In a world where humans are an endangered species, and monsters and hybrids cohabitate in the rebuilt Tokyo, making sure the law sticks is a bit complicated. Natsuki Sasahara, Sakura Bokuseiinmonzeninari, Batanen, and Tomy Fujioka are a group of cops/bounty hunters who try to keep the peace in Tokyo. While they’re not an official police force, they’re the ones who can chase criminals down and keep the public safe. In the meantime, they also have to fight discrimination because even when the “monsters” are the majority now, it doesn’t mean that everyone accepts them.

Hyper Police is a very funny comedy, and a bit of an outsider on this list because they're not quite cops. They have to follow certain rules and have the authority to make sure others follow the law, but that doesn't make them cops. Still, their inter-team dynamics, the way they have to work with others, and how certain crimes are way above their pay grade makes them a great example of a crime-fighting team, and it earns the tenth place on our list.

In 1854, Japan finally opened its shores to trade with the West. This was not an easy situation, as the internal politics in Japan were divided between those who thought it was important to keep Japan free from barbarians and those who thought it was important to open to the West. To defend the Tokugawa shogunate, they created the Roshigumi, which was later given the task of patrolling Kyoto and renamed the Shinsengumi, becoming one of the first police forces of modern Japan. Ichimura Tetsunosuke joins them as one of the older member’s pages in order to get the strength needed to avenge his parents, while his older brother Tatsunosuke joins to become their accountant.

One of the great things about this series is the difference between the brothers. Tetsunosuke wants revenge and he loves violence, while Tatsunosuke only wants enough money to survive: This allows us to see both sides of the Shinsengumi, both their actions against the rebels or petty criminals and how the force was maintained and kept going. As the series is loosely based on the real Shinsengumi force, we also get to see some of its most legendary members. They may not be completely historically accurate, but the anime still gives viewers a quick summary of a very interesting time in Japanese history and that is why it deserves the ninth place on our list.

When a string of attacks happen on a neighborhood, where a young man in skates with a bat ambushes people, you can count on the police to take charge to try to stop the attacker. However, the investigation is not as simple as going on some stakeouts and trying to flush out the kid. They need to figure out what all the victims have in common, why they are being targeted or if it’s a situation of convenience for the mysterious Shounen Bat. And here's where the police hit a snag: Everybody lies to them. There's not a single person who wants to cooperate and soon the paranoia gets to the police force as even their partners start lying.

Although Paranoia Agent doesn’t completely focus on the police, the whole series is about figuring out the motives and identity of Shounen Bat and that makes it a police procedural series. Sure, we also follow some of the victims, and there’s also a small paranormal element, but in the end, the important part is the mystery. Directed by the late Satoshi Kon, it is one of his most famous series and it really deserves the eighth place on our list.

One of the biggest challenges police forces have always faced is how fast technology advances and how some unethical individuals use said technology to commit crimes. We don't need to look far to find examples in real life, from cyberstalking –a crime that some police departments still don't believe is a crime-, to hacking. Now, imagine how much more difficult crime fighting would be for cops if we had giant robots as part of the working class' tools and therefore available for criminals? That is the scenario that Patlabor gives us, where the giant robots aren’t amazing miraculous machines, but more like complicated forklifts that need constant work to keep functioning.

Created by Mamoru Oshii, who is also the mind behind Ghost in the Shell, it's a curious slice of life that can also be a mecha and cop show with a lot of comedy behind it. While the series mentions that the Special Vehicles Unit Division 1 are the best at fighting crime with their Labors, we only focus on the lives and cases of Division 2, who are less efficient and more accident prone. This is bad with normal cops, but when you add giant machines to the equation, it becomes a really dangerous situation. Because of this realistic approach to giant robots and cops, Patlabor earns the seventh place on our list.

In a country where many houses were built with paper walls, arson is a terrible crime. This is why in the city of Edo, there’s a special police force tasked with fighting arson-robberies under the command of Hasegawa Heizo. Heizo is so hard on criminals and so devoted to justice, that he soon got himself a nickname among those he chased: Onihei, the Demon. Once the Demon is on your tail, you can be sure that he won't stop until you're brought to justice, and then you have only two choices: either fight or repent.

Based on a series of novels by Shoutarou Ikenami that was originally published in 1967, Onihei is the latest adaptation of the demon cop and the only one that has been animated. Heizo is an amazing hero whose skills with a katana are unrivaled, but that doesn't mean he's only devoted to his work, as he also has a loving family that, at times, will call him out if he's risking too much in the search for justice. For any lovers of history, samurai, and police procedurals, Onihei is a perfect series and more than deserving of the sixth place on our list.

