Anime That Starts Cute Then Gets Gorey

What draws us in horror? Is it the thrill, the rush, and the fear that makes creepy and horrifying stories so alluring? Is it the tension, the suspense, the mystery of these weird scenarios or is it maybe the terrifying realism that something like that can actually happen?

There is absolutely nothing less disturbing and frightening than the human mind. In horror stories, if you think about it, no matter if the storylines involve people that are deranged in the head or monsters, a human brain is always behind everything that happens in the story. Who initially thought of the fucked-up situations that the characters go through or the really gory and violent scenes? A human. That human can be either me or you or anyone who is mentally creative. So, basically what I am trying to say is that we are the source of all evil. We create psychological horrifying scenarios because it excites us and because people love the ecstasy of danger.

As Thomas Szas once said,' Insanity is the only sane reaction to an insane society '. But don't let me get too deep and dramatic here… Let's explore some anime titles that involve great horror stories that can indeed be too disturbing to watch.

Higurashi no Naku Koro ni (When They Cry)

Spring 2006
26 Episodes

Maebara Keiichi, an ordinary high school boy, has just transferred to the local school of Hinamizawa, a small rural village. He leads a quite peaceful life and he becomes friends with a group of what-they-seem-to-be innocent and kind schoolgirls. Suddenly, after a series of bizarre events that happen in the mysterious city of Hinamizawa, he becomes entangled in a never-ending cycle of violence, fear, and death.

This anime is an absolute masterpiece when it comes to disturbing content. At the beginning, it might look weird and uneventful but trust me, the things that you will see later on will traumatize you forever. As someone who has seen a fair amount of anime in my life, I have never seen anything quite like the gore and violence of Higurashi. It made me cringe so much and till this day I will never forget the intensity and obscenity of some scenes. No doubt, the girls on the show will bring you nightmares.

Higurashi no Naku Koro ni Hou (Higurashi When They Cry) teaser site, first Switch promo video and reservations open! https://t.co/uhb8p4JHxK pic.twitter.com/rs1MJJcEu7

— Japanese Nintendo (@japanese3ds) March 22, 2018

GANTZ

Spring 2004
26 Episodes

Kei Kurono and his childhood friend Katou have died in a train accident. After their death, they wake up in a small room full of strangers and a giant black sphere known as GANTZ. They find themselves caught in a game, or rather a test of skills, where they are given missions to kill aliens and robot monsters in order to survive.

GANTZ is brutal. It features intense gore, violence, and even rape scenes that are not for the faint-hearted. This anime is shockingly explicit. A lot of graphic scenes are exposed, and believe me, nothing in this show is made in a sensible or mature fashion. GANTZ portrays the awful side of today's society with vulgar scenes that will really make you question your own beliefs and morality.

Manga Vol.1 © Hiroya Oku/Shueisha © SHUEISHA Inc. All rights reserved.

Serial Experiments Lain

1998
13 Episodes

Lain Iwakura, an introverted fourteen-year-old girl receives an email from her classmate Chisa, who recently committed suicide. As she opens the email, she is lead into the Wired (what we know as the internet) where she encounters a lot of cryptic mysteries and events. The line between the Wired and reality becomes more and more unclear as Lain starts questioning her identity and her own consciousness.

The ultimate mindfuck. I don't think I can word it any differently. Serial Experiments Lain is an anime that revels in confusing the hell out of the viewer. It follows a very 'experimental' style that shows that anime don't have to be violent in order to be creepy and disturbing. In scenes where everything seems lifeless, long periods of silence or nothing else but noise along with tons of metaphorical dialogues, Serial Experiments Lain will definitely get to you. It is not an easy show to follow as it is quite slow-paced, and in my humble opinion, it needs to be seen more than once to fully understand and experience its beauty.

daily reminder serial experiments lain was a found footage documentary pic.twitter.com/Wt4WTfhlE1

— Faceberg (@thefaceberg) July 25, 2018

Mononoke

Summer 2007
12 Episodes

In feudal Japan, evil spirits known as mononoke plague around households leaving a trail of fear in their wake. A man by the name of 'Medicine Seller' is looking for these malevolent spirits to slay them using his unique techniques and Exorcism Sword. In order to defeat the spirits, he needs to understand the Form, Truth, and Reason of the mononoke which ends up being extremely dangerous and perplexing.

