Kiseijuu: Sei no Kakuritsu follows the hectic life that consumes Shinichi Izumi
after he, and many other humans, has been infected with an alien parasite that wants to feast on other humans. Lucky or unlucky for him, the parasite only took over a part of his body (his right hand), so he must now face off with his own body and the community at large in order to stay alive.

The first similarity between the shows is pretty obvious. Two human main characters have been altered by alien involvement, which has completely changed their lives. Each now have a lot more power and a lot more responsibility to handle. Both anime are willing to show the grittier side of action. Admittedly, Kiseijuu: Sei no Kakuritsu has a lot more blood and definitely pushes forward a tenser environment. That’s to say you’ll probably get scared more often while watching it. Even the faint of heart could probably get through most of Inuyashiki, even though Hiro’s presence will always have you on edge.

In a world consumed with information, there is a lot of mystery around the existence of Ajin. These supernatural beings exist, but they have become sort of like the ‘boogeyman’ of society. People fear what they don’t know, but the news cycle always has something new, and so people move on. Kei Nagai was one of those people until an unlikely accident reveals that he is an Ajin. All of a sudden Kei finds himself caught between the government and a terrorist group of Ajin.

Once more, we have a guy who suddenly has a newfound perspective on life because he’s been granted a supernatural power. The main difference here is that Kei’s life immediately takes a downward turn because of his supernatural power, while Inuyashiki starts experiencing a more triumphant and glorious life. When one person is caught between a mysterious government agency and terrorists, it’s hard to expect any joy in life. The more subtle similarities deal with the action and the character relationships. In both, action scenes are characterized with brutal hits and pretty free-flowing CG. However, the intensity of bloodshed isn’t too high in either. There is a little more in Inuyashiki, but so far it is not gratuitous. Then there’s the way that Kei approaches Satou and tries to reign him in. This seems to be the route that Inuyashiki and Hiro are taking.

Ken Kaneki is your average student. He studies, hangs out with his friend, and reads. He is actually a pretty big literature lover, and the girl he’s interested in seems to like his favorite author. He asks her out and she turns out to be a ghoul, a type of being that can only feed off humans. She tries to kill him, fails, and then he awakens to being a ghoul himself. Now he has to navigate the world while being a ghoul, which is no easy task.

Don’t worry, people, this is the last anime on this list with basically the same exact premise. Much like Inuyashiki, Tokyo Ghoul starts the series off with a normal human who goes through a drastic transformation. This transformation brings him a lot of power, but comes at a pretty big cost. It should be noted that it takes a long time for Kaneki to even accept the fact that he must eat human flesh (even if it’s from a cadaver). It takes essentially the whole first season before he comes to term with what he is and how he needs to live. Inuyashiki comes to terms pretty quickly and even gets powerful moments of happiness thanks to the change, at least in the beginning. Hiro seems to have always expected such an event and is more than happy to take advantage of his new power.

Occultic;Nine is just one of those anime you need to watch. It follows the strange way that fate has drawn together a diverse group of people. With murder and mysteries in the fray, this mixed team of realists and supernatural believers will have to weave together theories and facts in order to make sense of the truth. In terms of sci-fi, Occultic;Nine is one of the most intriguing anime out there with its eccentric characters and vital community.

Occultic;Nine is like Inuyashiki for more subtle reasons than the previous three. The level of characterization is a strong point in both the shows. This aspect allows the viewers to attach themselves to the characters, which makes certain situations more relatable and intense. Such character focus also helps set the tone for the piece as a whole. The main difference at this point is that Occultic;Nine followed through with numerous characters, while Inuyashiki has been focusing primarily on Ichiro and Hiro. The other characters do have some detail, but their characteristics have been more reactionary. Instead of having their own plot lines, they are simply reacting to that of the main players.

Gantz follows the story of Kei Kurono as he attempts to make sense of what has happened to his life. You see, he has died, but death has left him little respite, as he is forced to face off against aliens and robots in a world gone insane. Perhaps, what Kei is experiencing is hell, but he won’t find out until he survives countless horrors.

It shouldn’t be any surprise that Gantz made this list. Both anime came from the gloriously brutal mind of Hiroya Oku, and there’s even a little mention of Gantz in the second episode of Inuyashiki. Besides being from the same creator, the shows do have quite a bit of similarities. Neither shy away from graphic moments of violence. However, Gantz is much more aggressive with the amount of blood flying about. Blood could have flown from the head of the homeless man being hit in the head in Inuyashiki, but it did not. In Gantz, blood would have been pouring from the man’s ears and eyes.

If you have not seen Death Note yet, then stop what you’re doing and start watching this series. Death Note follows the creation of a ‘utopia’ under Light Yagami, as he uses the power of the Death Note to kill criminals and adversaries alike. How did he get the Death Note? He got it because a bored God of Death decided to drop his journal, a journal that will kill anyone whose name is written into it, down to Earth. Light just happened to be the one to pick it up.

Death Note is like Inuyashiki in numerous ways. In both cases, the main character receives an ungodly power from a supernatural force. Another similarity is that one main character decides to use his power to become a sort of God, while the other uses his power (albeit L’s only power is his intellect) to bring the other to justice. The main difference between the shows is that in Death Note, Light Yagami is the main focus, while L plays a slightly lesser role. In Inuyashiki, Hiro (the character most similar to Light) plays a slightly smaller role than that of Ichirou.