12 Must-Watch Anime Like Demon Slayer to Cure Your Post-Tanjiro Void

Tore through Demon Slayer and need that same mix of breathtaking fights, demon-hunting dread, and gut-punch emotion? Plenty of anime like Demon Slayer deliver it, whether you came for Ufotable's sakuga, the dark fantasy of hunting monsters in old Japan, Tanjiro's heart, or all three. No show hits every note the same way, and the closest ones nail the parts you loved most.

The wait makes this the moment to stock up. The finale is being told as a film trilogy, and the first movie, Infinity Castle, became one of the highest-grossing anime films ever before heading to streaming. Part 2 is not expected before 2027, with the final film rumored further out, so you face a long stretch between visits to the Corps. If you are still catching up first, our Demon Slayer filler list gets you to the good parts fast.

We ranked these from closest match to loosest, judged on one thing: how much each shares Demon Slayer's actual build, a grief-driven swordsman hunting once-human demons, a technique system, and an emotional heart. There is a quick table up top, and honest notes at the end on shows that share the mood but not the demon-slaying build.

12 anime like Demon Slayer at a glance

If you just want the fast read, here is the whole roster. The Similarity column is our call on how close each one gets to Demon Slayer itself, not how good the show is on its own.

Streaming rights shift by region, so these are a starting point. Check what is available where you are before you commit.

The anime most like Demon Slayer, ranked

Here are the anime like Demon Slayer that genuinely share its build, ranked from the closest match to the loosest. The Similarity Rating is our read on how near each one gets to Demon Slayer specifically, not how good the show is overall, and we kept the stars to whole numbers. The build we are measuring against is simple: a swordsman hunting once-human monsters, usually with a technique system, a traditional setting, and real emotional weight.

1. Dororo

Similarity Rating: 5/5 ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Anime Overall Rating: 4/5 ⭐⭐⭐⭐

Watch on: HIDIVE, Prime Video

Synopsis: Hyakkimaru is born without most of his body after his father strikes a bargain, trading his newborn son's flesh to demons in exchange for power. Abandoned and left for dead, he survives with prosthetics and hidden blades, and sets out to reclaim each stolen piece of himself by killing the demon that holds it. Along the way he picks up Dororo, a scrappy orphan thief who becomes his fierce companion. It is a bleak, beautiful journey through a war-torn feudal Japan.

Of everything on this list, this is the undisputed closest to Demon Slayer's build. A prosthetics-wielding swordsman travels across war-torn feudal lands to hunt down and decapitate the twelve grotesque demons holding his stolen body parts, accompanied by an energetic orphan companion and driven by deep empathy for humans corrupted by tragedy, which is Tanjiro's story almost beat for beat. Each demon is its own self-contained fight with a sad history behind it, and the emotional payoff of Hyakkimaru slowly regaining his senses lands as hard as anything in the Corps.

2. InuYasha

Similarity Rating: 5/5 ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Anime Overall Rating: 4/5 ⭐⭐⭐⭐

Watch on: Prime Video, Hulu

Synopsis: Kagome is pulled five hundred years into the past, into a feudal Japan overrun with demons, where she frees and then teams up with the half-demon InuYasha. Together they chase the scattered shards of a shattered jewel before the wrong hands can claim them. Their party grows, their enemies multiply, and a long-running romance simmers through it all. It is a sprawling, comfort-food classic of the genre.

InuYasha is the grand structural ancestor. It runs on historical feudal Japan, journeys through cursed forests to slay monstrous youkai with specialized blades, and a central villain whose body-swapping flesh puppetry and creation of demonic incarnations directly laid the groundwork for Muzan Kibutsuji and the Twelve Kizuki. Naraku spawning pieces of himself as new demons is the Upper Moons in embryo, the sacred sword Tessaiga is an ancestor of the Nichirin blades, and the half-demon lead echoes Nezuko's foot in both worlds. The animation is of its era, but the demon-hunting-in-old-Japan heart is exactly what fans of the Corps come for. Our InuYasha filler list trims the long run down.

3. Sword of the Demon Hunter: Kijin Gentosho

Similarity Rating: 4/5 ⭐⭐⭐⭐

Anime Overall Rating: 3/5 ⭐⭐⭐

Watch on: Prime Video, HIDIVE

Synopsis: Jinta is tasked with slaying a demon threatening the shrine he guards, but when he corners it, the creature speaks of a reckoning a hundred and seventy years in the future. So begins a journey that spans centuries, from the Edo period through to the modern day, as Jinta hunts a single demon across the ages. He is forced to reckon with his own darkening nature as the years wear on. It is a supernatural historical fantasy with a melancholy streak.

