Golgo 13 is the story of a renowned hitman, legendary in his accuracy and precision. His real name and identity are a mystery even to the world’s best intelligence agencies. Taking on any job for the right price, no one ever escapes the sights of the world’s best killer.

Golgo 13 is an iconic within the anime industry. Starting in 1968, the manga still continues its publication. As the 5th best selling manga series, Golgo 13’s influence over anime assassins is a perfect starting point for our list. As a fair warning, Golgo 13 is meant for an adult audience.

The man known as Golgo 13 is the stoic, silent type. As a professional hitman, secrecy is his expertise, and our understanding of his methods are a luxury. Where the story lacks in characterization, it makes up for variety. Within the show, Golgo 13 acts as a plot device, an invincible hitman whose name sends shivers. Each episode unveils a new story, and within it, Golgo 13 is always hired.

This formula continues, allowing viewers to become firmly aware of the underworld and train our expectations: Golgo 13 never fails. The strength of the show rests not on Golgo, but the individual stories that surround him. From taking down terrorists to revenge plots with mercenaries, Golgo 13 has standardized assassin anime.

Canaan is a former child soldier, seeking the murderer of her father figure, Siam. Upon a chance encounter, Canaan reunites with Oosawa Maria, a Japanese photographer she befriended in the middle east. Before long, their reunion is interrupted, and the trail to Siam’s killer leads them into a global terrorist plot.

Canaan borrows from some conventions of assassin stories: the legacy of a name, the religious connotations of assassins, and international conflict. Conceptualized by Type-moon staff, Canaan is a show that was originally for a visual novel, 428: Shibuya Scramble.

Canaan is familiar assassin story straight out of a Hollywood film. While Canaan doesn’t stray far from convention, it is a story about perception, an apt theme given Canaan’s power and grudge. If you’re interested in Type-moon’s take on assassins or you want to ease yourself into assassin stories, Canaan is a fair recommendation.

Known for his speed and accuracy, Train Heartnet is Black Cat, an assassin under the secret organization: Chronos. One night, he meets with Saya Miantsuki, a bounty hunter whose peaceful ideals influence Train. With this chance encounter, Train reconsiders his legacy, pitting him against the same organization he works under.

The previous two shows target an adult audience. Black Cat, in contrast, has a younger demographic, requiring it to make some specific decisions. Sometimes, to adapt ideas from one archetype, one has to make concessions. Unsurprisingly, as an assassin story, death is part of the story--however gratuitous violence or debauchery is not acceptable for this PG-13 audience. Thus, to remain an assassin story, Black Cat focused more on its dichotomy.

This show has an on/off switch. During the day, simple camera shots, slice of life material, and exposition would complement normal society. At night, complex shots worked seamlessly, their cuts hidden by darkness, dialogue became more purposeful and character-driven, and lastly color was distinctly otherworldly.

During the night half of Black Cat, the show showed impressive signs of thematic synergy. While Black Cat might not be the best show for viewers searching for deeper writing, its visual direction is such a pleasant feature for the aesthetic-focused viewer.

Night Raid is a group that selectively kills officials within a corrupt empire. Spearheading the resistance, Night Raid engages in dangerous operations, staking their lives to push forward the Revolutionary Army and their fight against a bloodthirsty empire.

Akame ga Kill treads an interesting line. A common critique of the show is its excessiveness—Villains who are comically inhumane, characters who die only for shock value, and a lack of nuance for its morality. However, excess is part of the criminal underworld—the common vices of greed and lust make their way into many assassin stories.

After the initial episodes, Akame ga Kill established a very black/white world. Its formula thus far: show how corruption is rampant in the Empire, have Night Raid find said corruption, have said evil assassinated. The problem with this formula is it leaves very little to viewer interpretation.

However, once Night Raid gains notoriety, the Empire establishes a special police force, the Jaegers. While the Jaegers are not spotless, key members within the group were hardly villains. From that arc and forward, Akame ga Kill is at its best, focusing on the most important element of assassin stories: the distortion of conventional morality.

