These titles will transport you straight to the future.
Cyberpunk and Japan have always been closely linked. The genre's aesthetics were largely inspired by Asia's neon signs and megacorporations.
Anime has many cyberpunk plots to suit every taste, from classic stories about betrayal and corporate ethics to wild creations in which technology fades into the background.
1. No Guns Life, 2019-2020
During another war, people began upgrading their bodies, turning themselves into deadly weapons. In the case of Juzo Inui, this was quite literal; he has a giant gun instead of a head.
Although the bloodshed ended, the fashion for cyber modifications did not, and their owners tried to adapt to peaceful life. Inui became a "resolver," using his pistol to solve the problems of a metropolis filled with cyber-modernized people.
This tough loner will face off against fighters with new deadly devices, corporate conspiracies, and a young man named Tetsuro who can control people like Inui remotely.
2. Yurei Deco, 2022
In the not-so-distant future, humanity lives in a smart metropolis on an island. The defining feature of this new era is a device called a "deco," which allows you to experience a world full of virtual wealth.
You can change the appearance and "themes" of the city by earning "love," through taking successful selfies or doing boring regular work. Digital harmony is disturbed only by the mysterious Phantom Zero, who appears out of nowhere to steal citizens' accumulated "love."
Berry's malfunctioning deco leads her to track down the mysterious entity. First, she meets Hack, who prefers to live outside of algorithms. Then, she introduces Berry to a whole team of detectives struggling to catch Zero.
3. Battle Angel, 1993
The megalopolis of Zalem hovers high in the sky, literally raining waste on the residents of the post-apocalyptic city of Scrap Iron below.
One day, local cyberdoctor Ido finds a gynoid wreckage in a landfill. He fixes it and names it Gally. Gally does not remember anything about her past life, but she quickly adapts to a world where everyone has mechanical prostheses. Meanwhile, a real hunt is underway for human spines and brains.
However, nothing scares Gally, and one of the skirmishes reveals that she is a perfect killing machine.
4. The Animatrix, 2003
AI gained freedom and started a war with humanity. The Earth became a territory of eternal twilight where most people serve as batteries for the latest cyber devices and rebels hide in fortified underground cities.
On this timeline, there are stories about the duel of pragmatism and faith, the willingness to surrender, and the desire for freedom. There are noir detective stories about the pursuit of Trinity and a school hacker, as well as a story about a house where a glitch in the matrix led to a distortion of gravity.
The creators of The Matrix decided to build on the success of the franchise while paying tribute to the industry that inspired them. They made the anthology Animatrix, in which each episode tells its own story.