoming wise to the ways of the world around them. If anything else too, they have great thriller elements and sometimes will show darkness when you least expect it.

The human mind is a powerful thing and it can be said that when we dream about things, it is our subconscious trying to tell our conscious selves something. The DC Mini has been developed which allows medical professionals to dive into the dreams of others and assist them in dealing with mental health ailments. When terrorists want to take it for themselves and rule the world through fear, it is guarded carefully, but it is clear that it is not enough as the device is eventually stolen. People begin to act weird so Atsuko and Kosaku dive into a dream world to hopefully learn more, but what they find is that there are no limits to how truly bizarre the human mind can be.

Problem solving is a big issue here between both series and both carry the heavy penalty of death if mishandled. Both series also blatantly confront ethical issues surrounding the advancement of technology and what it means for humans. Sci-fi is, naturally, a shared element as is psychology. The viewer really does get a cold, hard feel for what psychological issues the characters are going through. Above all else, Paprika is from another celebrated director, Satoshi Kon. You really should watch it if you have not already.

Rintarou Okabe has a fleeting grasp on reality. He claims to be a “mad scientist” in his lab with other lab members where they work on future gadgets. There is Mayuri, the sweet yet simple character, Itaru aka Daru, a hacker, and Rintarou. The lab has just successfully made a “phone microwave” which turns bananas into green goop. Nothing really seems too stand-out about this group and their inventions until they realize that the microwave can send emails back to the past. Starting to play around with things and seeing what they can do, they start to alter the past bit by bit. However, when someone close to Rintarou dies in the world that he is in, he tries to reset it via the microwave. It doesn’t work. Hundreds of attempts later, he is still stumped and broken. Desperate for help, he tries over and over, thus altering the world line that he is in nonstop.

Both Dennou Coil and Steins;Gate present us with a group of characters who normally might not be found together at all, however an incident brings them all together. Both rely heavily on Sci-fi elements like time travel, hacking, and more. Both are also notorious for evoking a slew of emotions from happy to sad to mad to glad. Both sets of characters face massive threats that threaten to uproot their entire lives and take everyone down in the process. Both also play with ethics and what can be considered okay and what is unacceptable.

Yuu Narukami has just moved in with his uncle in Inaba. He starts to attend school in this sleepy town and soon makes friends with Yousuke, Chie, and Yukiko. However, from day two, there are issues including a girl Yousuke likes is found dead. Confused and befuddled, Yuu has a weird experience and tells his friends about it. Not believing that he can somehow get into a TV, they test it out and fall into another world shrouded in fog. Just what have they uncovered here? A strange fluffy bear mascot tells them that something is going on and takes them to a room. They leave, but come back the next day. Eventually it is discovered that another version of themselves exists in this world. Should someone be left in the world for too long without a way to be honest with themselves, then the other version and monsters known as shadows kill them. Thus begins a year long investigation into what this foggy world is and why people are ending up in here.

Some people might not recognize it at first but Persona 4 and Dennou Coil share a lot in common starting with the most obvious, you need glasses in order to be useful in this world. While the Dennou Coil one is layered directly on top of our everyday world, the same is more or less true when the fog comes to Inaba when it rains right before someone dies. Not to mention, too, the threat of death or being lost forever is a real crisis that both groups of characters face. The stories also both feature an overreaching mystery that isn’t necessarily solved by episode three.

In the very near future, a battle is waging that puts the future of humanity at risk. There is a super destructive group known as Shangri-La who wants to destroy everything including space and time itself. The only way that humanity can win is with a tool known as the Dragon’s Torque. A group is dispatched to the past to find this item… In our time though, two young kids named Haruka and Yuu are getting ready to run away from home when they meet a member of this group. They are convinced that Haruka is the Dragon’s Torque and they want to bring her to the future...

If you want a story that sounds as ridiculous in concept as Dennou Coil but actually manages to deliver on the story, then look no further than this series! Both series focus on children to drive the plot while they exist in cybernetic worlds and realities. The main shared concept is both are searching for a key that will help unlock the truth behind a tragedy. Finally, both feature a set of characters who have no idea what they are really getting into before they solve a mystery.