12 Anime Shows So Bizarre, You'll Start to Question Reality

Filled to the brim with characters, plots, and themes that tread the line between profound and insane.

In the spirit of all that's gloriously weird, here are twelve anime shows so bizarre, they will make your reality feel as plain as unbuttered toast.

FLCL (Fooly Cooly)

Several episodes of pure, unfiltered anime madness. When an extraterrestrial investigator whacks a young boy with her bass guitar, the lump on his head starts sprouting giant robots, which is the most normal thing that happens in this show. It's a rambunctious, rock-and-roll fueled coming-of-age story that defies understanding and seems to revel in its own oddity.

Bobobo-bo Bo-bobo

In a dystopian world where a bald, dictatorial overlord bans hair, our protagonist Bobobo-bo Bo-bobo uses his nose hairs to fight the oppressors. Yes, you read that right. Nose hairs. This show is a carnival of the absurd, where random humor is the rule, not the exception.

Panty & Stocking with Garterbelt

This one features two fallen angels who battle ghosts to buy their way back into heaven, all while living in a church with a priest named Garterbelt. The catch? They transform their underwear into weapons. If the innuendo-heavy humor doesn't get you, the bizarre plotline and Powerpuff Girls-esque animation surely will.

Excel Saga

This anime is an exercise in absolute absurdity. With a protagonist tasked with helping an underground organization take over the world and a plot that parodies every possible anime genre, Excel Saga is as confusing as it is entertaining. It's like riding a rollercoaster blindfolded – you never know what's coming next.

JoJo's Bizarre Adventure

With a title like that, this anime was a shoo-in for our list. It's a multigenerational tale of the Joestar family, whose members possess powers to summon spectral entities known as 'Stands.' Each arc is weirder than the last, featuring everything from Aztec fitness gods to Italian mobsters with Stand powers. It's a wild, fabulous, and unabashedly weird ride through time and space.

Serial Experiments Lain

This anime feels like a fever dream born from a late-night internet deep-dive. Following a lonely girl named Lain as she becomes increasingly engrossed in the virtual world of the 'Wired,' the show explores existential, technological, and societal themes in a way that's eerie and baffling. You'll be left questioning the nature of reality, identity, and whether you should upgrade your internet package.

Paranoia Agent

When a roller-skate-wearing, bat-swinging assailant known as 'Lil Slugger' starts terrorizing residents, a pair of detectives are sent to solve the case. As the investigation proceeds, reality blends with paranoia, and the boundary between the psychological and the supernatural blurs. This Satoshi Kon classic will leave you looking over your shoulder and questioning the safety of roller skates.

Puni Puni Poemy

A spiritual successor to Excel Saga, this two-episode OVA pushes the boundaries of bizarre even further. The protagonist Poemy, who refers to herself in third person, battles aliens with her magical girl powers while also trying to keep her crush on a classmate a secret. Its manic pace and off-the-wall humor will make you wonder if reality is just an overrated concept.

Pop Team Epic

Imagine a sketch comedy show where reality, logic, and common sense take a permanent vacation. That's 'Pop Team Epic' in a nutshell. The antics of its two 14-year-old girl protagonists leap from one surreal gag to another with reckless abandon. It's an anime that seems to operate in a universe where normalcy is considered an unpardonable sin.

Nichijou (My Ordinary Life)

Ironically titled 'My Ordinary Life', 'Nichijou' is anything but ordinary. It features a robotic girl with a wind-up key, a boy who rides a goat to school, and a professor who is, in fact, a five-year-old. The 'slice of life' genre has never been sliced quite like this. After watching it, you'll start questioning whether your life is tragically mundane.

Cat Soup (Nekojiru-sou)

A cat ventures into the depths of the underworld to rescue his sister's soul in this surreal, disturbing, and oddly touching OVA. If Salvador Dalí had made an anime, it would probably look something like 'Cat Soup'. With no dialogue, the narrative is carried entirely through bizarre, dream-like imagery that will make your reality feel as bland as unsalted crackers.

Cromartie High School

In a high school populated by delinquents, robots, and Freddie Mercury lookalikes, nothing makes sense, and that's the point. 'Cromartie High School' is an absurdist comedy that parodies the 'tough-guy' trope to ludicrous extremes. By the time you're done watching, you'll be questioning not just your own reality but the very concept of 'normal.'