Sometimes, it's hard to see the police as the good guys. When we're following the story of a dictatorship that keeps all citizens down, who could see the forces that support said dictatorship as the heroes? Well, Jin-Rou attempts to do this by giving some humanity to Kazuki Fuse, member of the Kerberos special Unit, who starts having doubts about his job when he is one of the few witnesses to the bomb-suicide of a young girl who was part of an anti-government protest.

Jin Rou is among those anime movies everyone recommends, and for good reason. Directed by Mamoru Oshii, this movie is the third part of a saga, but it can stand on its own without problems. We get to see both the horrors of war both on the side of the rebels and the police force, as well as how corruption and power struggles can affect a police force that, in the end, truly believes that they're doing the best for the people even if we as the audience can tell it's not true. If you haven't watched it, do it as soon as you can. If you have watched it, we can agree that it deserves the fifth place on our list.

Going back to more traditional police work, in B: The Beginning, part of the story follows the RIS, the Royal Investigative Agency of the Cremona’s Kingdom. The kingdom is usually peaceful, but in the latest months has been plagued by some gruesome murders that seem to be connected as all of them have a mark that looks like a stylized B. Because of this, the RIS has decided they’re the work of a single killer, codenamed Killer B. And as if that wasn’t enough, soon, the investigation raises new clues about terrible crimes that happened years before and caused the retirement of one of their best detectives.

B: The Beginning is a very interesting police mystery series, as it seems to give up the truth about the killer in the first episode, just to introduce a huge conspiracy behind him and another mystery killer in the second episode. It mirrors a bit how real investigations work, as real police detectives usually have many cases active at the same time. For its good mystery and realistic police force that sometimes is way over their heads in their investigations, B: The Beginning earns the fourth place on our list.

Not every police show has to deal with the most heinous crimes. After all, in real life, we have both homicide detectives and traffic cops whose only worry should be that no one skips a red light.Kankichi Ryotsu is one of the latter, working at a police station in front of Kameari Park where there's not a lot of actual crime to fight. That is, except for the constant attempts by Kankichi to get rich with the latest fad that sometimes skirts the law. He is in many respects the Japanese answer to the stereotype of the American cop who is only interested in eating donuts, only that in Kankichi's case, besides his love for Ponzi schemes that leave him worse than how he started, he prefers playing pachinko or betting in horse races rather than just eating.

Kochira Katsuhihaku Kameari Kouenmae Hatshutsujo, or Kochikame, for short, was based on the longest-running Shonen Jump manga which boasted more than 1600 chapters before it ended. It’s also one of Japan’s most beloved manga, as many generations read it during its run. Unlike other entries on the list, Kochikame is a very light comedy that deals more with the daily life of cops rather than getting into the "exciting" parts of crime fighting that, let's be honest, don't happen to every single cop in the world. And for anyone looking for a fun afternoon and getting to know a bit of Japan's daily life, Kochikame is a perfect choice and earns the third place on our list.

The best way to fight crime is to make sure that there are no criminals in your society. At least that’s what the Sibyl System boasts in Japan. On paper, it is perfect: every person is analyzed and if their “Psycho-pass” -a number that includes their mental health, emotional state, criminal desire, and the stress they live with-, is too high, then they’re sent to mandatory therapy before they can commit an actual crime. This is, of course, unless the number is so high that rehabilitation is impossible and thus, the sentence is always death.

Of course, the idea of punishing crime before it happens is really controversial. But the Public Safety Bureau also deals with those who have managed to trick the system enough to actually commit crimes, people who for some reason have a very low Psycho-pass despite being criminals. One of these people is Shogo Makishima, who is dedicated to find a way to destroy the Sybil System. As the series progresses, we get to wonder if maybe he’s right, but at the same time, we get to know the PSB and get very attached to them. As this series presents a very intriguing police force and tries to explain how it works, it lands on the second place on our list.

Speaking about technology that makes police work difficult, imagine how hard it would be to follow a suspect in a world where full-body transplants into empty robot bodies are possible? How difficult would it be to catch a criminal in a world where you can't really identify someone by describing their face and talented and dangerous hackers can easily steal identities? This is the world where Major Motoko Kusanagi lives. She's part of Section 9, a special task force who deals precisely with the kind of criminals who try to use cyberspace as their personal playground and have no qualms about hacking real people to get what they want.

It's hard to say something about Ghost in the Shell that hasn't been said before. The series is based on the great Masamune Shirow's manga with the same title and has been adapted many times with different degrees of success. And one of the reasons why it's so beloved is because, despite the fantastic setting, one can't help but feel the characters as real cops and follow their investigations picturing that, yes, if we could download our personalities into robots, this would be how the police would work in the situation. Because of this, and the amazing direction of Kenji Kamiyama, Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex, is still the best police force-focused anime we can recommend.