Best Anime Like Demon Slayer

Demon Slayer‘s manga finished in 2020, but the anime still has a ways to go. The movie, Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba the Movie: Mugen Train, really upped the franchise’s popularity, and season 2 was an improvement over its predecessor.

What are Demon Slayer fans supposed to watch while they wait for new episodes of season 3 to air? Thankfully, there are numerous anime out there with premises similar to Kimetsu no Yaiba. There are also some shows that don’t quite fit the exact theme of slaying demons but have qualities that fans are likely to enjoy. What are some of the best anime like Demon Slayer?

Updated June 3, 2023 by Mark Sammut: Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba Swordsmith Village Arc is slowly approaching its end, meaning fans will need to find something else to fill the time while they wait for the next storyline. Thankfully, there are plenty of great anime like Demon Slayer they can check out.

21 Hell’s Paradise

Spring 2023 has quite a few exciting anime, and while most of the shows are not all that similar to Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba Swordsmith Village Arc, Hell’s Paradise is the one exception. Based on a Shonen Jump+ manga, the anime follows a group of convicts who are sent to a mysterious island in order to find an elixir of life, creating a battle royale sort of scenario. If someone finds this item, they are granted their freedom. As these characters are primarily murderers, they are accompanied by executioners who are meant to take off their heads if they step out of line.

RELATED: Best Anime Of Spring 2023, Ranked

Gabimaru the Hollow is one such criminal, and he might be the scariest of the bunch. However, he has a reason to survive and change: his wife. Hell’s Paradise follows Gabimaru and his executioner as they explore a surreal island defined by horrific monstrosities, death, and flowers. Similar to Demon Slayer, Hell’s Paradise is very action-heavy and is not afraid to throw out buckets of gore; in fact, the latter can get more violent and unsettling than the former.

20 Is It Wrong To Try To Pick Up Girls In A Dungeon?

Based on a popular light novel by Fujino Omori, DanMachi is a fantasy anime set in a city filled with adventurers who spend their time exploring a massive dungeon. Each person pledges allegiance to a Familia run by a deity, and the protagonist – Bell Cranel – is Hestia’s only follower. While initially weak, Bell works hard to make his goddess proud and to live up to a decorated adventurer who once saved his life.

Premise-wise, DanMachi and Demon Slayer are not particularly similar, but fans of the latter should at least try the former. The shows revolve around protagonists who undergo constant growth, and while they eventually become quite capable in battle, they are never overpowered. Both anime have expansive supporting casts that are allowed to flourish as their own people away from the protagonist, and each arc tends to push new characters (or, to be exact, girls) to the forefront.

19 Rage Of Bahamut

Loosely based on a card game, Rage of Bahamut produced two fairly different seasons. Genesis is a typical action-adventure anime that follows a group of “heroes” as they travel across a fantastical nation and take on largely self-contained stories while pursuing a larger goal. Meanwhile, Virgin Soul focuses on a single city, pushes a new character, Nina, as its protagonist, and focuses more on the social element that defines its universe. Season one is generally regarded as superior, but both entries are enjoyable in their own right.

Exceptions aside, Demon Slayer depicts demons as almost universally bad, even if some of them receive sympathetic backstories. Conversely, Rage of Bahamut envisions a world where humans, demons, and gods co-exist, and all of them have their good and evil parties. In fact, season two paints humanity as the aggressor against the demon race.

18 Drifters

Drifters can be difficult to recommend since a sequel seems unlikely to ever come to fruition, which is a shame as season one is among the most enjoyable action anime of the 2010s. Similar to Fate, the isekai series brings together famous historical figures and makes them fight to the death; however, Drifters takes place in a fantasy world and essentially divides its characters into two groups.

RELATED: Every New Isekai Anime Announced For 2023 (So Far)

Unapologetically gory and over-the-top, the anime does not hold back during its many fights, which compare favorably with most other series. Silly as its core premise might sound, Drifters offers an interesting take on the isekai theme, and the anime has a lot of fun presenting outlandish versions of figures like Joan of Arc and Oda Nobunaga.

17 Claymore

Based on Norihiro Yagi’s shonen manga, Claymore takes place in a world where humans live in constant fear of Yomas, which are essentially shape-shifting demons. As these creatures can easily overpower a regular person, towns and villages hire powerful knights called Claymores to take down these threats. Half-human, half-Yoma, these women are generally stripped of emotion, with their identity being largely defined by their loyalty to their organization.

