9 Anime To Watch After You Finish Watching Attack On Titan: The Final Season

Attack on Titan: The Final Season is coming to a close, and with its departure comes a titanic-sized hole in the average anime fan’s watchlist. On the surface, filling that hole might come off as a rather daunting task, but it’s far easier than one might think. Attack on Titan might be in a masterclass of quality, but there is plenty of other anime of similar excellence out there to be watched.

Here are a few shows you can try out for yourself that will either scratch the same itch as Attack on Titan or give you a new experience, altogether.

1. Code Geass

One of the modern-day, if not the modern-day classic mecha anime, Code Geass is one of those shows that a person would be remiss to not at least try once in their life, and with a slew of anime ending their seasons soon, now’s as good a time as any for any newcomers to give it a shot. Code Geass has its own variety of dark action and political thrills that would surely complement what Attack on Titan does, and being a mecha anime also makes it palpable thanks to how Titans are basically fleshy mechs, themselves. A show like this could easily serve as a replacement for Attack on Titan.

2. Neon Genesis Evangelion

Being another dark mecha anime, Neon Genesis Evangelion essentially provides someone with the same benefits as Code Geass, but it goes even further in some areas. It’s a far darker show not just in terms of action, but in terms of drama, for Evangelion, being a highly deconstructive work of fiction, spends a lot of its time delving deep into the psyches of its cast to show the audience how and why these characters got to be as dysfunctional as they are—the answers usually aren’t very good for the people involved. If you’re looking for something with darker themes and more psychological analysis than the average anime, then this could be the show for you.

3. Muv-Luv Alternative: Total Eclipse

The third time’s the charm; it’s another dark mecha anime with themes and plot points that overlap with Attack on Titan. There’s a reason why this one is on the list, though, and it’s because it—or, rather, the Muv-Luv franchise—was a major inspiration for writer Hajime Isayama when he was creating Attack on Titan.

You can see this through how they both involve humanity at war with giant, man-eating monsters and revolve around children being indoctrinated into a militaristic society to fight said monsters, among other similarities in plot and themes. Considering the popularity of the franchise, it’s no wonder that Isayama and other writers would be inspired by it, so if you’re interested in seeing one of the stories that helped to foster Attack on Titan’s existence, you should give it a watch.

4. Azumanga Daioh

As enjoyable as dark mecha anime—and dark stories, in general—can be, it’s hard to not see it as something a person would get tired of from overindulgence, and when that starts to happen, the best palette cleanser is something completely on the opposite end of the spectrum. Nothing is more opposite to Attack on Titan than Azumanga Daioh, a charming slice of life series centered around the daily antics of high school girls that exists just to make the viewer feel good about life, in general. This show had a large part in defining the “cute girls doing cute things” genre of anime, so if that’s something you could see yourself being into, then this is the show for you.

5. Wonder Egg Priority

Granted, Wonder Egg Priority’s inclusion on this list is a bit odd, considering that it’s ending at roughly the same time as Attack on Titan: The Final Season, but it still deserves a spot here. The show is a surrealist take on the magical girl genre that handles themes of depression and gender in a way that most works of fiction don’t even attempt to. Add in a great soundtrack and some absolutely gorgeous art and animation, and you have a show that should be added to your watchlist, regardless of the circumstances.

6. Jujutsu Kaisen

Just like Wonder Egg Priority, this is an anime that’s ending around the same time as Attack on Titan: The Final Season, but it’s also one you should make the time for if you haven’t already done so. Jujutsu Kaisen features a fighting system you don’t see used in most other shonen anime, and the stellar animation featured in every episode truly helps sell the strengths of both that and the characters, themselves. The show is even produced by the same people behind Attack on Titan: The Final Season, so that, alone, should tell you that you would be in for a good time.

7. Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba

Attack on Titan: The Final Season is the anime that’s taking everyone by storm in 2021, but in 2019, that honor belonged to Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba. Helmed by one of the best anime studios around, the show became an instant success through its entertaining cast and extremely high-quality visuals and action scenes, even making its source material become one of the best-selling manga of all time practically overnight. The statistics behind it are good, and the actual quality more than justifies it, so anyone who goes into it is more than likely to have a good time.

8. Death Note

Another modern-day classic, Death Note is one of today’s go-to examples for anime with dark and serious content, and its use of psychological thrills and gray morality has allowed it to stand out amongst other shows for years. Like Attack on Titan, the popularity of Death Note has led to it becoming something of a gateway series for anime, so the two of them having that sort of common ground could make it worth your time. Add in how the two shows share a director, and you know that you’re in for something good.

9. Attack on Junior High

The final suggestion on the list is, of all things, a parody of Attack on Titan, itself, but that’s not a bad thing. Again, sometimes the best palette cleanser for something dark is something on the opposite end of the spectrum, and what better way to go about that in regards to Attack on Titan than with a lighthearted depiction of the original story?

The way the show parodies everything about the source material makes it a treat for any fan, and since the jokes are largely based around the first season of Attack on Titan, it can be fun for veteran fans to look at the jokes in reference to future plot points of the series. That, alone, could be enough to make it worth watching, and the fact that it’s genuinely funny isn’t too bad, either.

So while Attack on Titan: The Final Season might be coming to a close, that doesn’t mean there isn’t anything that could serve to fill the void. Whether it’s something similar in plots or themes or something completely dissimilar to it, there’s a bevy of anime for a person to choose from, so there’s no reason to think that you’d ever be hung out to dry.