Come the end of their school’s festival, a group of nine high schoolers gather in their school at night in order to say their final goodbyes to a friend who will be moving away. They perform a ritual for them to remain friends forever, using paper charms and a method they got off the internet. However, the charms are connected to Heavenly Host Academy, an elementary school which was the site of a series of gruesome murders. Heavenly Host lies under the foundation of their own Kisaragi Academy. After performing their ritual, the nine find themselves trapped in an alternate dimension with the vengeful spirits of those who were murdered at Heavenly Host, facing eternal damnation in this alternate dimension if they don’t find a way to escape.

Boasting an intense amount of gore, Corpse Party truly isn’t for the faint-hearted. The series doesn’t long to throw you into an intense and bloody mix of instability, death, gore and screaming… a lot of screaming. At 4 episodes, it isn’t very long; however, Corpse Party is the kind of viewing experience that truly sticks with you. Like Angels of Death, Corpse Party involves characters finding themselves trapped in a dark, desolate place with no escape but an infinite number of things trying to kill them. The way in which both series draw a sense of mystery and intrigue through the shadowy pasts of the characters or the setting in and of itself is also very similar.

Lucy is a special breed of human known as “Diclonius”, born with a set of horns and telekinetic abilities which prompt human beings to use her for inhumane scientific experiments. When presented an opportunity to escape, Lucy makes quick work of the people trying to restrain her, leaving a bloodbath in her wake. However, during her escape, Lucy experiences a heavy head injury which leaves her with a split personality: her regular, bloodthirsty self and Nyu, a carefree, childlike persona. While in this state, she is found by two college students, Kouta and Yuka, who take her in, completely unaware of her murderous capacity and her status as a fugitive.

Elfen Lied is a very well-known series and it wouldn’t be surprising for one to initially disagree with this comparison. However, the fact that both titles provide psychological impairment for both protagonists in the form of some sort memory loss makes them quite similar. The change in demeanour that happens when Nyu becomes Lucy again is very similar to the way in which Rachel’s attitude changes early on in Angels of Death.

Hope’s Peak Academy is a prestigious high school that only accepts the most talented students. Those who are accepted in are given unique titles which are reflective of their abilities and/or personalities. Naegi Makoto is one of fifteen candidates accepted into Hope’s Peak; however, Makoto is a completely normal student who made it in by sheer chance. His title: “Super High School-Level Luck”. He and his classmates are happy to be at their new school, at least until their principal, Monokuma, traps them inside. In order to graduate and escape, the students need to successfully murder one of their classmates without getting caught. If a killer is caught, they will be executed and the remaining students will continue until only one person remains standing.

Like Angels of Death, Danganronpa is a series which is based on a game by the same name. Both series involve characters being trapped in unfamiliar spaces and being forced to confront entities greater than themselves in order to escape. From the perspective of horror and gore, Danganronpa is no such title; however, death, teamwork and the pursuit of freedom are themes common to both shows.

Episodes: 12
Aired: July 2014 – September 2014
Azuma Tokaku is a new transfer to Myoujou Academy, a prestigious girls’ boarding school. However, it isn’t all as it seems as Tokaku, along with 11 of her classmates, is an assassin who is part of the challenge to kill their classmate, Ichinose Haru. The one who completes this task will have their deepest wish granted, but each assassin is afforded only one opportunity to kill Haru. Failure means expulsion, but Tokaku is unconcerned with the prospects – she finds herself drawn to Haru and decides to go against the grain to protect her friend from each assassination attempt.

While vastly different in terms of setting and plot, the way in which Akuma no Riddle navigates the constant threat on Haru’s life is quite like the way Rachel frantically avoids being killed in Angels of Death. Rachel and Zack’s pairing in Angels of Death is also functionally similar to that of Tokaku and Haru in Akuma no Riddle, in that a seemingly-innocent character finds protection in the form of another character who has taken interest in them.

BTOOOM! is a popular online game which has taken the world by storm. 22-year-old Sakamoto Ryouta is an unemployed man who lives with his mother who also happens to be Japan’s best player of BTOOOM!. His peaceful life comes to an abrupt end when he awakens on an uninhabited island with no memory of how he got there and a small chip embedded in his hand. He soon realises that someone has recreated his favourite game. Each player is given a bag of unique explosives called “BIM” and in order to leave the island, the players must kill seven others and retrieve their chips. With no choice but to fight, Ryouta must dig deep if he ever wants to go home.

What makes BTOOOM! and Angels of Death similar is in how the overall objective of both protagonists is to find a way out of their respective, life-threatening situations. In addition to this, both protagonists find themselves having to come together with other characters in order to survive. The conditions surrounding the main character’s presence in these situations are shrouded in mystery and that adds an element of storytelling to give context to the violence.

The Abyss is a chasm which stretches down to the depths of the earth which is home to several strange creatures and ancient relics. Divers are individuals who seek to solve the mysteries of the Abyss by entering its darkness. Riko is the daughter of a legendary Diver who went missing and she aspires to explore the Abyss just like her mother did, although at the moment, Riko is only allowed to explore the chasm’s uppermost layer. While in the Abyss, Riko meets a robot that looks like a boy and names him Reg. Reg has no recollection of anything before his discovery and Riko, believing the advanced technology that made him to have come from the Abyss, decides to venture in to the deep to retrieve his memories and see the depths for herself.

Made in Abyss and Angels of Death are similar in the way in which they pair their main characters. The descent into the Abyss and the dangerous encounters Riko and Reg have in Made in Abyss can be compared to the various trials Rachel and Zack experience while trying to find their way out. Another similarity between the two titles lies in the fact that both of them have main characters who are only kids.