The build connection is the historical Japanese eras, the shrine-maiden guardianship, and the tragic demon-slaying swordsmanship, all steeped in Demon Slayer's exact melancholy. It explores what happens when humans succumb to grief and transform into flesh-eating immortals, which is Muzan's demons examined up close, and the sword-versus-demon combat across a beautifully rendered historical Japan lines up with Tanjiro's world. It is newer and rougher around the edges than Demon Slayer's Ufotable polish, but on pure build, few shows sit closer.

4. Hell's Paradise

Similarity Rating: 4/5 ⭐⭐⭐⭐

Anime Overall Rating: 4/5 ⭐⭐⭐⭐

Watch on: Crunchyroll

Synopsis: Gabimaru, a death-row ninja who cannot seem to die, is offered a pardon if he survives a lush, lethal island and returns with an elixir of immortality. He is one of many convicts sent there, each shadowed by an executioner, and the island turns out to be crawling with monsters and secrets. Alliances form and shatter as the body count climbs. It is beautiful and brutal in equal measure.

Hell's Paradise is the R-rated, visceral counterpart. Executioners and death-row samurai use precise blade disciplines, a breathing-like Tao energy flow that works much like the Breathing Forms, and tactical swordcraft to decapitate bizarre, grotesque immortal abominations, with lethal stakes and a high body count. The Edo-era setting, the sword-and-technique combat, and the grotesque, hard-to-kill horrors all echo the dread of a Demon Slayer night mission. It leans harder into survival and body horror than a formal slayer order, but the historical swordplay and the monster hunting put it firmly in Tanjiro's neighborhood.

5. Claymore

Similarity Rating: 4/5 ⭐⭐⭐⭐

Anime Overall Rating: 4/5 ⭐⭐⭐⭐

Watch on: Prime Video

Synopsis: In a world preyed on by shape-shifting man-eaters called Yoma, an organization fields half-Yoma women, the Claymores, who wield massive swords to hunt the monsters down. Clare is one of them, driven by a vengeance that reaches back to a childhood the Yoma destroyed. The deeper she goes, the more she risks losing herself to the monster in her own blood. It is grim, bloody, and quietly tragic.

The build match is a dedicated organization dispatching silver-eyed warriors to hunt flesh-eating monsters disguised among human settlements. The Claymores wield heavy blades, rely on an internal ranking hierarchy that directly mirrors the Hashira and the Upper Moons, and fight constantly against the danger of turning into monsters themselves, which echoes Nezuko's curse. Clare's vengeance is the same fuel that first drives Tanjiro. It is older and darker, with a medieval setting instead of Taisho Japan, but it is one of the truest sword-and-monster-hunting matches around.

6. Kabaneri of the Iron Fortress

Similarity Rating: 4/5 ⭐⭐⭐⭐

Anime Overall Rating: 4/5 ⭐⭐⭐⭐

Watch on: Prime Video

Synopsis: In a steam-powered, isolationist Japan, humanity shelters in fortified stations while the Kabane, armored undead monsters, overrun the land. Ikoma, a young engineer, survives a Kabane attack half-transformed and becomes something in between, a Kabaneri, strong enough to fight back. He joins the survivors aboard an armored train fleeing for safety. The action is fast, stylish, and desperate.

Produced by Wit Studio with top-tier sakuga, Kabaneri sets humanity in an alternate historical, industrial Japan, sheltering between fortified mountain stations and traveling by heavily armored steam locomotives, the exact environment of the Mugen Train arc, while fighting grotesque, heart-glowing undead monsters. The half-monster hero fighting to protect the living while fearing his own nature is a clear echo of the Nezuko and Tanjiro dynamic. It comes from much of the Attack on Titan team, so the spectacle is real, even if its monsters land closer to zombies than demons.

7. Ushio and Tora

Similarity Rating: 4/5 ⭐⭐⭐⭐

Anime Overall Rating: 4/5 ⭐⭐⭐⭐

Watch on: Crunchyroll

Synopsis: Ushio, a hot-headed temple boy, pulls a legendary spear from a monster that has been pinned in his family's shrine for centuries, freeing a fearsome beast named Tora. Bound together by the spear, the two bicker and brawl their way across a Japan crawling with folklore monsters, slowly becoming unlikely partners against a far greater evil. The action is classic and the bond is the heart of it. It is an old-school shonen gem with a big finish.

