This is a huge list of every cyberpunk anime that I could find recommended on the web. I compiled all the suggestions from blog posts, forum discussions, and so on. The list includes the usual suspects — Bubblegum Crisis, Ergo Proxy, Psycho-Pass — but also a lot of fringe titles that you won’t find on top-ten lists.

I did eliminate some suggestions because they weren’t quite anime enough (A Scanner Darkly) or diverged from the genre too much (mecha series like Armored Trooper VOTOMS) but you are free to contest my decisions in the comments or via email. There is a list of omissions at the end. Without any further ado…

89 Cyberpunk Anime & 36 Omissions

.hack Series

I compiled a summary post of all the .hack anime so it wouldn’t take up a horrendous amount of space at the beginning of this list — here ya go. Contents: SIGN, Legend of the Twilight, Liminality, Roots, G.U. Trilogy, G.U. Returner, Quantum, the movie, and Thanatos Report.

And here’s a brief introduction to the .hack universe, from the eponymous wiki:

“The setting of Project .hack is a future world in which the majority of Earth has been connected to the Internet and almost all computers use the operating system Altimit OS. The story is centered around a fictional MMORPG named The World and a series of events known as the Twilight Incident in which players of The World began falling into comas.”

8 Man After

“Since the recent disappearance of 8 Man, a mysterious cyborg super hero created by Professor Tani, the city reels under ‘terrorist’ assaults from murderous drug-crazed street gangs. Hazuma, an ex-cop who now runs his own detective agency, is hired to track down a missing scientist alleged to have made off with cybernetics from Professor Tani’s laboratory. The missing hardware is reappearing as psycho-activated weapons grafted onto the bodies of the rogue ‘cyper-junkies.’ [sic] During his investigation Hazuma is brutally murdered.” — Amazon

A.D. Police Files

“The year is 2027 in MegaTokyo, six years before the Knight Sabers will make their debut. Boomers (artificial humans) are still a relatively new advancement, and the implementation and integration of boomers into society is still a bit buggy — sometimes fatally so. […] Leon McNichol is a rookie in the AD Police, and is just starting to become exposed to the horrors and tragedies one finds every day in MegaTokyo. He and his veteran partner, Gina Marceau, slowly learn about the ever-fading line that separates man from machine.” — MyAnimeList

A.D. Police: To Protect and Serve

“In the not-too-distant future VOOMERS (VOodoo Organic Metal Extension Resource), robots manufactured by the Genom Corporation, take care of most of the manual labor in Genom City. Recently the VOOMERS have been malfunctioning and becoming BOOMERS, crazed robots who are often involved in many violent and criminal activities. This is when the A.D. Police comes into play. They are Genom City’s anti-robot crime division, specially trained to deal with VOOMER-related situations. Kenji Sasaki is one of the A.D. Police’s most skilled officers.” — Wikipedia

Accel World

“Ashamed of his miserable life, Haruyuki can only cope by indulging in virtual games. That all changes when Kuroyukihime, the most popular girl in school, approaches Haruyuki with a cryptic proposal: to ‘accelerate’ further, and beyond. Haruyuki is introduced to a mysterious program called Brain Burst and a virtual reality called the Accel World. Learning its secrets, Haruyuki musters the courage to accept Kuroyukihime’s proposal and to fight alongside her as her knight.” — Amazon

Dissenting comment from Reddit user endless_disease:

“I wouldnt classify it as cyberpunk at all tbh. […] Accel World only has full computerization of society. Theres no evil corps, no dystopian society, technology helps people. Its basically SAO/Log Horizon in a different setting, which are not on the list.”

Æeon Flux (1990s TV show)

“Æon Flux was set in a bizarre, dystopian future world. The title character is a tall, leather-clad secret agent from the nation of Monica, skilled in assassination and acrobatics. Her mission is to infiltrate the strongholds of the neighboring country of Bregna, which is led by her sometimes-nemesis and sometimes-lover Trevor Goodchild. Monica represents a dynamic anarchist society, while Bregna embodies a police state — referred to on one occasion as a republic by Goodchild.” — Wikipedia

Ai no Kusabi

“On planet Amoi, a great society has developed, creating a computerized city called Tanagura, ruled by supercomputer Jupiter. The populace is almost entirely male and is based on hair color; silver and/or blonds are the elitist, ending with dark/black haired as the bottom of society, often known as ‘mongrels’. Blondies keep ‘pets’, young boys kept for a few years, especially made for performing sexual actions for the Blondie’s voyeurism entertainment. Blondies aren’t suppose to keep pets for long or interact sexually with pets, but one blondie named Iason Mink has kept a pet named Riki, for years and is rumored to sleep with him. Iason refuses to let go of Riki, even with Jupiter’s disapproval.” — MyAnimeList

Akira

“The plot focuses on teenage biker Tetsuo Shima and his psychic powers, and the leader of his biker gang, Shotaro Kaneda. Several parties, including Kaneda, resistance terrorist Kei, Colonel Shikishima of the JSDF and a trio of espers, attempt to prevent Tetsuo from releasing the imprisoned psychic Akira.” — Wikipedia

Angel Cop

“Sometime in the future, terrorism in Japan has become commonplace, and the police have become almost as brutal as criminals. A member of the Special Security Force known as Angel, is the best of the best, stopping at nothing in her fight for justice. […] Even with help from the other two psychics and her newly cyborged partner (after an unfortunate accident), Angel is going to have her work cut out trying to find the rogue psychic and the organization behind the Hunters.” — MyAnimeList

