[Top 15] Best Detective Anime of All Time

Updated:

29 Jan 2021

Love a good mystery with a bit of suspense and terror thrown into the mix? I dare you to watch these late at night. You think Law and Order and Criminal Minds can be messed up?

15. City Hunter

Ryo is what they call a “sweeper”. He cleans the streets of criminal scum and solves people’s problems. When he’s not pursuing the next mystery, it’s women pursuinghim.

Mission Impossible of the otaku variety!

14. Bungou Stray Dogs

Orphan Atsushi thought he was hallucinating when a mystical tiger continuously haunts near wherever he goes. He’s not hallucinating, and he’s definitely no ordinary boy. And he joins the world of supernatural investigators.

Nooses are the new in-fashion!

13. Hyouka

Houtarou thought the high school’s Classics Club was boring. But apparently there’s a 45-year-old mystery surrounding it. He thought it was just a dumb story, but what the mystery is leads to even more cases.

The best way to get girls? Look like you give a damn about books.

12. Darwin’s Game

Darwin’s Game is just a silly app like Pokemon Go, right? Nope. As Kaname realizes, it really is survival of the fittest (and no cheats).

Don't ever say apps aren't real games.

11. Mirai Nikki

He really thought Deus Ex Machina and Murmur were just imaginary beings friendless Yukiteru thought up. But they are real, and so is the “game” he has to play. Not only take down 11 players, but he’s forced to work with his cute stalker.

Every action guy needs a gun. And every action guy needs a woman with a gun.

10. Another

Kouichi transferred to class 3-3, and thought nothing of it. So what if there was a mystery revolving around some suicidal girl from years ago? Of course, when he meets a certain eyepatch-wearing classmate, he finds himself becoming a detective.

Screw school, we’re going dancing!

9. Erased

Time was always on Satoru’s side. Literally, he can move back minutes and has used it to his advantage since. However, he finds himself moving back 18 years and uses his knowledge to uncover a dark past.

If I could turn back time. If I could find a way.

8. In/Spectre

She wasn’t just some girl with a huge crush on him as Kurou realized. She was a mediator between their world and the yokai. And their so-called “relationship” takes a different turn while solving the mystery of a big-chested starlet’s death.

Back off, ladies, he’s taken.

7. Durarara!!

Dreaming of the city life is what motivates Mikado to move to Tokyo. He wants to experience the extreme pleasures and excitement it has to offer. Wish granted when he meets the “Black Rider”, a mysterious person on a motorcycle, rumored to be as some say ‘headless’.

Two guesses for what’s in that pocket: 1) A weapon, or 2) Tic tacs

6. Black Butler

Ciel sold his soul to the demon Sebastian, in exchange to find and take vengeance of those who wronged him. For the time being, Sebastian serves something of a butler to the young man. And soon it’s not about wanting his soul, but possibly more if you’re into that kind of anime.

Tall, handsome, and possibly psycho. Our kind of anime men!

5. Lupin the III

Bearing the gift of thieving by his late grandfather, Lupin is a lovable scoundrel wanted worldwide. With his team of a gunman, a samurai, and a gorgeous beauty, he either steals from people or helps them. Not to mention enjoys the game of cat-and-mouse with a certain investigator tailing his ass.

Before the light turns red!

4. Ace Attorney

Since childhood, Ryuuichi dreamed of becoming a defense attorney and helping people. Now a grown man about to take on his first case, he realizes that the courtroom is just as overwhelming as they show on TV. Strategy, intuition, and thinking outside the box become the greatest means.

Ace Ventura is quaking.

3. Death Note

A high school student named Light discovers a book called the Death Note, which kills whoever’s name he writes down. With how much he despises the criminal world, uses this to his advantage and play God. When the police see a wave of deaths and no trace of the killer, they hire a guy who calls himself L to solve it.

Middle school phase all over again...

2. Tokyo Ghoul

Monsters walk among us, looking every bit as human before they unleash carnage. For one man, he finds himself half-human/half-monster. And with that misfortune/fortune, he strives to find the solution to bring both sides together in compromise.

Man or monster. What is even the difference anymore?

1. Case Closed

High school student Jimmy was a brilliant detective, adored by his fellow classmates and the FBI. However, one wrong encounter results in him somehow turning into a little kid. Under the name of Conan, he must find the people responsible while living with his childhood crush.