Clare is one such Claymore, and while on a mission, she saves an orphaned boy named Raki. The latter ends up joining the former on her travels, creating a bond that inspires Clare to grow and change. Featuring good production value courtesy of Madhouse and a story that starts slow but blooms into something fairly complex and engaging, Claymore is a minor classic.

16 Bleach

One of battle shonen’s big three manga, Bleach enjoyed a decent anime run between 2004 and 2012 before making a successful comeback in the Fall 2022 season. Currently adapting the Thousand-Year Blood War arc, the show will be returning for a few more cours in the near future.

RELATED: Best Games For Bleach Fans (That Are Not Part Of The Franchise)

In this universe, spirits can roam the land as Hollows, which are put to rest by a secret otherworldly organization known as the Soul Society. One night, a normal student named Ichigo meets Rukia, a Soul Reaper, and soon finds himself face to face with a Hollow. Bleach gets complicated quite quickly, and the anime nearly always nails its battle sequences.

15 Blue Exorcist

Blue Exorcist takes place in the modern-day wherein there is a secret academy that trains teenagers how to exercise demons. Rin is the son of the devil and is treated like a second-class citizen, even though he wants to slay demons as much as anyone else.

Will he succumb to the power of the devil or will he become the hero he wants everyone to see him as? Blue Exorcist is like Harry Potter meets Demon Slayer as far as the themes go.

14 D.Gray-man

D.Gray-man is set in a steampunk era of the world wherein an evil demon, known as the Millennium Earl, is turning people into monsters. As a result, an exorcist society rose from the ashes in order to stop this madman from taking over the world.

RELATED: Demon Slayer: Every Member Of The Hashira, Ranked In Terms Of Strength

The manga is still ongoing but the anime has stopped for now. There was an original adaptation that lasted from 2006 to 2008 followed by a shorter-lived sequel series in 2016.

Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood is a reboot of the first anime adaptation that went off the rails into its own storyline. This adaptation is more faithful to the manga and is complete. Both series have their fans, but this is the one to check out.

It’s set in a steampunk version of the world wherein alchemy is real and a corrupt government is trying to slowly take over the world through it. The anime centers around Ed and Al, brothers who pushed their experiments with alchemy too far, lost parts of their bodies, and are now trying to make things right.

12 Golden Kamuy

Golden Kamuy is set around the early 1900s involving the aftermath of the Russo-Japanese War. The war is all but over now and Saichi is trying to forget his past all while trying to uncover a treasure trove of gold.

The maps he needs are tattooed on the backs of men so let’s just say he does what he needs to in order to get what he needs. It’s a pretty down-to-earth anime at times with food and survival tips being thrown out almost like a travel show. It is exciting though and not completely devoid of action.

11 The Fate Series

In all honesty, the Fate series does not have all that much in common with Demon Slayer, outside the fact that they are both action anime made by ufotable. Narratively, Fate/Zero and Fate/stay night revolve around the Holy Grail War, a battle royale where mages summon heroes from history to fight until only one is left standing. The shows are brutal, complex, and ambiguous in the presentation of most of their characters.

RELATED: Fate: The Order You Should Watch All The Anime Shows And Movies

Despite not sharing much common ground when it comes to story or plot, Demon Slayer and Fate are ideal companion pieces as they both showcase ufotable’s near-unparalleled talent for animating visceral and smooth action sequences.

10 Fog Hill Of Five Elements

A 3-episode donghua ONA series, Fog Hill of Five Elements leaves an incredible impression despite its short length. The story revolves around five martial artists who bridge the gap between the demon and human worlds, a task they accomplish by utilizing powers gained by defeating monsters that come through gates found on the eponymous mountain. Pulling from Chinese mythology and martial arts, the show tells a fairly decent opening arc, which does a respectable job of setting up the main characters and this universe’s lore.

While the plot is pretty good, Fog Hill of Five Elements‘ crowning achievements are undoubtedly its animation and fight sequences. Nothing short of phenomenal in both areas, the web series is one of the few projects capable of matching Demon Slayer at its best.

9 Inuyasha

Inuyasha might have served as some sort of inspiration for Demon Slayer, as they are both about slaying demons. It’s set in both the present and the past, with the past segments taking place in the golden age of Japan.

