History DarknessInducedAudienceApathy / AnimeAndManga

* ''Franchise/{{Gundam}}'', with Tomino's insistence that all Gundam takes place in the same verse (even alternate continuities he didn't work on), has become this as it requires multiple genocides, several apocalypses, archaeology completely failing to notice previous civilizations (let alone all the mobile suit storage containers) and all aesops {{broken|Aesop}} and [[ForgottenAesop lost]] with the passage of history. To put it another way, nothing that anyone does in any series matters in the long run [[spoiler:until ''Anime/TurnAGundam'', ten thousand years after the eponymous mobile suit destroys all but a tiny portion of humanity]]. Within specific series, ''[[Anime/MobileSuitVictoryGundam Victory Gundam]]'' suffers from this the most, with ''[[Anime/MobileSuitZetaGundam Zeta Gundam]]'' following behind (at least, near the end).

* ''Manga/SchoolLive''. A bit justified, this SliceOfLife ZombieApocalypse series is written by a person who works with Creator/{{Nitroplus}}. 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]].

* ''Manga/GakkouGurashi''. A bit justified, this SliceOfLife ZombieApocalypse series is written by a person who works with Creator/{{Nitroplus}}. 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]].

* It's more common than you think in shoujo and jousei manga, since those who have a BastardBoyfriend as a male lead have a tendency to cause this. It's the main reason why this shoujo/jousei sub-trope is so despised outside Japan: the guy is a total JerkAss and likely a rapist to his girlfriend (or boyfriend, if it's {{yaoi}}), said girlfriend/boyfriend either is too wishy-washy to leave him or is trapped in such a terrible environment that he/she ''can't'' take off, and almost everyone is unhelpful.

* ''Anime/BloodC'' is this. Every time the [[MonsterOfTheWeek Monster Of The Week]] shows up, chances are [[FailureHero she will be unable to save most of the people.]] [[spoiler: By the end, everyone is dead, save for two villains and herself.]]

* ''Anime/CrossAnge'' is so dark that it really becomes hard to root for anybody in this series and fans really wished this series would go for a KillEmAll ending because frankly speaking, the setting is set in such a crappy world, there's barely any "good" heroes with most of them being an AntiHero, and a BigBad who's more of a NecessaryEvil to cater for TheNeedsOfTheMany. The setting itself involves a totalitarian dictatorship locked in a HopelessWar against alien Dragons that outclass them in every way possible. Said dictatorship is populated primarily by magic users, and the racism and oppression of the non-magical "Normas" is so disgustingly extreme and over the top that even [[BioshockInfinite Comstock]] would find it excessive. The main characters constantly lie, cheat and betray each other, with main character Ange directly causing the deaths of five innocent people due to her pride and arrogance in the first episode alone. [[spoiler:A character who had been built up as becoming a major ally to Ange is [[ShockingSwerve suddenly]] revealed to actually be a psychotic sadist who blames Ange for everything that's gone wrong in her life]]. Finally, the series is so chock full of disturbingly graphic and detailed violence, both physical and sexual, that eventually people just stopped caring.

* ''LightNovel/FateZero'' can fall into this, with many of the characters having questionable goals and behavior and with an overall dark and cynical mood that can make it difficult to care about the story.

* ''Franchise/{{Gundam}}'', with Tomino's insistence that all Gundam takes place in the same verse, has become this as it requires multiple genocides, several apocalypses, archaeology completely failing to notice previous civilizations (let alone all the mobile suit storage containers) and all aesops {{broken|Aesop}} and [[ForgottenAesop lost]] with the passage of history. To put it another way, nothing that anyone does in any series matters in the long run [[spoiler:until ''Anime/TurnAGundam'', ten thousand years after the eponymous mobile suit destroys all but a tiny portion of humanity]]. Within specific series, ''[[Anime/MobileSuitVictoryGundam Victory Gundam]]'' suffers from this the most, with ''[[Anime/MobileSuitZetaGundam Zeta Gundam]]'' following behind (at least, near the end).

** ''Manga/PuellaMagiSuzuneMagica.'' takes Oriko's example into the [[{{Expy}} shameless]] [[Flanderization degree]]. The story is [[WordOfGod established]] as a battle royale KillEmAll, with the protagonist being a cold-blooded serial killer who refuses to explain her motivation, yet somehow ends up being viewed as sympathetic. All the supporting cast except one are selfish people who don't get enough time to develop, and the BigBad is even worse.