The Animatrix

“The Animatrix is a 2003 American-Japanese anthology film based on The Matrix trilogy […] The film is a compilation of nine animated short films, including four written by the Wachowskis. It details the backstory of the Matrix universe, including the original war between man and machines which led to the creation of the Matrix.” — Wikipedia

Appleseed (1998)

“Built to be a paradise on Earth, Olympus is inhabited by humans, cyborgs, and bioroids (genetically engineered humans designed for increased physical capabilities and decreased emotional capabilities). Bioroids run and control all of the administrative functions of Olympus, ensuring that the city remains the utopian society it was meant to be for all of its citizens. But for some people living in Utopia, the city has become less of a home and more of a cage.” — MyAnimeList

Appleseed (2004)

“Growing out of the chaos of a global war, the city of Utopia is populated by humans and bioroids (artificial humans). On the surface, everything is harmonious, but tensions lurk. Into this seemingly perfect society comes a survivor of the wars, Deunan Knute, who carries a legacy that will turn out to be of critical importance to the future of humanity.” — MyAnimeList

Appleseed: Ex Machina

“Two years after the incident at Olympus, a utopian city, Deunan Knute and Briareos Hecatonchires of the counter-terrorism unit E-SWAT rescues a group of European Union officials from cyborgs. The duo returns to Olympus, where Briareos is confined to hospital until he recovers, while Deunan continues E-SWAT work. When Deunan’s commanding officer Lance introduces her to her new partner, Tereus, she is shocked as her partner resembles Briareos’ human form.” — Wikipedia

Appleseed XIII: Tartaros & Ouranos

“Deunan and Briareos are a pair of paramilitary police officers in the future city of Olympus. Raised by her military father to survive literally anything, Deunan is an all-human, all-deadly young woman; Briareos is a high-end cyborg who lost a goodly portion of his anatomy in an explosion. The pair is very close, bicker-prone, and unbeatable together. Which is good, because Olympus — an advanced city where the human minority is supported by a subordinate class of artificial humans known as bioroids — is under attack. Specifically by a terrorist organization targeting the city’s ambitious migration program, which is designed to populate far planets with free-willed bioroids.” — Anime News Network

Appleseed: Alpha

“From the creator of Ghost in the Shell and the director of Appleseed comes the intense post-apocalyptic prequel, Appleseed: Alpha. Left to survive in a post-World War society, two mercenary soldiers — Deunan and her cyborg partner Briareos – must protect two citizens from the utopian city of Olympus in order to help save humanity’s last hope.” — Amazon

Armitage III: Poly Matrix

“Armitage is a brash cybernetic cop with a racy wardrobe who patrols a Mars metropolis. She and her stoic partner, Sylibus, risk everything to track a killer who is revealing his female victims’ identities as highly-advanced androids.” — Amazon

Armitage III: Dual Matrix

“On Earth, Armitage and Sylibus live peacefully under secret identities, until forced to battle a scientist (and his deadly Armitage replicas) who is crazed by his obsession with copying the Third’s impeccable design.” — Amazon

Arve Rezzle: Kikaijikake no Yousei-tachi

“A cyber battle sci-fi. In 2022, the technology of quantum computing has greatly advanced and many people have transferred their mind into cyber space. […] One day, Shiki confessed to her brother [Remu] via Skype that she was talking to him directly from the cyber space and that her real body had been kept in a water tank filled with a culture medium. It’s called ‘body pool’ and Shiki connected to the network by nanomachines implanted in her brain. […] The network server got overloaded and users’ minds were lost in cyber space leaving soulless living bodies in the body pools.” — MyAnimeList

Baldr Force Exe Resolution

“Soma Toru belongs to a hacking group, Steppen Wolf, which runs around the network world freely. They attack the database of the UN forces as their last work. During this attack, he loses Nonomura Yuya, his friend as well as the team leader. Toru is arrested by the army. In exchange for letting him free, he has to work for an anti-hacker organization, the first squad of the UN Security Force Information Administration Bureau.” — MyAnimeList

Bannou Bunka Neko-Musume

“When Ryunosuke’s pet cat dies in an accident, his inventor father ‘resurrects’ the cat by placing its brain in an android body made in the form of a young girl. […] Nukunuku’s extreme strength and feline agility are regularly needed to protect Ryunosuke and his father from Ryunusuke’s mother who seeks to kidnap them both following her divorce from his father. Her motives towards Ryunusuke are simple motherly love, however her genius-inventor-ex-husband she wants to put to work designing weapons of mass destruction for her weapons company.” — MyAnimeList

Battle Angel (Gunm)

“The people and cyborgs of the Scrapyard live beneath the floating city of Tiphares, whose inhabitants dump their junk in the Scrapyard and rule above its inhabitants. One day Ido, a former Tipharean citizen and doctor specializing in cyborg repairs, finds the intact head of young cyborg-girl in a vast pile of scrap. He takes her in, gives her a body and the name Alita. Alita then discovers long forgotten fighting techniques hidden in her body and decides to become a hunter-warrior; a bounty collector employed by the factories of Tiphares.” — MyAnimeList

Black Magic M-66

“When two malfunctioning combat androids are accidentally unleashed on a ‘Terminate at All Costs’ mission against the unsuspecting granddaughter of their creator, an entire city becomes the battleground and not even the military may be able to stop them! The girl’s only hope: Sybil, a freelance journalist who’s out to get the scoop of her life, if she can somehow keep both herself and her subject alive long enough to file a report.” — MyAnimeList

Blame!

