To start off this list, this is more of a brutal sacrifice as opposed to a brutal death. While taking the Demon Slayer Exam, both Makomo and Sabito, two characters with a very short episode presence, end up sacrificing themselves to save their nakama as they face a demon made of hands, but they didn’t go down without a fight! When you get consumed by a demon made of numerous hands, that should more or less say how brutal it is. Thankfully, their deaths didn’t go unavenged as our heroes still managed to slay the Hand Demon thanks to the work they started.

Corpse Party is a returning entry from a previous list and for good reasons. If anime could have its own sub-category of grindhouse, then Corpse Party perfectly takes that crown. Its sole purpose is merely for shock value! Throughout its duration, you’re going to see teenagers dying awful deaths to the point that if Freddy Krueger, Jason Vorhees, Leatherface, Michael Meyers, and Ichi the Killer could have nightmares that would frighten them, it would have to be Corpse Party! Corpse Party is literally the definition of torture porn on steroids, and we mean the Mexican and Soviet steroids! We don’t want to say how brutal the deaths are not for the sake of spoilers, they’re just difficult to put into words, but limbs get cut off, organs spill to the floor, and whatever you choose to think of, you’re likely to see it in Corpse Party. And that’s just the tip of the iceberg!

Yes, the doggy death from Elfen Lied may take the cake, but Iggy’s death is a unique entry of its own. He wasn’t brutally murdered, he made a brave sacrifice that made him go out in a brutal way. While he and Polnareff were fighting Vanilla Ice, Dio’s top henchman, every man and dog was at their last breath. Iggy had already lost a leg and was exhausted beyond belief. As a last ditch effort, Iggy uses his stand to trick Vanilla Ice that Dio was present. Not falling for it, Vanilla Ice stomps on Iggy out of rage. Considering it’s a puppy, the imagery portrayed in this scene is beyond disturbing. While it isn’t very much his death that is brutal, but the events that lead up to it as he nobly sacrifices himself to save Polnareff should certainly be in PETA’s next anti-animal abuse video.

Like Corpse Party, a huge majority of this anime is full of carnage and guts so we can’t exactly pin it on one particular death. As a wise uncle once said, “with great power, there must also come great responsibility,” and Parasyte takes that saying to a whole new level when Shinichi manages to control his parasyte by limiting it to his right-hand. Throughout their adventures together they fight the forces of evil in a brutal matter, and the forces of evil brutally kill innocents. As to how they do it, if you can think of anything brutal that comes to the top of your head, chances are it has been portrayed in this anime for you to check out.

For many of you younger Gen-X’ers and older Millennials, you likely watched Voltron, which was the North American adaptation of GoLion. If you haven’t seen the original series in its original Japanese form, it takes the definition of edginess that we talked about in the intro and dials it to 11. What makes the original Japanese version distinct is that it had balls-to-the-walls brutality! In one episode, the evil forces of Dai Bazaal (or Emperor Zarkon in Voltron) are unleashed on an innocent village, and they dish out some unspeakable slaughter. Heck, you even see babies being murdered and that’s enough to say why this scene qualifies for this list.

Madoka has been known to re-define Magical Shoujo this past decade and what paved way for this distinction was the death of Mami. If the cliché don’t-judge-a-book-by-its-cover could apply to anime, then Madoka is certainly that anime. On the outside, it looks all cute and bubbly, but is unarguably one of the darkest anime titles of the decade! Mami was a lonely girl who was just trying to make some positive changes in her life and she genuinely wanted to make friends. Unfortunately, during a battle against a creature that also looks kind of cute, she suddenly gets her head bitten off. And, that’s just the tip of the iceberg because the way she dies isn’t exclusively what makes it brutal by itself. It’s the fact that we have to revisit this scene through other means within the story that truly makes it brutal.

In the time traveling world of Steins;Gate, Okabe is faced with his biggest challenge, the repeated loss of Mayuri, his childhood friend. Not only does he face it once, but numerous times as he goes back in time over and over to prevent it only for her to die in a different matter. In some instances, she’s shot, in others, it’s by some twist of fate. While the nature of all of her deaths are obviously brutual visual in nature, the true brutality of her deaths are more psychological for Okabe. When you watch the one you love die over and over for the sake of trying to stop it from happening, it will eventually take a toll on your mental state and you see that happen with him.

Like Corpse Party, Terraformers is full of shock value and represents the sci-fi sector of grindhouse anime. One notorious death that was taken from its original manga publication is how one of the cockroaches just manages to rip off a person’s head and run with it like its an NFL running back going for a touchdown. Its brutal in the sense that it shows how ruthless and strong the cockroaches in this series truly are, and that they have the mercy of a Cobra Kai black belt. The way the series pans and frames this particular scene not only showcases the cockroaches’ violent tendencies, but also gives that sense of flare that people would love in an action series.