Suddenly the formula had changed, and viewers had gained a new group that balanced out Night Raid. While the nature of the writing and directing still leaned heavily in favor of Night Raid, the story takes a decisive direction, to intertwine the characters and allow a favorable light in a world brimming with darkness.

Within the city of Fukuoka is an active world of crime. Hitmen, assassins, mafia, and other unruly individuals fill the streets. One night, Ling, a self-proclaimed professional, is too late to kill his target. His client, an influential mafia boss, refuses to pay him, instead giving a new job: to kill a detective named Baba. However, frustrated at his previous boss, Lin decides on revenge, recruiting Baba into a new line of business.

From this point forward, the list will mostly contain assassin stories with an added twist. Hakata Tonkotsu Ramens is one of those. Choosing to take the Durarara!! route, Hakata Tonkotsu Ramens starts off as a fast-paced show with multiple factions and characters.

Following the initial arc is difficult at first, but as character motivations become clear, viewers are treated to a society that frequently uses assassin services--to the point a company is even named Murder Incorporated.

Assassins intertwining with normal society creates a distorted sense of normalcy, but the show is very aware of its zaney elements, pushing a motley cast that is miraculously interconnected. From the average salary man looking to triumph over his failure in baseball by becoming an assassin to the burly Martinez whose job is hilariously to take non-lethal petty requests, Hakata Tonkotsu Ramens is a fun mixture of the assassin story in a public setting.

An unknown creature crushes the moon, leaving the world devastated at its power. Moving at speeds of mach 20 and avoiding most attempts to kill it, this creature has left the governments of the world baffled at what to do until a peculiar deal is struck with it. Koro-sensei, as it is called, will become the homeroom teacher of class 3-E, allowing any students within it to kill him during his 1 year as a teacher.

Assassination Classroom is a meshing of genres and conventions. It borrows core ideas of assassin stories and tries to find how that parallels stories about teachers. The result is a story about misfits, trying to learn how not to fit in, but to make their own place.

The genius of the show is in its absurdity. Its whacky story creates an environment devoid of normalcy (society) and isolated (where only the worst go/underworld). Assassination Classroom takes one of the most appealing aspects of assassin stories--their ability to emphasize isolation and a unique worldview--and makes it relatable to a wider audience.

By finding this strange middleground, a shounen comedy can entertain, but also teach. If you’re interested in how assassin stories have adapted into popular media, Assassination Classroom is a worthwhile study.

In order to curb the criminal activity in Italy, the Italian government has enacted a new program. Taking girls on the brink of death, the Social Welfare Agency artificially fixes their bodies and brainwashes them into killers. Despite their professional training, these girls still remain children at heart, but their actions leave them further away from the life they once knew.

Gunslinger Girl takes place in Italy, borrowing both the visuals of the country and its music. While a simple observation, the classical music, choir, and opera create a thematic connection to tradition--and through tradition is (assassin) legacy. Gunslinger Girl is a story about identities in transition. In the greater context of assassin stories, Gunslinger Girl is also a story that muddles the identity of government spy and assassin.

Gunslinger Girl is an episodic story, choosing to focus on its various teams. Each girl has their own forte, each trainer a different method to cultivating their talent. Despite the numerous action scenes, Gunslinger Girl, at its heart, is a tragedy; placing viewers so close to its characters that their identities are hardly secret.

Gunslinger Girl borrows from tradition, once again putting the profession in a delicate and immoral position. Social Welfare Agencies “rescue” girls on the brink of death, and give them a second life as government tools. Not only do the girls keep hidden from their targets, they are hidden away from the innocence and normalcy they’ve lost. It seems logical then why this show intertwines spy and assassin. Both want to keep their identities hidden, and their differences can seem superficial if their targets are the same.

If you’re looking for character driven assassin story, especially one that deals with identity, tragedy, and innocence, Gunslinger Girl is a shining example of traditional elements with a meaningful spin.

