When adapting particularly violent or explicit manga to anime, it’s not uncommon for the adaptations to tone down the more graphic parts of the source material. From greater studio oversight to reliance on sponsorships, anime productions have to abide by more rules when it comes to the content they’re allowed to show, whereas manga can get away with taking more risks, even when published in big magazines.

However, sometimes, the opposite is true, and the anime takes the tamer aspects of the source material and ups them to eleven, leaning fully into the twisted and objectionable aspect of what it is adapting. These dark anime series are so extreme in the violence, gore, or profanity they portray, even manga readers might be surprised by how they choose to interpret the original.

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10

Genocyber’s Original Manga Was Never Finished

Not Currently Available for Streaming

Arguably the most infamous of the ultra-violent OVAs of the ‘90s, Genocyber is a chaotic paroxysm of graphic violence, disturbing body horror, and stylish cyberpunk madness that is just as horrifying as it is enchanting. While the OVA has been regarded as a cult classic for decades, few know it had a manga source material – albeit one notably different from the anime version.

Genocyber was created as a seinen manga in 1992 by Tony Takezaki. While its story set up an elaborate overarching plotline, the series was never finished, ending after only one volume. Yet, that did not stop Koichi Ohata from reinterpreting Genocyber in the form of a five-part series that, while differing from the original’s plot significantly, is even more extreme in its depictions of senseless violence and horror.

Genocyber

Release Date

March 2, 1994

9

Both Versions of Chainsaw Man Are Uniquely Horrifying

Streaming on Crunchyroll

One of dark shonen’s best modern exemplars, Tatsuki Fujimoto’s Chainsaw Man pushes the conventions of appropriateness in both its grisly storytelling and indulgently violent art. While the manga’s narrative remains unchanged in MAPPA’s 2022 adaptation, its visuals kindle a different sort of riveting horror than Fujimoto’s rough, evocative illustrations.

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Both the anime and the manga let the guts splash around and bodies get torn to shreds in every fight. However, the anime’s cinematic approach adds a layer of stylish grittiness to the violence of Chainsaw Man, making the action feel even more gruesome. Similarly, some of the darkest plot points in the story, like Himeno’s self-sacrifice or Denji’s first death, are made even more poignant through the unique merits of the anime medium, like sound, direction, and sequence pace.

Chainsaw Man

Release Date

2022 – 2022

Writers

Tatsuki Fujimoto

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8

Violence Jack’s Exaggerated Brutality Comes Across as Less Thoughtful in the Anime

Not Currently Available for Streaming

One of the most prominent and acclaimed manga authors of the 1970s, Go Nagai had a hand in creating some of the medium’s most extreme and boundary-pushing works. Nagai has revolutionized the post-apocalyptic genre with his 1973 series Violence Jack – an ultra-violent survival horror, parts of which have been compiled in three OVAs over the ‘80s.

In the manga, the extreme graphic violence serves a clear purpose of accentuating the series’ themes of losing one’s humanity in the post-apocalypse and making the setting feel more realistically ruthless. The anime, however, takes the more twisted and controversial aspects of the manga and heightens them without all the narrative and thematic subtlety the original possessed. While both versions of Violence Jack are chock-full of edgy extremities, the manga – for being slightly milder – is better at utilizing them with intent.

Violence Jack

Release Date

September 9, 1996

Cast

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7

Shigurui’s Brutality Matches Its Setting and Time Period Perfectly

Streaming on Crunchyroll

A samurai period drama set in Edo-period Japan, seinen manga Shigurui draws attention to history’s most merciless, violent sides. From the gruesome realism and brutality of its clashes to the prevalence of mature themes, Shigurui excels at encapsulating the cruel yet fascinating reality of the time’s most outstanding swordsmen. In 2007, Shigurui received an anime adaptation – an outstandingly faithful retelling of the series’ first six and a half volumes.

The anime, for being slightly less gory and sexually explicit than the manga, elevates the original’s darker themes through different means – exceptionally gorgeous, delightfully kinetic animation and impeccable sound design. Shigurui is an example of an adaptation that truly builds on its source material, with every element of the anime serving to make the story more immersive.

6

Parasyte: The Maxim Is the Ultimate Way to Experience the Iconic Sci-Fi Story

Streaming on Crunchyroll

The sci-fi horror thriller Parasyte had to wait exceptionally long to be adapted to screens – the original manga released between 1989 and 1994, with the anime premiering in 2014. The two decades between the manga’s conclusion and the anime’s release obviously called for some changes – the setting was modernized, character designs revamped, and visuals updated to today’s technical standards.

