Cartoon Pundit’s WTF moments in anime

As previously noted in the post Most psychotic characters of all time, Japan views animation as a medium for all ages. Specifically speaking there are plenty of series specifically for adults. Because of this some of these series have moments that will leave you saying “WTF,” often times literally. For me it is fairly rare to say “WTF” even while watching anime. With that said there are a few and since I just added one I thought it fun to share my personal list. Now note, this is my PERSONAL list meaning if I did not say either “that’s effed up” or “WTF” it won’t be here. Layman’s terms I have never seen Tokyo Tribe 2 and thus its horrific scene is not on this list. I’m pretty sure I would throw up if I actually watched it. Also I don’t find trippy or confusing moments to be “effed up” enough. Also note, I am obviously censoring my language for the most part. With that said, however, this entire post is NOT SAFE FOR CHILDREN as it features graphic scenes. Also, obviously spoilers are present throughout so obligatory SPOILER ALERT! With that out of the way I hope you enjoy the Cartoon Pundit’s WTF moments in anime.

Tanya’s kawaii voice (Saga of Tanya the Evil ep. 5)

This is the brand new additional to my “WTF” list. This one I won’t spoil as much because the series is so new, however, the event in question is not really a big spoiler. Tanya Degurechaff is a 10 year-old girl in an alternate WWI time frame where magic exists. She is a vastly powerful mage thus she becomes an officer in the Empire’s Mages Division. She’s also a completely ruthless, social-Darwinist psychopath who doesn’t care about anyone but herself. She revels in the opportunity to dispatch sever punishment to her underlings and kill the enemy in front of her. Least we say, this is a pretty screwed up series. The moment that took me back enough to say “that’s effed up” was at the end of episode 5 of the series. At the end of the episode Tanya and her battalion is sent to a fight a small duchy. Her battalion swiftly defeats the duchy’s soldiers because they were vastly under-trained and had no mages to help them. Then her battalion marches into the duchy’s capital. They find a weapons factory that supported by their main enemy the Republic and decide to attack it. Under international law they are required to declare their intentions in advance so that civilians within the area can evacuate. Tanya initially tells her assistant, Viktoriya, to make the announcement, however immediately decides that she should do it. What comes next is Tanya in the cutest voice possible saying exactly what they were going to do. The people in area thinking it was some cute kid’s joke just go about their business and then Tanya and her battalion rain magic on the area killing everyone in the process. What made this particular event worse in my eyes was that her battalion was saying how great her doing a cute voice was for them. Literally, she used her cuteness in order to kill innocent people and her squad, who are not insane, completely backed her. They killed thousands of unarmed people because she gave a fake cute voice. I don’t know why I found this as effed up as I did but I did. I think it had to do with the compounding effect of her personality and the fact that at the end of episode 1 she had a nearly equally effed event. She sent two of her mages who were insubordinate to her orders to a pillbox in the rear. These two mages both said they wanted to die fighting for the Empire so she sends them to the pillbox which by outward appearances seems to go against their wishes. She actually sent them there because a pillbox is a huge open target for the enemy and she knew they would die. And she gives a great facial expression of joy knowing she sent them to their death. After that and then seeing her play her role as a cute kid to kill innocents set me off enough.  This is probably the most tame on this list, but it still got to me.

Breaking the Illusion (Gakkou Gurashi aka School-Live ep.1)

HUGE SPOILERS AHEAD!!!! What does it take for a series without a dub (currently) for me to say “WTF?” Be REALLY effed up. Gakkou Gurashi or School-Live is such a series. The first 20 minutes or so of School-Live plays out like a fairly prototypical slice of life series. Everything from the cute characters and comedic situations to the cutesy theme song. What you see for the first 20 minutes is the school lives of 4 girls that are in School Living Club. Honestly, it’s mostly comedic situations of 2 of the girls, Yuki and Miki, trying to catch their dog. With all of the shenanigans of the dog busting into classrooms and club rooms. Finally, the catch their dog and Yuki has to go back to her classroom for her backpack. Nothing strange yet, right? She talks with a classmate and then you finally see the WTF moment. Miki walks into the classroom and you see shattered glass everywhere, desks turned over, and Yuki is talking to a choker, which her classmate was wearing. A couple of seconds later you see that outside the school are countless zombies. It is completely unanticipated. The only subtle hints come from the fact that School Living Club, live in the school. Which makes sense, right? It’s in the name. Other than that there is literally nothing to hint at how the world actually is. The perspective you see is Yuki’s, which because of the traumatic events she developed psychosis so she sees delusions of a perfect school life. I akin this moment to watching Psycho for the first time (unspoiled). In both cases, the ending is impossible to anticipate. Honestly, even knowing it is coming the moment is still shocking.

Mami’s Death (Puella Magi Madoka Magica ep. 3)

What can I say, completely unanticipated events get to me. For almost 3 episodes Puella Magi Madoka Magica is a super cutesy magical girl series. The first 3 episodes basically sets up that select girls can wish for anything but have to become magical girls and fight witches. Fairly prototypical plot line really. Least we say after this particular moment, “prototypical” does not define this series…at all. Mami is a veteran magical girl who Kyubey is using to try to convince Madoka and Sayaka to become magical girls. She takes them on witch hunts and tells them her backstory. She was in a car accident that killed both of her parents and she wished to survive it. Later, she reveals to Madoka that she laments being a magical girl because she has no one to confide in. Madoka offers to be her partner and help cure her sadness. Then Mami gets into a fight with the witch. Initially, it appears that she is victorious, however, the witch transforms into a giant caterpillar and eats her head clean off. This is one of the most brutal deaths in all of anime. Again, completely unanticipated. Nothing can prepare you for this particular moment. This is because until that moment the tone is very much normal magical girl series. I mean Mami fits perfectly into the mold of a Sailor Scout, smiles all the time, tries to help everybody. Then she dies, in the most gruesome way possible. The only inkling you get is that Mami reveals her backstory and actual feelings within the episode. Now note if one had known that the series had horror aspects that would be a telltale sign for death in the near future, but again up to that point the series played out as a prototypical magical series. Still a major shock either way.

