Cerebus Syndrome: Difference between revisions

** The [[Spin-Off]], ''[[Puella Magi Kazumi Magica]]'', is going the same way. The first few chapters were practically a [[Magical Girl]] series played straight - the monsters turn back into humans, the power of teamwork saves the day, and the tone was generally lighthearted and comedic. {{spoiler|Then the [[Mysterious Watcher]] reveals herself as the [[Knight of Cerebus]].}} Things got serious in a hurry.

*** Chapter 8 of ''Kazumi'' [[Cerebus Rollercoaster|brings back the comedy from earlier chapters.]] [[Mood Whiplash|It doesn't last]].

* ''[[Sakigake Otokojuku]]'' started as an [[Affectionate Parody]] of the shounen genre, with lots of slapstick humor, telling the misadventures of the Otokojuku's 1st Years, and their relationships. Then from the 4th volume onwards, all the story arcs are [[Tournament Arc]]s, that enters a [[Stealth Parody]] territory of the genre.

* ''[[Naruto]]'' receives a shot of Cerebus Syndrome every now and then. At first this show was about the lovable Naruto and his comedic antics with a dark backstory lightly touched upon. Then Team 7 went on their first C-ranked mission a few episodes in and suddenly the stakes are raised to potential death. Then Orochimaru decides to invade the Leaf Village near the end of the Chunin Exams which only had one plotline death ([[It Was His Sled|the Third Hokage]]) but more lives were at stake then before. After the timeskip, Akatsuki takes the role of main antagonists (Orochimaru is put on the side) and they have plans of world domination. They even go so far as to kill Asuma, Shikamaru's sensei, which greatly affects him. The latest dose happens in the Pain arc, where Pain invades the Leaf just like Orochimaru, but actually causes several plotline deaths and devastates the Leaf village even more. {{spoiler|Though the characters killed get an [[Author's Saving Throw]] via Nagato's sacrifice.}}

* ''[[Ghost Sweeper Mikami]]'' gets into the syndrome once Ashtaroth starts getting prominent (although you could arguably trace it back to Medusa's introduction). However, Shiina ''never'' lets this obstruct the original comedic qualities, leading to a pretty fair amount of [[Mood Whiplash]].

* ''[[Haibane Renmei]]'' is initially quite cheery and light-hearted, but roughly half-way through shifts into something darker and much more dramatic.

* [[Mawaru Penguindrum]] starts as a wacky series about the Takakura brothers's tragicomic attempts to keep their sister alive. By episode 8, we learn that the people involved in this are quite more [[Humans Are Flawed|complex and flawed]] than they look, but there's still quite a [[Mood Whiplash]]. By episode 18, not only more secrets and complexities are revealed (alongside many [[Freudian Excuse]]s), but {{spoiler|one character straight up tries to ''kill'' another and almost manages to kill said chara and maim another.}} And by episode 21, after MANY other [[The Reveal|reveals]], shit has hit the fan like whoa. [[It Got Worse]], indeed.

* ''[[Gosick]]'' has a case of this, with the tension and scale of the story underlying each mystery building greater and greater towards the climax, eventually dropping the romantic comedy scenes altogether.

* ''[[Popotan]]'' is in no way only comedic to begin with, but even so its first couple of episodes at least has more laughs than tears. The later ones do not. The biggest example is without a doubt {{spoiler|Konami's death}} in episode 9, which marks the transition from dramedy to regular drama.

* Happens once in a while in ''[[Gintama]]''. The Benizakura, Itou, Yoshiwara, Jiraia, Kabukichou (and other) storylines are way more serious and dramatic than the usual lazy-ass, nose-picking, potty humored regular episodes. Also, any time [[Knight of Cerebus|Takasugi]] shows up, shit gets serious. And then he goes away, and the series goes back to the normal idiocy. It's also notable that even in the serious stories, the series still maintains a certain level of dorkiness.

 

== Comic Books ==