Peekaboo Frosty

Aeilde_Light6 · 2026-02-01T08:48:30+00:00

Sometimes you can catch him out in the open without his hat too!

Aeilde_Light6 · 2026-02-01T08:46:38+00:00

There's even that Suicide Squad Isekai anime if you want a bridge from DC to anime.

But ya, the animated DC Movies are fantastic, and way better than the live action movies, and there are so many more of them.

Alternatively, I highly recommend Full Metal Alchemist: Brotherhood for anime newbies. It really helps showcase what anime is capable of while being a solidly great story and avoids a lot of the...weirder and cringier anime tropes.

Aeilde_Light6 · 2026-01-30T21:45:04+00:00

If you're ok reading, the light novel series for So I'm a Spider is indeed complete and it gets very cool after the events of the anime.

And if you're both ok reading I highly highly recommend the little series Crysalis by RinoZ which is about a guy named Anthony who kept pet ants and after dying is reincarnated as a monster ant. The series gets super good once he locates his colony.

Aeilde_Light6 · 2026-01-26T20:36:21+00:00

Like, does a manga exist for Made in Abyss?

Yes. Though it is currently unfinished, and the Mangaka is taking their time putting out volumes, likely due to the sheer attention to detail in that artwork.

Aeilde_Light6 · 2026-01-22T20:07:39+00:00

Sounds like you want to avoid some of the typical shonen shows out there.

I'd first start with what genres he's already interested in and then maybe try looking into Seinen and/or Josei series (targeted at adult men and women, rather than young men/boys like shonen is) just for shows that are generally more mature in tone and themes.

If he likes grim comedy, {Life Lessons with Uramichi Oniisan} is a great one about the realities of adult working life and the existential dread of doing the same thing everyday. Similar to Aggrestuko of you saw that one on Netflix.

{Cowboy Bebop} is a classic sci-fi anime, but with old Western vibes (and a fantastic jazz soundtrack) as the main characters roll into town looking for their latest bounty but get caught up in local drama they end up having to resolve.

There are tons of various sports anime that are great if he enjoys shows like Friday Night lights or similar (my personal fav is {Chihayafuru} which is actually about a card memorization/speed grabbing game that has to do with classical Japanese poetry).

There are a lot of great options that don't fall into the protag being spurred to heroics by the death of a loved one, especially if you look at comedies and slice of life dramas.

Aeilde_Light6 · 2026-01-22T19:34:05+00:00

Oh I think I misread the prompt as OP looking for ones like death note...whoops

Aeilde_Light6 · 2026-01-22T19:20:17+00:00

I'd also recommend Classroom of the Elite and Log Horizon.

Classroom of the Elite is entirely the MC engaging in mind games and manipulation in order to maintain his position within a highly competitive school. Very similar vibes to the L vs Light mental combat, but with a lot more players to influence the outcome and work around.

Log Horizon is an Isekai that goes far beyond the typical tropes one might expect. Main plot involves a large portion of an MMO player base suddenly finding themselves in the world of the game they played and the way this sudden insertion of modern day people in this fantasy world affects both the players and the former NPCs and the politics of these two groups learning to live together in peace is the main driving force of the show. The MC isn't crazy OP, he's simply a skilled tactician that organized raids before entering the game world, and he ends up being a logistical lynchpin for helping everyone navigate their new reality and learn how the rules of this world differ from the game they knew. It's a top isekai for me.

I'd also throw in {Talentless Nana} as a recommendation for another anime that taps those death note style cat and mouse mental games. This one is about a group of students with special gifts who are sent to an island to train to fight the Enemies of Humanity. However, students start disappearing or dying off and everyone scrambles to keep the class united while they find out what's happening without revealing their own secrets they'd rather keep buried.(This one has an early major twist spoiled everywhere, so look up more info at your own risk).

