Madness Mantras… Madness Mantras… Madness Mantras… Madness Mantras… in anime and manga.
- Adekan has "Onna-neko... help me... onna-neko..."
- Tomo in Azumanga Daioh: "Today is the first day of school...
" - Bakemonogatari: Hate! Hate! Hate! Hate! HAAAAAATE! YAAAAAAAAAAAH!
- Berserk has Theresia's "Just take me back to my room!" following a huge Break the Cutie ordeal culminating in very nearly getting Sacrificed by her own Apostle father, and having to watch as said father is Dragged Off to Hell before her very eyes. Poor girl.
- The Big O: "There is but one truth. If you avert your eyes from it, you will always remain nothing more then a puppet."
- Black Butler: "Snuff out the barren. Snuff out the useless. Snuff out the unclean."
- Bleach: "Kurosaki-kun... Kurosaki-kun... Kurosaki-kun... KUROSAKI-KUN!"
- From the English dub of episode 309: Aizen's Villainous Breakdown "No no no no no NOOOO!!!"
- From 566: "I am... Lonely... Lonely... Lonely. Lonely. Lonely. I'm really lonely. Where is... my Senbonzakura?"
- And from 569: "I won't kill you, I won't kill you, I won't kill you..."
- Bokurano: "There's no way Dad could've died, there's no way Dad could've died, there's no way Dad could've died..." Said by Kodaka after he accidentally crushes his father while piloting a Humongous Mecha.
- Canaan has Hakko's "I love you". Even more poignant is that these are the last words Santana hears before his death, because her voice is lethal, the reason behind her breaking down.
- Case Closed:
- "No one will believe me!" Said by Atsuko, which refers to how she was the true author of her best script that Chikako made pass as hers, causing Atsuko to commit suicide a few afterwards.
- "It's a lie, it's a lie, it's a lie!", is another one, this time said by Ryuuichi Mifune after being not only being found out as the killer of the case, but also being told about Shouko's feelings for him.
- From Casshern Sins, the hoards of robots that believe devouring Casshern will grant them eternal life are always shouting the same thing.KILL CASSHERN! DEVOUR CASSHERN!
- Joshua from Chrono Crusade launches into a chant of "Sis. Sis. Sis. Sis. Sis." on at least one occasion.
- Jeremy a little bit in A Cruel God Reigns. He repeatedly says "Hallelujah" at one point while being beaten by Greg.
- Dance with Devils: Urie is shown in episode 4 to repeat to Ritsuka in her dream: "I'll hold you until you fall apart."
- Death Note: Sakujo, sakujo, sakujo, sakujo, sakujo, sakujo, sakujo, sakujo...
- Detective School Q: "Tartarus... Tartarus... Tartarus... AAAAAAHHHHH!!!!"
- D.Gray-Man: NEVER FORGIVE, NEVER FORGIVE, NEVER FORGIVE, NEVER FORGIVE...
- Digimon Tamers: Jeri Kato's descent into trauma and suffering at the hands of both Beelzemon and the D-Reaper earn one in the form of a mixture between her own misunderstanding of her mother's death when she was young and her final captor's mental manipulation: "We can't run away from destiny... Destiny... Destiny... Destiny..."
- Beelzemon isn't spared from this either at one point as it attempts to "kill two birds with one stone" this way: "Beelzemon. The digimon who destroyed Leomon... destroyed Leomon... destroyed Leomon... destroyed Leomon..."
- Domina no Do! has Ayako, where after having a yandere moment, travels with the Domina's Family grandmother, sending a note to Takeshi for him to wait for her. The phrase "wait for me" goes on for several pages, growing increasingly erratic with each new line.
- Dragon Ball: "Mounds...mounds...mounds..."
- Shizuo in Durarara!! subverts this in that what appears to be a very obvious Madness Mantra ("Kill'em kill'em kill'em kill'em kill'em...") is actually a Survival Mantra to channel his anger and prevent himself from going into an Unstoppable Rage.
- Saika's constant spamming of "Mother mother mother..." (and later "Shizuo. Heiwajima Shizuo. Heiwajima Heiwajima Heiwajima...Shizuo Shizuo Shizuo Shizuo Shizuo..."), on the other hand, is a textbook Madness Mantra.