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A series jam-packed with explicit body horror and bloody action, Parasyte: The Maxim sacrifices some of the original’s detailedness in favor of more stylized gore – however, the alteration only results in the gruesome scenes feeling more impactful and disturbing. A thought-provoking sci-fi narrative that might’ve aged not that gracefully in the manga, Parasyte is elevated through its anime adaptation, making The Maxim the definitive way to experience Shinichi Izumi’s blood-soaked confrontation with the extraterrestrial.

Parasyte: The Maxim

Release Date

2014 – 2014

Directors

Ken’ichi Shimizu

Writers

Shoji Yonemura, Shinzô Fujita

Franchise(s)

Parasyte

5

Neon Genesis Evangelion’s True Vision Only Crystallizes in the Anime

Streaming on Netflix

A franchise that has existed in many iterations over its 30-year history, Neon Genesis Evangelion is a rare series where the anime actually predates the manga – at least in concept. The NGE manga by Yoshiyuki Sadamoto was meant to be a companion piece to the series. Yet, due to delays in the anime’s production, the manga ended up releasing a year earlier, in 1994.

Despite covering, overall, the same plot as the anime, the manga does make changes to the source material – including toning down the darker and more mind-bending elements of Hideaki Anno’s vision and even featuring an alternate ending. As a result of Shinji’s story feeling far more personal in the anime, the manga is largely regarded by fans as supplementary material – worth reading for hardcore fans but definitely inferior to the anime versions.

4

Urotsukidōji: Legend of the Overfiend Stands as a Contentious Relic of Its Time

Not Currently Available for Streaming

The 1987 OVA Urotsukidōji: Legend of the Overfiend is the pinnacle of the ‘80s ultra-violent anime era and all of its most disturbing aspects. Compared to its manga source material, which was an erotic horror already chock-full of nightmarish imagery and concepts, the Urotsukidōji: Legend of the Overfiend OVA is a full-blown sexually mature feature that ups the violence and explicitness to an unprecedented degree.

Urotsukidōji: Legend of the Overfiend is cathartic hormonal madness at its most extreme, not concerned with censoring anything – be it explicit scenes of sexual assault, overtly graphic gore, cannibalism, or sadomasochism. Albeit far from being suitable for most audiences, Urotsukidōji: Legend of the Overfiend remains a valuable part of anime history – not in the least due to how twisted its contents are.

Urotsukidoji: Legend of the Overfiend

Release Date

March 11, 1993

Runtime

1 Hour 48 Minutes

3

Shiki Gets More Gruesome with Each Jump Between Mediums

Not Currently Available for Streaming

One of the most disturbing horror series in anime, Shiki takes the staple idea of vampires infiltrating a rural Japanese village and transforms it into a riveting psychological thriller that makes the viewers question their allegiances at every step. The anime itself is a curious adaptation, taking from two preceding versions of the story – the original Shiki novel from 1998 and its 2007 manga adaptation.

All versions of Shiki have their unique merits – where the novel is the most detailed and narratively complete, the manga interprets a number of events differently and even features an alternate ending. Where the anime shines, however, is how the sound and visuals aid the story’s most cathartic and gruesome parts, making for a more disquieting overall experience.

Shiki

Release Date

June 27, 2010

2

Saikano’s Anime-Original Ending Is Void of Hope

Not Currently Available for Streaming

The darkness of Saikano comes not from gore or gruesome violence but from the thematic bleakness of the narrative itself – albeit that is significantly more true of the anime than the manga. A tale of a shy high school girl, Chise, gradually losing her humanity after getting turned into a biological weapon, and her boyfriend, Shuji, who has to deal with this transformation as it unfolds, Saikano is far from a feel-good romance, even if some of its parts can be quite endearing.

Where the Saikano anime truly crushes all of the manga’s hopefulness is the ending, with the finales being the biggest difference between the two versions. In the manga, Chise and Shuji reach a bittersweet conclusion together, whereas the anime ends on a much bleaker note – with all of humanity dead and Shuji remaining as the last survivor, likely to soon perish as well.

1

Devilman Crybaby Revamps the Source Material to Modern Times

Streaming on Netflix

Another classic by the acclaimed mangaka Go Nagai, Devilman is a franchise that spans many different iterations. Yet the 2018 Devilman Crybaby is the only anime to adapt the original 1972 manga in full. Under the direction of visionary Masaaki Yuasa, the already gruesome Devilman story transforms into a frenzied, mind-bending pandemonium of sexually charged violence and apocalyptic hopelessness.

Interestingly enough, the sweeping overhaul balanced the more intense attributes of the series while keeping the spirit of the material intact, experimenting with format and visual presentation relentlessly. Adapting a timeless story to modern times is no easy task. Nonetheless, Science Saru does so splendidly, the studio’s willingness to take risks and make changes to the source material elevating it instead of being a detraction.