The following article contains a discussion of rape, sexual assault, and other intense themes.
Animeis a medium that’s known for its tendency to be weird and audacious. Whether it’s through a willingness to be far more violent than Western animation or through how generally weird and inappropriate the stories can get, there are often no limits to how far anime will go with something, and that’s often been to its benefit as much as it’s been to its detriment.
Anime has always pushed the boundaries of what some people deem as acceptable, yet it rarely ever does so in a way that detracts from the overall story. That isn’t the case with every anime, unfortunately, as whether it’s something relatively unknown or even the occasional mainstream hit,some anime have been known to do things either visually or narratively that go well beyond what’s acceptable, even by the typical standards of anime. A few of those anime especially stand out, and overall, it’s hard to understand what the thought process behind it all was.
Danganronpa 3: The End of Hope’s Peak High School
Cast
Danganronpa 3: The End of Hope’s Peak High School is an animated series set in a government-recognized academy designed to nurture top students. The story follows Hinata Hajime, a preparatory class student, who discovers a mysterious project and discrimination, leading the school toward an unforeseen future.
Lerche’sDanganronpa 3: The End of Hope’s Peak High Schoolis the grand finale of the Hope’s Peak Academy arc of theDanganronpavideo game franchise. The series is split into two alternating stories:Future Arc, which saw Naegi and the Future Foundation thrown into another death game, andDespair Arc, which served as an origin story for the Remnants of Despair and the plot, as a whole.
While nothing aboutDanganronpa 3is offensive on a surface level, what makes it a problem is how it blatantly ignores the themes and lore of previous stories to force a happy ending at the expense of a large number of characters who deserve it more than the ones who actually got it.Danganronpa 3is bad for how lazily it tried to close out the original story, and it’s easy to see why it remains so divisive after so many years.
Ufotable’sFate/stay night: Heaven’s Feelis a film trilogy adapting the final route oftheFate/stay nightvisual novel. In this take on the story, Shirou grows closer to Sakura than he has in any other route, but doing so inadvertently brings out horrors unlike any other and challenges Shirou’s ideals in a way the previous anime never did.
While the film trilogy follows the censored version of theHeaven’s Feelroute, both of them are still far darker than theFateandUnlimited Blade Worksroutes for how much they indulge in bloody violence and rape, especially when it comes to Sakura.Fate/stay night: Heaven’s Feeltook the story’s dark themes to their limit, and while a great trilogy came out of it, it was no less hard to watch at times.
Bibury Animation Studios’The 100 Girlfriends Who Really, Really, Really, Really, Really Love Youstars Rentaro Aijou, an eccentric young boy who’s fallen in love 100 times and been rejected every time. One day, however, the God of Love tells Rentaro that he will gain 100 soulmates during his time in high school, all of whom he must love equally or else risk killing them for depriving them of a soulmate.
As a fanservice-laden romcom,100 Girlfriendshas plenty of moments that can be hard to watch, but season 2 took things even further in thata scene of two girls groping each other in the bath was so inappropriate that it had to be cut out entirely. The fact that not even censoring it was enough says a lot, and there’s no bigger testament to just how raunchy a show100 Girlfriendscan be.
7Cross Ange
Anime Series By Sunrise; Created By Mitsuo Fukuda
Sunrise’sCross Angestars Angelise Ikaruga Misurugi, a princess whose life is upended when she’s exposed as a Norma, the outcasts of society for their inability to use Mana. Angelise is subsequently stripped of her status and forced to work in the military in their fight against mysterious creatures called DRAGONs, and as much as she hates her new life, Angelise, now known by Ange, has no choice but to adapt if she hopes to survive and get back at everyone who betrayed her.
It’s one thing forCross Angeto have a large amount of fanservice, but it’s annoyingly excessive and also employs sexual assault and rape far too often, with the first episode even ending with Ange being sexually assaulted by another character.Cross Ange’s indulgence in intense sexual themes borders on fetishism, and it’s incredibly hard to watch because of it.
Science Saru’sDevilman Crybabyis the latest reimagining of the iconicDevilmanseries by Go Nagai. When habitual crybaby Akira Fudo is dragged by his best friend Ryo Asuka onto a mission to expose the existence of demons, he’s possessed by the demon Amon and gains the power to transform into the bloodthirsty Devilman. What follows is Akira’s transformation into a more assertive and aggressive person as he struggles to protect his loved ones from demons under the growing threat of the apocalypse.