Hands down the most beautiful, surrealistic, and well-designed anime I have ever seen. Mononoke  is both original and genuinely frightening. Where the paranormal element of the story would sound like the real cause for its horror, the abstract art, weird Edo period atmosphere, music, sound effects, and even the voice acting along with the fact that everything is presented like a play (with sliding screens taking the place of curtains) is what really makes it unsettling and disturbing.

But before watching Mononoke, you should watch Ayakashi – Japanese Classic Horror, which is made up by three different stories and where the third one: Bake Neko can act like a small introduction of the original Mononoke series.

Promotional Art for Mononoke （C）モノノ怪製作委員会

Another

Winter 2012
12 Episodes

The year is 1998, and Kouichi Sakakibara has just transferred in Yomiyama North Middle School's class 3-3, where twenty six years ago, something terrible happened to the talented student named Misaki and suddenly passed away. Ever since, each third-year class lives in fear of the tragic event. As Kouichi tries to grasp the situation, he is drawn to the enigmatic girl named Misaki and everyone around him warns him not to get involved with her. As he starts to become closer to Misaki and to the truth behind the gruesome events that happened years ago, people start to violently die.

Clever plot and outstanding animation. Another combines both a terrifying story and violence that is once again not for those with a weak stomach. Even though I was left quite disappointed by the end of the story and sometimes thought that the mystery and puzzles didn't really come together, I still think that Another, has some of the most disturbing scenes I have seen so far. If gruesome deaths with a lot of blood scenes are your cup of tea, then Another is surely a must-watch for you.

Jacket for First Novel ©KADOKAWA CORPORATION 2018

Mnemosyne:  Daughters of Mnemosyne

2008
6 Episodes

Rin is a private investigator who happens to be immortal. She has eaten a fruit from the guardian tree Yggdrasil, which makes her unable to die, something that comes in handy when she has to deal with dangerous situations. But immortality has its problems. Rin and her assistant Mimi have lived long years and countless people have tried to kill them. But suddenly, when higher forces come after them, they must use everything at their disposal in order to escape their possibly one and true death.

Mnemosyne is an anime with a lot of mature content. And when I say a lot, I mean A LOT. It contains sex, nudity, and graphic torture but despite its violence and sexual themes, the content is never there just for the sake of it. It's not the usual unnecessary fan service. Everything comes together and enhances even more the interesting plot of the show. Yes, there is a lot of torture porn and a guy that literally wants to fuck everything he sees, but overall it's a rather sophisticated show with a surprisingly adult twist to it that will give you many disturbingly unpleasant scenes.

Visual from XEBEC Official Site Copyright © 2008 XEBEC. All rights reserved.

Elfen Lied

Summer 2004
13 Episodes

Kouta, the main character, along with Yuka, find and save this girl, Nyu, the result of an experiment that has gone terribly wrong that has the form of an innocent young girl, naked in the beach who seems to have no memories of her past plus she can hardly speak. Little did they know that by taking her home, she would change their lives forever as it a matter of time before the murderer in her awakens once again.

Elfen Lied is uhm… is a weird experience. This anime honestly doesn't give a shit about decency. Overly excessively gore, grotesque amount of nudity, and a rather engaging plot. If you can last through the first half of the first episode, then yes, you can definitely watch this no problem. Although it is infamous for its cruelty, gore, innovative ideas, and thought-provoking themes, and it can be considered a work of art in its own way, at the end of the day it really lacks depth and meaning. The violence in this will definitely make it disturbing but other than that (except the beautiful opening of the show with recreations of Gustav Klimt's art) its uniqueness can't make up for the poor execution of the storyline.

