Best tv shows like Woodpecker Detective's Office
Last updated March 2024
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Plot Summary:
It is the end of the Meiji Era. The genius poet Ishikawa Takuboku, who’s struggling financially, starts a detective business out of his lodging in response to a certain murder case. He calls it the Woodpecker Detective’s Office. “The ghosts of the Twelve-Story Tower in Asakusa,” “the man-eating figure who wanders the streets on snowy nights”… Takuboku involves himself in one bizarre case after another with his hometown acquaintance, Kindaichi Kyosuke, as his assistant. Other literary men such as Nomura Kodo, Yoshii Isamu, Hagiwara Sakutaro, and Wakayama Bokusui are also dragged into Takuboku’s exploits as he races all around Tokyo at the height of Westernization!.
IMDB Rating: 6.9
IMDB Votes: 67
Genere: Animation, History, Mystery
Country: Japan
Duration:
Plot tags: anime, psychological, intellectual, captivating, suspenseful, detective, odd
Best tv shows and movies like Woodpecker Detective's Office (2020):
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Elegant Yokai Apartment Life (2017)
Plot Summary:
The high school freshman Yūshi Inaba has to look for new place to live after his high school dormitory burnt down. Having no parents and wanting to live independently from his uncle, he eventually finds a cheap apartment for 25,000 yen called Kotobuki-sō, only to find out that the place has human and supernatural creatures such as ghosts, yōkai, and mononoke living together. There, Yūshi's new daily life begins.
IMDB Rating: 7.3
IMDB Votes: 56
Genere: Animation, Mystery
Country: Japan
Duration:
Plot tags: anime, urban fantasy
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Layton Mystery Detective Agency: Kat's Mystery‑Solving Files (2018)
Plot Summary:
The story is set in London and follows Katrielle as she solves mysteries with her talking dog Sherl.
IMDB Rating: 6.9
IMDB Votes: 37
Genere: Animation
Country: Japan
Duration:
Plot tags: anime, light, clever, intellectual, captivating, exciting, feel good, humorous, detective, shoujo
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18if (2017)
Plot Summary:
Haruto Tsukishiro wakes up in a dream world dominated by strange and powerful entities called Witches. To survive, he gets the assistance of research professor Katsumi Kanzaki and a mysterious white-haired girl called Lily. With their help, Haruto must outsmart the witches and find a way to return to the real world.
IMDB Rating: 5.2
IMDB Votes: 113
Genere: Animation, Mystery
Country: Japan
Duration: 23 min
Plot tags: anime, psychological, captivating, suspense, suspenseful, disturbing
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Vampire Holmes (2015)
Plot Summary:
While crowded in daytime, this London neighborhood has been haunted by a “vampire killer” for many nights. The protagonist wakes up in a residence, with a man calling himself "Holmes" and claiming to have entered the house chasing after a vampire. Unknowingly, the door of the residence has been locked from the outside.
IMDB Rating: 2.9
IMDB Votes: 39
Genere: Animation, Comedy, Mystery
Country: Japan
Duration: 3 min
Plot tags: anime, detective
Similar in 83%
Detective Opera Milky Holmes (2010)
Plot Summary:
Set in a futuristic world, there exist "Toys" which grant people superhuman abilities. This is responsible for a wave of crimes and necessitates employing Toy-using detectives to help solve them. Opera Kobayashi runs a detective agency, Milky Holmes, staffed by four aspiring young girl detectives who attend the Holmes Detective Academy, and each girl possesses their own unique Toy.
IMDB Rating: 6.7
IMDB Votes: 16
Genere: Animation, Adventure, Comedy, Mystery
Country: Japan
Duration:
Plot tags: anime, shoujo, exciting, captivating, entertaining, semi serious, detective
Similar in 79%
The Case Files of Jeweler Richard (2020)
Plot Summary:
The novel follows Richard Ranashinha Dvorpian, a handsome British jewelry appraiser, and Seigi Nakata, a bright and upright Japanese college student. The duo solves various jewel-related cases by unraveling the hidden.
IMDB Rating: 6.8
IMDB Votes: 220
Genere: Animation, Mystery
Country: Japan
Duration: 23 min
Plot tags: anime, captivating, entertaining
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Case File N° 221: Kabukicho (2019)
Plot Summary:
Shinjuku ward east side... The center of the street with most chaos, There's a Kabukicho with full of neon lights. When the light is stronger, the shadow is deeper. The story begins when certain bizarre murder happens one night! Suspense? Or Comedy? Drama that cannot identify begins!.
