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* ''Anime/AfroSamurai'''s main character is a borderline sociopathic VillainProtagonist with little redeeming moral features who cares about nothing but killing the person who killed his father, resulting in him killing large amounts of people just to find his father's killer. The person who killed his father, Justice, while having [[WellIntentionedExtremist well-meaning but rather not necessarily morally right motives]], is very morally gray. The only reason the audience only sympathizes with Afro, in spite of his goals being identical to those he fights, is because we saw his backstory, and didn't see theirs.
* ''VisualNovel/{{AIR}}'': Many detractors of ''Air'' will say that [[ShootTheShaggyDog nothing ever happens in the entire series,]] due to the fact that [[spoiler: Misuzu still ends up dying after finally finding love]]. Even Creator/KeyVisualArts views it as an OldShame.
* ''Manga/{{Ajin}}''. It's hard to root for the characters most especially the main protagonist who ended becoming a SociopathicHero and both sides have very flimsy reasons to get back at each other.
* ''Anime/AkudamaDrive'': The anime has received a mixed reception. It goes farther than ''Anime/AkameGaKill'' when it comes to the body count. Most viewers are here for the cool artstyle and shipping between Swindler and Courier (and the villainous counterpart [[MadScientist Doctor]] and [[SerialKiller Cutthroat]]). It's hard to care about the whole premise: a {{cyberpunk}} world with GreyAndGrayMorality (or BlackAndGrayMorality) where both [[TheBadGuysAreCops Executioners]] and [[RagtagBunchOfMisfits Akudama criminals]] are equally horrible. The Executioners are already corrupted since the crime rate has skyrocketed, while Akudama criminals (except [[TrappedInVillainy Swindler]]) are [[AntiHero ambiguously good]] at best and [[CompleteMonster outright irredeemable]] at worst. The ending takes it to the logical extreme, [[spoiler:[[KillEmAll all people from both sides are obliterated]], including sympathetic Akudama criminals Swindler and Courier]]. The only good thing at the end is [[spoiler:two children Brother and Sister are succesfully rescued from being sent into a fake reality [[LotusEaterMachine Kanto]].]]
* In ''Anime/AldnoahZero'', Inaho and Slaine are highly flawed characters, and their many faults or self-inflicted mistakes can make it hard for the audience to sympathize with them. The fact that [[spoiler: Slaine [[BigBadSlippage becomes]] the BigBad by the beginning of season 2]] doesn't help, [[spoiler: even with its [[EsotericHappyEnding supposedly overall positive ending]]]].
* ''Anime/TheAnimatrix'': Given how many times the ''Second Renaissance'' segment is mentioned on the film's [[NightmareFuel/TheAnimatrix Nightmare Fuel page]] and how grotesque and cartoonishly disturbing the imagery and violence in it is, you'll understand if more then a few viewers are turned off or disturbed by it. The HumansAreBastards being taken UpToEleven doesn't help.
* The ''Manga/{{Area 88}}'' manga falls victim to this. Much of the story takes place in Asran, a North African kingdom experiencing an unending civil war in which neither side gains a long-term advantage. Amoral arms dealers are happy to take advantage of the conflict. Many of Area 88's pilots are [[LegionOfLostSouls lost souls]] who have abandoned any hope of living a normal life (or, living to see next week). Shin never seems to make any headway in his attempt to earn enough money to break his mercenary contract, leaving him frustrated and melancholy. Shin's time at Area 88 leaves him so traumatized and maladjusted that [[spoiler:when he receives not one but two opportunities to resume a normal life, he returns to a life of combat both times.]] By the time the manga reaches its {{bittersweet ending}}, the audience likely has ending fatigue.
* ''Manga/{{Bakuman}}'' features this in-universe with the main characters' reactions to Nanamine's "Classroom of Truth," in which [[KillEmAll everyone]], [[TheHeroDies including the main character]] [[DownerEnding dies]], with Mashiro saying that having the main character's efforts turn out to be in vain doesn't work.
* ''Manga/{{Basilisk}}'': Both ninja clans have more than their fair share of {{Jerkass}}es. Oboro is incredibly naive and indecisive [[BreakTheCutie and boy does she pay for it]]. [[AnyoneCanDie Any character]] is going to be killed in a few episodes. And the whole contest is being held by [[AristocratsAreEvil corrupt nobles.]]
* The second season of ''Manga/BirdyTheMighty: Decode'' was criticized for some for going out of its way to be DarkerAndEdgier and BloodierAndGorier than the first season, including [[spoiler:one of the main characters of the season being a revenge-driven serial killer who also engages in self-loathing, the realization that the title character is a [[GeneticEngineeringIsTheNewNuke genetically-engineered]] SuperSoldier forced into being a SpacePolice officer, and issues of FantasticRacism which ties into the other two]].
* The narrative of ''Manga/BitterVirgin'' piles up so much trauma, woobieness and weepy melodrama on Hinako, Daisuke and the reader, and uses a complicated theme like [[RapeAsDrama sexual abuse]] so ''liberally'' as a plot device (i.e, Hinako was not only sexually abused by her stepdad in her backstory, but she's almost raped ''again'' in story for no other reason than [[RapeAndRevenge motivating Daisuke into beating her would-be rapist to almost death]]), that it can become a chore to read.
* ''LightNovel/BlackBullet'''s setting is so very crapsack and the main characters are hopelessly ineffectual in stopping the Gastrea threat, not to mention, the author's tendency of killing off a good number of characters (or at least [[SadistShow put Rentaro and Enju through sadistic hell]]) before they receive sufficient CharacterDevelopment, means people can simply get ''bored'' of the darkness. Detractors accuse the author for putting too emphasis on sadistic treatment of the characters while ignoring to clear up several plot points [[spoiler:such as Enju's high corrosion rate]]. [[spoiler:Taken UpToEleven with the Fugitive arc (volumes 5 and 6) where the author decides to put every main character [[TraumaCongaLine in the worst possible suffering he can imagine]].]]
* ''Manga/{{Bleach}}'' ends up falling into this during the Thousand Years Blood War Arc. Once ''again'', the Gotei 13 goes from actually being able to turn the tide to... being [[TheWorfEffect taken out by the bad guys with relative ease]]. Even when someone ''finally'' has an upper edge, a new set of AntagonistAbilities is whipped out to quickly close the gap. Pretty much every victory in this arc is a PyrrhicVictory. While this is far from new to Bleach, it had been done so often that readers had come to expect it and were practically asking if they could just skip the part where the Gotei 13 loses since they know it's not going to move the plot forward.
** Since Bleach was also at risk of being CutShort, people also started to assume that it was going to be all lost and nobody would have an interesting fight due to the rapidly approaching CosmicDeadline. Gerard Valkyrie in particular suffers a lot from this - he's revealed to be the Heart of the Soul King, and an almost invulnerable opponent who [[spoiler: just loses his fight by default because Yhwach takes his and Jugram's powers - meaning that unlike Lillie, Pernida, and Askin, no clever plan is made to defeat him.]]
* ''Anime/BloodC'' is this since the characters kept holding the IdiotBall despite the danger around them which is why viewers care less when they are brutally killed, most especially the {{Red Shirt}}s. It doesn't helped that Saya is a FailureHero and whatever she does, many people die which irritated a lot of viewers. And at the end, [[spoiler:it turns out most of Saya's friends are assholes who are hired to act those roles. You won't feel sorry for them when they're gruesomely killed and the BigBad turns out to be Saya's friendly neighbor, Fumito, who got away with another of her supposed "friends", leaving tons of corpses on the trail and the town in ruins.]] The only characters who are sympathetic or redeemed [[spoiler:were Itsuki, Tadayoshi and dog (who is Watanuki's corporeal form). And yet, Itsuki and Tadayoshi died, and Watanuki is powerless to do anything to help Saya since he cannot leave the shop.]]
** The movie tries to step out of this trope. However, the climax just made it worse, depending on how you see it: [[spoiler:Saya fulfills her revenge except that she found out that Fumito is in love with her and all of her actions are for her survival, regardless that he killed thousands of people in the past and abused her emotionally and psychologically. Also, she can't go back to Mana again after she found out that she killed her dad at the beginning of the movie.]] Because of this, Saya is established as a TragicHero.
* In regards to ''Manga/CandyCandy'', more than one watcher/reader ended up getting tired of all the relentless, neverending, borderline ridiculous melodrama surrounding Candy's life and ended up dropping the series.
* ''Manga/CannonGodExaxxion''. The alien invaders are basically Nazi Elves. The boss of the defending humans doesn't give a crap about collateral damage and will kill and destroy at will. While Creator/KenichiSonoda had dipped his toe in this trope before, this was when he took a freefall into it, and never really surfaced, as evidenced with the reaction to ''Gunsmith Cats Burst''.
* As soon as the ''second episode'', ''Side:Future'' of ''Anime/DanganRonpa3'' got this reaction. A large problem with the anime was the frequent killing of characters who had barely been introduced, making it rather difficult to care what was going on given that most of Future revolved around the new cast.
** Episode 5 takes it up a notch: All [[spoiler:five]] deaths that occurred up to that point were of fan-favorites and likable characters. The anime started entering EightDeadlyWords territory, as the characters left are mostly from the controversial Radical Faction and Munakata's SanitySlippage slowly turns him into TheScrappy.
* ''Manga/DeadTube'' really goes over-the-top with the atrocities the cast commits against each other. Not even the main characters are all that better than their competition. A lot of readers give up on caring and those who continue to read after not caring mostly read it [[BileFascination to see just how hilariously fucked up things get]].
* Don't bother getting attached to story arc characters in ''Anime/DarkerThanBlack''--they'll be dead in a few episodes.
* ''Manga/DesertPunk'', albeit a comic series falls into this. Almost every single character is a massive JerkAss, and the few exceptions never prosper in this world. By the middle of the series, it's quite clear that none of the three major characters have a HiddenHeartOfGold. Pretty much summing things up is the comment by the LemonyNarrator in the last episode in respect to the AfterTheEnd setting, which is to the effect that "With people like this, it doesn't matter if humanity goes extinct."
* In ''Manga/ADevilAndHerLoveSong'', there's so much drama and emotional conflict on latter volumes that it becomes really hard to root for the characters, especially if those who make others suffer go unpunished. Specifically, Maria's old best friend Anna gets PutOnABus after more or less acting awful to Maria after she came to school to see her, and Maria's [[spoiler: father, John, never explains why he raped her mother and she never chews him out for it, though he is a priest and clearly trying to atone for his actions]].
* The ''Manga/{{Devilman}}'' franchise. Where to even ''start?!'' Devils are either rapacious monsters or innocent victims of [[FantasticRacism persecution]] and [[HumansAreBastards humanity]] is at its absolute worst on every imaginable level. With [[SarcasmMode lovely]] scenes of [[{{Gorn}} death]], [[SceneryGorn destruction]] and [[FromBadToWorse so much more.]] And in the end, [[spoiler: Akira is killed, Devils are extinct, Satan has destroyed all life on Earth and God destroys the entire planet to start things over from scratch so he can punish Satan yet again.]] Many fans have [[MemeticMutation come to the conclusion]] that the "crybaby" subtitle in ''Anime/DevilmanCrybaby'' is referring to the ''viewer.'' Being that it's the TropeCodifier of grimdark, this shouldn't come across as too surprising.
** ''Manga/ViolenceJack.'', the sequel to ''Manga/{{Devilman}}'', manages to be even worse in regards to this than the original series, with a CrapsackWorld 10 times more brutal and depressing, full of rapists, sadists, murderers and scumbags of the highest order, and the protagonist, Jack himself, starts off as an apathetic and sadistic SociopathicHero, not caring about anyone but himself (thankfully this changes due to some character development), with some very innocent, well-meaning and kind-hearted characters always constantly suffering at the hands of the sadistic villains who Jack fights. As a result, it's pretty hard to go through this series for some. Not helped by the fact that the series is notorious for containing graphic scenes of child-murder, rape, cannibalism, and even zoophilia at one point.
* In ''Manga/DominaNoDo'', the amount of crap Takeshi suffers from chapter to chapter due to the women around him will pretty much frustrate readers whenever they're not being astonished at all the other crazy stuff that happens in this manga.
* ''Manga/ElfenLied'', for some. The lack of subtlety in the narrative, the BlackAndGrayMorality, and the exaggerated emphasis on how 90% of HumansAreBastards to the point of being {{Card Carrying Villain}}s is often enough to make the viewers exhausted and angry instead of sympathetic to the Diclonius' plights (who themselves are AxCrazy by nature to some extent anyway). Granted, this ''is'' toned down in the anime and later on in the manga, making such characters as Bando, Mariko, Kurama, and even Lucy more... well, human in the end.
* ''Anime/ErgoProxy'' can, in its early stages, fall victim to this trope. Near the beginning of the series, there were a few moral dilemmas stemming from black and black morality. Stop the Proxy that's loose in Romdo and the fascist government regains total control over the city. Don't stop the Proxy and it'll continue a murder spree.
* ''Franchise/FullmetalAlchemist'':
** This is one of the main criticisms of the first ''Anime/FullmetalAlchemist'' anime (which had a GeckoEnding), especially compared with the [[Manga/FullmetalAlchemist manga]] and ''Brotherhood'' anime (which adapted the manga faithfully). The manga featured some extremely dark moments [[spoiler: as a way for the characters to earn their happy endings]], but the 2003 anime is consistently dark throughout and never stops making things worse for the protagonists.
** ''Anime/FullmetalAlchemistTheConquerorOfShamballa'' (the sequel to first anime) is arguably an even more extreme example. By the end [[spoiler: Ed and Al are together again, but are trapped forever in another universe as World War II is about to break out]]. By comparison, the manga ends with [[spoiler: Ed and Winry happy together with children]].
* ''Manga/FutureDiary'': It pits a DeadlyGame where most of the participants are ruthless, insane or care only for those they know. TheHero's female deuteragonist is ''perhaps the least sane of the lot''. While the protagonist starts off as an AllLovingHero, the entire story is a SanitySlippage that sees him become a willing killer, and then lose all composure when [[spoiler:he finds out he cannot resurrect those he killed even after winning the game]]. The ending [[spoiler:sees him recreate the world with everyone alive again]], but it can be a chore to get there.
* ''Manga/{{Gantz}}'', aside from the blood and gore everywhere and the overly gritty tone, it's really hard to sympathize with the main characters as many of them are {{jerkass}}es at best and downright malicious at worst. Even with the series getting EarnYourHappyEnding, it still feels like a chore to read through for some.
* ''Anime/{{Genocyber}}'': The extremely graphic and disturbing violence, lack of any genuinely likable characters and incredibly nihilistic tone ended up turning a large number of people away from this series.
* ''Anime/{{Gilgamesh}}'' has [[EliteMooks immortal monsters made from antimatter]] that want to create some sort of new reality. And on the other side, a {{Manipulative B|astard}}itch whose main reason for getting rid of the reflective sky (which gives the heroes their incredible powers by the way, meaning they probably shouldn't be serving her) is [[WomanScorned being dumped by the guy who engineered the future]]. And the children are such {{Wide Eyed Idealist}}s that they get used by both sides. It's actually a relief when EveryoneDies. And it somehow makes even that terrible because [=TeaR=] is killed by a Gilgamesh spawn from Kiyoko after it destroys everything, therefore everything is gone forever and can never be brought back potentially better. Then again, [[Creator/ShotaroIshinomori the mangaka]] who wrote the source material [[Film/ShinKamenRiderPrologue has made other work that gets hit with this]], so it's not entirely surprising.
* ''Manga/GoodnightPunpun'' has a protagonist that suffers through a TraumaCongaLine of events that change his life, turning him into a miserable kid with a lot of Wangst inside. Considering that he doesn't ever change throughout the story and that it's mostly focused on him, it can be very hard to care about him or his problems.
* The anime version of ''Manga/{{Hanebad}}'' has been hit rather hard with this. In addition to the anime [[DarkerAndEdgier toning down most of the comedy to add in more drama to the story]], several of the characters have gone through AdaptationalJerkass in the making.
* Season one of ''Anime/HellGirl'' in particular can get a little ridiculous. Every episode, you're introduced to a new villain with no real objective other than to prove his/her guilt in as many obvious ways as possible. Even when they get what's coming to them, it's not before they've completely ruined someone, or many people's lives, sometimes irrevocably. And you know the next episode is just gonna feature someone even crueller. The first season tries to rectify this by introducing the IntrepidReporter Hajime, who starts trying to prevent people from using the Hell Correspondence and getting Enma Ai to send their tormentors to Hell in exchange for their own souls. Problem is, Hajime ''never'' succeeds [[spoiler: until his own daughter Tsugumi gets {{mind rape}}d by Enma Ai, (she and her dad are descendants of a person from Enma Ai's DarkAndTroubledPast), and then Ai tries to use it on him, and if ''anyone'' should know not to use the Correspondence, she should, so what she does makes her a monster only slightly more sympathetic than the villains in the series.]]
* ''Manga/HighschoolOfTheDead'': apart from the obvious bloodshed, gore, and people turning into zombies, it's very hard to sympathize with the characters who are willing to cross moral boundaries simply just to survive the zombie apocalypse. The very blatant right-wing politics [[spoiler:and the villain's infamous orgybus]] also doesn't help.
