History YMMV / PhantomOfInferno

* TrueArtIsAngsty: One of the darkest and most depressing narratives to ever come out of Japan, but in the end, it is still praised for its intriguing characters and sense of maturity.

** Visual Novel & ''Phantom: Requiem for the Phantom'' anime: Dr. Helmut von Giuseppe, better known as Scythe Master, is a sociopathic neuroscientist who brainwashes people he sees potential in to becoming the perfect assassins. Kidnapping one such individual, Reiji Azuma, Scythe erases his memories, renaming him Zwei and having another of his assassins, Ein, whose memory he also wiped, train him before sending the duo off on countless missions to kill enemies of his organization, Inferno. When Reiji and Ein escape from his clutches, Scythe turns to Reiji's young friend, Cal, [[TheCorrupter corrupting the young girl]] into hating Reiji and becoming his psychotic killer. Using Cal on many missions, Scythe even sends her after his own friend, who had sheltered him when he was framed for betraying Inferno. Deeming the three assassins prototypes, Scythe creates a new batch of emotionless killers and sends them after the trio, watching the combat with delight.

* CultClassic: ''Requiem for the Phantom'' wasn't very popular while it was airing, but due to other works by Creator/GenUrobuchi gaining popularity, the show started drawing in more viewers especially after the universal acclaim of ''LightNovel/FateZero'', ''Anime/PuellaMagiMadokaMagica'', and ''Anime/PsychoPass''.

* TooBleakStoppedCaring: Being written by Creator/GenUrobuchi, this one is a given. Being one of his earliest works, it is one of the darkest narratives he has ever worked on. There's hardly any comic relief, and there is always a sense of omnipresent danger. Taken UpToEleven in ''Requiem for the Phantom'', which adapted one of the most depressing routes of the visual novel [[spoiler: which involves a majority of the cast being killed off.]] and made it even worse.

* DarknessInducedAudienceApathy: Being written by Creator/GenUrobuchi, this one is a given. Being one of his earliest works, it is one of the darkest narratives he has ever worked on. There's hardly any comic relief, and there is always a sense of omnipresent danger. Taken UpToEleven in ''Requiem for the Phantom'', which adapted one of the most depressing routes of the visual novel [[spoiler: which involves a majority of the cast being killed off.]] and made it even worse.

* AdaptationDisplacement: Even though the visual novel and OVA received releases in the United States, ''Requiem for the Phantom'' is the most popular version of the story. This is a result of the fact that the visual novel is very rare to find a copy of and the OVA only adapted the first act of the story. The OVA at this point seems to have been widely forgotten.

** In ''Requiem for the Phantom'' the third act of the story was very dividing among viewers. Either you like it for being a climatic way of wrapping up the story with many intense and tearjerking battles, or dislike it for shifting the setting to that of a Japanese high school and [[spoiler: the last few episodes killing off a majority of the main characters.]]
** The ending to ''Requiem for the Phantom'' has had divided interpretations. For some [[spoiler: Zwei's ambiguous death was effective as he had nothing else to live for and as an assassin his past would eventually catch up to him.]] However for others [[spoiler: the fact that it occurred right as the anime adaptation was about to end and he had already been through enough suffering made it feel forced.]]

* CultClassic: ''Requiem for the Phantom'' wasn't very popular while it was airing but due to other works by Creator/GenUrobuchi gaining popularity the show started drawing in more viewers especially after the universal acclaim of ''LightNovel/FateZero'', ''Anime/PuellaMagiMadokaMagica'', and ''Anime/PsychoPass''.
* DarknessInducedAudienceApathy: Being written by Creator/GenUrobuchi this one is a given. Being one of his earliest works it is one of the darkest narratives he has ever worked on. There's hardly any comic relief, and there is always a sense of omnipresent danger. Taken UpToEleven in ''Requiem for the Phantom'' which adapted one of the most depressing routes of the visual novel [[spoiler: which involves a majority of the cast being killed off.]] and made it even worse.
* OlderThanTheyThink: The style of the masks Scythe's assassins wear in the anime caused many fans of ''Anime/DarkerThanBlack'' to notice similarities to mask series protagonist Hei wears, making them believe that the ''Phantom'' was [[FollowTheLeader copying that show's style]], even though the visual novel predates ''Darker Than Black'' by 7 years.
* ReplacementScrappy: The first opening theme Karma is a foreboding song that does a great job at building atmosphere for the series and unlike other anime opening themes it plays for 19 episodes instead of 12-13 like most two-cour series. Needless to say replacing it with a more upbeat ALI Project song in the second half did not go well with fans.
* TheScrappy: Mio Fujieda especially because she plays an important role in the very divisive third act of the story. While Ein and Cal had interesting backstories and relationships with Zwei, Mio is just a normal schoolgirl that suddenly appears in the plot. [[spoiler: The fact that her most important role in the story is getting kidnapped by Cal and having to be rescued by Zwei didn't really help her either. However some were relieved to see that she was one of the few characters to survive the plot and have a happy ending in ''Requiem for the Phantom''.]]
* {{Squick}} / FanDisservice: Scythe Master's interactions with Ein.
* ShipToShipCombat: Being a visual novel expect many discussions on whether or not Ein or Cal is a more suitable love interest for Zwei.
* SuspiciouslySimilarSong: [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GOqNACdfSls One track]] from the anime doesn't even try to hide the fact that it's a blatant copy of [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L91OqOyPjMw The Burly Brawl]] from ''Film/TheMatrixReloaded''.
* {{Tearjerker}}: Plenty of scenes really, but the crowner may be [[spoiler: Cal/Drei's death]] in the penultimate episode of the anime and the "Ein" path.
* TrueArtIsAngsty: One of the darkest and most depressing narratives to ever come out of Japan but in the end it is still praised for its intriguing characters and its sense of maturity.