* ''Anime/PuellaMagiMadokaMagica'' can become this for viewers. Seeing ''everything'' [[WhamEpisode after episode three]] be one long road of misery, suffering, and DeusAngstMachina [[spoiler:until Madoka rewrites reality]] in the span of only twelve episodes can become really stagnant for some. [[spoiler: And then ''Rebellion'' comes out and turns out that [[LoveMakesYouCrazy love has turned Homura so crazy]] that she essentially goes and becomes the Lucifer to Madoka's CrystalDragonJesus, creating a MASSIVE HappyEndingOverride and a SequelHook that professes much more misery to come, no matter how it goes]].\\
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The spin-off ''Manga/PuellaMagiKazumiMagica'' devolves in this shortly before the climax. When all the girls start to fight each other due to their different view-points, it becomes hard to root for one or other due to the fact that they all (although to different degrees) are so morally rotten that several of them already spot a [[BlueAndOrangeMorality blue and orange morality]].\\
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And rounding it off is ''Manga/PuellaMagiOrikoMagica.'' The principal conflict is between [[spoiler: Oriko, who wants to murder an innocent fourteen-year-old and anyone else in the way, and Homura, who is all too eager to risk the [[FailureIsTheOnlyOption almost certain]] destruction of the world for the sake of said innocent fourteen-year-old.]] It doesn't end well for either.

* ''Manga/GakkouGurashi''. A bit justified, this SliceOfLife ZombieApocalypse series is written by a person who works with Creator/Nitroplus. 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 MagicalAntidote]].

* ''Manga/ElfenLied'', for some. The lack of subtlety in the narrative, the BlackAndGreyMorality being taken UpToEleven, 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. 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.

* Ironically despite being a kids show, ''[[Anime/{{Pokemon}} Pokemon]]'' falls into this trope in later seasons no thanks to Ash [[FailureIsTheOnlyOption predictably and continuously failing every single league]] and having a ResetButton every time he entered a new region, as if he has just started his journey from the beginning, unable to age even a single bit. You couldn't even root for the villains either as most of the criminal organization that appeared in the games are shoved aside in favor of the [[GoldfishPoopGang Team Rocket Trio]] appearing in every single episode failing all the time, even when they briefly turn competent in the BW era, while more competent villains like Team Galactic and Team Plasma suffers from a either a severe lack of screentime or doesn't do any impact towards the series at all. Of course, kids don't realize it because they see Ash as their AudienceSurrogate and the game departments wise up to this and made their games a PeripheryDemographic, averting this trope.

* ''Manga/IchiTheKiller'' treads perilously close to this trope. A psychological drama set in the brutal (albeit colorful) world of a neigh-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. 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/IchiTheKiller'' treads perilously close to this trope. A psychological drama set in the brutal (albeit colorful) world of a neigh-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 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 (*anything*) for money. Several are all of the above. 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 goes outdoors for more than another load of canned meat and tarp read this? It’s the plot (relentlessly tense, coiled and well-paced), and Ichi’s surprisingly incisive exploration of identity and desire.

* ''Manga/IchiTheKiller'' treads perilously close to this trope. A psychological drama set in the brutal (albeit colorful) world of a neigh-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 skipped gleefully past the moral event horizon long ago. Almost everyone of plot significance is either 1) a murderous, manipulative bastard, 2) completely deranged, 3) a 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 (*anything*) for money. Several are all of the above. 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 goes outdoors for more than another load of canned meat and tarp read this? It’s the plot (relentlessly tense, coiled and well-paced), and Ichi’s surprisingly incisive exploration of identity and desire.

* Ironically despite being a kids show, [[Anime/{{Pokemon}} Pokemon]] falls into this trope in later seasons no thanks to Ash [[FailureIsTheOnlyOption predictably and continuously failing every single league]] and having a ResetButton every time he entered a new region, as if he has just started his journey from the beginning, unable to age even a single bit. You couldn't even root for the villains either as most of the criminal organization that appeared in the games are shoved aside in favor of the [[GoldfishPoopGang Team Rocket Trio]] appearing in every single episode failing all the time, even when they briefly turn competent in the BW era, while more competent villains like Team Galactic and Team Plasma suffers from a either a severe lack of screentime or doesn't do any impact towards the series at all. Of course, kids don't realize it because they see Ash as their AudienceSurrogate and the game departments wise up to this and made their games a PeripheryDemographic, averting this trope.