* ''Manga/HotGimmick'' is one of the few shoujo manga that fits this trope. Every character is a {{Jerkass}} or an idiot, and nobody receives any major character development (in fact the opposite seems to happen). The EsotericHappyEnding doesn't help, [[spoiler: not even when the novel ended up fixing it via having the girl ''finally'' get a chance to walk out on the BastardBoyfriend.]]
* ''Manga/IchiTheKiller'' treads perilously close to this trope. A psychological drama set in the brutal (albeit colorful) world of a nigh-lawless Tokyo red-light district could be forgiven for a cast whose morality comes in various shades of gray, but Jeez Louise… Nearly every character in Ichi either skipped gleefully past the moral event horizon long ago or is presently teetering on its edge. Almost everyone of plot significance is either 1) a murderous, manipulative bastard, 2) completely deranged, 3) a depraved sadist and/or masochist, 4) some other kind of sex pervert (you want necrophiliacs? Ichi's got 'em!), 5) a cold blooded mass murderer, 6) willing to do absolutely anything for money, 7) some combination of the foregoing. The two main protagonists? Completely deranged sadomasochistic mass murderers. Yeah. It’s so over the top that one character, a Yakuza *hit man* with a functional family life and a few glimmers of empathy, starts to seem like a nice guy just by comparison. So why would anyone who occasionally goes outdoors for something other than a load of canned meat and tarp read this? It’s the plot (tense, coiled and well-paced), and Ichi’s surprisingly incisive exploration of identity and desire.
* ''Manga/TheIslandOfGiantInsects'': Most of the cast is comprised of [[JerkAss unlikeable assholes]], [[TooDumbToLive incompetent buffoons]], [[StupidEvil incompetent buffoonish assholes]], and [[AttemptedRape attempted rapists]]. There's also a good deal of FanDisservice with young, attractive ladies getting eaten alive while naked.
* ''Manga/{{Jormungand}}'': Most of the characters are all bloodthirsty bodyguards for a deranged woman with a god complex who claims to want to save the world by killing hundreds of thousands of innocent people, and that's not even getting into the logical fallacies her plan actually has.
* While ''Kichikujima'' seems to be going for a mix of WhatYouAreInTheDark and HumansAreBastards as its theme, it takes very little time for most of our main group to reveal themselves as a bunch of cowards who will stoop to absolutely any low for a chance to save themselves. On top of that, almost every revelation about their characters makes them look even worse than they did before. The main character is at the very least ashamed whenever he does something wrong and one girl who was already on the island seems good and normal enough (to the point that the cult mistake her for the reincarnation of the Virgin Mary because she's the only person they've ever met who wasn't horribly selfish), but beyond them all the characters do is panic and scheme to stab each other in the back. It's to the point that the insane, mutant cannibal cultists manage to be some of the most sympathetic characters, because they at least seem to care about each other in some warped sense of the word.
* ''Literature/{{Koizora}}'' definitely feels like this, with the main character Mika experiencing heartbreak, rape, unwanted pregnancy, then a miscarriage and even more stuff that seems like it just wants the audience [[TearJerker to dry up from reading the series]], when all it does after a while, makes you think what sad thing ''won't'' happen to this girl!
* ''Manga/LoneWolfAndCub'' is filled to the brim with violence, with countless people, both good and bad, meeting violent or otherwise unfortunate ends. Only a few side characters get what could be considered a happy ending. In addition, the unjust and unequal caste system of Japan in the Edo period is shown in all its dubious glory. Hence, it may be difficult for some to really care about the plot and the characters.
* A number of MagicalGirlGenreDeconstruction works suffer from this:
** ''LightNovel/MagicalGirlRaisingProject'': It's about [[TheChosenMany magical girls]] who faces very dangerous threats, and then they're put into a DeadlyGame for no good reason besides for [[ForTheEvulz satisfying the game master]] and [[UtopiaJustifiesTheMeans making a better world through wrong and violent ways]]. Many heroines are either driven into insanity/evil or died for nothing, especially when [[spoiler:there's one magical girl [[DrivenToSuicide hanged herself]] (due to being brokenhearted) after her friend [[SenselessSacrifice sacrifices herself so she can live]]]]. The overly bleak AnyoneCanDie setting doesn't help at all.
*** The reaction to the anime series was mainly this, with many mixed to negative reactions over yet another MagicalGirlGenreDeconstruction show being aired at a period in which more typical takes on the genre have become very seldom (at the time, only ''Anime/MahoGirlsPreCure'', ''Anime/SailorMoonCrystal'' and ''Manga/MagicalGirlLyricalNanohaViVid'' were mainstream, and all of them were new installments of old-established franchises instead of fully new works). Even Crunchyroll staffers showed themselves frustrated about it on the live portion of the Fall 2016 Rollout special where they first announced they were simulcasting the anime adaptation of ''Magical Girl Raising Project''.
*** EightDeadlyWords is a very common complaint, even by fans of the show themselves, is that it is hard to feel any impact at [[TheyWastedAPerfectlyGoodCharacter the death of characters who barely get any development before being mowed down]]. Part of the fault goes to the anime attempting to adapt all the side stories and backgrounds of the cast from the first arc, which leaves no screen time to dedicate individually to every one of them given the short length of the series. Being a twelve episode anime trying to flesh out sixteen characters meant that it could not even focus on a single character per episode.
*** It's hard to care about some {{war arc}}s as the factions are {{nominal|hero}} at best and corrupted or outright evil at worst, and the fact that [[TheBadGuyWins bad guys always win]] doesn't help, at least in early war arcs.
*** This problem actually is endemic to the light novel itself, as many fans agree that the characters in the first arc, which the anime adapts, were weaker in terms of characterization. Later arcs were much better received both in character depth and world building.
** ''Manga/MagicalGirlSite'' isn't so popular because it is a horribly grim-dark MagicalGirlGenreDeconstruction manga, that tells about a suicidal protagonist who is also a victim of her brother's abuse. Thankfully she gets a chance to join the Magical Girl Site contract, where all the girls can become magical girls. [[spoiler:Except... the contract turns out to be a HopeSpot where she has to [[CastFromLifespan sacrifice a certain amount of her lifespan every time she uses her magical attack]] and fight nothing but between the girls who have also joined Magical Girl Site in a form of DeadlyGame]]. Also, the fact that [[WhatDoYouMeanItsForKids this manga runs in a Shonen magazine]] doesn't help at all. Seeing all these premises, the audience might expect our poor protagonist [[spoiler:to die in a few moments during the deadly game (or ''even after'' she wins and has become the true magical girl)]].
* ''Manga/MasamuneKunsRevenge'': The series isn't dark, per se, but the entire premise of the love story between two polarizing and heavily flawed characters like Masamune and Aki can come off as a hard sell of a romance story. Masamune goes out of his way to manipulate and lie to those he calls his friends and Aki frequently shames and humiliate anyone who declares their love for her. [[https://www.animenewsnetwork.com/feature/2017-12-29/the-best-anime-of-2017/the-worst-anime-of-2017/.125874 One anime reviewer]] even declared it the worst anime of 2017 for this reason.
* Done [[NarmCharm beautifully]] in ''Anime/MDGeist''. Our [[SociopathicHero hero]] '''really''' [[NotSoDifferent isn't any better]] than the BigBad and eventually ''[[spoiler:releases the [[ZombieApocalypse Death Force]]]]'' simply because he knows how meaningless his life would be without [[BloodKnight something nasty to fight]]. Let that sink in for a moment: [[spoiler: he ''obliterates humanity just to be an asshole.'' He '''''obliterates humanity. Just to be an asshole.''''']] [[WebVideo/AtopTheFourthWall Our hero, ladies and gentlemen.]]
* ''Anime/MichikoAndHatchin'' is set in a CrapsackWorld filled with {{Jerkass}}es, and the few people who are genuinely good and want to help people (most notably Hana, the {{Deuteragonist}}) are completely powerless to change anything for the better. Many episodes consist mainly of rotten people pushing around helpless victims or other rotten people with little to no payoff. Making matters worse is that Michiko actually began as a pretty good person, genuinely caring about Hana and rescuing her from danger, but Michiko grew increasingly selfish, abusive, and perpetually angry as the series went on.
* ''Anime/NowAndThenHereAndThere'': After the NonIndicativeFirstEpisode, the series pulls no punches in being grim-dark, complete with one of the most abominable villains in history and a main character who is [[PinballProtagonist near-powerless to change much.]] In the end, the protagonist has no great influence and is able only to inspire the actually-powerful Lala-Ru to bring about a more-or-less happy ending. The mostly-positive outcome feels insignificant after the series' overall dark journey.
* The final episodes of ''Anime/ParanoiaAgent'', when a mysterious but solitary menace turned into a city-wide all-consuming biomass, destroying uncounted {{Innocent Bystander}}s amongst a handful of previously developed characters. Fortunately this was a brief enough period to avert EndingFatigue, and still got the [[AnAesop point]] across by changing scope.
* In ''Anime/Overlord2012'': The main characters are hopelessly overpowered when compared to the rest of the cast, and also, for the most part, extremely evil. Even the one exception to this—Sebas—is willing to punch the girl he spent several episodes nursing back to health to death at a moment's notice if Ainz asks him to, though fortunately he stops him at the last second. It's very clear how most plot arcs are going to turn out; the only question is the level of collateral damage caused in the process. And one infamous arc in the third season is dominated by a lot of what could charitably be described as torture porn. Depending on your level of tolerance, and your patience, it can become very difficult to care about how any of this ends.
* ''Manga/{{Pupa}}'', particularly the series, which is usually viewed as a disjointed, directionless mess on account of being only twelve episodes long, with each episode clocking in at around two minutes - certainly not enough time for the story that's trying to be told. The extreme gore, rampant cruelty, creepy incestuous overtones, largely unlikable cast and [[ArsonMurderAndJaywalking sub-par animation]] make for a show that's hard to sit through,[[note]]And once again: ''this thing is less than half an hour long!''[[/note]] let alone become invested in.
* ''Anime/ReCreators'' didn't have this initially, but toward the end of the series, it really began setting in primarily thanks to [[spoiler: the ''Elimination Chamber Festival'', wherein Altair challenged every other Creation to a fight and either killing or incapacitating them without breaking a sweat thanks to how the love of the fans [[NewPowersAsThePlotDemands give her new abilities completely out of thin air]] (plus, the fact that almost nobody outside of the main cast seems to ever grasp what's actually going on and what kind of threat this poses to not just Creationkind, but also to humanity as a whole). Coupled that with the fact that Altair was ultimately defeated in a scene derided as an AntiClimax (one where ''[[TheyWastedAPerfectlyGoodPlot none]]'' [[TheyWastedAPerfectlyGoodPlot of the heroes are involved]], no less, and ''does'' involve a character [[PosthumousCharacter who had been dead]] [[BackFromTheDead up until this point]] and has had [[FlatCharacter little characterization]]) and effectively EasilyForgiven for her actions ([[TheBadGuyWins which allows her to]] [[KarmaHoudini avoid answering to her atrocities]]) and you have people decrying the series as a series where nothing of real note has been accomplished. Magane never being brought to task for any of ''her'' crimes either (in addition to getting to live in the real world and continue indulging in [[TheHedonist her lifestyle]] unimpeded) is just the cherry atop the shit sundae.]] Unsurprisingly, it's considered to be one of the most disliked anime of 2017 and has become one of the biggest AcceptableTargets for recent anime.
* ''LightNovel/RedoOfHealer'': The main character is a SerialRapist and a very creative torturer with a harem of slaves and his female enemies (that he either bought or brainwashed)... but [[ALighterShadeOfBlack he's still a saint compared to his enemies]]. So yeah, it's very easy to not care about what happens to anyone, unless you're into rape/sex and BlackComedy scenes.
* ''LightNovel/ReZero'': Kicks in during the later episodes, where Subaru's punishments for screwing up become more visceral. For some people this borders on unnecessary cruelty.
* ''LightNovel/TheRisingOfTheShieldHero'': The WorldOfJerkass setting as well as the fact that the bad guys often pull a KarmaHoudini (well, [[KarmaHoudiniWarranty until much later]]) can make the viewers simply unable to care about what's happening to the main characters.
* ''Manga/SakuraGari'', Christ on a cracker. Out of the main characters only one (Masataka) is unambiguously good, and he gets horribly raped and broken through the story. [[spoiler: And while Masataka manages to walk out and away to start rebuilding his life, the other protagonist (Souma) is all but stated to have died.]]
* The ''VisualNovel/SchoolDays'' anime, since it adapts the darkest aspects of the visual novel. By the end of the series, there are absolutely no sympathetic characters left, as everyone turns out to be some combination of malicious, selfish, and/or psychotic.
* ''Manga/SchoolLive'':
** This SliceOfLife ZombieApocalypse series is written by a person who works with Creator/{{Nitroplus}}, the VisualNovel company which is infamous for creating [[HGame H-novels]] with mostly dark and edgy stories. It also doesn't help to note that the girls are [[BreakTheCutie already mentally broken]] from the zombie apocalypse, one of the girls being very oblivious to the situation[[spoiler:, and another girl slowly turning into a zombie despite taking a MagicAntidote]]. On top of all that, Chapter 51 reveals that [[spoiler: the Zombie Virus might be an airborne virus that could infect anybody at any time, so if this is true it could result in any of the characters randomly getting infected and dying at any point no matter how much progress they've made up to that point]].
** The anime manages to avert this by [[LighterAndSofter having more lighthearted and comedic moments than the manga already had]], ending on [[BittersweetEnding a bittersweet but optimistic]] [[SugarWiki/HeartwarmingMoments and heartwarming]] note, and also stopping shortly before it could reach the manga's current arc when the series got ''really'' dark.
* ''Manga/{{Shiki}}'' enters this territory when the humans become aware of the existence of the [[OurVampiresAreDifferent Shiki]] who are responsible for the declining population of the village and the deaths of several of their loved ones. Due to the nature of the series being GreyAndGrayMorality, both sides crossed many lines to fight for their survival. If you have a favorite character on either side, chances are that they would either be dead or broken. [[spoiler:It doesn't help as the ending shows the humans won against the Shiki but lost their loved ones and their homes are burned down and the BigBad got away scot-free though she felt some amount of remorse for her actions]].
* ''Manga/ASilentVoice'' is filled to the brim with the message that Bullying Is Wrong and while that message is certainly truthful, the manga did not let up on the drama after it turned from a one-shot into a series, including the point of some characters attempting to commit suicide. And even after those events, the manga is still very heavy on the emotional aspects of grief and being emotionally broken, to the point that one cannot care for very long anymore.
* ''Anime/{{Texhnolyze}}''. While there ''are'' characters who are noticeably better or worse than others, [[BlackAndGrayMorality no one is truly good]], with even the most sympathetic characters being {{Anti Hero}}es. A lot of viewers saw the show's DownerEnding coming a mile away, and were just waiting for [[spoiler: everyone to give up and die.]]
* ''Manga/TokyoGhoul'' and its sequels. Some fans feel the overall and increasingly dark tone of the series makes it difficult to care about the [[LoadsAndLoadsOfCharacters confusingly large number of characters]]. As the series advances and turns up the darkness UpToEleven, the amount of angst, traumatic experiences, and AbusiveParents can come off as just excessive.
* The well-known Hentai series, ''Urotsukidoji'', rivals ''Anime/{{Devilman}}'' in pretty much every way possible when it comes to this trope. The amount of rape scenes (including [[NaughtyTentacles tentacle rape]], which this series is well-known for being a trope namer for.), extremely graphic violence (which borders on Guro at times), and each installment [[DownerEnding ending on a downer]], has put off a lot of people from this series.
* ''Anime/UnderTheDog'': The OVA is viewed as this. Hana ultimately fails in her mission to save Nanase, and Anthea does a MercyKill on Hana. This results in the deaths of Hana's family. Anthea later confronts and kills the Pandora, [[LukeIAmYourFather which turns out to be Nanase's transformed father]]. Then it turns out that Nanase isn't the candidate they were looking for, so Anthea kills him as well, [[ShaggyDogStory rendering the entire OVA pointless]].
* ''Anime/ValvraveTheLiberator'': Some viewers are finding it increasingly hard to care about the series (even with all the {{Camp}}) because the majority of characters are either {{Jerk Ass}}es, TooDumbToLive or is TooGoodForThisSinfulEarth. The episode where [[spoiler:the majority of the Module 77 students are massacred]] essentially turns the series into a ShaggyDogStory, and the 200 year timeskip shows certain characters' survival as a ForegoneConclusion.
* The ''Manga/WolfGuyWolfenCrest'' manga is set in such a ridiculously DarkerAndEdgier CrapsackWorld, uses heavy themes (like rape, bullying, etc.) in such grossly exploitative manners and has characters ''so'' into BlackAndWhiteMorality... that many readers have simply given up on it.
* The 1996 movie of ''Manga/{{X1999}}'' is regarded as this by modern viewers since it was released while the manga was ongoing. While the Dragons of Heaven are still benevolent, the Dragons of Earth become sociopaths including Kusanagi who is the TokenGoodTeammate and a FriendToAllLivingThings. There's also the fact the both sides ended up [[KillThemAll losing their members]] and the barriers got destroyed leaving Tokyo Tower as the last building standing.
