History CrapsackWorld / AnimeAndManga

* Post-apocalyptic Neo Tokyo in ''Manga/{{Akira}}''.

* ''Manga/AcidTown'' is set in a {{Crapsack World}}- There is no mention of school, all of the main characters are orphans, gangs and mob bosses rule the streets, children and teenagers resort to drug selling and prostitution to feed themselves, and war planes and biohazard zones are frequently mentioned.

* The war-torn desert planet that ''Anime/NowAndThenHereAndThere'' takes place on, mostly because it's a (slightly) exaggerated version of modern Africa.
** The planet is actually [[spoiler:Earth, 10 billion years in the future. The sun is expanding into a red giant and will eventually destroy the world.]]

* Between the warmongering kingdoms and their [[AristocratsAreEvil corrupt nobility]], the [[CorruptChurch heresy-crushing Holy See]], and [[DemonLordsAndArchDevils the evil Godhand]] [[TheLegionsOfHell and their ravenous demonic Apostles]], life in the world of ''Manga/{{Berserk}}'' really, really, really, really, really, [[OverlyLongGag really]] sucks [[UpToEleven hardcore]]. [[CosmicHorrorStory The world seems to exist only to make people as miserable as possible and to give the demons somewhere to play]]; humanity exists so that the demons have something to play with. The biggest idealist in the entire setting (who is ''anything'' but altruistic and is quite willing to use ruthless methods to accomplish his dream) snapped under the pressure and is now the BigBad.You can't expect much else in a world where [[spoiler:[[GodIsEvil God itself was created as a result of humans subconsciously wishing for a cause to their misery]], and has been busy being that cause ever since; it even calls itself "the Idea of Evil"]].

** In the main timeline Earth is implied to be one of the few places other than the afterlife exempt from this. The galaxy at large is a CrapsackWorld, because its most politically powerful resident, [[TheSociopath Frieza]], is an AxeCrazy EvilOverlord who correctly believes that [[AGodAmI he is the strongest being in the universe.]] So you have someone more evil than anyone in human history [[EarthShatteringKaboom who is his own Death Star]] and who's been running around the galaxy for decades doing whatever he likes because there's nothing anyone can possibly do to stop him or even ''scratch'' him. [[spoiler:Until Goku goes Super Saiyan.]] Also the denizens of the universe have to be worried about the God of Destruction Beerus, who will blow up your planet if your food is bad or you anger him, and blow half your planet up if your food is too greasy.

* ''Manga/HeavenlyDelusion'' has a [[AfterTheEnd post-apocalyptic]] Japan with the main story taking place fifteen years after an unknown disaster razed the Earth. The pockets of humanity that are still alive [[HumansAreBastards often clash with each other]], not to mention the giant “Hiruko” monsters who hunt down humans for food and have varying supernatural powers at their disposal. However, true to how many post-apocalyptic scenarios break down, humans are their own worst enemy, such as how [[spoiler: the female lead, Kiruko, is raped later on in the story by her former BigBrotherMentor Inazaki Robin, who she had trusted with her life beforehand. Even worse, the storyline never shows him as being anything other than a good man trying to do good things in a screwed up world, so having him suddenly rape Kiruko with sadistic pleasure is a huge turning point to show that even the so-called “best” of humans are sometimes [[BitchInSheepsClothing very skilled at hiding their true nature]] - a common theme throughout the story. Fortunately, Robin gets his comeuppance at the hands of the male lead, Maru, [[LaserGuidedKarma who toyed around with Robin before breaking him to show him what it felt like to be helpless]], just like how Kiruko felt]].

