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Hello everyone, on this day of Otakutober, Luna and I will be combining our efforts to talk about Gore in Anime! In this post, we will be talking about different styles and interpretations of gore that you’ll find in Anime these days and how some might not be the traditional buckets of blood you’d expect from gore, they are just as disturbing and traumatic.

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Hash n’ slash

This is the genre of gore that most anime fans are familiar with. Meaning they are more focused on the loss of limbs and heads. One of the most infamous anime is Higurashi, which is the continuous story of a group of girls (and one boy) who are entangled with the spirit of the land causing them to repeat their lives during and after a certain point. The girls find themselves getting murdered or facing people (sometimes each other) with murderous intent. In the theme of female-based gore, we have Claymore which is based around an all-female collective of warriors in a medieval world of monsters. Many of the trials they face are gruesome monsters. We also found it important to mention anime like Attack on Titan which is based around a war-like atmosphere. Since this is based around the violence and trauma of war, the gore is so impressionable and often extremely graphic. In fact, in most war stories, the more graphic and gorey the scenes, the more you’ll feel the horror of war.

Experimentation

Experimentation gore as a genre is quite varied when it comes to the forms it takes. It can refer to human experimentation physically or psychologically, or perhaps even situationally. More often than having tons of blood, this kind of gore will have disturbing sequences, characters, and themes. Take, for instance, Nina from Fullmetal Alchemist. Probably one of the most well-known human experimentation characters as well as the sins that aren’t fully human due to transmutation. Then there are Kuroshitsuji’s later stories such as Book of Circus and Book of the Atlantic – both of which start erring towards hinting at human experimentation (especially upon children). Even the upcoming season will deal with experimenting, in particular, with human blood. Of course, both of those anime focus heavily on the physical aspects of experimentation. A good example of a different kind of experimentation gore is Angels of Death where the characters are placed into an experiment and often have their memories wiped as part of it. In order for anyone to get out, they need to kill each other in a sick and twisted game (that after hearing about the plot, Star hilariously described as a mix between Tower of God and Blue Lock–but make it final). 

Torture

Torture is one of those kinds of gore that I feel make people the most disturbed. I think this is because torture, in particular, is long drawn out, and specifically cruel (and usually quite gruesome). From flaying, to breaking limbs, to long torture sessions–any kind of anime utilizing torture are often horrifying to see. A good example of torture in anime is actually Tokyo Ghoul – I mean, Kaneki literally is tortured for hours for his ghoul to be fully unlocked, and every death in this show is painstakingly slow. Deadman Wonderland is another example–where when they lose they literally get tortured in various ways based on spinning a wheel to see which part of their body they will lose. In the theme of gambling, Kakeguri really toes that line of life and death by purposefully putting people on the chopping block for money. The high of adrenaline is what makes this anime amazing and terrifying. What these high schoolers are willing to do for money is the most thrilling and gorey part of the anime itself.

Dramatic

An underrated kind of gore is certainly dramatic gore. It might not be visually bloody but it’s still visually or psychologically disturbing. For example, Shadow House is a show without any blood or even really violence–and yet it is an extremely gorey anime. From the process of purging soot sickness to the merging process of the shadows with their dolls, this show is honestly violent in a different kind of way. Another show that takes a dramatic approach to gore is Requiem of the Rose King where most of the gore happens in an actually very pretty way but is overtly disturbing. If it’s not the trauma that disturbs you it’s certainly the actions of the characters. Little blood but lots of violence that will and can unnerve you.

Visuals

One of the best parts of Anime is the visuals and in gore this is one of the most gruesome parts to expand on. While you may not always see blood you may see a more artistic representation of the gore. In Psycho-Pass, detectives follow a very creative serial killer that shows their kills in a hannibal-like fashion, as works of art. Devilman Crybaby is similar in the way that they show the after death of an unfortunate victim as well as the viciousness of their deaths. Chainsaw Man is another really good example of artistic deaths. The fight scenes themselves are very gruesome and bloody but you find yourself looking deeper into the artistry of the work itself. Any one of these anime have intense rules to their worlds/plots/characters so understanding the gore is part of the experience and magic of the anime.

Honorable mention: Hell’s Paradise

We found it important to include this one because it crosses a few of these themes, styles, and genres of gore. It is psychologically disturbing as much as is visually stunning and experimentally interesting. The more information is exposed the deeper and darker the acts become but the more vibrantly colorful the interworkings become.

Alright, that’s the end! We had a lot of great discussions about all this gore and will definitely think about more anime that shows gore in a more creative and interesting way.

AishiteLOVEru & Stay weebtastic

xoxo

YCK