Makima

Shonen Villains that are the Stuff of Nightmares

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Anime Villains that Can Induce Nightmare Fuel in Fans

There can be no good without evil, and that means that a great hero needs a great villain. Batman has the Joker, Cloud has Sephiroth, Spider-Man has the Green Goblin. The best heroes have the best villains, and the best villains can be as popular as the heroes. However, no matter how much people may like them (or like to hate them), that doesn’t change the fact that they’re evil. If people were to somehow encounter them in real life, they’ll generally have three choices.

  1. Run for your life and pray that they don’t come after you.
  2. Bow down to them and pray that they spare.
  3. Make peace with your impending death.

Since Halloween is about scaring ourselves, here are some of the villains in Shonen anime that are the stuff of nightmares. Villain’s that, if encountered by someone unprepared, should be run away from as fast as you can.

DIO, JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure

There’s hatred, and then there’s the concentrated malice that is known as DIO. As the overarching antagonist of most of Araki’s JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure, DIO is one of the most vile beings to ever walk upon God’s green earth. Which is ironic because his name means “God” in Italian!

Despite starting out as nothing more than an extremely cruel bully to Jonathan Joestar, Dio graduated from that and humanity when he used an ancient mask to become an immortal vampire. After that, Dio slaughtered his way through Victorian England before the OG JoJo took him down, sacrificing his own life in the process. Unfortunately for the world, it didn’t stick.

DIO (now all caps) returned a hundred years with JoJo’s body and a Stand power that let him stop time, and even then, he wasn’t satisfied. Had JoJo’s descendant, Jotaro Kujo, not slain him, he would’ve eventually evolved his Stand into one that could rewrite reality itself. The worst part, though, is that even in death, DIO remained a threat thanks to his followers, one of whom would find a way to end and restart the universe.

DIO is like Dracula on steroids. He’s brilliant, has almost no regard for humanity, and worst of all, incredibly charismatic. Even if someone manages to resist his charisma, it won’t matter since he can implant a parasite in their brains and force them to serve him. Anyone unlucky enough to cross his path should run, lest he devours you mind, body, and soul.

Frieza, Dragon Ball Franchise

There are a lot of villains in theย Dragon Ballย franchise that would terrify even the bravest people. However, even when stacked against beings like Cell, Majin Buu, and Goku Black, Frieza stands as the biggest villain inย Dragon Ballย for good reason. Series mangaka Akira Toriyama based him off his own worst nightmares fused with real estate speculators that, at the time of his creation, were raking in dough at countless other’s expense. As a result, unlike most villains in the franchise, Frieza has an unthreatening appearance and eloquent way of speaking one might expect from Hannibal Lecter, which only makes him all the more terrifying.

While he was eventually surpassed by stronger villains like Cell and Majin Buu, Frieza remained the most popular villain in the franchise. That popularity would eventually see him not only come back from the dead (twice), but gave him a power-up that put him back on top. At the time of this writing, Frieza’s gotten to the point where he’s stronger than Goku and Vegeta. The only reason they’re still alive is because he let them live just to prove a point. Unless you’re a Super Saiyan or a god of destruction, then Frieza is the last person that you want to anger. He will not kill you but your entire species in the process.

Also, he’s got his own heavy-metal theme song.

Akainu, One Piece

There are plenty of villains and monsters inย One Pieceย that make ordinary people tremble in fear, but few of them can get away with their actions by being one of the “good guys.” That’s different for Navy Fleet Admiral Sakazuki, AKA Akainu (“Red Dog.”) Akainu is everything wrong with the Marines personified. If you step out of line with his extreme views on justice, he will not hesitate to kill you. And with his Magma Magma Fruit powers letting him turn his body intoย magma, there’s little anyone can do to stop him.ย 

Many of the actions that Akainu has committed over the course of the series would, in a fairer world, likely constitute as war crimes. From blowing up a refugee ship on the off-chance a single fugitive would be on board to killing his own men for getting in his way or losing their nerve, this is someone that shouldn’t be put in charge of anything. For fans of One Piece, though, his biggest crime was murdering Luffy’s brother, Ace, right before him. This monster needs to be stopped, and many fans would love to see Luffy beat him into the ground before the series ends.

