Seoul Station (2016)—director Yeon Sang-ho’s grim animated prequel to Train to Busan—tracks runaways, sex-workers and the homeless as a sudden zombie outbreak exposes South Korea’s social fault lines. Its punch comes from shifting power systems, desperate underdog survivors and sharp subversions of audience expectations at every turn.
The fifteen titles below echo those ingredients—yet most slipped below the mainstream radar. Each pairs biting social commentary with tense character work, genre twists or experimental visuals that make them perfect companions for Seoul Station fans.
1. Ajin: Demi-Human (2016)
- Stream: Netflix, HIDIVE
- Episodes | MAL: 26 | ≈ 7.45
- Studio / Staff: Polygon Pictures; director Hiroyuki Seshita’s mo-cap 3-D CG
- Awards: Jury Selection, 20th Japan Media Arts Festival (2017)
- Plot: Teenager Kei discovers he is an undying “Ajin,” instantly turning him into state-property prey.
- Similarities: Persecuted minorities, brutal government pursuit, survival-horror tone, moral grey zones.
2. Deca-Dence (2020)
- Stream: Crunchyroll
- Episodes | MAL: 12 | ≈ 7.26
- Studio / Staff: NUT; director Yuzuru Tachikawa (Mob Psycho 100)
- Plot: Humanity rides a giant mobile fortress while blue-collar “Tankers” clean up kaiju attacks—until one mechanic uncovers the reality of their world.
- Similarities: Working-class heroes, class stratification, and a mid-series twist that guts expectations.
3. The Fire Hunter (2023)
- Stream: HIDIVE
- Episodes | MAL: 10 | ≈ 6.5
- Studio / Staff: Signal.MD; scripts by Mamoru Oshii (Ghost in the Shell)
- Plot: After fire becomes lethal to humans, orphan Touko inherits a hunter’s sickle and stumbles into state secrets.
- Similarities: Post-apocalypse hardship, powerless children versus rigid systems, slow-burn societal critique.
4. Kaiji: Ultimate Survivor (2007)
- Stream: Crunchyroll
- Episodes | MAL: 26 | ≈ 8.25
- Studio / Staff: Madhouse; director Yuzo Sato
- Plot: A debt-ridden slacker is dragged into clandestine death-games that escalate into anguish and betrayal.
- Similarities: Razor-sharp social indictment, everyman underdog, relentless tension and psychological dread.
5. Drifters (2016)
- Stream: Hulu, Crunchyroll
- Episodes | MAL: 12 + OVA | ≈ 7.88
- Studio / Staff: Hoods Drifters Studio; author Kouta Hirano (Hellsing)
- Plot: History’s deadliest warriors are hurled into a dying fantasy world and forced into savage war.
- Similarities: Gory action, cynical politics, dog-eat-dog survival, frenetic pacing.
6. Astra Lost in Space (Kanata no Astra, 2019)
- Stream: Crunchyroll
- Episodes | MAL: 12 | ≈ 8.24
- Studio / Staff: Lerche; director Masaomi Andō — Seiun Award winner (Best Dramatic Presentation 2020)
- Plot: Nine students stranded light-years from home must jury-rig a way back while unraveling a planetary conspiracy.
- Similarities: Youths vs. systemic cover-ups, constant survival stakes, twist-heavy storytelling.
7. Toward the Terra (Terra e…, 2007)
- Stream: Crunchyroll
- Episodes | MAL: 24 | ≈ 7.91
- Studio / Staff: Aniplex & David Production; adaptation of Keiko Takemiya’s 1977 manga classic
- Plot: Psychic “Mu” children rebel against an AI-ruled regime that brands them sub-human.
- Similarities: Hunted minority, authoritarian control, melancholic atmosphere mirroring Seoul Station’s social pulse.
8. Darwin’s Game (2020)
- Stream: Crunchyroll, Hulu
- Episodes | MAL: 11 | ≈ 7.25
- Studio / Staff: Nexus; director Yoshinobu Tokumoto
- Plot: High-schooler Kaname downloads an app that drags him into a lethal urban battle-royale.
- Similarities: Sudden life-or-death chaos in familiar cityscapes, trust issues, rapid power-system escalation.
9. Chainsaw Man (2022)
- Stream: Crunchyroll, Hulu
- Episodes | MAL: 12 | ≈ 8.7
- Studio / Staff: MAPPA; multiple Crunchyroll Anime Awards 2023
- Plot: Debt-crushed Denji merges with his chainsaw devil dog and is conscripted to hunt demons.
- Similarities: Bleak working-class lens, ultra-violence, exploitation by corrupt institutions while skewering shōnen tropes.
10. Zom 100: Bucket List of the Dead (2023)
- Stream: Netflix, Crunchyroll, Hulu
- Episodes | MAL: 12 | ≈ 7.9
- Studio / Staff: BUG FILMS; director Kazuki Kawagoe
- Plot: A burnout salaryman greets the zombie apocalypse as his long-awaited ticket to living freely.
- Similarities: Fresh twist on zombie horror, satire of labor exploitation, bright visuals masking biting critique.
11. Ghost Hound (2007)
- Stream: HIDIVE
- Episodes | MAL: 22 | ≈ 7.18
- Studio / Staff: Production I.G; concepts by Masamune Shirow (Appleseed)
- Plot: Three traumatized boys explore out-of-body travel and uncover their village’s buried sins.
- Similarities: Psychological horror, marginalized youth, supernatural events as allegory for social neglect.
12. Gunslinger Girl (2003)
- Stream: HIDIVE, Crunchyroll
- Episodes | MAL: 13 | ≈ 7.45
- Studio / Staff: Madhouse; dir. Morio Asaka
- Plot: Orphaned girls are cybernetically remade into assassins by a covert Italian agency.
- Similarities: Exploited children fighting for scraps of humanity, somber tone, commentary on state violence.
13. 86 (Eighty-Six) (2021)
- Stream: Crunchyroll
- Episodes | MAL: 23 | ≈ 8.30
- Studio / Staff: A-1 Pictures; director Toshimasa Ishii — Crunchyroll Anime Awards nominee 2022
- Plot: A politically erased minority pilots drones in a futile war while the privileged majority watches.
- Similarities: Institutional discrimination, underdog platoon, war-time body horror and tragedy.
14. Gankutsuou: The Count of Monte Cristo (2004)
- Stream: Crunchyroll
- Episodes | MAL: 24 | ≈ 8.18
- Studio / Staff: GONZO; director Mahiro Maeda — Tokyo Anime Award 2005
- Plot: A lavish sci-fi retelling of Dumas’ revenge saga, painted in psychedelic digital textures.
- Similarities: Bold visual experimentation, themes of class injustice and betrayal, relentless narrative twists.
15. Last Exile (2003)
- Stream: Crunchyroll, HIDIVE
- Episodes | MAL: 26 | ≈ 7.89
- Studio / Staff: GONZO; director Koichi Chigira
- Plot: Courier pilots Claus and Lavie are swept into an aerial war hiding deeper political machinations.
- Similarities: Working-class leads pulled into systemic conflict, steampunk world-building, reflection on inequity.
Why These Anime Work for Seoul Station Fans
Every series here thrusts ordinary or oppressed protagonists into merciless systems—be they zombie hordes, rigged death-games or authoritarian regimes—and then flips genre expectations through sharp social critique, grisly stakes or daring visuals. If Seoul Station’s blend of visceral horror and societal commentary hooked you, these fifteen underrated gems push the same buttons while offering fresh angles on what it means to fight when the world has already written you off.
