In the city of Hellsalem’s Lot, it is common knowledge that supernatural entities live alongside human beings. A secret organization known as Libra is made up of humans and supernaturals alike; in order to keep the peace in the city. Leonardo Watch is a photographer who gets caught up in a situation that leaves his sister blind and imbues him with a power called the “All-Seeing Eyes of the Gods”. In search of answers, Leonardo goes to Hellsalem’s Lot and; soon after; finds himself involved with Libra as his once-normal life changes forever.

Like Dorohedoro, the world of Kekkai Sensen is one that is littered with strange and interesting supernatural phenomena. Powers, strange creatures and humans living in the slew of non-human entities; and half-human entities is the name of the game. This is the main reason why Kekkai Sensen sits at the very top of this list. Much like Caiman, Leonardo Watch finds himself right in the middle of some weird circumstances and seeks to find out more about his new abilities and way of life.

Kekkai Sensen and Dorohedoro also bear the similarity of having protagonists whose lives were changed by some kind of physical change that they experienced. Caiman’s lizard head is the more obvious example of the two, but Leonardo’s All-Seeing Eyes have the same effect and like Caiman’s new head, Leonardo is given an interesting new set of abilities as a result.

The story is set ten years after the appearance of strange spaces known as “Gates”. Heaven’s Gate appeared in South America while Hell’s Gate appeared in Japan. These gates are places where the laws of physics no longer apply and from these gates, people obtained supernatural powers and became entities known as “Contractors”. One such Contractor is the enigmatic BK201, codenamed “Hei”, dubbed the “Black Reaper”, who completes missions for a mysterious organization as the truth behind the state of the world slowly begins to reveal itself.

Darker Than Black has a fairly gritty and dark feel (no pun intended) to it that makes it similar to Dorohedoro in terms of basic feel. Both shows have the premise of strange sites where a supernatural event forms the foundation of the story and the events that occur therein. Both Dorohedoro and Darker Than Black feature characters who have interesting supernatural abilities and physiologies that have been changed as a result of these abilities.

Darker Than Black also shrouds its superpowered characters in mystery. The Contractors and the Sorcerers are comparable because of this element, which also speaks to the overall feel of both shows. There are also some light comedic elements in Darker Than Black and in Dorohedoro, which contrast the darker parts of both shows.

The floating city of Tiphares is a testament to human ingenuity and the advancement of society. Like any city, Tiphares has to manage its waste; which it does by dumping its junk in the Scrapyard. The Scrapyard is a terrible place that many people and cyborgs call home. Ruled by the inhabitants of Tiphares, residents of the Scrapyard have no hopes and live off the junk of the people above them. Ido is a mechanic and doctor living in Scrapyard who one day finds a well-preserved cyborg head in a scrapheap. He gives her a body and she begins a new life, quickly learning to become a formidable warrior.

In terms of setting, Dorohedoro and Battle Angel Alita have a similar idea, with there being an “aboveground” and an “underground”. Within this duality, the latter is where the main characters live and events of the story unfold. The world of Alita is also one where human beings also have their fair share of physical oddities in a world that is both violent and apocalyptic, which is what gives both Battle Angel Alita and Dorohedoro their grungy, dark feel.

In Tokyo, humanity lives side-by-side with its natural predator: the ghouls. Ghouls are vicious creatures that appear to be regular humans but have an insatiable appetite for human flesh. When 18-year-old Kaneki Ken goes on a date with the beautiful Kamishiro Rize, his life changes forever as he’s thrown into the chaos that is the world of the ghouls. After his fated encounter with Rize, Kaneki begins his new life as a half-human, half-ghoul rarity.

Dorohedoro and Tokyo Ghoul have various things in common, like a very dark feel, fairly graphic violence and of course, a plot depicting struggle between two groups. The conflict between ghouls and humans in the Tokyo Ghoul universe is similar to that of the Sorcerers and the residents of the Hole. Both anime also feature a protagonist who has had his life change as a result of physiological changes. The world of the ghouls and life in the Hole are comparable because those two realms represent the everyday experiences of a group living in the shadow of; or being oppressed by another group in their respective universe.

Kaneki’s change into a ghoul as a result of outside influence is comparable to how Caiman received his lizard head after an encounter with a mysterious Sorcerer; thus both main characters have arcs concerning the truth behind the most notable parts of their lives.

The Berühren Corporation has released the technology to create cyborg soldiers to the public. The Extended are people who have cybernetic enhancements and one such Extended, Inui Juuzou, runs a business built around Extended-related issues. When an Extended crime is reported, Juuzou soon finds himself at the centre of it all when a kidnapped child and large robot are involved.

No Guns Life and Dorohedoro feature characters navigating a strange world that is unlike the one we know in search of some kind of truth to a mystery. Over and above that, both series are set in a realm of dark science-fiction, with there being a marked difference between two sets of people in the respective stories. For Dorohedoro, this is the difference between Sorcerers and humans, while No Guns Life plots a difference between people with cybernetic enhancements and those without such.

With enigmatic protagonists who have strange physical features, Dorohedoro and No Guns Life give a similar feel in contexts that are completely different. The worlds of both anime are also marred by chaos and carnage; with Dorohedoro perhaps being more so than No Guns Life. However, the two anime also have a striking similarity with how the Sorcerers of Dorohedoro have dominion over the Hole; much like the Berühren Corporation does with the lives of any and all who are “Extended”.

The future is bright after the discovery of a 4th dimension that brings with it a limitless energy supply. In order to use this energy, humanity develops technology called “coils”, which allow people to harness the energy of this dimension dubbed Dimension W. However, like with most things, the technology is soon monopolized, resulting in a flood of illegal coils in the market. Collectors are people who track down illegal coils for a living and Mabuchi Kyouma is one such collector, but also a strange case because he does not use coil technology or the limitless energy of Dimension W. Mabuchi soon gets embroiled in a series of events that leads him to partnering up with an android known as Yurizaki Mira, who is very closely tied to the advent of coils and the discovery of the new dimension.

Dimension W is similar to Dorohedoro with how it is set in a context where different dimensions definitely exist, one of them bringing some level of change to the way in which the respective world works. Dorohedoro has a post-apocalyptic setting in which there are two separate dimensions, while Dimension W brings forth the advancement of humanity with the introduction of another realm being central to the storyline. In both cases, the existence of these other dimensions is shrouded in mystery.

Another element to consider when comparing the worlds of Dorohedoro and Dimension W is the idea that one realm in both series is one inhabited by people, while the other is used to the benefit of those people. The difference is that the resource being used in Dimension W is unlimited energy, while the Sorcerers of Dorohedoro make use of the Hole in its entirety as a testing ground.