10 Darkest Anime Arcs That Changed the Industry Forever
With Chainsaw Man: Reze Arc passing $100 million worldwide in box office sales on the heels of Demon Slayer: Infinity Castle becoming the highest-grossing Japanese film in history, it’s clear that anime fans are in the mood for dark storytelling. The dark side of shonen anime appeals to more fans now than ever, and it’s easy to see why.
The darkest arcs have always been the ones to shine the brightest in the hearts of nostalgic anime fans. From the hardest-hitting sequences in the Dragon Ball franchise to tragic series like Jujutsu Kaisen that fans are still recovering from, the best anime, for one reason or another, consistently thrive in darkness.
The Shibuya Incident Arc Proved That Playtime Was Over For Yuji
It was no secret from the beginning that Jujutsu Kaisen intended to be a dark horror anime with an action streak, with the first season making Yuji Itadori the host for the monstrous Ryomen Sukuna. Despite all the danger, Yuji and his friends survived just fine in Jujutsu Kaisen‘s first few arcs, only for the infamous Shibuya Incident Arc to shake things up with a new level of bloodshed. The Shibuya Incident was the arc where the heroes’ plot armor finally shattered, even Satoru Gojo’s.
The sorcerers thought they were in for just another mission, only for Mahito and the other curses to play their hand and spring a deadly trap. The sorcerers fell one by one as Gojo was captured, beloved sensei Kento Nanami was killed, and Nobara Kugasaki was pushed to the brink of death. Worse yet, Sukuna wreaked havoc while fighting Jogo, and the sheer carnage nearly broke Yuji’s mind. By the end, Kenjaku rose to power as the new threat, and Yuji was ultimately forced to flee his own execution as Yuta Okkotsu began hunting him down.
The Ground Wanderer Arc Thrusts Rudo Into a Pit of Despair
So far, Gachiakuta is quite a dark anime, even if it borrowed goofy visual flair from the likes of Soul Eater to pay homage and entertain fans. The story’s first arc, the Ground Wanderer Arc, immersed anime fans in an unfair world of societal divides, a cruel justice system, and even some anti-consumerist themes. The powers that be on the Sphere in Gachiakuta treated people and the natural world as trash with actual garbage, and Rudo suffered for it.
Falsely accused of murdering his foster father Regto, Rudo was publicly tossed down into the Pit, all while the only other person he trusted coldly stood by and watched it happen. Down on the Ground, Rudo had to fight to survive a toxic, trash-filled jungle of a world, and even the people down there were monsters, let alone the actual trash monsters. Only at the last minute did the Cleaners come to Rudo’s aid, allowing this bitter antihero to begin his quest properly.
One Piece’s Marineford Arc Broke Everyone’s Heart
One Piece may thrill anime fans with the spirit of adventure and friendship as Monkey D. Luffy tours the islands of the Grand Line, but it’s not a carefree pirate cartoon. Luffy has witnessed or suffered more and more darkness, from the plight of the Fish-Men and systemic slavery to the cruelty of the Celestial Dragons and the wicked deeds of pirates like Crocodile. However, One Piece‘s darkest arc is the Marineford Arc.
The Marineford Arc should have been both Luffy’s and Captain Whitebeard’s finest moment, but things went sideways in the most horrific ways possible. Neither Luffy nor Whitebeard could stop Admiral Akainu from killing Luffy’s brother, Ace, in cold blood, which nearly broke Luffy. Whitebeard also fell, meaning his protection of various islands was over, and Captain Blackbeard stole the Tremor-Tremor Fruit to become all but unbeatable.
The Saiyan Saga Forced Goku to Fight His Saiyan Brothers
The original Dragon Ball Z anime opened with the Saiyan Saga, which turned Son Goku’s world upside down. In his early 20s, Goku settled into a peaceful life with his wife and son, only for the arrival of hostile Saiyans to challenge everything Goku thought he knew about the world. One dark aspect was how fans thought Saiyans were decent people who happened to have a monstrous monkey form, but Raditz, Nappa, and Vegeta were different.
The idea of a Saiyan hero was shattered as Goku struggled mightily against evil versions of himself. It established how violent, thuggish Saiyans are the rule while the good-hearted Goku was the exception, and it was a rude awakening for all. What is more, Goku had to give his very life to take down Raditz, a shocking toll for Dragon Ball Z‘s heroes to pay for world peace.
Demon Slayer’s Story Began With a Brutal Slaughter
As a whole, anime fans adore Demon Slayer as a colorful and often charming action series, but it’s not afraid to be nightmarishly dark. The debut Unwavering Resolve Arc proved that, with the happy Kamado family dying at Muzan Kibutsuji’s hand in the episode “Cruelty.” If that weren’t enough, Nezuko struggled and cried as she fought against her own demonic nature while attacking her brother.
