10 Darkest Anime Series Ever, Ranked
The world of Japanese anime is often compared to cartoons, and some series like Doraemon do feel like that. However, colorful visuals don't always mean a happy and innocent story, because some anime series are quite dark, sometimes famously so. Some of those dark or brutal anime series are subverting expectations about what anime should be, while others are more conventional drama stories that happen to be anime.
An anime series may have dark themes and moments if it includes material such as grief, loss, betrayal, heartbreak, or exposing the darkest side of humanity. These dark series tell grim stories that are meant not to make viewers feel good but to make a sharp point about human nature and the reality of suffering. These dark series might also have their bright side, such as moments of hope and even joy, but the darker side will always do the heavy lifting and will define the most important plot points or themes.
10 PHOTOS
1. Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood Is a Fetch Quest Gone Wrong in a Steampunk World
Dark Themes/Elements: Genocide, Ethnic Tensions, Grief
Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood ranks last among the darkest anime series because, in its narrative, good triumphs over evil, and the heroes get their happily ever after. Along the way, though, the heroes suffer all kinds of hardships and challenges, and it all starts when the Elric brothers begin their quest to find the Philosopher's Stone. Then Ed and Al learned the gut-wrenching truth of how those Stones are made.
The Fullmetal Alchemist anime also delves into heavy and complicated topics that intertwine in compelling ways to keep the narrative moving smoothly, such as the horrific Ishvalan Civil War and its consequences, as Scar can attest to. Ed's and Al's quest also has a dark personal edge, because they lost their mother Trish to a disease and lost body parts trying to revive her with forbidden alchemy.
2. Fruits Basket Shows Tohru Honda Trying to Save the Sohmas From Themselves
Dark Themes/Elements: Verbal Abuse, Alienation
The shojo anime Fruits Basket is one of the darkest anime in its demographic, no matter its flowery visuals and regular comic relief. This is another dark series with a happy ending, with plenty of characters enduring serious abuse and misery along the way. That's because the members of the reclusive Sohma family have a lot of baggage thanks to their curse and even each other.
Tohru Honda, the protagonist, must save the Sohmas from themselves, which means soothing their wounded hearts and empowering them to improve their lives while breaking free from Akito's grip. The anime set up Akito Sohma to be the final villain with her constant verbal and emotional abuse, but she too is a victim, having suffered from a selfish mother who deeply resented her.
3. Terminator Zero Asks Whether Humanity Even Deserves to Survive
Dark Themes/Elements: Nuclear War
Based on director James Cameron's famous Terminator sci-fi franchise, the Terminator Zero anime explores this world of time travel and killer robots from a fresh perspective. The Connors are absent, replaced by new heroes who must fight desperately to prevent Judgment Day's arrival with both actions and words. It's August 1997, and nuclear fire is only hours away.
Most disturbingly of all, the AI that Dr. Malcolm Lee made to fight Skynet, named Kokoro, isn't entirely convinced of its mission. Kokoro wonders if humanity is even worth saving from Skynet's wrath, and Dr. Lee will struggle to provide answers. That challenges Terminator Zero fans to ask hard questions about human civilization and what about it is worth saving, and everyone's assumptions about that just might be wrong.
4. Jujutsu kaisen's Best Plot Twists Are All Brutal and Shocking
Dark Themes/Elements: Grief
On one hand, the shonen action anime Jujutsu Kaisen has delightful humor and certainly the power of friendship to give the heroes a fighting chance, but it's always an uphill battle. Protagonist Yuji Itadori had to eat one of Ryomen Sukuna's fingers to survive a curse attack, only to be sentenced to death by the sorcerer world's elders. Only Satoru Gojo's influence prevented that from happening.
Meanwhile, Jujutsu Kaisen amps up the horror and heartbreak with storylines like Mahito twisting the bullied Junpei Yoshino into a monster, not to mention Maki Zenin's struggles against the sorcery world's bias against female sorcerers. Most recently, the Jujutsu Kaisen anime dealt an emotional blow with Nobara Kugisaki's apparent death, and Yuji is all alone as the sorcerer elders aim to execute him after all.
5. Tokyo Ghoul Thrusts the Hero Into a Morally Ambiguous Struggle For Survival
Dark Themes/Elements: The Suffering of Innocents, Torture
In broad strokes, the seinen manga/anime franchise Tokyo Ghoul almost feels like a shonen "monster hunter" anime, but it also focuses on some tricky moral ambiguity that sets it apart from Demon Slayer and even Chainsaw Man. That's because in Tokyo Ghoul's world, the human and ghoul sides each have cruel and innocent people, so it's not black and white.