* ''Anime/CrossAnge'' is so dark that it really becomes hard to root for anybody in this series and fans really wished this series would go for a KillEmAll ending because frankly speaking, the setting is set in such a crappy world, there's barely any "good" heroes with most of them being an AntiHero, and a BigBad who's more of a NecessaryEvil to cater for TheNeedsOfTheMany.

* ''LightNovel/SwordArtOnline'': The series is already dark from the start with the being trapped in TheMostDangerousVideoGame premise. However, later story archs have explored even ''darker'' plot writing [[spoiler:such as ''two'' scenes of rape; having a bunch of [[PlayerKilling player killers]] from Sword Art Online to continue with their killing spree by killing players in GGO ''and'' in real life despite the numerous defense mechanisms of the AmuSphere that would prevent users from dying in real life if killed in the virtual world; and having Kirito end up brain dead, comatose, and trapped in ''another'' VRMMORPG with virtually no chance of fully recovering]]. One of the biggest criticisms of this series is having tragic fates fall upon various characters without proper characterization that would allow the audience to pity their fates. Another huge criticism to the series is the author is too dependent on very controversial issues such as rape, AIDS, and PTSD for simple shock value instead of fully researching the topics and portray them in a respectful manner.

* ''Anime/CrossAnge'' is so dark that it really becomes hard to root for anybody in this series and fans really wished this series would go for a KillEmAll ending because frankly speaking, the setting is set in such a crappy world, there's barely any "good" heroes with most of them being an AntiHero, and a BigBad who's more of a NecessaryEvil to cater for TheNeedsOfTheMany. And this is not even touching upon the entire UnfortunateImplications this series has.

* ''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.
* ''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."
* ''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.
* ''Franchise/{{Gundam}}'', with Tomino's insistence that all Gundam takes place in the same verse, has become this as it requires multiple genocides, several apocalypses, archaeology completely failing to notice previous civilizations (let alone all the mobile suit storage containers) and all aesops {{broken|Aesop}} and [[ForgottenAesop lost]] with the passage of history. To put it another way, nothing that anyone does in any series matters in the long run [[spoiler:until ''Anime/TurnAGundam'', ten thousand years after the eponymous mobile suit destroys all but a tiny portion of humanity]]. Within specific series, ''[[Anime/MobileSuitVictoryGundam Victory Gundam]]'' suffers from this the most, with ''[[Anime/MobileSuitZetaGundam Zeta Gundam]]'' following behind (at least, near the end).

* 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 with out [[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.]]
*** An alternate viewing is that [[spoiler:it wasn't anything as human as to be an asshole or even to escape meaninglessness]] but [[spoiler:the man-made ultimate soldier simply being the ultimate soldier]]. The sequel further posited that [[spoiler:Geist literally physically thrived on continuous warfare, a trait unforeseen by his designers, so you can't really write him up as an insane man or a programmed machine]].
* ''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.]]
* 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.
* ''Manga/{{Naruto}}'': [[EvilvsEvil Sasuke versus Danzo]]. Sasuke just [[UngratefulBastard left two of his companions to die because saving them would've been inconvenient]] and joined a terrorist organisation to destroy the ''entire'' Leaf Village for having eradicated his clan (the Uchiha were planning a coup, which likely would have resulted in a civil war) even though only four people knew of it. Danzo is a true Konoha patriot... except his vision of Konoha is a vaguely fascist society which places almost no value on the individual. Danzo has also had a hand in murdering a group of peaceful activists in a foreign country [[spoiler: which ended up radicalizing the survivors into becoming the terrorist organization that Sasuke would join]], and was willing to let people in Konoha die so he could become Hokage. Not to mention the mind control he used at the ninja version of the United Nations. Many people felt that Danzo became a ''little'' sympathetic [[spoiler:when he has a HeelRealization just before dying]], which shows just how ''un''sympathetic Sasuke had become by comparison.

** Speaking of Sonoda, the ending of ''Manga/GunsmithCats'' Burst can trigger this. KarmaHoudini does not even begin to describe it.
* 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 crueler. 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/{{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.

