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With the popularity of “gore” and “horror," brutal anime scenes are popularized in most anime. However, the on-screen brutality is not only for commercialization, brutality also works as a vehicle for conveying important messages about humanity. Starting from the classic “Uchiha massacre” scene in Naruto to “Sukuna’s rampage” at Shibuya, anime creators do not hold back while showing violence in the shows.
With such brutal anime scenes traumatizing adults, there’s no way anime is for children. For a long time, “anime” has been associated with animated shows, such as “cartoons” or “children’s movies," but it is high time we break the myth.
Albeit “animated”, anime is a different art form than cartoons and children’s movies. Most importantly, anime talks about sensitive issues and criticizes social injustice. These are brutal anime scenes from different anime to prove “anime is not for children”.
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From Nina's transmutation to Setsuko's Death, here are 10 examples of "Brutal anime Scenes" that destroyed "anime is for children" myth
1)The parade of mutilated bodies- Devilman Crybaby
The 2018 Devilman Crybaby is one of the most critically acclaimed anime ever. It’s a short series with 10 episodes dealing with bigotry, alienation, identity, and dry-cleansing.
The plot revolves around Akira Fudo, who accidentally becomes a “devil man” and explores the difference between humans and demons. By the end of the anime, a mass genocide is instigated by Ryo, and the world falls under a paranoic frenzy of hatred and violence.
Episode 9 of Devilman Crybaby features a mob lynching of Akira’s friends for sympathizing with Devilmen. Paranoid mobs hunt down and brutally murder Miko, Miki, and Wamu and parades with their mutilated dead bodies. The incident is extremely graphic and visually unsettling for the audience.
2) Kearu's torture- Redo of Healer
The 2021 anime Redo of Healer received mixed reactions from fans. The whole anime is extremely unsettling and has brutal torture scenes.
The plot revolves around Kayaru, a healer, who is physically and mentally abused, and exploited to the point of making him drug-dependent and crazy. While Princess Flare kept him jailed, Flare, Blade, Bullet, and everyone in the imperial army tortured and exploited him.
The torture methods include some of the most brutal anime scenes of all time. The uncensored version of the anime is very unsettling and is not at all advised for visually sensitive viewers.
3)Street Kill- Psycho-Pass
Psycho-Pass is one of the best sci-fi thriller anime in the anime world. The plot is set in a futuristic world where a biomechatronic computer system- “Sibyl” governs over people.
People are monitored through the “crime coefficient” (Psycho-Pass) to control crime rates. Generally, whenever a person is committing a crime or getting vulnerable, their “psycho pass” hue gets clouded, that person is first restricted via Sibyl monitors and then apprehended via MWPSB.
During the “street kill” scene, Makishima Shogo brutally vandalizes a woman on a bustling road, but his hue does not change, and neither does the Sibyl system or the people around them stop him. Rather, the woman is apprehended by Sibyl's monitors.
4) Nina's Transmutation- Fullmetal Alchemist
The classic masterpiece Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood has some of the most brutal anime scenes. The plot revolves around Edward and Alphonse’s search for the philosopher’s stone to get their body back.
After Edward qualifies for the state alchemist exam, they lodge at Shou Tucker’s house to study bio-alchemy.
The scene gets unsettling when Edward realizes that Shou has transmuted Nina into a talking chimera. Nina was only 4 years old when her father turned her into a “chimera." The scene depicts utter helplessness when Scar kills Shou and Nina for being related to alchemy.
5) Ume's Murder- Demon Slayer
The plot of Demon Slayer features a tug-war between the “demon slayer corps” and demons. During “Entertainment District Arc”, Tanjiro, Tengen and others battle against ‘upper moon six’ siblings- Daki and Gyutaro.
Both of these siblings were heinous demons, who have killed hundreds of people. However, the audience was baffled by the backstory of these two. Unlike, bloodthirsty demons like Doma, Daki and Gyutaro didn’t become demons for power and immortality, they simply wanted justice for themselves.
Daki was a beautiful human girl Ume, who was training to become an “Oiran”. However one evening, a vengeful customer and the brothel owner tied her up, tortured her, and burnt her alive, while Gyutaro was away for work. The brutality of this scene and Gyutaro’s screams hugging the charred body of Ume probably haunted audiences for days.
6) Setsuko's Death- Grave of the Fireflies
The 1967 Studio Ghibli masterpiece Grave of the Fireflies is one of the greatest war films ever made. The story is based on Seita and Setsuko, two war orphans, who try to survive the final months of the Pacific War.
The movie features the social reality of WW II and is emotionally disturbing. Soon after Seita and Setsuko were forced to leave their aunt’s place, Setsuko got sick due to malnutrition and fatigue.
Seita withdrew all the money from his mother’s account to get food for Setsuko, however, Setsuko was already dying. The dying Setsuko eating stones in a state of frenzy before her death was so heartbreaking that many fans could not rewatch this film after watching it once.
7) Uchiha Massacre- Naruto
Killing is heinous, however, being forced and manipulated to kill one’s parents to save their brother has a pathos in it, that can wreck anyone’s heart. The child prodigy Itachi Uchiha’s “Uchiha Clan Massacre” is such an incident.
Danjo manipulated Itachi’s patriotism, brainwashed him into Killing his clan, and turned him into a heinous fugitive. The brutality of this scene lies in its tragic consequences.
Although Naruto has many tear-jerking moments, the ingrained pathos and political conspiracy in this massacre make it too much for a young mind to take in.
8) Eri's torture- My Hero Academia
Chisaki Kai was one of the most notorious villains in the My Hero Academia universe. Not only did he run a gang (Shie Hassaikai), but also made an uproar in the black market with “Quirk-destroying drugs”.
Chisaki caged Eri, the granddaughter of Shie Hassaikai’s leader, and experimented on her to create the Quirk-destroying drug. He mutilated Eri’s hands and legs numerous times to create an endless supply of the drug since the drug was made from Eri’s blood.
The brutality of this prolonged torture traumatized the heroes in anime and the audience alike.
9) Killing of a Puppy- Elfen Lied
Elfen Lied is a mini sci-fi series about a “Diclonius” named “Lucy” and her path of revenge. Like Parasyte, this anime features “violence” as the base instinct of humans.
When Lucy was staying in an orphanage as a child, she was alienated, and criticized by other children because of her different appearance. Some children from the orphanage captured and brutally killed her puppy to torment her, which made Lucy frantically kill four of them in a state of hysteria.
Although the anime is filled with violent murders, this scene is viewed as one of the most brutal anime scenes to ever witness in an anime.
10) Kaneki's interrogation by Aogiri- Tokyo Ghoul
The 2014 Tokyo Ghoul is an incredible action anime with a thought-provoking plot. The plot follows the life of Kaneki Ken, who turned into a half-ghoul after an operation.
Kaneki was captured by “Aogiri Tree” and was brutally tortured by Jason. Jason plucked his nails and broke his toes as many times as he regenerated. From putting a centipede through his ears to gauging out Ken’s eye, each torture method was shown on screen.
Jason’s physical torture combined with Kaneki’s psychological torment makes the overall atmosphere horrific in this scene. This scene ended with Ken finally turning into a ghoul.
While on-screen violence is traumatizing, this serves as a tool for realism in the anime to portray the unimaginable violent crimes in our world. Nonetheless, brutal anime scenes can create a significant impact on the audience.
Therefore, the audience should give up on the myth, that anime is for children, and monitor what a child is watching. Not only children but any adult audience should also check how much brutality they can handle before watching violent anime scenes, such as the "parade of deathbodies" in Devilman Crybaby.
