History WarIsHell / AnimeAndManga

*** Despite that however, it did not fully achieved the objective as it glamorized the actions of Tekkadan as their enemies were often portrayed as one dimensional [[CardCarryingVillain villains]] who deserved to be brutally killed. This was taken notice of in Season 2 where Orga and Tekkadan embark in a conflict against the Arianhod fleet that cost them everything. [[spoiler: Starting with the Earth Branch, then Mika's hopes of ever having a peaceful civilian life in his attempt to destroy the Hashmal. This climaxes with the deaths of Naze, Lafter and Amida during a power play by Jasley that ends with a RoaringRampageOfRevenge that achieves little and has Tekkadan cut off by the Teiwaz as they head in to an unplanned coup led [=McGillis=] that ends in their defeat and ultimately the death of Orga and many members of his organization, Shino, Mika, Hush and Akihiro included among the dead. [=McGillis=] himself when he makes a final charge at the Arianhod in a futile act of defiance. Tekkadan forever tainted as a villanous organization by the BigBad Rustal who was unpunished for his crimes.]] The compromise they have to make would have a terrible effect on the more innocent members of the cast, [[spoiler: Ride became a terrorist bent on continuing Orga's vision with the younger survivors and Almiria, perhaps the only innocent soul in the series is driven insane from the loss of her husband to be.]]

** The third season actually goes to the battlefield mentioned in the first season, and it features InfantImmortality being averted, a Heartland character even more violent and hateful than [[KnightOfCerebus Kurosaki]], and showing that the army responsible for this war is willing to card their own ChildSoldiers as punishment for trying to escape.

** The Director of the film (Creator/IsaoTakahata) specifically said it's NOT an Anti War film; what it really is a guilt trip to 80s Japanese Delinquents.
** Akiyuki Nosaka - the original story's author - wrote it to cope with [[SurvivorsGuilt the immense guilt he felt over surviving]] End-War UsefulNotes/ImperialJapan while his sister, Keiko, died of malnutrition - it's also why his AuthorAvatar dies in the movie.

* ''Anime/GraveOfTheFireflies''. Boy in his early teens and very young sister, left orphaned in Japan at the end of the Second World War. Things ''[[FromBadToWorse do not go well]]''.

* The ''VideoGame/FrontMission'' expanded media, such as the ''Dog Life & Dog Style'' manga, are very much in the WarIsHell territory. In ''Dog Life & Dog Style'', the brutality of war in general is shown through as Kenichi Inuzuka, a Japanese journalist who winds up in the wrong place and wrong time to witness some of the worst atrocities in the midst of the 2nd Huffman Conflict and those who are affected by it. He brings out the truth of war to the world amidst censorship and to some of the people whom he interviews. Throughout the series subjects like war profiteering, the price some pay for humanitarian convoys and the refugee left behind are explored. In the first volume alone, Inuzuka casually takes pictures of about every single atrocity of war, from open battlefield rape of some random girl to the amount of skulls hauled by a wanzer pilot to mark his kills. In the second volume, [[spoiler:a particularly tragic story shows the exploits of O.C.U. Captain Ren Akagi who supposedly saves a young woman, Kino Margo Seletskaya, from rape and performs a HeroicSacrifice to get her out of the warzone. It is then revealed that Kino was a prostitute who wasn't so much as raped as performing her trade on the field and that it wasn't the first time that happened. Thankfully, Ren survives but he does not walk out unscathed, losing an arm and two eyes as well as learning the unpleasant truth about her trade. Though he does get over it by finding Kino in another brothel and telling her to wait until the war is over.]]
** Hero's Cross focuses on the war profiteering part on widows [[spoiler: When Johnny goes missing, presumed dead, Alex gets his wish of becoming a hero. However it takes a terrible toll on everyone close to him. Emma watches as her husband's death is used to get people to by war bonds supposedly for the veterans when it was just used to fill the OCU elites' coffers, Johnny is found in an UCN infirmary hanging on to life support doomed to be one of Nirvana institute's test subjects and Alex is forever haunted by Emma's suicide]]
** Unlucky Days focuses on the refugees of the conflict as[[spoiler: Inuzuka without money or food is forced to stay in a refugee camp. There he is moved by the kindness of Tsuruta Miyuki, an OCU woman who came to Huffman to help refugees in the area. Asking Inuzuka to make a video to help refugee, he creates an inspiring video that moves the hearts of an international film festival that he was nominated. however such joy was brutally cut short when the UCN bombs the place and leaves no traces at all of their destruction save a couple of crater. Not even a single corpse is seen which adds to the poignancy as Miyuki was unable to fully tell her story to her boyfriend overseas]]

