A Variable Darkness

Similar across media

Same mood, other forms — books, series, anime, games and beyond.

Film

Under the direction of a ruthless instructor, a talented young drummer begins to pursue perfection at any cost, even his humanity.

4.2

Whiplash

2014

Series

Right after Ryu Sun-jae, a top star, ends his life, Im Sol, his top fan, somehow ends up at a time when they were in high school and tries to protect him. A fantasy romance unfolds where people who missed each other in time finally meet.

4.3

Lovely Runner

2024

Game

Role-playing (RPG) · Adventure

4.5

Disco Elysium

2019

Anime

A Happy alien, Takopi, lands on Earth with one mission: to spread happiness! When he meets Shizuka, a lonely fourth grader, he vows to bring back her smile using his magical Happy Gadgets. But as he uncovers the pain in her life, Takopi learns that true happiness may require more than gadgets. (Source: Crunchyroll)

Drama · Psychological

4.3

Takopi's Original Sin

2025 · 6 eps

Manga

A motorcycle accident, bone cancer, a speeding truck crashing into a boy on a stolen bicycle--tragic life-changing events turn the worlds of three young men upside down. These three very different personalities have only one thing in common--their passion for basketball. (Source: VIZ Media) Note: Won an Excellence Prize for manga at the 2001 Japan Media Arts Festival.

Drama · Psychological

4.5

Real

Takehiko Inoue

1999

Film

A Yokohama shoe executive faces a wrenching choice when kidnappers mistakenly seize his chauffeur’s son but demand the ransom anyway.

4.2

High and Low

1963

Series

Two brothers, Wirt and Greg, find themselves lost in the Unknown; a strange forest adrift in time. With the help of a wise old Woodsman and a foul-tempered bluebird named Beatrice, Wirt and Greg must travel across this strange land, in hope of finding their way home. Join them as they encounter surprises and obstacles on their journey through the wood.

4.3

Over the Garden Wall

2014

Game

Shooter · Adventure

4.7

BioShock Infinite

2013

Anime

Second season of Mushishi Zoku Shou. Ghostly, primordial beings known as Mushi continue to cause mysterious changes in the lives of humans. The travelling Mushishi, Ginko, persists in trying to set right the strange and unsettling situations he encounters. Time loops, living shadows, and telepathy are among the overt effects of interference from Mushi, but more subtle symptoms that take years to be noticed also rouse Ginko's concern as he passes from village to village.

Adventure · Fantasy

4.3

MUSHI-SHI The Next Passage 2

2014 · 10 eps

Manga

HOW MUCH IS LIFE TRULY WORTH? Kusunoki used to believe he was destined for great things. Ostracized as a child, he held on to a belief that a good life was waiting for him in the years ahead. Now approaching the age of twenty, he's a completely mediocre college student with no motivation, no dreams, and no money. After learning he can sell his remaining years-and just how little they're worth-he chooses to divest himself of all but his last three months. Has Kusunoki truly destroyed his last chance to find happiness...or has he somehow found it? (Source: Yen Press)

Drama · Psychological

4.4

Three Days of Happiness

Sugaru Miaki

2013 · 15 ch

Film

Clarice Starling is a top student at the FBI's training academy. Jack Crawford wants Clarice to interview Dr. Hannibal Lecter, a brilliant psychiatrist who is also a violent psychopath, serving life behind bars for various acts of murder and cannibalism. Crawford believes that Lecter may have insight into a case and that Starling, as an attractive young woman, may be just the bait to draw him out.

4.2

The Silence of the Lambs

1991

Series

A teenaged gang leader in New York City faces his abuser and rival gangs alongside a photojournalist from Japan as they investigate a deadly new drug.