** The manga is leaning towards this as of the hiatus. [[spoiler:Yuzuriha is missing, Arashi is controlled by Hinoto's DarkSide who is responsible for sending random attack to the Dragons of Heaven and Subaru, inheriting Seishirou's role as the Sakurazukamori assassin which got him to join the Dragons of Earth with the belief to make Kamui realize his true wish]]. And the real kicker? It's revealed Kamui's true wish [[spoiler:was not to return Fuuma back to normal and the {{Cliffhanger}} chapter ends with Kamui, lying down on the ground as Fuuma is about to stab him]]. And now a decade has already passed, readers seemed to care less about what's going to happen.
* The fantasy manga ''Yakushoku Distpiari'' isn't very popular, due to its gruesome premise: The Hero can only level up [[PowerAtAPrice by killing his party members and obtaining their skills]]. Because of this premise, many readers ended up [[EightDeadlyWords getting tired of reading.]]
* Anime/YuGiOhArcV has this with it's anime. Part of the story is for Yuya to learn what exactly is the best way to make people happy. But as the series progressed, it became really hard and at points outright uncomfortable to watch what's supposed to be a kid who wants to enjoy card games and make people happy be essentially kicked in the teeth for his efforts. SurprisinglyRealisticOutcome can be explained for Yuya's earlier ignorance and naivete, but after a while it just felt like puppy-kicking.
* ''Manga/YourAndMySecret'' is supposed to be a comedic FreakyFridayFlip story in which MasculineGirlFeminineBoy duo Nanako and Akira swap bodies. Nanako proceeds to establish herself as a selfish, messy, violent, domineering bully who ''loves'' the freedom her new male body gives her, refusing to give it back to Akira and living it up, whilst at the same time threatening him with verbal and physical abuse if he dares think of doing something she doesn't approve of with the body she doesn't even want back. Akira's own family tell him, ''to his face'', that they prefer the more "conventionally masculine" Akira that Nanako provides, and Nanako's grandfather, the MadScientist who caused this mess, likewise refuses to repair the machine that could switch them back because he prefers the quieter, more demure Nanako that Akira makes. The closest thing Akira-as-Nanako has to a friend is his "best friend", Senbongi, who constantly sexually harasses him, including kissing him by force and groping his breasts and genitals. Akira ends up falling in love with Senbongi, simply because he's the only person who seems to "care" about Akira. When Nanako's grandfather fixes the machine at last, Nanako ''destroys it'' so she can keep Akira's body and her stolen life. About that point is where most readers dropped the manga and wanted nothing to do with it -- which is all the more understandable when you learn that the manga ends with the two of them basically deciding to stay in each other's bodies.
* ''Manga/YourLieInApril'' is founded on the main character Kousei's misery. When it's not being PlayedForDrama, it's being PlayedForLaughs. [[HopeSpot Even when things seem to be going well for Kousei]], like him overcoming the trauma of his abuse to play piano again, [[YankTheDogsChain the story punches him square in the balls with]] [[spoiler: Kaori's death]]. That combined with everybody besides Kousei [[WorldOfJerkass being huge jerkasses]] is enough to utter the EightDeadlyWords.
* The tone of ''Manga/{{Yuureitou}}'' can get pretty harsh sometimes, and many of the characters have less than pleasant secrets they're willing to hide and aren't afraid to get their hands dirty. It's definitely par for the course for mystery, but with no true good figure in the tale, it becomes somewhat difficult to root for the protagonists.
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* ''Anime/AfroSamurai'''s main character is a borderline sociopathic VillainProtagonist with little redeeming moral features who cares about nothing but killing the person who killed his father, resulting in him killing large amounts of people just to find his father's killer. The person who killed his father, Justice, while having [[WellIntentionedExtremist well-meaning but rather not necessarily morally right motives]], is very morally gray. The only reason the audience only sympathizes with Afro, in spite of his goals being identical to those he fights, is because we saw his backstory, and didn't see theirs.
* ''VisualNovel/{{AIR}}'': Many detractors of ''Air'' will say that [[ShootTheShaggyDog nothing ever happens in the entire series,]] due to the fact that [[spoiler: Misuzu still ends up dying after finally finding love]]. Even Creator/KeyVisualArts views it as an OldShame.
* ''Manga/{{Ajin}}''. It's hard to root for the characters most especially the main protagonist who ended becoming a SociopathicHero and both sides have very flimsy reasons to get back at each other.
* ''Anime/AkudamaDrive'': The anime has received a mixed reception. It goes farther than ''Anime/AkameGaKill'' when it comes to the body count. Most viewers are here for the cool artstyle and shipping between Swindler and Courier (and the villainous counterpart [[MadScientist Doctor]] and [[SerialKiller Cutthroat]]). It's hard to care about the whole premise: a {{cyberpunk}} world with GreyAndGrayMorality (or BlackAndGrayMorality) where both [[TheBadGuysAreCops Executioners]] and [[RagtagBunchOfMisfits Akudama criminals]] are equally horrible. The Executioners are already corrupted since the crime rate has skyrocketed, while Akudama criminals (except [[TrappedInVillainy Swindler]]) are [[AntiHero ambiguously good]] at best and [[CompleteMonster outright irredeemable]] at worst. The ending takes it to the logical extreme, [[spoiler:[[KillEmAll all people from both sides are obliterated]], including sympathetic Akudama criminals Swindler and Courier]]. The only good thing at the end is [[spoiler:two children Brother and Sister are succesfully rescued from being sent into a fake reality [[LotusEaterMachine Kanto]].]]
* In ''Anime/AldnoahZero'', Inaho and Slaine are highly flawed characters, and their many faults or self-inflicted mistakes can make it hard for the audience to sympathize with them. The fact that [[spoiler: Slaine [[BigBadSlippage becomes]] the BigBad by the beginning of season 2]] doesn't help, [[spoiler: even with its [[EsotericHappyEnding supposedly overall positive ending]]]].
* ''Anime/TheAnimatrix'': Given how many times the ''Second Renaissance'' segment is mentioned on the film's [[NightmareFuel/TheAnimatrix Nightmare Fuel page]] and how grotesque and cartoonishly disturbing the imagery and violence in it is, you'll understand if more then a few viewers are turned off or disturbed by it. The HumansAreBastards being taken UpToEleven doesn't help.
* The ''Manga/{{Area 88}}'' manga falls victim to this. Much of the story takes place in Asran, a North African kingdom experiencing an unending civil war in which neither side gains a long-term advantage. Amoral arms dealers are happy to take advantage of the conflict. Many of Area 88's pilots are [[LegionOfLostSouls lost souls]] who have abandoned any hope of living a normal life (or, living to see next week). Shin never seems to make any headway in his attempt to earn enough money to break his mercenary contract, leaving him frustrated and melancholy. Shin's time at Area 88 leaves him so traumatized and maladjusted that [[spoiler:when he receives not one but two opportunities to resume a normal life, he returns to a life of combat both times.]] By the time the manga reaches its {{bittersweet ending}}, the audience likely has ending fatigue.
* ''Manga/{{Bakuman}}'' features this in-universe with the main characters' reactions to Nanamine's "Classroom of Truth," in which [[KillEmAll everyone]], [[TheHeroDies including the main character]] [[DownerEnding dies]], with Mashiro saying that having the main character's efforts turn out to be in vain doesn't work.
* ''Manga/{{Basilisk}}'': Both ninja clans have more than their fair share of {{Jerkass}}es. Oboro is incredibly naive and indecisive [[BreakTheCutie and boy does she pay for it]]. [[AnyoneCanDie Any character]] is going to be killed in a few episodes. And the whole contest is being held by [[AristocratsAreEvil corrupt nobles.]]
* The second season of ''Manga/BirdyTheMighty: Decode'' was criticized for some for going out of its way to be DarkerAndEdgier and BloodierAndGorier than the first season, including [[spoiler:one of the main characters of the season being a revenge-driven serial killer who also engages in self-loathing, the realization that the title character is a [[GeneticEngineeringIsTheNewNuke genetically-engineered]] SuperSoldier forced into being a SpacePolice officer, and issues of FantasticRacism which ties into the other two]].
* The narrative of ''Manga/BitterVirgin'' piles up so much trauma, woobieness and weepy melodrama on Hinako, Daisuke and the reader, and uses a complicated theme like [[RapeAsDrama sexual abuse]] so ''liberally'' as a plot device (i.e, Hinako was not only sexually abused by her stepdad in her backstory, but she's almost raped ''again'' in story for no other reason than [[RapeAndRevenge motivating Daisuke into beating her would-be rapist to almost death]]), that it can become a chore to read.
* ''LightNovel/BlackBullet'''s setting is so very crapsack and the main characters are hopelessly ineffectual in stopping the Gastrea threat, not to mention, the author's tendency of killing off a good number of characters (or at least [[SadistShow put Rentaro and Enju through sadistic hell]]) before they receive sufficient CharacterDevelopment, means people can simply get ''bored'' of the darkness. Detractors accuse the author for putting too emphasis on sadistic treatment of the characters while ignoring to clear up several plot points [[spoiler:such as Enju's high corrosion rate]]. [[spoiler:Taken UpToEleven with the Fugitive arc (volumes 5 and 6) where the author decides to put every main character [[TraumaCongaLine in the worst possible suffering he can imagine]].]]
* ''Manga/{{Bleach}}'' ends up falling into this during the Thousand Years Blood War Arc. Once ''again'', the Gotei 13 goes from actually being able to turn the tide to... being [[TheWorfEffect taken out by the bad guys with relative ease]]. Even when someone ''finally'' has an upper edge, a new set of AntagonistAbilities is whipped out to quickly close the gap. Pretty much every victory in this arc is a PyrrhicVictory. While this is far from new to Bleach, it had been done so often that readers had come to expect it and were practically asking if they could just skip the part where the Gotei 13 loses since they know it's not going to move the plot forward.
** Since Bleach was also at risk of being CutShort, people also started to assume that it was going to be all lost and nobody would have an interesting fight due to the rapidly approaching CosmicDeadline. Gerard Valkyrie in particular suffers a lot from this - he's revealed to be the Heart of the Soul King, and an almost invulnerable opponent who [[spoiler: just loses his fight by default because Yhwach takes his and Jugram's powers - meaning that unlike Lillie, Pernida, and Askin, no clever plan is made to defeat him.]]
* ''Anime/BloodC'' is this since the characters kept holding the IdiotBall despite the danger around them which is why viewers care less when they are brutally killed, most especially the {{Red Shirt}}s. It doesn't helped that Saya is a FailureHero and whatever she does, many people die which irritated a lot of viewers. And at the end, [[spoiler:it turns out most of Saya's friends are assholes who are hired to act those roles. You won't feel sorry for them when they're gruesomely killed and the BigBad turns out to be Saya's friendly neighbor, Fumito, who got away with another of her supposed "friends", leaving tons of corpses on the trail and the town in ruins.]] The only characters who are sympathetic or redeemed [[spoiler:were Itsuki, Tadayoshi and dog (who is Watanuki's corporeal form). And yet, Itsuki and Tadayoshi died, and Watanuki is powerless to do anything to help Saya since he cannot leave the shop.]]
** The movie tries to step out of this trope. However, the climax just made it worse, depending on how you see it: [[spoiler:Saya fulfills her revenge except that she found out that Fumito is in love with her and all of her actions are for her survival, regardless that he killed thousands of people in the past and abused her emotionally and psychologically. Also, she can't go back to Mana again after she found out that she killed her dad at the beginning of the movie.]] Because of this, Saya is established as a TragicHero.
* In regards to ''Manga/CandyCandy'', more than one watcher/reader ended up getting tired of all the relentless, neverending, borderline ridiculous melodrama surrounding Candy's life and ended up dropping the series.
* ''Manga/CannonGodExaxxion''. The alien invaders are basically Nazi Elves. The boss of the defending humans doesn't give a crap about collateral damage and will kill and destroy at will. While Creator/KenichiSonoda had dipped his toe in this trope before, this was when he took a freefall into it, and never really surfaced, as evidenced with the reaction to ''Gunsmith Cats Burst''.
* As soon as the ''second episode'', ''Side:Future'' of ''Anime/DanganRonpa3'' got this reaction. A large problem with the anime was the frequent killing of characters who had barely been introduced, making it rather difficult to care what was going on given that most of Future revolved around the new cast.
** Episode 5 takes it up a notch: All [[spoiler:five]] deaths that occurred up to that point were of fan-favorites and likable characters. The anime started entering EightDeadlyWords territory, as the characters left are mostly from the controversial Radical Faction and Munakata's SanitySlippage slowly turns him into TheScrappy.
* ''Manga/DeadTube'' really goes over-the-top with the atrocities the cast commits against each other. Not even the main characters are all that better than their competition. A lot of readers give up on caring and those who continue to read after not caring mostly read it [[BileFascination to see just how hilariously fucked up things get]].
* Don't bother getting attached to story arc characters in ''Anime/DarkerThanBlack''--they'll be dead in a few episodes.
* ''Manga/DesertPunk'', albeit a comic series falls into this. Almost every single character is a massive JerkAss, and the few exceptions never prosper in this world. By the middle of the series, it's quite clear that none of the three major characters have a HiddenHeartOfGold. Pretty much summing things up is the comment by the LemonyNarrator in the last episode in respect to the AfterTheEnd setting, which is to the effect that "With people like this, it doesn't matter if humanity goes extinct."
* In ''Manga/ADevilAndHerLoveSong'', there's so much drama and emotional conflict on latter volumes that it becomes really hard to root for the characters, especially if those who make others suffer go unpunished. Specifically, Maria's old best friend Anna gets PutOnABus after more or less acting awful to Maria after she came to school to see her, and Maria's [[spoiler: father, John, never explains why he raped her mother and she never chews him out for it, though he is a priest and clearly trying to atone for his actions]].
* The ''Manga/{{Devilman}}'' franchise. Where to even ''start?!'' Devils are either rapacious monsters or innocent victims of [[FantasticRacism persecution]] and [[HumansAreBastards humanity]] is at its absolute worst on every imaginable level. With [[SarcasmMode lovely]] scenes of [[{{Gorn}} death]], [[SceneryGorn destruction]] and [[FromBadToWorse so much more.]] And in the end, [[spoiler: Akira is killed, Devils are extinct, Satan has destroyed all life on Earth and God destroys the entire planet to start things over from scratch so he can punish Satan yet again.]] Many fans have [[MemeticMutation come to the conclusion]] that the "crybaby" subtitle in ''Anime/DevilmanCrybaby'' is referring to the ''viewer.'' Being that it's the TropeCodifier of grimdark, this shouldn't come across as too surprising.
** ''Manga/ViolenceJack.'', the sequel to ''Manga/{{Devilman}}'', manages to be even worse in regards to this than the original series, with a CrapsackWorld 10 times more brutal and depressing, full of rapists, sadists, murderers and scumbags of the highest order, and the protagonist, Jack himself, starts off as an apathetic and sadistic SociopathicHero, not caring about anyone but himself (thankfully this changes due to some character development), with some very innocent, well-meaning and kind-hearted characters always constantly suffering at the hands of the sadistic villains who Jack fights. As a result, it's pretty hard to go through this series for some. Not helped by the fact that the series is notorious for containing graphic scenes of child-murder, rape, cannibalism, and even zoophilia at one point.
* In ''Manga/DominaNoDo'', the amount of crap Takeshi suffers from chapter to chapter due to the women around him will pretty much frustrate readers whenever they're not being astonished at all the other crazy stuff that happens in this manga.
* ''Manga/ElfenLied'', for some. The lack of subtlety in the narrative, the BlackAndGrayMorality, and the exaggerated emphasis on how 90% of HumansAreBastards to the point of being {{Card Carrying Villain}}s is often enough to make the viewers exhausted and angry instead of sympathetic to the Diclonius' plights (who themselves are AxCrazy by nature to some extent anyway). Granted, this ''is'' toned down in the anime and later on in the manga, making such characters as Bando, Mariko, Kurama, and even Lucy more... well, human in the end.
* ''Anime/ErgoProxy'' can, in its early stages, fall victim to this trope. Near the beginning of the series, there were a few moral dilemmas stemming from black and black morality. Stop the Proxy that's loose in Romdo and the fascist government regains total control over the city. Don't stop the Proxy and it'll continue a murder spree.
* ''Franchise/FullmetalAlchemist'':
** This is one of the main criticisms of the first ''Anime/FullmetalAlchemist'' anime (which had a GeckoEnding), especially compared with the [[Manga/FullmetalAlchemist manga]] and ''Brotherhood'' anime (which adapted the manga faithfully). The manga featured some extremely dark moments [[spoiler: as a way for the characters to earn their happy endings]], but the 2003 anime is consistently dark throughout and never stops making things worse for the protagonists.
** ''Anime/FullmetalAlchemistTheConquerorOfShamballa'' (the sequel to first anime) is arguably an even more extreme example. By the end [[spoiler: Ed and Al are together again, but are trapped forever in another universe as World War II is about to break out]]. By comparison, the manga ends with [[spoiler: Ed and Winry happy together with children]].
