Summary
Shonen anime deals unabashedly with dark themes, showing the brutality and futility of humanity’s dark side. Dark moments in series like My Hero Academia and Code Geass leave a lasting impact on viewers, making the plot make sense. Characters like Shigaraki, Shinji, and Kamui face heartbreaking decisions that shape their paths in painful ways.
Anime Shonen the films appear to be aimed at a young male audience, but that reality can be hard to believe once one has seen how dark some of these films can get. By depicting human depravity, hopeless futility, or a horrifying mass slaughter, these series do not shy away from the dark realities of the world but instead embrace them boldly. in full force, displaying the true horror for all to witness.
These dark moments can simply be the darkest moments in a series that is generally quite dark, or shockingly dark moments from series that are usually not so dark. In both cases, these scenes shocked viewers and are often among the most discussed moments in the respective series. Needless to say, these darker moments are often very significant in the plot, so there are some spoiler front.
10 Shigaraki demonstrate the dark side of superpowers
My Hero Academia Episode 111, “Tenko Shimura: Origin”
My Hero Academia does not shy away from the darkness that is necessary for someone to call themselves a “villain,” and nothing exemplifies this more than Shigaraki’s origin story. When he was a child named Tenko Shimura, his Decay ability suddenly appeared, causing him to immediately kill his family’s dog. While screaming and panicking like any child, he then proceeded to touch his sister and kill her. One by one, young Tenko killed each member of his family, unaware of what was happening… until his father arrived, ready to beat him, and Tenko chose to intentionally kill him.
Knowing that he is responsible for the death of his entire family is a key factor in transforming Tenko into the monstrous Tomura Shigaraki. Almost anyone would lose their mind after such a horrific incident. Even worse, there’s an implication that with the way Quirks work, something like this could happen to any child in the world at any time.
9 Madoka causes early consequences
Puella Magi Madoka Magica Episode 3, “I’m Not Afraid of Anything Anymore”
Madoka’s first episode is now famous and it sets the stage for the rest of the series going forward. In the fairly typical Magical Girl series, Madoka witnesses the magical girl Mami fighting against a Witch named Charlotte. Mami was doing great… until she wasn’t. Surprised when Charlotte transforms into a caterpillar-like creature, Mami is beheaded by the witch’s jaws.
Mami’s death comes almost out of nowhere and quickly proves that this is not going to be a romp with magical powers. Fighting monsters means putting one’s life in danger, and as the series progresses, it becomes clear that no magical girl’s life ends happily. It changes the entire direction of the series, making it one of the most effective genre deconstructions ever.
X/1999 Episode 12, “Replacement”
X/1999 is an apocalyptic series by CLAMP, about the prophesied confrontation between two groups: the Heavenly Dragons, who fight to save humanity, and the Earthly Dragons, who aim to wipe out humanity. people to preserve the planet. Protagonist Kamui Hiro is forced to choose between the two, initially not caring much but deciding because of his love for his childhood friend Kotori and his friendship with her brother Fuma to choose to save humanity. This miracle forces Fuma into the opposite role and leads to him killing Kotori, taking everything Kamui hoped to save.
It’s a devastating moment that sends Kamui into a tailspin and threatens to bring apocalyptic destruction to all of humanity if Kamui cannot calm down.
7 A father experiments on his own daughter to gain power
Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood Episode 4, “The Alchemist’s Anguish”
Nina Tucker’s fate is one of the darkest moments in Fullmetal Alchemist for many reasons. At the risk of losing his State Alchemist certification, Shou Tucker secretly combines his daughter with his dog to create a talking Chimera—and it’s not the first time he’s done something like that. So. The episode takes the time to get to know the lovely young Nina before plunging her into this dark fate, making the final twist all the more painful. Ed and Al’s reaction was probably the most heartbreaking, Ed was so confused that he started hitting Shou Tucker with his bare hands.
It was almost a relief when Scar killed the poor creature as there was no hope of reversing the process. If Ed and Al’s attempt to revive their mother didn’t warn you that Fullmetal Alchemist was going dark, then poor Nina Tucker really drove the message home.
6 Denji’s death is the tip of the iceberg
The Chainsaw Man Episode 1, “The Dog and the Chainsaw”
There aren’t many stories that start with the death of the main character, but Chainsaw Man is still one of the darkest even in the genre. Denji is introduced as a boy burdened with a mountain of debt, doing everything he can to survive each day. He was betrayed by his Yakuza master and taken to a warehouse, where he was first stabbed, then brutally and brutally attacked by a mob of zombies created by the Zombie Demon. Denji’s life was one of pure suffering, and his death is no different in that regard – a cruelly nihilistic portrait of the protagonist.
