by The film’s violent depictions make viewers want to look away, creating a buzz.
TV broadcast regulations are getting stricter every year. In recent years, the scene in “Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba” where a character takes a bath became a hot topic on the Internet news, with people asking, “Are they going to depict that!?” However, in an era when regulations were looser than now, there was an anime that attracted attention for its highly erotic and grotesque depictions.
Lied by Lynn Okamoto, serialized in “Weekly Young Jump” (Shueisha) from 2002 to 2005, begins with the mutant girl “Lucy” who escapes from a laboratory in an accidental accident and meets “Kota” at Yuigahama Beach, where she washes up after her escape. Lucy, who has killed many people at the laboratory and escaped, lost her memory due to being shot in the head while escaping. Kouta, who now only knows how to say “nyunyuu,” names her “Nyuu” and takes her back to his cousin Yuka’s house, Kaede-so, where they begin living together.
However, the head of the lab, Kurama, cannot leave Lucy alone after losing his research materials, so he asks the SAT special forces to search for her. Nyuu is found by Bando of the SAT, also known as the “human weapon,” and is taken away. However, he hits his head when he tries to escape, and Lucy’s personality awakens. Bando’s right arm is amputated, his left arm is broken, and both of his eyes are gouged out. Anime at that time had looser regulations, and there were grotesque depictions where organs and bones were visible in cross-sections.
Furthermore, there are scenes where a child beats a dog to death, bullying, discrimination, and other “disgusting” developments, making this a work that is not for everyone. However, behind the violent scenes, the film is packed with content that appeals to social issues.
The dramatic developments up to the end have been met with praise such as “It’s so moving, it’s crazy,” “It makes you cry,” and “This is a work that you should watch until the end.” “Mnemosyne The Daughters of Mnemosyne,” which aired on Anime Theater X in February 2008, also contains violent and erotic scenes but also includes themes of social issues and addiction to the virtual world.
This work, which focuses on “Asougi Rin” and “Mimi,” who has an office in Shinjuku, will be broadcast in six self-contained episodes. The two immortals meet and part with many people over hundreds of years and get caught up in various incidents and relationships, highlighting their way of life. Taking advantage of their immortality, the two are tortured and killed many times in one episode… The worst is torture to death. Rin, who is captured by the sadist “Yamanobe Sayara,” has piercings on various parts of his body.
The piercings on his lower body are attached to chains, and the scene where he is pulled and scolded is so cruel that you can’t help but look away. Among many such scenes, the fourth episode focuses on the social problem of people losing hope of living in the real world due to the earthquake, becoming dependent on the virtual world, and dying of exhaustion from being connected for long periods. Coincidentally, the year in the play is 2025.
In reality, addiction and troubles caused by SNS and online games have serious social effects. At the time, I saw it as a fantasy, but now, when I watch it, I think that something like “AI has emotions, falls in love with real people, and tries to bring them into the two-dimensional world” could happen someday.