IMDB Rating: 6.2
IMDB Votes: 227
Genere: Animation, Comedy, Drama, Mystery
Country: Japan
Duration: 24 min
Plot tags: anime, psychological, intellectual, captivating, suspenseful, detective, odd
Similar in 75%
Chaos;Child (2017)
Plot Summary:
ChäoS;Child takes place in October 2015, six years after the events of ChäoS;HEAd. Abnormal events begin to occur in Shibuya district, including mysterious deaths.
IMDB Rating: 5.6
IMDB Votes: 168
Genere: Animation, Mystery, Sci-Fi
Country: Japan
Duration: 24 min
Plot tags: anime, psychological, tense, enigmatic, captivating, disturbing
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Phi Brain: Puzzle of God (2011)
Plot Summary:
Phi Brain: Puzzle of God is a 2011 Japanese anime television series produced by Sunrise. The first two series aired on NHK Educational TV between October 2011 and September 2012, with a third season to begin airing in October 2013. The series is directed by Junichi Sato with script supervision by Mayori Sekijima. Hajime Yatate, the collective penname for the creative staff at Sunrise, is credited with the original story. The anime has been licensed in North America by Sentai Filmworks. A manga adaptation by Yoshiki Togawa began serialization in Kadokawa Shoten's Newtype Ace magazine from November 2011. A PlayStation Portable video game by Arc System Works was released on May 31, 2012.
IMDB Rating: 6.1
IMDB Votes: 131
Genere: Animation, Action, Adventure, Mystery
Country: Japan
Duration:
Plot tags: anime, exciting, clever, serious, stylized, psychological, mind bending, suspenseful, shounen, super sentai
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Mononoke (2007)
Plot Summary:
Mononoke is a spin-off of the Bakeneko story arc of Ayakashi - Japanese Classic Horror. It follows the Medicine Seller as he deals with various spirits or "Mononoke" in feudal Japan. Just like in the Bakeneko story, he combats with a series of tools and his vast knowledge of the supernatural on his side, but can only slay the Mononoke when he uncovers its form (Katachi), the truth behind its appearance (Makoto) and the reason for its unusual behavior (Kotowari). In other words : Truth, Form and Regret.
IMDB Rating: 8.2
IMDB Votes: 3000
Genere: Animation, Fantasy, Horror, Mystery
Country: Japan
Duration: 25 min
Plot tags: anime, captivating, tense, suspense, adult animation, deep, seinen, manga, bizarre
Similar in 76%
House of Five Leaves (2010)
Plot Summary:
Rônin Akitsu Masanosuke is a skilled swordsman, but his personality often causes him to be let go from his job. One day he encounters Yaichi, the leader of a group calling itself "Five Leaves" and takes a job from him as a bodyguard. Though he is worried about their intentions, he feels there is something more to the group and agrees to work with them.
IMDB Rating: 7.6
IMDB Votes: 613
Genere: Animation, Drama, History, Mystery
Country: Japan
Duration: 23 min
Plot tags: anime, tense, captivating, disturbing, seinen
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Red Garden (2006)
Plot Summary:
Four students of the same age have nothing in common except that they attend the same elite New York City school. Kate, Rose, Clare and Rachel all belong to different cliques and hardly notice each other's existence. Then one day they gain something in common, something very important, something mysterious. They find themselves drawn together by the death of a fellow student and the secret of their own missing memories. Suddenly they are thrown into a world of hidden warfare on the city streets and are caught up in secrets which would not be believed by others. These four all have their own problems to struggle with, things that seem more important than such strange conflicts. Can they escape from this fate? The only thing they know is that despite coming from four different worlds they now have to rely on each other or die without a hope.
IMDB Rating: 6.6
IMDB Votes: 210
Genere: Animation, Drama, Horror, Mystery, Thriller
Country: Japan
Duration:
Plot tags: anime, scary, atmospheric, serious, suspenseful, mind bending, gloomy
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Holmes of Kyoto (2018)
Plot Summary:
Holmes, a young man whose family runs an antique shop in Kyoto, has the unique ability to read people and instantly distinguish genuine and high value antiques. When a local high school student, Aoi Maki, starts working alongside Holmes, together they begin to unravel the many mysteries surrounding the antiques brought to the shop.
IMDB Rating: 6.7
IMDB Votes: 185
Genere: Animation, Drama, Mystery
Country: Japan
Duration:
Plot tags: anime, psychological, tense, captivating, suspenseful, disturbing, semi serious
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Ayakashi: Samurai Horror Tales (2006)
Plot Summary:
A collection of three classic Japanese horror stories: "Yotsuya Kaidan," the story of a wife betrayed by her husband who seeks vengeance even in death, "Tenshu Monogatari," the story of forbidden love between a goddess and a human, and "Bakeneko," the story of a mysterious cat monster with a vendetta against a certain family.