* DarknessInducedAudienceApathy: Being written by Creator/GenUrobuchi this one is a given. Being one of his earliest works it is one of the darkest narratives he has ever worked on. There's hardly any comic relief, and there is always a sense of omnipresent danger. Taken UpToEleven in ''Requiem for the Phantom'' which adapted one of the most depressing route of the visual novel [[spoiler: which involves a majority of the cast being killed off.]] and made it even worse.

* DarknessInducedAudienceApathy: Being written by Creator/GenUrobuchi this one is a given. Being one of his earliest works it is one of the darkest narratives he has ever worked on. There's hardly any comic relief, and there is always a sense of omnipresent danger. Taken UpToEleven in ''Requiem for the Phantom'' which adapted the most depressing route of the visual novel [[spoiler: which involves a majority of the cast being killed off.]]

** In ''Requiem for the Phantom'' the third act of the story was very divided among viewers. Either you like it for being a climatic way of wrapping up the story with many intense and tearjerking battles, or dislike it for shifting the setting to that of a Japanese high school and [[spoiler: the last few episodes killing off a majority of the main characters.]]

* CrowningMusicOfAwesome:
** Reiji's theme after the [[spoiler: first time skip]]
** KOKIA's haunting opening theme ''Karma'' set the mood very perfectly.
** [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ptH3AlbLdiI Search and Destroy]] from the original game (which is also being used in the remake).

** ''Phantom: The Animation'' OVA: [[MadScientist Scythe Master]] is a greedy scientist willing to do anything to fund his depraved research. Creating assassins for the criminal syndicate Inferno, he has them carry out violent hits to prove their effectiveness. [[{{Greed}} Deciding a rival of Inferno would better fund him]], Scythe betrays Inferno, having his prized assassin kill everyone in his laboratory while fleeing. When Inferno hunts him down, Scythe has the two assassins he created, Ein and Zwei, fight each other while he activates bombs in the building, even with his own men still inside.

* CompleteMonster: Scythe Master is a monstrous villain in all of the adaptations:
** Visual Novel & ''Phantom: Requiem for the Phantom'' anime: [[MadScientist Dr. Helmut von Giuseppe]], better known as Scythe Master, is a sociopathic neuroscientist who brainwashes people he sees potential in to becoming the perfect assassins. Kidnapping one such individual, Reiji Azuma, Scythe erases his memories, renaming him Zwei and having another of his assassins, Ein, whose memory he also wiped, train him before sending the duo off on countless missions to kill enemies of his organization, Inferno. When Reiji and Ein escape from his clutches, Scythe turns to Reiji's young friend, Cal, [[TheCorrupter corrupting the young girl]] into hating Reiji and becoming his psychotic killer. Using Cal on many missions, Scythe even sends her after his own friend, who had sheltered him when he was framed for betraying Inferno. Deeming the three assassins prototypes, Scythe creates a new batch of emotionless killers and sends them after the trio, watching the combat with delight.

** ''Phantom: The Animation'' OVA: [[MadScientist Scythe Master]] is a greedy scientist willing to do anything to fund his depraved research. Creating assassins for the criminal syndicate Inferno, he has them carry out violent hits to prove their effectiveness. [[{{Greed}} Deciding a rival of Inferno would better fund him]], Scythe betrays Inferno, having his prized assassin kill everyone in his laboratory while fleeing. When Inferno hunts him down, Scythe has the two assassins he created, Ein and Zwei, fight each other while he activates bombs in the building, even with his own men still inside]].

** ''Phantom: The Animation'' OVA: [[MadScientist Scythe Master is a greedy scientist willing to do anything to fund his depraved research. Creating assassins for the criminal syndicate Inferno, he has them carry out violent hits to prove their effectiveness. [[{{Greed}} Deciding a rival of Inferno would better fund him]], Scythe betrays Inferno, having his prized assassin kill everyone in his laboratory while fleeing. When Inferno hunts him down, Scythe has the two assassins he created, Ein and Zwei, fight each other while he activates bombs in the building, even with his own men still inside]].

