Top 25 Shockingly Serious Anime
- Categories: Anime, News
- Date: Jul 6, 2011 10:06 JST
- Tags: Evangelion, Guro, Puella Magi Madoka Magica, Rankings, School Days
Fans of more serious and melancholic anime supply a ranking of the most emotionally intense (if not outright depressing) anime they have watched.
For those wondering about what merits the “serious” qualification: “anime with depressing (serious) developments which made an intense impression on you.”
1. Puella Magi Madoka Magica
2. School Days
3. Higurashi no Naku Koro ni
4. Neon Genesis Evangelion
5. Bokurano
6. Ga-rei Zero
7. Code Geass
8. Elfen Lied
9. Fafner in the Azure
10. Infinite Ryvius
11. Tokyo Magnitude 8.0
12. Deadman Wonderland
13. Umineki no Naku Koro ni
14. Ōkami Kakushi
15. Iriya no Sora
16. Saikano
17. Gosick
18. ef
19. Black Lagoon
20. Phantom
21. Madlax
22. Kara no Kyoukai
23. Rozen Maiden
24. H2O – Footprints in the Sand
25. Full Metal Panic
| 
Let It Die Trailer Unforgettably Fierce
Shinjuku Station Reveals “All Yu-Gi-Oh Cards Ever!”
KanColle Arcade Scores A Direct Hit
Bakuon!! Relentlessly Cute
Fuwary Gymnastics Girl Onahole Frighteningly Flexible
Star Fox Animated Short Takes Flight
Big Order “Big & Scary!”
Langrisser Re:Incarnation Tensei Really Retro
Monster Hunter Generations Monstrous As Ever
Live Action Naruto Stage-Play Filthier Than Ever
Ragnarok Mobile “Blasphemy Against Ragnarok Online”
Luxurious Shadow Wing Figure
Dragon Ball Super Unleashes Its Power
Kumamiko Bearly Legal
Top 10 Most Satisfying Winter 2016 Anime
The Dark Lord Is Feminized Demonically Hot
Hai-Furi Sailing Smoothly
Dragon Ball Fusions “Has Countless Possibilities!”
Code of Joker S OP “Is No Joke!”
Mayoiga A Chaotic Mess
Sheryl Nome Bunny Girl Cosplay by Mike Super Scandalous
Marvelous Madoka Mizugi Cosplay by Mashiro Yuki
Marie Rose Cosplay by Mike Undeniably Sexy
Tasha Tracer Cosplay Truly Tantalizing
Witch Craft Works Cosplay by Kagune Intensely Seductive
Kaine Cosplay by Yuricha Flawless
Kasumigaoka Utaha Cosplay Pretty Pure
Goddess of 2ch “Another Bathing Beauty!”
Tantalizing Hestia Cosplay Busts Out
Kashiwazaki Sena Cosplay Pure & Innocent
I'll take a note on this list and check it out.
This list is retarded. Most of it is gore fest and/or drama. Why would it these titles be shockingly serious? Even their manga and visual novel counterparts were of the same tone.
I'd have to disagree. This list is actually surprisingly good. Most of these titles were actually pretty damn amazing.
The titles here actually had an impact vs most other shows that are just about moe blob harem crap...
I think its the seriousness of morality and everyday life.
Albeit I knew that Shinbo doing another mahou shoujo was bound to be special I never anticipated ep 3 and I for one was shocked when it took the turn for the worst. And quite a few of those anime (I have fully seen 16 of them and a few more partially) were indeed harsh and to some degree shocking (like torture scene in Higurashi around ep 16) and I'd rather not remember the dinner in Umineko near end of I think second arc.
What about the Halloween surprise? Or the dinner right near the end where their body parts are the meal? Heh...
japan's gore fetish is serious business
"shockingly serious". i dont know if you understand english or what but theres nothing more shocking and serious when you watch an anime like schoold ays for the first few eps thinking its an ecchi harem anime that you can fap to then it suddenly turns into a murder fest. fix your brain please
you are retarded. maybe you find comedy genre to be shockingly serious. whats more serious than drama and goth?
What, no Shiki? The hell?
H2O? Waht about AIR?
You're right
I think part of the reason is because H2O is more likely as communities will shun a person (or people).. I mean, look at Japan.. they don't like foreigners living in their country...
AIR?
No. Just... no.
Oh no, no more top lists. Go back talking about Aya Hirano's twitter, sankaku, but not this again...
By the way, I hate elfen lied, even made a blog to curse it.
Rozen Maiden? I'm trying to watch it(just because of ali project... ok, I also like the dolls lol), I'm in the middle of first season but I don't know, until now I can't say it's serious or melancholic. Maybe it is if you have a life like Jun's(poor thing).
A list made just to put Madoka at first?
Well, at least there's no K-on lol(they still have some sanity and read the question).
