Top 10 Most Unexpected Brutal Deaths in Anime
Top 10 Most Unexpected Brutal Deaths in Anime
Top 10 Brutal Anime Overkills
Welcome to WatchMojo, and today we’re counting down our picks for the Top 10 Most Unexpected Brutal Deaths in Anime. For this list, we’ll be looking at the times animated characters met their end in shockingly violent fashion. Predictactly, expect some bloody spoilers. Which anime death left your jaw on the floor? Let us know in the comments!
#10: Human Dissection
“Corpse Party” (2012-15) Getting transported to a haunted alternate reality isn’t even the worst of Yuka’s problems. After she’s separated from the group, she finds solace in the friendly-faced Yuuya. Except, he’s a psychotic killer, too. Go figure. What follows is a murder too graphic to describe in detail, but let’s just say it involves rope, blood, and lots of screaming. Arguably, the worst part is that Yuka doesn’t succumb to her wounds until later, meaning she had to endure all of it to the very end. Look, we aren’t expecting mercy from a show with “corpse” in its name, but this is taking it a bit far.
#9: A Good Head On Her Shoulders
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“Akame ga Kill” (2014) The first rule of assassinations is to always survey your surroundings. Unfortunately, Chelsea failed to follow this maxim by not accounting for Kurome’s lackeys. She only succeeds in royally ticking off Akame’s younger sister, which leaves the Night Raid killer outnumbered, outgunned, and sorely out of luck. At least she’s surrounded by pleasant flowers, because her demise is anything but. Not to mention the fact that a noble warrior's death is totally out of the question. Instead of a proper burial, her corpse is decapitated and used as a gruesome scarecrow for Tatsumi and the others. Though, this one probably wards off more than just birds.
#8: Harvest Season
“Shiki” (2010-11) This bloody farewell is painful to watch, and not just because of the obvious face-crushing. Megumi is a shiki, sure, but all she wanted was to move to the big city and live a quiet life. She’s tantalizingly close to achieving her dream, too, when the mob finally catches up to her. In exceedingly cruel fashion, they don’t make her death quick, either. It’s difficult to stomach her hysterical cries as she’s tortuously run over by a tractor, especially since the collapsed skull isn’t even what puts her out of her misery. A stake could have done the same job, and saved a lot on cleanup.
#7: Seeing Red
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“Higurashi: When They Cry – Gou” (2020-21) It’s impressive that the mountain corpses aren’t even the most astonishing part. No, that honor belongs to its culprit. In the original series, the friendly neighborhood police chief Oishi never succumbs to the madness-inducing Hinamizawa Syndrome. In fact, he routinely saves others from it. But, this parallel retelling decided to spice things up with a fresh seasoning of human remains. Oishi arrives at a festival, kills some innocent bystanders, shoots Rion and Shion, and then beats Rika into a bloody pulp. The sheer excess of it all is brutal enough, but it’s especially damning coming from a character we never expected to have a violent streak.
#6: Slice and Dice
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“Future Diary” (2011-12) There’s a deep sense of irony that the only person who could expose Yuno’s psychotic tendencies is left unable to speak. Of course, that’s courtesy of Yuno herself, who slashes Aru’s throat to prevent him from divulging her true plan. However, that’s still not enough assurance for her. With nary a second of warning, she decides to permanently tear Aru’s page from the series’ diary. Coming at the tail end of a particularly bloody episode, it’s hard to even catch your breath, let alone prepare for this impromptu decapitation. Aru’s final moments are spent typing a message to his friend, but unfortunately, Yuno’s blade was faster than his fingers.
#5: Double Trouble
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“Blood-C” (2011) Don’t let their looks deceive you, these twins are anything but innocent. But, even so, this punishment might not fit the crime. After revealing their deception to Saya, Nono and Nene become the new chew toy for a demonic dog who’s far from house trained. He plays fetch with their body parts until they’re nothing but loose limbs and bloody puddles, and the visual is not for the faint of heart. Then, just for good measure, the Cerberus decides to eat their remains for dinner. Thanks to the pup’s lack of table manners, this scene is two brutal deaths for the price of one.
#4: Human Skewer
“Another” (2012) They say lightning never strikes the same place twice, but once is more than enough in Izumi’s case. Just as she was about to start permanently expelling her classmates, Mother Nature decided to give her a failing grade in trusting her friends. The storm gets so intense that it shatters a nearby window and fully shish-kebabs her from head to toe. But that’s not even the end of her woes. After a heartbreaking goodbye, she’s content to bleed out in peace - and she might’ve gotten that if the building itself hadn’t exploded, leaving her buried in rubble. Talk about overkill.
#3: The Final Job
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“Akudama Drive” (2020) Against a gang of aptly named Executioners, it’s clear there’s no last-minute scheme capable of saving the Swindler this time. But, even if she was an average girl simply pretending to be a criminal, she still spends her last breaths helping the others get away. Unfortunately, she can only confuse her assailants for so long. When they don’t buy her story, they cut her down quicker than the blink of an eye. The quiet sound design and religious imagery lend the scene a deeply tragic gravitas, but at least the Swindler lived up to her name until the very end.
#2: Gon’s Rampage
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“Hunter x Hunter” (2011-14) Unnecessary roughness doesn’t begin to cover this brutal beatdown. Even more surprising, it’s coming from Gon of all people. The usually-chipper Hunter is left without a healthy outlet for his rage when he discovers the Chimera Ant mercilessly killed Kite. So, he makes Pitou his new punching bag, but not before attaining some upgrades. At the risk of losing all of his Nen for good, Gon forces himself to mature in order to dole out some worthy retribution. To say he succeeded would be a massive understatement. Nothing left of Pitou’s face remains by the time Gon is finished with them.
#1: Sekai’s Bloody Valentine
“School Days” (2007) After a full season of relatively tame love triangle hijinks, this much-despised slice-of-life ends with a literal slice that adds new meaning to the phrase “a messy breakup.” Let’s just say anyone who expected a happily-ever-after was left sorely disappointed when the show suddenly became a slasher film. Admittedly, Makoto was totally an ass, but it’s completely unwarranted when Sekai starts going at him with a kitchen knife. There’s just nothing that can prepare you for a straightforward romance ending with its leading man in a body bag. Apparently, nothing says young love quite like murder.
