Monsters, desolate planets, and battle royales. In these anime, characters are thrown into life or death situations of one kind or another.

Survival anime are exactly what they are! Characters are threatened with danger or death from the very environment in which they live. Whether through starvation, dehydration, asphyxiation, the power of the elements, the threat of attack from deadly wildlife, the world around the cast poses at least as much of a threat to life as does any humanoid enemy.

10. Danganronpa: The Animation

Only the most talented, innovative students get to attend Hope's Peak Academy. Acceptance is a great honor. The 15 students accepted into the academy that year are beyond excited. Their excitement quickly turns into shock when it is revealed that the students are trapped in the school.

The only way for them to escape is for one of them to successfully murder one of their classmates without being caught. If they are caught, they will be executed, and the rest will continue with the death match until a lone student remains. It's one hell of a high stakes school year.

9. Highschool of the Dead

The story revolves around a group of high school students trying to survive in a universe where the outbreak of a new plague has turned the majority of the population into zombies.

Highschool of the Dead is a show aimed for a wide base of audience, so it's likely that you will enjoy it no matter what you're into. We have a lot of blood, a lot of fights and a lot of fanservice.

8. Phantom: Requiem for the Phantom

This show revolves around the Mafia situated in America and how a Japanese tourist gets dragged into their world of assassination, death and cold murder. Given the code name Zwei, he has to fight in order to survive the new life that was forced onto him.

Even though the action scenes are great, especially for fans of guns and shootings, Phantom: Requiem for the Phantom focuses more on the relationship between the two main leads, Ein and Zwei.

7. Kaiji: Ultimate Survivor

Kaji is a good-for-nothing freeloader. One day, he discovers he has been tricked by a co-worker, and can't pay off a huge debt he is now responsible for. He is given a chance to redeem himself by participating in a gambling tournament of sorts on a cruise ship.

This one goes out to all those viewers that like survival anime but don't necessarily want to see too much blood or gore in general. Suspense is created through Kaiji's struggles and his constant attempt to find new techniques that could guarantee his victory.

6. Tokyo Magnitude 8.0

Two young children visit Tokyo for a robot exhibition, but their visit takes a terrifying turn when there is an 8.0 earthquake. Now the siblings hope to survive this tremendous force of nature, and the new, devastated Tokyo landscape.

As one of the more realistic anime on this list, Tokyo Magnitude 8.0 does a great job of portraying what sort of chaos may arise from this kind of natural disaster.

5. Deadman Wonderland

Imagine being trapped in a desolate place where people with weird blood-power are pitted against one another for an experiment's sake! That would be truly horrendous!

If you're looking for great action scenes and are not afraid of seeing blood then Deadman Wonderland is a strong recommendation. The design as well as the development of the main characters is really unique and great to watch.

4. Btooom!

Ryouta Sakamoto is a pro at the hit video game Btooom. What he didn't expect is he himself becoming a part of the game. One day he finds himself alone on an island equipped with some food and lots of bombs. His goal is to find the other players on the island and to eliminate them before they can kill him.

The special charm of Btooom! comes from the fact that the first episodes are already really dark. The anime shows blood, death and rape without disguising it. This show managed to keep me on my toes until the last episodes.

3. The Future Diary

Future Diary is just full of twists and surprises! Besides those, it's also action-packed, dramatic, and mind-boggling. It's truly a masterpiece to behold!

It follows the story of Yukiteru Amano and his engagement in a one-of-kind deadly survival game. The stakes are clear - the victor becomes the new god of space and time and gets everything he/she wants!

2. Sword Art Online

Sword Art Online is set in the near future where people are able to control personal avatars in an online universe with their brain waves. But our hero Kirigaya Kazuto soon realize that they are unable to log off. Their only chance is to fight for their survival.

Sword Art Online has good character design and a great soundtrack, and personally, I really enjoyed the action scenes.

1. Attack on Titan

Epic, monstrous, and gigantic in all its proportions, its title is known to many. Through amazing setting, action and plot, Attack on Titan portrays how terrifying it would be if Mankind was no longer at the top of the food chain.

This anime is an absolute spectacle where Humanity is faced with two equally terrifying choices: fight back against the seemingly un-killable creatures, or get devoured.

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