* ''Manga/FutureDiary'': It pits a DeadlyGame where most of the participants are ruthless, insane or care only for those they know. TheHero's female deuteragonist is ''perhaps the least sane of the lot''. While the protagonist starts off as an AllLovingHero, the entire story is a SanitySlippage that sees him become a willing killer, and then lose all composure when [[spoiler:he finds out he cannot resurrect those he killed even after winning the game]]. The ending [[spoiler:sees him recreate the world with everyone alive again]], but it can be a chore to get there.
* ''Manga/{{Gantz}}'', aside from the blood and gore everywhere and the overly gritty tone, it's really hard to sympathize with the main characters as many of them are {{jerkass}}es at best and downright malicious at worst. Even with the series getting EarnYourHappyEnding, it still feels like a chore to read through for some.
* ''Anime/{{Genocyber}}'': The extremely graphic and disturbing violence, lack of any genuinely likable characters and incredibly nihilistic tone ended up turning a large number of people away from this series.
* ''Anime/{{Gilgamesh}}'' has [[EliteMooks immortal monsters made from antimatter]] that want to create some sort of new reality. And on the other side, a {{Manipulative B|astard}}itch whose main reason for getting rid of the reflective sky (which gives the heroes their incredible powers by the way, meaning they probably shouldn't be serving her) is [[WomanScorned being dumped by the guy who engineered the future]]. And the children are such {{Wide Eyed Idealist}}s that they get used by both sides. It's actually a relief when EveryoneDies. And it somehow makes even that terrible because [=TeaR=] is killed by a Gilgamesh spawn from Kiyoko after it destroys everything, therefore everything is gone forever and can never be brought back potentially better. Then again, [[Creator/ShotaroIshinomori the mangaka]] who wrote the source material [[Film/ShinKamenRiderPrologue has made other work that gets hit with this]], so it's not entirely surprising.
* ''Manga/GoodnightPunpun'' has a protagonist that suffers through a TraumaCongaLine of events that change his life, turning him into a miserable kid with a lot of Wangst inside. Considering that he doesn't ever change throughout the story and that it's mostly focused on him, it can be very hard to care about him or his problems.
* The anime version of ''Manga/{{Hanebad}}'' has been hit rather hard with this. In addition to the anime [[DarkerAndEdgier toning down most of the comedy to add in more drama to the story]], several of the characters have gone through AdaptationalJerkass in the making.
* Season one of ''Anime/HellGirl'' in particular can get a little ridiculous. Every episode, you're introduced to a new villain with no real objective other than to prove his/her guilt in as many obvious ways as possible. Even when they get what's coming to them, it's not before they've completely ruined someone, or many people's lives, sometimes irrevocably. And you know the next episode is just gonna feature someone even crueller. The first season tries to rectify this by introducing the IntrepidReporter Hajime, who starts trying to prevent people from using the Hell Correspondence and getting Enma Ai to send their tormentors to Hell in exchange for their own souls. Problem is, Hajime ''never'' succeeds [[spoiler: until his own daughter Tsugumi gets {{mind rape}}d by Enma Ai, (she and her dad are descendants of a person from Enma Ai's DarkAndTroubledPast), and then Ai tries to use it on him, and if ''anyone'' should know not to use the Correspondence, she should, so what she does makes her a monster only slightly more sympathetic than the villains in the series.]]
* ''Manga/HighschoolOfTheDead'': apart from the obvious bloodshed, gore, and people turning into zombies, it's very hard to sympathize with the characters who are willing to cross moral boundaries simply just to survive the zombie apocalypse. The very blatant right-wing politics [[spoiler:and the villain's infamous orgybus]] also doesn't help.
* ''Manga/HotGimmick'' is one of the few shoujo manga that fits this trope. Every character is a {{Jerkass}} or an idiot, and nobody receives any major character development (in fact the opposite seems to happen). The EsotericHappyEnding doesn't help, [[spoiler: not even when the novel ended up fixing it via having the girl ''finally'' get a chance to walk out on the BastardBoyfriend.]]
* ''Manga/IchiTheKiller'' treads perilously close to this trope. A psychological drama set in the brutal (albeit colorful) world of a nigh-lawless Tokyo red-light district could be forgiven for a cast whose morality comes in various shades of gray, but Jeez Louise… Nearly every character in Ichi either skipped gleefully past the moral event horizon long ago or is presently teetering on its edge. Almost everyone of plot significance is either 1) a murderous, manipulative bastard, 2) completely deranged, 3) a depraved sadist and/or masochist, 4) some other kind of sex pervert (you want necrophiliacs? Ichi's got 'em!), 5) a cold blooded mass murderer, 6) willing to do absolutely anything for money, 7) some combination of the foregoing. The two main protagonists? Completely deranged sadomasochistic mass murderers. Yeah. It’s so over the top that one character, a Yakuza *hit man* with a functional family life and a few glimmers of empathy, starts to seem like a nice guy just by comparison. So why would anyone who occasionally goes outdoors for something other than a load of canned meat and tarp read this? It’s the plot (tense, coiled and well-paced), and Ichi’s surprisingly incisive exploration of identity and desire.
* ''Manga/TheIslandOfGiantInsects'': Most of the cast is comprised of [[JerkAss unlikeable assholes]], [[TooDumbToLive incompetent buffoons]], [[StupidEvil incompetent buffoonish assholes]], and [[AttemptedRape attempted rapists]]. There's also a good deal of FanDisservice with young, attractive ladies getting eaten alive while naked.
* ''Manga/{{Jormungand}}'': Most of the characters are all bloodthirsty bodyguards for a deranged woman with a god complex who claims to want to save the world by killing hundreds of thousands of innocent people, and that's not even getting into the logical fallacies her plan actually has.
* While ''Kichikujima'' seems to be going for a mix of WhatYouAreInTheDark and HumansAreBastards as its theme, it takes very little time for most of our main group to reveal themselves as a bunch of cowards who will stoop to absolutely any low for a chance to save themselves. On top of that, almost every revelation about their characters makes them look even worse than they did before. The main character is at the very least ashamed whenever he does something wrong and one girl who was already on the island seems good and normal enough (to the point that the cult mistake her for the reincarnation of the Virgin Mary because she's the only person they've ever met who wasn't horribly selfish), but beyond them all the characters do is panic and scheme to stab each other in the back. It's to the point that the insane, mutant cannibal cultists manage to be some of the most sympathetic characters, because they at least seem to care about each other in some warped sense of the word.
* ''Literature/{{Koizora}}'' definitely feels like this, with the main character Mika experiencing heartbreak, rape, unwanted pregnancy, then a miscarriage and even more stuff that seems like it just wants the audience [[TearJerker to dry up from reading the series]], when all it does after a while, makes you think what sad thing ''won't'' happen to this girl!
* ''Manga/LoneWolfAndCub'' is filled to the brim with violence, with countless people, both good and bad, meeting violent or otherwise unfortunate ends. Only a few side characters get what could be considered a happy ending. In addition, the unjust and unequal caste system of Japan in the Edo period is shown in all its dubious glory. Hence, it may be difficult for some to really care about the plot and the characters.
* A number of MagicalGirlGenreDeconstruction works suffer from this:
** ''LightNovel/MagicalGirlRaisingProject'': It's about [[TheChosenMany magical girls]] who faces very dangerous threats, and then they're put into a DeadlyGame for no good reason besides for [[ForTheEvulz satisfying the game master]] and [[UtopiaJustifiesTheMeans making a better world through wrong and violent ways]]. Many heroines are either driven into insanity/evil or died for nothing, especially when [[spoiler:there's one magical girl [[DrivenToSuicide hanged herself]] (due to being brokenhearted) after her friend [[SenselessSacrifice sacrifices herself so she can live]]]]. The overly bleak AnyoneCanDie setting doesn't help at all.
*** The reaction to the anime series was mainly this, with many mixed to negative reactions over yet another MagicalGirlGenreDeconstruction show being aired at a period in which more typical takes on the genre have become very seldom (at the time, only ''Anime/MahoGirlsPreCure'', ''Anime/SailorMoonCrystal'' and ''Manga/MagicalGirlLyricalNanohaViVid'' were mainstream, and all of them were new installments of old-established franchises instead of fully new works). Even Crunchyroll staffers showed themselves frustrated about it on the live portion of the Fall 2016 Rollout special where they first announced they were simulcasting the anime adaptation of ''Magical Girl Raising Project''.
*** EightDeadlyWords is a very common complaint, even by fans of the show themselves, is that it is hard to feel any impact at [[TheyWastedAPerfectlyGoodCharacter the death of characters who barely get any development before being mowed down]]. Part of the fault goes to the anime attempting to adapt all the side stories and backgrounds of the cast from the first arc, which leaves no screen time to dedicate individually to every one of them given the short length of the series. Being a twelve episode anime trying to flesh out sixteen characters meant that it could not even focus on a single character per episode.
*** It's hard to care about some {{war arc}}s as the factions are {{nominal|hero}} at best and corrupted or outright evil at worst, and the fact that [[TheBadGuyWins bad guys always win]] doesn't help, at least in early war arcs.
*** This problem actually is endemic to the light novel itself, as many fans agree that the characters in the first arc, which the anime adapts, were weaker in terms of characterization. Later arcs were much better received both in character depth and world building.
** ''Manga/MagicalGirlSite'' isn't so popular because it is a horribly grim-dark MagicalGirlGenreDeconstruction manga, that tells about a suicidal protagonist who is also a victim of her brother's abuse. Thankfully she gets a chance to join the Magical Girl Site contract, where all the girls can become magical girls. [[spoiler:Except... the contract turns out to be a HopeSpot where she has to [[CastFromLifespan sacrifice a certain amount of her lifespan every time she uses her magical attack]] and fight nothing but between the girls who have also joined Magical Girl Site in a form of DeadlyGame]]. Also, the fact that [[WhatDoYouMeanItsForKids this manga runs in a Shonen magazine]] doesn't help at all. Seeing all these premises, the audience might expect our poor protagonist [[spoiler:to die in a few moments during the deadly game (or ''even after'' she wins and has become the true magical girl)]].
* ''Manga/MasamuneKunsRevenge'': The series isn't dark, per se, but the entire premise of the love story between two polarizing and heavily flawed characters like Masamune and Aki can come off as a hard sell of a romance story. Masamune goes out of his way to manipulate and lie to those he calls his friends and Aki frequently shames and humiliate anyone who declares their love for her. [[https://www.animenewsnetwork.com/feature/2017-12-29/the-best-anime-of-2017/the-worst-anime-of-2017/.125874 One anime reviewer]] even declared it the worst anime of 2017 for this reason.
* Done [[NarmCharm beautifully]] in ''Anime/MDGeist''. Our [[SociopathicHero hero]] '''really''' [[NotSoDifferent isn't any better]] than the BigBad and eventually ''[[spoiler:releases the [[ZombieApocalypse Death Force]]]]'' simply because he knows how meaningless his life would be without [[BloodKnight something nasty to fight]]. Let that sink in for a moment: [[spoiler: he ''obliterates humanity just to be an asshole.'' He '''''obliterates humanity. Just to be an asshole.''''']] [[WebVideo/AtopTheFourthWall Our hero, ladies and gentlemen.]]
* ''Anime/MichikoAndHatchin'' is set in a CrapsackWorld filled with {{Jerkass}}es, and the few people who are genuinely good and want to help people (most notably Hana, the {{Deuteragonist}}) are completely powerless to change anything for the better. Many episodes consist mainly of rotten people pushing around helpless victims or other rotten people with little to no payoff. Making matters worse is that Michiko actually began as a pretty good person, genuinely caring about Hana and rescuing her from danger, but Michiko grew increasingly selfish, abusive, and perpetually angry as the series went on.
* ''Anime/NowAndThenHereAndThere'': After the NonIndicativeFirstEpisode, the series pulls no punches in being grim-dark, complete with one of the most abominable villains in history and a main character who is [[PinballProtagonist near-powerless to change much.]] In the end, the protagonist has no great influence and is able only to inspire the actually-powerful Lala-Ru to bring about a more-or-less happy ending. The mostly-positive outcome feels insignificant after the series' overall dark journey.
* The final episodes of ''Anime/ParanoiaAgent'', when a mysterious but solitary menace turned into a city-wide all-consuming biomass, destroying uncounted {{Innocent Bystander}}s amongst a handful of previously developed characters. Fortunately this was a brief enough period to avert EndingFatigue, and still got the [[AnAesop point]] across by changing scope.
* In ''Anime/Overlord2012'': The main characters are hopelessly overpowered when compared to the rest of the cast, and also, for the most part, extremely evil. Even the one exception to this—Sebas—is willing to punch the girl he spent several episodes nursing back to health to death at a moment's notice if Ainz asks him to, though fortunately he stops him at the last second. It's very clear how most plot arcs are going to turn out; the only question is the level of collateral damage caused in the process. And one infamous arc in the third season is dominated by a lot of what could charitably be described as torture porn. Depending on your level of tolerance, and your patience, it can become very difficult to care about how any of this ends.
* ''Manga/{{Pupa}}'', particularly the series, which is usually viewed as a disjointed, directionless mess on account of being only twelve episodes long, with each episode clocking in at around two minutes - certainly not enough time for the story that's trying to be told. The extreme gore, rampant cruelty, creepy incestuous overtones, largely unlikable cast and [[ArsonMurderAndJaywalking sub-par animation]] make for a show that's hard to sit through,[[note]]And once again: ''this thing is less than half an hour long!''[[/note]] let alone become invested in.
* ''Anime/ReCreators'' didn't have this initially, but toward the end of the series, it really began setting in primarily thanks to [[spoiler: the ''Elimination Chamber Festival'', wherein Altair challenged every other Creation to a fight and either killing or incapacitating them without breaking a sweat thanks to how the love of the fans [[NewPowersAsThePlotDemands give her new abilities completely out of thin air]] (plus, the fact that almost nobody outside of the main cast seems to ever grasp what's actually going on and what kind of threat this poses to not just Creationkind, but also to humanity as a whole). Coupled that with the fact that Altair was ultimately defeated in a scene derided as an AntiClimax (one where ''[[TheyWastedAPerfectlyGoodPlot none]]'' [[TheyWastedAPerfectlyGoodPlot of the heroes are involved]], no less, and ''does'' involve a character [[PosthumousCharacter who had been dead]] [[BackFromTheDead up until this point]] and has had [[FlatCharacter little characterization]]) and effectively EasilyForgiven for her actions ([[TheBadGuyWins which allows her to]] [[KarmaHoudini avoid answering to her atrocities]]) and you have people decrying the series as a series where nothing of real note has been accomplished. Magane never being brought to task for any of ''her'' crimes either (in addition to getting to live in the real world and continue indulging in [[TheHedonist her lifestyle]] unimpeded) is just the cherry atop the shit sundae.]] Unsurprisingly, it's considered to be one of the most disliked anime of 2017 and has become one of the biggest AcceptableTargets for recent anime.
* ''LightNovel/RedoOfHealer'': The main character is a SerialRapist and a very creative torturer with a harem of slaves and his female enemies (that he either bought or brainwashed)... but [[ALighterShadeOfBlack he's still a saint compared to his enemies]]. So yeah, it's very easy to not care about what happens to anyone, unless you're into rape/sex and BlackComedy scenes.
* ''LightNovel/ReZero'': Kicks in during the later episodes, where Subaru's punishments for screwing up become more visceral. For some people this borders on unnecessary cruelty.
* ''LightNovel/TheRisingOfTheShieldHero'': The WorldOfJerkass setting as well as the fact that the bad guys often pull a KarmaHoudini (well, [[KarmaHoudiniWarranty until much later]]) can make the viewers simply unable to care about what's happening to the main characters.
* ''Manga/SakuraGari'', Christ on a cracker. Out of the main characters only one (Masataka) is unambiguously good, and he gets horribly raped and broken through the story. [[spoiler: And while Masataka manages to walk out and away to start rebuilding his life, the other protagonist (Souma) is all but stated to have died.]]
* The ''VisualNovel/SchoolDays'' anime, since it adapts the darkest aspects of the visual novel. By the end of the series, there are absolutely no sympathetic characters left, as everyone turns out to be some combination of malicious, selfish, and/or psychotic.
* ''Manga/SchoolLive'':
** This SliceOfLife ZombieApocalypse series is written by a person who works with Creator/{{Nitroplus}}, the VisualNovel company which is infamous for creating [[HGame H-novels]] with mostly dark and edgy stories. It also doesn't help to note that the girls are [[BreakTheCutie already mentally broken]] from the zombie apocalypse, one of the girls being very oblivious to the situation[[spoiler:, and another girl slowly turning into a zombie despite taking a MagicAntidote]]. On top of all that, Chapter 51 reveals that [[spoiler: the Zombie Virus might be an airborne virus that could infect anybody at any time, so if this is true it could result in any of the characters randomly getting infected and dying at any point no matter how much progress they've made up to that point]].
** The anime manages to avert this by [[LighterAndSofter having more lighthearted and comedic moments than the manga already had]], ending on [[BittersweetEnding a bittersweet but optimistic]] [[SugarWiki/HeartwarmingMoments and heartwarming]] note, and also stopping shortly before it could reach the manga's current arc when the series got ''really'' dark.