* Between the warmongering, xenophobic and corrupt nations fighting for the remains of the Earth, the [[PoliceAreUseless incompetent]] and [[PoliceBrutality bloodthirsty]] [[CorruptCop Civil Security Corporation]], and the [[HordeOfAlienLocusts ravenous]] [[EldritchAbomination Gastrea]] (which carries a [[TheVirus virus]] that can easily be spread) that reduced humanity to 1% of its population, life in the world of ''LightNovel/BlackBullet'' really sucks.
** The Cursed Children get screwed even worse. Their mothers try to drown them upon giving birth to them, and if they ''do'' survive, then end up being treated like pariah and live isolated from the rest of humanity as a result. Those that ''do'' live alongside with humans are commonly lynched in pogrom-style attacks, and the police even participates in it! Even worse, outside of Japan, they're used as prostitutes, slaves, entertainment, products, and soldiers, and several are even subject to [[PlayingWithSyringes nightmarish experiments]], and the last one's for those who ''are'' working with the Initiators. To top it off, [[spoiler:[[AndThenJohnWasAZombie they will ultimately turn into the very Gastrea that they're fighting]]]]. The only reason why they have it worse than regular Gastrea infectees is because they corrode somewhat slower, and when they do corrode past 50%, they have to be {{mercy kill}}ed to avoid being turned into a Gastrea, and doing this is absolutely gut-wrenching for everyone involved. Life sucks ''hard'' for ''everyone''.

* For the most part life in the ''Alita'' universe sucks hard. The few somewhat decent places happen to use things like MindControl in order to maintain said decency. We don't know very much about Jupiter and Venus other than the facts that the people of Venus [[EatsBabies eat babies]] (genetically engineered to be non-sapient) and on both planets the people have BiologicalImmortality, which as a result they do not allow the birth of any more children. The places that don't have this limit are in a civil war (Mars), or just happen to be hellholes that don't legally exist which results in assorted miscreants doing whatever the hell they want in said places including and definitely not limited to wiping them out, which occurred on Earth and some asteroid colonies (like the nursery colony the Guntroll team was from).

* Between the warmongering kingdoms and their [[AristocratsAreEvil corrupt nobility]], the [[CorruptChurch heresy-crushing Holy See]], and [[DemonLordsAndArchDevils the evil Godhand]] [[TheLegionsOfHell and their ravenous demonic Apostles]], life in the world of ''{{Manga/Berserk}}'' really, really, really, really, really, [[OverlyLongGag really]] sucks [[UpToEleven hardcore]]. [[CosmicHorrorStory The world seems to exist only to make people as miserable as possible and to give the demons somewhere to play]]; humanity exists so that the demons have something to play with. The biggest idealist in the entire setting (who is ''anything'' but altruistic and is quite willing to use ruthless methods to accomplish his dream) snapped under the pressure and is now the BigBad.You can't expect much else in a world where [[spoiler:[[GodIsEvil God itself was created as a result of humans subconsciously wishing for a cause to their misery]], and has been busy being that cause ever since; it even calls itself "the Idea of Evil"]].

* Between the warmongering, xenophobic and corrupt nations fighting for the remains of the Earth, the [[PoliceAreUseless incompetent]] and [[PoliceBrutality bloodthirsty]] [[CorruptCop Civil Security Corporation]], and the [[HordeOfAlienLocusts ravenous]] [[EldritchAbomination Gastrea]] (which carries a [[TheVirus virus]] that can easily be spread) that reduced humanity to 1% of its population, life in the world of ''LightNovel/BlackBullet'' really, really, really, really, really, [[OverlyLongGag really]] sucks ''[[UpToEleven hardcore]]''.
** The Cursed Children get screwed even worse. Their mothers try to drown them upon giving birth to them, and if they ''do'' survive, then end up being treated like pariah and live isolated from the rest of humanity as a result. Those that ''do'' live alongside with humans are commonly lynched in pogrom-style attacks, and the police even participates in it! Even worse, outside of Japan, they're used as prostitutes, slaves, entertainment, products, and soldiers, and several are even subject to [[PlayingWithSyringes nightmarish experiments]], and the last one's for those who ''are'' working with the Initiators. To top it off, [[spoiler:[[AndThenJohnWasAZombie they will ultimately turn into the very Gastrea that they're fighting]]]]. The only reason why they have it worse than regular Gastrea infectees is because they corrode somewhat slower, and when they do corrode past 50%, they have to be {{mercy kill}}ed to avoid being turned into a Gastrea, and doing this is absolutely gut-wrenching for everyone involved. Life sucks ''hard'' for ''everyone''. ''No exceptions.''