Of course, Denji is revived by signing a contract with Pochita, the Chainsaw Demon, but all this really just leaves him open to exploitation by others, like Makima. Denji is rarely treated like a human being, and his death in the first episode is the ultimate proof of how dark things can get when people are dehumanized.
5 Shinji killed the only person who cared about him
Neon Genesis Evangelion Episode 24, “The Last Messenger”
Evangelion went through a lot of dark moments towards the end of the film, but one of the darkest and most memorable moments was definitely the death of Kaworu Nagisa. Kaworu appears as the Fifth Child and quickly befriends Shinji, who has had difficulty connecting with anyone throughout the series, by telling him things like he deserves sympathize and they should be friends. It is then revealed that Kaworu is actually the Last Angel, and he begins his descent on his mission to destroy humanity. Shinji is forced to kill him with his own EVA hands, even when Kaworu tells him that humanity is worth saving.
Killing Kaworu was the final straw in Shinji’s already fragile mental state, and he never truly recovered from this. Kaworu became an extremely popular character thanks to their interactions in this episode, to the point where people were surprised to learn he only appeared in one episode. Efficiently killing a friend in cold blood, this is the depth of despair into which Evangelion eventually sinks.
4 Euphemia ordered genocide
Code Geass Episode 22, Bloody Euphie
Code Geass’s darkest moments happened completely by accident, and that makes the disaster that follows all the more tragic. While talking to his kind sister Euphie, Llouche tries to explain how his Geass power works and accidentally activates it with a terrible simile, “Kill all the Japanese.” . Euphie was initially against it, but soon made a public statement ordering genocide against Japanese subjects. Llouche, knowing there was no way to reverse the Geass, was forced to kill her own sister to end the bloodshed, but not without hundreds of people dying in a senseless massacre.
As with many other dark moments, it marks a major turning point in the series—Leloche must live knowing that he caused this, even if it was unintentional, and that his original goal was always save Japan from the Britannian Empire. This prompted a wider uprising, which Llouche had hoped for, but the price was too high.
3 Pokkle and Ponzu die a brutal, thoughtless death
Hunter X Hunter Episode 80, “Evil X and Terrible X”
Pokkle and Ponzu are two recurring characters in the series, first appearing in the Hunter Exam arc. They reappeared in the Chimera Ant arc, where they found themselves attacked and captured by the Ants, with the majority of their group being killed in the attack. Neferpitou experiments on Pokkle, dissecting his skull and controlling his brain to force him to share secrets about Nen. Ponzu manages to escape and even manages to send a message, but is brutally shot in the back, and then shot repeatedly after she has fallen. The ant then eats her, adding insult to injury.
For such long-running characters, their deaths are narratively unsatisfactory and meaningless, but intentionally so. These are characters who trained and grew up alongside the heroes, but they didn’t even get to go out in a blaze of glory or heroic sacrifice.. That’s just cold reality.
2 Prushka is turned into a living cartridge
Film produced in Abyss, “Dawn of the Deep Soul”
Made in Abyss has dozens of horribly dark moments, but one of the worst has to be the fate of Prushka, a young girl Riko and Reg meet who also lives with a dark scientist named Bondrewd. Bondrewd reveals that he has found a way to avoid the Curse of the Abyss – by forcing it on others, whom he turns into still-living “Cartridges.” This fate befalls poor Prushka, angering Riko and Reg and leading to a confrontation with Bondrewd. Prushka died like a cartridge, unable to return to the same.
The only glimmer of hope is that Prushka’s friendship with Riko and Reg led to her remains creating a Life Echoing Stone, which was eventually sculpted into the White Whistle that Riko carried with her. Prushka’s soul lives on in the siren, able to communicate with Riko even after death.
1 Nearly Everyone Is Killed By “Heroes”
Attack on Titan Episode 88, “The Rumble”
Attack on Titan’s main character undergoes a radical change near the end of the series. He unleashed the Titans hidden within the walls, numbering in their millions, and led them to attack, with the aim of destroying all who did not live on Paradis Island.. This is an event called the Rumbling, named after the last time it happened 2,000 years ago, and Eren has absolutely no idea what he’s doing. The other main characters are forced to band together and kill Eren to stop it.
Already an absurdly dark series right from its premise, Attack on Titan outdid itself with Rumbling. Countless people were killed by the actions of Eren, a character that viewers had previously rooted for, twisting the knife even further. The scale of such brutality certainly makes it one of the darkest moments in history. cartoon history.