No, really. Luffy needs to beat him to a pulp and avenge his brother’s death. 

Muzan Kibutsuji, Demon Slayer : Kimetsu no Yaiba

He may look like Michael Jackson, but Muzan is a complete and utter monster. The centuries old progenitor of all Demons, Muzan is less of a person and more of a plague upon the world. Born a sickly human a thousand years ago, he took an incomplete medicine to survive, only to have it turn him into the first Demon. Since then, he has plagued Japan from the shadows, spawning countless Demons. His ultimate goal is to attain true immortality and conquer the light of the sun.

Even with his weakness to sunlight, Muzan is a terrifying, nigh-immortal foe. With a healing factor that rivals the likes of Cell or Majin Buu and an insatiable will to live, Muzan is the stuff of nightmares. Not even his fellow Demons are safe from him, as he’ll kill them for no reason. Any unlucky soul who finds themselves facing him shouldn’t even bother running. Just pray to God to let you into Heaven when you die.

WARNING: This Final Entry Provides MAJOR SPOILERS for Chainsaw Man. Anime-only fans and those who haven’t read the manga, stop reading!

Makima, Chainsaw Man

This blog’s review forย the 9th episodeย of theย Chainsaw Manย anime called Makima a dangerous and, indeed, scary person. That had been written with little knowledge about what happens in the manga. That assessment turned out to be accurate to the extreme. Makima isn’t just a dangerous woman. She’s aย menace!

While the anime has dropped hints that Makima isn’t a normal person, the manga eventually reveals that she’s actually the Control Devil. AKA, the embodiment of humanity’s fear of control, oppression, and the loss of free will. As such, her ability to control those she sees beneath her is so broken it puts Lelouch Vi Britannia’s Geass to shame. She’s a manipulative, cruel, and sociopathic villain whose idea of a perfect world is one without Devils and everyone under her heels. In other words, she’s the stuff of nightmares.

The worst part is the fact that she’s almost impossible to kill. Any damage done to her gets sent to some random person instead. With nigh-immortality and the ability to manipulate almost anyone she meets, she’s an enemy to everyone who loves free will. It doesn’t matter if she’s called a waifu; she’s a monster.  

Anime Training Arc=Badass Protagonists

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Chainsaw Man, Ep 11 Review

When an anime protagonist wants to overcome insurmountable odds and beat an enemy that kicked their butts, what do they do? They have an anime training arc, get stronger, and then go back for a rematch. In this case, Special Division 4 has a collective anime training arc to take down the Katana Man. However, will it be enough to take down the Katana Man and his Devils?  

Yes. That’s what happens with an anime training arc.

Training Time’s Over, Time for Payback 

Having trained under Kishibe for an unspecified amount of time, Denji and Power start to show some improvement. At least, that’s what Kishibe says, since he pushes back their training to once a week. However, he also lets them know that they’re going to be launching their mission to take down the Katana Man and his rogue Yakuza the next day. The Special Division’s future rides on their success; if they fail, Denji and Power die. In other words, they shouldn’t fail.

The success of what will happen is the main source of drama for the episode, with Makima even visiting the Yakuza upper echeleons to get more intel…is what I wish she was just doing. In addition to that, she then intimidates the Yakuza into cooperating with the government or face destruction.

This moment show’s how no-nonsense Makima is about her job. When the Yakuza boss refuses to cooperate at first, saying they’re a necessary evil to keep worse gangs from outside Japan out, she doesn’t have it. She gives him a bag of eyes from their other members, their families, and more. It’s a morbid sight and one that would intimidate most people. As I’ve said before, Makima scares me. 

The Raid Begins! The Other Members of Special Division 4 Make their Debut!

The third act of the episode sees Special Division 4 start their raid on the forces of the Katana Man and Sawatari (the girl with the Snake Devil). This moment serves as a chance for us to meet the other members of their group, and most of them are either Devils or Fiends. 

It’s more apparent now why Makima’s Division is cause for concern. Most of the members are either crazy people, Fiends, Devils, or some combination of all three. Denji fits right in with all these oddballs, for better or worse. 