WhileDevilmanis famous for its dark visuals and storytelling,Devilman Crybabysomehow manages to be even darker than the original anime with an increased focus on blood and gore, not to mention even more nudity and sexual themes. It results in moments like Miki’s gruesome death and the overall tragic ending hit even harder, and it’s ultimately as tragic as it is disturbing.
Kumamiko - Girl Meets Bear
Kumamiko - Girl Meets Bear is an anime series released in 2016, focusing on Machi, a middle school shrine maiden in Japan’s Tohoku region, and her talking bear guardian, Natsu. The series explores Machi’s preparation for city life through trials set by Natsu as she plans to attend school in the city.
Kinema Citrus and EMT Squared’sKumamiko — Girl Meets Bearstars Machi Amayadori, a shrine maiden living in the country who yearns to move to the city when she starts high school. No one objects to that more than Natsu Kumai, a talking bear and Machi’s best friend, so now Machi must pass Natsu’s bizarre trials to prove she can handle living in the city.
WhileKumamikois a largely harmless slice-of-life anime, everything took an abrupt turn when, in a major divergence from the manga, Machi suffered a panic attack, gave up on living in the city, and became more ignorant and infantilized than ever, all of which was framed as a good thing.Kumamiko — Girl Meets Bearhas one of the worst endings in anime because of how cruelly it ruins its story, and the fact thateven the original author hatedKumamiko’s endingmakes that even clearer.
Xebec’sTo Love-Rustars Rito Yuuki, a boy who meets the beautiful alien princess Lala Satalin Deviluke after she runs away from home. A series of misunderstandings leads to Lala falling in love with Rito and the two becoming engaged, and it all escalates into Rito constantly having to deal with absurd humans and aliens alike who keep falling for him, even as he keeps unintentionally groping them due to his clumsiness.
Harem fanservice anime are nothing new, but what makesTo Love-Ruspecial, and hard to watch at times, is the sheer depth with which it uses fanservice, with many of its scenes just barely avoiding being flat-out pornography.To Love-Ruis known for being one of the biggest fanservice anime of all time, if not the biggest, and for better or worse, it earns that reputation.
TNK’sRedo of Healerstars Keyaru, a healer enslaved by a sadistic hero party who spent four years drugging and raping him simply because they could. After defeating the demon king, however, Keyaru’s healing powers get a tremendous boost and even allow him to go back in time, and he’ll use this new chance to get revenge on everyone who wronged him, starting by brainwashing the evil princess Flare into being his obedient sex slave.
It’s one thing forRedo of Healerto be a dark revenge fantasy with excessive amounts of rape and violence, but despite Keyaru’s countless horrific acts, the story makes the odd decision to treat him as the hero at every turn.Redo of Healeris one of the worst stories a person can read because of its gross understanding of morality, and it’s easy to see why it’s become so controversial.
2Apocalypse Zero
OVA Series By Ashi Productions; Based On The Manga By Takayuki Yamaguchi
Ashi Productions’Apocalypse Zerotakes place in a post-apocalyptic Japan overrun with mutants led by Harara Hagakure, a boy possessed by demonic armor and filled with a burning desire to destroy humanity. The only one who can stop Harara is his younger brother Kakugo, who wields the same type of armor, and Kakugo’s attempts to do so end up being a truly bloody affair from start to finish.
Apocalypse Zerois an unabashedly gory OVA series, and while that isn’t inherently bad,the extreme nature ofApocalypse Zero’s gore and violence, combined with how lackluster the story is, makes it hard to watch to the point of being uncomfortable. The fact that it was canceled after two episodes makes it even harder to recommend, and it more than earns its reputation asone of the worst ’90s anime to watch.
Studio Trigger’sPanty & Stocking with Garterbeltstars the eponymous Panty and Stocking, angels who were kicked out of Heaven due to their crude behavior, and under the guidance of reverend Garterbelt, they must protect Daten City from malicious Ghosts to eventually earn their way back. That being said, with how much Panty and Stocking are distracted by sex and sweets, respectively, accomplishing that is far easier said than done.
Despite having an art style resembling cartoons likeDexter’s LaboratoryandThe Powerpuff Girls,Panty & Stocking with Garterbeltis one of the raunchiest shows a person can watch, thanks to its frequent vulgarity, nudity, and extreme sexual content, with the show often going far beyond the raunchy cartoons that inspired it. There has never been an anime with so few boundaries, and withPanty & Stocking’s new season coming this July, that’s only going to become more apparent.
