Mystery (778)

Whether its solving a crime or finding an explanation for a puzzling circumstance, the main cast willingly or reluctantly become investigators who must work to answer the who, what, why, and/or how of the current dilemma. The narrative of mystery stories is always on collecting evidence, identifying suspects, and theorizing possible scenarios for the unexplainable, before finally capturing the perpetrator or resolving the current situation. Almost always, the audience has the same information as the main characters and anticipation is directed towards discovering the explanation, not what will transpire after the answer is found. Contrast with Suspense or Horror where often the audience has more information than the cast, which heightens the tension or fear of what will happen next.

Detective Conan

Detective Conan

Detective Conan

Shinichi Kudou, a high school student of astounding talent in detective work, is well known for having solved several challenging cases. One day, when Shinichi spots two suspicious men and decides to follow them, he inadvertently becomes witness to a disturbing illegal activity. Unfortunately, he is caught in the act, so the men dose him with an experimental drug formulated by their criminal organization, leaving him to his death. However, to his own astonishment, Shinichi lives to see another day, but now in the body of a seven-year-old child.

Perfectly preserving his original intelligence, he hides his real identity from everyone, including his childhood friend Ran Mouri and her father, private detective Kogorou Mouri. To this end, he takes on the alias of Conan Edogawa, inspired by the mystery writers Arthur Conan Doyle and Ranpo Edogawa.
Detective Conan follows Shinichi who, as Conan, starts secretly solving the senior Mouri's cases from behind the scenes with his still exceptional sleuthing skills, while covertly investigating the organization responsible for his current state, hoping to reverse the drug's effects someday.

Jan 8, 1996 to ? | Unknown eps | Publishing

Gankutsuou

Gankutsuou

Gankutsuou

In the year 5053, French aristocrats Viscount Albert de Morcerf and Baron Franz d'Epinay attend the festival of Carnival on the moon city of Luna. While Franz is just looking to have fun, Albert is seeking something more to fill his life—but he finds more than he bargained for in The Count of Monte Cristo, a mysterious and charming self-made nobleman who meets his gaze during an opera performance.

Through a few twists and turns, Albert befriends the Count and introduces him into French society. The Count, however, has more on his mind than just friendship; he plots to finally unleash his vengeance on those who wronged him years earlier. Gankutsuou follows Albert and the Count's intertwined destinies and the ultimate price paid for enacting revenge.

Oct 6, 2004 to Mar 30, 2005 | 24 eps | Publishing

Matantei Loki Ragnarok

Matantei Loki Ragnarok

Matantei Loki Ragnarok

Loki, the Norse god of mischief, has been exiled to the human world for what was apparently 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.
(Source: ANN)
Apr 5, 2003 to Sep 27, 2003 | 26 eps | Publishing

Gallery Fake

Gallery Fake

Gallery Fake

Fujita Reiji is the owner of an art gallery, Gallery Fake. He deals with fake items, and is also familiar with the black market. However, he has a special talent for art, and used to work for the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York as a curator.

(Source: ANN)
Jan 9, 2005 to Sep 25, 2005 | 37 eps | Publishing

Fake

Fake

Fake

New York Police Department partners Dee Laytner and Randy "Ryo" Maclean are on a vacation in the English countryside—which Dee has sneakily set up as an opportunity to seduce Ryo. As romantic tensions steadily build, Ryo spots a dead body floating in an otherwise tranquil lake. With their intimate holiday suddenly interrupted, the pair must decide what they think is more important: solving a case or each other.

Apr 21, 1998 | 1 eps | Publishing

Boogiepop wa Warawanai

Boogiepop wa Warawanai

Boogiepop wa Warawanai

Five years ago, a string of grisly murders shook the city to its core and now the rumors have begun once more. Boogiepop... Everyone knows about Boogiepop: meet her one dark night and you are taken. People tell each other the stories and laugh: no one believes that she can possibly exist in this day and age. Still, strange things appear to be going on and the darkness is taking on many forms. Something is out there. Are you safe?