** ''Manga/MobileSuitGundamThunderbolt'', being a seinen ''Gundam'' series, is unabashed in its depiction of war as a dehumanizing experience. [[spoiler:From the Federation sending a platoon of ChildSoldiers to their deaths, to Zeon forcing soldiers to sacrifice their bodies and scientists to sacrifice their souls, no one in the One Year War walks away unscathed.]]

* Persistently present in ''Manga/AttackOnTitan'', especially in scenes before and after various battles where soldiers are seen to break down in terror or struggle to not flee. A somewhat unusual example, as the conflict in the series isn't a war in the usual sense, but more a fight for survival against a mindless predator. Most Titans aren't sentient, and [[spoiler: it's been revealed that they're actually transformed humans]]. What makes it even worse is that fighting a Titan is not like fighting a superior human force, Titans are incredibly difficult to kill, and can only be killed by severing their neck.

* ''Manga/VinlandSaga'' delivers this message with surprising subtlety.

* ''Anime/YuGiOhArcV'' of all things has this [[spoiler:with the inter dimensional war.]] The series does not pull its punches when showing the realities of war. With [[spoiler:the Akaba's]] using realistic propaganda to draft soldiers, child soldiers being sociopaths because they were mislead by adults and realistically showing that anyone can die in a war, even the civilians. And this is before the story actually enters the battlefield- thus far the protagonists are just preparing for an invasion, [[spoiler:except for [[ShellShockedVeteran Kurosaki and Yuto]], and what we've seen of their homeland through flashbacks only enforces this trope]].
** The second season includes a short [[spoiler: Civil War]] in [[spoiler: the City]] that, while less violent then the other wars portrayed, still amounts to a violent mob [[WithUsOrAgainstUs attacking anyone who gets in their way]]. Also, [[spoiler: Reira]] is revealed to have been orphaned in a realistic war with guns and bombs, causing trauma that has shaped his entire personality.
** The third season actually goes to the battlefield mentioned in the first season, and it features InfantImmortality being averted, an [[spoiler: XYZ]] character even more violent and hateful than [[KnightOfCerebus Kurosaki]], and showing that the army responsible for this war is willing to card their own ChildSoldiers as punishment for trying to escape.

* The War Of The Best arc in ''Manga/OnePiece'', which dealt with The Marines fighting [[WorldsStrongestMan Whitebeard]], plays this trope straight. Both sides start off fresh and eager for battle. Near the end, almost everyone is splattered with blood, marines and pirates alike lay dead, or injured on the ground, trampled by allies and enemies alike who don't care. Soldiers who try to desert get killed mid-battle by [[GeneralRipper Akainu]], and the people who decide to help their fallen comrades? Get shot as well, with a massive body count for both sides in the end. [[spoiler:Two major characters end up dying, including the protagonist's brother.]] Not to mention that the end result made everything -even worse- in the long run.

* Persistently present in ''Manga/AttackOnTitan'', especially in scenes before and after various battles where soldiers are seen to break down in terror or struggle to not flee. A somewhat unusual example, as the conflict in the series isnt a war in the usual sense, but more a fight for survival against a mindless predator. Most Titans arent sentient, and [[spoiler: it's been revealed that they're actually transformed humans, created by an unidentified Big Bad]]. What makes it even worse is that fighting a Titan is not like fighting a superior human force, Titan's are incredibly difficult to kill, and can only be killed by severing their neck.
** Made even worse when we learn the truth [[spoiler: Titans are people forcibly transformed as punishment. The people doing so regularly use child soldiers on the battlefield. We see numerous shots of Soldiers coming home from the frontlines with their minds shattered and suffering PTSD. Even worse is being on the receiving end of a Titan airdrop. Having to watch your comrades be devoured by Titans.))

