by Sudden terror amid everyday life
Among the many anime movies made yearly, some become hot topics for their shocking developments. Among them, some shocked audiences with their unexpected despair amid everyday life and their horrifying depictions.”The poster is also overwhelming” “Once you see it, you’ll never forget it.” These are the anime movies that will traumatize you. This article contains spoilers for “In This Corner of the World,” “The Birth of Kitaro: The Gegege Mystery,” and “The Garden of Sinners: The Movie Chapter 3: Residual Pain”.
“In This Corner of the World” The 2016 anime movie “In This Corner of the World” is set in Hiroshima during World War II and is based on Kono Fumiyo’s manga. In 2019, “In This Corner of the World (and many more)” was also released in more depth, adding new scenes and depicting the inner thoughts of the main character, Hojo Suzu.
In this work, the lives of ordinary people during wartime are very realistically reproduced through Suzu’s perspective, such as the depiction of their lives becoming increasingly impoverished by the war and air raids becoming a part of everyday life.
However, thanks to Suzu’s always laid-back personality, the atmosphere in the story was warm and fuzzy, even though it was an anime about war. However, in the middle of the story, Suzu is caught up in the explosion of an unexploded bomb and loses her niece “Harumi” and her right arm.
The despair of Suzu, who loved drawing and lost her dominant hand in this tragedy, is expressed very painfully through the unique directing of animation. After that, the tragedies of the atomic bomb and defeat are depicted as historical facts, and the image of the girl’s memory of “her mother who died in the atomic bomb” that appears at the end is also shocking.
Even so, the story does not become too dark, probably due to Suzu’s personality and the clever role-playing of the lead actress, Non, who fully expresses it. Regarding this work, which has won various film awards both in Japan and abroad, different opinions have been expressed online, such as “The cute drawings made it very shocking” and “It’s tough, but I think it’s on the milder side among war-themed anime, so I want everyone to watch it.”
“The Birth of Kitaro: The Mystery of Gegege” The animated film “The Birth of Kitaro: The Mystery of Gegege,” released in 2023, depicts the secrets leading up to the birth of Kitaro, the main character of Shigeru Mizuki’s masterpiece “Gegege no Kitaro.” While it became a long-running hit and gained popularity, the shocking content led to many opinions, such as “Is it okay for children to watch it?”. Although Eirin has classified the film as “PG12 rating (advice and guidance of parents or guardians is required for elementary school students to watch)”, it also contains many elements that make you think it should be rated R.
The story is set in “Nagura Village” deep in the mountains in 1956, and the main characters are “Mizuki,” a bank clerk, and Kitaro’s father, commonly known as “Gege-ro,” who later becomes “Medama Oyaji.” Following the death of Ryuga Tokisada, the head of the Ryuga clan, which dominates Japan’s political and financial world, Mizuki visits the village to bond with the clan and use it as a foothold for success. He meets a girl named Ryuga Sayo and Gegero, a member of the “ghost tribe,” and delves into the secrets of the pharmaceuticals that support the Ryuga clan’s wealth.
While there are many shocking scenes, such as the mysterious deaths that occur one after another, the village’s customs, and the drug manufacturing methods, the mastermind, Ryuga Tokisada, is particularly horrifying. Tokisada has a personality that will not hesitate to sacrifice his grandson, Tokiya, for himself. It is also revealed that he used his daughter and grandson as playthings. In particular, the scene showing that the heroine Sayo was his “favorite” may have been so horrifying that some people may have been offended. However, the work is full of friendship between Mizuki and Gegero, strong characters, and charm. Although the ending is sad, it does not leave a sour aftertaste.
After watching it, you will understand the origins of Kitaro and Medama Oyaji and develop an attachment to them, so it can be said to be a great work as a prequel to “GeGeGe no Kitaro. “Kara no Kyoukai the Movie series Chapter 3: Residual Pain The “Kara no Kyoukai the Movie” anime series is a theatrical anime work based on a novel by Kinoko Nasu, who is known for the scenario of the “Fate” series.
The series began in 2007 and has seven chapters, including a final chapter, “Final Chapter/Kara no Kyoukai,” and a side story, “Future Gospel.” The main character is a girl named Ryougi Shiki, who has the “Mystic Eyes of Death Perception,” an eye that can see the cracks in life.
The main characters are a girl named Ryougi Shiki, who has the “Mystic Eyes of Death Perception,” an eye that can see the cracks in the life of all things, and her classmate Kokutou Mikiya. They encounter various incidents. All of them have a horror theme, such as bizarre murders and evil spirits, and are scary, but “Chapter 3: Residual Pain” stood out among them.
The main character of the third chapter is a girl named “Fujino Asagami,” and the story begins with her being sexually assaulted by a group of delinquents in a nun’s habit. They continue to assault Fujino, who has “analgesia” and cannot feel pain until the pain returns, and they enjoy it. Many people may frown at this opening, but the subsequent developments are also full of insanity.
Fujino’s ability to twist objects, which was sealed away in exchange for her “analgesia” as a child, returns, and she kills the delinquent group that assaulted her and their friends one by one. The scene where she slowly twists the limbs using “distortion,” combined with the realistic screams of the victim, was a harrowing depiction.
The depiction of Fujino enjoying murder under the pretext of silencing her murder also gives a sense of the dark side of humanity. The last member of the delinquent group who directly assaulted Fujino survived without being killed by her, and there was no depiction of him feeling guilty or being brought to justice.
This classic series provides many shocking and exciting moments, but many people will forever remember the sense of helplessness felt in Chapter 3, reminiscent of a real-life incident.