- In Eureka Seven, after Charles Beams dies, Ray spends most of an episode humming an eerie tune. Made even more creepy by the fact that the audience barely sees her, just hears the humming over scenery shots of the rooms she's trashed.
- After a pressure cooker of stress detonates in his head, Renton has a menacing freakout in the midst of a firefight with human-piloted enemy mecha. Suddenly, he's butchering them all to pieces in a swearing fit of "DAMMIT," punctuated by horrendous amounts of gore as he enters a berserk rage and starts killing them all like a rabid beast. Nirvash spawns red, glowing eyes as Renton mangles them all, finally leading up to a when he sees an evil shadow with his own face, laughing maniacally. Renton peels open the last mecha left intact, screams wildly, then stamps Nirvash's boot down on the exposed cockpit with the pilot still inside, squashing him like a bug. Unfortunately, what was left of him- namely, tons of blood and the severed arm of a married man- hitched a ride on the sole of the boot- which Renton saw crystal clear. Immediately followed by total Heroic BSoD, My God, What Have I Done?, and vomiting. Made even worse that the only discretion shot was for the puke, NOT the bowel-loosening gore.
- Flame of Recca:
- Kirin, a mind-reader, suffers a wardrobe malfunction while fighting Domon and gets to hear a barrage of obscene thoughts centered around said malfunction.
- Aoi, being a "Well Done, Son" Guy, is haunted by the mantra "FAILURE"
- In an Oh, Crap! moment, Renge's inner monologue changes from "not gonna die" to "gonna die" as she realizes how much more powerful Kurei is.
- Fruits Basket:
- Akito, who's rather crazy, repeatedly screams "IT'S ALL YOUR FAULT!" at Kana.
- Kyo also shouts "IT'S NOT MY FAULT!" over and over again in response to being blamed for his mother's death.
- "Real bullets don't work!" "No more...please!" Sousuke and Tsubaki from Full Metal Panic? Fumoffu, after experiencing a particularly horrifying battle against a invincible, chainsaw-wielding, maniacally smiling, insane laughing, normally polite old janitor.
- Yuno of Future Diary repeating "Yuki praised me!"
- The Garden of Sinners: Lio says to Shiki "That's a lie, that's a lie, that's a lie, that's a lie!"
- Gintama: When Yamazaki goes on a stakeout living on nothing but anpan buns, he loses it after a few days.ANPANanpanAnPaNanpanANPANanpanaNpAnANPANanpanAnPaNANpananpananPANANpan
- Hajime no Ippo: "Left, Left, Left, Left, Left, Left, Left, LEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEFFFFTTT!" I'll just leave this here.
- Hellsing has Seras going berserk after Zorin Blitz kills Pip and refers to him as an insect and screaming "Unforgivable... Unforgivable... Unforgivable... Unforgivable!" (Japanese) or "You'll pay... You'll fucking pay. You'll fucking pay. You'll fucking pay!" (English) Also, after she drinks from Pip and becomes a powerful vampire she says "Let's slaughter, Pip ... Slaughter... Slaughter!"
- Hetalia: Axis Powers: "KOLKOLKOLKOLKOLKOLKOLKOLKOLKOLKOLKOLKOLKOLKOLKOL...""LET'S GET MARRIEDMARRIEDMARRIEDMARRIEDMARRIEDMARRIEDMARRIED...''" (Although, to be fair, they don't have mental breakdowns, they're both just consistently crazy.)
- England has one in the Fantasia Cd drama where he repeats to his cute supernatural friend "Hey, you won't ever leave me right? You'll stay by my side? You won't ever leave, right? Right? RIGHT?!" This is a Call-Back to his heartbreak over America declaring independence on him and leaving him.
- In Higurashi: When They Cry, the characters are prone to saying "uso da"/"that's a lie" when/after they snap."I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry..."
- I'm Gonna Be an Angel!: "Ganbare, ganbare" and "I/we will become angel/s" by Mikael and "I won't become an angel!" by Silky.