* ''Anime/FutureWar198X'' shows the effects of WorldWarIII on the soldiers, civilians, and the powers behind each country fighting, shattering Japan's NuclearWeaponsTaboo and getting SpaceBattleshipYamato's director's message across loud and clear: [[{{Anvilicious}} nuclear weapons and war are bad.]]

*** Despite that however, it did not fully achieved the objective as it glamorized the actions of Tekkadan as their enemies were often portrayed as one dimensional [[CardCarryingVillain villains]] who deserved to be brutally killed. This was taken notice of in Season 2 where Orga and Tekkadan embark in a conflict against the Arianhod fleet that cost them everything. [[spoiler: Starting with the Earth Branch, then Mika's hopes of ever having a peaceful civilian life in his attempt to destroy the Hashmal. This climaxes with the deaths of Naze, Lafter and Amida during a power play by Jasley that ends with a RoaringRampageOfRevenge that achieves little and has Tekkadan cut off by the Teiwaz as they head in to an unplanned coup led {{McGillis}} that ends in their defeat and ultimately the death of Orga and many members of his organization, Shino, Mika, Hush and Akihiro included among the dead. {{McGillis}} himself when he makes a final charge at the Arianhod in a futile act of defiance. Tekkadan forever tainted as a villanous organization by the BigBad Rustal who was unpunished for his crimes.]] The compromise they have to make would have a terrible effect on the more innocent members of the cast, [[spoiler: Ride became a terrorist bent on continuing Orga's vision with the younger survivors and Almiria, perhaps the only innocent soul in the series is driven insane from the loss of her husband to be.]]

*** Despite that however, it did not fully achieved the objective as it glamorized the actions of Tekkadan as their enemies were often portrayed as one dimensional [[CardCarryingVillain villains]] who deserved to be brutally killed. This was taken notice of in Season 2 where Orga and Tekkadan embark in a conflict against the Arianhod fleet that cost them everything. [[spoiler: Starting with the Earth Branch, then Mika's hopes of ever having a peaceful civilian life in his attempt to destroy the Hashmal. This climaxes with the deaths of Naze, Lafter and Amida during a power play by Jasley that ends with a RoaringRampageOfRevenge that achieves little and has Tekkadan cut off by the Teiwaz as they head in to an unplanned coup led McGillis that ends in their defeat and ultimately the death of Orga and many members of his organization, Shino, Mika, Hush and Akihiro included among the dead. McGillis himself when he makes a final charge at the Arianhod in a futile act of defiance. Tekkadan forever tainted as a villanous organization by the BigBad Rustal who was unpunished for his crimes.]] The compromise they have to make would have a terrible effect on the more innocent members of the cast, [[spoiler: Ride became a terrorist bent on continuing Orga's vision with the younger survivors and Almiria, perhaps the only innocent soul in the series is driven insane from the loss of her husband to be.]]

* The Ishval Massacre in ''Manga/FullmetalAlchemist'' is wall to wall bodies; the Ishvalans are either being massacred or are killing the Amestrians in a last ditch effort to survive. By the end of the flashback everyone is left traumatized, and most of the rest are AxCrazy to begin with.

** The idea of a four year tournament in ''Anime/MobileFighterGGundam'' would seem to imply that such tournaments are a preferred alternative to full scale warfare. Then again [[{{YMMV}} Your Mileage May Vary.]]

** The idea of a four year tournament in ''Anime/MobileFighterGGundam'' would seem to imply that such tournaments are a preferred alternative to full-scale warfare. Then again, [[{{YMMV}} Your Mileage May Vary.]]