Beach Episode Ending (Another ep. 8)

In the to be fair pile, Another features A LOT of WTF moments. I mean the show literally shows on-screen a girl accidentally strangling herself to death. It also has a girl die by having her umbrella go her through the eye. Finally, it has a scene where a teacher stands in front of the class, apologizing for his failures, and stabs himself in the throat. Which you see all the blood spray on everyone. The moment, to me, that is worst, however, is the ending of episode 8. Episode 8 until the last-minute is a beach episode that’s actually pretty cute for a horror series that didn’t hide that it was a horror series. You think that because they are away from Yomiyama that the characters are all safe. The entire episode plays up the sense of security they have. They do prototypical beach episode things like swim, fish, play with a beach ball, etc. Then with less than a minute left in the episode you are reminded this is Another, and death follows them everywhere. Not only are you sucked into your false sense of security, but the death itself is brutal. The guy passes out in the ocean after chasing after the beach ball. A speedboat then runs him over chopping him into multiple pieces. Now note, technically he was already dead before being run over but it is still brutal to see. I have seen Another a few times and this death still gets me. This moment gets the mention because it stands the test of time.

The Dog Scene (Elfen Lied ep. 8)

This particular scene, no matter how many times I see it, makes me feel physically sick. I know the design of the scene is to establish the cruelty of humanity, but good grief killing a defenseless puppy is almost as bad as killing a baby. Clearly, children and animals are my sticking point. The strange thing about this scene is that most of the brutality is actually off-screen which oddly makes it even stronger. You get to see both Kaede’s reaction and the facial expression of boy as he’s beating the dog. You also get to hear the pain and suffering of the dog. The other disturbing aspect of this scene is that the girl who previously acted like she was Kaede’s friend, who told the boys where the dog was, puts on this false tear face and is actually smiling in the scene. Between that and the “I wish he would’ve lasted longer,” after killing the dog this scene just shows the absolute worst in humanity. It’s actually kind of sad that the reprieve you get is Lucy carving the kids up into a bloody mess. Yes, that’s your “happy” ending. What’s also kind of defining of this scene is we have no idea that if it does not occur whether Lucy ever actually surfaces. Now note, this does not condone Lucy’s actions. Also technically the events that really fully broke her were Kouta lying to her about his cousin. Either way this is one of the most brutally ugly scenes in any medium.

Hibana’s Lingering Death (Deadman Wonderland ep.9)

Deadman Wonderland is another series that has multiple WTF moments. I mean literally less than 5 minutes into the series you go from a cute casual conversation about a class trip to everyone in the class except Ganta dead. Made even more powerful by the fact that he sees his best friend’s arm laying next to him and his girlfriend’s head being held by the Wretched Egg. Later you have an episode dedicated to introducing Hummingbird who acts like an innocent girl. Later you find out she was tricking Ganta and then she reveals her actual personality of being sadist psychopath who gets off by causing people to suffer. But the single event that caused Hibana Daida to make my Most Psychotic Characters of All Time list is the coup de grâce. Lingering Death, Death by a Thousand Cuts, or Lingchi, whichever you prefer, is one of the most effed up execution methods in history to start with. How does Deadman Wonderland take it to the next level? By having a 7-year old girl do it with a giant whip-sword. The actual scene shows Hibana committing and explaining the process of Lingchi with a huge smile on her face. As she does it, you see the individual slices of human meat being taken off Nagi. Seeing those cuts of human meat is just completely disturbing. What I can never get over is the huge smile on her face during the scene. She’s literally slowing hacking someone to death with a massive smile on her face. Worst part she thinks she’s turning him into a “proper” gentleman by slicing him up. Just thinking about it makes me say WTF.

Griffith’s ascension (Berserk ep. 25)

Is an entire episode worthy of being a WTF moment? In this case, a resounding yes. In the previous episodes of Berserk you had Guts and Casca valiantly save Griffith. Griffith then go off the deep end after realizing just what he’s been reduced to. Finally, you have Griffith being offered a position in the God Hand. Griffith has a vision that convinces him that his men’s lives are of pale comparison to fulfilling his dream. Then episode 25 occurs. Within episode 25, every Apostle, which are demons, reveal their true form. They’re only mission is to devour every branded being. Note the brands are put on Griffith’s men. You literally have an entire episode where every minor character you’ve come to love is killed. The only characters saved from this fate momentarily are Guts and Casca. What happens to them? Griffith returns, now a member of the God Hand by the name of Femto, and rapes Casca in front of Guts, who loves her. The series ends with Guts seeing the woman that he loves raped in front of him. At one point this series was basically a romantic hero’s story and it ends with the world literally going to hell. Now note, unlike other entries on this list, this had some setup but still nothing could prepare you for it completely.

Other Comments

Obviously this is moving target list. The more I watch the more WTF moments I see. I’m always open to people’s suggestions for new series. Again these are all my opinions with a variance level on how effed I found them. I also point this out just because it is a WTF moment doesn’t mean that the moment is not awesome. I might debate doing a list from Western Animation. Again Western Animation doesn’t lend itself as well as anime based upon target audience, but I will debate it. Hope you enjoyed.