Nightmare Fuel / Shadow Star

• Absolutely no end of it, especially in the manga, with one of the standout moments being Aki Honda's death by claw rape. She had it coming after what she did to Hiro-chan, but it's still intensely disturbing.
  • The anime, while cutting off most of the more disturbing parts, makes it just a biit more uncomfortable by having Oni, just before doing the deed, shapeshift his(?) finger… into a test tube. As if it wasn’t obvious enough what brought this on.
• The concept of psychologically damaged kids running around with monsters of destruction is more than a little unsettling.
• Seeing Hiroko go from a peaceful timid girl to a callous murderer is both nightmare fuel and a tear jerker. She attacked her bullies in brutal fashion and even attempted to kill Shiina's dad with an emotionless look on her face. Goes to show how much of a monster even the most innocent of people can turn into, once they've been pushed too far.
  • The first shot of Oni bursting out of her house’s floor after she hears her father trying to convince Shiina’s father to cut off contact with them is pretty shocking too. Especially since, the next time we see the two again, when Shiina goes to Hiroko’s house after the murder of Hiroka and the crippling of Miyoko, recognising that Hiroko is most likely responsible for it, Hiroko is hugging her dad as he sits on his favourite chair… as he and her mother sit there with their throats slashed open. While doing this, Hiroko has a completely blank look on her face. It’s both extremely obvious (to both Shiina and the audience) what happened here earlier and that Hiroko has shattered completely at this point.
• The character of Aki Honda is pretty creepy, something that becomes more apparent when you realize how young she is. She has no qualms with beating up Hiroko, making her swallow worms, and then raping her with a test tube and threatening to kick her stomach with the tube still inside. It's unsettling how a girl who hasn't even reached puberty yet could be so disturbed and callous. To top it off, her brother is in a sexual relationship with her and is the one who gives her advice on how to bully. Must run in the family.
• Easily the most disturbing moment BY FAR, however, is Norio's death. The worst bits are left off-page, but if anything it makes the entire thing WORSE.
  • The aftermath isn't much better. Takeo, Misono and Shunji find one of Norio's creepy dolls in Takeo's house. With Norio's head mounted on it. Unsurprisingly, none take it well at all.
• In the very last chapter, the sheer look on Hoshimaru's face right before he and Takeo die.
• Komori's death. Sure, compared to later deaths in the manga, it's not particularly bad, but it is a lot messier. What really makes it veer into Nightmare Fuel territory is how sudden it is. Imagine you're a kid reading this, tricked into thinking it's going to be all fun and games because of the first couple chapters, then you turn the page and BAM, kid puking blood everywhere.
• The infamous test tube scene. Wherein, Hiroko gets raped with, well, a test tube. Aki and her goons hold her down while Aki forces it inside her. And later threatens to kick her, while the test tube is still inside. When discussing the incident with her brother later, she says she wouldn’t have actually done that, but considering all the other horrible things she’s put Hiroko through, it’s not too hard to believe she’s just lying. Honestly, it’s no wonder the poor girl snapped so hard after going through this.

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