* ''Manga/{{Shiki}}'' enters this territory when the humans become aware of the existence of the [[OurVampiresAreDifferent Shiki]] who are responsible for the declining population of the village and the deaths of several of their loved ones. Due to the nature of the series being GreyAndGrayMorality, both sides crossed many lines to fight for their survival. If you have a favorite character on either side, chances are that they would either be dead or broken. [[spoiler:It doesn't help as the ending shows the humans won against the Shiki but lost their loved ones and their homes are burned down and the BigBad got away scot-free though she felt some amount of remorse for her actions]].
* ''Manga/ASilentVoice'' is filled to the brim with the message that Bullying Is Wrong and while that message is certainly truthful, the manga did not let up on the drama after it turned from a one-shot into a series, including the point of some characters attempting to commit suicide. And even after those events, the manga is still very heavy on the emotional aspects of grief and being emotionally broken, to the point that one cannot care for very long anymore.
* ''Anime/{{Texhnolyze}}''. While there ''are'' characters who are noticeably better or worse than others, [[BlackAndGrayMorality no one is truly good]], with even the most sympathetic characters being {{Anti Hero}}es. A lot of viewers saw the show's DownerEnding coming a mile away, and were just waiting for [[spoiler: everyone to give up and die.]]
* ''Manga/TokyoGhoul'' and its sequels. Some fans feel the overall and increasingly dark tone of the series makes it difficult to care about the [[LoadsAndLoadsOfCharacters confusingly large number of characters]]. As the series advances and turns up the darkness UpToEleven, the amount of angst, traumatic experiences, and AbusiveParents can come off as just excessive.
* The well-known Hentai series, ''Urotsukidoji'', rivals ''Anime/{{Devilman}}'' in pretty much every way possible when it comes to this trope. The amount of rape scenes (including [[NaughtyTentacles tentacle rape]], which this series is well-known for being a trope namer for.), extremely graphic violence (which borders on Guro at times), and each installment [[DownerEnding ending on a downer]], has put off a lot of people from this series.
* ''Anime/UnderTheDog'': The OVA is viewed as this. Hana ultimately fails in her mission to save Nanase, and Anthea does a MercyKill on Hana. This results in the deaths of Hana's family. Anthea later confronts and kills the Pandora, [[LukeIAmYourFather which turns out to be Nanase's transformed father]]. Then it turns out that Nanase isn't the candidate they were looking for, so Anthea kills him as well, [[ShaggyDogStory rendering the entire OVA pointless]].
* ''Anime/ValvraveTheLiberator'': Some viewers are finding it increasingly hard to care about the series (even with all the {{Camp}}) because the majority of characters are either {{Jerk Ass}}es, TooDumbToLive or is TooGoodForThisSinfulEarth. The episode where [[spoiler:the majority of the Module 77 students are massacred]] essentially turns the series into a ShaggyDogStory, and the 200 year timeskip shows certain characters' survival as a ForegoneConclusion.
* The ''Manga/WolfGuyWolfenCrest'' manga is set in such a ridiculously DarkerAndEdgier CrapsackWorld, uses heavy themes (like rape, bullying, etc.) in such grossly exploitative manners and has characters ''so'' into BlackAndWhiteMorality... that many readers have simply given up on it.
* The 1996 movie of ''Manga/{{X1999}}'' is regarded as this by modern viewers since it was released while the manga was ongoing. While the Dragons of Heaven are still benevolent, the Dragons of Earth become sociopaths including Kusanagi who is the TokenGoodTeammate and a FriendToAllLivingThings. There's also the fact the both sides ended up [[KillThemAll losing their members]] and the barriers got destroyed leaving Tokyo Tower as the last building standing.
** The manga is leaning towards this as of the hiatus. [[spoiler:Yuzuriha is missing, Arashi is controlled by Hinoto's DarkSide who is responsible for sending random attack to the Dragons of Heaven and Subaru, inheriting Seishirou's role as the Sakurazukamori assassin which got him to join the Dragons of Earth with the belief to make Kamui realize his true wish]]. And the real kicker? It's revealed Kamui's true wish [[spoiler:was not to return Fuuma back to normal and the {{Cliffhanger}} chapter ends with Kamui, lying down on the ground as Fuuma is about to stab him]]. And now a decade has already passed, readers seemed to care less about what's going to happen.
* The fantasy manga ''Yakushoku Distpiari'' isn't very popular, due to its gruesome premise: The Hero can only level up [[PowerAtAPrice by killing his party members and obtaining their skills]]. Because of this premise, many readers ended up [[EightDeadlyWords getting tired of reading.]]
* Anime/YuGiOhArcV has this with it's anime. Part of the story is for Yuya to learn what exactly is the best way to make people happy. But as the series progressed, it became really hard and at points outright uncomfortable to watch what's supposed to be a kid who wants to enjoy card games and make people happy be essentially kicked in the teeth for his efforts. SurprisinglyRealisticOutcome can be explained for Yuya's earlier ignorance and naivete, but after a while it just felt like puppy-kicking.
* ''Manga/YourAndMySecret'' is supposed to be a comedic FreakyFridayFlip story in which MasculineGirlFeminineBoy duo Nanako and Akira swap bodies. Nanako proceeds to establish herself as a selfish, messy, violent, domineering bully who ''loves'' the freedom her new male body gives her, refusing to give it back to Akira and living it up, whilst at the same time threatening him with verbal and physical abuse if he dares think of doing something she doesn't approve of with the body she doesn't even want back. Akira's own family tell him, ''to his face'', that they prefer the more "conventionally masculine" Akira that Nanako provides, and Nanako's grandfather, the MadScientist who caused this mess, likewise refuses to repair the machine that could switch them back because he prefers the quieter, more demure Nanako that Akira makes. The closest thing Akira-as-Nanako has to a friend is his "best friend", Senbongi, who constantly sexually harasses him, including kissing him by force and groping his breasts and genitals. Akira ends up falling in love with Senbongi, simply because he's the only person who seems to "care" about Akira. When Nanako's grandfather fixes the machine at last, Nanako ''destroys it'' so she can keep Akira's body and her stolen life. About that point is where most readers dropped the manga and wanted nothing to do with it -- which is all the more understandable when you learn that the manga ends with the two of them basically deciding to stay in each other's bodies.
* ''Manga/YourLieInApril'' is founded on the main character Kousei's misery. When it's not being PlayedForDrama, it's being PlayedForLaughs. [[HopeSpot Even when things seem to be going well for Kousei]], like him overcoming the trauma of his abuse to play piano again, [[YankTheDogsChain the story punches him square in the balls with]] [[spoiler: Kaori's death]]. That combined with everybody besides Kousei [[WorldOfJerkass being huge jerkasses]] is enough to utter the EightDeadlyWords.
* The tone of ''Manga/{{Yuureitou}}'' can get pretty harsh sometimes, and many of the characters have less than pleasant secrets they're willing to hide and aren't afraid to get their hands dirty. It's definitely par for the course for mystery, but with no true good figure in the tale, it becomes somewhat difficult to root for the protagonists.
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* ''Anime/AfroSamurai'''s main character is a borderline sociopathic VillainProtagonist with little redeeming moral features who cares about nothing but killing the person who killed his father, resulting in him killing large amounts of people just to find his father's killer. The person who killed his father, Justice, while having [[WellIntentionedExtremist well-meaning but rather not necessarily morally right motives]], is very morally gray. The only reason the audience only sympathizes with Afro, in spite of his goals being identical to those he fights, is because we saw his backstory, and didn't see theirs.
* ''VisualNovel/{{AIR}}'': Many detractors of ''Air'' will say that [[ShootTheShaggyDog nothing ever happens in the entire series,]] due to the fact that [[spoiler: Misuzu still ends up dying after finally finding love]]. Even Creator/KeyVisualArts views it as an OldShame.
* ''Manga/{{Ajin}}''. It's hard to root for the characters most especially the main protagonist who ended becoming a SociopathicHero and both sides have very flimsy reasons to get back at each other.
* ''Anime/AkudamaDrive'': The anime has received a mixed reception. It goes farther than ''Anime/AkameGaKill'' when it comes to the body count. Most viewers are here for the cool artstyle and shipping between Swindler and Courier (and the villainous counterpart [[MadScientist Doctor]] and [[SerialKiller Cutthroat]]). It's hard to care about the whole premise: a {{cyberpunk}} world with GreyAndGrayMorality (or BlackAndGrayMorality) where both [[TheBadGuysAreCops Executioners]] and [[RagtagBunchOfMisfits Akudama criminals]] are equally horrible. The Executioners are already corrupted since the crime rate has skyrocketed, while Akudama criminals (except [[TrappedInVillainy Swindler]]) are [[AntiHero ambiguously good]] at best and [[CompleteMonster outright irredeemable]] at worst. The ending takes it to the logical extreme, [[spoiler:[[KillEmAll all people from both sides are obliterated]], including sympathetic Akudama criminals Swindler and Courier]]. The only good thing at the end is [[spoiler:two children Brother and Sister are succesfully rescued from being sent into a fake reality [[LotusEaterMachine Kanto]].]]
* In ''Anime/AldnoahZero'', Inaho and Slaine are highly flawed characters, and their many faults or self-inflicted mistakes can make it hard for the audience to sympathize with them. The fact that [[spoiler: Slaine [[BigBadSlippage becomes]] the BigBad by the beginning of season 2]] doesn't help, [[spoiler: even with its [[EsotericHappyEnding supposedly overall positive ending]]]].
* ''Anime/TheAnimatrix'': Given how many times the ''Second Renaissance'' segment is mentioned on the film's [[NightmareFuel/TheAnimatrix Nightmare Fuel page]] and how grotesque and cartoonishly disturbing the imagery and violence in it is, you'll understand if more then a few viewers are turned off or disturbed by it. The HumansAreBastards being taken UpToEleven doesn't help.
* The ''Manga/{{Area 88}}'' manga falls victim to this. Much of the story takes place in Asran, a North African kingdom experiencing an unending civil war in which neither side gains a long-term advantage. Amoral arms dealers are happy to take advantage of the conflict. Many of Area 88's pilots are [[LegionOfLostSouls lost souls]] who have abandoned any hope of living a normal life (or, living to see next week). Shin never seems to make any headway in his attempt to earn enough money to break his mercenary contract, leaving him frustrated and melancholy. Shin's time at Area 88 leaves him so traumatized and maladjusted that [[spoiler:when he receives not one but two opportunities to resume a normal life, he returns to a life of combat both times.]] By the time the manga reaches its {{bittersweet ending}}, the audience likely has ending fatigue.
* ''Manga/{{Bakuman}}'' features this in-universe with the main characters' reactions to Nanamine's "Classroom of Truth," in which [[KillEmAll everyone]], [[TheHeroDies including the main character]] [[DownerEnding dies]], with Mashiro saying that having the main character's efforts turn out to be in vain doesn't work.
* ''Manga/{{Basilisk}}'': Both ninja clans have more than their fair share of {{Jerkass}}es. Oboro is incredibly naive and indecisive [[BreakTheCutie and boy does she pay for it]]. [[AnyoneCanDie Any character]] is going to be killed in a few episodes. And the whole contest is being held by [[AristocratsAreEvil corrupt nobles.]]
* The second season of ''Manga/BirdyTheMighty: Decode'' was criticized for some for going out of its way to be DarkerAndEdgier and BloodierAndGorier than the first season, including [[spoiler:one of the main characters of the season being a revenge-driven serial killer who also engages in self-loathing, the realization that the title character is a [[GeneticEngineeringIsTheNewNuke genetically-engineered]] SuperSoldier forced into being a SpacePolice officer, and issues of FantasticRacism which ties into the other two]].
* The narrative of ''Manga/BitterVirgin'' piles up so much trauma, woobieness and weepy melodrama on Hinako, Daisuke and the reader, and uses a complicated theme like [[RapeAsDrama sexual abuse]] so ''liberally'' as a plot device (i.e, Hinako was not only sexually abused by her stepdad in her backstory, but she's almost raped ''again'' in story for no other reason than [[RapeAndRevenge motivating Daisuke into beating her would-be rapist to almost death]]), that it can become a chore to read.
* ''LightNovel/BlackBullet'''s setting is so very crapsack and the main characters are hopelessly ineffectual in stopping the Gastrea threat, not to mention, the author's tendency of killing off a good number of characters (or at least [[SadistShow put Rentaro and Enju through sadistic hell]]) before they receive sufficient CharacterDevelopment, means people can simply get ''bored'' of the darkness. Detractors accuse the author for putting too emphasis on sadistic treatment of the characters while ignoring to clear up several plot points [[spoiler:such as Enju's high corrosion rate]]. [[spoiler:Taken UpToEleven with the Fugitive arc (volumes 5 and 6) where the author decides to put every main character [[TraumaCongaLine in the worst possible suffering he can imagine]].]]
* ''Manga/{{Bleach}}'' ends up falling into this during the Thousand Years Blood War Arc. Once ''again'', the Gotei 13 goes from actually being able to turn the tide to... being [[TheWorfEffect taken out by the bad guys with relative ease]]. Even when someone ''finally'' has an upper edge, a new set of AntagonistAbilities is whipped out to quickly close the gap. Pretty much every victory in this arc is a PyrrhicVictory. While this is far from new to Bleach, it had been done so often that readers had come to expect it and were practically asking if they could just skip the part where the Gotei 13 loses since they know it's not going to move the plot forward.
** Since Bleach was also at risk of being CutShort, people also started to assume that it was going to be all lost and nobody would have an interesting fight due to the rapidly approaching CosmicDeadline. Gerard Valkyrie in particular suffers a lot from this - he's revealed to be the Heart of the Soul King, and an almost invulnerable opponent who [[spoiler: just loses his fight by default because Yhwach takes his and Jugram's powers - meaning that unlike Lillie, Pernida, and Askin, no clever plan is made to defeat him.]]
* ''Anime/BloodC'' is this since the characters kept holding the IdiotBall despite the danger around them which is why viewers care less when they are brutally killed, most especially the {{Red Shirt}}s. It doesn't helped that Saya is a FailureHero and whatever she does, many people die which irritated a lot of viewers. And at the end, [[spoiler:it turns out most of Saya's friends are assholes who are hired to act those roles. You won't feel sorry for them when they're gruesomely killed and the BigBad turns out to be Saya's friendly neighbor, Fumito, who got away with another of her supposed "friends", leaving tons of corpses on the trail and the town in ruins.]] The only characters who are sympathetic or redeemed [[spoiler:were Itsuki, Tadayoshi and dog (who is Watanuki's corporeal form). And yet, Itsuki and Tadayoshi died, and Watanuki is powerless to do anything to help Saya since he cannot leave the shop.]]
** The movie tries to step out of this trope. However, the climax just made it worse, depending on how you see it: [[spoiler:Saya fulfills her revenge except that she found out that Fumito is in love with her and all of her actions are for her survival, regardless that he killed thousands of people in the past and abused her emotionally and psychologically. Also, she can't go back to Mana again after she found out that she killed her dad at the beginning of the movie.]] Because of this, Saya is established as a TragicHero.
* In regards to ''Manga/CandyCandy'', more than one watcher/reader ended up getting tired of all the relentless, neverending, borderline ridiculous melodrama surrounding Candy's life and ended up dropping the series.
* ''Manga/CannonGodExaxxion''. The alien invaders are basically Nazi Elves. The boss of the defending humans doesn't give a crap about collateral damage and will kill and destroy at will. While Creator/KenichiSonoda had dipped his toe in this trope before, this was when he took a freefall into it, and never really surfaced, as evidenced with the reaction to ''Gunsmith Cats Burst''.
* As soon as the ''second episode'', ''Side:Future'' of ''Anime/DanganRonpa3'' got this reaction. A large problem with the anime was the frequent killing of characters who had barely been introduced, making it rather difficult to care what was going on given that most of Future revolved around the new cast.
** Episode 5 takes it up a notch: All [[spoiler:five]] deaths that occurred up to that point were of fan-favorites and likable characters. The anime started entering EightDeadlyWords territory, as the characters left are mostly from the controversial Radical Faction and Munakata's SanitySlippage slowly turns him into TheScrappy.
* ''Manga/DeadTube'' really goes over-the-top with the atrocities the cast commits against each other. Not even the main characters are all that better than their competition. A lot of readers give up on caring and those who continue to read after not caring mostly read it [[BileFascination to see just how hilariously fucked up things get]].
* Don't bother getting attached to story arc characters in ''Anime/DarkerThanBlack''--they'll be dead in a few episodes.
* ''Manga/DesertPunk'', albeit a comic series falls into this. Almost every single character is a massive JerkAss, and the few exceptions never prosper in this world. By the middle of the series, it's quite clear that none of the three major characters have a HiddenHeartOfGold. Pretty much summing things up is the comment by the LemonyNarrator in the last episode in respect to the AfterTheEnd setting, which is to the effect that "With people like this, it doesn't matter if humanity goes extinct."