- Played for Laughs in Infinite Stratos Season 2 Episode 7. Laura flips out when Ichika reveals he's already chosen a tag-team partner for the upcoming IS Academy tournament, and it isn't her. She summons her IS arm's Laser Blade and is about to hit him with it, when Chifuyu suddenly hurls her across the room, berating her for unauthorized IS usage. When Laura tries to protest by saying this is a matter between husband and wife, we get this exchange:Laura: Instructor, this is a problem between husband and wife!
Chifuyu: Husband and wife? You Fool! I'd never accept a rude girl like you as my sister-in-law!
[a look of horror appears on Laura's face]
Laura: Instructor hates me. Instructor hates me. Instructor hates me. - Kaiju Girl Caramelise: After her date with Arata goes poorly and she goes through a Partial Transformation in front of him in spite of her efforts throughout the day to avoid that, a distraught Kuroe runs into a bathroom stall where she repeats "I hate this" over and over.
- Kill la Kill: Nui after getting her arms chopped off."IHATEYOUIHATEYOUIHATEYOUIHATEYOUIHATEYOUIHATEYOUIHATEYOUIHATEYOUIHATEYOU! I HATE YOU ALL!!!"
- Koharu no Hibi. Koharu to Akira: "I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you."
- "I want to become a bird!", from the infamous "snail parasite" story from Volume 4 of The Kurosagi Corpse Delivery Service.
- JoJo's Bizarre Adventure:
- In Phantom Blood, Dio Brando has a knack for saying how "useless" anyone's efforts were when he believes he has the upper hand. At one point during his battle with the protagonist Jonathan Joestar in Windknight's Lot, he kept repeating the word "useless" over and over again just to emphasize how hopeless the situation was for Jonathan. Fast forward a century later during Stardust Crusaders and now, he blurts out "muda" (AKA the Japanese word for "useless") in rapid succession as a battle cry:
- In Stardust Crusaders, during the high-stakes poker match between protagonist Jotaro Kujo and D'arby the Gambler, Jotaro turns things in his favor by stoically betting the souls of two of his comrades and that of his own mother, having at his disposal a hand of cards he hasn't even looked at and asking D'arby to match his wager by revealing the secret of DIO's Stand if he loses; the idea of betraying his master, combined with the thought of Jotaro's Stand having switched cards without him noticing, take a toll on the Gambler when Jotaro starts pressuring him into calling his cards. Cue D'arby's Inner Monologue trying to convince himself into calling (which fails miserably as he realizes he's too terrified to do so):"I'll say it! I'm the greatest gambler in the world! I'll take this bet! I'll CALL!! Call, call, call, call, call, call, call, call... I'm going to call!!!"
- In Diamond is Unbreakable, Rohan learns that when he was found after Reimi's Heroic Sacrifice for his child self, all he could say was:
- In Minamoto-kun Monogatari Rokujou's sanity is way gone when Kaoruko tells her that Terumi does not love her and doesn't need her like she would like to believe. One panel is so dedicated to her thinking thoughts like "Lies, No way, You're wrong", etc. that the words are overlapping with each other.
- Episode 4 of Mobile Suit Gundam Unicorn has Loni Garvey repeating "Sieg Zeon" in the final few minutes, having been Brainwashed and Crazy by her mobile armor's psycommu system.
- Monster: "Kill him... kill him... kill him..."
- When Johan begins to explain his intentions to Nina "The end... the end... the end... the end... the end... the end... the end... the end... the end."
- This little snippet from Episode 29: Dr. Gillen is interviewing the murderer Peter Jurgens. He shows Peter a picture of Johan and Peter says that he does not know him, and then he asks him for a pen. He takes the pen and begins shading around the face of the man in the picture. He tells Dr. Gillen that on the second day of the murder, he had gone to the park; he was telling himself that he wanted to stop, and then he saw the man surrounded by children there. Peter then repeats the words "You should come too" (or "Come with us" in the English dubbed) over and over again while some ominous little tune plays and the camera does a close up on his expressionless face. He then takes the pen and plunges it into his right ear. Blood squirts out and he falls over dead.
- Most main characters from Nasu's series usually gets one or even several mantras.
- Tsukihime: This chair. This chair. This chair. This chair. This chair. This chair.
- Negima! Magister Negi Magi: "Make them atone. Don't forgive. Kill them all."
- Neon Genesis Evangelion:
- An early episode has Shinji going through VR training. He is told to "center the target, pull trigger". The dead-eyed Shinji repeats the instructions to himself.
