History AllForNothing / AnimeAndManga

* ''Anime/YourName'': The side novel ''Another Side: Earthbound'' reveals that, after his wife Futaba's death, Toshiki had set out to become mayor of Itomori in order to modernise the town, spending 2 years preparing and then getting elected into a 4-year term. As he's standing for reelection at the start of the film proper, though, [[spoiler:comet Tiamat crashes into it one month later]], rendering all his efforts pointless.

* ''Anime/CodeGeass'': [[spoiler:When [[Characters/CodeGeassSuzakuKururugi Suzaku Kururugi]] father planned to encourage the Japanese people to fight to the bitter end during Britannia's original assault on the country, he killed him in order to force a surrender before what he saw to be a massive amount of unnecessary death could occur. However, as he himself admits in the opening narration of R2 Episode 20, his plan failed. Japan's immediately surrendering didn't stop constant warfare, and ironically his letting Japan be given over to Britannia before the other world powers could potentially get involved likely only resulted in a greater net total of lost lives. This is made especially clear after he obliterates the Tokyo Settlement and around thirty million people as a result of his "Live" command.]]

** Nana Shimura made the difficult choice to [[DaddyHadAGoodReasonForAbandoningYou put her son Kotaro into foster care to protect him from her life as a superhero]] because she knew [[BigBad All For One]] would target her family to get to her; her husband had already been killed by a villain. She even went so far as to ban Gran Torino and All Might from contacting him to keep him safe. [[spoiler:However, Kotaro grew up to be an [[TroubledAbuser absolutely horrible person due to feeling abandoned]] and had a kid named Tenko who he [[AbusiveParents abused for wanting to become a hero]]. Kotaro ended up murdered by his own son [[TheDogBitesBack when Tenko's Quirk first activated due to the former's abuse]]. And then All For One adopted Tenko as his heir and renamed him Tomura Shigaraki, just to [[EvilIsPetty further twist the knife]]. Upon learning that Shigaraki got his twisted view on Hero society from his father, Gran Torino realized just how horrible a mistake Shimura's decision was]].

* ''Manga/MariaNoDanzai''
** Played cruelly straight in the worst way possible in the end, as Kiritaka Nagare failure to accomplish his goal had tragic consequences for his family. He's bullied for months by [[GangOfBullies Okaya's gang]] -- the torment Kiritaka suffered more akin to [[BullyBrutality torture]] than bullying. But he endured it all because he was gathering evidence on the bullies and he did not want to worry his mother Mari, who he loved greatly. Then Kiritaka was killed by a prank by the bullies under the threat of a fake porno with his mother edited in being posted online unless he jumped off a cliff, which his mother saw just as a truck ran him over. After an investigation by the police his parents were told that his death was a suicide caused by AbusiveParents, which made them blame themselves. Mari, depressed by everything surrounding his death, discovered a journal about the bullying Kiritaka suffered, leaving her to swear revenge on his bullies. Two years later, Mari is under a new identity, Maria Akeboshi, and is hunting and killing Okaya's gang one by one, [[ThatWomanIsDead having thrown away her marriage and her previous life]] to get revenge. It is clear that her son's death has completely destroyed Maria, and even though she's getting revenge for her son, it will likely cost Maria her sanity and life.

* During the finale of ''Anime/PuellaMagiMadokaMagica'', [[spoiler:[[TheStoic Homura]] begs Madoka to not make her wish because of all of the pain she went through to protect her. She even says "Everything I fought for... it will all be for nothing!" Madoka still makes her wish, and while this may have benefited everyone else the biggest side effect was that Madoka had to be [[{{Retgone}} retconned out of existence.]] Madoka seems fine with this though and assures Homura she'll always remember her sacrifice,]] [[BittersweetEnding so it's not all bad.]]

* ''Manga/{{Berserk}}'': [[BeingEvilSucks Becoming an Apostle is never worth it]]. In the short term, it grants someone who reached the [[DespairEventHorizon lowest point in their lives]] power and removes many of the human inhibitions that would prevent them from indulging in their darkest desires. In the long term, it costs them the people they valued the most in the world and forces them to be forever subservient to the Godhand. After the initial thrill of demonic depravity wears off, most Apostles realize that their new lives haven't done anything to fix the problems that made them so miserable as humans: the Count still loves his daughter too much offer her as a sacrifice to save himself, Rosine realizes too late the Godhand never granted her wish to become an elf, Ganishka is still paranoid as ever, etc. All they have to show for their deal is an eternity to stew over their same old issues with the added burden of guilt and loneliness brought on by sacrificing their closest loved ones. Their former ambitions are effectively dead as they're forced into eternal servitude at the whim of beings infinitely more powerful, clever, and evil than they could ever be. Just to twist the knife a little more, all Apostles are doomed to be [[DraggedOffToHell dragged into the Abyss by the souls of their victims to suffer with them for all of eternity]]. By the time an Apostle realizes what they've signed themselves up for, they're already damned.