In a fictional retelling of the 20th century, a green mineral called Cavorite has advanced technology and military warfare. Now London is split by a wall, divided by the Kingdom and the Commonwealth of Albion. In a tense stalemate, both countries have resolved to diplomacy in the public eye, but beneath the facade is a war of espionage.

Princess Principal is a show that layers its subterfuge. It deceives the viewers with its cute protagonists, tricks viewers with its narration and dialogue, and draws your attention away from cleverly hidden details. Borrowing from London’s rich history of detective, spy, and biting social novels, Princess Principal is a show that has faith in its viewers.

At first, Princess Principal will offer seemingly little in the assassin department, choosing to emphasize more on its spy identity. However, as the story quickens its pace and tensions rise, the question of one’s loyalty becomes a prominent theme, the testing of which, one can leave to their imagination.

Princess Principal is saturated with ideas. Depictions of classism and questions of identity are matched with awe-inspiring animation and genius jazz track by Yuki Kajiura. If you’re the kind of viewer who loves great cinematography, Princess Principal is purposefully and creatively directed. If you love a show for its excellent plot or intriguing characters, Princess Principal does not disappoint.

America is filled with crime with mafia members controlling much of the streets. However, a new age of crime is rising. Inferno, a mysterious organization, is heading a new age of crime with their invincible killer, the infamous Phantom.

Phantom: Requiem is adapted from an early Nitroplus visual novel, Phantom: Inferno. As Gen Urobuchi’s debut with the company, Phantom is considered a reflection of his future work. As a story, Phantom: Requiem retains some of its archaic developments, leaving some hard transitions in the beginning and final arc. However, if one looks past that, Phantom: Requiem is one of the best assassin story the medium has to offer.

Phantom: Requiem is a story that utilizes standard conventions and executes them so well. Each arc represents a stage in the legacy of the Phantom, a title of the greatest assassin in Inferno. As the protagonists continue their profession, they drag others deeper into Inferno. The show carries with it biblical ideas, reverses them in nuanced ways, and constantly questions the idea of redemption.

The beauty of Phantom is that it easily wraps the viewer into its events. Phantom is more than an action story. It’s a story deeply invested in the salvation of its own characters. The problem, however, is if anyone can ever escape the grasps of Inferno? As a powerful example of the medium and one of the best assassin stories in anime, Phantom: Requiem is a show you should not miss.

After the appearance of Heaven’s Gate and Hell’s Gate, the world has seen the appearance of Contractors, people who have gained powers at the cost of their humanity. Within Japan there is an underground Syndicate that seeks to eliminate these contractors with an infamous assassin and Contractor himself, the “Black Reaper.”

Darker than Black is 1 part assassin story and 1 part noir story. Contextually, film Noir is a historically sensitive time, one directly after World War II when both men and womens’ identities were changing. “Coincidentally,” Darker than Black is set during the aftermath of a war where Heaven’s Gate and Hell’s Gate have divided parts of the world.

Darker than Black is a conglomeration of ideas that make both assassin stories and film noir so intriguing. Hidden pasts and private detectives--people searching for identity and their place in an unfamiliar world distinctly different from the past (pre-war). So much of Darker than Black borrows from genres and then develops them beautifully. Contractors are essentially the assassins of the show, but less so by nature and more so by fear.

Contractors are people who’ve awakened to a newfound power, and have been deemed as dangerous by society. Dolls, on the other hand, are Contractors who have given up their remuneration, an ironic task required to access their power. Then there are Moratoriums, rare contractors who cannot control their power. Lastly, Regressors, contractors who’ve lost their powers through time. All of these identities paint an interesting picture where society has been split between “outsiders/dangerous” and insiders/safe.

Moving further, Darker than Black is episodic, but done so in 2-episode arcs, allowing for both depth in the stories it chooses and breadth of the stories viewers see. So much of Darker than Black can be appreciated with an understanding of what it borrows, but even without that knowledge, Darker than Black is methodical in its directing and purposeful in its writing. If you’ve ever had a fondness for film noir or a love of assassin stories, this mesh of the two cannot be missed.