- "I mustn't run away, I mustn't run away, I mustn't run away..." An attempt at a Survival Mantra that didn't really work.
- Made hilarious in the outtakes: "I mustn't run away, I m-ok, I got that, good, ok. Now, if I were to run away-let's analyze that-, where the fuck would I go?!"
- Then there's Asuka's "I don't wanna die! I don't wanna die! I don't wanna die!". It becomes even creepier when her mother's "You are not alone. You are not alone. You are not alone" gets piled over it. Unlike Shinji's example above, Asuka's mantra does work. For about 15 minutes.
- It becomes even creepier still when you realize that interspersed with her mother's "You are not alone." is the shrill voice of the half of her mother that went crazy and hung herself shrieking "Please die with me!"
- Asuka also muttered "I'll kill you... I'll kill you... I'll kill you... I'll kill you..." when she made her unpowered, impaled and gutted EVA move via sheer force of will. For about 40 seconds.
- Then there's Shinji's "I can't take it anymore... I can't take it anymore... I can't take it anymore..." from End. That one really counts as a Madness Mantra since he's losing his grip on reality at that moment. Using a negative phrase in a Mantra is usually not a good idea.
- Usopp of One Piece seems to like doing these, particularly after experiencing the danger his shipmates tend to love.Usopp: Sky island scary, sky island scary, sky island scary, sky island scary...
- PandoraHearts has this:Jack: [after Glen says that Lacie can't be brought back] Unacceptable! Unacceptable! Unacceptable! Unacceptable! Unacceptable! Unacceptable! Unacceptable! Unacceptable!
- Paprika: A creepy chorus of dolls in the parade chants: "No more anger! Our world is happy and mundane!"
- Perfect Blue: Excuse me, who are you?
- Also, on the fax Mima receives from Me-Mania "TRAITOR TRAITOR TRAITOR TRAITOR TRAITOR TRAITOR TRAITOR TRAITOR..."
- Puella Magi Madoka Magica: The early part of Oktavia's labyrinth has "Look at me" written all over it.
- The runes found in witches' barriers always translate into this.
- Pumpkin Scissors: Töten Sie! Töten Sie! ("Kill them!") note
- Reborn! (2004). After Kozato Enma's famiglia is completely abducted by the Vindice he goes insane, loses control of his powers, and keeps muttering to himself.Enma: Kill Tsunayoshi... Kill... Kill...
- Revolutionary Girl Utena: In Episode 33 at one point, an awkward-looking Utena is lying on a bed but we only see her face, her bare shoulders, and her hand as she babbles about food and what she should make for lunch tomorrow. At some point she bites on her knuckle, then keeps speaking about the meal in an increasingly desperate and moaning tone. The animators stop getting crap past the radar and downright push it down when she shudders and shivers repeatedly, then tenses up and goes still for a millisecond while breathlessly gasping "Tell me..." while the screen goes to black. Soon we see her hand... which holds onto a man's dark skinned own. Yep, Utena just had sex with Akio, on-screen. Now keep in mind that she's in eighth grade and he's a hell of a lot older (and even more so when we consider his backstory)... and the consent is dubious enough to make the scene count as Rape as Drama by many people's sensibilities. (The kanji seen flashing in the background at some point, i.e., can be read as "Stop it, stop it, stop it...".)
- R.O.D the TV:"John Smith got his forest burned down.
That's why he planted new trees.
A lot, a whole lot, and a lot more...
A lot, a whole lot, and a lot more..."
A lot, a whole lot, and a lot more..." - Rosario + Vampire: Tsukune's Ghoul form repeats the word "kill".
- Sailor Moon: ''I won't forgive you. I won't forgive you. I won't forgive you. I WON'T FORGIVE YOU!!" from the first episode of the fifth season.
- In the last season, when Galaxia reveals that she's killed Tuxedo Mask, Sailor Moon is briefly reduced to only being able to say "Mamo-chan...is dead..." over and over.
