MeinMMO-Demon Cortyn loses himself in a “new” Anime genre that mixes seemingly inappropriate themes. Vicious brutality and romance.
The world of anime is colorful and the division into genres is usually quite simple. When you see the tags “Isekai” or “Harem” or “Shounen” on an anime, you generally know what to expect. But that doesn’t always have to be the case.
In recent months, however, one genre has produced two intriguing representatives that I just can’t classify properly. They are actually typical Yuri animes, but they do something different: Extreme brutality and cruelty. A mix that seems absurd at first glance but works wonderfully.
Content Warning: This article deals with sensitive topics such as depression and suicide. If these issues affect you, please do not read further.
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The Certain Death as Soon as One Wants to Live Again
The first series is “This Monster Wants to Eat Me,” about which I have already written extensively. It’s a rather dark story about a high school girl who longs for her own death. Almost every day she dreams that the sea will finally swallow her and she will be reunited with her family.
A wish that is coming closer within reach. Because a mermaid – and it’s the creepy, monstrous kind – wants to grant her wish as soon as she is “ripe” and “tastes better,” that is, when she is freed from her depression. The dark goal of the journey: Only when the girl has regained her will to live and joy will she finally be killed.
While there are few fights, those that do occur are quite brutal. There is a lot of blood and violence that at first glance seems completely mismatched to a series with strong sapphic tones, yet it blends into an unexpectedly interesting work of art. The theme is so dark at its core that even the brief moments of comedy seem oddly distorted.
For me, it’s a story that will stay in my memory for a long time, even though the plot is quite short.
Magic Students Fighting for Their Lives
In a similar vein, there’s a series from the current season, namely “I Want to Love You Till Your Dying Day,” although the initial scenario caused a bit of an eye-roll for me:
In an orphanage with an attached school, magically gifted children are trained to become competent mages. However, the country is currently at war, and due to the efficiency of the mages, the protagonists are also repeatedly mobilized and sent out.
The battles are effective and brutal. Occasionally, a severed arm flies across the screen, and bodies are split in half, often with quite explicit representation.
When the protagonist’s roommate dies at the beginning of the story, she is shortly thereafter assigned a new partner – a significantly younger girl, around whose existence legends swirl. For she is said to be immortal, to be reborn repeatedly, and to have defended the country for many years.
Something that is correct: For even when her body is killed, torn apart, and dismembered in battles, she revives herself from the fragments.
A Genre Mix That Simply Works
It is this mix that I find absolutely fascinating. The rather quiet, emotional Yuri setting – whether it’s about sisterly affection or romantic love – mixed with explicitly portrayed brutality that one would usually expect only in hard action or horror series. Also, truly dark themes like suicide, depression, or the death of loved ones. This all creates such a peculiar blend of genres that evokes a lot in me.
It exerts an enormous fascination and is a genre mix of which I realize I can’t get enough. For that reason, I have even now repeatedly broken my own rule of watching series only when they are fully released – it just doesn’t work. The allure is too great.
And yes, I know of course. This genre mix is not completely “new” either. Happy Sugar Life went in a similar direction, and there was also a lot of violence in Blood-C. But this “new” generation of anime seems to be taking it a step further.
If all this is too dark for you and you prefer to confront mainly amusing topics while watching anime, we have a nice list for you: 5 Anime with Women Who Love Each Other Very Much
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