The build link is a young warrior wielding a mythical beast-slaying weapon against Japanese folklore horrors, accompanied by a redeemed monster companion, on a mission to destroy an immortal demonic progenitor who manipulates monsters across the country. Swap the spear for a Nichirin blade, Tora for Nezuko, and that great evil for Muzan, and the shape is remarkably close. The monster-of-the-week structure in a folklore-soaked Japan, and the human-and-tamed-monster duo at the center, are pure Demon Slayer. It is older in style, but the demon-slaying-in-old-Japan spirit is a strong match.

8. Rurouni Kenshin

Similarity Rating: 4/5 ⭐⭐⭐⭐

Anime Overall Rating: 4/5 ⭐⭐⭐⭐

Watch on: Crunchyroll

Synopsis: In the early Meiji era, a wandering swordsman named Kenshin carries a reverse-blade sword and a vow never to kill again, atoning for his past as a legendary assassin. He settles in with a kind dojo owner and her friends, but his bloody history keeps finding him, forcing him into duels against rivals from the old world. It balances gentle warmth with electrifying swordplay. The recent remake gives it gorgeous modern animation.

The build connection is the historical period swordsmanship itself: named sword stances, a god-speed draw technique, and the kind of tragic samurai remorse that colors every fight, delivered through intense, multi-stage duels against specialized martial artists, which is exactly the rhythm of a great Demon Slayer bout. Kenshin's Meiji-era Japan, his blade-first combat, and his sorrow-soaked backstory all sit right next to Tanjiro's world. The foes are human rather than demons, which keeps it from the top, but for the historical-swordsman-and-named-techniques build, it is a strong match.

9. D.Gray-man

Similarity Rating: 3/5 ⭐⭐⭐

Anime Overall Rating: 4/5 ⭐⭐⭐⭐

Watch on: Crunchyroll

Synopsis: Allen Walker is an Exorcist who hunts Akuma, tragic weapons forged when a grieving person is tricked into calling a dead loved one back from the afterlife. Armed with a holy weapon fused to his own body, he works for an order dedicated to stopping the grinning Millennium Earl from ending the world. The cast grows large and the mythology runs deep. A gothic melancholy hangs over the whole series.

The build connection is the grief-stricken monster origin. Akuma are born when the Millennium Earl preys on grieving humans mourning dead relatives, which mirrors Muzan exploiting desperate, broken people, and the protagonist wields an exorcist weapon while empathizing with the trapped souls inside the monsters he must put down. That sorrow for the monster is pure Demon Slayer, the same empathy Tanjiro shows demons in their final moments. The gothic tone and the holy-weapon combat give it a flavor fans of the Corps will recognize instantly.

10. Blue Exorcist

Similarity Rating: 3/5 ⭐⭐⭐

Anime Overall Rating: 4/5 ⭐⭐⭐⭐

Watch on: Crunchyroll

Synopsis: Rin Okumura discovers he is the son of Satan, born with blue flames and a demonic heritage he never asked for. Rather than embrace it, he enrolls at a school for exorcists, training to hunt demons and one day take down his own father. He draws a flaming blade and fights beside classmates who each have their own reasons for the work. The tone balances real darkness with warmth and humor.

The build link is a boy harboring demonic lineage who joins a specialized demon-hunting task force, fighting with elemental sword strikes through squad assignments and driven by a personal quest to avenge his slain guardian, all of which rhymes with Tanjiro fighting while he carries Nezuko's curse. The demon hunting, the blade, the school-of-slayers structure, and the cursed-heritage-turned-protector arc line up cleanly. It runs lighter and more classically shonen, but the bones are the same. Our Blue Exorcist filler list shows what to skip.

11. Jujutsu Kaisen

Similarity Rating: 3/5 ⭐⭐⭐

Anime Overall Rating: 5/5 ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Watch on: Crunchyroll

Synopsis: Yuji Itadori swallows a cursed object to protect his friends and is pulled into a hidden war between sorcerers and curses, the warped monsters born from human fear and grief. He enrolls at a secret school for sorcerers and learns to fight alongside a ranked organization of specialists. The threats escalate fast, and the cost of the fight is brutal. The animation is some of the most explosive in the business.

The build connection is the modern dark-shonen lethality and the specialized squads hunting monsters invisible to ordinary mortals, with high casualty rates and top-tier animation. Curses are once-human-born monsters that must be put down, the sorcerer grades mirror the Hashira ranks, and no one feels safe, which gives it the same stakes as the Corps. It trades period folklore for modern urban Tokyo and cynical energy math, which keeps it lower, but the graded-order-hunting-monsters core is instantly familiar. Our Jujutsu Kaisen filler list marks what matters.

