If you like the darkest secrets of "Attack on Titan", here are 10 movies to watch.

Attack on Titan began as a systematic survival story in which mankind faces bloodthirsty monsters, but the action anime evolved into a more complex consideration of the cyclical nature of violence perpetuated by war and questions whether an end can ever justify the means. Its horror has existed since its first episode, and darker short stories such as Marley's Paradise and The War for Arcs have ventured beyond that concept than most.

The Throughline: Monsters, War, and the Cost of Transformation

Attack on Titan is in a league of its own when it comes to not only exploding violence, but also feeling systematic. The series uses transformation, propaganda and battlefield humanity to ask if survival can become yet another form of moral degeneracy. That question runs through 86: Eighty-Six from the Iron Fortress, Kabaneri, Berserk, Puella Magi Madoka Magica, Tokyo Ghoul, Vinland Saga, Jujutsu Kaisen, Code Geass: Lelouch of the Rebellion, Neon Genesis Evangelion and Devilman Crybaby War.

86: Turning a Bloodless War into a Lie

86: Eighty-Six revolves around a war as brutal and seemingly endless as Attack on Titan. The Republic of San Magnolia and the Giadian Empire have been fighting for over a decade, justifying themselves by claiming that the conflict was an "unbloody" one.

A-1 Pictures features the soldiers and Juggernaut mecha in 86: Eighty-Six, a series where technology becomes a mask for cruelty. The Confederate San Magnolia boasted that its juggernauts mechas were unmanned drones allowing them to attack enemies without casualties. In reality, these juggernats are driven by a despised minority of people who have been forced into war.

The anime is infatuated with the psychological exercises that people perform to justify war, and cruelly sums up the power of war to transform them into inhuman weaponry. In 86: Eighty-Six Episode 21, Frederica sacrifices herself in order to distract Kiriya Nouzen; Lena feels hopeless, while Shinei Nouzen appears shaken by the opening part of 86:EIGHTY-SIX.

The Barbary of the Iron Fortress plunges mankind into a hopeless beast war.

Attack on Titan and Kabaneri of the Iron Fortress have a lot of DNA in common. Both are WIT Studio's post-apocalyptic action anime featuring cannibal creatures, while WIT Studios' animations expanded upon one group of Kabane people from Kabanere.

In another version of the Industrial Revolution, cabins were zombie-like monsters whose hearts seemed impenetrable due to their enclosures of steel surrounding them. The human race retreated and developed powerful weapons that could pierce these creatures' hearts.

Ikoma finds himself in a unique situation when Kabane is bitten, but manages to control the effects of this metamorphosis. The struggle reflects on his Titan transformation and Eren's relationship with him; however, Kabaneri in the Iron Castle places terror within the framework of surviving the train-castle rather than the empire-wide drama.

Berserk defines dark fantasy trauma, and Attack on Titan also explores it.

In the Studio 4°C visual, Griffith is shown holding a legacy and begins Eclipse in Berserk: The Golden Age Arc. This scene captures the moment when infidelity becomes legendary.

The dark fantasy subgenre of anime has become more popular over time, but much of its success is the result of Kentaro Miura's development of Berserk.

The series feeds on larger themes, the inescapable nature of fate and the idea that Guts' unfortunate destiny is inevitable. It's a challenge enough for this warrior to rise above the many demons and dark forces he faces. Accepting fate itself is a frightening notion that psychologically tears Guts apart. Despite displaying ultimate heroism, courage often suffers from obvious injury and guilt.

Puella Magi Madoka Magica is a magical girl who transforms hope into the brutality of reality.

The SHAFT visual shows Sayaka as she becomes Octavia in Puella Magi Madoka Magica.

Over the past 15 years, many titles have perfected this format, but I feel that most of those experiments are thanks to Puella Magi Madoka Magica. The 12-episode masterpiece takes bright, colorful and hopeful images from magical girl stories and turns them into psychological thrillers with skepticism and existential nightmares.

The entire series is dependent on whether or not Madoka Kanami signs her magical girl contract, but that decision will bind her as an endless slave. As the anime creates a cruel and punishing universe where she feels powerless against heroes, these magical girls are forced to face their trauma and turn into their own worst enemy.

The Tokyo Ghoul retains its darkness even when adaptation loses its claws.

In Studio Pierrot's visuals, Ken Kaneki looks at his half-ghoul face with dark eyes; in Tokyo Ghoul season 2, a ghoul shaped Kaneki appears from behind, tied to a chair; and Kaneki takes on the Dragon Form as he climbs up a building in episode 20 of Tokyo ghouls: re.

Sui Ishida's Tokyo Ghoul underwent a harrowing process of adaptation, eventually removing the material and playing out like a Cliff's Notes version of the dark seinen action series. Ken Kaneki is an ordinary teenager who is suddenly pulled between two worlds when life-saving surgery turns him into a human-ghoul hybrid.