RELATED: Demon Slayer: Hilarious Tanjiro Memes That Will Have You Cry Laughing

It’s an isekai wherein a young girl, Kagome, falls into a well that transports her back to the past. Japan is overrun with demons and only Kagome and her half-demon love interest, Inuyasha, can save the day.

8 Dororo

Due to his awful father, Hyakkimaru was born missing most of his body parts, each of which was handed over to a demon. The boy survives until adolescence and starts a blood-soaked quest to regain what was stolen from him, a journey that involves eliminating each of these demons.

An adaptation of Osamu Tezuka’s classic shonen manga, Dororo is a timeless tale that should satisfy Demon Slayer fans yearning for more ronin-esque action anime. Dororo‘s heart is the relationship between Hyakkimaru and the anime’s eponymous child, an endearing orphan who forms an unbreakable bond with the capable swordsman.

7 Kabaneri Of The Iron Fortress

Kabaneri of the Iron Fortress is primarily known for its parallels to Attack on Titan‘s opening season, although their similarities are superficial. The show might be a better fit for people searching for anime like Demon Slayer since they both take place in relatively similar time periods and prioritize action.

The eponymous “iron fortress” is a train and serves as Kabaneri‘s main setting, giving the series a unique connection to Demon Slayer‘s Mugen Train arc and movie. Rather than demons, Kabaneri of the Iron Fortress‘ humans exist in a world overrun with zombies, and these undead creatures are not of the slow-as-molasses variety.

6 Ruroni Kenshin

Ruroni Kenshin, or Samurai X, has magical powers in a way, but it is more of a straightforward samurai anime. For example, one character can breathe fire because of oil tanks in their stomach.

RELATED: Forgotten Anime About Samurai (That Are Awesome)

The anime tries to be grounded in combat in this way, even though many things about it really wouldn’t make sense. The core narrative follows the titular hero who is trying to make up for the thousands of men he killed. Along the way, he keeps getting dragged back into conflict.

5 Hunter X Hunter (2011)

Madhouse’s Hunter x Hunter is rightfully hailed as a battle shonen masterpiece. The show starts as a relatively typical entry in the genre as it follows Gon, a kid who aspires to become a hunter similar to his father. While taking this profession’s test, he meets a few lifelong friends along with a villainous figure who he will struggle to escape. However, in due time, Hunter x Hunter begins to shake up its formula, presenting arcs that go against the battle shonen grain.

Moving past its unique style of storytelling, the 2011 anime features fantastic action courtesy of well-defined characters, a brilliant power system, and Madhouse’s reliable animation. Hunter x Hunter might not be extremely similar to Demon Slayer, but both shows are among battle shonen’s crowning achievements.

4 Jujutsu Kaisen

Demon Slayer and Jujutsu Kaisen exploded in popularity roughly around the same time, causing the two action anime to be linked to each other. Moving past their very different settings, Demon Slayer and Jujutsu Kaisen both revolve around humans taking on supernatural threats, with the latter consisting of Curses stemming from innate energy that most people cannot control.

RELATED: Jujutsu Kaisen: Every Main Character’s Age, Height, And Birthday

Demon Slayer and Jujutsu Kaisen are two of the best shonen action anime of the last five years. Jujutsu Kaisen‘s animation can rival Demon Slayer at its best, and the same can be said for its fight scenes.

3 Samurai Champloo

Samurai Champloo was made by the same team who made Cowboy Bebop. That’s the more classic anime of the two but Samurai Champloo is still a great anime. It mashed up samurai with modern hip-hop for one unique anime experience.

Samurai Champloo is a one-season series that follows a young girl named Fuu and her two bodyguards as they look for a samurai who smells of sunflowers. This anime has great animation and action, and it is hilarious to boot.

If someone is not sure where to start with these recommendations, they should look no further than Ninja Scroll. This ’90s anime movie chronicles Kibagami Jubei’s violent battles against eight ninjas with monstrous and powerful abilities. Ninja Scroll is not for young viewers, but Demon Slayer fans searching for something a bit more mature are likely to have a blast with this classic film. Ninja Scroll‘s action holds up incredibly well.

The movie received a sequel anime series in the early 2000s which is fine but nothing more than that. However, it is worth watching for those desperate to spend more time in this universe.