* In ''Manga/ADevilAndHerLoveSong'', there's so much drama and emotional conflict on latter volumes that it becomes really hard to root for the characters, especially if those who make others suffer go unpunished. Specifically, Maria's old best friend Anna gets PutOnABus after more or less acting awful to Maria after she came to school to see her, and Maria's [[spoiler: father, John, never explains why he raped her mother and she never chews him out for it, though he is a priest and clearly trying to atone for his actions]].
* The ''Manga/{{Devilman}}'' franchise. Where to even ''start?!'' Devils are either rapacious monsters or innocent victims of [[FantasticRacism persecution]] and [[HumansAreBastards humanity]] is at its absolute worst on every imaginable level. With [[SarcasmMode lovely]] scenes of [[{{Gorn}} death]], [[SceneryGorn destruction]] and [[FromBadToWorse so much more.]] And in the end, [[spoiler: Akira is killed, Devils are extinct, Satan has destroyed all life on Earth and God destroys the entire planet to start things over from scratch so he can punish Satan yet again.]] Many fans have [[MemeticMutation come to the conclusion]] that the "crybaby" subtitle in ''Anime/DevilmanCrybaby'' is referring to the ''viewer.'' Being that it's the TropeCodifier of grimdark, this shouldn't come across as too surprising.
** ''Manga/ViolenceJack.'', the sequel to ''Manga/{{Devilman}}'', manages to be even worse in regards to this than the original series, with a CrapsackWorld 10 times more brutal and depressing, full of rapists, sadists, murderers and scumbags of the highest order, and the protagonist, Jack himself, starts off as an apathetic and sadistic SociopathicHero, not caring about anyone but himself (thankfully this changes due to some character development), with some very innocent, well-meaning and kind-hearted characters always constantly suffering at the hands of the sadistic villains who Jack fights. As a result, it's pretty hard to go through this series for some. Not helped by the fact that the series is notorious for containing graphic scenes of child-murder, rape, cannibalism, and even zoophilia at one point.
* In ''Manga/DominaNoDo'', the amount of crap Takeshi suffers from chapter to chapter due to the women around him will pretty much frustrate readers whenever they're not being astonished at all the other crazy stuff that happens in this manga.
* ''Manga/ElfenLied'', for some. The lack of subtlety in the narrative, the BlackAndGrayMorality, and the exaggerated emphasis on how 90% of HumansAreBastards to the point of being {{Card Carrying Villain}}s is often enough to make the viewers exhausted and angry instead of sympathetic to the Diclonius' plights (who themselves are AxCrazy by nature to some extent anyway). Granted, this ''is'' toned down in the anime and later on in the manga, making such characters as Bando, Mariko, Kurama, and even Lucy more... well, human in the end.
* ''Anime/ErgoProxy'' can, in its early stages, fall victim to this trope. Near the beginning of the series, there were a few moral dilemmas stemming from black and black morality. Stop the Proxy that's loose in Romdo and the fascist government regains total control over the city. Don't stop the Proxy and it'll continue a murder spree.
* ''Franchise/FullmetalAlchemist'':
** This is one of the main criticisms of the first ''Anime/FullmetalAlchemist'' anime (which had a GeckoEnding), especially compared with the [[Manga/FullmetalAlchemist manga]] and ''Brotherhood'' anime (which adapted the manga faithfully). The manga featured some extremely dark moments [[spoiler: as a way for the characters to earn their happy endings]], but the 2003 anime is consistently dark throughout and never stops making things worse for the protagonists.
** ''Anime/FullmetalAlchemistTheConquerorOfShamballa'' (the sequel to first anime) is arguably an even more extreme example. By the end [[spoiler: Ed and Al are together again, but are trapped forever in another universe as World War II is about to break out]]. By comparison, the manga ends with [[spoiler: Ed and Winry happy together with children]].
* ''Manga/FutureDiary'': It pits a DeadlyGame where most of the participants are ruthless, insane or care only for those they know. TheHero's female deuteragonist is ''perhaps the least sane of the lot''. While the protagonist starts off as an AllLovingHero, the entire story is a SanitySlippage that sees him become a willing killer, and then lose all composure when [[spoiler:he finds out he cannot resurrect those he killed even after winning the game]]. The ending [[spoiler:sees him recreate the world with everyone alive again]], but it can be a chore to get there.
* ''Manga/{{Gantz}}'', aside from the blood and gore everywhere and the overly gritty tone, it's really hard to sympathize with the main characters as many of them are {{jerkass}}es at best and downright malicious at worst. Even with the series getting EarnYourHappyEnding, it still feels like a chore to read through for some.
* ''Anime/{{Genocyber}}'': The extremely graphic and disturbing violence, lack of any genuinely likable characters and incredibly nihilistic tone ended up turning a large number of people away from this series.
* ''Anime/{{Gilgamesh}}'' has [[EliteMooks immortal monsters made from antimatter]] that want to create some sort of new reality. And on the other side, a {{Manipulative B|astard}}itch whose main reason for getting rid of the reflective sky (which gives the heroes their incredible powers by the way, meaning they probably shouldn't be serving her) is [[WomanScorned being dumped by the guy who engineered the future]]. And the children are such {{Wide Eyed Idealist}}s that they get used by both sides. It's actually a relief when EveryoneDies. And it somehow makes even that terrible because [=TeaR=] is killed by a Gilgamesh spawn from Kiyoko after it destroys everything, therefore everything is gone forever and can never be brought back potentially better. Then again, [[Creator/ShotaroIshinomori the mangaka]] who wrote the source material [[Film/ShinKamenRiderPrologue has made other work that gets hit with this]], so it's not entirely surprising.
* ''Manga/GoodnightPunpun'' has a protagonist that suffers through a TraumaCongaLine of events that change his life, turning him into a miserable kid with a lot of Wangst inside. Considering that he doesn't ever change throughout the story and that it's mostly focused on him, it can be very hard to care about him or his problems.
* The anime version of ''Manga/{{Hanebad}}'' has been hit rather hard with this. In addition to the anime [[DarkerAndEdgier toning down most of the comedy to add in more drama to the story]], several of the characters have gone through AdaptationalJerkass in the making.
* Season one of ''Anime/HellGirl'' in particular can get a little ridiculous. Every episode, you're introduced to a new villain with no real objective other than to prove his/her guilt in as many obvious ways as possible. Even when they get what's coming to them, it's not before they've completely ruined someone, or many people's lives, sometimes irrevocably. And you know the next episode is just gonna feature someone even crueller. The first season tries to rectify this by introducing the IntrepidReporter Hajime, who starts trying to prevent people from using the Hell Correspondence and getting Enma Ai to send their tormentors to Hell in exchange for their own souls. Problem is, Hajime ''never'' succeeds [[spoiler: until his own daughter Tsugumi gets {{mind rape}}d by Enma Ai, (she and her dad are descendants of a person from Enma Ai's DarkAndTroubledPast), and then Ai tries to use it on him, and if ''anyone'' should know not to use the Correspondence, she should, so what she does makes her a monster only slightly more sympathetic than the villains in the series.]]
* ''Manga/HighschoolOfTheDead'': apart from the obvious bloodshed, gore, and people turning into zombies, it's very hard to sympathize with the characters who are willing to cross moral boundaries simply just to survive the zombie apocalypse. The very blatant right-wing politics [[spoiler:and the villain's infamous orgybus]] also doesn't help.
* ''Manga/HotGimmick'' is one of the few shoujo manga that fits this trope. Every character is a {{Jerkass}} or an idiot, and nobody receives any major character development (in fact the opposite seems to happen). The EsotericHappyEnding doesn't help, [[spoiler: not even when the novel ended up fixing it via having the girl ''finally'' get a chance to walk out on the BastardBoyfriend.]]
* ''Manga/IchiTheKiller'' treads perilously close to this trope. A psychological drama set in the brutal (albeit colorful) world of a nigh-lawless Tokyo red-light district could be forgiven for a cast whose morality comes in various shades of gray, but Jeez Louise… Nearly every character in Ichi either skipped gleefully past the moral event horizon long ago or is presently teetering on its edge. Almost everyone of plot significance is either 1) a murderous, manipulative bastard, 2) completely deranged, 3) a depraved sadist and/or masochist, 4) some other kind of sex pervert (you want necrophiliacs? Ichi's got 'em!), 5) a cold blooded mass murderer, 6) willing to do absolutely anything for money, 7) some combination of the foregoing. The two main protagonists? Completely deranged sadomasochistic mass murderers. Yeah. It’s so over the top that one character, a Yakuza *hit man* with a functional family life and a few glimmers of empathy, starts to seem like a nice guy just by comparison. So why would anyone who occasionally goes outdoors for something other than a load of canned meat and tarp read this? It’s the plot (tense, coiled and well-paced), and Ichi’s surprisingly incisive exploration of identity and desire.
* ''Manga/TheIslandOfGiantInsects'': Most of the cast is comprised of [[JerkAss unlikeable assholes]], [[TooDumbToLive incompetent buffoons]], [[StupidEvil incompetent buffoonish assholes]], and [[AttemptedRape attempted rapists]]. There's also a good deal of FanDisservice with young, attractive ladies getting eaten alive while naked.
* ''Manga/{{Jormungand}}'': Most of the characters are all bloodthirsty bodyguards for a deranged woman with a god complex who claims to want to save the world by killing hundreds of thousands of innocent people, and that's not even getting into the logical fallacies her plan actually has.
* While ''Kichikujima'' seems to be going for a mix of WhatYouAreInTheDark and HumansAreBastards as its theme, it takes very little time for most of our main group to reveal themselves as a bunch of cowards who will stoop to absolutely any low for a chance to save themselves. On top of that, almost every revelation about their characters makes them look even worse than they did before. The main character is at the very least ashamed whenever he does something wrong and one girl who was already on the island seems good and normal enough (to the point that the cult mistake her for the reincarnation of the Virgin Mary because she's the only person they've ever met who wasn't horribly selfish), but beyond them all the characters do is panic and scheme to stab each other in the back. It's to the point that the insane, mutant cannibal cultists manage to be some of the most sympathetic characters, because they at least seem to care about each other in some warped sense of the word.
* ''Literature/{{Koizora}}'' definitely feels like this, with the main character Mika experiencing heartbreak, rape, unwanted pregnancy, then a miscarriage and even more stuff that seems like it just wants the audience [[TearJerker to dry up from reading the series]], when all it does after a while, makes you think what sad thing ''won't'' happen to this girl!
* ''Manga/LoneWolfAndCub'' is filled to the brim with violence, with countless people, both good and bad, meeting violent or otherwise unfortunate ends. Only a few side characters get what could be considered a happy ending. In addition, the unjust and unequal caste system of Japan in the Edo period is shown in all its dubious glory. Hence, it may be difficult for some to really care about the plot and the characters.
* A number of MagicalGirlGenreDeconstruction works suffer from this:
** ''LightNovel/MagicalGirlRaisingProject'': It's about [[TheChosenMany magical girls]] who faces very dangerous threats, and then they're put into a DeadlyGame for no good reason besides for [[ForTheEvulz satisfying the game master]] and [[UtopiaJustifiesTheMeans making a better world through wrong and violent ways]]. Many heroines are either driven into insanity/evil or died for nothing, especially when [[spoiler:there's one magical girl [[DrivenToSuicide hanged herself]] (due to being brokenhearted) after her friend [[SenselessSacrifice sacrifices herself so she can live]]]]. The overly bleak AnyoneCanDie setting doesn't help at all.
*** The reaction to the anime series was mainly this, with many mixed to negative reactions over yet another MagicalGirlGenreDeconstruction show being aired at a period in which more typical takes on the genre have become very seldom (at the time, only ''Anime/MahoGirlsPreCure'', ''Anime/SailorMoonCrystal'' and ''Manga/MagicalGirlLyricalNanohaViVid'' were mainstream, and all of them were new installments of old-established franchises instead of fully new works). Even Crunchyroll staffers showed themselves frustrated about it on the live portion of the Fall 2016 Rollout special where they first announced they were simulcasting the anime adaptation of ''Magical Girl Raising Project''.
*** EightDeadlyWords is a very common complaint, even by fans of the show themselves, is that it is hard to feel any impact at [[TheyWastedAPerfectlyGoodCharacter the death of characters who barely get any development before being mowed down]]. Part of the fault goes to the anime attempting to adapt all the side stories and backgrounds of the cast from the first arc, which leaves no screen time to dedicate individually to every one of them given the short length of the series. Being a twelve episode anime trying to flesh out sixteen characters meant that it could not even focus on a single character per episode.
*** It's hard to care about some {{war arc}}s as the factions are {{nominal|hero}} at best and corrupted or outright evil at worst, and the fact that [[TheBadGuyWins bad guys always win]] doesn't help, at least in early war arcs.
*** This problem actually is endemic to the light novel itself, as many fans agree that the characters in the first arc, which the anime adapts, were weaker in terms of characterization. Later arcs were much better received both in character depth and world building.
** ''Manga/MagicalGirlSite'' isn't so popular because it is a horribly grim-dark MagicalGirlGenreDeconstruction manga, that tells about a suicidal protagonist who is also a victim of her brother's abuse. Thankfully she gets a chance to join the Magical Girl Site contract, where all the girls can become magical girls. [[spoiler:Except... the contract turns out to be a HopeSpot where she has to [[CastFromLifespan sacrifice a certain amount of her lifespan every time she uses her magical attack]] and fight nothing but between the girls who have also joined Magical Girl Site in a form of DeadlyGame]]. Also, the fact that [[WhatDoYouMeanItsForKids this manga runs in a Shonen magazine]] doesn't help at all. Seeing all these premises, the audience might expect our poor protagonist [[spoiler:to die in a few moments during the deadly game (or ''even after'' she wins and has become the true magical girl)]].
* ''Manga/MasamuneKunsRevenge'': The series isn't dark, per se, but the entire premise of the love story between two polarizing and heavily flawed characters like Masamune and Aki can come off as a hard sell of a romance story. Masamune goes out of his way to manipulate and lie to those he calls his friends and Aki frequently shames and humiliate anyone who declares their love for her. [[https://www.animenewsnetwork.com/feature/2017-12-29/the-best-anime-of-2017/the-worst-anime-of-2017/.125874 One anime reviewer]] even declared it the worst anime of 2017 for this reason.
* Done [[NarmCharm beautifully]] in ''Anime/MDGeist''. Our [[SociopathicHero hero]] '''really''' [[NotSoDifferent isn't any better]] than the BigBad and eventually ''[[spoiler:releases the [[ZombieApocalypse Death Force]]]]'' simply because he knows how meaningless his life would be without [[BloodKnight something nasty to fight]]. Let that sink in for a moment: [[spoiler: he ''obliterates humanity just to be an asshole.'' He '''''obliterates humanity. Just to be an asshole.''''']] [[WebVideo/AtopTheFourthWall Our hero, ladies and gentlemen.]]
* ''Anime/MichikoAndHatchin'' is set in a CrapsackWorld filled with {{Jerkass}}es, and the few people who are genuinely good and want to help people (most notably Hana, the {{Deuteragonist}}) are completely powerless to change anything for the better. Many episodes consist mainly of rotten people pushing around helpless victims or other rotten people with little to no payoff. Making matters worse is that Michiko actually began as a pretty good person, genuinely caring about Hana and rescuing her from danger, but Michiko grew increasingly selfish, abusive, and perpetually angry as the series went on.
* ''Anime/NowAndThenHereAndThere'': After the NonIndicativeFirstEpisode, the series pulls no punches in being grim-dark, complete with one of the most abominable villains in history and a main character who is [[PinballProtagonist near-powerless to change much.]] In the end, the protagonist has no great influence and is able only to inspire the actually-powerful Lala-Ru to bring about a more-or-less happy ending. The mostly-positive outcome feels insignificant after the series' overall dark journey.
* The final episodes of ''Anime/ParanoiaAgent'', when a mysterious but solitary menace turned into a city-wide all-consuming biomass, destroying uncounted {{Innocent Bystander}}s amongst a handful of previously developed characters. Fortunately this was a brief enough period to avert EndingFatigue, and still got the [[AnAesop point]] across by changing scope.
* In ''Anime/Overlord2012'': The main characters are hopelessly overpowered when compared to the rest of the cast, and also, for the most part, extremely evil. Even the one exception to this—Sebas—is willing to punch the girl he spent several episodes nursing back to health to death at a moment's notice if Ainz asks him to, though fortunately he stops him at the last second. It's very clear how most plot arcs are going to turn out; the only question is the level of collateral damage caused in the process. And one infamous arc in the third season is dominated by a lot of what could charitably be described as torture porn. Depending on your level of tolerance, and your patience, it can become very difficult to care about how any of this ends.
* ''Manga/{{Pupa}}'', particularly the series, which is usually viewed as a disjointed, directionless mess on account of being only twelve episodes long, with each episode clocking in at around two minutes - certainly not enough time for the story that's trying to be told. The extreme gore, rampant cruelty, creepy incestuous overtones, largely unlikable cast and [[ArsonMurderAndJaywalking sub-par animation]] make for a show that's hard to sit through,[[note]]And once again: ''this thing is less than half an hour long!''[[/note]] let alone become invested in.