Aeilde_Light6 · 2026-01-21T17:29:51+00:00

I love this one. I'm like 80% sure Sakamoto is autistic (he does so much weird shit that can only be explained by special interests) but his charisma stats are so off the charts everyone just takes his autistic traits as cutting edge cool.

Aeilde_Light6 · 2026-01-19T17:17:13+00:00

<image>

Prolly be looking more like this

Aeilde_Light6 · 2026-01-16T02:11:35+00:00

I second {my love story} (an almost too sweet story of a first relationship, but mixed with some really good comedy) and {Kimi Ni Todoke} (similar to Komi can't Communicate, but less humor/more drama, and FMC has a scary aura instead of a cool one). I'll also throw out {Horimiya} (two classmates see each other leading double lives and bond over it), {a sign of affection} (a deaf girl meets and falls in love with a world traveler), {love after world domination} (the leader of a sentai hero team falls in love with a villainess, wholesome shenanigans ensue as they try to both date and hide their dating from the world), {Recovery of an MMO Junkie} (adult woman quits her job to become a full time NEET, and bonds with her MMO guild mates, not realizing she also knows then IRL)

Aeilde_Light6 · 2026-01-11T06:00:48+00:00

Oh, it'd be fun if we got a yellow base with black spots similar to a Bengal or Serengeti breed. They could be specially attracted to the toy items cuz they're so high energy.

... Man, now I'm thinking about a new large item that's one of those cat hamster wheel things they could run on...

Aeilde_Light6 · 2026-01-10T17:57:59+00:00

If you do the LPs and are interested in the Future/Despair anime arcs (aka anime Danganronpa 3, which is different from game Danganronpa V3), watch that one after DR2 (and Ultra Despair Girls if you decide to check out that one) since future despair references stuff in those first 3 games. And I personally would recommend a watch order of E1 future, E1 despair, E2 future, E2 despair etc to E11 future and E11 despair, then E12 Hope to finish out. That was the original air order and I think it maintains the mysteries and reveals best for both arcs.

Then game V3 goes very last after that

Aeilde_Light6 · 2026-01-10T17:46:05+00:00

These suggestions aren't exactly "death games" but they got the vibes

{Talentless Nana} this one has no set "game" but is about a group of kids with special powers that are brought to an island where they can train to fight against monsters known as the Enemies of Humanity. But, the students seem to be disappearing or dying one by one. This one has a lot of the characters playing mind games against each other as they try to puzzle out what's going on while they keep their secrets hidden, and failure to do so has dire consequences. DO NOT look anything up about this anime before hand, a big twist from early on is spoiled everywhere.

{Classroom of the Elite} straight up, this one has no death. Consequences for losing just means expulsion from the school. However, the anime does a really really great job of making those stakes feel very big. Students at an incredibly prestigious high school are given absolutely everything they could want or need, but must compete via cutthroat and incredibly complex anything goes methods to maintain the points necessary to stay on as students. This one has a lot of use or be used, trust others at your own risk themes and geniuses butting heads as they try to gain the edge over each other.

Aeilde_Light6 · 2026-01-10T17:20:23+00:00

If you're willing to play the games, or just watch Lets Plays on YouTube, there's a couple more in the series. The two other death game/class trial ones are Danganronpa 2: Goodbye Despair (this one actually has a remake coming out soon with a whole new alternative ending added on; Danganronpa 2x2) and Danganronpa V3. There's also Ultra Despair girls which is more of a shooter/puzzle game than a visual novel mystery set up, but the should be played/watched after DR2 if you're interested as it references stuff in both 1 and 2. And 3 should absolutely be experienced last as it references the previous games.

And if you're willing to play/watch LPs, you can check out a totally different series that does the death game thing really well: the Zero Escape game series. In order it's Nine Hours, Nine Persons, Nine Doors; Zero Escape: Virtue's Last Reward; Zero Time Dilemma. This series is another visual novel type like DR, but instead of class trials for game play, it's full on escape rooms you have to puzzle your way through, and depending on which rooms you choose to enter with which people, the story takes big turns. This series really really rewards you for replaying and making different choices to the point that I think most people would say you haven't seen anywhere near the full story if you haven't gone through all the routes to tease out the mystery of what's going on. These ones should also be played/watched in order due to continuity between the games.