** ''Anime/MobileSuitGundamIronBloodedOrphans'' seems to be attempting to eclipse Tomino's darker works, with such acts ranging from forcing child slaves to fight, to having a stand in for the Titans, Gjallarhorn, [[spoiler: set up circumstances that will allow them to justify having to massacre protesting colonists]]. In particular, the Brewers arc of the anime has received a fair number of comparisons to ''Film/BeastsOfNoNation'' by some internet commentators.
*** Despite that however, it did not fully acheived the objective as it glamorized the actions of Tekkadan as their enemies were often portrayed as one dimensional [[CardCarryingVillain villains]] who deserved to be brutally killed. This was taken notice of in Season 2 where Orga and Tekkadan embark in a conflict against the Arianhod fleet that cost them everything. [[spoiler: Starting with the Earth Branch, then Mika's hopes of ever having a peaceful civlian life in his attempt to destroy the Hashmal. This climaxes with the death of Naze, Lafter and Amida during a power play by Jasley that ends with a RoaringRampageOfRevenge that achieves little except to destroy their bond with the Teiwaz. Finally the subsequent coup by McGillis that ends in their defeat and ultimately the death of Orga and many members of his organization, including Mika and Akihiro as well as McGillis himself when he makes a final charge at the Arianhod. Tekkadan forever tainted as a villanous organization by the BigBad Rustal who was unpunished for his crimes.]] It also had terrible effect on the more innocent members of the cast, [[spoiler: Ride became a terrorist bent on continuing Orga's vision and Almiria, perhaps the only innocent soul in the series is driven insane from the loss of her husband to be]]
*** The brutally effective Dainsleifs demonstrated how worthless mobile suits were in the series. A simplistic mass driver able to be used by any mobile suit, it was able to destroy the Gundam Frames without a problem. The very same frames that ended the Calamity War.

*** Despite that however, it did not fully acheived the objective as it glamorized the actions of Tekkadan as their enemies were often portrayed as [[CompleteMonster one dimensional]] [[CardCarryingVillain villains]] who deserved to be brutally killed. This was taken notice of in Season 2 where Orga and Tekkadan embark in a conflict against the Arianhod fleet that cost them everything. [[spoiler: Starting with the Earth Branch, then Mika's hopes of ever having a peaceful civlian life in his attempt to destroy the Hashmal. This climaxes with the death of Naze, Lafter and Amida during a power play by Jasley that ends with a RoaringRampageOfRevenge that achieves little except to destroy their bond with the Teiwaz. Finally the subsequent coup by McGillis that ends in their defeat and ultimately the death of Orga and many members of his organization, including Mika and Akihiro as well as McGillis himself when he makes a final charge at the Arianhod. Tekkadan forever tainted as a villanous organization by the BigBad Rustal who was unpunished for his crimes.]] It also had terrible effect on the more innocent members of the cast, [[spoiler: Ride became a terrorist bent on continuing Orga's vision and Almiria, perhaps the only innocent soul in the series is driven insane from the loss of her husband to be]]

* While ''DragonBall'' and ''DragonBallZ'' focused mostly on superpowerred combat, it didnt shy away from this trope either, most notably with the Red Ribbon Army and the Planet Trade Organization.

*** Despite that however, it did not fully acheived the objective as it glamorized the actions of Tekkadan as their enemies were often portrayed as [[CompleteMonster one dimensional]] [[CardCarryingVillain villains]] who deserved to be brutally killed. This was taken notice of in Season 2 where Orga and Tekkadan embark in a conflict against the Arianhod fleet that cost them everything. [[spoiler: Starting with the Earth Branch, then Mika's hopes of ever having a peaceful civlian life in his attempt to destroy the Hashmal. This climaxes with the death of Naze, Lafter and Amida during a power play by Jasley that ends with a RoaringRampageOfRevenge that achieves little and the subsequent coup by McGillis that ends in their defeat and ultimately the death of Orga and many members of his organization, including Mika and Akihiro as well as McGillis himself. Tekkadan forever tainted as a villanous organization by the BigBad Rustal who was unpunished for his crimes.]] It also had terrible effect on the more innocent members of the cast, [[spoiler: Ride became a terrorist bent on continuing Orga's vision and Almiria, perhaps the purist soul in the series is driven insane from the loss of her husband to be]]
*** The brutally effective Dainsleifs demonstrated how worthless mobile suits were in the series. A simplistic mass driver able to be used by any mobile suit, it was able to destroy the Gundam Frames without a problem. The same frames that ended the Calamity War.

