All spoilers below are unmarked. Proceed with caution.
Hey, wanna play William Tell? I'll be William, and you the apple.
- The story wastes no time in showing the levels of cruelty and depravity of the Rokuhara with the prologue showing a village being razed by an army of musha with the villagers being helpless to do anything about it. Men, women or children, none are spared. And this after they gave the villagers as Hope Spot by promising to spare them if they handed over a wanted man, only to then use Exact Words as an excuse to raid the place. It is all crowned by the villagers cursing their fate and the idea of justice. Of course, all of this pales in comparison to what comes next...
- ...as a bizarre song starts sounding across the massacre followed by people going mad and attack each other like wild animals. Allies turn on allies, friends and family likewise. Everything descends into a cruel bloodbath with no one left standing. Those protected from the song inside their tsurugi can only watch with horror at the unfolding spectacle. This is the power of Ginseigo and what its wielder intends to do to the rest of the world.
- In the Hero route this madness returns as Ginseigo flies over the country and spreads her song, happy families just going about their day one moment are left tearing each other apart just seconds later. And no one ever realized what was happening until the very end.
- Ryobu Suzukawa's "lesson" is one the reader isn't likely to forget soon.
- Kageaki's past. Imagine your younger sister, healthy and happy one day only to suddenly fall ill from a barely understood disease the next. Left in a vegetative state and prone to random seizures, seizures Kageaki constantly have to wrestle with to keep her uncontrollable trashing from breaking her already fragile body, a body that is slowly wasting away. And the seizures are getting worse. And even though hope is on the horizon, the cranky elder refuses to let them grasp it simply from it being a foreigner. The sense of hopelessness of Kageaki's situation permeates the whole flashback section of the novel.
- Masamune, for someone who is a self proclaimed hero, his love for using Body Horror as a weapon in unsettling to say the least. Be it using bones and flesh as projectiles, ribs as giant cages, intestines as makeshift lasso, or whatever the hell that... thing... he turned Ichijo into was. His determination to see his convictions through to the end know no limit, body or soul. Hope you've got a strong stomach for whenever this guy is around.
- Doshin's idea of of an amusing Noh play in the Hero route is as revolting as it is depraved. After what seemed like a heartfelt tribute to Sakurako's father he then reveals that the mask he had been using and just gifted to her was actually made from her fathers skull. Oh, and that cup she just drank from? Made from the skull of her brother. Oh, and then he proceeds to rape her on stage for all to watch while the young prince, who is just about twelve by the way, can only watch as his subjects refuse to obey his orders.
- The fate of Konatsu in the Nemesis route. Imagine your typical anime school girl Tsundere Implied Love Interest. Now cripple and rape them as well as tearing away their sole anchor of hope and watch as the character archetype that is unusually meant to be endearing is transformed into a vengeful beast who solely exists for her hatred. The before and after comparison is startling to say the least.
- As Kageaki finally locates his sister in Nemesis, he finds that she and Ginseigo have been reduced to little more than a pile of slag. However, the pile of silver then cracks open revealing one of Hikaru's eye, still somehow alive inside that twisted and mangled heap of molten metal and looking straight at him. And I Must Scream fuel at its finest.
- Kanae's eyes as revealed in the Nemesis route. Deep red, almost insectoid eyes that are made of of several dozen eyes crammed into her eye sockets which gives her super human perception and the ability to freeze time. Mix this with someone who is far from sane and you get a very disturbing combo.
- Chachamaru's transformation into her armored form is far from as clean or pretty as those of regular tsurugi. For her, metallic parts burst out from underneath her skin, tearing flesh and spilling blood as her body twists and contorts to allow for the transformation. The Sickening "Crunch!" is just the disgusting topping to the whole situation.