* ''Franchise/DragonBall''

* ''{{Manga/Gantz}}'', for innumerable reasons. People are forced against their will to fight against aliens to the death in a game, for no apparent reason at all. People die by the bucketload, [[spoiler:even all of the main characters]]. [[FromBadToWorse It gets worse]] when it's clear that not all the aliens are even aggressive, and that many of the humans are [[PsychopathicManchild terrible]] [[MoralMyopia people]]. It is eventually revealed that [[spoiler:all of the fighting and dying was just a training exercise for the apocalyptic arrival of an alien race of giants who [[TheEndOfTheWorldAsWeKnowIt decimate the planet]]]].

%%* Pick a HideshiHino manga. Any Hideshi Hino manga. Good luck sleeping afterwards.

* Manga/KibaNoTabishouninTheArmsPeddler takes place on Earth after a cataclysmic war wiped out modern civilization where humans have to not only survive the wasteland but also defend themselves against raiders, bandits, slavers, mutants and supernatural creatures.

* Amberground in ''Manga/LetterBee'' is a corrupt world of perpetual night, where a man-made sun shines over the capital city of Akatsuki. Life is rough almost everywhere, and even the people assigned to deliver some happiness throughout the world through letters--the titular Bees--could be killed by or lose their LifeForce (Heart) to mechanical monsters along the way.
** It gets worse when [[spoiler:it turns out the man made sun is made by constantly draining the people of their heart.]]

-->'''Setsuna F. Seiei''': Exia R2, Setsuna F. Seiei, clearing the way for the future!!

* The world of ''Manga/OnePunchMan'' is one where monsters capable of destroying cities are not particularly uncommon, unhealthy obsessions can turn people into AlwaysChaoticEvil monsters, and the only association of heroes capable of dealing with the monsters is highly corrupt and severely understaffed. The only positive is that the existence of [[InvincibleHero Saitama]] puts a cap on how much damage a monster can do before it gets destroyed.

* ''LightNovel/TheIrregularAtMagicHighSchool'' plays with this, especially after the first arches. First, we are shown typical setting with WizardingSchool and various dosages of TheBeautifulElite with a variety of fan service, but then the world of the series begins to unfold as increasingly cynical, militarized and discriminatory. In particular, all of the current 10 great magical clans are the result of many years of experiments on people and the creation of DesignerBabies using SuperpowerfulGenetics, including positive eugenics in the literal sense of the word. Moreover, it becomes even more frightening when we find out that the [[spoiler: sister of the protagonist is a perfect ArtificialHuman]] and due to her perfect genetics [[spoiler: [[BrotherSisterIncest she must become the wife of her own sibling]] in order to [[RoyalInbreeding contain his unique abilities in the clan]] and to give their family powerful offspring without the participation of someone from other clans.]] Ultimately, good genes and strong magical abilities are the only things that determine the value of a person in this world.

** But hey, at least life's pretty decent so long as you live inside the walls and away from the Titans, right? Wrong. Both the ruling class within the city and the Military Police responsible for maintaining order are horribly corrupt and more concerned with lining their own pockets than dealing with the Titan threat. They're quite willing to sacrifice 20% of the city's population to the Titans just to avoid having to feed them. It's implied that the city has a thriving criminal underworld responsible for sex trafficking girls as young as ''nine years old.'' The main religion within the city is an insane cult that worships the walls as goddesses and considers any kind of modification to them (including things such as repairs and fixed cannon emplacements) to be heresy. Oh, and the walls themselves? Nobody has any idea where they came from, and they might not be as safe and benign as they appear to be...