Tanjiro had nothing left but his demon sister and a flicker of hope in those days, and it was a minor miracle Sakonji Urokodaki was ready and willing to start training him. But even then, training and getting stronger meant Tanjiro had to contend with the reality of demons and death, such as when he bid farewell to the fallen Hand Demon during Final Selection near the end of this brief arc.
The Fruits Basket Finale Made Anime Fans Suffer the Most
The entire Fruits Basket anime is one giant arc of heartache and suffering as the Sohmas grapple with their Zodiac curse, Akito’s nonstop verbal abuse, and other woes. By the time the Final Arc launched, the characters had no choice but to face their inner and outer demons, and there was no going back. Fruits Basket characters like Kyo and Yuki had already been through a lot, but they had to endure a little more to find happiness.
Even Akito Sohma herself had to face some heavy personal woes and darkness in this arc, such as her unresolved mother issues and her panic about her bonds dissolving as the curse fell apart. For a moment, it seemed the Sohmas would be lost, but all turned out well in the end, from Akito’s tentative redemption to Kyo finding ultimate happiness with his lover, Tohru Honda.
Oshi No Ko Stunned Seinen Fans With Game-Changing Plot Twists
Oshi No Ko‘s Prologue: Childhood Arc is yet another grim debut arc in anime to set the tone for the whole story. In this instance, the subversive anime series Oshi no Ko blended the idol industry with Ai’s struggle with true love, her dire secrets, and the weirdness of her newborn son and daughter. It was shocking enough when Dr. Amamiya and Sarina died and got reborn as Ai’s children, but there was more to come.
Ai Hoshino did her best as an unprepared single mother who couldn’t reveal her family to the world, making Oshi no Ko feel dark yet slightly hopeful. That delicate balance needed to end so Aqua and Ruby Hoshino could take command of the plot and explore their own arcs without their mother to protect them. Thus, Oshi no Ko savagely wrote out Ai so Aqua could seek revenge for her murder and face the risk of losing himself in the process.
Attack on Titan’s War For Paradis Arc Made Eren the World’s Worst Enemy
Attack on Titan started off dark and got even darker later on, albeit in different ways. The true nature of Attack on Titan was kept hidden to play up the element of mystery and suspense, with the apparent man vs nature theme of soldiers fighting Titans giving way to something else entirely. As fans probably suspected, Attack on Titan eventually made it clear that human beings were the real monsters after all.
No one represented this better than Eren Yeager himself, who gave in to violent extremism and brought out the worst in others, such as Floch Forster. Eren even coldly turned on his friends for his self-sacrificing mission in the War For Paradis Arc, plowing ahead with the awesome power of the Rumbling to unite the world against him. Whether Eren succeeded or failed he was bound to deal incredible damage and change the course of history forever.
The Pain Arc Saw the End of Naruto’s Home as He Knew It
The Naruto anime gradually grew darker over time, with the darkest and best arc of all being the Pain Arc. In this phase of Naruto Shippuden, Jiraiya the Toad Sage lost his life fighting his student turned villain, the Six Paths of Pain. The heartbreak hit so hard when the news reached Tsunade’s and Naruto’s ears, and then Pain went on the offensive.
The Pain Arc reached maximum darkness and stakes as Pain assaulted Naruto’s home village, flattening the place and slaughtering most of Naruto’s friends, even Kakashi Hatake. Thus, it fell to Naruto Uzumaki himself to save the day, a brutal process that got even darker when Naruto realized Pain had a point. Naruto struggled to rebuke Pain’s words, realizing the world was so deep into its cycle of hatred, and it seemed no idealism could fix it.
Bleach is Darker Than Ever in The Thousand-Year Blood War
Bleach‘s final and arguably best story arc is the Thousand-Year Blood War Arc, a story sequence that turned Ichigo Kurosaki’s entire world upside down. Just when it seemed the world was safe at last, the vengeful Quincy empire arrived from the shadows, massacring the Soul Reapers in revenge while also teaching the Gotei 13 a hard lesson about complacency. The story even suggested that the Gotei 13 was wicked deep down, and that the Quincy tribe’s anger was justified.
The Thousand-Year Blood War was dark in personal ways, such as Ichigo learning the truth of how his Quincy mother died due to Yhwach stealing her powers from afar, just as Grand Fisher showed up. Also, notable deaths such as Yamamoto’s and Unohana’s marked the end of an era, with Unohana sacrificing herself for Kenpachi’s sake and Yamamoto dying because he wasn’t ready to face his nemesis one last time.
