Forum - View topicCutesy characters.....disturbing show.
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Chiibi
 Posts: 4829 |
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You all know this trope.
"Aww......they're so cute....look at dem big innocent eyes and....." "HOLY F**K, DID SHE JUST CHOP THAT OTHER GIRL UP WITH AN AXE!?" I've only seen a handful of anime like this....(I'm sure there are more) but these are SO UNSETTLING to me. I could not finish Narutaru OR Higurashi for largely this reason perhaps? (I got through Madoka and Elfen Lied fine though lmao) Madoka wasn't disturbing enough to scare me off.....and while Elfen Lied had squicky, gory scenes, they left NOTHING to the imagination so I didn't get freaked out but got used to it after a few eps. So.......here some questions that I think might be interesting to talk about: What is the purpose of "mismatching" character design to show? I personally think it's all about contrast...and an attempt to lure the viewer into a false sense of security; the exact same reason why horror movies will insert things like a child's lullaby or rhyming songs into build-up-for-tension-scenes: It creeps people the f**k out!! Higurashi was particularly terrifying to me for how distorted and maniacal those "cute innocent" faces can turn. Kinda reminds you of demonic possession (yup, keep that shit far away from me! lol Or is it to sell the characters? This makes sense for Higurashi and Elfen Lied....and Madoka.....but Narutaru is an oddity. It didn't do well in Japan and there's very little merchandise to speak of (to my knowledge) The design is very similar to Pokemon....and the characters are very young (elementary school children, in fact which makes the show and manga all the more horrifying. I would honestly like to know what the creator was thinking, doing such terrible things to little kids like that!  ;
Would these shows be just as effective in shocking and horrifying the audience if the characters were drawn less cute and more realistically? We know it worked well with Flowers of Evil, don't we? People say a "moe style" wouldn't suit that show....and I never watched it enough to agree...so it'd be good to get another opinion on this one. Do you enjoy these type of shows? If they were drawn more realistically, would they be more creepy or less creepy? Do you think the deceptive character design is used to increase shock value? Or to sell the show better? Or both (I'm going with both lol) What are some other shows that use this trope? (this isn't a recommendation thread; I'm merely curious) {It's a recommendation thread now!!!  ~nobahn}
Betterman looked like one....though I can't be sure but considering the cute artwork and VERY creepy font and background on the DVDs, it certainly appears that way.......and if it is, I think it might be one of the earliest anime of this example....unless I'm mistaken. I think this trope could apply to the infamous Princess Tutu (to a much lesser extent) It is certainly a darker show than the character images would lead you to believe....(though I wouldn't label it "disturbing", just a creepy scene here and there) And unlike the other series I mentioned, the characters were drawn cutely to appeal to children so they would be drawn into a sophisticated fairytale that tells a good story: the show's main objective. |
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Jose Cruz
 Posts: 1796 Location: South America |
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I love the juxtaposition of cuteness with brutality.
In fact I think it nearly always works better to have brutality mixed up with cuteness than not, because the contrast makes for a more effective/crushing experience, I think one of the (many) reasons why I was so impressed with Madoka (if compared to brutal movies/series without the cuteness element). Just like some metal songs begin with light parts to be blown out to space by the heavy incoming parts (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IZ7Aif5aXlQ) or power metal bands that combined cutesy vocals and songwriting while being simultaneously brutal (like Helloween's album Straight Out of Hell, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=quK3TN3XLeM). However, it's a sad fact that we have little mix of the two in animation so far. Though if you look hard enough you can find it in many places, for instance Spirited Away, the scenes where Chihiro watches her parents being turned into pigs in front of her and she enters almost in a nervous breakdown, is indeed very brutal and mixes up a cute character with such brutal situation. And it's supposedly a family film. Similarly when the cute little girl Nausicaa slaughters a room full of soldiers just after 30 minutes of film demonstrating how peaceful and cute she is. Violence and cuteness even when it is not very brutal is also great. Like the last Nanoha series, where you watch little cute things beat each other violently and showing a great deal of aggression even though there is no gore or death. That's the stuff that hits the spot. |
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DuskyPredator
 Posts: 15578 Location: Brisbane, Australia |
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So I am half way through reading your post and then decide to get a sandwich, as I am munching on it I realise I have to find out what Narutaru, so while eating I look up some pictures. Don't look this up while eating, I feel kind of sick.