12. Bleach

Similarity Rating: 3/5 ⭐⭐⭐

Anime Overall Rating: 5/5 ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Watch on: Crunchyroll, Hulu

Synopsis: Ichigo Kurosaki gains the powers of a Soul Reaper and is pulled into the hidden world of the afterlife, sending corrupted souls to rest and shielding the living from Hollows. When a friend is sentenced to death by the Soul Society, he storms its ranked military of sword-wielding captains to save her. The Soul Society arc is a shonen landmark. It introduced a generation to the sword-society formula.

Bleach is the primary blueprint for Demon Slayer's squad-captain hierarchy. The Gotei 13 Court Guard Squads, an elite order of sword-wielding captains each with a distinct blade release and fighting form, directly inspired the Hashira pillar system, down to the ranked structure and the specialized techniques. Hollows are once-human souls that have to be laid to rest, which rhymes with the Corps cutting down once-human demons. It is a modern, setting-hopping epic rather than a grounded period piece, which keeps it lower, but the sword-society-and-captains build is a genuine match. Our Bleach filler list sorts out where to start.

A few anime that get recommended but watch differently

Search around for anime similar to Demon Slayer and plenty of big names come up that share the mood or the heart but not the actual build. They are wonderful, and we would happily point you to them. We just want the match to feel honest.

Chainsaw Man is devil hunting, so it is close on paper, but its punk, modern, nihilist streak sits a world away from Demon Slayer's grounded sorrow and traditional swordplay. My Hero Academia and Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood nail the found-family warmth and the emotional gut-punches, yet neither is built on hunting monsters with a blade. Attack on Titan gives you a ranked corps and blade-based combat against monsters that turn out to have been human, but it trades old Japan and demons for a bleak quasi-European siege against giants. Every one of these is worth your time. Just go in knowing they scratch the feeling or the setting, not Demon Slayer's specific demon-slaying build.

Keep the hunt going until the castle falls

The long wait for Infinity Castle Part 2 does not have to be empty, and there has never been a better time to stack a queue of anime like Demon Slayer. Start at the top with Dororo and InuYasha for the purest demon-slaying-swordsman match, carry on through the historical swordplay of Hell's Paradise and Rurouni Kenshin, and let the spectacle of Jujutsu Kaisen and Bleach take it home. The whole point of a good list of anime like Demon Slayer is to keep that feeling alive while Ufotable finishes the story.

While you are building the watchlist, come hang out with us at Kaminari, where our weekly newsletter rounds up the shows worth your time, the news that actually matters, and takes written for people who love this stuff as much as you do. We will flag the moment Infinity Castle Part 2 locks a date, so you never miss the finale.

FAQs

Is there an anime exactly like Demon Slayer?

Not a perfect twin, but two come remarkably close. Dororo is the tightest match, a grief-forged swordsman slaying demons across feudal Japan, and InuYasha is the grand structural ancestor, feudal-Japan demon hunting with a sacred blade and a shape-shifting villain who prefigures Muzan. Both nail the demon-slaying-swordsman core of Tanjiro's story.

What to watch after Demon Slayer

If you want the smoothest transition, begin at the top of this list: Dororo, InuYasha, Sword of the Demon Hunter, Hell's Paradise, or Claymore. Each one carries over the sword-and-monster hunting, the technique systems, or the historical setting that made Demon Slayer so addictive.

When does Demon Slayer Infinity Castle Part 2 come out?

The first film is out and has moved to streaming, but Part 2 has been confirmed to miss 2026, with a 2027 release the earliest realistic window and the final film rumored even later. Studio Ufotable has said production is moving along steadily, so the wait is long but the momentum is there.

What is the closest anime to Demon Slayer?

Dororo is the tightest match for the demon-hunting-swordsman-in-old-Japan premise, with InuYasha and Sword of the Demon Hunter right beside it. For the historical swordplay, Hell's Paradise and Rurouni Kenshin are the ones people reach for most.

Where can you watch anime like Demon Slayer?

These are split mainly between Crunchyroll and Prime Video. Crunchyroll has Demon Slayer itself, Hell's Paradise, Ushio and Tora, Rurouni Kenshin, D.Gray-man, Blue Exorcist, Jujutsu Kaisen, and Bleach, while Prime Video carries Dororo, InuYasha, Sword of the Demon Hunter, Claymore, and Kabaneri. A few are cross-listed, with Dororo and Sword of the Demon Hunter also on HIDIVE and InuYasha and Bleach on Hulu. Availability changes by region and over time, so confirm before you settle in for a binge.