* ''Anime/DeathNote'': [[spoiler: Not only does Light's crusade to create a crime-free utopia go up in smoke, the global crime rate (and, likely, ongoing wars) go back to the way they were before Kira appeared]]. His SuperiorSuccessor Minoru Tanaka fares far better in the DistantSequel: [[spoiler:he never actually acts as Kira, but his sneaky plans create an economic boom for the Japanese public, and (inadvertently) ensure that nobody else gets a chance to use the Notebook without significant consequences]].

* ''Manga/{{Berserk}}'': [[BeingEvilSucks Becoming an Apostle is never worth it]]. In the short term, it grants someone who reached the [[DespairEventHorizon lowest point in their lives]] power and removes many of the human inhibitions that would prevent them from indulging in their darkest desires. In the long term, it costs them the people they valued the most in the world and forces them to be forever subservient to the Godhand. After the initial thrill of demonic depravity wears off, most Apostles realize that their new lives haven't done anything to fix the problems that made them so miserable as humans: the Count still loves his daughter too much offer her as a sacrifice to save himself, Rosine realizes too late the Godhand never granted her wish to become an elf, Ganishka is still paranoid as ever, ect. All they have to show for their deal is an eternity to stew over their same old issues with the added burden of guilt and loneliness brought on by sacrificing their closest loved ones. Their former ambitions are effectively dead as they're forced into eternal servitude at the whim of beings infinitely more powerful, clever, and evil than they could ever be. Just to twist the knife a little more, all Apostles are doomed to be [[DraggedOffToHell dragged into the Abyss by the souls of their victims to suffer with them for all of eternity]]. By the time an Apostle realizes what they've signed themselves up for, they're already damned.

* ''Manga/{{Berserk}}'': [[BeingEvilSucks Becoming an Apostle is never worth it]]. In the short term, it grants someone who reached the [[DespairEventHorizon lowest point in their lives]] power and removes many of the human inhibitions that would prevent them from indulging in their darkest desires. In the long term, it costs them the people they valued the most in the world and forces them to be forever subservient to the Godhand. After the initial thrill of demonic depravity wears off, most Apostles realize that their new lives haven't done anything to fix the problems that made them so miserable as humans: the Count still loves his daughter too much offer her as a sacrifice to save himself, Rosine realizes too late the God Hand never granted her wish to become an elf, Ganishka is still paranoid as ever, ect. All they have to show for their deal is an eternity to stew over their same old issues with the added burden of guilt and loneliness brought on by sacrificing their closest loved ones. Their former ambitions are effectively dead as they're forced into eternal servitude at the whim of beings infinitely more powerful, clever, and evil than they could ever be. Just to twist the knife a little more, all Apostles are doomed to be [[DraggedOffToHell dragged into the Abyss by the souls of their victims to suffer with them for all of eternity]]. By the time an Apostle realizes what they've signed themselves up for, they're already damned.

** Played cruelly straight in the worst way possible in the end, as Kiritaka Nagare failure to accomplish his goal had tragic consequences for his family. He’s bullied for months by a group of evil thugs in the form of GangOfBullies. The torment Nagare suffered is more than bullying; it is more like inhuman torture. The reason Nagare endured all the torture was that he was gathering evidence on the bullies and he did not want to worry his mother, who he loved greatly. Nagare was killed by a prank by the bullies under the threat of a fake porno with his mother edited in would be posted unless he jump off a cliff, which his mother saw just as a truck ran him over. An investigation by the police told his parents that his death was a suicide caused by abusive parents. His mother, depressed by everything surrounding his death, discovered his journal about the bullying he suffered and swears revenge on his bullies. Two years later, Maria is under a new identity, Maria Akeboshi, and is hunting and killing Nagare's inner circle one by one. She throws away her marriage and her previous life to get revenge. It is clear that her son's death has completely destroyed Maria, and even though she's getting revenge for her son, it will likely cost Maria her sanity and life.
*** It's also revealed that his father, Inspector Taiichiro Nagare's life was destroyed as well. Taiichiro is heartbroken about his son's death and the divorce from his wife. He’s also became an outcast towards most of the police department because they believe he was abusing his son. All in all, Kiritaka Nagare failed to report his bullies, and it's implied that the two years after his death, his bullies had free reign to destroy his classmate's lives, and his early death at the cost of protecting his mother’s reputation and dignity was not only ultimately pointless but destroyed his family.

