Anime like Attack on Titan, Demon Slayer, Jujutsu Kaisen, and Hunter x Hunter — your next great watch after the mainstream shounen hits. Bigger, deeper, bloodier action the gateway crowd usually hasn't reached yet.
1The natural step up from AoT's grimness: brutal, mature historical action with one of the genre's best character arcs.
2If JJK's modern dark-fantasy violence hit, this is the rawer, more unhinged next obsession.
3A fresh genre swerve for canon graduates: shounen energy redirected into a wildly addictive science-survival hook.
4Big, kinetic, supernatural-firefighter action that scratches the Demon Slayer spectacle itch with its own lore.
5Shounen intensity weaponized into a ruthless soccer battle royale, the next hype watch once the fighting canon is done.
6A dark, gorgeous samurai revenge tale for AoT fans who want body-horror stakes and a bleak feudal setting.
7A newer crowd-pleaser built for exactly this audience: monster-hunting action in the AoT and JJK lineage.
8Gory, supernatural death-game action that delivers the brutal escalation JJK and Demon Slayer fans crave.
9The body-horror gateway-graduate staple, with the identity-and-monstrosity themes that make AoT fans care.
10Tense, gross, and philosophical, it's the perfect 'what's next' for people who loved AoT's horror undercurrent.
11A darker, smarter sci-fi thriller for Death Note fans ready to graduate to seinen-grade moral dread.
12The seinen masterpiece for canon graduates who want a Death Note-style cat-and-mouse on an epic, adult scale.
13Deceptively cute then devastatingly dark, it rewards viewers who think they've seen anime go as far as it goes.
14Gore, dark humor, and a cast you'll actually root for, all wrapped in a grimy underground aesthetic