Top 10 Best Detective Anime Series of All Time

Detective anime are always fun to watch if you like to wander and anticipate what is about to happen next.

Detective anime series feature characters who put together clues and pieces of evidence to be able to determine the identity of the criminal and how they committed the crime. Here are the top 10 best detective anime series.

10. UN-GO

In a war torn Japan, Shinjuurou and his bizarre partner Inga make their living by solving crimes in the strangest of ways

9. Shinrei Tantei Yakumo (Psychic Detective Yakumo)

Yakumo is born with heterochromia. His red left eye allows him to see ghosts and spirits. With his belief that spirits are bound to earth because of certain reasons, he becomes a psychic detective and helps them to pass on.

8. Monster

A decade ago a young, brilliant doctor named Kenzo Tenma chose to save the life of a child over that of an adult. Not only did this effectively end his rising career and potential marriage, but years later he finds out he may have saved a serial killer.

Now he’s on the run trying to find out who is leaving a trail of bodies that point to him. Can he find the monster, before Detective Liebert slaps the irons on him?

7. Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex

Set in the year 2030 where people are able to become cyborgs, the Japanese Government forms a special unit known as Section 9 to deal with cyber-crime cases.

As the team goes about its business, they come across a mysterious and dangerous hacker named Laughing Man.

6. Gosick

It involves two youths – the brilliant if caustic Victorique and the somewhat dense but kind Kazuya. Together, they take to solving these cases and grow closer as a result.

5. Tantei Gakuen Q (Detective School Q)

Aspiring detective and mystery lover Kyuu attends the prestigious Dan Detective School, established by the famous detective Dan Morihiko. Along with his talented classmates, Kyuu takes on mystery cases that even the police can not solve.

4. Hyouka

Oreki Houtarou is president for life of the “go home early club”, but his sister is tired of his slacker ways. To get her off his back he signs up for “Classic Club” where he meets three oddballs: the ever curious Chitanda Eru, Fukube “Database” Satoshi, and taskmaster Ibara Mayaka.

Now it’s up to them to solve a 45 year old case with the help of the previous Classic Club’s note collection – Hyouka.

3. Psycho-Pass

If “Minority Report” were an anime it’d be Psycho Pass. Set in the near future this story looks at a society where the term “thought crime” is a real phenomenon.

The psychological profile or “psycho pass” of an individual is monitored at all times – anyone who’s pass exceeds the normal limits is a “latent criminal”. That’s where the joint forces of the Inspectors and the Enforcers come in.

Using a device called a “dominator” they’re are tasked with preventing crime before it happens. But what can they do when a criminal with a perfect psycho-pass score tries to overthrow the system?

2. Death Note

What if the Sherlock Holmes books were written from the viewpoint of Moriarty? Death Note tells the story of a high school senior, Light Yagami, and the events following his discovery of the Death Note.

A seemingly simple notebook, the Death Note can be used to kill anyone as long as you know their name and face. Using it to enforce his own brand of justice, Light finds himself playing cat and mouse with the Great Detective L – with deadly results.

1. Detective Conan (Case Closed)

After running a foul on the omniously titled Black Organization, teen detective Jimmy Kudo finds himself looking a lot younger. Unfortunately, nobody is going to take a kid seriously – so Jimmy finds himself solving cases with the help of his elementary school friends while giving all the credit to his friend’s detective father.

At the same time he tries to learn more about the secretive Black Organization in hopes of finding a possible cure – or at least getting it’s ringleaders arrested.