Darker and Edgier/Anime and Manga: Difference between revisions

* The 1980's remake of [[Kimba the White Lion]] by Osamu Tezuka.

* The original [[Light Novel|novels]] that the ''[[Slayers]]'' anime is based on, while still fairly comical, are far more violent and grim. A particular spell, "Ragnut Rushavna", is gruesome to the point that no other media has had it: The spell involves the victim to be turned into a giant hunk of flesh that is eaten repeatedly by snakes over and over again until the caster of the spell is detained. The characters themselves, other than [[Red Headed Heroine|Lina]] ironically, are less humorous and blase than they are in the games or the anime.

** Speaking of ''[[Yu-Gi-Oh!]]'', ''[[Yu-Gi-Oh! GX]]'' went from the brainwashing cult of season 2 to the way darker tone of season 3. It started out with new main characters as usual and a seemingly tame (at least compared to season 2) [[Disc One Final Boss|villain]] until he gets defeated relatively quickly and then the series gets much darker including the characters {{spoiler|dying when they lose a duel, at least that's what they are told}}, the main character getting tricked into releasing his [[Super-Powered Evil Side|Superpowered Evil Side]] and {{spoiler|killing some of his remaining friends}}, and the [[The Man Behind the Man]]/[[Stalker with a Crush]]/[[Hidden Agenda Villain]] possessing the main character's best friend. Although [[4Kids! Entertainment]] ruined season 3's dark tone in the dub, watching the Japanese version makes the dark tone obvious.

* Little known fact: ''[[Akira]]'' was conceived as a Darker and Edgier retelling of ''[[Gigantor]]''.

** Arguably a subversion. Urasawa doesn't change the basic plot very much at all, resulting in most of the same major robots dying as did in the original. {{spoiler|ie [[Kill'Em All|all of them.]]}} What made the story darker was the fact that each robot was actually developed, rather than simply being a collection of powers to be destroyed by Pluto.

* ''[[GaoGaiGar|GaoGaiGar FINAL]]'' was much darker than the television show for two main reasons: first, it was an [[OAV]] so they could get away with things that wouldn't fly on broadcast television, like explicitly sexual [[Fan Service]]. And secondly, it was aimed at a [[Seinen]] audience rather than at children.

* ''[[Mahou Sensei Negima]]'' did this intentionally as part of a [[Genre Shift]] from a [[Harem Series]] to [[Shounen]]. The two most obvious indicators of it are the characters' [[Dark and Troubled Past|pasts being revealed]], and [[Bloodless Carnage]] getting thrown out the window. The series still maintains its [[Fan Service]] and humor, but breaks them up with increasingly-longer stretches of action and drama. {{spoiler|And ''death''.}}

* In the same vein as ''[[Mahou Sensei Negima]]'', ''[[Rosario + Vampire]]'' starts off as a typical [[Harem Series]], with a [[Monster of the Week]] spin. Then [[Cerebus Syndrome]] sets in, the characters' troubling backstories are explored, and by Season II, it's much more action-oriented, with some [[Deconstruction]] thrown in for good measure.

** ''[[Digimon Savers]]'' is also a good example, thanks to emulating the above show.

* In-universe example in ''[[Ouran High School Host Club]]'': Renge's first appearance has her making a video where the normally-cheery members of the club become darker personae, e.g. the [[Keet]] becoming a callous bully. It sells well enough to take the club out of debt.

* ''AD Police'', the spin-off of ''[[Bubblegum Crisis]]'', is darker, more violent and adds some psychological spins to the original series concept. The TV spin-off they produced to this spin-off a decade later surprisingly was [[Lighter and Softer|closer in tone]] to the original Bubblegum Crisis.

* Osamu Tezuka's ''[[Black Jack]]'' is a rather dark series to begin with, safe for some comedic touches usually provided by Pinoko. Osamu Dezaki's video adaptation in the 90's however takes the darkness to extremes and (for the most part) deletes all hints of humour in the story, opting for high-tension, highly stylized drama instead.

** Meanwhile, ViviD defies the trend, going [[Lighter and Softer]] than even the original series was ([[Cerebus Syndrome|So far?]]).

* ''[[Puella Magi Madoka Magica]]'' is very much [[Darker and Edgier]] spin on the [[Magical Girl]] genre, which is also arguably a Deconstruction. {{spoiler|It took a [[Cosmic Retcon]] to make it BETTER.}}

* ''[[Mobile Suit Zeta Gundam]]'' was much darker than the original ''[[Mobile Suit Gundam]]'' and earned the director the name '[[Kill'Em All]] [[Yoshiyuki Tomino|Tomino]]'.

** ''[[Mobile Suit Gundam SEED|Gundam SEED]]'', to frankly put, was pretty dark for an [[Alternate Universe]] Gundam series. You got yourself brutal atrocities committed by both sides which becomes a [[Guilt-Free Extermination War]] with very little in the way of clear comic relief. ''[[Mobile Suit Gundam 00|Gundam 00]]'' took this much further, increasing the death toll and toning down the comic relief, making it the darkest alternate universe ''[[Gundam]]''...