* ''Anime/ReCreators'' didn't have this initially, but toward the end of the series, it really began setting in primarily thanks to [[spoiler: the ''Elimination Chamber Festival'', wherein Altair challenged every other Creation to a fight and either killing or incapacitating them without breaking a sweat thanks to how the love of the fans [[NewPowersAsThePlotDemands give her new abilities completely out of thin air]] (plus, the fact that almost nobody outside of the main cast seems to ever grasp what's actually going on and what kind of threat this poses to not just Creationkind, but also to humanity as a whole). Coupled that with the fact that Altair was ultimately defeated in a scene derided as an AntiClimax (one where ''[[TheyWastedAPerfectlyGoodPlot none]]'' [[TheyWastedAPerfectlyGoodPlot of the heroes are involved]], no less, and ''does'' involve a character [[PosthumousCharacter who had been dead]] [[BackFromTheDead up until this point]] and has had [[FlatCharacter little characterization]]) and effectively EasilyForgiven for her actions ([[TheBadGuyWins which allows her to]] [[KarmaHoudini avoid answering to her atrocities]]) and you have people decrying the series as a series where nothing of real note has been accomplished. Magane never being brought to task for any of ''her'' crimes either (in addition to getting to live in the real world and continue indulging in [[TheHedonist her lifestyle]] unimpeded) is just the cherry atop the shit sundae.]] Unsurprisingly, it's considered to be one of the most disliked anime of 2017 and has become one of the biggest AcceptableTargets for recent anime.
* ''LightNovel/RedoOfHealer'': The main character is a SerialRapist and a very creative torturer with a harem of slaves and his female enemies (that he either bought or brainwashed)... but [[ALighterShadeOfBlack he's still a saint compared to his enemies]]. So yeah, it's very easy to not care about what happens to anyone, unless you're into rape/sex and BlackComedy scenes.
* ''LightNovel/ReZero'': Kicks in during the later episodes, where Subaru's punishments for screwing up become more visceral. For some people this borders on unnecessary cruelty.
* ''LightNovel/TheRisingOfTheShieldHero'': The WorldOfJerkass setting as well as the fact that the bad guys often pull a KarmaHoudini (well, [[KarmaHoudiniWarranty until much later]]) can make the viewers simply unable to care about what's happening to the main characters.
* ''Manga/SakuraGari'', Christ on a cracker. Out of the main characters only one (Masataka) is unambiguously good, and he gets horribly raped and broken through the story. [[spoiler: And while Masataka manages to walk out and away to start rebuilding his life, the other protagonist (Souma) is all but stated to have died.]]
* The ''VisualNovel/SchoolDays'' anime, since it adapts the darkest aspects of the visual novel. By the end of the series, there are absolutely no sympathetic characters left, as everyone turns out to be some combination of malicious, selfish, and/or psychotic.
* ''Manga/SchoolLive'':
** This SliceOfLife ZombieApocalypse series is written by a person who works with Creator/{{Nitroplus}}, the VisualNovel company which is infamous for creating [[HGame H-novels]] with mostly dark and edgy stories. It also doesn't help to note that the girls are [[BreakTheCutie already mentally broken]] from the zombie apocalypse, one of the girls being very oblivious to the situation[[spoiler:, and another girl slowly turning into a zombie despite taking a MagicAntidote]]. On top of all that, Chapter 51 reveals that [[spoiler: the Zombie Virus might be an airborne virus that could infect anybody at any time, so if this is true it could result in any of the characters randomly getting infected and dying at any point no matter how much progress they've made up to that point]].
** The anime manages to avert this by [[LighterAndSofter having more lighthearted and comedic moments than the manga already had]], ending on [[BittersweetEnding a bittersweet but optimistic]] [[SugarWiki/HeartwarmingMoments and heartwarming]] note, and also stopping shortly before it could reach the manga's current arc when the series got ''really'' dark.
* ''Manga/{{Shiki}}'' enters this territory when the humans become aware of the existence of the [[OurVampiresAreDifferent Shiki]] who are responsible for the declining population of the village and the deaths of several of their loved ones. Due to the nature of the series being GreyAndGrayMorality, both sides crossed many lines to fight for their survival. If you have a favorite character on either side, chances are that they would either be dead or broken. [[spoiler:It doesn't help as the ending shows the humans won against the Shiki but lost their loved ones and their homes are burned down and the BigBad got away scot-free though she felt some amount of remorse for her actions]].
* ''Manga/ASilentVoice'' is filled to the brim with the message that Bullying Is Wrong and while that message is certainly truthful, the manga did not let up on the drama after it turned from a one-shot into a series, including the point of some characters attempting to commit suicide. And even after those events, the manga is still very heavy on the emotional aspects of grief and being emotionally broken, to the point that one cannot care for very long anymore.
* ''Anime/{{Texhnolyze}}''. While there ''are'' characters who are noticeably better or worse than others, [[BlackAndGrayMorality no one is truly good]], with even the most sympathetic characters being {{Anti Hero}}es. A lot of viewers saw the show's DownerEnding coming a mile away, and were just waiting for [[spoiler: everyone to give up and die.]]
* ''Manga/TokyoGhoul'' and its sequels. Some fans feel the overall and increasingly dark tone of the series makes it difficult to care about the [[LoadsAndLoadsOfCharacters confusingly large number of characters]]. As the series advances and turns up the darkness UpToEleven, the amount of angst, traumatic experiences, and AbusiveParents can come off as just excessive.
* The well-known Hentai series, ''Urotsukidoji'', rivals ''Anime/{{Devilman}}'' in pretty much every way possible when it comes to this trope. The amount of rape scenes (including [[NaughtyTentacles tentacle rape]], which this series is well-known for being a trope namer for.), extremely graphic violence (which borders on Guro at times), and each installment [[DownerEnding ending on a downer]], has put off a lot of people from this series.
* ''Anime/UnderTheDog'': The OVA is viewed as this. Hana ultimately fails in her mission to save Nanase, and Anthea does a MercyKill on Hana. This results in the deaths of Hana's family. Anthea later confronts and kills the Pandora, [[LukeIAmYourFather which turns out to be Nanase's transformed father]]. Then it turns out that Nanase isn't the candidate they were looking for, so Anthea kills him as well, [[ShaggyDogStory rendering the entire OVA pointless]].
* ''Anime/ValvraveTheLiberator'': Some viewers are finding it increasingly hard to care about the series (even with all the {{Camp}}) because the majority of characters are either {{Jerk Ass}}es, TooDumbToLive or is TooGoodForThisSinfulEarth. The episode where [[spoiler:the majority of the Module 77 students are massacred]] essentially turns the series into a ShaggyDogStory, and the 200 year timeskip shows certain characters' survival as a ForegoneConclusion.
* The ''Manga/WolfGuyWolfenCrest'' manga is set in such a ridiculously DarkerAndEdgier CrapsackWorld, uses heavy themes (like rape, bullying, etc.) in such grossly exploitative manners and has characters ''so'' into BlackAndWhiteMorality... that many readers have simply given up on it.
* The 1996 movie of ''Manga/{{X1999}}'' is regarded as this by modern viewers since it was released while the manga was ongoing. While the Dragons of Heaven are still benevolent, the Dragons of Earth become sociopaths including Kusanagi who is the TokenGoodTeammate and a FriendToAllLivingThings. There's also the fact the both sides ended up [[KillThemAll losing their members]] and the barriers got destroyed leaving Tokyo Tower as the last building standing.
** The manga is leaning towards this as of the hiatus. [[spoiler:Yuzuriha is missing, Arashi is controlled by Hinoto's DarkSide who is responsible for sending random attack to the Dragons of Heaven and Subaru, inheriting Seishirou's role as the Sakurazukamori assassin which got him to join the Dragons of Earth with the belief to make Kamui realize his true wish]]. And the real kicker? It's revealed Kamui's true wish [[spoiler:was not to return Fuuma back to normal and the {{Cliffhanger}} chapter ends with Kamui, lying down on the ground as Fuuma is about to stab him]]. And now a decade has already passed, readers seemed to care less about what's going to happen.
* The fantasy manga ''Yakushoku Distpiari'' isn't very popular, due to its gruesome premise: The Hero can only level up [[PowerAtAPrice by killing his party members and obtaining their skills]]. Because of this premise, many readers ended up [[EightDeadlyWords getting tired of reading.]]
* Anime/YuGiOhArcV has this with it's anime. Part of the story is for Yuya to learn what exactly is the best way to make people happy. But as the series progressed, it became really hard and at points outright uncomfortable to watch what's supposed to be a kid who wants to enjoy card games and make people happy be essentially kicked in the teeth for his efforts. SurprisinglyRealisticOutcome can be explained for Yuya's earlier ignorance and naivete, but after a while it just felt like puppy-kicking.
* ''Manga/YourAndMySecret'' is supposed to be a comedic FreakyFridayFlip story in which MasculineGirlFeminineBoy duo Nanako and Akira swap bodies. Nanako proceeds to establish herself as a selfish, messy, violent, domineering bully who ''loves'' the freedom her new male body gives her, refusing to give it back to Akira and living it up, whilst at the same time threatening him with verbal and physical abuse if he dares think of doing something she doesn't approve of with the body she doesn't even want back. Akira's own family tell him, ''to his face'', that they prefer the more "conventionally masculine" Akira that Nanako provides, and Nanako's grandfather, the MadScientist who caused this mess, likewise refuses to repair the machine that could switch them back because he prefers the quieter, more demure Nanako that Akira makes. The closest thing Akira-as-Nanako has to a friend is his "best friend", Senbongi, who constantly sexually harasses him, including kissing him by force and groping his breasts and genitals. Akira ends up falling in love with Senbongi, simply because he's the only person who seems to "care" about Akira. When Nanako's grandfather fixes the machine at last, Nanako ''destroys it'' so she can keep Akira's body and her stolen life. About that point is where most readers dropped the manga and wanted nothing to do with it -- which is all the more understandable when you learn that the manga ends with the two of them basically deciding to stay in each other's bodies.
* ''Manga/YourLieInApril'' is founded on the main character Kousei's misery. When it's not being PlayedForDrama, it's being PlayedForLaughs. [[HopeSpot Even when things seem to be going well for Kousei]], like him overcoming the trauma of his abuse to play piano again, [[YankTheDogsChain the story punches him square in the balls with]] [[spoiler: Kaori's death]]. That combined with everybody besides Kousei [[WorldOfJerkass being huge jerkasses]] is enough to utter the EightDeadlyWords.
* The tone of ''Manga/{{Yuureitou}}'' can get pretty harsh sometimes, and many of the characters have less than pleasant secrets they're willing to hide and aren't afraid to get their hands dirty. It's definitely par for the course for mystery, but with no true good figure in the tale, it becomes somewhat difficult to root for the protagonists.
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* Anime/YuGiOhArcV has this with it's anime. Part of the story is for Yuya to learn what exactly is the best way to make people happy. But as the series progressed, it became really hard and at points outright uncomfortable to watch what's supposed to be a kid who wants to enjoy card games and make people happy be essentially kicked in the teeth for his efforts. RealityEnsues can be explained for Yuya's earlier ignorance and naivete, but after a while it just felt like puppy-kicking.
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* Anime/YuGiOhArcV has this with it's anime. Part of the story is for Yuya to learn what exactly is the best way to make people happy. But as the series progressed, it became really hard and at points outright uncomfortable to watch what's supposed to be a kid who wants to enjoy card games and make people happy be essentially kicked in the teeth for his efforts. RealityEnsues SurprisinglyRealisticOutcome can be explained for Yuya's earlier ignorance and naivete, but after a while it just felt like puppy-kicking.
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A lot of this seems wrong, rewriting to match my knowledge of it.
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* ''Manga/FutureDiary'': Almost everyone (except one participant, who is TheHero) in the DeadlyGame is almost irredeemable and insane. TheHero's female deuteragonist is ''only slightly less'' irredeemable than the others. EightDeadlyWords ensues when TheHero becomes [[GoMadFromTheRevelation instantly insane]] after [[spoiler:his parents are killed by one of the participants]], making him as unsympathetic as the other participants. There are no completely sympathetic characters, even those who are sane and are minor role characters. However, the story manages to EarnYourHappyEnding with [[spoiler:TheHero winning the DeadlyGame and ascending into godhood as a reward. He replaces Deus, [[GodIsDead because the latter is dying]], and revives everyone, including the DeadlyGame participants]]. It's quite a chore to read from the beginning till the end.
to:
* ''Manga/FutureDiary'': Almost everyone (except one participant, who is TheHero) in the It pits a DeadlyGame is almost irredeemable and insane. where most of the participants are ruthless, insane or care only for those they know. TheHero's female deuteragonist is ''only slightly less'' irredeemable than ''perhaps the others. EightDeadlyWords ensues least sane of the lot''. While the protagonist starts off as an AllLovingHero, the entire story is a SanitySlippage that sees him become a willing killer, and then lose all composure when TheHero becomes [[GoMadFromTheRevelation instantly insane]] after [[spoiler:his parents are [[spoiler:he finds out he cannot resurrect those he killed by one of the participants]], making him as unsympathetic as the other participants. There are no completely sympathetic characters, even those who are sane and are minor role characters. However, the story manages to EarnYourHappyEnding with [[spoiler:TheHero after winning the DeadlyGame and ascending into godhood as a reward. He replaces Deus, [[GodIsDead because game]]. The ending [[spoiler:sees him recreate the latter is dying]], and revives everyone, including the DeadlyGame participants]]. It's quite world with everyone alive again]], but it can be a chore to read from the beginning till the end.get there.
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Changed line(s) 62 (click to see context) from:
** ''LightNovel/MagicalGirlRaisingProject'': It's about [[TheChosenMany magical girls]] who faces very dangerous threats, and then they're put into a DeadlyGame for no good reason besides for [[ForTheEvulz satisfying the game master]]. Many heroines are either driven into insanity/evil or died for nothing, especially when [[spoiler:there's one magical girl [[DrivenToSuicide hanged herself]] (due to being brokenhearted) after her friend [[SenselessSacrifice sacrifices herself so she can live]]]]. The overly bleak AnyoneCanDie setting doesn't help at all.
to:
** ''LightNovel/MagicalGirlRaisingProject'': It's about [[TheChosenMany magical girls]] who faces very dangerous threats, and then they're put into a DeadlyGame for no good reason besides for [[ForTheEvulz satisfying the game master]].master]] and [[UtopiaJustifiesTheMeans making a better world through wrong and violent ways]]. Many heroines are either driven into insanity/evil or died for nothing, especially when [[spoiler:there's one magical girl [[DrivenToSuicide hanged herself]] (due to being brokenhearted) after her friend [[SenselessSacrifice sacrifices herself so she can live]]]]. The overly bleak AnyoneCanDie setting doesn't help at all.
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Changed line(s) 62 (click to see context) from:
** ''LightNovel/MagicalGirlRaisingProject'': It's about [[TheChosenMany magical girls]] who faces very dangerous threats, and then they're put into a DeadlyGame for no good reason besides for [[ForTheEvulz satisfying the game master]]. Many heroines are either driven into insanity/evil or died for nothing, especially when [[spoiler:there's one magical girl [[DrivenToSuicide hanged herself]] (due to being brokenhearted) after her friend [[SenselessSacrifice sacrifices herself so she can live]]]].
to:
** ''LightNovel/MagicalGirlRaisingProject'': It's about [[TheChosenMany magical girls]] who faces very dangerous threats, and then they're put into a DeadlyGame for no good reason besides for [[ForTheEvulz satisfying the game master]]. Many heroines are either driven into insanity/evil or died for nothing, especially when [[spoiler:there's one magical girl [[DrivenToSuicide hanged herself]] (due to being brokenhearted) after her friend [[SenselessSacrifice sacrifices herself so she can live]]]]. The overly bleak AnyoneCanDie setting doesn't help at all.
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Changed line(s) 62,63 (click to see context) from:
** ''LightNovel/MagicalGirlRaisingProject'': It's about [[TheChosenMany magical girls]] who faces very dangerous threats, and then they're put into a DeadlyGame for no good reason besides for [[ForTheEvulz satisfying the game master]]. Many heroines are either driven into insanity/evil or died for nothing, especially when [[spoiler:there's one magical [[DrivenToSuicide hanged herself]] (due to being brokenhearted) after her friend [[SenselessSacrifice sacrifices herself so she can live]]]].
** The reaction to the anime series was mainly this, with many mixed to negative reactions over yet another MagicalGirlGenreDeconstruction show being aired at a period in which more typical takes on the genre have become very seldom (at the time, only ''Anime/MahoGirlsPreCure'', ''Anime/SailorMoonCrystal'' and ''Manga/MagicalGirlLyricalNanohaViVid'' were mainstream, and all of them were new installments of old-established franchises instead of fully new works). Even Crunchyroll staffers showed themselves frustrated about it on the live portion of the Fall 2016 Rollout special where they first announced they were simulcasting the anime adaptation of ''Magical Girl Raising Project''.
