Vampires, fishmen, supersonic monkeys – they are all normal residents living alongside humans in Hellsalem’s Lot, formerly known as New York City. When a gate between Earth and the Beyond popped up there three years ago, old NYC became dominated by monsters and now Libra, a secret organization, is tasked with keeping it in order. However, for main character Leonardo Watch, he is no one special, just a hobbyist photographer. However, when he obtains the All-Seeing Eyes of the Gods, he finds himself recruited into Libra.

Sharing the same creator as Trigun, Blood Blockade Battlefront isn’t so much the spiritual successor that fans hoped it would be, but a good show in its own right. It is filled with crazy, cool characters all wrapped in a distinctive style blanket, so if you are looking for some similar anime recommendations, then look no further.

For Fans of Out of the Ordinary Detective Shows

Bungou Stray Dogs

The orphanage that Atsushi Nakajima has been living at has been recently plagued by a tiger that only he can see. Blaming him for the incident, they kick him out. Now homeless, he wanders the streets until he meets the eccentric Osamu Dazai and saves him from drowning. As it turns out, Dazai is a supernatural detective and agrees to help him solve the mystery.

There are your typical detective shows, then there are atypical ones like Bungou Stray Dogs and Blood Blockade Battlefront where the characters both take on the strangest of the strange cases that their unique worlds have to offer. Both also offer an exciting world that has a great amalgamation of comedy and interesting action, though more so in Blood Blockade Battlefront.

Durarara

Tokyo’s downtown district of Ikebukuro is awash in strange rumors, everything from colorless color gangs to a headless rider roaming town populate the rumors. For Mikado Ryuugamine who just moved there from Tokyo, he is but one witness to the district’s slew of strange events.

At a glance, Durarara doesn’t sound quite as supernatural as Blood Blockade Battlefront is on the cuff, but as you get into it, you find that they are both about cities with strange and supernatural residents. While Blood Blockade Battlefront primarily has a focused story, Durarara tells many small stories all at the same time, making it thrilling if not occasionally hard to follow.

Concrete Revolutio

In an alternate future, Earth has been inhabited by a series of beings once thought fictional. This horrific reality is something that people just can’t accept so the government keeps it a secret and establishes the Super Population Research Laboratory. The organization is used to keep track of unique individuals and prevent them from causing trouble.

Even at a glance, both of the series seem almost the same. They are both about a world where the unbelievable is the normal and now an organization must rise to keep everything in check. Both series follow a character that kind of sucks as they join said organization. Both shows are extremely stylish, but sometimes flounder plot wise as well.

For Fans of Classic Cool Characters

Baccano!

Baccano follows the seemingly unrelated events of a series of characters spanning different times and different places. However, it is ultimately part of a much larger story, one that tells the tales of alchemy, immortality, and survival.

While Blood Blockade Battlefront tries its darnedest to make all the insanity seem normal, Baccano blends it seamlessly. While Baccano tells several stories, or rather stories spanning several time periods. Both feature out of this world elements, but they try to make them feel as real as possible in their own jazzy, American way.

Cowboy Bebop

In the distant future, humanity has, for the most, part abandoned Earth and colonized several different planets in the solar system. In order to keep peace in the galaxy, the Inter Solar System police was established, but they often rely on aid for bounty hunters, referred to as “cowboys,” to bring criminals on the run to justice. This is the story of Spike Spiegel and Jet Black, a pair of cowboys that end up with a rag-tag crew of other misfits as they travel the galaxy trying to keep food on the table and their own dark pasts at bay.

Although they have different plots, characters, and even settings, like with Nightow’s other works (i.e. Trigun) you get a distinct feeling of similarity between Blood Blockade Battlefront and Cowboy Bebop. First of all, the western influences are pretty obvious, but both shows feature cool characters that have not all too normal characteristics about them. Between the bounties and assignments, both shows also have an episodic format that allows them to fully explore their unique settings.

Trigun

After humanity fled a dying Earth, their seed ship crash on a harsh planet, but humanity managed to endure. On this still-developing planet, there is a horrid criminal known as Vash the Stampede with a huge bounty on his head. It is said he destroys entire cities for fun. As such, two insurance agents dedicate their time to following him to try to stop his devastation, but what they find is not what they expect. Vash is actually a buffoonish goofball, but his reputation isn’t all complete rubbish.

Trigun and Blood Blockade Battlefront were made by the same mangaka, but despite this, they remain two distinctly different series. That being said, you can still see a little bit of one in the other. Both of them have strong western themes and a distinct mix of slapstick humor juxtaposed with horribly tragic plots.

For Fans of Bizarre Oddities

Space Dandy

Space is a mysterious place filled with even more mysterious things. Dandy’s job is to roam the galaxy and register new alien life forms for a reward. It sounds easy enough, but you know it isn’t.

In both Blood Blockade Battlefront and Space Dandy, you follow problem solvers that try their best to solve the various issues of weird city or universe in the own way. In Space Dandy, they deal with aliens, while Blood Blockade Battlefront deals with all sorts of supernatural creatures. While BBB has its moments, Space Dandy takes a firm comedy route.

FLCL

After his brother moved to America, Naota was left to his own mundane existence with his grandfather and father in his small town. However, one day while walking home with Mamimi, his brother’s ex-girlfriend, Naota is hit by a Vespa. Its rider, a crazy pink haired woman, gets off, kisses him, smacks him on the head with her guitar, and then speeds away. This marks the end of Naota’s boring life and the beginning of a never-ending string of weird events.

In both shows, sometimes you have no idea what is going on, but that is far more common in FLCL since Blood Blockade Battlefront is pretty clear with its plot. However, if you like mysteries that aren’t always solved and have crazy problems to begin with, both are worth the watch.

Tokyo ESP

As a part time waitress helping out her father, Rinka lives a relatively normal life. However, one day when she chases a flying penguin, that normalcy ends. After running into a classmate that can see this strange things, she passes out and wakes up an esper with the ability to phase her body through solid matter.

Espers and aliens aren’t such a far jump from the supernatural beings that run rampant inf Blood Blockade Battlefront. The only difference is the setting, but it doesn’t feel much like a different setting. While the weirdness is just beginning in Tokyo ESP, it is well established when we are introduced to BBB.

Did we miss any more good anime recommendations for Blood Blockade Battlefront? Let us know in the comments section below.