Next to friendship, the power of love is one of the most powerful forces in anime. Whenever someone admits their love, the tides of battle suddenly shift in their favor. Some characters become lovers, while others become a new entity.
However, love’s impressive might didn’t work wonders in these anime. Not only did romance fail here; it actively made things worse. While some anime characters lost their sanity, others became evil incarnate.
10 The Monogatari Series — Suruga Almost Killed Koyomi Because Of Romantic Envy
Teenage angst and romance are the core of the Monogatari series. But while it’s mostly played for sympathetic comedy and drama, Suruga took it to a deadly extreme. In brief, Suruga loved Senjougahara. However, Senjougahara fell for Koyomi instead.
Thanks to the dark influence of the Rainy Devil, Suruga’s mad love for Senjougahara transformed her into a dangerous monster with Koyomi in its sights. Instead of getting retribution, though, Koyomi helps Suruga out. He exorcises the Rainy Devil and befriends her, earning her trust. That said, she still feels down about her feelings not being reciprocated.
9 Death Note — Misa Devoted Herself To Kira For Nothing
After meeting Light Yagami (aka Kira, the God of the New World) and realizing that he killed her parents’ murderer, fellow Death Note user Misa dedicates herself to Kira’s fight for justice. Everything she does is for her love for Light, who she hopes would recognize her affections and have her by his side.
Unfortunately for Misa, Light has no time for love. To make matters worse, he uses Misa as a pawn for his plans. Misa does what Light orders, hoping that the power of love would get through him one day. Instead, Light keeps her at a distance and dies. The final insult is that it's heavily implied that an offscreen Misa took her life shortly after Light’s death was confirmed.
8 School Days — Makoto’s Love Triangle Turned Deadly
In a normal school romance anime, characters getting the courage to finally confess their true feelings would be enough to end the story on a romantic or bittersweet note. In School Days, Sekai and Kotonoha gaining the power of love lead to some of the most vicious and disturbing murders ever seen in anime.
First, a disturbed Sekai kills the philandering Makoto for leaving her for Kotonoha. Later, Kotonoha avenges Makoto by slitting a possibly pregnant Sekai in half before taking a nice boat to the middle of the ocean with her lover’s severed head in tow. A very twisted kind of love fueled both murders, but it’s still the power of love at work.
7 Future Diary — Yuno Started A Bloodbath In Another Reality To Find A New Yuki
One of the bigger twists of Future Diary is that it takes place in a multiverse and that the Yuno that Yuki is stuck with came from another reality. Yuno is so murderously obsessed over Yuki because in the First World, she and her Yuki made a suicide pact that she survived. Driven mad with grief, she used her god powers to find Yuki in a parallel world.
In the Second World (or the anime’s present), Yuno mercilessly kills whoever gets in the way of her romance with Yuki. While she got what she wanted, Yuno slaughtered countless people all for the sake of an off-world Yuki who’s more terrified than enamored of her—at least, until the end of the series.
6 Devilman Crybaby — Ryo Always Realizes His Love Too Late
The big reveal of Devilman Crybaby is that Ryo is actually Satan, and the anime is God’s punishment for his rebellion. Here, Satan is forced to live as a human before Armageddon ends the world. In every cycle, Ryo falls for Akira but is either unaware or in denial of these feelings. The anime ends with Ryo finally admitting his love, but only after he killed Akira.
If this were any other anime, Ryo’s confession would turn the apocalypse around. Instead, this only marks the end of Satan’s punishment before God restarts the torture. In the next timeline, Satan will relive Ryo’s life and suffering yet again, forever doomed to lose true love just when it’s in his grasp.
5 Puella Magi Madoka Magica — Sayaka Sacrificed Everything For Her Crush & Became A Witch
In Puella Magi Madoka Magica, magical girls are born when Kyubey grants their wish. Sayaka became a hero of justice after Kyubey heals Kyousuke’s hand so she could hear the boy she likes play the violin again.
Not only does Sayaka’s love go unrequited, but the reality of magical girls (who lost their humanity for magic) drives her into despair, where she becomes a witch. The worst thing about this is that this isn’t the only time it happened. The series takes place in a time loop, and it’s been confirmed that no matter what happens, Sayaka will never be happy. Either Kyousuke falls for someone else, or Sayaka finds herself unhappy with their relationship.
4 Evangelion: 2.0 You Can (Not) Advance — Shinji Causes The Near Third Impact For Rei
After decades of being the anime community’s resident meme, Shinji finally stands up for himself in Evangelion: 2.0 You Can (Not) Advance epically. After Zeruel absorbed Rei, Shinji unleashes Eva Unit-01’s true godlike nature to pull her out of the Angel. In doing so, Shinji single-handedly triggers the Third Impact, but it’s alright because he and Rei are finally together.
However, Evangelion: 3.0 You Can (Not) Redo undid Shinji’s biggest triumph. As per Evangelion tradition, the one time Shinji fights for the person dearest to him causes a cataclysm that wipes out most of humanity and turns Earth into a blood-red wasteland. The only silver lining here is that Kaworu stopped the Impact before it obliterated all of reality.
3 Neon Genesis Evangelion — Gendo Engineered The Third Impact To Reunite With His Dead Wife
Shinji’s father Gendo is arguably the true villain of Neon Genesis Evangelion, where he manipulated everyone to end the world for love’s sake. His true goal was to resurrect his beloved wife Yui, who died during a test run of Eva Unit-01. Gendo never recovered and became so bitter that he was willing to sacrifice all of existence to see her again.
By the power of (villainous) love, Gendo almost succeeds in The End Of Evangelion, where he nearly achieves godhood and the power to bring Yui back. However, Rei disobeys him at the last second and leaves him bleeding in Terminal Dogma. During Instrumentality, Gendo gets scolded by visions of Yui before being devoured by a nightmare Unit-01—an angry Shinji.
2 Puella Magi Madoka Magica: Rebellion — Homura Turned Reality Into A Prison For Madoka’s Happiness
The truth of Puella Magi Madoka Magica is that it’s a time loop that Homura relives for the sake of Madoka, her true love. To keep Madoka happy and avert her dying as a magical girl or becoming a witch, Homura sacrifices everything but becomes a jaded shell of her former self. By the time of Madoka: Rebellion, Homura has had enough.
Rather than let Madoka save her, Homura traps her and everyone in an alternate reality where magic doesn’t exist. More importantly, a brainwashed Madoka lives happily here. As ideal as this façade is, Homura knows it won’t last forever. However, a Rebellion sequel–Turning The Tide Of Walpurgis–may finally crumble Homura’s illusions.
1 Weathering With You — Hodaka Let Tokyo Sink In The Name Of Love
Instead of deconstructing it, Weathering With You shows the power of love as straightforwardly and realistically as it could. After Hina sacrifices herself to the ancient gods to save Tokyo from worsening weather, Hodaka–empowered by his love for her–pierces the heavens to bring her back to Earth where they can be together.
But in doing so, Hodaka doomed Tokyo to endless rain, which results in the city going underwater three years later. Hodaka may have reunited with Hina, but their love came at the cost of an entire city. The movie framing this as heartwarming either left viewers dumbfounded or laughing.