* CompleteMonster: In the first 10 minutes it is established that [[MadScientist Scythe Master]] used a combination of drugs and hypnosis to erase the main character's memories just because [[ForScience he wanted to test a new theory]]. He then leaves the main character to train for months in the Mojave desert with no contact from the outside world. This was the ''second'' experiment. The first person he experimented on he rapes, brainwashes, trains as a serial killer and treats like property, oh and the girl was ''twelve'' when he started this. A third person he experiments on he doesn't drug or rape, but he does basically lie to her about events, encourages her growing hatred and turns her full {{Yandere}} just to mess with the main character. Oh and while he is doing this with her, he is repeating his first experiment, ''six times over'', just in case.

* OlderThanTheyThink: The style of the masks Scythe's assassins wear in the anime caused many fans of ''Anime/DarkerThanBlack'' to notice similarities to mask series protagonist Hei wears, making them believe that it was paying homage. ''Phantom'' predates ''Darker Than Black'' by 7 years.

* CrowningMusicOfAwesome - Reiji's theme after the [[spoiler: first time skip]]

* {{Squick}} / FanDisservice - Scythe Master's interactions with Ein.
* SuspiciouslySimilarSong: [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GOqNACdfSls One track]] from the anime doesn't even try to hide the fact that it's a blatant copy of [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L91OqOyPjMw The Burly Brawl]] from ''TheMatrixReloaded''.
* {{Tearjerker}} - Plenty of scenes really, but the crowner may be [[spoiler: Cal/Drei's death]] in the penultimate episode of the anime and the "Ein" path.
* TheWoobie - Ein, Zwei, and Drei all go through some pretty brutal traumas before and during the series run. [[spoiler: And in the anime, NONE of them get a happy ending.]]

* CompleteMonster: In the first 10 minutes it is established that [[MadScientist Scythe Master]] used a combination of drugs and hypnosis to erase the main character's memories just because [[ForScience he wanted to test a new theory]]. He then leaves the main character to train for months in the Mojave desert with no contact from the outside world. This was the ''second'' experiment. The first person he experimented on he rapes, brainwashes, trains as a serial killer and treats like property, oh and the girl was ''twelve'' when he started this. A third person he experiments on he doesn't drug or rape, but he does basiclly lie to her about events, encourages her growing hatred and turns her full {{Yandere}} just to mess with the main character. Oh and while he is doing this with her, he is repeating his first experiment, ''six times over'', just in case.

* CompleteMonster: In the first 10 minutes it is established that [[MadScientist Scythe Master used a combination of drugs and hypnosis to erase the main character's memories just because [[ForScience he wanted to test a new theory]]. He then leaves the main character to train for months in the Mojave desert with no contact from the outside world. This was the ''second'' experiment. The first person he experimented on he rapes, brainwashes, trains as a serial killer and treats like property, oh and the girl was ''twelve'' when he started this. A third person he experiments on he doesn't drug or rape, but he does basiclly lie to her about events, encourages her growing hatred and turns her full {{Yandere}} just to mess with the main character. Oh and while he is doing this with her, he is repeating his first experiment, ''six times over'', just in case.

* CompleteMonster: In the first 10 minutes it is established that Scythe Master used a combination of drugs and hypnosis to erase the main character's memories just because [[ForScience he wanted to test a new theory]]. He then leaves the main character to train for months in the Mojave desert with no contact from the outside world. This was the ''second'' experiment. The first person he experimented on he rapes, brainwashes, trains as a serial killer and treats like property, oh and the girl was ''twelve'' when he started this. A third person he experiments on he doesn't drug or rape, but he does basiclly lie to her about events, encourages her growing hatred and turns her full {{Yandere}} just to mess with the main character. Oh and while he is doing this with her, he is repeating his first experiment, ''six times over'', just in case.

* CompleteMonster - Scythe Master, in the first 10 minutes it is established that he used a combination of drugs and hypnoses to erase the main character's memories, why? Because [[strike: saw his potential as an assassin]] wanted to test a new theory. He then leaves the main character to train for months in the Mojave desert with no contact from the outside world. If this wasn't bad enough this was the ''second'' experiment. The First person he experimented on he rapes, brainwashes, trains as a serial killer and treats like property, oh and the girl was ''12'' when he started this. A third person he experiments on he doesn't drug or rape, but he does lie to her about events, encourages her growing hatred and turns her full {{Yandere}} just to mess with the main character. Oh and while he is doing this with her, he is repeating his first experiment, ''6 times over'', just in case.

* CompleteMonster - Scythe Master, everything that happens is a result of his narcissism.

* FetishFuel A certain gun scene in Phantom: Integration involving [[spoiler: Drei and Mio.]] YourMileageMayVary.

** KOKIA's haunting opening theme ''Karma'' set the mood very perfectly.