** Things have turned UpToEleven with TheReveal of the Outside World. [[spoiler: Namely that everything we thought we knew up to now was all lies. The human territory? It's on an island and is the last vestige of Eldia, a massive empire of Titan shifters that (allegedly) spent 1,700 years raping and massacring the "inferior races" of the world. The closest inhabited land? Marley, an industrialized, militaristic human nation that is eternally pissed off at the Eldians, keeping the survivors relegated to ghettos, and is using the Titan serum for their own purposes. The sudden appearance of the Titans a century ago? Actually a war between Marley and Eldia. The Titans outside the walls? Undesirables that were transformed by Marley and sent to the island. The walls themselves? They're filled with colossal titans, all of which would be released if another war breaks out. To top it all off, Marley is currently warring against the other human nations.]]

** The post-apocalyptic world the protagonists find themselves in. The world is wild and primeval, at best. Predators of all kinds are running around, including dinosaurs, that are a threat to the human characters and even the flora can be dangerous. And any structure of former society is submerged in the ocean, rusty and delapitated, making them incredibly dangerous to enter and often have aged so badly that metal doors bend under a simple touch. And they easily end up destroyed because of their weak structure.

* ''Anime/YuGiOh5Ds'' has Satellite, where Yusei has lived a hard life. This changes later on in the series. [[spoiler:The post-apocalyptic world Z-one, Antimony, Paradox and Aporia come from is also this.]]

** ''Manga/HellstarRemina'': A Jupiter-sized planet is found to be on a collision course with the solar system. The world panics and society begins to fall apart, with a cult that springs up and [[InsaneTrollLogic encourages sacrificing the daughter of the astronomer who discovered the planet in order to placate it.]] Though this is probably because the planet is actually a giant EldritchAbomination [[PlanetEater that is eating]] [[TheStarsAreGoingOut everything in its path]]. [[spoiler: However, the manga manages to avert being a true CosmicHorrorStory in that there are survivors who continue to eek out a living on the surface of the planet after Earth is destroyed, carrying on hope for the future.]]

* ''Manga/HunterXHunter'' takes place in a world full of fantastic creatures and character designs on the cuter side of ''Shounen''. It's also a world where people can be thrown away, collecting human body parts is considered only a slightly esoteric hobby for the super-wealthy, ''ecosystems'' are built around humans as a primary food source, a family of assassins with a small army of {{Battle Butler}}s is able to live so openly their front gate is a tourist attraction by sheer dint of the fact no-one is powerful enough to dislodge them, and the two biggest apparent world powers are the eponymous organisation of super-powered Badasses with more perks and privileges than God (and the ONLY effective requirements to join said organisation are badassery and intelligence), and the Mafia [[spoiler: at least, before the Mafia's leadership was taken out by that family of assassins and a roving band of {{Ubermensch}} bandits from that landfill-city where anything and anyone can be thrown away]]. Oh, and [[spoiler: The known world map? Has been revealed to be only a small portion of a much larger world, the rest of which is so much ''more'' mindbogglingly dangerous than what has been shown so far that humanity's governments formed a treaty forbidding anyone from even ''going'' out there, because of how horrifically every previous attempt at an expedition there failed.]]

** ''[[Anime/MobileSuitGundamSeed Gundam SEED]]'' starts off similar to UC calender series, where most of the conflict stems from political and ideological reasons, but soon goes off the deep end and degenerates into hell on earth, literally. The earth is going through an energy crisis due to nuclear power jammers that have been integrated by ZAFT, almost the entire world is controlled by one side or the other through draconian military regimes, much of Earth is in ruins due to the war, and both sides are equally willing to use [=WMDs=] on their enemies and ALLIES equally. In addition, the main source of scientific progress has come from a series of genetic experiments that spawned a worldwide terrorist ideology and the war itself and recently reached the utter abandonment of the value of life in order to pursue a goal that would give birth to [[spoiler:[[AllLovingHero Kira Yamato]] and [[DarkMessiah Rau Le]][[OmnicidalManiac Creuset]]]]. And the leaders of both sides are monsters to boot.

