Top 10 Must-Watch Detective Anime Of All Time & Where To Watch Them!

Arthur Conan Doyle, with his creation of the famous detective Sherlock Holmes, introduced us to the world of a detective that made us fall in love with solving mysteries.

Inspired by his stories, many fictions have been brought into this world, including anime, which kept us intrigued by the detective genre forever.

Detective is someone who solves cases by gathering evidence at a crime scene to find out the perpetrator. Detectives can either work with the police force or can work privately.

So, let’s begin with the top 10 list of detective anime.

10. Lupin the Third

Lupin the Third is the most classic detective story accompanied by the most cunning thief.

Arsene Lupin was a high-profile thief known across the world. His notoriety is being carried on by his grandson Arsene Lupin III.

Besides attracting the crime branches and other rival criminals, the one who persistently chases Lupin III is Inspector Zenigata of the ICPO.

Fujiko Mine is the only woman in Lupin III’s life, whom he can’t distinguish as an enemy or an ally. Accompanied by his partner in crime, Daisuke Jigen, Lupin III sets out to conquer the world.

9. Detective School Q

Detective School Q displays an aspiring detective’s journey to becoming a real one.

Detective is the thing that intrigues Kyuu the most. With his talent for logic and reasoning, he comes across the Dan Detective School (DDS), where having firearms is allowed.

Joining the school, he makes friends with Megu, Kinta, Kazuma, and Ryuu, each with their own impressive skills like a photographic memory, martial arts, and programming.

Kyuu, with the help of his friends, tries to solve every mystery related to crime irrespective of its difficulty.

8. Bungou Stray Dogs

Bungou Stray Dogs is that extra topping on a pizza you always craved for.

Suspected of being the man behind the strange incidents in the orphanage, Atsushi Nakajima was kicked out from there, leaving him hungry and homeless.

While starving on the riverbank, he saves Osamu Dazai, a supernatural detective from drowning, who has been investigating the strange incident of the mystical tiger for which Atsushi was kicked out.

Bungo Stray Dogs - Coming Soon

After solving the mystery with Dazai’s partner Doppo Kunikida, Atsushi was forced into joining their firm of supernatural investigators, which deals with unusual cases.

7. Paranoia Agent

Paranoia Agent reminds you to not let your fears overpower your reality.

The city of Musashino is terrorized by Shounen Bat, who is beating down random people who are struggling in their lives.

Carrying a golden baseball bat and riding on rollerblades, Shounen Bat’s first victim is a character designer named Tsukiko Sagi, who is famous for Maromi, a pink stuffed animal.

Suspected as the one to be the first victim, detective Keiichi Ikari, and Mitsuhiro Maniwa soon realize that she might not be the one as incidents begin to happen all over the town. While investigating, they come across events that will haunt them until they solve this case.

6. ID: INVADED

ID: INVADED will win your heart with its originality and uniqueness in the mystery genre.

The Mizuhanome system is a highly-advanced development that allows humans to enter the mind of a criminal. The criminal’s unconscious mind creating an ID well helps the police to track down the culprits.

Akihito Narihisago, a brilliant detective upon ending on the wrong side of the law after seeking revenge from his daughter’s serial killer, helps the police squad by entering the well.

ID: INVADED | Official Trailer 3

While assisting them, Akihito realizes the unknowns of the serial killers he despises the most.

5. Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex

Ghost in the Shell skillfully displays the consequences of advancement in science.

Mankind has reached a period where anyone can turn their body into machines by complete body transplants.

While civilization advances towards a new direction, there is always a faction that takes the advantages of this technology for dangerous crimes.

For nullifying those crimes, the Japanese government has established an independently operating police unit called Section 9, which has been successful.

Until they were challenged by a new, A level hacker nicknamed “The Laughing Man” who has put the nation in a state of chaos.

4. Hyouka

Hyouka represents the subtlety of a detective’s mind through a uniquely satisfying story.

Houtarou Oreki’s motto in life is not to waste energy on something that doesn’t value much. The motto soon crumbles down before his eyes when he joins the Classics Club at his sister’s request.

The members of the Classics Club led by inquisitive Eru Chitanda drag him into investigating the 45-year-old mystery surrounding this club for his well-known detective skills.

Hyouka - Part One - Coming Soon

While investigating, Oreki finds himself solving each of the mysteries that come his way.

3. Monster

Monster will chase you to the depths of the abyss through its horrifying psychological portraiture.

After performing surgery on a boy named Johan Liebert instead of the mayor, Dr. Kenzou Tenma, an elite neurosurgeon, loses his social standing amongst the doctors.

That was followed by the break up with his engaged fiance, who was the hospital director’s daughter.

But soon, with the mysterious death of the director, Tenma’s position is being restored. Getting arrested as a suspect, he was quickly released due to a lack of evidence.

When faced by the horrors of that night, nine years later, he embarks on a journey to kill the monster he saved, who created havoc all around.

2. Death Note

Death Note is a bold illustration of the fine line between good and evil.

Getting bored with the Shinigami lifestyle, Ryuk drops his Death Note into the human realm to see how a human would use it. Light Yagami, a high school student, finds it.

After knowing its ability to kill people just by writing the name, he dreams of creating a world without criminals becoming a god himself.

Death Note | OFFICIAL TRAILER

Police, however, quickly discovering a serial killer, hires a young and eccentric man known only as L, who is the best detective in the world.

1. Detective Conan

Detective Conan (Case Closed) will make you solve the mysteries along with the smartest seven years old detective you will ever come across.

Shinichi Kudou is known for his excellent detective skills, still being a high schooler. While following two-man for their suspicious activities, he was caught by them.

After being force-fed an experimental drug by them, he was thought to be dead. But to his surprise, he found himself alive in the body of the seven-year-old self.

Not disclosing his identity to his childhood friend Ran Mouri, and her father, detective Kogoru Mouri, Shinichi takes the alias of Conan Edogawa, inspired by mystery writers, Arthur Conan Doyle and Ranpo Edogawa.

Heping Ran by solving the mysteries behind the scene, he pursues the organization to find the drug’s cure.

Honorable Mentions

There are few other detective series that will be worth your time, they are:

Heaven’s Memo Pad, The File of Young Kindaichi Returns, Un-Go.