IMDB Rating: 7.3
IMDB Votes: 638
Genere: Animation, Fantasy, Horror, Mystery
Country: Japan
Duration: 25 min
Plot tags: anime, anthology, psychological, captivating, atmospheric, unusual plot structure
Similar in 76%
Pretty Boy Detective Club (2021)
Plot Summary:
Mayumi Dojima, a second-year student at the exclusive Yubiwa Academy middle school, has lost something—a star she glimpsed just once, ten long years ago. But help is on the way, in the form of the unofficial, secretive, and thoroughly mysterious Pretty Boy Detective Club! Rumored to solve problems within the school (most of which they themselves might as well created) for reasons aesthetic rather than financial, these five gorgeous boys sweep Mayumi into their world of excitement, danger, and overwhelming beauty.
IMDB Rating: 6.4
IMDB Votes: 182
Genere: Animation, Mystery
Country: Japan
Duration:
Plot tags: anime, feel good, humorous, captivating, entertaining
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The Perfect Insider (2015)
Plot Summary:
Souhei Saikawa is a college professor who is obsessed with genius Shiki Magata’s work. He, Moe Nishinosono, and a group of his other students plan a retreat to the remote island where Magata currently resides, which may put them in danger’s way.
IMDB Rating: 6.7
IMDB Votes: 447
Genere: Animation, Mystery, Thriller
Country: Japan
Duration: 23 min
Plot tags: anime, tense, enigmatic, captivating, suspense, disturbing, detective, super sentai, psychological
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Heaven's Memo Notepad (2011)
Plot Summary:
Narumi Fujishima is an ordinary high school boy who remains isolated from his fellow classmates. One afternoon fellow classmate Ayaka Shinozaki invites Narumi to join the gardening club and introduces him to a reclusive detective named Alice. Alice hires Narumi as an assistant and puts him to work solving the strange mysteries of Angel fix, an illegal drug. Little does he know it could put him and Ayaka in serious trouble.
IMDB Rating: 6.6
IMDB Votes: 288
Genere: Animation, Drama, Mystery
Country: Japan
Duration: 30 min
Plot tags: anime, seinen, captivating, entertaining, psychological, tense, detective, humorous, realistic, suspenseful
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Pet (2020)
Plot Summary:
The psychic suspense story revolves around people who possess the ability to infiltrate people's minds and manipulate memories. Their powers have been used in the underworld for covering up incidents, assassinations, and other deeds. These powers can not only destroy other people's spirits, but also corrupt the users' own hearts at the same time. The users had to protect their fragile and insecure hearts, as if chained to each other. They are called "pets" out of fear and despising.
IMDB Rating: 6.3
IMDB Votes: 278
Genere: Animation, Crime, Mystery
Country: Japan
Duration: 23 min
Plot tags: anime, seinen, psychological, tense, unusual plot structure, captivating, suspense, suspenseful, contemplative
Similar in 81%
Cop Craft (2019)
Plot Summary:
15 years ago, an unknown hyperspace gate opened over the Pacific. Beyond this gate lies Reto Semaani, a strange alternate world where fairies and monsters live. San Teresa City—a city where over two million immigrants live from both worlds. As a result, there are the haves and the have-nots. Here is the world's newest "city of dreams." But in the shadow of the chaos, crime is rampant: drugs, prostitution, and weapon trafficking. The detectives who stand up to these heinous crimes are in the San Teresa City Police. When the detective Kei Matoba and the alternate-world knight Tirana—two individuals who differ in gender, personality, and even world of origin—meet, an incident erupts. Two worlds. Two justices. From this, the curtain rises on a buddy police action story!.
IMDB Rating: 6.6
IMDB Votes: 469
Genere: Animation, Action, Crime, Sci-Fi
Country: Japan
Duration: 23 min
Plot tags: anime, psychological, atmospheric, suspenseful, stylized
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We Rent Tsukumogami (2018)
Plot Summary:
The series is set during the Edo period, in the Fukagawa ward of old Edo (present-day Tokyo). Because the area is prone to fire and flooding, residents rent everyday items like pots, futons, and clothing from shops instead of purchasing them, so as not to impede them when they flee. Obeni and Seiji, an older sister and younger brother, run one such rental shop called Izumoya. However, mixed in with their inventory are tsukumogami, objects that have turned into spirits after a hundred years of existence. The siblings sometimes lend these sentient items to customers. Both Obeni and Seiji can see and talk to these spirits, and other tsukumogami often come to the store after hearing of the famed siblings.
