Also making its premiere on October 7, 2019, we recommend Babylon, based on the novel series by Mado Nozaki. In the world of Babylon, a select handful of districts outside of Tokyo’s 23 wards are given permission to unofficially secede from Japan and operate as a semi-independent city-state as part of an experiment. Things may seem prosperous on the outside but when a pharmaceutical scam becomes a political scandal that could put everything at risk, it can all go to Hell in a handbasket. Assigned to the case is Zen Seizaki, a prosecutor who has a knack for justice. While his partner pursues a lead, he is found the next day hung outside his balcony. Unconvinced that his partner would commit suicide at the drop of a hat, Zen pulls out every trick he can to bring the killer to justice, even if it means going against the system!

While Babylon is by no means influenced by an otome game, it still shares many foundational similarities with Stand My Heroes. Both Rei Izumi and Zen are driven by their ideals of what justice is in order to do their jobs to the point that they will go against their superiors. Not only do both respective series deal with the law enforcement aspect, but the political as well. However, they both present their political thriller qualities in different ways. The politics portrayed in Babylon are both internal and external as it relates to Zen’s situation and how it can affect the nation, while a majority of the politics in Stand My Heroes are internal as it mostly relates to Izumi and the STAND unit.

A good majority of Honey’s readers have likely seen The Minority Report starring Tom Cruise. Try to imagine if something akin to that was an anime and that’s pretty much what Psycho-Pass is. In order to prevent crime in 22nd Century Tokyo, Psycho-Pass uses The Sybil System— a surveillance system that analyzes an individual’s psychological state and can determine whether or not that person is going to commit a crime. If the system determines that person has criminal intent, then law enforcement has full authority to arrest that person (in addition, keep in mind that the fourth and fifth amendments of the US constitution don’t apply here along with Miranda Rights) and they can shoot that person if they resist. The department’s newest recruit is Akane Tsunemori and once she learns the truth about the Sybil System, her life will change forever.

Both Psycho-Pass and Stand My Heroes use female leads who are young and naïve but are driven to do the right thing. Rei and Akane have good intentions to the point that it can conflict with their superiors but each series presents it in a different manner. Prior to the beginning of Stand My Heroes, Rei ruins a bust as she goes against her superiors in order to make an arrest. Thankfully, the staff of STAND understands that when she does something, she has the purest of intentions and they hope that can be of help to the organizations they serve. In the case of Akane, the world she lives in isn’t as simple. Considering that she later learns how the truth of the Sybil System violates human rights, she has to compromise if she wants to continue being a detective under the circumstances she’s in, or stop a psychopathic terrorist. What makes both series similar and yet different is how Akaane and Rei have to deal with such compromises.

The Stand Alone Complex series is an alternate re-telling of not just the hit movie, but the original manga by Masamune Shirow. A good half of the series is episodic in nature as Motoko Kusanagi and the rest of Section 9 take down the baddie of the episode, while select episodes have a story arc about an elusive hacker known as The Laughing Man. Not only does the anime deal with fighting cyber crime, but it also explores themes of identity and privacy in the digital age.

While Stand My Heroes is by no means a cyberpunk series, it still shares a lot of qualities with Stand Alone Complex. Rei and Motoko are the sole females of their respective units and because of that, they serve unique roles in an internal sense as it relates to their unit. Rei within STAND is treated like a little sister as its newest recruit while Motoko is seen more as the big sister due to her leadership role. Since Rei isn’t as seasoned as her co-workers the series does a great job of justifying how she has to rely on them, not to show that she’s weak, but that she can be of assistance. For Motoko, she’s an established badass who’s willing to put herself in harm's way as she operates in the field. Beyond having female leads that are law enforcement officers, both Stand My Heroes and Ghost in the Shell explore themes of corruption within the pharmaceutical industry.

Based on the visual novel released on the PS Vita, Libra of Nil Admirai takes viewers to an alternate version of Japan taking place in the early 1950s. In order to save her family’s name, Tsugumi Kuze agrees to marry a man of nobility. Shortly before her wedding was to take place, her younger brother kills himself and he is found with a mysterious book. A mysterious organization known as Fukuro believes that the book that her brother had in his possession is a Maremono, a book that can influence its readers. In addition, Tsugumi now has the ability to see auras thanks to the Maremono.

One obvious similarity between Nil Adimirai no Tenbin and Stand My Heroes is that they’re both based on otome games. While they share different settings, their similarities are beyond having similar origins. Both Tsugumi and Rei possess unique special abilities that are helpful not only to themselves but also the organizations (in which they’re the sole female member) that they serve. Tsugumi can see auras, which is helpful to the Fukuro organization, and Rei is impervious to drugs so it’s only natural that she's a narc.

In addition to two regular humans (well, one guy is the over-excited rookie and the other regular guy is a veteran who can’t shoot fish in a barrel), try to imagine a police unit consisting of a homunculus ninja, a self-conceited elf who has a vast info network, a dwarf that is a sharpshooter sniper, and a vampire that is a master swordsman and you get the Special 7 unit. Based on their unique diversity, people can easily conclude the function of this unit—stopping terrorist threats of the fairy tale nature. Special 7’s latest recruit is Seiji Nanatsuki, who chose to become a detective because he was saved by one during a terrorist attack when he was a teenager. He’s driven by a sense of justice and public service. However, his world-weary co-workers, most notably Ichinose, try to convince him of the realities that their work isn’t fun and games. Despite these warnings, Nanatsuki shows he’s got what it takes to fight not just crimes, but the elements of the supernatural while still maintaining his positivity.

Special 7 takes the police procedural genre to creative heights as it includes fighting magic and dragons, but it still shares unique qualities with Stand My Heroes. Nanatsuki and Rei do share many qualities as incidents from their past are what paved the way for them to become detectives who end up in eccentric units. In both anime, viewers are treated to the internal and external work of STAND and Special 7 respectively as it relates to both leads. You see both main characters try to be friendly and interact with their groups of peers which consist of many personalities. Nanatsuki and Rei interact with individuals who are friendly, cold and distant, and eccentric, but they all play their roles in contributing to the unit and to shaping the main character’s role within it.

Gangsta truly lives up to its title as its two main leads, Nic and Worick, work as hitmen for the right price. They’re known as the handymen for their skills in killing people (among other things) in a city that makes the most dangerous parts of Detroit look as safe as Tokyo. Thanks to the abuse of an enhancing drug known as Celebrer, advanced humans known as twilights now exist. Unfortunately, they’re now being persecuted and Nic and Worick are put in a position where they either have to pick a side or get caught in the crossfire.

While a majority of what we have recommended in relation to Stand My Heroes largely deals with the good side of the law, Gangsta appropriately shows the opposite. Like Rei, Nic and Worick are in their situation due to incidents from their childhoods, but unlike Rei, Nic and Worick offer their services to whoever is willing to pay (that includes criminals and law enforcement). However, it takes the themes of drug abuse in a direction that is relatable in a realistic sense. While a lot of countries tend to see drug abuse as a legal problem, what makes Gangsta distinguishable in regards to its theme is that it also explores the health-related aspects of it, which Stand My Heroes also manages to make mention of every now and then.