No Longer Human
- Wangst: Yozo suffers from this trope to some fans. Admittedly he is supposed to come off as pathetic, with even him commenting on how awful he became as a product of a strict upbringing, sexual abuse, and an unsatisfying lifestyle born out of his inability to connect to people. However, some viewers found his despair unworthy since he had riches, multiple women to sleep with, and multiple chances to turn his life around. People were much more sympathetic to his novel incarnation.
In the Woods Beneath the Cherry Blossoms in Full Bloom
- Moral Event Horizon: Plenty of viewers feel that Shigemaru crossed this when he started collecting human heads purely for Akiko's enjoyment. Some viewers consider Shigemaru's cold blooded slaughter of his terrified former wives to be this.
- Suspiciously Similar Song:
- The first number in Chapter 2 is (instrumentally) a Suspiciously Similar Song version of "No Place Like London" from Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street.
- Also, a Suspiciously Similar Song version of "By the Sea" from Sweeney Todd plays while Shigemaru is carrying Akiko through the woods.
- The song Akiko sings while Shigemaru is killing his wives sounds vaguely familiar...
- This Is Your Premise on Drugs: In many ways, it's a gender-reversed Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street in Feudal Japan... and ON CRACK (and possibly acid as well)!
Kokoro
- Alternative Character Interpretation: The anime-original "Winter" casts everyone in a different light.
Run, Melos!
- Ho Yay: Joshima acts flirtatiously around Takada and him asking Takada to go to Tokyo sounds like they are eloping together (Takada proclaiming that he is willing to follow Joshima to the ends of the earth did not help). Probably not a coincidence that the character designs are by Takeshi Konomi.
Hell Screen
- Moral Event Horizon: The king crosses it when his royal yacht crashes into a bunch of locals...and he orders that they be beheaded for daring to interrupt his party as they beg to be saved from drowning.