“For the humans who found this vast rare multi-level city, the mysterious main character ‘Kirii’ wanders to search for the ‘Net Terminal Genes’ that were not infected. Kirii’s burden and his search for the ‘Net Terminal Genes’ is a goal like no other and is very much the mystery of this story. […] A disc thrown away in the rubble. Cibo starts downloading. Just who’s ‘Memory’ will he end up with?” — MyAnimeList

Comment from Reddit user acguy:

“the BLAME! adaptation for instance is just a bunch of vistas from the manga animated, and badly at that. Not much of a reason to watch it even for diehard fans of the manga, and it might dissuade someone from checking it out.”

Blassreiter

“Blassreiter takes place in an alternate version of modern Germany which is under siege from an outbreak of mindless, biomechanical creatures, known as Demoniacs, who are mysteriously born from human corpses. These creatures possess the ability to merge their bodies with technology, most commonly upgrading themselves with cars, motorcycles, and other vehicles in order to improve their physical capabilities.” — MyAnimeList

Bubblegum Crisis & Bubblegum Crisis Tokyo 2040

“Set in 2033, the action takes places in MegaTokyo, where robots known as Boomers have replaced human beings in the workplace. Japan has the strongest economy on the planet, and is home to Genom, the largest corporation in the world. Overcrowding and unemployment leads to immense dissatisfaction for the denizens of this future world, so it takes a strong and innovative military presence to keep the population under control. Fortunately the Knight Sabers are at hand to battle against the evil overlords who preside over Genom. Comprised of four women, the Knight Sabers are the only hope the human race has of salvation from a future society which is perilously close to being overrun by big businesses.” — Amazon

C for Control

“The Japanese government was rescued from the brink of financial collapse by the Sovereign Wealth Fund. For its citizens, however, life has not improved and unemployment, crime, suicide, and despair are rampant. Kimimaro, raised by his maternal aunt after the disappearance of his father and the death of his mother, is a scholarship student whose only dream is to live a stable, ordinary life. One day he meets a man who offers him a large sum of money if he will allow his ‘future’ to be held as collateral.” — Wikipedia

Casshan (1973)

“[Casshern, also called Tetsuya] is an android with a human consciousness, also known as a neoroider […] Tetsuya turned himself into an android to hunt down and destroy the robots that have taken over the world […] Casshern and his robotic dog, Friender, join forces with a beautiful girl named Luna Kozuki to battle the robots led by the Buraiking Boss.” — Wikipedia

Casshan: Robot Hunter (1993)

“Enslaved by an army of rebellious super-robots originally designed to help civilization avert a complete ecological cataclysm, mankind’s only hope is Casshan, a legendary hero who wages a solitary war to defeat these Neoroids and restore Earth to its rightful order. Ironically, Casshan’s father is the same scientist who engineered the race of super androids now threatening to destroy all of mankind!” — Amazon

Casshern Sins

“Casshern Sins tells the story of a world where robots subjugated humanity after becoming self-aware. Their leader, Braiking Boss, ruled over the world with an iron fist. One day, a mysterious girl named Luna is summoned by the people in order to bring the salvation of mankind. Fearing her as a potential threat, Braiking Boss sent three of his most powerful cyborg warriors to dispose of Luna: Casshern, Dio, and Leda. Casshern, the strongest warrior, manages to track down and kill Luna. However, this triggers a cataclysmic event which sets into motion the end of the world.” — Wikipedia

Cyber City Oedo 808

“It is the year 2808. Three convicts are recruited as members of the Cyber Police to keep major criminal activity in Oedo (formerly Tokyo) in check. In return, their life sentences will be reduced by a few years for every mission accomplished. However, to ensure that these convicts are doing their job, the police have secured special collars around their necks. If they attempt to remove their collars or fail to meet the time limit of their mission, the collars will self-destruct.” — Amazon

Dead Leaves

“Pandy and Retro awaken naked on Earth with no recollection of their past. They embark on a devastating crime spree in search of food, clothing and transportation, but are captured by authorities and sent to the infamous lunar penitentiary named Dead Leaves. While incarcerated, they quickly discover that Dead Leaves is also a top-secret cloning facility, occupied by villainous guards and deformed genetic experiments. Ultra-manic chaos and hyper-violent bedlam ensue as they organize a prison break with the aid of their fellow mutant inmates.” — MyAnimeList

Dennō Coil

“The series takes place in the fictional city of Daikoku, a hotbed of [augmented reality] development with an emerging city-wide virtual infrastructure. It follows a group of children as they use AR glasses to unravel the mysteries of the half real, half Internet city, using a variety of illegal software tools, techniques, and virtual pets to manipulate the digital landscape.” — Wikipedia

Dimension W

“In the year 2071, the world’s energy problems seem solved by a network of cross-dimensional electric-field inductors — ‘coils’ — that extract energy from a seemingly infinite source. […] In this world, unofficial ‘illegal’ coils harness powers that the police can’t hope to counter. Dealing with these coils is the job of coil-hating repo man Kyoma, whose run-in with the unique coil android Mira leads the two to form a reluctant partnership.” — Funimation