I think that it is indeed contrast, and I think that it makes it perhaps one of the most powerful kind of shows. I am a little sensitive myself, so a little is good for me, but it is really easy for me to end up feeling physically sick from this, and why I tend to stay very away from shows where I expect to see kids get gruesomely killed. I cam across something called Corpse Party, which from what aspects I know is normal middle school anime characters and torture porn, which just overloads me and I just cannot watch it. And yet my damn it fights with my morbid curiosity. Contrast is strong, high tension does not work without there being scenes of seemingly no tension, it creates fear of getting into your comfort zone to really make your mind race, and that is what people kind of look for. Putting cute things, or things that are meant to be cute, is classic horror, and on the topic I think one of the strongest things you find in the genre are "dolls", which also work side by side uncanny valley. What I consider a particularly strong part of Ghost Hunt without overloading it. Or Another where dolls are meant to be cute yet we are presented with ones made to look too human. I like the concept, but I cannot usually take gruesome parts without crushing my soul. Actually one part I can take is if it is used correctly for humour, which I would say is what makes Dokoro-chan and Punie-chan interesting, where you keep the non-consequence part of comedy. Actually something I have an easier time swallowing, and would recommend to people. |
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Touma
 Posts: 2651 Location: Colorado, USA |
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This is definitely not my kind of show.
Seeing cute characters do disturbing things is something that I do not like very much. Seeing disturbing things being done to cute characters is something that I do not like at all. I have avoided Narutaru and Higurashi mostly because of this. I gave up on Madoka after the first volume of the manga because of the general feeling that I was getting and ... well ... Mami. I did eventually finish the other two volumes of the first manga series, but still have no desire to watch any of the anime. Part of the problem for me is that I just do not like graphic violence, especially casual brutality, at all even when the characters are not cute. I also have a very low tolerance for despair and tragedy, and how much it bothers me is directly proportional to how well I like the characters. Add to that the fact that I really do like cute characters and it just makes a bad mix. Since I try to avoid those shows I have not seen many. I think that Alien Nine might qualify but it has been a long time since I watched it and I do not remember how disturbing it got. It is also just a short film. |
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Chiibi
Posts: 4829 |
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I'm so sorry man, I SHOULD HAVE WARNED YOU!! Might as well talk about my own experiences with the horror that is Narutaru.
Way back around mid-2000s, we had Anime Network. It mostly involved series from Funimation and ADV films. (I was introduced and hooked to SO many great shows this way; Chrono Crusade, Petite Princess Yucie, Sorcerer Stabber Orphen, Saiyuki and so on) If you had On Demand, you could watch them whenever you wanted. Well, to compete with this, another category soon popped up, titled "Anime Selects". These were shows that were licensed by Central Park Media. Narutaru was one of them. I'd never heard of it (like many people actually) but I'm always open to trying new shows; especially if they're available on TV. I had no clue what I was getting myself into. There was no warning in the synopsis. The opening is the most freaking misleading opening you will EVER see. It looks childlike, happy, and cutesy. After episode 01, it was NOT childlike, happy and cutesy anymore. Ep 02 introduced a spoiler[sexually abused thus suicidal 12-year-old girl] and I became well aware that this was deceitfully dark, messed-up stuff. But because of that, I was really sucked in and I kept watching (always making sure I was not eating during!) As it progressed, I began to feel more and more uncomfortable. My brain was basically screaming "YOU SHOULD NOT BE WATCHING THIS." I got up to episode 05...and soon after that, the series was taken off the select menu. I AM VERY GRATEFUL TO WHOEVER DECIDED TO DO THAT. Because the later eps......are just......no. So much no in so little time....but I was saved from witnessing something utterly horrifying not to mention disgusting and thank God for it.
Yes, I forgot about that show...though it's not quite as bad as these others..... |
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Sunny milk
Posts: 695 |
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To be honest, I don't even remember much about Narutaru, I watched that almost 10 years ago I think.
But I'll try to recall some things that happened I think. spoiler[One of the little girls gets bullied by having to drink or gulp down suspicious things, like some kind of worm/maggot/parasyte, and having something shoved up as well. Then later on, she gets the power of an alien too, so she transforms into (or just rides) some kind of bio mecha, then breaks into the house of the bully girl, shoves a vial full of maggots up her vagina, pushes it up deep inside, then one way or other, she tears her up and kills her.] At least that's what I remember, but I never watched the scene again and everything is hazy. I wonder whether these things really happened, or was I seeing too much into it, but I have a feeling it actually did happen. |
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zawa113
 Posts: 7358 |
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I personally like the contrast a lot. I definitely think it's there to catch the viewer unawares, like for Higurashi, but in the case of stuff like Bokurano, I wonder if that's just how the dude knows how to draw manga. It's just his style to make his characters look like they belong in a normal slice of life manga. Of course, he's clearly purposely using small children to pilot giant robots, but I wonder if that could be almost a parody because it's not like NGE and ten thousand other series use teens to pilot mechs too (it's almost like it's harder to find any pilot over the age of 18 in anime in general).