IMDB Rating: 7.0
IMDB Votes: 33
Genere: Animation, Fantasy
Country: Japan
Duration:
Plot tags: anime, psychological, sincere, captivating, entertaining, contemplative, unusual plot structure
Similar in 81%
The Millionaire Detective: Balance - Unlimited (2020)
Plot Summary:
The story centers around millionaire Daisuke Kambe, the heir to one of the wealthiest families in Japan, who is assigned as a detective to the Modern Crime Prevention Task Force (aka MCPTF), at the Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department. Taking full advantage of his vast family wealth, he spares no expense in solving complex crimes, and has the tendency to evaluate everything including individual human lives in terms of their monetary value. Haru Kato, a detective with a compassionate heart who believes that money isn’t everything, is chosen as Kambe’s partner but is repulsed by his materialistic attitude. Having diametrically opposing personalities, witness how the two join forces to tackle seemingly unsolvable crimes and mysteries!.
IMDB Rating: 7.3
IMDB Votes: 2000
Genere: Animation, Crime, Drama
Country: Japan
Duration: 23 min
Plot tags: anime, psychological, captivating, suspense, suspenseful, tense, detective, unusual plot structure
Similar in 87%
Mythical Detective Loki Ragnarok (2003)
Plot Summary:
Loki, the Norse god of mischief, has been exiled to the human world for what was apparently was a bad joke. Along with being exiled, he’s forced to take the form of a child. He’s told the only way he can get back to the world of the gods is if he can collect auras of evil that take over human hearts, and so to do this he runs a detective agency. Loki is soon joined by a human girl named Mayura who is a maniac for mysteries, and she soon helps out in her own way. However, soon other Norse gods begin to appear, and most have the intent to assassinate Loki for reasons unclear.
IMDB Rating: 6.6
IMDB Votes: 147
Genere: Animation, Comedy, Family, Fantasy, Mystery
Country: Japan
Duration:
Plot tags: anime, exciting, serious, suspenseful, stylized, manga, detective
Similar in 85%
The Skull Man (2007)
Plot Summary:
Otomo City: where freedom and justice have atrophied to the bone; where conspiracy rules the day and death stalks the night... Death in the form of the Skull Man, a literal Grim Reaper whose skeletal grin presages grisly mayhem and murder, even to the monstrous mutants that haunt the city's underworlds! To investigate a bizarre slaying, journalist Minagami Hayato and photographer Kiriko Mamiya must stalk this ultimate predator, through a festering cadaver of a city where the corruption flows in rivers as deep and foul as the sins of the reigning elite, and unearth a secret so shocking that an entire city has been turned into a tomb to contain! In a nightmarish necropolis where nothing is as it seems, vengeance comes in the form of a living Death's-Head!.
IMDB Rating: 6.7
IMDB Votes: 85
Genere: Animation, Action, Horror, Mystery, Sci-Fi
Country: Japan
Duration: 25 min
Plot tags: anime, tense, suspenseful, captivating, exciting, scary, rough, serious
Similar in 83%
Kemono Jihen (2021)
Plot Summary:
When a series of animal bodies that rot away after a single night begin appearing in a remote mountain village, Inugami, a detective from Tokyo who specializes in the occult, is called to investigate. While working the case, he befriends a strange boy who works in the field every day instead of going to school. Shunned by his peers and nicknamed “Dorotabō” after a yokai that lives in the mud, he helps Inugami uncover the truth behind the killings — but supernatural forces are at work, and while Dorotabō is just a nickname, it might not be the only thing about the boy that isn’t human.
IMDB Rating: 7.3
IMDB Votes: 2000
Genere: Animation, Action, Fantasy, Horror, Mystery
Country: Japan
Duration: 24 min
Plot tags: anime, detective, shounen, atmospheric, suspenseful, stylized, suspense
Similar in 85%
Psychic Detective Yakumo (2010)
Plot Summary:
In order to help a friend possessed by a spirit, Ozawa Haruka knocks on the door of her university's movie research association. There she meets Saitou Yakumo, a rude, unkempt young man with a red left eye, who is said to have spiritual powers. At first Haruka is skeptical, but she comes to believe him when he conveys messages from her older sister, who died when she was a child. Together, they work to shed light on the terrifying events happening at their university. But this is only the prologue of what's to come.