Civil war rages in the country of Gazth-Sonika. In this war-torn land, a mercenary by the name of Madlax makes a living for herself due to her exceptional skills. On the opposite end of the spectrum is Margaret Burton who lives a quiet life in a peaceful country. However, fate has decided to bring these two together in an amazing twist of destiny.

Madlax is a little bit slower than most assassin anime. Many shows that deal heavily with assassinations are action packed from beginning to end. Madlax on the other hand slowly builds up its plot by carefully introducing each character and making sure that we understand the differences and similarities between everyone. It also deals with a lot of flashbacks, which creates a conflicted sense of forward movement in the plot. Nonetheless, the anime puts forth a decent amount of action by the end as well as strings together a few good twists.

Code:Breaker closely follows the life of Rei Oogami, who is part of an organization of assassins. He, along with the other members of the group, must present himself as an ordinary student while undertaking various missions. Well, his secret life is discovered by a classmate, and this classmate decides that Rei’s perspective on life is way too dark and distorted. Lucky for her, she has the ability to negate his powers and so is able to actually get close to him and try to make an impact on his life.

Code:Breaker presents a really unique set of assassins. Each character is well defined and has a rather spectacular ability, which is always fun to watch. However, the general missions that the group performs do not hold a candle to the inner turmoil of the organization. The organization’s history and hidden power plays are where the true drama lies. These facets unravel bit by bit and show just how dark the underbelly of an assassin’s organization can be as we discover more about the main antagonist. This set up lets the anime build an extremely volatile environment that puts everyone against one another, which leads to quite the entertaining climax.

Angelo Lagusa watched his family murdered before his eyes when he was only a child. For seven years he has planned out his revenge and now he is fortunate to find an opportunity to enact his vengeful desire. However, it won’t be easy. He will need to infiltrate one of the most powerful mafia families and get into a position where he can take out the top members of the family.

Similar to a couple other shows on this list, “Assassin” is not the first word that pops into your head when thinking of the show. “Gangster” or “Mafia” are actually probably the first words you think. However, what is “Angelo” but an assassin. He has orchestrated his revenge and goes with the intention of tearing apart this mafia family one by one. Assassinating people is also pretty common work for a mafia family. It just goes by the title of a hit. Splitting hairs on these specifics is more detrimental to the genre as it will force the image of an assassin to become repetitive.

Akuma no Riddle follows the events that occur in a very particular high school class. This class is full of highly skilled assassins who all share a single target. This target is Haru Ichinose, who happens to just be an ordinary girl. Well, this girl does happen to have extraordinary luck as she befriends one of the assassins, who decides to make it her mission to protect Haru at all costs.

What’s nice about Akuma no Riddle is that we have a whole class of assassins who have very unique abilities. This is not a show where everyone is simply skilled with a blade and they try to take each other down with certain special techniques. Nope. We have an assassin who is particularly skilled with poisons, we have an assassin whose creates riddles and explosives. Each has a family method that is unique and really helps keep the series from feeling too repetitive.

Ansatsu Kyoushitsu puts us into a world where Earth has been invaded by a single alien who is capable of destroying the planet. All military tactics that have been used on the alien have failed miserably, and now the fate of the world lies in the hands of a bunch of middle school kids. It is their job to assassinate this alien who has taken up the position of their teacher.

Ansatsu Kyoushitsu is a fun twist for people who enjoy assassin anime, but want something with a little less death and gore. This is because on an episodic basis, the students do try to assassinate their teacher. They try to trick him or catch him off guard by employing various strategies. However, Koro-sensei is generally able to foil their plans and teach them a lesson or two about life while doing so. It is this playful mix between humor and murder that keeps the show so lively. Not to mention a strong ensemble of characters, with each episode introducing us to a new perspective.

Bungou Stray Dogs portrays the everlasting conflict between supernatural beings in Port City. You see there are two main organizations: the Port Mafia and then the Armed Detective Agency, which are comprised of many unique individuals and have a certain give and take as they wrestle for control over the city. Well, one subject that they wrestle over is the custody of a boy, who happens to have the power to transform into a were-tiger. At least, that’s the issue in the first season. In the second season, the war finds a third party and it’s an all-out brawl in the city between gifted people.