** ''Manga/{{Narutaru}}''.

* For the most part life in the ''Manga/{{GUNNM}}'' universe sucks hard. The few somewhat decent places happen to use things like MindControl in order to maintain said decency. We don't know very much about Jupiter and Venus other than the facts that the people of Venus [[EatsBabies eat babies]] (genetically engineered to be non-sapient) and on both planets the people have BiologicalImmortality, which as a result they do not allow the birth of any more children. The places that don't have this limit are in a civil war (Mars), or just happen to be hellholes that don't legally exist which results in assorted miscreants doing whatever the hell they want in said places including and definitely not limited to wiping them out, which occurred on Earth and some asteroid colonies (like the nursery colony the Guntroll team was from).
** The story's universe also displays multiple layers of crapsack. People in the Scrapyard dream of being able to live in Tiphares, but it's eventually revealed that Tiphares is its own unique brand of terrible and many of its inhabitants want to live in orbit at Ketheres, only for Ketheres and in fact all of space to also be their own unique brand of terrible. Basically, wherever you want to be isn't really much better than where you are right now.

* ''Anime/TokyoGhoul'' isn't fun for either side. For humanity, they have to live in constant fear of a predatory species that looks just like them, hiding until they reveal their GameFace and start eating them. In reality, however, while many Ghouls are brutal sadists that enjoy killing humans, many others seek to find ways to live peacefully with humans as much as is possible. They eat human flesh because they simply can't consume anything else, other than water, coffee, and [[BreadEggsMilkSquick the flesh of other Ghouls]]. Most live miserable lives fearing for their own safety and have lost family members to the [[HunterOfMonsters Ghoul Investigators]], trying to scrape out a living on the fringes of society. The humans who try to help them are punished just as severely, and both sides are trapped in a CycleOfViolence. [[spoiler: By the end, however, the two species have a chance at learning to live together in peace.]]

* Another DarkFantasy manga contender is ''Manga/UbelBlatt''. The main human empire is the sole bulwark against [[TheEmpire Wistech]], which uses horrifying, [[BlackMagic corrupt]] {{magitek}} to create BodyHorror {{Eldritch Abomination}}s and WeaponsOfMassDestruction as tools of war, but the humans are bolstered by the might of the Seven Heroes who won the last great war by striking at the heart of Wistech; and now it seems the Four Lances of Betrayal, former companions of the Seven Heroes who betrayed their comrades, are BackFromTheDead and stirring up touble in the hinterlands. seems like a recipe for a cliché WhiteAndBlackMorality setting, no? '''Wrong.''' [[spoiler:It turns out [[FakeUltimateHero the Seven Heroes are frauds]]; [[DirtyCoward they panicked and chose to stay behind]] after reaching the border, and when their four former TrueCompanions came back after successfully completing their mission, the "heroes" [[MoralEventHorizon ambushed and slaughtered them]] and demonized them into the Four Lances of Betrayal to cover their own asses. After their return, the "heroes" [[VillainWithGoodPublicity were acclaimed throughout the empire]] and got positions of power and prestige as nobility, [[AristocratsAreEvil which they proceeded to abuse and reign oppressively over the populace]]; at least two devolved into monsters, one [[DrivenToMadness went batshit crazy from guilt and paranoia]], and the rest are at the very least flagrant {{hypocrite}}s. The Four Lances stirring up trouble are also fakes using the name as free publicity.]] And that's not mentioning the FantasticRacism towards those with elven/fairy blood, the numerous other corrupt assholes which liberally pepper the setting, or the fact that TheHero, an AntiHero on a RoaringRampageOfRevenge [[spoiler:against the Seven Heroes, as he's one of the true Four Lances, mysteriously recovered from the massacre]], is still one of the more morally upright main characters bar some others in his current group. And of course, after several good-guy victories and a slowly building HopeSpot for the setting in general, come volume 9 and 10, things go downhill again.