- A much more prevalent one throughout the second half of Season 4 is "Yume yume utagau koto nakare; yume miru kodomo no yume no yume", translated in the subtitles as "Dream dream don't doubt it; a dream of dreams that children dream". (Or, for a more rhythmic translation, "Never ever forget to remember, a child's dream is a dream forever or "Never doubt the power of innocent dreamers, never doubt the dreams of innocent children, never doubt your worst nightmare!.") It becomes more and more disturbing the more it's used.
- Fumio of Saitama Chainsaw Shoujo, just before snapping due to being dumped by her boyfriend, uttered a mantra of her own."Unforgivable! Unforgivable! Unforgivable! TOTALLY UNFORGIVABLE!!!"
- In Scryed, Biff is captured and brainwashed; afterward, he becomes practically incapable of saying anything beyond "Hammer!" (as in "NR Hammer," the name of his Alter).
- Seraph of the End: When Yuu lets his Superpowered Evil Side take over he repeats "Annihilate the sinners."
- Serial Experiments Lain: "Beep... beep... ... beep... ..... beep...."
- "Everyoneisconnected. Everyoneisconnected. Everyoneisconnected." And in the middle of a busy street, no less.
- Shiki:
- Megumi-chan is going to come and kill me. Megumi-chan is going to come and kill me. Megumi-chan is going to come and kill me.
- "Damn you old man, damn you old man, damn you old man..."
- SHUFFLE!. Kaede, in episode 19, tells either of these at Asa after snapping on her:
- In the original Japanese: "Go back. Please go back... Please go back... Please... go back... Go back... Go back... GO BACK! GO BACK! GO BACK!"
- In the English dub: "Get Out!. Get out of this house. Get out of this house. Get out... Get out.... Get out. Get out! OUT! GET OUT OF MY HOUSE! GO AWAY!"
- Soul Eater: "Jijijijijijiji... Jijijijijijiji..."
- "I don't know how to deal with this... my blood is black... I'll kill you all. Kill you. Kill you. Kill you."
- "An apple. An apple. An apple. An apple. An apple. An apple. An apple. An apple. An apple."
- "Wrath of the Pharaoh! Wrath! Wrath! Wrath! Wrath! Pharaoh! Pharaoh! Pharaoh! Wrath! Wrath! Wrath!"
- "MAKAMAKAMAKAMAKAMAKAMAKAMAKAMAKAMAKAMAKAMAGHAAAAAAA!!!!!"
- There is one that crosses into the territory of both Dark Comedy, Overly Long Gag, and Brick Joke in chapter nine of the manga (where Free makes a brief cameo), that, while setting up the mood of the Witch Jail (It Makes Just As Much Sense In Context/ It Makes Sense in Context), a background character repeatedly adds one and two together, while never coming up with the solution to the problem, thinking that he's multiplying what he's adding, much to the annoyance of the one lone guard who has had to put up with him for an undetermined amount of time. This is interrupted by Free, much to the shock of both the guard's and prisoner's shock, who silences him with his own hinted mantra:Free: I can't see... I can't see anything... I really wanna see a fine comedy...
- Sword Art Online: When Sinon's friend-turned-Stalker with a Crush Kyouji gets mad at her rejection, he snaps and forcibly tries to rape her. When he has her pinned down, he goes "Asada-san, Asada-san, ASADA-SAN!"
- Tekkonkinkreet has White's repeating mantra, "be happy be happy."
- From the English dub of Tenchi Muyo!, Episode 8:Ryoko: Diapers. Diapers. Diapers. Diapers. Diapers.
Ayeka: Milk. Milk. Milk. Milk. Milk. - Tokyo Ghoul:
- In chapter 66 Furuta is furious after Eto insults him and says to her "Die...die...die...die...die...die...die..."
- When Kaneki is getting tortured by Yamori by having his toes and fingers clipped off repeatedly and being left to grow back (because Kaneki's a ghoul) before Yamori clipped them off again. Kaneki stated "My fingers and toes regrew as if they were nails and hair over and over and over and over and over..."
- One episode of Witch Hunter Robin features an obsessive-compulsive witch who, when confronted by the main characters, starts repeating, in an increasingly panicked voice: "You soiled... you soiled... you soiled... you soiled... you soiled... you soiled..."
- Yu-Gi-Oh! ARC-V: Whenever all four Dragons boys are around each other in their Superpowered Evil Side they will keep repeating "We Will Become One!"