* ''Manga/MariaNoDanzai'': Played cruelly straight in the worst way possible in the end, as his failure to accomplish his goal had tragic consequences for his family. Kiritaka Nagare was bullied for months by a group of satanic thugs and bullies. The bullying Nagare suffered is more than bullying; it is more like inhuman torture. The reason Nagare endured all the torture he got for months was that he was gathering evidence on the bullies; it was implied that he wanted to protect his classmates from the bullies; when he took the place of another classmate, whom the bullies were torturing, and he did not want to worry his mother Mari Nagare who he loved greatly. Nagare was killed by a prank by the bullies, which his mother saw; an investigation by the police told his parents that his death was a suicide caused by abusive parents. His mother, Maria, depressed by his death and the reasons given for his death, discovered his journal about the bullying he suffered and swears revenge on the bullying. Two years later, Maria is under a new identity, Maria Akeboshi, and is hunting and killing Nagare's bullies one by one; she throws away her marriage and her previous life to get revenge. It is clear that her son's death has completely destroyed Maria, and even though she's getting revenge for her son, it will likely cost Maria her sanity and life. It's also revealed that his father, Inspector Taiichiro Nagare's life was destroyed as well. Taiichiro is heartbroken about his son's death and the divorce from his wife and has become an outcast at the first college because they believe he was abusing his son with only one friend. All in all, Kiritaka Nagare failed to report his bullies, and it's implied that the two years after his death, his bullies had free reign to destroy his classmate's lives, while his mother is avenging his death since she has been broken by his death and her life has been destroyed, him sacrificing his life to protect her from being exploited was not only ultimately pointless but destroyed his family.

* ''Manga/MariaNoDanzai'': {{Deconstruction}} and cruelly straight in the worst way possible in the end, as his failure to accomplish his goal had tragic consequences for his family. Kiritaka Nagare was bullied for months by a group of satanic thugs and bullies. The bullying Nagare suffered is more than bullying; it is more like inhuman torture. The reason Nagare endured all the torture he got for months was that he was gathering evidence on the bullies; it was implied that he wanted to protect his classmates from the bullies; when he took the place of another classmate, whom the bullies were torturing, and he did not want to worry his mother Mari Nagare who he loved greatly. Nagare was killed by a prank by the bullies, which his mother saw; an investigation by the police told his parents that his death was a suicide caused by abusive parents. His mother, Maria, depressed by his death and the reasons given for his death, discovered his journal about the bullying he suffered and swears revenge on the bullying. Two years later, Maria is under a new identity, Maria Akeboshi, and is hunting and killing Nagare's bullies one by one; she throws away her marriage and her previous life to get revenge. It is clear that her son's death has completely destroyed Maria, and even though she's getting revenge for her son, it will likely cost Maria her sanity and life. It's also revealed that his father, Inspector Taiichiro Nagare's life was destroyed as well. Taiichiro is heartbroken about his son's death and the divorce from his wife and has become an outcast at the first college because they believe he was abusing his son with only one friend. All in all, Kiritaka Nagare failed to report his bullies, and it's implied that the two years after his death, his bullies had free reign to destroy his classmate's lives, while his mother is avenging his death since she has been broken by his death and her life has been destroyed, him sacrificing his life to protect her from being exploited was not only ultimately pointless but destroyed his family.

* ''Anime/DeathNote'': [[spoiler: Not only does Light’s crusade to create a crime-free utopia go up in smoke, the global crime rate (and, likely, ongoing wars) go back to the way they were before Kira appeared. Worse still, according to the first post-serialization chapter, the only thing Light permanently changed was ''bringing down'' his nation’s life expectancy rate by ''a lot''.]] His SuperiorSuccessor Minoru Tanaka fares far better in the DistantSequel: [[spoiler:he never actually acts as Kira, but his sneaky plans create an economic boom for the Japanese public, and (inadvertently) ensure that nobody else gets a chance to use the Notebook without significant consequences]].

* ''Anime/DeathNote'': [[spoiler: Not only does Light’s crusade to create a crime-free utopia go up in smoke, the global crime rate (and, likely, ongoing wars) go back to the way they were before Kira appeared. Worse still, according to the first post-serialization chapter, the only thing Light permanently changed was ''bringing down'' his nation’s life expectancy rate by ''a lot''.]] His SuperiorSuccessor Minoru Tanaka fares far better in the DistantSequel: [[spoiler:he never actually acts as Kira, but his sneaky plans create an economic boom for the Japanese public, and (inadvertently) ensure that nobody else gets a chance to use the Notebook this time around.]].