Levi’s mother didn’t really die a brutal death due to being viciously consumed by a titan, she succumbed to illness. There are instances that brutal deaths aren’t physical, but emotional as well. When Levi’s uncle came home for a simple visit, she was already a decomposed corpse lying in bed with a famished Levi just sitting there trying to process the fact that his mother was gone. It wasn’t really the visual aspect of her death that makes it brutal, but the emotional content. Her death (and Levi’s situation) is brutal in the manner of how we as a society should treat one another.

Due to the conditions that Levi’s mother’s corpse was found in, it shows how low society in the world of Attack on Titan has truly sunk. It makes you feel that she was seen as less than human due to her past as a prostitute, and that she lived in the slums. Regardless of how one feels about one’s life choices, we have to remember we’re all human beings and a loss of a mother is truly a tragic thing. The fact that this isn’t acknowledged by anyone in her community, nor does anyone intervene to take care of Levi (do child protective services not exist within the walls?) is what truly makes it brutal.

At number one, we have to put in Nina Tucker from Fullmetal Alchemist. When Scar finds her in the state that she’s in, by his own moral code, he grants her a mercy killing by exploding her into a pool of blood and guts. It’s not just the physical aspect of her death that makes it brutal, but the emotional and psychological aspects as well. She was just a little girl, and when she says Ed’s name, you can only imagine what’s going through her head, heart and soul. Is she even aware of what happened to her? Or is she in denial as she pleads with the Elrich brothers to play with her? Would she still be accepted by the world if she were to keep on going? Not even Ed knew what to do in that situation.

Fullmetal Alchemist largely deals with prejudice as one of its main themes and on that same token, some may question that Scar did her a favor when you take into account his personal experiences. On the other hand, she’s still a child and by no means what happened was her fault. Ultimately, her death is brutal in a moral definition because if something like that had to happen to someone and that choice was in our hands on what to do with it, what decision would we make?

Mirai Nikki combines the intellectual mind-games of Death Note with the brutality and mayhem of Battle Royale. Suffice it to say it leads to a whole lot of carnage. Aru Akise is one of the only genuinely likable personalities in the anime, and he develops a close friendship with the protagonist Yuki Amano. After receiving the ‘Detective Diary,’ granting the ability to read the predictions of other Diary Holders, the popular detective ends up in a fight with the deranged Yuno over his budding relationship with Yuki.

Initially getting the upper-hand, Yuno catches him off guard before slitting his throat. This sequence is particularly unnerving due to the slow pace of the death scene. The audience is forced to watch as blood drips out of Akise’s throat before Yuno cuts his head off completely.

This entire list could be compiled of deaths just from Akame Ga Kill! By the end of its run, these brutal scenes had practically become the anime’s trademark. If forced to pick only one, we would have to go with Chelsea. Although her time on screen was relatively short-lived, as she joined Night Raid much later on in the story; her death was incredibly cruel. During an assault on the Jaegers, Chelsea donned a disguise and infiltrated the headquarters to kill Kurome. Overconfident in her own ability, she ended up ambushed before painfully meeting her demise.

That was not the end of it or even the worst part. While out on a scouting mission at a nearby town, Night Raid’s Tatsumi found her head stacked on a pole in the main square. It was later revealed that her body was fed to Seryu’s pet Hekatonkheires.

Nowhere near as bloody or graphic as any of the other entries in this list, Setsuko’s death is no less disturbing. As an anime, Mononoke gained a reputation due to its unique and unsettling animation style. The stand-alone stories follow a Medicine Seller who travels across Japan seeking violent supernatural beings to put to rest. For this to be accomplished, the truth behind their death needs to be discovered. Usually, the spirits were victims of some heinous crime.

Bakeneko is the final mini-arc, which sees the Medicine Seller and six passengers locked in a haunted train. The spirit in question is Setsuko Ichikawa, a journalist who tried to report a scandal and ended up being killed for her trouble. As what really happened is methodically revealed; a flashback illustrates, in agonizing detail, how Setsuko was betrayed by someone she trusts and thrown off a bridge onto the subway tracks. Just about surviving the fall, there is nothing she can do as a train runs her over.

What would a list of anime death scenes be without at-least one from Attack on Titan? With the recent completion of season 2, there are dozens of new contenders to pick and choose from. Like the first season, the sequel got off to a gruesome start, killing off a relatively major character in the opening episode. Mike Zacharias was the second strongest soldier in the Survey Corps, only trumped by Levi. A squad leader, he prioritized the safety of his comrades and often put himself in the middle of danger for their safety.

After he managed to buy his team enough time to escape, Mike found himself isolated and trapped by the Beast Titan. Without his equipment and with a broken leg, the brave soldier picked up his sword to put up some resistance before being overwhelmed by numerous Titans. Keeping with the typical style of the series, Mike’s death is shown in its entirety, as he is torn apart by the monsters.