I would give them points for just having a list with some older titles on it. Given the attention span of the average anime fan that votes on these lists end when a series stops showing on tv or being released on dvd/bluray...
Yup, looks like they heard our complains about their fish memories ^^
internet diary much jasque?
First time I see here posted list not so heavily polluted with moe blobs. What were the odds.
Though school/students stuff I guess is here to stay. Can't they think of any other setting for a change? :(
I agree, though, in Japan the only time your "free" is when your in school like this... hence why a lot of anime takes place during this time frame.
Besides, I don't want to see 50+ yr olds in my anime... then again, thay'd probably make them look like they were 20 anyway...
No MONSTER? That was like the most depressing series I've ever watched. I had to space out watching episodes because of how deeply depressing so many of the episodes were.
"Shockingly serious" doesn't mean "being serious from the start". It means, you saw an image of the characters, thought of something and when you watched it, it wasn't exactly what you thought it was going to be.
Like Higurashi no Naku Koro ni. It looks like it could be straight slice of life series, not something that you'd see murder/death in it. Hence why Madoka is on the list.. it looked like a normal magical girl show. But then Mami's death and everyone else's kinda changed the original idea of it being happy-go-lucky to "shockingly serious".
"Hence why Madoka is on the list.. it looked like a normal magical girl show. But then Mami's death and everyone else's kinda changed the original idea of it being happy-go-lucky to "shockingly serious"."
Which is why type b otaku guilty pleasure only became as such thanks to the type a elements.
hmmyeah, this top list is for anime that shows drastic, unthinkable change in the flow, whether its right from the start or a few episodes later.
i remember when i first watched EVA XD
it made me go from "oh, pfft... heck yeah, some mecha shit! lay it on me!" to "woah woah woah! i didn't know it was-- OH SHI-!", and the final 3 episode gave me one helluva shock, it gives me paradoxical dreams... AND HUNDREDS OF REI O_O
I had seen: 3. Higurashi no Naku Koro ni 4. Neon Genesis Evangelion 5. Bokurano 7. Code Geass 8. Elfen Lied
16. Saikano 17. Gosick 18. ef 19. Black Lagoon
20. Phantom 24. H2O – Footprints in the Sand 25. Full Metal Panic
Rozen Maiden was dropped after two eps.
No desu for you!
well said desu...
nanodesu > desu
nadodesuyo>nanodesu<desu
Call me when you stop babbling, OK?
desu desu desu desu desu desu desu desu desu desu desu desu desu desu desu desu desu desu desu desu desu desu desu desu desu desu desu desu desu desu desu desu desu desu desu desu desu desu desu desu desu desu desu desu desu desu desu desu desu desu desu desu desu desu desu desu desu desu desu desu desu desu desu desu desu desu desu desu desu desu desu desu desu desu desu desu desu desu desu desu desu desu desu desu desu desu desu desu desu desu desu desu desu desu desu desu desu desu desu desu desu desu desu desu desu desu desu desu desu desu desu desu desu desu desu desu desu desu desu desu desu desu desu desu desu desu desu desu desu desu desu desu desu desu desu desu desu desu desu desu desu desu desu desu desu desu desu desu desu desu desu desu desu desu desu desu desu desu desu desu desu desu desu desu desu desu desu desu desu desu desu desu desu desu desu desu desu desu desu desu desu desu desu desu desu desu desu desu desu desu desu desu desu desu desu desu desu desu desu desu desu desu desu desu desu desu desu desu desu desu desu desu desu desu desu desu desu desu desu desu desu desu desu desu desu desu desu desu desu desu desu desu desu desu desu desu desu desu desu desu desu desu desu desu desu desu desu desu desu desu desu desu desu desu desu desu desu desu desu desu desu desu desu desu desu desu desu desu desu desu desu desu desu desu desu desu desu desu desu desu desu desu desu desu desu desu desu desu desu desu desu desu desu desu desu desu desu desu desu desu desu desu desu desu desu desu desu desu desu desu desu desu desu desu desu desu desu desu desu desu desu desu desu desu desu desu desu desu desu desu desu desu desu desu desu desu desu desu desu desu desu desu desu desu desu desu desu desu desu desu desu desu desu desu desu desu desu desu desu desu desu desu desu desu desu desu desu desu desu desu desu desu desu desu desu desu desu desu desu desu desu desu desu desu desu desu desu desu desu desu desu desu desu desu desu desu
