Anime Like Shades of Blue
If you loved Shades of Blue's Drama and Crime storytelling, these anime deliver a similar experience — selected for art style, narrative depth, and emotional impact. Each includes where to stream it now.
★ Top Picks
New York Undercover
New York Undercover is an American police drama The series stars Detective J.C. Williams and Detective Eddie Torres, two undercover detectives in New York City's Fourth Precinct who were assigned to investigate various crimes and gang-related cases.
Castle
After a serial killer imitates the plots of his novels, successful mystery novelist Richard "Rick" Castle receives permission from the Mayor of New York City to tag along with an NYPD homicide investigation team for research purposes.
Line of Duty
A drama about the investigations of AC-12, a controversial police anticorruption unit.
T. J. Hooker
Sergeant Thomas Jefferson Hooker is a tough-as-nails veteran police officer with the LCPD who turns his back on a gold badge and goes back to patrolling the streets and training recruits. Along with his young partners in blue, Hooker take on Lake City's toughest criminals.
L.A.'s Finest
Syd Burnett has left her complicated past behind to become an LAPD detective. Paired with a new partner, Nancy McKenna, a working mom with an equally complex past, Syd is pushed to examine whether her unapologetic lifestyle might be masking a greater personal secret. These two women don't agree on much, but they find common ground when it comes to taking on the most dangerous criminals in Los Angeles.
The Mysteries of Laura
Laura Diamond, a brilliant NYPD homicide detective balances her “Columbo” day job with a crazy family life that includes two unruly twin boys and a soon-to-be ex-husband — also a cop — who just can't seem to sign the divorce papers. Between cleaning up after her boys and cleaning up the streets, she’d be the first to admit she has her “hot mess” moments in this hilariously authentic look at what it really means to be a “working mom” today. Somehow, she makes it all work with the help of her sexy and understanding partner, and things becomes even more complicated when her husband, ironically, becomes her boss at the precinct. For Laura, every day is a high-wire balancing act.
Police Woman
Sergeant “Pepper"” Anderson, an undercover cop for the Criminal Conspiracy Unit of the Los Angeles Police Department, poses undercover from mob girl to prostitute.
Hill Street Blues
A realistic glimpse into the daily lives of the officers and detectives at an urban police station.
More Anime Like Shades of Blue
The Bay
Family Liaison Officer Lisa Armstrong becomes a little too emotionally involved with a case (to the point where she might compromise it) concerning a pair of missing Morecambe twins to whose distraught parents she is assigned.
Better
After a family tragedy is narrowly averted, a corrupt police detective undergoes a painful moral awakening and decides to put right twenty years of wrongdoing but satisfying her newfound conscience won't be straightforward.
Mike Hammer
Private detective Mike Hammer hunts down criminals on the mean streets of New York City.
Rookie Blue
Ambitious young cops try to prove themselves in their high-stakes careers, in which the smallest mistake can have deadly consequences. At the core of the close-knit group is perfectionist Andy McNally, whose father was a homicide detective before he burned out on the job. The series follows Andy and her four colleagues -- Dov Epstein, Gail Peck, Traci Nash and Chris Diaz -- as they experience the trials, triumphs and tribulations of police work, as well as its effect on their personal lives.
A Nero Wolfe Mystery
Genius detective Nero Wolfe and his right-hand man, Archie Goodwin, solve seemingly impossible crimes.
Rogue
Grace, a morally and emotionally-conflicted undercover detective, is tormented by the possibility that her own actions contributed to her son’s death. Grace’s search for the truth is further complicated by her forbidden relationship with Jimmy, the crime boss who may have played a hand in the crime.
21 Jump Street
21 Jump Street revolves around a group of young cops who would use their youthful appearance to go undercover and solve crimes involving teenagers and young adults.
The Calling
NYPD Detective Avraham Avraham's belief in mankind is his superpower when it comes to uncovering the truth. Guided by a deep sense of spirituality and religious principles, Avraham is left to question his own humanity when a seemingly routine investigation turns upside down.
The Inspector Lynley Mysteries
DS Barbara Havers is assigned to work with the upper-crust DI Thomas Lynley to solve murders.
Frankie Drake Mysteries
Toronto’s only female private detective in the 1920s takes on the cases the police don’t want or can’t handle. From airplanes and booze running to American G-men, Communists and union busters, Frankie’s fearless sense of adventure gets her into all kinds of trouble, but she always manages to find her way out.
Bosch: Legacy
Bosch is now making a living as a private investigator two years after he quit the LAPD and finds himself working with one time enemy and top-notch attorney Honey “Money” Chandler. Meanwhile, Bosch's daughter Maddie is venturing into the world of the LAPD.
No Offence
Keeping these streets clean is a Herculean task, enough to demoralize even the keenest rookie – but there’s a reason why this hotchpotch of committed cops are on this force, on this side of town. Drug labs, arsonists, neo-Nazis and notorious murderers are all in a day’s work for this close-knit team, led by the dizzyingly capable but unquestionably unhinged DI Vivienne Deering. But when a particularly twisted serial killer emerges it leaves even the most hardened of these seasoned coppers reeling.
Why These Anime Are Similar
These recommendations share core qualities with Shades of Blue (2016): Drama and Crime themes, comparable animation style, and similar narrative pacing. NoBadPicks uses TMDB collaborative filtering, genre matching, and AI analysis to surface anime most likely to resonate with fans of Shades of Blue.
See full details for Shades of Blue (2016)