Protagonist Ken Kaneki saw that for himself when he became a one-eyed ghoul, a classic example of a half-other anime hero. He saw the good and bad on both sides, such as CCG investigators, innocent ghouls like Hinami, and cruel ghouls like Aogiri Tree, so he resolved to stop all the fighting rather than favor one side. It won't be easy for Ken to reconcile the two sides, though, as members of each side fight him or even torture him.
6. The Flowers of Evil Explores the Frustration and Emptiness of Teen Life
Dark Themes/Elements: Teen Angst, Verbal Abuse/Manipulation
The Flowers of Evil is the middle-darkest manga/anime franchise because it has no fanciful elements to get in the way of the raw, real drama that unfolds between its young characters. Protagonist Takao Kasuga is introduced as an innocent, book-loving high schooler, only for the scheming Sawa Nakamura to twist him around her little finger, just for fun.
Takao was dragged down a dark path of misery, despair, and delinquence as Sawa convinced him to embrace his perverted side and reject the society he grew up in, and Takao internalized it all, if reluctantly. Takao and Sawa will feel libertated at first, but then Takao will learn what Sawa has already figured out: that there's nothing out there for them, just more emptiness. They both destroy their young lives for practically no reason, so Takao can only hope he can rebuild his life after his family moves away.
7. Elfen Lied Stars a Heroine Who Has Nowhere to Go
Dark Themes/Elements: Alienation, Graphic Violence
The supernatural helps drive the story of Elfen Lied, since the antihero is a horned girl named Lucy/Nyu who has no place to call her own. She is a Diclonius, a species of humanoids with telekinetic powers, and they are not welcome on Earth. Their kind is often experimented on, sometimes with deadly results, but Lucy escaped that fate by sheer force.
Now Lucy/Nyu is wandering free with two minds in one, and no one can understand her, though Kota and his friends will certainly try. Every time Lucy/Nyu thinks she can find happiness, something goes wrong and brings out her violent side. The repeated violence may soon convince Lucy that she was wrong to seek peace, which will break her heart all over again.
8. Oshi no Ko Exposes the Lies and Abuse of the Entertainment Industry
Dark Themes/Elements: Grief, Exploitation, Emotional Trauma
Oshi no Ko's dark side comes from its subversive and blisteringly honest critique of the idol industry in Japan. Lies are the central theme of Oshi no Ko because characters like Ai Hoshino and her twin son and daughter can only present fake versions of themselves, unable to show their real selves to the world. That's why they all have the eye stars, a trademark of the Hoshinos.
Ai believed she would never feel true love, and only in her dying moments did she realize that she truly loved her son and daughter. Some years after that, Aqua prepared to spend his second life seeking revenge, while Ruby threw herself into the same industry that killed her mother. Along the way, Kana Arima and Akane Kurokawa will also explore the exploitation and lies of the entertainment industry, with the former practically cheating to get jobs and the latter suffering from online verbal abuse from fans.
9. Attack on Titan Turns a War For Survival Into An Apocalyptic Genocide
Dark Themes/Elements: Genocide, Horror Action, Betrayal
Attack on Titan Turns a War For Survival Into An Apocalyptic Genocide
Dark Themes/Elements: Genocide, Horror Action, Betrayal
The Reiss family had been hiding the truth of the Titans from everyone, but even when that issue was dealt with, Eren still had many enemies across the sea. That prompted him to become a devastating antihero as he prepared to launch a genocidal war against all non-Eldians with the rumbling. That turned friend against friend in a violent fashion, and then the carnage shot through the roof as Eren's threat of the rumbling became real.
10. Berserk Stars a Lone Struggler Who Must Overcome Trauma and Betrayal
Dark Themes/Elements: Sexual Violence, Betrayal, Emotional Trauma
The famous Berserk manga/anime franchise is the darkest of all because it has so many brutal, horrific elements that make for a highly R-rated experience. The anime version of Berserk can't even fully depict the original manga's most graphic content, though the anime versions can allude to it, and fans will get the point all the same. This is a story of medieval heroes enduring unspeakable abuse and hardship while struggling not to lose themselves to the darkness.
Guts the mercenary embodies all those dark themes, being a survivor of ghastly abuse and betrayal, all without ever losing his good side. It's inspirational yet gut-wrenching to watch Guts fight so hard to move past his worst moments and become a noble hero for the people he cares most about, all while fighting off ravenous Apostles and spirits every night as his mind and body are ground down.
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