Dirty Pair

“Criminals of the universe beware — the Dirty Pair are back in action! It doesn’t matter if you’re the warden of an infamous prison, a robot that’s literally armed to the teeth, or that snotty little kid who thought it’d be fun to hijack mankind’s biggest space cannon. If Kei and Yuri get orders to bring you in, then these two Lovely Angels will use any combination of beauty, brains, and brute force to bring you to justice!” — Amazon

Dirty Pair Flash

“It’s the year 2248, and crime is on the rise. The world needs selfless, responsible heroes to set things straight… but instead it gets Kei and Yuri! These two lazy delinquents are the worst of the worst, but for some reason, the Central Computer paired them up as a team and chose them to inherit the honorable codename ‘Lovely Angels.’ That means they’ll be sent out to stop evil corporations, maniacal killers and runaway androids — all in the name of peace. But with the way these two fight, they just might blow everything up themselves first!” — Amazon

Dominion Tank Police

“The story is set in a future world where huge amounts of pollution [have] made the earth’s air unbreathable and everyone must wear a mask to avoid […] the toxic gases. The crime rate has risen to a crime being committed every 36 seconds and the mayor forms an elite fighting force know as the ‘Tank Police’. […] After wrecking the ‘Squad Commander’s’ (Charles Brenten) personal armored tank, Leona hand-makes a small Mini-tank (Nicknamed: Bonaparte) out of parts of the ‘Squad Commander’s’ own Tank. This new mini-Tank is a force to be reckoned with as it goes head to head with the criminals in an awesome action packed showdown.” — Amazon

New Dominion Tank Police

(This properly should be in the “N” section, but I wanted to pair it with the first series.)

“When tanks are outlawed, only outlaws will have tanks. Or at least, that’s what Mayor Weatherby of New Port seems to be forgetting in his efforts to ban certain forms of weapons, including those used by tank-driving policewoman Leona Ozaki and her partner Al. Granted, the city’s Tank Police DO seem to cause a lot of collateral damage, but New Port’s a dangerous place. Especially with the felonious and partially feline Puma sisters back on the prowl, and the Dai Nippon Geiken Corporation is building even more nefarious devices of evil intent that are finding their way into the hands of local terrorists.” — Amazon

DRAMAtical Murder

“The story revolves around a young man named Aoba who works in a junk shop. Recently, an online cyber game called ‘Rhyme’ becomes popular on the island he lives on. Though Aoba has no interest in Rhyme, he is somehow pulled into it. Without knowing it, his peaceful days have come to an end!” — Crunchyroll

Ergo Proxy

“The domed city of Romdo is supposed to be perfect, but Re-l Mayer, a young female inspector from the Civilian Intelligence Office, knows better. In this place where humans and robots coexist, she receives a strange message — something is awakening.” — Amazon

Exaella

“Having completely exhausted the natural resources of the planet, and not having found a suitable practical alternative, the leaders of the planet decided to construct automated underground mega-complexes of ‘artificial sleep and life support’ near the main population centers. [¶] To preserve the species, millions of people worldwide were placed in these systems and put into a state of artificial sleep for an indefinite term, leaving the monitoring of changes in the surrounding environment and the patients sleeping inside to the complexes’ robotic systems.” — Exaella website

Gatchaman Crowds

“One year after Berg Katze is stopped, the CROWDS system developed by Rui Ninomiya, a computer specialist who also becomes part of the Gatchaman, has spread among the Japanese society, shortening the gap between the population and the government. However, this new era of peace is threatened by the mysterious organization ‘VAPE’, calling the Gatchaman to action once more, including a new member, the impulsive Tsubasa Misudachi, who becomes Hajime’s new partner.” — Wikipedia

Genocyber

“As the nations of the world begin to merge, world peace is threatened by the private armies of individual corporations. The Kuryu Group has just discovered a weapon that will tip world power in their favor. The Genocyber: a nightmarish combination of cybernetics and psychic potential. Many desire to control this monstrosity, but can its hatred be contained… Battle erupts, and the cyberpunk world of the future is about to explode with violence.” — MyAnimeList

Ghost in the Shell (1995)

“In 2029, the world is interconnected by a vast electronic network that permeates every aspect of life. Much of humanity has access to this network through cybernetic bodies, or ‘shells’, which possess their consciousness and can give them superhuman abilities. Major Motoko Kusanagi, an assault-team leader for the Public Security Section 9, is assigned to capture an elusive hacker known as the Puppet Master.” — Wikipedia

Ghost in the Shell 2: Innocence

“The long-awaited sequel continues the adventures of Batou, Major Kusanagi’s former assistant, who was left behind when she disappeared into the cyber-realm of the Net. With his new human partner, Togusa, Batou investigates a series of bloody murders involving gynoids, robots with sexual functions. The case leads them to the headquarters of the Locus Solus company, where Batou uncovers the evil secret behind the creation of the gynoids.” — Amazon

Ghost in the Shell: Arise

“Primarily set in the fictional Japanese Newport City, the series follows a younger Motoko Kusanagi before the formation of Public Security Section 9. At the start of Arise she is a member of the federal 501 Organization, a group who employs advanced infiltration tactics and espionage in order to attack or neutralize enemy threats. The 501 Organization is also the legal owner of Kusanagi’s prosthetic body, which is lent to her in exchange for her services to the group. This debt displeases her and causes a disparity between herself and her employer.” — Wikipedia