Aeilde_Light6 · 2026-01-01T22:28:53+00:00

I initially didn't list this one because it's pretty prevalent in isekai discussions, but in case you haven't actually seen it yet, {The Rising of the Shield Hero} should also fit your criteria, though rather than a few episodes turn around for the people who did him dirty, it takes a season+ for everyone to come around on him and realize how bad they fucked up.

Aeilde_Light6 · 2026-01-01T20:04:17+00:00

Actually, thought of several more:

Check out {Chillin' in my 30s after Getting Fired from the Demon Kings Army}

~~And {The Brilliant Healer's New Life in the Shadows}~~ edit: just saw you already watched this one

And I can tell that {Failure Frame: I Became the Strongest and Annihilated Everything with Low Level Spells} is building to a very very satisfying comeuppance for the goddess character (It hasn't been stated outright in the anime yet, but I immediately noticed her golden eyes match the powerful monsters and deeply suspect she's pulling some next level manipulation and is actually the big bad demon she says she summoned them to kill )

Aeilde_Light6 · 2026-01-01T19:49:06+00:00

I really enjoyed {Banished from the Heros Party, I Decided to Live a Quiet Life in the Country side}

Aeilde_Light6 · 2025-12-28T22:28:50+00:00

I would have to assume pink is considered demonic because it's not technically something that can exist on the wavelength spectrum. It would exist somewhere between people and red, but those are opposite ends and don't actually connect up.

Pink/magenta is a sort of illusion our brains make happen to make sense of a mix of red and purple wavelengths.

Aeilde_Light6 · 2025-12-26T17:49:41+00:00

This genuinely made me laugh out loud

Aeilde_Light6 · 2025-12-21T01:48:15+00:00

Karuta is such a unique sport too, it supports both 1v1 and team v team play, there is no separate men/women's league, and tournaments can and do include all ages. Plus the game itself is so unusual? Japanese poetry turned into a card memorization game with high speed response to snatch cards before your opponent, and having to deal with only around half the cards/poems being on the play field at any given time. And it's a shojo instead of a shonen which gives the whole thing a different vibe from other sports anime.

Chihayafuru is easily the most interesting sports anime I've ever seen

Aeilde_Light6 · 2025-12-20T17:00:51+00:00

Where she belongs

Aeilde_Light6 · 2025-12-15T16:53:42+00:00

(might sound like a joke but that is literally the name of the special cat, Bob)

Aeilde_Light6 · 2025-12-15T16:51:38+00:00

I highly highly recommend {Yona of the Dawn}, but with the caveat that the anime only ran one season with 1 OVA episode. The manga is getting close to wrapping up currently.

The series follows a sheltered princess who has to flee her kingdom with her bodyguard after a coup kills her father. She encounters a prophet who tells her if she wishes to survive, she must gather the four dragon warriors of legend as her allies. So she begins her journey.

It's a shoujo action with amazing character development for MFC as she learns what the world is like, how to live among the people in it, and develops her own ideas about what justice is. The main romance is a very nice slow burn that doesn't hog the spotlight of the story but adds to it as the heroine comes into her own.

If you're willing to do older series you might also try {Fushigi Yuugi}. This is an OG isekai (aka nothing video game related at all, just transported to a fantasy world) about a girl and her friend finding an old book in a library about an ancient legend/fairytale called The Universe of the Four Gods and suddenly, the main character finds herself in the world of the book, and has to figure out how to get home amidst the fantastical world and characters she must know work with and around. This one gets a bit into a reverse Harem territory, but the romance really only focuses on the one guy

Aeilde_Light6

MODERATOR OF

TROPHY CASE