by It’s scary because we know how it works.
Among the many TV anime produced yearly, some have shocked viewers, leaving them traumatized. This time, we will look back on some particularly shocking episodes from such anime.
This article contains spoilers for “Mobile Suit Gundam SEED,” “The Fruit of Grisaia,” and “Babylon.” “Mobile Suit Gundam SEED” Many of the “Gundam” series works have a war theme, and many scenes of traumatic cruelty are depicted in the battles. Among them, the one that has the most significant impact is the strategic weapon “Cyclops,” which appeared in episode 35 of “Mobile Suit Gundam SEED.” “Cyclops,” installed at the Alaska base of the “Earth Federation Forces,” was a weapon that generated microwave heating in the surrounding area, like a giant microwave oven.
The sight of people within the range of the activated “Cyclops” popping and disappearing and the popping sound that occurred at that time instills trauma in the viewers. In addition, in “Mobile Suit Gundam SEED,” a gamma-ray laser cannon with a similar effect to “Cyclops” also appears at the end of the story, “Genesis,” which also depicts a cruel depiction of humans swelling up and scattering.
“The Fruit of Grisaia” The anime “The Fruit of Grisaia” is the first work in the “Grisaia” series, with “Grisaia: Phantom Trigger” currently airing. The story is set in Mihama Academy, a boarding school isolated from the outside world, where the protagonist “Yuji Kazami” meets five girls in various circumstances and helps them solve their problems.
The last episode of Suou Amane, depicted in episodes 10 to 12 of this work, was so gruesome that it left a lasting impression on many viewers. The basketball club to which Amane belonged fell off a cliff on the way to training camp, and they were trapped in the isolated mountains. Forced into an extreme survival mode, with food running out and cornered, the advisor and the girls, except for Amane and her best friend Kazuki Kazami, began to eat the bodies of their dead comrades.
The scene where everyone, who had begun to see humans as “food,” attacked Amane and the others was terrifying, like a horror movie. The details leading up to the act of cannibalism were also depicted, making this episode extremely frightening, as it makes you wonder, “What would you do if you were in the same situation?” “Babylon” The anime “Babylon” is a suspense story about a prosecutor from the Tokyo District Public Prosecutors Office Special Investigation Division, “Masazaki Zen,” who, while pursuing a pharmaceutical company’s fraud, learns of the existence of a mysterious woman, “Magise Ai,” and eventually becomes embroiled in an incident surrounding a “suicide law” that affirms suicide.
The theme of the work is “good and evil,” and in the seventh episode, a “bad act” so evil that it traumatized viewers was depicted. To make Masazaki think about what “evil” is, Magase kidnaps Masazaki’s subordinate, Seguro Hima, and shows him a live broadcast of the murder scene.
The process of cutting off the victim’s limbs with an axe and finally chopping off his head is depicted in a way that avoids direct depictions and instead uses blood splattering and screams. The metaphor of slicing vegetables is still easy enough to imagine. I’m sure many viewers could relate to Masazaki, who shouted, “Stop it!”