Aki’s Anime Training Arc Pays Off

The real highlight of the episode, though, is Aki. He made a contract with the Future Devil, who, despite it’s strange appearance, is a troll by nature. It likes to mockingly say that “the future rules,” and unlike others, it’s worked with, it barely asks for anything from Aki. All it wants is to live in his right eye, and it will let him see a few seconds into the future. 

The catch to this, though, is that it wants a front-row seat to Aki’s inevitable death, something it found very interesting. Like I said, it’s a troll. 

As I said last week, it’s pretty evident that most of these people aren’t going to live to see retirement. The implication that Aki’s death is so morbid that the Future Devil wanted a front-row seat to it makes it pretty obvious. However, it’s still disturbing to see that the series equivalent to Sasuke will likely die before the anime ends.

Regardless of the short life expectancy, it’s clear that the anime training arc’s paid off. The Yakuza are going down. The one regret that I may have is the fact that the first portion of the anime ends next episode. Here’s hoping they can finish the Katana Man Arc in that time. 

Happy Holidays everyone!

I Give โ€œMission Startโ€ a 3/5

Denji’s Quest for Girls Begins!

Aside Roderick J "Jay" Friz Anime, Crunchyroll , , , , , , , , , ,

Chainsaw Man Episode 2 Review

Question: what would you say if you met a beautiful but mysterious woman who asked you to come work for her in exchange for anything you wanted? Most people would say no because such an offer is very sus. When you’ve hit absolute rock bottom in your life, though, and said woman’s the first person to treat you with decency, it’s hard for common sense to win the argument. Especially when said person happens to be Denji, whose life has been so bad his only real goal is to get lucky with a girl. That’s assuming he can live long enough as a Devil Hunter. 

Denji the Devil Dog Finds a New Master…

After the brilliantly bloody origin story of the titular Chainsaw Man saw Denji break free of his Yakuza master’s, he will need a new job. Fortunately, or unfortunately, depending on how you look at it, the woman Denji met, Makima, recruits him to join the government-backed Devil Hunters she helps lead. They’ll provide room & board for Denji so long as he helps them continue to hunt down Devils using his newfound powers. If he refuses, then Makima’s allowed to kill him like a Devil. 

Some people would object to the obvious “join-or-die” choice offered or say that it’s not even a real choice. However, Denji agrees immediately because they’re offering the dream of a normal life that he’s had for as long as he can remember. That, and Denji’s head over heels for Makima. 

Some shonen protagonists have lofty goals and ambitions that drive them forward in their stories. Goku wants to be as strong as he possibly can. Naruto’s is to become Hokage. Luffy wants to become King of the Pirates and throw the world’s biggest party (that’s a big fan theory, anyway.) Denji, though? Besides getting a chance to live a normal life, Denji’s only dream…is boobs.

At Least Denji Has a Clear Goal in Life.

No, really. As he goes out on his first mission as a Devil Hunter, he decides that his next goal, now that he’s gotten close to a woman, is to get his hands on boobs. If it were most other people said this, they would get slapped and called a pervert. Yet despite how impure his dreams of scoring may sound, it’s how genuine Denji sounds when he says this stuff that can be endearing. All he wants is to have a chance at love in life, something a lot of us can relate to. Ironically, this simple desire lets Denji demonstrate the pure-hearted nature found in many Shonen protagonists. I’ve only known Denji for two weeks now, and I already like him.

Of course, no good Shonen story’s complete without its supporting cast, and we get to meet two of Denji’s new comrades this episode. Firstly, there’s Hatayama, a no-nonsense Devil Hunter who flat-out tells Denji that unless he gets proper motivation, he will not survive in their line of work. So he’s the tough-love kind of person. Then, we have Power, a Fiend, or Devil who possessed a dead human’s body. I love Power. She’s bold, loud, and exuberant, and she will ask anyone or anything to fight her. She’s perfect for Shonen Jump, in my opinion.

There wasn’t a lot of action in this second episode, but given how the first cours has a dozen episodes, I’m willing to give Chainsaw Man time to get its foot in the door. Once that happens, though, I’m looking forward to seeing if Denji can stand alongside Shonen Jump greats like Goku, Naruto, Luffy, and the Joestar Family. I’m pretty sure he can, though. I’m rooting for him in his quest for love!

I Give “Arrival in Tokyo” a 3.5/5