Also, if you're curious about Betterman, it's been many years since I've seen it (because that was back when TechTV a) existed and b) aired anime once a night with AnimeUnleashed), but yes, it is unreasonably dark. Add in that this is both the same director and the same fictional universe as GaoGaiGar, an incredibly upbeat sentient mecha sentai series, and it just gets weirder. And I mean directly connected, the brother of one of GGG's characters is in Betterman. Another GGG character's relative appears in Brigadoon too, but that series isn't horrifically dark either. As for how Betterman is dark, like I said, it's been a while, but I do seem to recall spoiler[an evil unborn baby in the main high school girl] so there's always that. I could be wrong but... pretty sure that's hard to forget. But as much as I like the gory cute looking series like Elfen Lied or Higurashi, I also like the darker psychological ones. And since Infinite Ryvius is just Lord of the Flies in space (quite literally). And that one girl is really really really crazy (I could be referring to more than one here, but I mean, spoiler[ferret-girl really does kill someone], though she is far from the only crazy one). I do find the use of young characters more unsettling, but that's also the point of Lord of the Flies where it wouldn't work with adults. So in this case, it works as both some shock value (I mean, Hisashi Hirai has literally the most generic anime character designs ever), but it's essential for the plot to work. But I definitely like this trope, because I like seeing other people be surprised when they watch it. But I think in some cases, the stories only work with younger kids or young teens. So if they need to use young kids, some of them go "whelp, might as well add some shock value", and I'm ok with that. It makes the merchandise cuter, though it also makes it harder to explain to strangers.... |
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Animegomaniac
Posts: 4159 |
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I couldn't finish Higurashi because the second season was never licensed. But it is a pretty potent mix, moe design to evoke feelings of protection and, a line direct from Higurashi amusingly, "I'm taking her home with me!" connection with the victim/character contrasted with the extreme physical danger that comes with horror and the realization that you, the audience, can't protect them. You can only watch, ha ha ha! Oh, and shout out advice to a screen, I guess. Wouldn't hurt to try, right?
There's a reason why Halloween is about babysitters and not the football team. This is just the animated version of that, amplified through cute character designs, occasionally with the girls as murderers. Which brings us to Another. The show was playing around with its own premise, a few shocks here and there but nothing definite, nothing that stuck; A death occurred but we moved on. Then came the three part finale, some truth with a possible soultion, a closed off location and a whole mess of murder. Higurashi is about madness and occasionally death but mostly revenge but Another is about survival. It's not madness that drives the body count but desperation and belief that you can put your fate under your own control. But as the desperation rises with the body count, the situation gets uglier and the characters get more twisted. I may have gotten that one backwards. Anyway, unlike Higurashi there is no relief or redo, no happy ending but just a depressing ending with an "Oh" rather than a "That solves everything!" moment. There's just the dead and the ones who have to live with what they did. I really should get this show one of these days. One I do have is Shiki which thrives on balancing cute characters with grotesque ones. I really can't discuss what I'd like to with out spoiling the show but I'll just throw out one name for those who've seen it: Megumi. She works on both sides of this discussion: Hapless victim and absolute monster except she's cuter as the monster in both personality and style as she was annoying while alive. She may be a monster now but she's really good at it. By the way, I probably should mention the series is about vampires; It's not much of a spoiler as it's in the opening credits if you look but it's plotted as a surprise for some reason. |
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DuskyPredator
Posts: 15578 Location: Brisbane, Australia |
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*faints* |
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Key
Moderator
 Posts: 18480 Location: Indianapolis, IN (formerly Mimiho Valley) |
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No, you remember it pretty well, Sunny milk.
Narutaru is notorious for being quite possibly the most misleading anime ever made. I never bring it up in discussions without attaching a "know what you're getting into" caveat to it. |
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Vaisaga
 Posts: 13241 |
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The manga is much worse, too. The bully Sunny mentions spoiler[was having sex with her brother when she got killed.] There are varying degrees of spoiler[rape and underaged sex] and I believe at the end spoiler[all of humanity dies except the two leads, and both of them are pregnant (one via rape).]
Mohiro Kitoh has issues. Anyways, for the main topic I'll throw out Selector Infected WIXOSS. At first it seems like another card game anime about cute girls with wishes they want granted but it turns out things aren't that simple. |
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Jose Cruz
Posts: 1796 Location: South America |
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That's it I am watching/reading Narutaru.
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Gewürtztraminer
 Posts: 1028 Location: Texas - Its like whole other country. |
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After Narutaru, Now and Then, Here and There, and Aline Nine. I was convinced someone at CPM really enjoyed shows where disturbing things happened to young children.
Well I also think NTHT, and Alien Nine have a lot more going for them, but they were very uneasy watches. Narita was on a whole different level. |
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Chiibi
Posts: 4829 |
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*reaches out hand screaming NOOOOOOOOO*
Jk/ if you can handle it, all the power to you! BUT WE WARNED YOU. Just remember that.
Yup. It takes first prize, I think.
My sentiments exactly. x_x I have a friend who really likes Shiki....so I might check it out. |
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TheBeatlesPkmnFan42
 Posts: 115 Location: Washington |
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In 1978, Sanrio made the short film Chirin no Suzu (its official English name is Ringing Bell). It's cute for like... the first ten minutes, and then gets dark. And it's aimed at children. It's about a sheep whose mother is killed by a wolf, and the sheep goes out to get his revenge.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ringing_Bell |
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