Ghost in the Shell: The New Movie

“Set after the events of Arise, the film involves the assassination of the Prime Minister of Japan which is publicly described as the ‘greatest event since the war’. It is up to Public Security Section 9, led by Major Motoko Kusanagi, to discover the true nature of the murder. They are aided by the Prime Minister’s son, Osamu Fujimoto.” — Wikipedia

Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex

“Major Motoko Kusanagi is a beautiful but deadly cyborg that is the squad leader of Section 9. Surrounded by an expertly trained team, Motoko faces her ultimate challenge — the Laughing Man — a terrorist who orchestrated a kidnapping and extortion plot many years ago and has suddenly reappeared.” — Amazon

Goku Midnight Eye

“While [Furinji Goku] was investigating the murder case of his colleague when he had been an officer, he was pressured to stop it by the police executives. However, he continue investigating, and he lost his left eye. When he was about to be killed, a mysterious group helped him and transplant an artificial eye. The eye was a super technological device that connected to the whole computer network in the world, and enabled him to control any computers.” — MyAnimeList

Gunslinger Girl

“The girls of the Social Welfare Agency are no ordinary children. They are the grisly remains of human wreckage pieced back together with cybernetic implants and trained to kill by the government. Once human, these shattered souls have become murderous machines with only vague recollections of what it meant to be real — and a brutal compulsion to be the last killer standing.” — Amazon

Heat Guy J

“Super criminals and mafia families have become more powerful than any police force in the oceanic city-nation of Judoh. That’s why the government built Android J, a cybernetic crime-fighting machine destined to rid Judoh of the criminal element. Together with his partner, Daisuke Aurora, the most dangerous criminals will soon find themselves on the run. The mob won’t take this sitting down, though, and as the criminals toughen up and the stakes keep rising, J finds himself matched in more than one battle.” — Amazon

Kaiba

“In Kaiba, memories can be stored as information via a memory chip. When individuals die, their minds live on. This digitization of mental information allows both the transfer of one’s mind to someone else’s body, and the theft and manipulation of other people’s memories become a norm. Society has fallen apart, as authority enforces law arbitrarily and has become stagnant. In the skies are electrical storms, which cannot be passed through without losing one’s memories. Above them lies the realm of the wealthy and powerful, who barter others’ bodies and memories for their own enjoyment and longevity. Below the clouds is a troubled and dangerous world where good bodies are hard to come by and real money is scarce.” — Wikipedia

Mardock Scramble

“Murdered by a sadistic slayer of women, Rune Balot finds herself reborn for one purpose: to bring her killer to justice. But even knowing the identity of her murderer, proving he’s the one responsible for her death won’t be easy, especially when the murderer himself has forgotten his crimes. With the help of Doctor Easter, the man who restored her to life, and Oeufcoque, an intelligent, self-aware universal item capable of assuming the form and function of anything from a gun to a mouse, to a lady’s glove, Rune will have to find the proof to convict a vicious killer without dying a second time.” — Amazon

Mega Man (1994)

“Dr. Light and Dr. Wily were brilliant scientists in the field of robotics, who worked together in a laboratory trying to advance the science. One day, they finished an extremely advanced prototype, but shortly after being activated, it started destroying the laboratory. Dr. Light immediately believed that the prototype’s guidance system, which Dr. Wily had personally programmed, was the source of the problem and concluded they would start over again. Angered, Dr. Wily attempted to steal the plans later that night, but Dr. Light catches him.” — Wikipedia

Mega Man (2017)

Very little information is available so far, but you can check out the Wikipedia page.

MegaMan NT Warrior

“The series focuses on Lan Hikari and his NetNavi, MegaMan.EXE as they build their friendship while dealing with threats from various NetCrime organizations. Along with Lan are friends Maylu Sakurai, Dex Ogreon, Yai Ayano, Tory Froid, and their respective Navis: Roll, GutsMan, Glide, IceMan.” — Wikipedia

Megazone 23

“Shougo Yahagi is a young motorcycle enthusiast living in a world of hot bikes, hard rock, and J-pop idols. The general populace go about their lives in peace, under the watchful eyes of a computer program in the guise of pop idol sensation Eve, unbeknownst to them. Shougo himself is mostly concerned with riding his motorcycle and picking up beautiful women like Yui Takanaka, who aspires to be a dancer.” — MyAnimeList

Memories

“In ‘Magnetic Rose,’ a two-bit salvage rig answers an SOS in deep space from the palatial ship of a former opera diva. Koji Morimoto (Fly Peek!) blends shimmering visuals and snatches of Puccini, turning the derelict vessel into a lovely, fatal siren’s song. Nerdy researcher Nobuo Tanaka takes an experimental drug and begins emitting a murderous gas in Tensai Okamura’s (Kikaider) ‘Stink Bomb.’ Too silly to be scary, but too grim to be funny, it’s the weakest entry. In ‘Cannon Fodder,’ Katsuhiro Otomo (Akira) uses long tracking shots and an acid palette of khaki greens and faded reds to depict a militarized civilization where gargantuan machines dominate vapid little people.” — Charles Solomon via Amazon

Metropolis (2001)

“In the futuristic city of Metropolis humans and robots coexist. Robots are discriminated against and segregated to the city’s lower levels. A lot of Metropolis’ human population are unemployed and deprived, and many people blame the robots for taking their jobs.” — Wikipedia