Turning gore into an art form, cult hit Hellsing Ultimate sees the vampire Alucard working for the Hellsing organization, as they try to rid the world of Nazis. It is as glorious as it sounds and a perfect apology for the mediocrity of the original Hellsing series. In one particularly sad and uncomfortable moment, Seras Victoria’s haunting backstory is forced to the forefront by an illusion spell cast by Zorin Blitz. The busty policewoman-turned-vampire witnessed the death of her parents at the hands of a brutal gang.

Seras’ father was an undercover cop who got in over his head. The criminal organization he was meant to take down discovered the truth and retaliated. After her father and mother were brutally murdered, the young Seras was shot in the gut and forced to watch as her mother’s corpse was raped.

This entry is a bit of a cheat, as the death was not final. Re:Zero kara Hajimeru Isekai Seikatsu follows the hikikomori Subaru Natsuki, who is transported to another world. After being saved by the silver-haired Satella, they visit a local bar to perform a trade with a thief before a mysterious woman attacks and kills them. Due to his untimely death, Subaru discovers he acquired the ability of having infinite lives. Restarting a few days earlier, the unspectacular hero tries to learn from his mistakes to avoid meeting the same fate.

Subaru dies a lot throughout Re:Zero kara Hajimeru Isekai Seikatsu, with all of his deaths being rather brutal and hard to watch. At no point is this power played for gags, as the pain felt by Subaru is clearly shown in each encounter. Just to pick one, the character’s very first death is particularly difficult to stomach, as Subaru bleeds to death from a stab to the gut. It also benefits from being genuinely shocking, as the latter ones were more predictable.

The character who dies does not necessarily have to be liked by the audience for the scene to be harrowing. Shiki is a fantastic horror series which confirmed that something new could still be done with the vampire genre. Quite slow-paced for the first half of the story, preferring to properly set up the characters and atmosphere before delivering blood pumping action sequences, the last few episodes bring up quite a few moral questions about what is right or wrong.

Megumi is not a good person, by any means. The first villager turned into a vampire, she went from a self-centered human to a malicious and violent creature of the night. The teenager hated her hometown of Sotoba and only showed any regard for her childhood crush Natsuno. As a vampire, she targeted his closest friends and tried to bring him over to her side.

All in all, Megumi kind of deserved to die. Still, the way it happens is definitely overkill. Trapped underneath a tractor, the villagers tear her limb from limb, as she dreams of a better life.

Higurashi no Naku Koro ni is probably the most famous horror anime of all time or at the very least a contender. Adapted from the popular visual novel, Keiichi Maebara moves to rural Japan and quickly befriends four seemingly normal girls at his new school. Hinamizawa initially seems like the perfect little village, before its dark and twisted underbelly is revealed. A microcosm for the entire series, Rika’s death is aggressive, unexpected, and off the wall bonkers.

After a back and forth with the sadistic Shion, who injects her with a deadly drug, the cute shrine maiden picks up a butcher’s knife and stabs herself repeatedly in the neck. While performing suicide, she stares right at Shion, who eventually breaks down into a manic laugh.

Neon Genesis Evangelion is more than just a mecha series, which is hardly a groundbreaking declaration. The main show definitely has its fair share of disturbing moments, especially after the creators ran out of money and decided to experiment. The follow-up movie served as the anime's true ending and took full advantage of not being restricted by what can and cannot be shown on television. From Shinji masturbating over the comatose Asuka to the insane climax, there is a lot to digest throughout The End of Evangelion.

Asuka might not have been the most approachable of pilots, but her defensive personality made her quite relatable. Used as a pawn to protect Shinji, the arrogant red-head recovers from her comatose state just in time to fight off a handful of enemy units, before they dismantle her Evangelion. As it is made crystal clear that the pilots experience what their unit is going through, the young girl is literally torn apart limb by limb. Later on, her mutilated corpse is paraded by the enemy units.

Just all of it. Every single death scene in Corpse Party: Tortured Souls is equally gruesome, brutal, and stomach turning. Due to a sudden earthquake, Naomi Nakashima wakes up in the haunted Heavenly Host Elementary School. Separated from her classmates, she sets out to try and find them or an exit. Rumor has it that this school once was the site of a mass murder which saw four students killed by one of their teachers. Naomi and her friends must find a way to appease the spirits or risk meeting their maker.

If the first episode was way too much for you, then it is best to move on. Each new OVA seems to exist merely to one-up the gore factor from the one before. There is strangulation, mutilation, torture, and body parts flying all over the place. None of the deaths are handled off-screen either, as these scenes are shown in all their bloody extravagance. While not necessarily the most emotionally draining of the entire list, Corpse Party: Tortured Souls took brutal deaths to a whole new level.