(Source: RightStuf)
Jan 5, 2000 to Mar 22, 2000 | 12 eps | Publishing

.hack//Liminality

.hack//Liminality

.hack//Liminality

While playing the newly released MMORPG "The World," Minase Mai and Tomonari Kasumi collapsed in the real world and were sent to the hospital after hearing a mysterious sound. Only Mai had recovered while her friend Kasumi had slipped into a mysterious coma. Mai is later approached by the creator of "The World," Tokuoka Junichiro, who unveils to her that, just like her friend, six other players across the country had also collapsed while playing "The World" and are now in mysterious comas. What exactly is "The World," what is this mysterious sound Mai keeps on hearing, and why are people slipping into comas from this game? Minase, Junichiro and their acquaintances set off to get to the bottom of this problem before any further harm happens.

Jun 20, 2002 to Apr 10, 2003 | 4 eps | Publishing

Zettai Shounen

Zettai Shounen

Zettai Shounen

Oftentimes, people are most vulnerable when they are lonely and unable to get along with those around them. Isolation is felt more keenly amongst a crowd, so some will try to find solace in the strangest of places, where the unknown lurks. Such people include Ayumu Aizawa, a former city boy now living in the countryside of Tana, and Kisa Tanigawa, a young girl who has a hard time relating to others. What these two share in common is a feeling that their life has gone astray.
Zettai Shounen tells a story of strange phenomena affecting two different settings, with no explanations of their origin or sudden appearance. All that is known is that these phenomena seem to center on individuals with mixed emotions toward themselves and others.

May 21, 2005 to Nov 19, 2005 | 26 eps | Publishing

Serial Experiments Lain

Serial Experiments Lain

Serial Experiments Lain

Lain Iwakura, an awkward and introverted fourteen-year-old, is one of the many girls from her school to receive a disturbing email from her classmate Chisa Yomoda—the very same Chisa who recently committed suicide. 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. Strange men called the Men in Black begin to appear wherever she goes, asking her questions and somehow knowing more about her than even she herself knows. 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.

Written by Chiaki J. Konaka, whose other works include Texhnolyze, Serial Experiments Lain is a psychological avant-garde mystery series that follows Lain as she makes crucial choices that will affect both the real world and the Wired. In closing one world and opening another, only Lain will realize the significance of their presence.

Jul 6, 1998 to Sep 28, 1998 | 13 eps | Publishing

Spiral: Suiri no Kizuna

Spiral: Suiri no Kizuna

Spiral: Suiri no Kizuna

Ayumu Narumi has lived all his life in the shadow of his famous detective brother, Kiyotaka. However, Kiyotaka disappeared two years ago, leaving behind his wife Madoka and Ayumu himself, along with a cryptic message about the "Blade Children."

One day, a girl at Ayumu's school suddenly dies. What seemed like a suicide at first glance turns out to be a murder, and Ayumu is the prime suspect. While investigating the person responsible for framing him, he discovers that the mysterious Blade Children are involved—and they somehow know Kiyotaka personally. Ayumu soon finds out just how dangerous the Blade Children are and learns that, in reality, he and Kiyotaka are intertwined more closely than he had ever believed.

Oct 1, 2002 to Mar 25, 2003 | 25 eps | Publishing

Haibane Renmei

Haibane Renmei

Haibane Renmei

Born from a cocoon in the village of Old Home, a young Haibane—a being with a halo and small gray wings—awakens to a world she does not understand without memories of her past. Named Rakka for the dream of falling she had while inside the cocoon, she soon becomes accustomed to life in the strange town. However, there are strict rules for the Haibane, such as being forbidden to leave the village or go near the walls surrounding it. These, along with mysterious disappearances of their kind on their "Day of Flight," begin to unsettle Rakka and the others since they know almost nothing about their own kind.
Haibane Renmei tells not only Rakka's story but also of those around her, as they live their lives with no memories of the past while trying to break free from their former pain and ultimately find salvation.