Neo Tokyo

“The 50 minute-long film has three segments, each under a different screenwriter and film director: Rintaro’s ‘Labyrinth labyrinthos,’ an exploration into the maze of a little girl’s mind, Yoshiaki Kawajiri’s ‘Running Man,’ focusing on a deadly auto race, and Katsuhiro Ōtomo’s ‘Construction Cancellation Order,’ a cautionary tale about man’s dependency on technology.” — Wikipedia

Ninja Slayer

“Now, in the future where the universalization of cybernetic technology and electronic networks are God, suddenly, sinister ninja souls, resurrected from thousands of years past are unleashed on the dark shadows of Neo-Saitama. Fujikido Kenji, is a salaryman whose wife and child were killed in a ninja turf war. In a brush with his own death, Fujikido is possessed by an enigmatic ninja soul. Fujikido cheats death and becomes Ninja Slayer. A Grim Reaper destined to kill evil ninja, committed to a personal war of vengeance.” — MyAnimeList

Pale Cocoon

“It has been many years since a group of humans retreated to an artificial colony below the planet’s surface. An unspecified ecological disaster has left the surface largely uninhabitable, plagued by apparent pollution, cold from receiving little light and largely absent of signs of life. Much of recorded history before the move has been forgotten, despite the numerous advances in technology. The last remaining information lies in a vast archive of data, much of it in corrupted formats.” — Wikipedia

Parasite Dolls

“In a near future world where the dividing line between the people and the plastic is becoming increasingly blurred, it’s the job of the Branch to keep the streets of Genom City safe from the dangers of a technology that no one yet knows the limits of. If it even has any. Between the evolving sentience of an entirely new manufactured species, the chaos that inevitably ensues when backyard cyber-hackers attempt to do their own field mods and the willingness of powerful hi-tech corporations to cut a few corners, the men and women of the Branch have already got their work cut out for them. And that’s before they factor in the danger of internal corruption, given that one of their own members boasts a metal endoskeleton.” — Amazon

Patlabor: The Movie

“Earth’s sea levels are slowly rising and coastal cities around the world have been forced to resort to drastic measures to keep floods of Biblical proportions at bay. Nowhere has the need been more desperate than in Japan, where the city of Tokyo has launched the massive Babylon project: a land reclamation undertaking so vast that it can only be completed with the aid of human-piloted construction robots called Labors. Unfortunately, any invention can be used for good or for evil, so to keep the Labors from being misused, the Tokyo police maintain their own units of Patrol Labors. Now the officers of the SV2 are about to receive their ultimate trial by fire, as multiple waves of Labors begin to mysteriously go berserk all at once.” — Amazon

Project ARMS

“The ARMS weapons are named after characters in Lewis Carroll’s Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland. Each of the ARMS is a weapon made of thousands of nanomachines and minerals that have the capability to merge with a biological being, and are capable of mimicking a lost limb (as is the case with Kei, Takeshi, Hayato, and Ryo). Furthermore, each ‘ARMS’ has differing battle modes, which vary in appearance and use. Each ARMS also has several progressions of power, the last of which usually involves the ARMS covering the entire body of the user, making them look more or less like the Wonderland character they are named after.” — Wikipedia

Psycho-Pass

“Welcome to a world where just thinking about a crime is enough to enough to make you guilty. Bad intentions can no longer be hidden, and the police know exactly which tainted minds are about to cross over to the wrong side of the law. The great equalizer in the war on thugs is the Dominator, a futuristic weapon that can read minds and assess the risk that a citizen will turn criminal. Cops work in teams made up of Enforcers and Inspectors. Enforcers take out the bad guys, Inspectors stop their partners from going rogue, and the all-powerful Sibyl System keeps a watchful eye on us all.” — Amazon

Psycho-Pass: The Movie

“In a futuristic Japan, the Sibyl System is charged with keeping the peace. Using extensive surveillance and biological monitoring to gauge the likelihood that individuals will commit a crime, the police are able to use weapons called Dominators to remove potential criminals from the population before they become a problem. Confident with the success of the System within their own borders, the Japanese government has begun to export the technology to other countries, planning to ultimately spread the System across the globe.” — Amazon

Real Drive / Rd Sennou Chousashitsu

“Fifty years have passed since mankind developed the Network society. It was anticipated that this new infrastructure would realize a utopia where people connected with each other at the level of consciousness. However, new social problems such as personal data leaks and proliferation of manipulated information began to surface. Nevertheless, people still relied on the Network to exchange information, and proved unable to opt to abandon it. […] The Metal accommodated personal memory data within protected virtual stand-alone organic cyber enclaves called bubble shells and eventually pervaded the everyday lives of people.” — MyAnimeList

ReBoot

“The series follows the adventures of a Guardian named Bob and his companions Enzo and Dot Matrix as they work to keep the computer system of Mainframe safe from the viruses known as Megabyte and Hexadecimal. […] The setting is in the inner world of a computer system known by its inhabitants as Mainframe. It was deliberately chosen due to technological constraints at the time, as the fictional computer world allowed for blocky looking models and mechanical animation.” — Wikipedia

Renaissance

“The film opens in a future Paris with scenes establishing the kidnapping of 22-year-old scientist Ilona Tasuiev, who works for the megacorporation Avalon. The focus transitions to police captain Barthélémy Karas, as he defuses a hostage situation by killing the hostage-takers. Afterwards Karas is given the job of solving the mystery surrounding Ilona’s disappearance. Karas begins by contacting Dr. Jonas Muller, a former Avalon scientist familiar with her.” — Wikipedia