All this time, I've lived in hope of telling you how sorry I am, I've fought armies, just to have this chance, but now, there's nothing I can say.. That's good enough.

Elfen lied pic.twitter.com/ZOU5zuxWdb

— Z E R K (@NilabhaSaha) May 4, 2018

Paranoia Agent

Winter 2004
13 Episodes

In the streets of Tokyo, there is a new menace that everyone is talking about. A young boy by the name of Shounen Bat wears roller skates and a baseball cap and likes to whack people on the head with a golden baseball bat. As more and more people fall victim to the notorious golden bat, the news start to circulate around town and the police tries to find out if there is a pattern to all this chaos.

Yet another mind-fucking plot that is definitely not easy or straightforward. Satoshi Kon is very well known for his weird style and unusually strange works and Paranoia Agent is a very good example of his insanity. This anime is trippy, and even though many won't find it scary enough, it can definitely be very creepy. With an opening that will really make you feel uncomfortable, an excellent narrative and a very 'experimental' vibe to it, this anime is very inspiring and presents a very alternative way of making horror.

🌱Paranoia Agent/Mousou Dairirin
Dir. Satoshi Kon
(2004) pic.twitter.com/Pw8wkXGQfx

— [blank.] (@aniimesthetic) August 21, 2018

Corpse Party: Tortured Souls

2013
4 Episodes

One rainy night after a school festival, friends gather up to perform a charm that will unite them forever as friends. Once the ritual of the charm is performed, they are suddenly transported to Heavenly Host, an elementary school that was destroyed years ago due to a series of murders that took place. As they try to regroup and escape from the living nightmare they found themselves in, they soon find out that they are actually at the mercy of the vengeful ghosts of the past.

A very well written story with incredibly disturbing art. This show can be so grotesque that it will probably make you vomit a couple of times. I think it represents horror at its best and it highly succeeds in making you feel as trapped as the main characters. If you really like this OVA miniseries, I would suggest and highly recommend that you play the actual Corpse Party games, that are literally so creepy that you will need to take breaks before continuing to the next chapters.

iOS版『コープスパーティー Book of Shadows』の配信日が2013年12月17日に決定いたしました！価格は2,800円（税込）です。最新作『コープスBD』をプレイする前に、iOS版で思い出してくださいね♪ #コープス pic.twitter.com/znVdQJwLsr

— コープスパーティー (@corpse5pb) December 13, 2013

Monster

Spring 2004
74 Episodes

Kenzo Tenma is a Japanese renowned surgeon that works in Europe and follows a great life. Beautiful fiancée, a good job with a big promotion on its way, but everything changes as he comes to deal with a great dilemma: should he save the life of a very influential and important person or the life of an innocent child? As he chose to save the child, he later on realizes that his decision damages not only his prospects but unleashes a chain of horrific events, with murders pointing out to the very child he once saved.

This is an absolute masterpiece of a story. I have never seen anything quite like Monster before. The well-paced plot, realistic setting and truly amazing characters will leave you on the edge of your seat. This horror series does not involve extreme violence or gore, it just has such an amazing storyline that will make you feel weirdly disturbed and uncomfortable. Johan Liebert, the main antagonist of the show will make you realize that there is nothing more horrific than the human mind itself.

MONSTER Perfect Edtion Vol.1 Manga © 1995 Naoki URASAWA/Studio Nuts

All monsters are human

Making a recommendations list, especially in the horror genre of anime, can be quite tricky. Each person has their own definition of horror and whether some might think that horror is a bunch of dreadful killings, others may think of more eerie supernatural events. So the definition of horror really ends up depending on each person's perception of it.

When a horror show gives you something truly memorable, like a scene or a sensation, this is what sticks with you and makes you scared, for me at least this is what horror is all about. How about you? Which of the anime above you think are utterly disturbing and why? Let us know in the comments and make sure to add your recommendations as well.

Anime That Starts Cute Then Gets Gorey

Source: https://manga.tokyo/otaku-articles/10-horror-anime-too-disturbing-to-watch/

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