IMDB Rating: 6.6
IMDB Votes: 350
Genere: Animation, Mystery, Thriller
Country: Japan
Duration:
Plot tags: anime, serious, mind bending, suspenseful, stylized, captivating, atmospheric, bleak, humorous, detective
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ID: INVADED (2020)
Plot Summary:
Sakaido is a genius detective who can track down any criminal. But when his daughter is murdered, revenge lands him on the other side of the law. Now in prison, he helps the police solve mysteries using a system that invades a person’s identity. Little by little, a trail of blood forms, and it all leads back to his daughter’s murderer.
IMDB Rating: 7.5
IMDB Votes: 3000
Genere: Animation, Crime, Drama, Mystery, Sci-Fi, Thriller
Country: Japan
Duration: 24 min
Plot tags: anime, disturbing, tense, enigmatic, captivating, suspense, detective, psychological thriller
Similar in 89%
Paranoia Agent (2004)
Plot Summary:
The infamous Shounen Bat (Lil' Slugger) is terrorizing the residents of Musashino City. Flying around on his rollerblades and beating people down with a golden baseball bat, the assailant seems impossible to catch—much less understand. His first victim, the well-known yet timid character designer Tsukiko Sagi, is suspected of orchestrating the attacks. Believed only by her anthropomorphic pink stuffed animal, Maromi, Tsukiko is just one of Shounen Bat's many victims. As Shounen Bat continues his relentless assault on the town, detectives Keiichi Ikari and Mitsuhiro Maniwa begin to investigate the identity of the attacker. However, more and more people fall victim to the notorious golden bat, and news of the assailant begins circulating around the town. Paranoia starts to set in as chilling rumors spread amongst adults and children alike. Will the two detectives be able to unravel the truth behind Shounen Bat, or will the paranoia get to them first?.
IMDB Rating: 8.0
IMDB Votes: 14000
Genere: Animation, Drama, Horror, Mystery, Thriller
Country: Japan
Duration: 25 min
Plot tags: anime, psychological, mind bending, suspenseful, disturbing, scary, bleak, serious, surreal, adult animation
Similar in 89%
Tactics (2004)
Plot Summary:
Tactics is a Japanese manga series written as a collaboration between Sakura Kinoshita and Kazuko Higashiyama. It was serialized in Comic Blade Masamune. Kinoshita supplied the character "Kantarou," and Higashiyama supplied the character "Haruka." While the manga was previously licensed for released in English in paperback by both ADV Manga and Tokyopop, the manga is now only available in English in digital format on JManga. The animation studio Studio Deen adapted the Tactics manga into a 25-episode anime series, which ran on Japanese television from October 5, 2004 to March 29, 2005. The English dub of the anime was distributed by Manga Entertainment in the United States, Canada and the United Kingdom.
IMDB Rating: 6.7
IMDB Votes: 113
Genere: Animation, Action, Adventure, Comedy, Drama, Fantasy, History, Horror, Mystery
Country: Japan
Duration:
Plot tags: anime, exciting, serious, suspenseful, captivating, shounen
Similar in 89%
Dr. Ramune: Mysterious Disease Specialist (2021)
Plot Summary:
So long as people have hearts, there will be those with worries and concerns. Those hearts are then invaded by something strange, causing them to show strange physical symptoms. These ailments, called "mysterious diseases," exist unseen to most people. Modern medicine offers no cure, but there is one doctor who fights these diseases along with his pupils. His name is Ramune. He looks nothing like a doctor, is foul-mouthed, and does whatever he pleases, but he has the ability to pinpoint the cause of the troubles hidden deep within his patients' hearts and cure their mysterious diseases.
IMDB Rating: 6.7
IMDB Votes: 194
Genere: Animation, Drama, Fantasy, Mystery
Country: Japan
Duration: 24 min
Plot tags: anime, psychological, tense, captivating, suspense, suspenseful, contemplative, shounen, satirical, 2d animation
Similar in 89%
Amatsuki (2008)
Plot Summary:
Ordinary high school student, Rikugou Tokidoki, has to take supplementary History classes, to boost his failing grade, at a state-of-the-art museum. This museum allows the visitor to use high-tech virtual reality to reconstruct a realistic Edo of the Bakumatsu period. However, once the simulation begins, Tokidoki is attacked by a strange creature. After something happens to his left eye, he realizes that he is not wearing the VR goggles - it is no longer a simulation; he's trapped in the virtual world and has no way of getting back.
IMDB Rating: 6.3
IMDB Votes: 125
Genere: Animation, Action, Adventure, Fantasy, History
Country: Japan
Duration: 23 min
Plot tags: anime, exciting, serious, captivating, humorous, shoujo