In general, when anime tells a story, it clearly defines a hero and a villain. The hero is all gallantry and kindness while the villain is malevolence and iniquity. However, it is generally agreed upon that better stories come when the lines are more blurred. When, instead of black and white, morality and the content of one’s character are in shades of grey. Then you have these anime series where, not unlike real life, everyone is just kind of shit for whatever reason. If you enjoy all your characters (or at least most of them) with repellent flaws, we got you anime recommendations.
Best Anime With Characters Being Terrible To Each Other
Scum’s Wish
Scum’s Wish is the tale of uncomfortable love. Two people that love other people find comfort in each other’s arms. That in itself isn’t so terrible, but you will soon learn that save for a tiny handful, everyone involved in this show is terrible in their own special ways.
Domestic Girlfriend
Domestic Girlfriend was the dumpster fire everyone couldn’t look away from, and that made it so wonderful. The main character, in love with his teacher, sleeps with a different girl in a moment of frustration. He then learns that both the girl and his teacher are his new stepsisters. Cue the indecision on his part and a situation in which there is no way out without hurting someone.
Redo of Healer
Fantasy anime series are often idyllic until it serves them not to be for plot. There are some that are breaking away from that, but Redo of Healer takes everything bad you could do to characters, then turns the dial up to eleven. The main character endures horrible physical, mental, and sexual abuse by his fellow adventurers, then turns that right back on them later when he is able to turn back time. Paying back abuses is a form of revenge, but it hardly makes anyone involved good people.
School Days
While School Days shows some extreme content, it is meant to parody your standard school harem romance type situation. In this series, things start with a crush, advance to sexual relations, advance further to relations with many girls, and end in graphic violence. You can fault the main character for being a bit of a slut, and you can fault other characters for their actions as well.
Netsuzou Trap
NTR, which is what this anime is all about, is generally a pretty frowned upon situation. In this series, two girls recently have boyfriends. Then one girl starts to seduce the other girl. You discover all sorts of interesting secrets about the girls as well as their boyfriends who don’t necessarily like being cucked. It’s not so much that everyone is bad, but again, NTR is a fickle situation.
Flowers of Evil
Never before has an anime been so cleverly ugly in order to highlight the distinct ugliness of every character inside it. The rotoscoping is awful, but it isn’t just a low budget or low effort thing. It is because every character should look as ugly on the outside as they are inside. This is why, if you can even stomach it, Flowers of Evil is worth the ponderous watch.
Rising of the Shield Hero
Part of what made The Rising of the Shield Hero such a magnificent hit is that it took the normal extra-sweet isekai premise and made it just pure suffering. You watch his fellow heroes turn against him, the entire government of the new world is turned against him, and the common folk follow. Yet, even Naofumi doesn’t exactly handle it with grace. It makes him cold, calculating, and bitter. Even if his kindness shows through sometimes later in the series, he’s still done his share of shitty things just because he was stomped on.
Arifureta
Arifureta operates on the same concept as aforementioned Rising of the Shield Hero above. A guy is isekai’d with some others, he has kind of a shit power, his fellow adventurers turn against him, and he comes back bitter and stronger. It is the same sort of affair. Yes, they treated him poorly, but he uses that as an excuse to act poorly as well.
Future Diary
Future Diary is a survival game. As such, it is necessary for the series to have innately dislikable characters. Usually this is juxtaposed against an honorable and heroic main character that tries in vain to save everyone. It is not the same in Future Diary. Yuki is just as awful, often more so, than any other participant.
That all being said, there are one or two genuinely good characters in the series, and you can guess what happens to them.
Neon Genesis Evangelion
It’s not so much that everyone is terrible in Neon Genesis Evangelion. In fact, some, like Misato, Rei, or Asuka if you are a sucker for the dere, are pretty likable. It is just that everyone in the series is realistically flawed. Some are flawed to the point of being dislikable, others are flawed in ways that make them more sympathetic. They’re all flawed. We’re all flawed. Oh god. Existence is pain.
Welcome to the NHK
Does having a mental illness that makes you not leave your home and be a burden to those who have to support you else-wise you will die of neglect make you a terrible person? Perhaps not. Does helping a person with a mental illness for your own selfish reasons make you a terrible person? Perhaps not. Does starting a suicide cult make you a terrible person? Yes, definitely.
As a show about mental illness, I can’t in good conscious say that everyone in it is a terrible person, but it is a judgement that you can decide. I went back and forth on whether to include it and ultimately landed in that safe middle ground.
Do you have any more anime recommendations where every character is just absolute shit? Let fans know in the comments section below.
Death note and rent a girlfriend