* ''LightNovel/TheIrregularAtMagicHighSchool'' plays with this, especially after the first arches. First, we are shown typical setting with WizardingSchool and various dosages of TheBeautifulElite with a variety of fan service, but then the world of the series begins to unfold as increasingly cynical, militarized and discriminatory. In particular, all of the current 10 great magical clans are the result of many years of experiments on people and the creation of DesignerBabies using SuperpowerfulGenetics, including positive eugenics in the literal sense of the word. Moreover, it becomes even more frightening when we find out that the [[spoiler: sister of the protagonist is a perfect ArtificialHuman]] and due to her perfect genetics [[spoiler: [[BrotherSisterIncest she must become the wife of her own sibling]] in order to [[RoyalInbreeding contain his unique abilities in the clan]]and to give their family powerful offspring without the participation of someone from other clans.]] Ultimately, good genes and strong magical abilities are the only things that determine the value of a person in this world.

* ''Manga/BarefootGen''. An autobiographical work set in the author's youth. He grew up in Japan during UsefulNotes/WorldWarII. The climax takes place on [[UsefulNotes/AtomicBombingsOfHiroshimaAndNagasaki August 6, 1945.]]

* Post-apocalyptic Tokyo 3 in ''Manga/{{Akira}}''.

** If being unfairly sent to hell wasn't bad enough there's also the ruthless, incredibly powerful [[GrimReaper reapers]] (who are [[CounterpartComparison quite similar to]] ''Dorohedoro''[='s=] magic users) and the threat of turning into a giant, mindless "dead" (like a [[Manga/{{Bleach}} hollow]] but with no chance, as far as has been shown, for regaining their minds as they are almost immediately destroyed by Reapers and sealed into stone).

* ''LightNovel/TheLegendOfTheLegendaryHeroes''--if you're a [[MagicalEye Cursed Eye]] bearer, you'll be victim to severe FantasticRacism and likely die young. If you're a commoner, you're at the mercy of poverty and of the [[AristocratsAreEvil nobles]], who'll be more than happy to kill you for petty reasons. [[WarIsHell War is also rampant]], meaning that there's a good chance you'll be dragged into one regardless of who you are, with [[ChildSoldier age meaning]] [[TykeBomb nothing]]. Furthermore, what with war breaking out across the entire continent and [[FantasticNuke Fantastic Nukes]] in the hands of many, your country is likely going to be conquered sooner or later--in which case you better pray that the one doing the conquering accepts surrenders. [[spoiler:Oh, and the world is destroyed every thousand years, with the next deadline being about ten years away]]. There's a reason why most of the cast are desperate to change the world.

* Modern Tokyo is portrayed as a WorldHalfEmpty in ''Manga/TokyoBabylon'', with frequent suicides, dreary lives, and gloomy commentary on consumerism. All designed to BreakTheCutie, naturally. Its sequel, ''Manga/{{X1999}}'', is hardly nicer. [[spoiler:The only two options seem to be "KillAllHumans" or"[[GaiasLament Let Them Kill The Planet]]", and nobody's yet figured out how to TakeAThirdOption.]]

* ''LightNovel/TheIrregularAtMagicHighSchool'' plays with this, especially after the first arches. First, we are shown typical setting with WizardingSchool and various dosages of TheBeautifulElite with a variety of fan service, but then the world of the series begins to unfold as increasingly cynical, militarized and discriminatory. In particular, all of the current 10 great magical clans are the result of many years of experiments on people and the creation of DesignerBabies using SuperpowerfulGenetics, including positive eugenics in the literal sense of the word. Moreover, it becomes even more frightening when we find out that the [[spoiler: sister of the protagonist is a perfect ArtificialHuman]] and due to her perfect genetics [[spoiler: [[BrotherSisterIncest she must become the wife of her own sibling]] in order to contain his unique abilities in the clan and to [[RoyalInbreeding give their family powerful offspring without the participation of someone else either From other clans.]]]] Ultimately, good genes and strong magical abilities are the only things that determine the value of a person in this world.