Sometimes you just don’t want another anime where the answer to every problem is a bigger fight. And sometimes a slow-burn romance isn’t really what you’re in the mood for either. That’s where mystery anime can be a lot of fun, especially the ones that keep dropping little clues and making you question what you thought you understood in the first place. There are plenty of series these days mixing mystery with sci-fi, horror, historical drama and other genres, so you don’t have to stick to the usual choices like Death Note or Attack on Titan. If you’re looking for something a little less obvious, these three are worth checking out.
The Apothecary Diaries
One of the bigger anime hits of recent years, The Apothecary Diaries is a historical drama that gradually turns into a pretty addictive mystery series. It’s based on the light novel written by Natsu Hyūga and illustrated by Tōko Shino, and it follows Maomao, a young woman who grew up in the pleasure district under the care of an adoptive father who taught her the trade of an apothecary. She’s especially knowledgeable about medicine and, perhaps a little unusually, has a fascination with poisons.
Maomao’s life takes a turn when she is kidnapped and sold as a servant in the Inner Court of the imperial palace. Her medical knowledge soon becomes impossible to ignore after she helps save the young imperial princess, who has fallen ill with a mysterious disease. From there, Maomao is promoted to become the handmaiden of a high-ranking courtesan, which puts her much closer to the palace’s secrets, conspiracies and political games. The more she investigates, the more obvious it becomes that there is usually something else going on underneath the surface. In Italy, the series is available on Crunchyroll and Netflix.
Summer Time Rendering
Summer Time Rendering is another good choice if you like mysteries that don’t sit still for very long. The shonen anime, based on Yasuki Tanaka’s manga, follows seventeen-year-old Shinpei Ajiro, who returns to the island of Hitogashima on July 22 for the funeral of his adoptive sister, Ushio Kofune. Ushio apparently drowned, but once Shinpei gets back to the island, a few things don’t add up.
What starts as an investigation into Ushio’s death quickly becomes much stranger. Shinpei discovers that he’s caught in a time loop, and whenever he tries to uncover the truth, things tend to end badly for him. Then he wakes up again on July 22 and has to start over. Each loop gives him another piece of information, but it also raises more questions about what actually happened to Ushio and what is happening on the island. There’s a supernatural explanation somewhere in all of this, but figuring out exactly what it is is half the fun. Summer Time Rendering is available on Disney+.
Heavenly Delusion
If you want something more unsettling, Heavenly Delusion is probably the one to pick. The series takes place in a post-apocalyptic world where a disaster has wiped out much of civilization, and even fifteen years later, the world outside is still a dangerous and mysterious place. But the interesting part is that the story doesn’t simply tell you what’s going on. It gives you pieces of information and expects you to start putting them together yourself.
Inside an isolated facility, a group of children are being raised away from the outside world. One of them, Mimihime, tells her friend Tokio about a vision in which they will eventually be rescued by two people, one of whom looks exactly like Tokio. At the same time, the story follows Maru, a boy travelling through the ruined world outside in search of a place known as “paradise.” The two storylines seem separate at first, but the further you get into Heavenly Delusion, the more you start wondering how they connect. And that mystery is really what keeps the series moving.