** Where the ''[[Gundam]]'' series is concerned, it's sometimes darker and edgier in their side stories, regardless of the calendar. Comic relief aside, the overall progression of arcs, foreknowledge, the ending and themes show that the likes of ''[[Mobile Suit Gundam 0080: War in the Pocket]]'' and ''C.E. 73 Stargazer'' to be less sunshiny than their respective calendars' main series.

** To a point ''[[Gundam]]'' franchise in general was darker and edgier in comparison to the other mecha anime around, with the themes, the (generally) [[Grey and Gray Morality]], the various War tropes present and not to forget the fact that the franchise was started by a man known as "[[Kill'Em All]]".

* ''[[Amazing Agent Luna]]'' is becoming this as of Year 2. Not only does Luna undergo TWO [[Plot-Mandated Friendship Failure|Plot Mandated Friendship Failures]] in the course of Volume 7, but it's hinted from the brief description of Volume 8 at the end of Volume 7 that {{spoiler|she may pull a [[Face Heel Turn]] in Volume 8. In fact, a [[Face Heel Turn]] [[Fake Defector|may be her only option]] if she wants to win Francesca back, though that's just because she rejoined Elizabeth when she thinks Timothy had dumped her because of Luna.}}

* ''[[Fullmetal Alchemist (manga)|Fullmetal Alchemist's]]'' [[Fullmetal Alchemist (anime)|first 2003 anime adaptation]] was this compared to the original manga. A lot of characters [[Death by Adaptation|die who lived in the manga]], there are fewer comedic [[Mood Whiplash]] moments, people suffer from [[Angst]] a whole lot more, the way Homunculi are created is a much darker theme ( {{spoiler|they were human transmutations that [[Came Back Wrong]], instead of just created from [[MacGuffin|Philosipher Stones]]}}), the overall theme is considerably more [[Sliding Scale of Idealism vs. Cynicism|cynical]], and the ending is far more bittersweet (though still optimistic). The people of Lior get hit the hardest by it, ''especially'' Rose. Two words: {{spoiler|[[Child by Rape|rape baby]]}}.

** Ironically the [[Fullmetal Alchemist (manga)|manga]] has a lot of dark elements that weren't brought over. The Ishvalan War in the anime was a short [[Curb Stomp Battle]], while in the manga it's full on [[War Is Hell]] and a number of chapters are devoted showing how horrible it was.

*** Brotherhood is arguably the darkest installments in the series.Unlike the 2003 version, it showed every dark thing in the mangna and made it worse by having it in color and animated.

* [[Front Mission]] is known for being a war drama, but Dog Life and Dog Style takes it [[Up to Eleven]] as it incorporates the grittiness of [[Red Eyes]] in a completely uncensored and brutal manner (Which relates the journalist who brings out the uncensored truth). In the first two issues of the manga it starts off showing gruesome death, rape/sex and ultra violence.

* In [[Sailor Moon]], the villain Queen Nehelenia appeared in two seasons, and the contrast between which is huge. Season 4 was mostly rather light-hearted: there was a pegasus, the villains were campy circus people who were commanded around by a weird old lady, and it focused mostly on Chibiusa; only at the very end there was a real difference. The first part of season 5, however, was entirely different, even breaking with the usual format. There were no monsters of the week, only Nehelenia's nearly indestructible [[Mirror Scare|mirror minions]]. In the course of the arc, Mamoru was brain-washed once again, resulting in Chibiusa almost fading, and ''all'' the Inner senshi were taken out one by one, sometimes in ''very'' painful manners (like Makoto being electrified almost to death by Nehelenia herself). This arc also brought back the outer senshi, who have a much more cynical approach to these matters... and they also get taken out. Usagi barely manages to win, but before that she has to go through a full-blown [[Break the Cutie]] process that almost throws her to the [[Despair Event Horizon]]. (And ''how'' does she win? {{spoiler|Via pretty much ''offering herself to be tortured and killed by Nehelenia'', who also shows heartbreaking [[Hidden Depths]] as we learn about the process that made her... well, the way she was. Only ''then'' things start going back to [[Lighter and Softer]].}})

** Also, the movies ''Dead or Alive'' and ''Island of Assassins'' were surprisingly violent for the anime series.

* If you thought that [[Yuu Watase]]'s [[Fushigi Yuugi Genbu Kaiden]] was merely [[Fushigi Yuugi]] from two hundred years ago... think again. Becaue not only the heroine Takiko comes from a ''very'' different time in the real world (more exactly, [[Imperial Japan]] during [[The Roaring Twenties]], in contrast to Miaka and Yui who come from the Japan of [[The Nineties]]), but the Shi Jin Ten Chi Sho that she roams through is ''far'' bloodier and more complicated than the one we viewed during Miaka and Yui's journeys.