2023-10-23 09:23:03
10 Best Anime Every Fan of Metal Music Needs to Watch
Deciding whether an anime is fitting for Heavy Metal music fans or not is a tricky proposition, but this selection ought to give a good sense of what it entails. A "metal" anime needs more than just a soundtrack full of screaming and guitars, though it does help. Rather, the following selection of shows has an edge to them that pushes audiences out of their comfort zone.
1. Berserk
This seminal dark fantasy is a classic for a reason, with gorgeous art bringing panel after panel of stylized armor, towering castles, dark forests, deep seas, and a variety of monsters that turn Guts's journey of revenge into a Symphonic Power Metal album come to life. Once the visual draws readers in, the epic quest that has spanned years both in and out of the story will keep them there to follow the Black Swordsman in his various battles that only lack an electric guitar accompaniment to emphasize the sheer bloodiness of the chaotic supernatural sword fights he gets into.
2. Demon City Shinjuku
Yoshiaki Kawajiri directed some of the moodiest anime films of the 80s. While his other works tend towards cyberpunk noir, gothic horror, or feudal fantasy, Shinjuku is gritty in a way metalheads would enjoy. The demon-infested quarantine zone is filled with cracked concrete, fog, and muddy lighting, while the monsters are suitably grotesque. There is a rawness to the urban decay that is without glamor or elaboration that makes Kyouya's battle against evil delightfully visceral. While Kawajiri's other works are certainly also violent and relentless, their stylizations and genres add flavor in a way Demon City Shinjuku does not require.
3. FLCL
Despite its happy-go-lucky atmosphere, FLCL is all about rebellion against everything. Insane visuals, shifting mediums, and none-too-subtle sexual innuendos litter this coming-of-age story designed to bewilder and defy common sense. Through it all, Rock'n'Roll provides a consistent lifeline to hang onto through the chaos, be it through electric guitars serving as weapons, or the band The Pillows providing the soundtrack for the original six-episode show the sequel FLCL Grunge, and growling battle music just for any doubters of Alt-Rock. Naota's journey out of childhood remains one of the most beloved anime today, all thanks to its guitars and basses.
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As its title implies, Chainsaw Man is a superhero story skewed in all the ways black comedy can muster, as an orphan gains demonic powers and chooses to fight invaders from Hell to gain food, women, and attention. The world is both bleak yet incredibly imaginative in terms of monster design, and MAPPA's animated adaptation does it justice with its decision to draw everything with realism in mind, which only emphasizes the insanity on display as Denji battles creatures fit for album covers. Meanwhile, the anime's ending songs are provided by bands like Vaundy, Maximum the Hormone, and People 1.
5. Death Note
This story's animated adaptation was likely many a fan's first introduction to Maximum the Hormone, who provided the music for the anime's opening credits. Past that is a world of death and murder, with memorably macabre designs for the setting's shinigami, and stellar visuals that make the hunt for a magic-wielding serial killer a joy to behold in its excess. Every scene is played to maximum drama, and every action is undertaken with the most flourish. Even the ostensibly foreign characters bear names so absurd they seem better fit as stage titles. Like metal, Death Note is hard to ignore.
6. Black Lagoon
If Mötley Crüe's Welcome to the Jungle had a physical incarnation, it would be the fictional Thai city of Roanapur Black Lagoon revolves around, when hapless salaryman Rokuro Okajima finds himself stranded there before deciding to take up modern-day piracy. Every adventure is filled with high-flying adventure and bloody combat against a series of increasingly ridiculous foes who nonetheless never fail to make jaws drop from the action. Whether a Yakuza slices a bullet in half, or an ex-guerilla maid clings to the back of a speeding car, viewers can only come away realizing how metal each new episode is.
7. Chainsaw Man
As its title implies, Chainsaw Man is a superhero story skewed in all the ways black comedy can muster, as an orphan gains demonic powers and chooses to fight invaders from Hell to gain food, women, and attention. The world is both bleak yet incredibly imaginative in terms of monster design, and MAPPA's animated adaptation does it justice with its decision to draw everything with realism in mind, which only emphasizes the insanity on display as Denji battles creatures fit for album covers. Meanwhile, the anime's ending songs are provided by bands like Vaundy, Maximum the Hormone, and People 1.
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Loud, proud, and in your face, these shows embody the nature of Heavy Metal music, either visually or aurally. Like Metal, it might scare away audiences, but they just as easily draw in those seeking them out specifically. Either way, they are all perfect compliments to the genre, mixing fantastic guitar work or insane visuals to shock and delight those seeking the same rush heavy metal albums provide. For Heavy Metal fans who worry that the anime of today doesn't have what they need, these shows prove that the medium still has what it takes to create stories with some bite.
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