** The reaction to the anime series was mainly this, with many mixed to negative reactions over yet another MagicalGirlGenreDeconstruction show being aired at a period in which more typical takes on the genre have become very seldom (at the time, only ''Anime/MahoGirlsPreCure'', ''Anime/SailorMoonCrystal'' and ''Manga/MagicalGirlLyricalNanohaViVid'' were mainstream, and all of them were new installments of old-established franchises instead of fully new works). Even Crunchyroll staffers showed themselves frustrated about it on the live portion of the Fall 2016 Rollout special where they first announced they were simulcasting the anime adaptation of ''Magical Girl Raising Project''.
to:
** ''LightNovel/MagicalGirlRaisingProject'': It's about [[TheChosenMany magical girls]] who faces very dangerous threats, and then they're put into a DeadlyGame for no good reason besides for [[ForTheEvulz satisfying the game master]]. Many heroines are either driven into insanity/evil or died for nothing, especially when [[spoiler:there's one magical girl [[DrivenToSuicide hanged herself]] (due to being brokenhearted) after her friend [[SenselessSacrifice sacrifices herself so she can live]]]].
** *** The reaction to the anime series was mainly this, with many mixed to negative reactions over yet another MagicalGirlGenreDeconstruction show being aired at a period in which more typical takes on the genre have become very seldom (at the time, only ''Anime/MahoGirlsPreCure'', ''Anime/SailorMoonCrystal'' and ''Manga/MagicalGirlLyricalNanohaViVid'' were mainstream, and all of them were new installments of old-established franchises instead of fully new works). Even Crunchyroll staffers showed themselves frustrated about it on the live portion of the Fall 2016 Rollout special where they first announced they were simulcasting the anime adaptation of ''Magical Girl Raising Project''.
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Changed line(s) 62 (click to see context) from:
** ''LightNovel/MagicalGirlRaisingProject'': The reaction to the series was mainly this, with many mixed to negative reactions over yet another MagicalGirlGenreDeconstruction show being aired at a period in which more typical takes on the genre have become very seldom (at the time, only ''Anime/MahoGirlsPreCure'', ''Anime/SailorMoonCrystal'' and ''Manga/MagicalGirlLyricalNanohaViVid'' were mainstream, and all of them were new installments of old-established franchises instead of fully new works). Even Crunchyroll staffers showed themselves frustrated about it on the live portion of the Fall 2016 Rollout special where they first announced they were simulcasting the anime adaptation of ''Magical Girl Raising Project''.
to:
** ''LightNovel/MagicalGirlRaisingProject'': It's about [[TheChosenMany magical girls]] who faces very dangerous threats, and then they're put into a DeadlyGame for no good reason besides for [[ForTheEvulz satisfying the game master]]. Many heroines are either driven into insanity/evil or died for nothing, especially when [[spoiler:there's one magical [[DrivenToSuicide hanged herself]] (due to being brokenhearted) after her friend [[SenselessSacrifice sacrifices herself so she can live]]]].
** The reaction to the anime series was mainly this, with many mixed to negative reactions over yet another MagicalGirlGenreDeconstruction show being aired at a period in which more typical takes on the genre have become very seldom (at the time, only ''Anime/MahoGirlsPreCure'', ''Anime/SailorMoonCrystal'' and ''Manga/MagicalGirlLyricalNanohaViVid'' were mainstream, and all of them were new installments of old-established franchises instead of fully new works). Even Crunchyroll staffers showed themselves frustrated about it on the live portion of the Fall 2016 Rollout special where they first announced they were simulcasting the anime adaptation of ''Magical Girl Raising Project''.
** The reaction to the anime series was mainly this, with many mixed to negative reactions over yet another MagicalGirlGenreDeconstruction show being aired at a period in which more typical takes on the genre have become very seldom (at the time, only ''Anime/MahoGirlsPreCure'', ''Anime/SailorMoonCrystal'' and ''Manga/MagicalGirlLyricalNanohaViVid'' were mainstream, and all of them were new installments of old-established franchises instead of fully new works). Even Crunchyroll staffers showed themselves frustrated about it on the live portion of the Fall 2016 Rollout special where they first announced they were simulcasting the anime adaptation of ''Magical Girl Raising Project''.
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Changed line(s) 96 (click to see context) from:
* ''Manga/YourLieInApril'' is founded the main character Kousei's misery. When it's not being PlayedForDrama, it's being PlayedForLaughs. [[HopeSpot Even when things seem to be going well for Kousei]], like him overcoming the trauma of his abuse to play piano again, [[YankTheDogsChain the story punches him square in the balls with]] [[spoiler: Kaori's death]]. That combined with everybody besides Kousei [[WorldOfJerkass being huge jerkasses]] is enough to utter the EightDeadlyWords.
to:
* ''Manga/YourLieInApril'' is founded on the main character Kousei's misery. When it's not being PlayedForDrama, it's being PlayedForLaughs. [[HopeSpot Even when things seem to be going well for Kousei]], like him overcoming the trauma of his abuse to play piano again, [[YankTheDogsChain the story punches him square in the balls with]] [[spoiler: Kaori's death]]. That combined with everybody besides Kousei [[WorldOfJerkass being huge jerkasses]] is enough to utter the EightDeadlyWords.
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Changed line(s) 96 (click to see context) from:
* ''Manga/YourLieInApril'' runs off of the main character Kousei's misery. When it's not being PlayedForDrama, it's being PlayedForLaughs. [[HopeSpot Even when things seem to be going well for Kousei]], like him overcoming the trauma of his abuse to play piano again, [[YankTheDogsChain the story punches him square in the balls with]] [[spoiler: Kaori's death]]. That combined with everybody besides Kousei [[WorldOfJerkass being huge jerkasses]] is enough to utter the EightDeadlyWords.
to:
* ''Manga/YourLieInApril'' runs off of is founded the main character Kousei's misery. When it's not being PlayedForDrama, it's being PlayedForLaughs. [[HopeSpot Even when things seem to be going well for Kousei]], like him overcoming the trauma of his abuse to play piano again, [[YankTheDogsChain the story punches him square in the balls with]] [[spoiler: Kaori's death]]. That combined with everybody besides Kousei [[WorldOfJerkass being huge jerkasses]] is enough to utter the EightDeadlyWords.
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Changed line(s) 17 (click to see context) from:
* ''Anime/AkudamaDrive'': The anime has received a mixed reception. It goes farther than ''Anime/AkameGaKill'' when it comes to the body count. Most viewers are here for the cool artstyle and shipping between Swindler and Courier (and the villainous counterpart [[MadScientist Doctor]] and [[SerialKiller Cutthroat]]). It's hard to care about the whole premise: a {{cyberpunk}} world with GreyAndGrayMorality (or BlackAndGrayMorality) where both [[TheBadGuysAreCops Executioners]] and [[RagtagBunchOfMisfits Akudama criminals]] are equally horrible. The Executioners are already corrupted since the crime rate has skyrocketed, while Akudama criminals (except [[TrappedInVillainy Swindler]]) are [[AntiHero ambiguously good]] at best and [[CompleteMonster outright irredeemable]] at worst. The ending takes it to the logical extreme, [[spoiler:[[KillEmAll all people from both sides are obliterated]], including sympathetic Akudama criminals Swindler and Courier]]. The only good thing at the end is [[spoiler:Akudama criminals succesfully rescue two children Brother and Sister from being sent into a fake reality [[LotusEaterMachine Kanto]].]]
to:
* ''Anime/AkudamaDrive'': The anime has received a mixed reception. It goes farther than ''Anime/AkameGaKill'' when it comes to the body count. Most viewers are here for the cool artstyle and shipping between Swindler and Courier (and the villainous counterpart [[MadScientist Doctor]] and [[SerialKiller Cutthroat]]). It's hard to care about the whole premise: a {{cyberpunk}} world with GreyAndGrayMorality (or BlackAndGrayMorality) where both [[TheBadGuysAreCops Executioners]] and [[RagtagBunchOfMisfits Akudama criminals]] are equally horrible. The Executioners are already corrupted since the crime rate has skyrocketed, while Akudama criminals (except [[TrappedInVillainy Swindler]]) are [[AntiHero ambiguously good]] at best and [[CompleteMonster outright irredeemable]] at worst. The ending takes it to the logical extreme, [[spoiler:[[KillEmAll all people from both sides are obliterated]], including sympathetic Akudama criminals Swindler and Courier]]. The only good thing at the end is [[spoiler:Akudama criminals succesfully rescue two [[spoiler:two children Brother and Sister are succesfully rescued from being sent into a fake reality [[LotusEaterMachine Kanto]].]]
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Changed line(s) 17 (click to see context) from:
* ''Anime/AkudamaDrive'': The anime has received a mixed reception. It goes farther than ''Anime/AkameGaKill'' when it comes to the body count. Most viewers are here for the cool artstyle and shipping between Swindler and Courier (and the villainous counterpart [[MadScientist Doctor]] and [[SerialKiller Cutthroat]]). It's hard to care about the whole premise: a {{cyberpunk}} world with GreyAndGrayMorality (or BlackAndGrayMorality) where both [[TheBadGuysAreCops Executioners]] and [[RagtagBunchOfMisfits Akudama criminals]] are equally horrible. The Executioners are already corrupted since the crime rate has skyrocketed, while Akudama criminals (except [[TrappedInVillainy Swindler]]) are [[AntiHero ambiguously good]] at best and [[CompleteMonster outright irredeemable]] at worst. The ending takes it to the logical extreme, [[spoiler:[[KillEmAll all people from both sides are obliterated]], including sympathetic Akudama criminals Swindler and Courier]].
to:
* ''Anime/AkudamaDrive'': The anime has received a mixed reception. It goes farther than ''Anime/AkameGaKill'' when it comes to the body count. Most viewers are here for the cool artstyle and shipping between Swindler and Courier (and the villainous counterpart [[MadScientist Doctor]] and [[SerialKiller Cutthroat]]). It's hard to care about the whole premise: a {{cyberpunk}} world with GreyAndGrayMorality (or BlackAndGrayMorality) where both [[TheBadGuysAreCops Executioners]] and [[RagtagBunchOfMisfits Akudama criminals]] are equally horrible. The Executioners are already corrupted since the crime rate has skyrocketed, while Akudama criminals (except [[TrappedInVillainy Swindler]]) are [[AntiHero ambiguously good]] at best and [[CompleteMonster outright irredeemable]] at worst. The ending takes it to the logical extreme, [[spoiler:[[KillEmAll all people from both sides are obliterated]], including sympathetic Akudama criminals Swindler and Courier]]. The only good thing at the end is [[spoiler:Akudama criminals succesfully rescue two children Brother and Sister from being sent into a fake reality [[LotusEaterMachine Kanto]].]]
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None
Changed line(s) 17 (click to see context) from:
* ''Anime/AkudamaDrive'': The anime has received a mixed reception. It goes farther than ''Anime/AkameGaKill'' when it comes to the body count. Most viewers are here for the cool artstyle and shipping between Swindler and Courier (and the villainous counterpart Doctor and Cutthroat). It's hard to care about the whole premise: a {{cyberpunk}} world with GreyAndGrayMorality (or BlackAndGrayMorality) where both [[TheBadGuysAreCops Executioners]] and [[RagtagBunchOfMisfits Akudama criminals]] are equally horrible. The Executioners are already corrupted since the crime rate has skyrocketed, while Akudama criminals (except [[TrappedInVillainy Swindler]]) are [[AntiHero ambiguously good]] at best and [[CompleteMonster outright irredeemable]] at worst. The ending takes it to the logical extreme, [[spoiler:[[KillEmAll all people from both sides are obliterated]], including sympathetic Akudama criminals Swindler and Courier]].
to:
* ''Anime/AkudamaDrive'': The anime has received a mixed reception. It goes farther than ''Anime/AkameGaKill'' when it comes to the body count. Most viewers are here for the cool artstyle and shipping between Swindler and Courier (and the villainous counterpart Doctor [[MadScientist Doctor]] and Cutthroat).[[SerialKiller Cutthroat]]). It's hard to care about the whole premise: a {{cyberpunk}} world with GreyAndGrayMorality (or BlackAndGrayMorality) where both [[TheBadGuysAreCops Executioners]] and [[RagtagBunchOfMisfits Akudama criminals]] are equally horrible. The Executioners are already corrupted since the crime rate has skyrocketed, while Akudama criminals (except [[TrappedInVillainy Swindler]]) are [[AntiHero ambiguously good]] at best and [[CompleteMonster outright irredeemable]] at worst. The ending takes it to the logical extreme, [[spoiler:[[KillEmAll all people from both sides are obliterated]], including sympathetic Akudama criminals Swindler and Courier]].
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Changed line(s) 17 (click to see context) from:
* ''Anime/AkudamaDrive'': The anime has received a mixed reception. It goes farther than ''Anime/AkameGaKill'' when it comes to the body count. Most viewers are here for the cool artstyle and shipping between Swindler and Courier (and the villainous counterpart Doctor and Cutthroat). It's hard to care about the whole premise: a {{cyberpunk}} world with GreyAndGrayMorality (or BlackAndGrayMorality) where both [[TheBadGuysAreCops Executioners]] and [[RagtagBunchOfMisfits Akudama criminals]] are equally horrible. The Executioners are already corrupted since the crime rate has skyrocketed, while Akudama criminals (except [[TrappedInVillainy Swindler]]) are ambiguously good at best and irredeemable at worst. The ending takes it to the logical extreme, [[spoiler:[[KillEmAll all people from both sides are obliterated]], including sympathetic Akudama criminals Swindler and Courier]].
to:
* ''Anime/AkudamaDrive'': The anime has received a mixed reception. It goes farther than ''Anime/AkameGaKill'' when it comes to the body count. Most viewers are here for the cool artstyle and shipping between Swindler and Courier (and the villainous counterpart Doctor and Cutthroat). It's hard to care about the whole premise: a {{cyberpunk}} world with GreyAndGrayMorality (or BlackAndGrayMorality) where both [[TheBadGuysAreCops Executioners]] and [[RagtagBunchOfMisfits Akudama criminals]] are equally horrible. The Executioners are already corrupted since the crime rate has skyrocketed, while Akudama criminals (except [[TrappedInVillainy Swindler]]) are [[AntiHero ambiguously good good]] at best and irredeemable [[CompleteMonster outright irredeemable]] at worst. The ending takes it to the logical extreme, [[spoiler:[[KillEmAll all people from both sides are obliterated]], including sympathetic Akudama criminals Swindler and Courier]].
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Changed line(s) 17 (click to see context) from:
* ''Anime/AkudamaDrive'': The anime has received a mixed reception. It goes farther than ''Anime/AkameGaKill'' when it comes to the body count. Most viewers are here for the cool artstyle and shipping between Swindler and Courier (and the villainous counterpart Doctor and Cutthroat). It's hard to care about the whole premise: a {{cyberpunk}} world with GreyAndGrayMorality (or BlackAndGrayMorality) where both [[TheBadGuysAreCops Executioners]] and [[RagtagBunchOfMisfits Akudama criminals]] are equally horrible. The Executioners are already corrupted since the crime rate has skyrocketed, while Akudama criminals (except [[TrappedInVillainy Swindler]]) are ambiguously good at best and irredeemable at worst.
to:
* ''Anime/AkudamaDrive'': The anime has received a mixed reception. It goes farther than ''Anime/AkameGaKill'' when it comes to the body count. Most viewers are here for the cool artstyle and shipping between Swindler and Courier (and the villainous counterpart Doctor and Cutthroat). It's hard to care about the whole premise: a {{cyberpunk}} world with GreyAndGrayMorality (or BlackAndGrayMorality) where both [[TheBadGuysAreCops Executioners]] and [[RagtagBunchOfMisfits Akudama criminals]] are equally horrible. The Executioners are already corrupted since the crime rate has skyrocketed, while Akudama criminals (except [[TrappedInVillainy Swindler]]) are ambiguously good at best and irredeemable at worst. The ending takes it to the logical extreme, [[spoiler:[[KillEmAll all people from both sides are obliterated]], including sympathetic Akudama criminals Swindler and Courier]].
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None
Changed line(s) 17 (click to see context) from:
* ''Anime/AkudamaDrive'': The anime has received a mixed reception. It goes farther than ''Anime/AkameGaKill'' when it comes to the body count. Most viewers are here for the cool artstyle and shipping between Swindler and Courier (and the villainous counterpart Doctor and Cutthroat). It's hard to care about the whole premise: a {{cyberpunk}} world with GreyAndGrayMorality (or BlackAndGrayMorality) where both [[TheBadGuysAreCops Executioners]] and [[RagtagBunchOfMisfits Akudama criminals]] are equally horrible. The Executioners are already corrupted since the crime rate has skyrocketed, while a few Akudama criminals are irredeemable and they don't feel any regret crossing the MoralEventHorizon.
to:
* ''Anime/AkudamaDrive'': The anime has received a mixed reception. It goes farther than ''Anime/AkameGaKill'' when it comes to the body count. Most viewers are here for the cool artstyle and shipping between Swindler and Courier (and the villainous counterpart Doctor and Cutthroat). It's hard to care about the whole premise: a {{cyberpunk}} world with GreyAndGrayMorality (or BlackAndGrayMorality) where both [[TheBadGuysAreCops Executioners]] and [[RagtagBunchOfMisfits Akudama criminals]] are equally horrible. The Executioners are already corrupted since the crime rate has skyrocketed, while a few Akudama criminals (except [[TrappedInVillainy Swindler]]) are ambiguously good at best and irredeemable and they don't feel any regret crossing the MoralEventHorizon.at worst.