Determined to eliminate the Ghouls that plague society, Kaneki faces internal conflicts as he confronts his vanishing humanity. The anime's final seasons are complicated in implementing this storyline, but its darkness persists.

Vinland Saga Grounds Attack on Titan's War Critique in Historical Brutality (Criticism of the historical savagery of the attack on Titan)

Attack on Titan embraces surrealist concepts in order to talk more deeply about war, discrimination and propaganda. Vinland Saga is groundbreaking; it's a historically rich revenge story that is entirely based on real events, making the violence all the more realistic and intense.

The MAPPA visual depicts the tragic Thorfinn armed in a forest of Vinland Saga. The two-season series delivers a powerful punch that is solidified through an acoustic whiplash that occurs between seasons.

Thorfinn is determined to become a ruthless warrior who will avenge his father's murder, but when someone else takes Askeladd's life, Thorfinn realizes the meaninglessness of life led by finding purpose and fighting. He develops a pacifist spirit that accepts redemption rather than punishment; the result is an uncomfortable and systematic experience condemning violence.

Jujutsu Kaisen was inherited to fight the Dark Shonen Weight of Titan.

Attack on Titan is considered to be one of the darkest shonen series in the past decade, and it has dominated darker shonen titles throughout its run. Jujutsu Kaisen was a "Dark Trio" success for Weekly Shonen Jump but did not receive that label.

Yuji Itadori is a young criminal who has been thrust into a dangerous world of supernatural wizards and cruel curses. There is an inherent darkness in the anime's narrative, present wherever disturbing curses and threatening action takes place.

The MAPPA visual depicts Gojo being trapped in Jujutsu Kaisen's Shibuya Incident Arc, and the image captures a change of tone. Satoru Gojo's sudden departure creates an historically dark energy that heightens tensions and allows evil to reign supreme.

Code Geass brings an end and justifies the means.

Images from Studio Sunrise show Zero as Lelouch vi Britannia and the United Federation of Nations in season two of Code Geass. The image defines the series as a case of political warfare, where identity is used as a weapon much like mecha technology.

Code Geass: Lelouch of the Rebellion is an action-oriented war anime that focuses on mecha technology, though it has often been compared to Attack Titan.

Lelouch takes unlikely actions to accomplish his mission. Psychological preparation, innocent patients and a bleak message in support of exploitation push this anime into uncomfortable territory. Code Geass goes out on the most terrifying path possible as it is accepted that personal abuse can help unify a divided world.

Neon Genesis Evangelion turns the Mecha movement into an existential collapse.

The Gainax visual features Shinji Ikari during the third attack at the end of Evangelion, when he captures the series' final refusal to treat Apocalypse as a clear victory.

Even though Hideaki Anno's Neon Genesis Evangelion has been around for over three decades, it is still considered one of the most important and profound anime of all time. It starts off as a harmless mecha action series that slowly stretches out layers to reveal deeper themes about identity, the importance of human connection, the weight of the soul, and the dangers of submerged escape.

Evangelion is filled with traditional action plots involving a giant robot fighting alien invaders; it also expertly dissects the mecha narration of traumatized teenage EVA pilots to ignite their overwhelming feelings of loneliness.

Devilman Crybaby ends its existence by cutting off his losses.

The Science SARU visual features Akira's version of Devilman, a character who is swallowed by the devil's mouth and shows Akira and Ryo fighting in Devilman Crybaby. One image praised Science Saru.

Devilman Crybaby, Masaaki Yuasa's experimental creation of Go Nagai-based Devilman begins with a disturbing wave of horrific mass murder and demonic activity. This death and darkness becomes more extreme throughout the ten episodes of the anime, resulting in conflict between Devilman and Satan.

Akira is disturbed by the discovery that his best friend Ryo has been stalking and trying to destroy humanity all along. Much like Attack on Titan, Devilman Crybaby avoids a normal conclusion in favor of a dark resolution that emerges at the end of everything. The death of Devilman and Satan's grief enables God to restart the entire universe, allowing for an eternal torment from Satan in JUST .

What signals does the list give to viewers?

Value for readers who are exploring beyond Attack on Titan is not just finding more violent anime. The darkest ideas of fighting in the catalog lie elsewhere: 86: Eighty-six depicts recruitment as a covert genocide; Kabaneri of Iron Fortress turns survival into an enigmatic monstrosity; Berserk experiences betrayal by fate; Puella Magi Madoka Magica breaks Hope's pact and destroys Tokyo Ghoul's identity; Vinland Saga refuses to seek revenge; Jujutsu Kaisen inherits shonen brutality; Code Geass makes personal politics; Genesis Evangelion ends with its mechanical transformation into Crybaby Devilman, which is a psychological cosmic ending.

The cast block for Attack on Titan features Matthew Mercer and Josh Grelle, but the broader takeaway is thematic rather than personal. Attack's legacy will leave audiences with questions not only about its scale of action but also whether war, change, propaganda, and a terrifying peace can be called a success.