* ''Anime/PuellaMagiMadokaMagica'' can become this for viewers. Seeing ''everything'' [[WhamEpisode after episode three]] be one long road of misery, suffering, and DeusAngstMachina [[spoiler:until Madoka rewrites reality]] in the span of only twelve episodes can become really stagnant for some. [[spoiler: And then ''Rebellion'' comes out and turns out that [[LoveMakesYouCrazy love has turned Homura so crazy]] that she essentially goes and becomes the Lucifer to Madoka's CrystalDragonJesus, creating a MASSIVE HappyEndingOverride and a SequelHook that professes much more misery to come, no matter how it goes]].
** The spin-off ''Manga/PuellaMagiKazumiMagica'' devolves in this shortly before the climax. When all the girls start to fight each other due to their different view-points, it becomes hard to root for one or other due to the fact that they all (although to different degrees) are so morally rotten that several of them already spot a [[BlueAndOrangeMorality blue and orange morality]]
** And rounding it off is ''Manga/PuellaMagiOrikoMagica.'' The principal conflict is between [[spoiler: Oriko, who wants to murder an innocent fourteen-year-old and anyone else in the way, and Homura, who is all too eager to risk the [[FailureIsTheOnlyOption almost certain]] destruction of the world for the sake of said innocent fourteen-year-old.]] It doesn't end well for either.
* ''Anime/NeonGenesisEvangelion''. It's a show about [[DysfunctionJunction insane people]] fighting against {{Eldritch Abomination}}s in a post-apocalyptic world and gradually becoming more and more insane, all while [[spoiler:a top-secret organization pulls strings behind the scenes and plots to bring about a second, [[ApocalypseWow more impressive]] apocalypse]]. On that note, [[spoiler: the third ''Anime/RebuildOfEvangelion'' film has also turned into this for several viewers.]]
* ''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.]]
* It's more common than you think in shoujo and jousei manga, since those who have a BastardBoyfriend as a male lead have a tendency to cause this. It's the main reason why this shoujo/jousei sub-trope is so despised outside Japan: the guy is a total JerkAss and likely a rapist to his girlfriend (or boyfriend, if it's {{yaoi}}), said girlfriend/boyfriend either is too wishy-washy to leave him or is trapped in such a terrible environment that he/she ''can't'' take off, and almost everyone is unhelpful.
* The first episode of ''Anime/PsychoPass'' takes place in a run-down slum, where [[BlackAndGrayMorality some "enforcers," most of whom are criminals, are hunting a worse criminal]]. Said worse criminal rapes a woman ''slightly'' offscreen ForTheEvulz. Right after it's revealed that [[TraumaCongaLine he was a good person before a negative psychological profile sent him into a death spiral]], the enforcers reduce him to LudicrousGibs, and they almost do the same to the rape victim! With the strong implications that this is only the first few snowballs of an oncoming angst avalanche, some people found it hard to care about the situation.
** It's interesting to note in the case of ''Anime/PsychoPass'' that arguably the apathy is ''part of the point of the show''. As the series goes on, it becomes increasingly clear that the Sibyl System has nearly eliminated all crime for society but has removed almost all free will, passion and emotion from society leaving almost everyone emotionally dead but with a forced neutral look or slight smile. On the other hand, those who feel extreme emotions are hunted down and locked in asylums or killed. Due to this, in order to accomplish anything in the world of ''Psycho-Pass'' one must not feel any emotion towards others and fully believe in their own world view, essentially becoming a sociopath. [[spoiler:[[BigBad Makishima]] has been a sociopath like this since birth, but values the emotions and potential of humanity and wants to do anything to bring the Sibyl System down so people can live life by their own wills, even if he must create societal collapse. The Sibyl System itself is composed of sociopathic brains in a HiveMind, that want peace for Japan no matter what, even if they must destroy human individuality and emotion.]]