*** Despite that however, it did not fully acheived the objective as it glamorized the actions of Tekkadan as their enemies were often portrayed as [[CompleteMonster|one dimensional]] [[CardCarryingVillain|villains]] who deserved to be brutally killed. This was taken notice of in Season 2 where Orga and Tekkadan embark in a conflict against the Arianhod fleet that cost them everything. [[spoiler: Starting with the Earth Branch, then Mika's hopes of ever having a peaceful civlian life in his attempt to destroy the Hashmal. This climaxes with the death of Naze, Lafter and Amida during a power play by Jasley that ends with a RoaringRampageOfRevenge that achieves little and the subsequent coup by McGillis that ends in their defeat and ultimately the death of Orga and many members of his organization, including Mika and Akihiro as well as McGillis himself. Tekkadan forever tainted as a villanous organization by the BigBad Rustal who was unpunished for his crimes.]] It also had terrible effect on the more innocent members of the cast, [[spoiler: Ride became a terrorist bent on continuing Orga's vision and Almiria, perhaps the purist soul in the series is driven insane from the loss of her husband to be]]
*** The brutally effective Dainsleifs demonstrated how worthless mobile suits were in the series. A simplistic mass driver able to be used by any mobile suit, it was able to destroy the Gundam Frames without a problem. The same frames that ended the Calamity War.

* The ''VideoGame/FrontMission'' expanded media, such as the ''Dog Life & Dog Style'' manga, are very much in the WarIsHell territory. In ''Dog Life & Dog Style'', the brutality of war in general is shown through as Kenichi Inuzuka, a Japanese journalist who winds up in the wrong place and wrong time to witness some of the worst atrocities in the midst of the 2nd Huffman Conflict and those who are affected by it. He brings out the truth of war to the world amidst censorship and to some of the people whom he interviews. The seinen manga goes from a violent form of war is hell to a psychological form. In the first volume alone, Inuzuka casually takes pictures of about every single atrocity of war, from open battlefield rape of some random girl to the amount of skulls hauled by a wanzer pilot to mark his kills. In the second volume, [[spoiler:a particularly tragic story shows the exploits of O.C.U. Captain Ren Akagi who supposedly saves a young woman, Kino Margo Seletskaya, from rape and performs a HeroicSacrifice to get her out of the warzone. It is then revealed that Kino was a prostitute who wasn't so much as raped as performing her trade on the field and that it wasn't the first time that happened. Thankfully, Ren survives but he does not walk out unscathed, losing an arm and two eyes as well as learning the unpleasant truth about her trade. Though he does get over it by finding Kino in another brothel and telling her to wait until the war is over.]]

* Persistently present in ''Manga/AttackOnTitan'', especially in scenes before and after various battles where soldiers are seen to break down in terror or struggle to not flee.

** The original novel's author - Akiyuki Nosaka - wrote the original story due to [[SurvivorsGuilt the immense guilt he felt over surviving]] End-War UsefulNotes/ImperialJapan while his sister, Keiko, died of malnutrition - it's also why his AuthorAvatar dies in the movie.

** The Creator specifically said it's NOT an Anti War film; what it really is a guilt trip to 80s Japanese Delinquents.
** That and the immense guilt he felt over surviving End-War UsefulNotes/ImperialJapan and not his sister. It's why his AuthorAvatar dies in the movie.

* One of the major themes of the ''Franchise/{{Gundam}}'' saga especially ''[[Anime/MobileSuitGundam0080WarInThePocket Gundam 0080]]'', ''[[Anime/MobileSuitZetaGundam Zeta Gundam]]'', and ''[[Anime/MobileSuitVictoryGundam Victory Gundam]]'' with the last two being the most harsh because YoshiyukiTomino was having CreatorBreakdown while making them. ''[[Anime/MobileSuitGundam0080WarInThePocket Gundam 0080]]'' [[{{Anvilicious}} beats you over the head]] with this trope. However, on the flip side, SomeAnvilsNeedToBeDropped, and it's overall one of the best Gundam series as a result of its utter bleakness. Which stems not from an anti war stance but Tomino's thoughts on Japan's actions in UsefulNotes/WorldWarII and its imperialistic actions which mirror that of Zeon's.

* ''Anime/{{Zambot 3}}'' explored this trope. ChildSoldiers forced to handle weapons and fight a faceless enemy? Check. People dying suffering and dying the whole time? Check. People turned into human bombs? Check. Cities being destroyed? Check. Both sides battling among the ruins of cities already destroyed in previous battles? Check. Every side thinking the other side are the evil ones? Check. It is no wonder this anime was done by [[YoshiyukiTomino the creator of Gundam]] during one of his KillEmAll phases.