Anime is hotter than ever, and mystery series are helping drive the surge. According to Comics Beat, one in three viewers in the U.S. watches anime weekly, and roughly 31% of global consumers do the same. Within that wave, mystery anime hit a special nerve. These shows blend sci-fi, horror, and psychological drama into tight, clue-filled storylines where every frame matters. We rounded up five mystery anime that will absolutely blow your mind.
“Erased”
In “Erased,” manga artist Satoru Fujinuma uses a strange ability he calls “Revival.” Time rewinds a few minutes whenever something bad is about to happen. His life shifts when he finds his mother murdered and suddenly is thrown 18 years into the past, back to his elementary school days. To save his mom in the future, he must stop a string of child kidnappings in the past. You can stream “Erased” on Hulu and Crunchyroll in the U.S. Netflix also has a separate 2017 live-action drama adaptation.
“Oddtaxi”
At first glance, “Oddtaxi” looks cute. Odokawa, a grumpy walrus cab driver, ferries animal-people around Tokyo. But his passengers — a broke comedian, a nurse with secrets, a gangster, and an idol fangirl — all connect to a missing-girl case that slowly closes in on him. Director Baku Kinoshita told Comic Book that he originally wanted to make “a drama story with animals,” but he and writer Kazuya Konomoto kept shaping it into the tense taxi mystery fans know and love today. “Odd Taxi” is currently streaming on Crunchyroll.
“The Promised Neverland”
Emma, Norman, and Ray live in what appears to be the sweetest orphanage ever. They eat well, enjoy a loving “Mom,” and excel on their daily tests. Their world shatters when they follow a younger child to the gate one night and discover the truth: the orphanage is actually a farm, and the kids are being raised as food for demons. Season 1 plays like a slow burn heist movie. The kids gather intel, hide their emotions around Mom, and build an escape plan while under constant surveillance. U.S. viewers can watch “The Promised Neverland” on Hulu and Crunchyroll.
“Moriarty the Patriot”
Set in 19th-century Britain, “Moriarty the Patriot” reimagines Professor Moriarty as both Sherlock Holmes’s rival and a “crime consultant” leading a rebellion against a corrupt aristocracy. The mystery rarely hinges on who committed the crime. You usually watch the setup unfold. The tension comes from how Moriarty and his brothers manipulate each situation so the upper class can’t escape justice. When Sherlock enters the story, the show becomes a sharp cat-and-mouse chase between two brilliant minds who may actually respect each other. Crunchyroll is the main streaming home for the series in the U.S. and many other regions.
“Serial Experiments Lain”
Lain Iwakura is a quiet middle schooler who barely uses her computer — until a classmate dies by suicide and sends everyone an email saying she’s not really dead, just living in “the Wired,” a network that feels a lot like the internet. Lain logs on and slowly loses the boundary between her physical self and her online existence. In the U.S., current streaming guides list “Serial Experiments Lain” as purchase only on Apple TV.