* ''Manga/{{Berserk}}'' can cause this. The setting is so very {{crapsack|World}} and the AntiHero protagonist tending to be both [[SociopathicHero *really* morally questionable]] and hopelessly overpowered by the main villains, not to mention the arguably gratuitous rape and violence, means people can simply get ''bored'' of the darkness. It does [[WorldHalfFull get better]] later in the manga, though.
* In ''Anime/CodeGeass'', for certain viewers the WhamEpisode near the end of season 1 qualifies. The ending of the second season is also a particular point of contention among fans, with both ardent defenders and harsh critics. It's a conclusion that includes giving a seemingly happy result for [[KarmaHoudini a few people who got off lightly if not scot free for what they did]], while other more sympathetic characters had to settle for a bittersweet resolution at best. The matter of [[spoiler: Lelouch's death is especially controversial, with the man himself seeing his own orchestrated passing as a final victory and the fans being split on whether this is a satisfactory end or a source of apathy.]]
** The spin-off series ''[[Anime/CodeGeassAkitoTheExiled Akito the Exiled]]'' has also divided reactions among the audience, albeit for fairly different reasons. The cast includes some frothing racists, criminals and scoundrels as well as apparently psychopathic {{Blood Knight}}s, with a small number of halfway decent people thrown in. On top of that, a ForegoneConclusion seems likely since it's an {{Interquel}} set between ''Code Geass''' two seasons and focuses on a particular war...whose outcome was revealed at the start of the second season, which tends to limit some of the audience's interest in it.
* ''VisualNovel/{{AIR}}'': [[spoiler: The monks who cursed Kanna got away with it and caused Misuzu to break down whenever she gets close to someone, no one manages to break the curse, and at the end, Misuzu dies.]] Many detractors of ''Air'' will say that [[ShootTheShaggyDog nothing ever happens in the entire series]].
* ''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.
* ''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.]] The main character's actions don't even affect the resolution of the series.
* ''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]]. Any character you meet is going to be killed in a few episodes. And the whole contest is being held by [[AristocratsAreEvil corrupt nobles.]]
* ''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!
* This is also a complain levelled at Manga/BitterVirgin. The narrative piles up so much trauma, woobieness and weepy melodrama on Hinako and the reader, and uses a complicated theme like sexual abuse so ''liberally'' as a plot device, that at times it can be becomes the chore to read.
* ''Anime/ValvraveTheLiberator'' has a WhamEpisode in episode 10 of its first season, in which the male lead Haruto [[spoiler: rapes the [[BettyAndVeronica Veronica]] of the LoveTriangle, Saki, while in a BrainwashedAndCrazy state.]] The entire scene is juxtaposed with Shouko, the Betty and Haruto's "default" romantic interest, announcing to everyone that she's [[spoiler: happy to be their president, and that she's going to confess her love when they reach the moon]].

* A lot of viewers really don't care about the storyline and the characters of ''LightNovel/BlackBullet'' due to the fact that numerous characters are killed off and many characters who ''aren't'' killed off are put through suffering hell (especially [[TheHero Rentaro]] and [[NiceGirl Enju]])
* ''Manga/AttackOnTitan'' is, 90% of the time, either our heroes failing and/or having suffered many casualties in an attempt to reverse [[CrapsackWorld a rather well-cemented and long-standing dystopia]]. Granted the main characters and a few of the cast members ([[AnyoneCanDie at least the ones left alive]]) have gradual development, but it makes it hard to care about [[RedShirts anyone else]] due to a lack of characterization otherwise.
* In ''Anime/AldnoahZero'', Inaho and Slaine are highly flawed characters and that should be good... only that their many faults or self-inflicted mistakes can make it hard for the audience to sympathize with them. The fact that [[spoiler: two of the three main characters seem to be dead and the remaining heroic character possibly underwent a FaceHeelTurn by the mid-season finale]] doesn't help.
* ''Anime/BloodC'' is this. Every time the [[MonsterOfTheWeek Monster Of The Week]] shows up, chances are [[FailureHero she will be unable to save most of the people.]] [[spoiler: By the end, everyone is dead, save for two villains and herself.]]
* In ''Manga/ADevilAndHerLoveSong'', there's so much drama and emotional conflict on latter volumes that it becomes really hard to root for the characters, specially if those who make others suffer go unpunished.
* ''Anime/CrossAnge'' is so dark that it really becomes hard to root for anybody in this series and fans really wished this series would go for a KillEmAll ending because frankly speaking, the setting is set in such a crappy world, there's barely any "good" heroes with most of them being an AntiHero, and a BigBad who's more of a NecessaryEvil to cater for TheNeedsOfTheMany. And this is not even touching upon the entire UnfortunateImplications this series has.