Unconventional Anime Love Stories That Don’t End Well

Summary

• Light from Death Note emotionally manipulates Misa, leading to her downfall and potential suicide.
• Denji from Chainsaw Man becomes manipulated by Makima, leading to tragic deaths and a disturbing rebirth.
• Yuta from Jujutsu Kaisen 0 embraces the cursed spirit Rika, forming a bittersweet partnership as powerful sorcerers.

Anime is easily one of the strangest mediums around, and it gets experimental with just about every genre out there. Romance, in particular, gets experimented with a lot. For example, Inuyasha is an isekai wherein a young girl travels back to feudal Japan and falls in love with a demon. Weird, yes, but the two make things work out in the end.

Then there’s Midori Days, wherein the protagonist’s love for his life somehow gets transformed into a puppet that cannot be removed from his hand. Again, it is bizarre, but the two do fall in love. These next unconventional anime romance productions end a bit more disastrously, so here are the dirty details.

Spoilers Ahead For All Series Listed

7

Light And Misa (Death Note)

An Idol’s Obsession

Light is a straight-A student in Japan but gets bored with the mundanity of society. He finds the titular Death Note at school one day and discovers he can kill people by writing their names in the book. That is, with the help of the book’s owner, a devil known as a Shinigami. Light then becomes a serial killer, but only for the alleged good of humanity.

To keep up appearances, he gets a girlfriend, Misa, who obsessively loves Light, but he couldn’t care less about her. He uses Misa, who also has a Death Note, and Light gets her accompanying Shinigami killed. Light evades justice for a time, but eventually, the police catch and corner Light, who dies via his Shinigami. Even though she knows she was abused, the anime ends ambiguously, with Misa seemingly about to commit suicide without Light by her side.

6

Denji And Makima (Chainsaw Man)

Bark Like A Dog

Chainsaw Man is about a down-on-his-luck man, Denji, who gets the power to fight Devils by becoming the titular Chainsaw Man. He is recruited by Makima, who runs a branch that hunts Devils nearby. Denji wants nothing more than a place to sleep, food, and a physical romance with Makima. While not fully interested in Denji, she makes a deal to let him fondle her if he does what she asks.

This manipulation eventually leads Denji to kill his fellow Devil Hunter, Aki. This is a two-fold spoiler ahead, as it covers manga chapters that have yet to be adapted. Along with Aki, the deaths of Power and Makima also result from this manipulation. This will probably be covered in season two. What’s truly messed up is that Makima is reborn as a little girl, Nayuta, who Denji has to babysit despite her causing so much pain in his life.

5

Naota And Haruko (FLCL)

The Dreaded Age Gap

FLCL is a short six-episode anime based on an equally short manga of two volumes. The anime packs a lot into its short runtime though, with plenty of jokes and action. The series begins with a young teen, Naota, getting run over by an older woman, Haruko. She’s an alien who came to Earth looking for someone to create a portal using their head.

Naota is the perfect vessel, so she disguises herself as the family maid and manipulates Naota into helping her. Haruko’s ultimate goal is to bring back the Pirate King Atomsk, which she both succeeds and fails to do. Despite the age difference and Haruko being a manipulator, Naota confesses her love for Haruko, who doesn’t return it, and in the end, she returns to outer space. Even though she acts cold, it is clear Haruko had developed some feelings as well.

4

Yuta And Rika (Jujutsu Kaisen 0)

Cursed By Fate

Jujutsu Kaisen 0 is a movie prequel to the anime series. It follows a young man, Yuta, who is cursed by a spirit following him. He’s supposed to become a sorcerer, but he cannot control his powers. It’s eventually revealed that this spirit is the dead girl that Yuta was supposed to marry, Rika.

Even in death, Rika took this promise to heart, so she possesses Yuta and becomes something monstrous. By the end, Yuta bucks up, confronts the spirit of Rika, and promises to never leave her side. Even though she’s a monster, the two become partners, making Yuta an incredibly powerful sorcerer. It’s a bittersweet ending as Yuta decides the happiness of this spirit comes before his own.

3

Himiko And Deku (My Hero Academia)

A Bloody Stalker

This is a one-sided romance between an obsessive villain and a hero. Deku is the main character in My Hero Academia, an anime/manga take on the superhero genre that most closely resembles X-Men. One of the main villains in the anime, Himiko, can disguise herself using someone’s blood.

In the final battle, Himiko faces off against Ochaco, who is Deku’s real love interest, and Himiko knows this. She confesses her love to Deku, but it’s denied, so she stabs Ochaco in a jealous rage. As she’s bleeding out, Himiko has a change of heart and uses her blood to save Ochaco, thus giving the relationship between Ochaco and Deku her blessing.

2

Haku And Zabuza (Naruto)

Brothers Or Lovers In Arms?

Haku and Zabuza are two villains who appeared during an early arc in Naruto. They’re both mercenaries, with Zabuza being the lead. Zabuza found Haku as a boy and raised him to be a ninja. To him, Haku is both a son and a brother in arms.

To Haku, based on how things end, it’s implied that he loves Zabuza but it’s left ultimately ambiguous, leading to many fan theories and, let’s say, “artistic interpretations” online. They die side by side, which is a bittersweet ending for the two ninjas. Even though they were villains, Naruto gains respect for them and never forgets the sacrifice Haku and Zabuza made together.

1

Gendo And Yui/Rei (Neon Genesis Evangelion)

Where To Even Begin?

Neon Genesis Evangelion is an anime that needs to be rewatched at least twice to fully understand what’s going on. The boilerplate pitch is that alien-like beings known as Angels threaten humanity in the future. A Japanese organization called NERV fights back using mechs called EVA Units. Gendo is the head of NERV. He lost his wife, Yui, early in the development of the EVA project. Well, she didn’t technically die, as her soul possessed EVA Unit 01 which her son, Shinji, now pilots.

Also, Gendo cloned Yui to make the child Rei, who also has DNA from an angel named Lilith. Gendo poses as Rei’s father figure, but it’s kind of creepy how much he pays attention to her, his wife’s daughter, instead of his real son, Shinji. In the end, this weird love for Yui/Rei bites Gendo in the butt, as Rei becomes the ultimate harbinger of destruction, which leads to the end of humanity. Shinji is left alone to pick up the pieces in immortal damnation. Get all that? It doesn’t get much more experimental than Neon Genesis Evangelion.