Ever feel like flying solo is the way to go? You’re not alone! (Well, technically you are, but that’s the point!). This list is for all you anime fans who love characters that march to the beat of their own drum, the loners, the outcasts, the “no team, no problem” crew. Forget sidekicks and support systems, these protagonists are one-man (or woman) armies, blazing their own trails through epic adventures, thrilling mysteries, and maybe even unexpected romance.
So, whether you’re a certified introvert, a champion of independent thinking, or just curious about a different kind of hero, buckle up and get ready to meet the coolest loners anime has to offer! We’ve got stoic swordsmen, cunning detectives, introverted mages, and maybe even a talking motorcycle… because why not?
Get ready to discover hidden depths, badass skills, and the surprising power of self-reliance in these 10+ anime where being a lone wolf is anything but lonely. Dive in and find your next favorite hero who proves that sometimes, the best path is the one you forge yourself!
Read Also:
- 10 Anime Where the Mc is Depressed
- 11 Anime Where MC is op Transfer Student
- 12 Anime Where MC is Betrayed and gets Revenge
1. Ranking of Kings
- Number of Episodes: 24
- Release Date: Started on October 22, 2021
Ranking of Kings centers around our mc Bojji, a deaf, powerless prince who cannot even wield a children’s sword. As the firstborn son, he strives hard and dreams of becoming the world’s greatest king. However, people mutter about him behind his back as “a good-for-nothing prince” and “no way he can be king.”
Bojji is able to make his first-ever friend, “Kage” a literal shadow on the ground who somehow understands Bojji well. (Kage is a survivor of the Kage assassin clan that was all but wiped out. No longer a killer, Kage now makes ends meet by stealing.) The story follows Bojji’s coming-of-age as he meets various people in his life, starting with his fateful encounter with Kage.
2. Kaze No Stigma
- Number of Episodes: 24
- Release Date: Aired from April 13, 2007 to September 21, 2007
This anime centers around our lonar mc Kazuma Yagami, Kazuma Yagami is a user of “Fuujutsu,” the ability to control the wind. He returns to his old home, the noble Kannagi household, after being banished four years ago for his inability to control fire and his subsequent defeat in a duel at the hands of his younger cousin, Ayano Kannagi.
Returning after such a brutal exile already gives rise to many conflicts, but to make matters worse, several Kannagi family members have recently been murdered with Fuujutsu. This leads the Kannagi family, including the hot-headed Ayano, to suspect Kazuma as the culprit. Now, Kazuma must not only clear his name, but also aid the family he shares a mutual hatred with, in order to discover the true identity of the killer.
3. Hyouka
- Number of Episodes: 22
- Release Date: Aired from April 23, 2012 to September 17, 2012
Our lonar mc Hotaro Oreki is the protagonist of this anime. Energy-conservative high school student Houtarou Oreki gets more than he bargained for when he joins the Classics Club at his sister’s request—especially when he sees how deep the club’s history is. Oreki is reluctantly forced into an investigation into the 45-year-old mystery surrounding the club room.
Accompanied by his fellow club members, the knowledgeable Satoshi Fukube, the stern but benign Mayaka Ibara, and the ever-curious Eru Chitanda, Oreki must combat deadlines and lack of information with resourcefulness and hidden talent, in order to not only find the truth buried beneath the dust of works created years before them but of other small side cases as well.
4. Classroom of the Elite
- Number of Episodes: 12
- Release Date: Season 2 finale was scheduled to release on June 02, 2022
This anime revolves around Kiyotaka Ayanokouji, a student of Class D, where the school dumps its worst. There he meets the unsociable Suzune Horikita, who believes she was placed in Class D by mistake and desires to climb all the way to Class A, and the seemingly amicable class idol Kikyou Kushida, whose aim is to make as many friends as possible.
5. One Punch Man
- Number of Episodes: 24
- Release Date: Season 1 premiered in Japan on October 5, 2015
Saitama, an unassociated hero, hails from City Z and performs heroic deeds as a hobby. He has trained himself to the point of being able to defeat any enemy with a single punch, but his unmatched strength has left him with an overwhelming sense of boredom. Saitama eventually becomes a reluctant mentor to Genos, a cyborg seeking revenge against another cyborg who killed his family and destroyed his hometown.
6. PLATINUM END
- Number of Episodes: 24
- Release Date: Aired from October 8, 2021 to March 25, 2022
This series revolves around our mc Mirai Kakehashi, After the death of his parents, a young Mirai Kakehashi is left in the care of his abusive relatives. Since then, he has become gloomy and depressed, leading him to attempt suicide on the evening of his middle school graduation. Mirai, however, is saved by a pure white girl named Nasse who introduces herself as a guardian angel wishing to give him happiness—by granting him supernatural powers and a chance to become the new God.
In order to earn the position, he must defeat 12 other “God Candidates” within 999 days. Soon, Mirai begins a struggle to survive as a terrifying battle royale erupts between himself and the candidates looking to obtain the most power in the world.