The Port Mafia is essentially an organization of assassins. So what if they call themselves the mafia. A good chunk of their work deals with killing people and leaving little to no trace of the deed. This is exactly why they not only have a special battalion to handle hits, but also have Kyouka and Kouyou, who are explicitly used as assassins due to their unique powers, which summon forth a demon assassin of sorts.

Tatsumi has his mind set on Capital City. He believes that if he can make it to the city, then he will be able to find a way to save his poverty stricken village. Well, those dreams are shattered pretty early on, and he ends up joining the Night Raid, a group of assassins who wish to overthrow those who control Capital City.

Night Raid is both in title and deed a band of assassins. This is something that works particularly well in the anime as they serve as a certain extreme faction of the rebellion, and thus draw attention towards themselves while allowing the main body of the rebellion to organize properly. As such, those in this assassin’s group are extremely skilled and powerful. Each own a special weapon that possesses an extremely unique power and actually chooses its owner.

Between each assassin’s inherent abilities and the powers of their weapons, Akame ga Kill is filled with action and death. In fact, [kind of SPOILER[ this is one of the few anime, where it’s best for the viewer to not grow attached to any character, as there’s a good chance that one will die. However, the creators did a good job and chances are you will fall in love and then get your heart broken.

Yukiteru Amano finds himself suddenly placed in a game of life and death, as he is given the power of a “future diary”. He is tasked with using his diary’s power to murder 11 other diary users, who each have their own specific power. However, will he be able to do this when his only ally is his obsessive stalker?

Mirai Nikki is interesting because it technically forces the person to become an assassin. Yuki is honestly just an ordinary kid, but once thrust into the game he must kill or be killed. Thus, he is forced to devise and plan out assassinations if he expects to live. The plot thrives off the fact that each person is doing essentially the same thing as him. It is a game of assassination and so it’s impossible to really figure out what will happen next. Bonus points go to this assassin anime for never turning an eye to the violence that ensues within its plot.

This assassin anime takes place in a world where violence runs rampant. Assassinations are committed frequently in America and many are done by the organization Inferno, which has a near-invincible human weapon that goes by the codename Phantom. One day a Japanese tourist witnesses a hit done by Phantom and is then forcefully brought into the Inferno organization. The first thing that happens to him is that he gets brainwashed. The second is that he himself becomes an assassin.

Phantom: Requiem for the Phantom is an emotionally powerful anime. It handles the work of an assassin with a certain detached perspective that strikes at the audience. Such a viewpoint allows the show to display just how far the characters are removed from humanity. It forces the viewer to accept that living can be boiled down to acts of instinct as each character is consistently forced to kill or be killed. At the same time though, it makes us feel so much for the characters as we can only imagine just how much pain they have gone through in order to become the assassins. It is this duality to the piece that creates an extremely unique viewing experience.

rurouni kenshin follows the life and adventures of the wandering swordsman, Kenshin Himura. At first glance this frail man might seem like a simple vagabond, but in fact he is a legendary assassin from the Imperial War who was given the title of manslayer. His work played a vital role in setting up the current government, but caused such mental/emotional stress that he disappeared for years. After coming to terms with his actions, he decided to travel about Japan and use his abilities to ensure peace in the adjusting society. This is where the story begins.

Many would not think that Rurouni Kenshin is an assassin anime. Samurai, even ninja, might be a better way of describing it. However, if you’ve seen Samurai X: Trust and Betrayal or simply pay attention to the bits of dialogue in Rurouni Kenshin, then you know his work during the war was as an assassin. He was sent on special missions to assassinate political figures mainly. This fact is pretty explicitly stated when the show gets to discussing Shishio, Kenshin’s replacement.

If you feel like his past life as an assassin doesn’t quite justify the show being an assassin anime, then let’s not forget that many of the characters in the show are also assassins. Shishio,’s entire squad is full of assassins as well numerous other fighters that appear in the series.