RoboCop: Alpha Commando

“The series is set in the year 2030, and deals with RoboCop being reactivated after five years offline to assist a federal high-tech group, ‘Alpha Division’ in their vigilance and struggle against DARC (Directorate for Anarchy, Revenge, and Chaos), a highly advanced terrorist organization and other forces of evil whenever that may be, globally or nationally.” — Wikipedia

RoboCop: The Animated Series

“Based on the original movie, the series features cyborg cop Alex Murphy (RoboCop), who fights to save the city of Old Detroit from assorted rogue elements, and on occasion, fighting to reclaim aspects of his humanity and maintain his usefulness in the eyes of the ‘Old Man’, Chairman of OCP.” — Wikipedia

Robot Carnival

“The opening takes place in a desert. A boy finds a small ‘coming soon’ poster advertising the Robot Carnival, and becomes frightened and agitated. He warns the people in his village, most likely to escape, when a huge machine with many robots performing in niches on its exterior grinds its way right over the village. Once a magnificent traveling showcase, it is now a decayed, rusted, malfunctioning, engine of destruction.” — Wikipedia

Roujin-Z

“The premise is simple: to ease the caring for the elderly, the government decides to experiment with automating said care, until the robot caretaker decides to take its charge on a trip to the beach! The result is both humorous and a biting commentary on how we view our elders.” — Amazon reviewer

Serial Experiments Lain

“Lain has neither the desire nor the experience to handle even basic technology; yet, when the technophobe opens the email, it leads her straight into the Wired, a virtual world of communication networks similar to what we know as the internet. Lain’s life is turned upside down as she begins to encounter cryptic mysteries one after another. […] With the boundaries between reality and cyberspace rapidly blurring, Lain is plunged into more surreal and bizarre events where identity, consciousness, and perception are concepts that take on new meanings.” — MyAnimeList

Silent Möbius

“In the future, Tokyo is a desolate place. After a massive earthquake, the city struggles to survive. The old city is in ruins. Acid rain falls from the sky. And worst of all, evil beings called Lucifer Hawk have invaded Earth to destroy humanity. Earth s last line of defense is a secret branch of the Police, the AMP. Its members include the psychic, Yuki, the cyborg Kiddy, the Shinto priestess Nami, the visionaire Lebia, and their chief, the mysterious Rally Cheyenne. But they’re about to get a new and powerful new member. Katsumi Liqueur, a woman with strange powers and a dark past, is about to join the fight.” — Amazon

Silent Möbius: The Motion Picture

“In a futuristic Tokyo, several policewomen fight a monster. One of them, Katsumi Liqueur, remembers where she saw it before… Katsumi Liqueur, an American-born woman of Japanese descent, travels to Tokyo to visit her mother, Fuyuka, who is sick in the hospital. She takes a shortcut through an alley after her taxi gets stuck in traffic, only to encounter a monster and two policewomen fighting it. Later, she meets their chief, Rally Cheyenne, who, it seems, has been expecting her, though Katsumi has never met her before. The policewomen want Katsumi to help them fight the monster, but Katsumi, who does not want to believe in magic, resists.” — MyAnimeList

Sin: The Movie

“Blade must unravel a series of mysterious kidnappings. As he delves into the city’s merciless underworld, an elaborate mystery unfold; at is heart, the SinTEK corporation and its leader, the ruthless and beautiful Elexis Sinclair. A Brilliant biochemist, Sinclair will stop at nothing to achieve her goal: a plan that could force the next step of human evolution-or spell doom for mankind.” — MyAnimeList

Solty Rei

“In a future-based disaster-ridden city with an enormous gap between the rich and the poor, it is hard to tell which humans are walking around with cybernetic body parts. This makes Roy Revant’s job as a renegade bounty hunter/bodyguard-for-hire even more difficult. […] Solty, an android who has lost her memory, has escaped and is being hunted by the RUC Security Bureau. She encounters the bounty hunter Roy and he adopts her as his daughter after being hired as a bodygaurd [sic] for Miranda.” — MyAnimeList

Spicy City

“The plot was described as a science fiction anthology series set in a futuristic city with a seamy side. Each episode is introduced by Raven, a nightclub hostess who also makes brief appearances in the tales.” — Wikipedia

Spriggan

“Many years ago, an ancient civilization known for their advanced technology once ruled Earth, but were destroyed in the end by their misuse. So, they left messages for later generations […] Various paramilitaries, national armies, and armed private forces began to secretly search for these ‘mysterious artifacts’ in order to be used for their own good and against their enemies. The ARCAM Corporation and their military arm, the ARCAM Private Army, can stop these forces from destroying themselves with their elite secret agents known as Spriggans (or Strikers).” — Wikipedia

Summer Wars

“Kenji spends most of his time hanging out in the all-powerful, online community known as OZ. His second life is the only life he has – until and encounter with the girl of his dreams, Natsuki, leads to the virtual adventure of a lifetime!” — Amazon

Technotise: Edit & I

“The plot is set in 2074 in Belgrade. The main character is Edit Stefanović, a female psychology student who, after failing the same university exam for the sixth time, decides to visit a dealer on the black market who installs a stolen military chip in her body that will record everything she sees to help pass the exam. Edit also has a job at a scientific and social research company, in taking care of Abel Mustafov, an autistic math genius who discovered a formula that connects all forces in the world, but no computer was able to calculate it fully without becoming self aware and shutting down immediately after that.” — Wikipedia

