Best Suspense Anime of 2020

What was supposed to be a reunion marking the start of peaceful days quickly falls apart when Subaru Natsuki and Emilia come back to Irlam village. Seeing the destruction caused by the disasters called Sin Archbishops, Subaru plunges into hopelessness as his power to redo proves useless. While the group heads to the Sanctuary looking for answers, Subaru unexpectedly meets the Witch of Greed—Echidna. Caught in her wild pace, he is forced to delve into the spirals of past and future. Meanwhile, several mysterious threats turn their attention to the Sanctuary, foretelling a terrible fate for the unfortunate people trapped inside. Eternal contracts, past sins, and unreciprocated love will collide and sink into a river of blood in the second season of Re:Zero kara Hajimeru Isekai Seikatsu. Driven to the edge of despair, how long can Subaru's determination to rescue those he cares about endure?

After high school student Kaname Sudou accepts a peer’s offer to test out Darwin’s Game, a mysterious mobile app, his curiosity drives him to install it. The moment he launches the program, a digital green snake jumps from the display to bite his neck, rendering him unconscious. He regains consciousness in the school clinic without any visible injuries, and upon being told to rest, he rationalizes the incident as a hallucination before going home. Yet, unable to shake his intrigue, Kaname reopens the application. What begins as a presumed standard fighting game takes a terrifying turn when his virtual opponent appears in the real world and assaults him with a blade. As he runs for his life, Kaname realizes that Darwin’s Game is not a casual hobby, but a lethal battle royale.

Set in late 19th-century Great Britain, the world’s most powerful empire, society is governed by a rigid economic hierarchy that equates human worth with status and wealth. This system heavily favors the aristocracy, effectively trapping the working class in their station and preventing upward mobility. William James Moriarty, the second son of the Moriarty family, lives as an ordinary nobleman while secretly consulting for commoners, offering aid and resolving their issues. Yet, beneath his calm exterior burns a fervent desire to dismantle the oppressive social structure and eliminate those who profit from it. Teaming up with his brothers Albert and Louis, William is prepared to go to any lengths to transform the corrupt world they inhabit, even if it requires shedding blood.

In the neon-drenched metropolis of Kansai, cybernetic displays dominate the landscape, creating an illusion of a technological paradise. Yet lurking in the shadowy alleys behind the gleaming buildings, a ruthless criminal underworld thrives, inhabited by fugitives labeled "Akudama." The Kansai police, well-acquainted with these criminals, initiate the countdown for the public execution of the notorious Akudama known as "Cutthroat," who has slain 999 people. But a cryptic message reaches several elite Akudama, offering them a hefty reward to break Cutthroat free. An unseen force orchestrates the gathering of these dangerous individuals, ensuring that the execution rapidly spirals into a bloody chaos.

The Mizuhanome System is an extremely advanced technology that enables entry into one of the most fascinating realms in existence—the human psyche. By utilizing so-called "cognition particles" left behind at a crime scene by the offender, detectives from the specialized police unit Kura can manifest a criminal's subconscious mind as a surreal stream of thoughts within a virtual space. Their mission is to navigate this psychological realm, known as an "id well," in order to uncover the perpetrator's identity. Not everyone is capable of entering id wells; the requirement is that one must have committed murder themselves. This applies to former detective Akihito Narihisago, who goes by "Sakaido" while inside the id wells. Once a highly regarded member of the police force, a personal tragedy led him to become a criminal himself. Despite this, Narihisago continues to aid Kura while under confinement. Although his exceptional detective abilities remain valuable for solving cases, Narihisago begins to realize that things are not as straightforward as they appear, as behind the seemingly isolated series of murders hides a far darker truth.

Half a century ago, terrifying beings known as the "enemies of humanity" appeared all over the world. In response, young people with supernatural abilities called "Talents"—such as pyrokinesis and time travel—train at a remote island academy to fight them. Nanao Nakajima stands out from his classmates because he has no Talent. Although he is often bullied by his gifted peers, he continues to train. The situation changes when two new students arrive: the mysterious Kyouya Onodera and Nana Hiiragi, who can read minds. As the group starts to bond as nakama, strange disappearances occur, threatening the very stability of their class.

Rika Furude and her friends reside in the secluded mountain hamlet of Hinamizawa. In June 1983, they accept transfer student Keiichi Maebara, who becomes the sole male among them. They spend their afternoons enjoying games and making the most of each day. Yet, beneath this ordinary facade, Keiichi detects odd conduct from his peers, who appear to conceal the village’s grim mysteries. From afar, an observer tracks these disturbing developments and recalls every instance where this narrative, or similar ones, has occurred. Armed with this memory, they resolve to repair these fractured realities. But when specific factors shift, the individual encounters a terrifying truth: they are completely unaware of what will happen next or how to prevent the looming disaster.

According to whispers, if a young girl makes a pact with a white fairy, it will fulfill any wish she desires. In return, she becomes a magical girl and must risk her life to defeat terrifying and vicious witches. Iroha Tamaki, a gentle middle schooler from Takarazaki City, proves these tales are real. Armed with a magical crossbow and the power to heal wounds, Iroha searches for the labyrinths where witches lurk and eliminates them before they can attack humans. However, Iroha cannot recall her wish, and even Kyuubey, the white fairy himself, seems unaware of what she asked for. One day, Iroha hears about a city where "magical girls can be saved," and finds herself boarding a train to Kamihama City at sunset. Unfortunately, she learns that the witches there are significantly stronger than usual. After veteran magical girl Yachiyo Nanami is forced to rescue her, Iroha swears never to return. But when a chance meeting with a tiny Kyuubey seems to stir faint memories, Iroha feels compelled to explore the mysterious city despite the peril.

Despite extensive study, the workings of the human mind remain largely unknown. Unbeknownst to society, certain extraordinary people possess the ability to enter the depths of others' minds and alter their memories. Hiroki, Tsukasa, and Satoru are three such individuals, using their powers to carry out criminal acts under the command of their boss, Katsuragi. They venture into the perilous realm of the human psyche to dismantle their designated targets, all while struggling to protect their own minds and recollections.