Oct 10, 2002 to Dec 19, 2002 | 13 eps | Publishing

Tantei Gakuen Q

Tantei Gakuen Q

Tantei Gakuen Q

Kyuu is your average boy with a knack for logic and reasoning. Desiring to become a detective, he finds out about the existence of the Dan Detective School (DDS); a famed school where students are allowed to bear arms. Together with Megu, a girl with photographic memory, the martial arts master Kinta, the genius programmer Kazuma and the mysterious Ryuu, Kyuu tackles many well planned out crimes, always seeking the truth.
Apr 15, 2003 to Mar 20, 2004 | 45 eps | Publishing

Fantastic Children

Fantastic Children

Fantastic Children

A group of enigmatic white-haired children has been spotted at different times and places in Europe for over 500 years. Always with the appearance of 11-year-olds, they behave far more mature than they should be, never grow old, and seem to have supernatural power. What they have been seeking is a girl, and the only clue they have is a picture with a crescent moon. Now, in the year of 2012, an athletic boy named Tohma is about to be involved in this centuries-long mystery.

(Source: ANN)
Oct 5, 2004 to Mar 29, 2005 | 26 eps | Publishing

Yami to Boushi to Hon no Tabibito

Yami to Boushi to Hon no Tabibito

Yami to Boushi to Hon no Tabibito

Hatsuki is a highschool student living with her sister, Hatsumi, who she has a huge crush on. On Hatsumi's 16th birthday, she is suddenly surrounded by a green light and disappears in front of Hatsuki. She manages to follow Hatsumi with the help of a being resembling a fat baby chick (literally), ending up in a place called "The Great Library", which is full of different worlds stored in books. Hatsumi wasn't there, though, so the search for Hatsuki's great love begins and involves traveling from book to book.
(Source: AniDB)
Oct 2, 2003 to Dec 25, 2003 | 13 eps | Publishing

Ayakashi: Japanese Classic Horror

Ayakashi: Japanese Classic Horror

Ayakashi: Japanese Classic Horror

Jan 13, 2006 to Mar 24, 2006 | 11 eps | Publishing

Shoujo Kakumei Utena

Shoujo Kakumei Utena

Shoujo Kakumei Utena

Years ago, a tragic incident befell a young princess when both her parents died. Devastated, it seemed nothing would calm this poor soul. However, a prince traveling through the area came to see the princess, hoping to cheer her up. After wiping her sorrowful tears, the prince gave her a ring carrying a rose emblem and told her as long as she holds onto the ring, they are destined to meet again. The event leaves a deep impression on the girl, Utena Tenjou, leading her to become a prince herself.

Years later, Utena attends Ootori Academy, recognized by the same rose emblem as her precious ring's. There, attracted by the scent of roses, she witnesses Anthy Himemiya tending the flowers, accompanied by the Student Council President Touga Kiryuu and Vice President Kyouichi Saionji, who seem to be arguing over Anthy. While Utena thinks nothing of the occurrence, the Student Council gathers to discuss an important matter.

Subsequently, a misunderstanding leads to Utena being dragged into the world of Duelists—those with rings similar to her own. The Duelists fight for the ownership of the Rose Bride, Anthy Himemiya, who is said to possess great power. Wanting to prove her capabilities as a prince, and enraged that Anthy is being wronged and objectified, Utena resolves to fight against the Duelists to save her from the cruel fate.

Apr 2, 1997 to Dec 24, 1997 | 39 eps | Publishing

Mushishi (Mushi

Mushishi (Mushi

Mushishi (Mushi

"Mushi": the most basic forms of life in the world. They exist without any goals or purposes aside from simply "being." They are beyond the shackles of the words "good" and "evil." Mushi can exist in countless forms and are capable of mimicking things from the natural world such as plants, diseases, and even phenomena like rainbows.

This is, however, just a vague definition of these entities that inhabit the vibrant world of Mushishi, as to even call them a form of life would be an oversimplification. Detailed information on Mushi is scarce because the majority of humans are unaware of their existence.

So what are Mushi and why do they exist? This is the question that a "Mushishi," Ginko, ponders constantly. Mushishi are those who research Mushi in hopes of understanding their place in the world's hierarchy of life.

Ginko chases rumors of occurrences that could be tied to Mushi, all for the sake of finding an answer.

It could, after all, lead to the meaning of life itself.

Oct 23, 2005 to Jun 19, 2006 | 26 eps | Publishing

The Big O

The Big O

The Big O

Paradigm City, a city of amnesia and a place of belonging. It remains populated by forgotten pasts and the ruins of their labors due to a calamity 40 years ago. Shrouded in a fog-like mystery, it is up to people like Roger Smith to shine a light through the mist. Acting as a professional negotiator and suave agent, Roger is a self-tailored ladies man whose only love is for funeral black. However, as he gets deeply involved with his clients, what often starts as a simple negotiation evolves into Roger saving Paradigm from crime and peril.