Texhnolyze

“Texhnolyze takes place in the city of Lux, a man-made underground city that has crumbled after years of neglect and lack of repairs. Citizens of Lux have come to refer to their home as simply ‘The City’ and treat it as though it has a mind and will of its own. Three major factions battle to control Lux: Organo, a group of “professionals” who collaborate with the criminal underworld that controls Texhnolyze (prosthetics), the Salvation Union, a populist group that seeks to disrupt Organo’s business, and Racan, a collection of young individuals with Texhnolyzes that use their abilities for personal gain.” — MyAnimeList

Time of EVE

“Influenced by the Robot Ethics Committee, it’s become common sense for people to treat androids like household appliances. Their appearance — indistinguishable from humans except for the ring over each android’s head — has led some people to empathize unnecessarily with androids. Known as ‘android-holics’, such people have become a social problem. Rikuo, a high school student, has been taught from childhood that androids are not to be viewed as humans, and has always used them as convenient tools. One day Rikuo discovers some strange data in the behavior records of his family’s household android, Sammy.” — Amazon

Tron: Uprising

“Beck is a young program, who becomes the leader of a revolution inside the computer world of the Grid against the villainous Clu and his henchmen. Beck, a mechanic, is trained by Tron, the greatest warrior the Grid has ever known. Tron not only trains Beck in the fighting and light cycle skills to challenge the brutal military occupation of the city of Argon, but also guides and mentors him to grow beyond his youthful, impulsive nature into a courageous and powerful leader. Beck adopts Tron’s persona and becomes the enemy of General Tesler and his oppressive forces.” — Wikipedia

Un-Go

“Un-Go is set in a war-torn Tokyo, in a near-future Japan. In response to Japan sending their military abroad as peacekeeping forces, terrorists launched multiple attacks on Japan, killing many people and destroying much of its cityscapes. Some time after the war receded to a period of uneasy peace, the Japanese Parliament passed the ‘Information Privacy and Protection Act’, which gives the Japanese government control over the Internet. Detective Shinjuurou Yuuki and his strange partner Inga make a living in solving crimes and exposing human souls, all influenced in some way by the dystopian backdrop.” — Wikipedia

Urbance

“The series follows Kenzell and Lesya, two characters apart of a lost generation of frustrated gangs in a dystopian future. In a community where sex is prohibited because of a deadly genetical virus, the community is split into two opposing sides of women and men. However, Kenzell’s and Lesya’s relationship spark a revolution, allowing authorities to become involved.” — Urbance Wiki

Vexille

“By the 2060s, robotics technology has become extremely advanced, including cybernetics. World opinion begins to turn against robotics, leading to the U.N. declaring a unilateral ban on further research in 2067. Japan, being home to robotics pioneer Daiwa Heavy Industries, strongly protests this ban, but is unable to prevent its passage. In protest, Japan withdraws from international politics. All foreigners are deported, and further immigration is prohibited.” — Wikipedia

Virus Buster Serge

“Neo Hong Kong, 2097: The world has changed. Advances in genetic engineering and cybernetics have created an environment full of artificially enhanced humans and intelligent super-computers that operate using biological software. But the same technology that has allowed man and machine to merge has made both susceptible to a new kind of threat—digital viruses capable of controlling their hosts.” — MyAnimeList

Omitted

• A Scanner Darkly (not anime)
• Armored Trooper VOTOMS (not cyberpunk)
• Ai City (not cyberpunk)
• Baoh (not cyberpunk)
• Batman Beyond (not anime)
• Biomega (manga, not anime)
• Bounty Dog (not cyberpunk)
• Burn Up! (not cyberpunk)
• C.O.P.S. (couldn’t find anything about it)
• Clover (manga, not anime)
• Cowboy Bebop (not cyberpunk)
• Cyborg 009 (manga, not anime)
• Dennō Bōkenki Webdiver (appears to not be cyberpunk)
• Desert Punk (not cyberpunk)
• Digimortal (manga, not anime)
• Dirty Pair: Project Eden (not cyberpunk)
• Eden: It’s an Endless World! (manga, not anime)
• Fight! Iczer-One (not cyberpunk)
• Gatchaman OVA (not cyberpunk)
• Jin-Roh (not cyberpunk)
• Junk: Record of the Last Hero (manga, not anime)
• Karasu Tengu Kabuto (not cyberpunk)
• Kamiyadori (manga, not anime)
• Last Order: Final Fantasy VII (not cyberpunk)
• The Choujo / Maris the Chojo (not cyberpunk)
• Mega Man: Upon a Star (not cyberpunk)
• NOiSE (manga, not anime)
• Ōban Star-Racers (not cyberpunk)
• Patlabor (I included the first movie, but most of Patlabor appears to be more mecha than cyberpunk)
• Phantom 2040 (not cyberpunk)
• Psycho Diver: Soul Siren (not cyberpunk)
• Techno Police 21C (not cyberpunk)
• Tekkonkinkreet (not cyberpunk)
• Twilight of the Dark Master (not cyberpunk)
• Viper’s Creed (not cyberpunk)
• Wonderful Days / Sky Blue (not cyberpunk)