7. I’m Standing on a Million Lives
- Number of Episodes: 12
- Release Date: Season 1 aired from October 2 to December 18, 2020
Our main characters Yotsuya Yuusuke, as well as his classmates Shindou Iu and Hakozaki Kusue, have been transported to a strange and mysterious world populated by mythological creatures. They meet someone who introduces himself as the Game Master as soon as they arrive, and he gives them a time-limited quest.
He also bestows the responsibilities of a Magician and a Warrior on Shindou and Hakozaki, respectively, to aid them in their mission, while Yotsuya is given the duty of… a Farmer?!
8. Oregairu
- Number of Episodes: 13 for each season
- Release Date: Season 1 aired from April 4, 2013 to June 27, 2013. Season 2 aired from April 3, 2015 to June 26, 2015. Season 3 aired from July 10, 2020 to September 24, 2020
The plot follows two loners, Hachiman Hikigaya and Yukino Yukinoshita, who, despite their differing personalities and values, work together as members of their school’s Service Club to help and advise others, with the help of Yui Yuigahama. It primarily depicts numerous social scenarios that teens confront in a high school context, as well as the psychology that drives their relationships.
9. Persona 5 The Animation
- Number of Episodes: 26
- Release Date: Aired between April 2018 and September 2018
Ren Amamiya, a new transfer student at Shujin Academy, is transferred to Tokyo to live with his family friend Sojiro Sakura after being wrongfully sentenced to probation for defending a woman from assault.
Ren sees a weird app has emerged on his phone, sending him to a world known as the Metaverse, which features people’s “shadows”: distorted portrayals of their true personalities, while on his way to his first day at his new school. He awakens his Persona in the Metaverse, a power from within that gives him the strength to confront the shadows.
10. Kubikiri Cycle
- Number of Episodes: 8
- Release Date: Released between October 2016 and September 2017
The plot centers around an unnamed narrator and the mysteries he meets. The series begins to include more and more action and action after the second novel. The narrator tries vainly to keep out of the story, but instead of being the bystander he wishes to be, he is dragged right into the middle of it. Despite the fact that the narrator appears to accomplish a lot throughout the storey, he always discovers at the end that whatever he accomplished was pointless.
11. KAIJI – ULTIMATE SURVIVOR
Kaiji Itou is a lazy slacker who spends his days drinking beer and stealing hubcaps—that is, until he is duped by a former coworker. Kaiji, unable to repay his friend’s massive debt on his own, is offered a dubious deal to participate in an illegal underground gambling onboard a cruise liner. This turns out to be the start of his new hellish life, as he is dragged straight into a life-threatening roller coaster of mind games, cheating, and deception.
Gyakkyou Burai Kaiji: Ultimate Survivor is based on the first instalment of Nobuyuki Fukumoto’s popular gambling manga series, and follows our unlucky protagonist as he is forced to battle not only other individuals, but also the mysteries of their psyches.
Kaiji learns the hard way that when people’s backs are against the wall, the darkest elements of human nature emerge, and that the most terrifying dangers of all are greed, paranoia, and the human survival instinct itself.
12. ONE OUTS
Toua Tokuchi is a baseball prodigy who also enjoys gambling. Pitching only average fastballs, he has established a reputation for himself by winning 499 consecutive games of “One Outs,” a one-on-one match between a pitcher and a batter. Despite his extraordinary ability, Tokuchi regards the sport as nothing more than a means of making quick money.
When Hiromichi Kojima, a legendary hitter for the Saikyou Saitama Lycaons, sees Tokuchi’s abilities for the first time, he understands that the man could be precisely what the club needs to break out of their slump. Kojima, determined to recruit Tokuchi no matter what, risks his own career by defeating Tokuchi at his own specialty—One Outs.
Tokuchi quickly finds himself at differences with the team’s owner, Tsuneo Saikawa, after being forced to become a Lycaon. Tokuchi suggests a new contract after Saikawa refuses to pay him a reasonable salary: pitching an out will earn him five million yen, while letting up a run will cost him fifty million. Will Tokuchi be able to outwit those who stand in his way, with each game having the ability to make or break him?
13. TEXHNOLYZE
In the dark underground city of Lux, people live in fear and despair under the rule of various criminal factions. Almost secluded from the surface, the gangs’ only interaction with the outer world is their mining operation of “raffia,” which is the raison d’être of the city.
Available only in Lux, this rare substance is the basis of “texhnolyze” transplants that permit humans to replace parts of their body with cybernetic prostheses.
The latter have the particularity not to trigger an immune response in their hosts and the “Class” has the privilege to conduct research on them. This elusive organization, also in charge of the raffia production, delegates its executive authority to a group called Organo led by Keigo Oonishi—a self-righteous man with texhnolyzed legs who is rumored to hear the “voice of the city.”
The fragile balance of powers in Lux is disturbed when a mysterious visitor named Kazuho Yoshii begins committing a series of crimes that puts the gangs at each other’s throats. In the midst of the chaos, new actors emerge: Ichise, an ex-boxer mutilated by Organo and recently texhnolyzed by Eriko “Doc” Kamata; and Ran, a young florist who can see the future. While Lux steadily plunges into insanity, both Ichise and Ran find themselves involved in the greatest crisis the city has ever faced.