desu desu desu desu desu desu desu desu desu desu desu desu desu desu desu desu desu desu desu desu desu desu desu desu desu desu desu desu desu desu desu desu desu desu desu desu desu desu desu desu desu desu desu desu desu desu desu desu desu desu desu desu desu desu desu desu desu desu desu desu desu desu desu desu desu desu desu desu desu desu desu desu desu desu desu desu desu desu desu desu desu desu desu desu desu desu desu desu desu desu desu desu desu desu desu desu desu desu desu desu desu desu desu desu desu desu desu desu desu desu desu desu desu desu desu desu desu desu desu desu desu desu desu desu desu desu desu desu desu desu desu desu desu desu desu desu desu desu desu desu desu desu desu desu desu desu desu desu desu desu desu desu desu desu desu desu desu desu desu desu desu desu desu desu desu desu desu desu desu desu desu desu desu desu desu desu desu desu desu desu desu desu desu desu desu desu desu desu desu desu desu desu desu desu desu desu desu desu desu desu desu desu desu desu desu desu desu desu desu desu desu desu desu desu desu desu desu desu desu desu desu desu desu desu desu desu desu desu desu desu desu desu desu desu desu desu desu desu desu desu desu desu desu desu desu desu desu desu desu desu desu desu desu desu desu desu desu desu desu desu desu desu desu desu desu desu desu desu desu desu desu desu desu desu desu desu desu desu desu desu desu desu desu desu desu desu desu desu desu desu desu desu desu desu desu desu desu desu desu desu desu desu desu desu desu desu desu desu desu desu desu desu desu desu desu desu desu desu desu desu desu desu desu desu desu desu desu desu desu desu desu desu desu desu desu desu desu desu desu desu desu desu desu desu desu desu desu desu desu desu desu desu desu desu desu desu desu desu desu desu desu desu desu desu desu desu desu desu desu desu desu desu desu desu desu desu desu desu desu desu desu desu desu desu desu desu desu desu desu desu desu desu desu desu desu desu desu
it need moar desu.
Question... what about ef was "shockingly serious"?
What about it wasn't serious? There was pretty much not a single episode where SOMETHING dramatic was happening. Especially season 2... dem pills...
Well, the visual novel was more serious than the anime, I can agree, but for a "mere romance anime" it was pretty deep, with girls (and boys, too) having more or less real problems instead of just being there.
True, it was a well done serious anime. I really enjoyed it and have posted other places that it is an anime that has been well under played. However, I never felt the "shockingly serious" aspect of it.. mainly in regards to the shockingly part... It was serious from pretty much the get go... Hell, even the art was serious...
You're still a rookie, Carrot! This Anon saw and finished the top 14 animes!
Where is Alien Nine?
Where is Shadow Star Narutaru?
Where is Paranoia Agent?
Where is Monster?
Where is Now and Then, Here and There?
I saw these too
Alien Nine didn't come of as totally serious to me unlike most of the other shows in this list which left we going like "what the hell just happened here?"
Especially Saikano and Madoka Magica
dont forget chrno crusade
Got you owned, i saw them all except infinite ryvius wich i dropped after 3 or 4 eps, and i seriously dont know what the hell is rozen maiden doing in that list, and how in tarnation monster is NOT in the list, and NOTHING beats Monster IMO.
Site that discusses peoples' rights freely banned me for criticizing the site owner.
I love this site. Long Live Artefag!
。。。
This list actually does good. It has some older titles mixed with newer titles...
Though, I don't know about Eva being so high... Madoka, School Days, and Ga-Rei Zero are perfect for this list... (Higurashi was good too, I just didn't care for how S2 ended).
i never understood Higurashi, season one for me = wtfijustwatched, watched 2 episodes of season 2... it was season 1 basically with different outcomes from different points of view... meh
H2O i dropped, i dunno why...
21,15,10 i didn't watch
That's basically what it was, different outcomes based on different events. It's mostly about beating and changing your fate... The ending... could have been better done though...
Nothing from Clamp? Their whole metaverse is one huge tragedy. You have to look hard to find the silver lining with most of their stuff.
Maybe the manga, i think the anime sucks hard
RgVeda manga is heavenly, the anime sucks very much.
Wait, Rayearth should be on the list too.
lol The RG Veda anime was a short OVA. It only have a tiny part of the manga's story. XD
The ending of RG Veda is unforgettable. The characters you thought would die in the end were the only ones left...
And don't get me started on the whole Subaru-Seishirou thing in Tokyo Babylon (and X). GOD, that creeps me out, even years after I finished reading it...
I will say that, for recent anime at least, Madoka rightfully steals this list. Of course, I personally love it for more than just its plot and characters. All the imagery and the analytical story elements that are so easy to pass over... just make it a meaningful series to me. It's so much fun to be able to rewatch a series you just finished and find all the hidden elements that now pop out at you so horrifically...
But that's my inner creativity speaking.
Agreed, I've watched it over several times with different people I've recommended it to. Each time I've picked out new things that both bring new thoughts and clues to the outcome but I also see the inconsistencies and areas where I'm like this just.. wow.
What kind of inconsistencies?