In the process, Roger stumbles even deeper into the untold folds of the city. As a rule, things are hardly ever as they appear. Serving as gray knight in a gray world, Roger is not without allies. By his side are Norman, a loyal and widely skilled butler, and Dorothy, a human-like android with deadpan snark. Together with the relic Big O, a jet-black mecha of gargantuan size and weight, they help Roger serve iron justice to Paradigm's lurking villains as he discovers the truth about 40 years ago.

Oct 13, 1999 to Mar 27, 2003 | 26 eps | Publishing

X OVA

X OVA

X OVA

In this prequel to the "X" TV series, a beautiful, young, bedridden dreamgazer named Kakyou remembers the life and death of a remarkable young woman whom he met in dreams. He also recounts his dreams of a tragic future in which the fate of the Earth will be decided.

(Source: ANN)
Aug 25, 2001 | 1 eps | Publishing

Takahashi Rumiko Gekijou Ningyo no Mori

Takahashi Rumiko Gekijou Ningyo no Mori

Takahashi Rumiko Gekijou Ningyo no Mori

According to an ancient legend, mermaid's flesh can grant immortality if eaten. 500 years ago, Yuta unknowingly ate a piece of mermaid's flesh. For centuries, he travels across Japan, hoping to find a mermaid, thinking she may be able to make him a normal human again. When he finally finds one, he discovers that she and her companions have been raising a girl to be their food so they can eat her and take on her youthful looks. That is how mermaids stay young. Yuta kills the mermaids and rescues her, but she has already eaten some of the mermaid's flesh. Although he had to kill the mermaids, Yuta isn't too disappointed. Yuta's once lonely existence is now over, as he has found a companion in Mana. And Mana, who had been trapped in a small hut her whole life, finds delight in even the simplest of things. Together, Yuta and Mana attempt to seek out more mermaids, trying to become normal humans again.

(Source: ANN)
Oct 5, 2003 to Dec 21, 2003 | 13 eps | Publishing

Night Walker: Mayonaka no Tantei

Night Walker: Mayonaka no Tantei

Night Walker: Mayonaka no Tantei

Jul 9, 1998 to Sep 23, 1998 | 12 eps | Publishing

Detective Conan Movie 01: The Timed Skyscraper

Detective Conan Movie 01: The Timed Skyscraper

Detective Conan Movie 01: The Timed Skyscraper

Conan Edogawa is facing a dilemma: Ran Mouri has asked Shinichi Kudou out to the movies and he is unable to provide a convincing excuse not to go. However, when the day of the date arrives, he has more pressing problems to worry about—a great amount of plastic explosives has recently been stolen and the culprit has challenged Shinichi to find and dispose of the bombs he has scattered across the city. Now forced in a race against time, Conan must not only protect the city, but also figure out who the mastermind is and his reason for confronting Shinichi.

Apr 19, 1997 | 1 eps | Publishing

xxxHOLiC

xxxHOLiC

xxxHOLiC

Kimihiro Watanuki can see spirits and other assorted supernatural creatures, which is quite a bothersome ability he strongly dislikes. On the way home one day, while plagued by some spirits, he is inexplicably compelled to enter a strange house. There, he encounters Yuuko, a mysterious woman who claims to be able to rid him of the ability to see and attract the troublesome creatures—for a price. She demands that he work at her "store" that grants wishes to people, and thus begins Watanuki's adventures through weird and wonderful events.

Apr 7, 2006 to Sep 29, 2006 | 24 eps | Publishing

Street Fighter II V

Street Fighter II V

Street Fighter II V

Ryu and Ken Masters are close friends and both are martial artists. In order to become better fighters and learn new techniques, they travel the world and are exposed to many different fighting styles, as well as meeting new people. During their journey, they find themselves caught up in a conspiracy perpetrated by a mysterious organisation called Shadowlaw, both now face their ultimate challenge and must fight for their lives as they combat the evil M. Bison.

(Source: ANN)
Apr 10, 1995 to Nov 27, 1995 | 29 eps | Publishing