For what reason were depressing anime like Texhnolyze, or Fate/Zero, or Ergo Proxy, or Jin-Roh even made? (2025)

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Nov 23, 4:28 PM

Polatrix

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Aug 2024

Like, to quote a famous Harry Potter character: What did I buy you for?

To make me sad?

Nov 23, 4:52 PM

IpreferEcchi

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Jul 2016

8888

When the creator is sad and they can't find 3D people who share their grief, they make sad series so they'll at least have 2D people who do.

Or because they are sadistic and like to make 2D people suffer. Or a mixture of both points.

Nov 23, 5:19 PM

Styx_Thistle

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Jan 2021

100

Because a depressed writer had something to say idk

Nov 23, 5:24 PM

Bidoof_PMD-EOS

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Jan 2022

607

Why do horror movies exist?
Same concept. (Having only watched Fate/Zero and Jin-Roh from the above). Jin-Roh clearly has a moral to share, so that's why that's made. Fate/Zero was written by Urobuchi, who also wrote Madoka and Psycho-pass. Those other 2 had clear goals and settings, so I understand that Fate/Zero, while similar, is the one you pointed out. I would say that it's just to make something that has an impact. Fate/Zero had fun scenes and morals, such as Rider and Rider, and sometimes Saber and Archer, but at the end of the day, it's the concept of Fate/Stay Night applied correctly. An actual battle royale. It does technically have the whole morale of the Holy grail cup, though, if you count that.
So, yes, to impact you; make you sad. You buy a tearjerker because it makes you sad. But sometimes, it's a happy sad, and sometimes it's a fulfilling sad. And sometimes, it's just the chills and the shock, which are merited by them being non-conventional, and still making sense.

Nov 23, 5:46 PM

thewiru

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Feb 2014

1499

I mean, I do consider Fate/Zero depressing.
Not because it contains sad things, but because I found it so appalling I had to give it an 1/10.

Nov 23, 6:12 PM

Lucifrost

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Feb 2016

11963

Reply to thewiru

I mean, I do consider Fate/Zero depressing.
Not because it contains sad things, but because I found it so appalling I had to give it an 1/10.

@thewiru
That anime was made to make money, like most of Fate.

その目だれの目？

Nov 23, 6:49 PM

thewiru

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Feb 2014

1499

Reply to Lucifrost

@thewiru
That anime was made to make money, like most of Fate.

@Lucifrost
I mean, I would argue that this is a vacuous claim, considering that since their doujin days, TYPE-MOON always charged money from their products, and that the separation between "made for art" and "made for money" isn't as clear cut as the Frankfurt School (Who popularized this view) made it seem.
But that would just be me being a bit too woke.

Nov 23, 6:53 PM

maythews

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Sep 2018

"Sad" and "depressing shows" should be respected just as much as, if not moreso, than happy go lucky shows. It takes large amounts of backbone and artistic integrity to get risky or experimental with a storyline. Especially if it involves major character deaths. Stuff like this isn't as marketable and will often cause fan out cry no matter how well you deal with the subject matter. If a show can impact you emotionally, rather it be positively or negatively, that's the sign of a great piece of art. This sort of mindset "it has to be a happy ending, no matter what!" is how you end up with an industry afraid to take risks.

Now it's different if a show starts killing off characters for no reason. But if a character's death or a haunting atmosphere serves to further the story's message/themes and does so in a tasteful, logical way? It can resonate with you emotionally more than dime-a-dozen happy endings ever could.

maythewsNov 23, 7:06 PM

Nov 23, 8:14 PM

Guilmon1

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Apr 2024

1350

Well, for some people a story which isn't afraid to show dark and depressing stuff is more comforting and relatable, as much as it sounds counter intuitive for depressing stuff to be comforting

Also, there are just some stories or themes or even writers who work better as depressing and sad, Lain wouldn't be as great if it was scared to make the watcher sad

Nov 23, 8:23 PM

#10

WatchTillTandava

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Jun 2019

6646

Because there is a lot more to life than happiness and fun and exploring and depicting happy and fun emotions and events. It's the purpose of art to reflect and explore the variety and depth of the world and everything within it, as much as reasonably physically possible. That doesn't mean that every single anime series has to explore all things or try to do and be at once as many different things as possible, of course - that would just render most overly schizophrenic in focus and incoherent. But it means that there always should and will be a place for series willing to go into darker territory. And always an audience for it too.

Also, on a related note, even a number of self-described iyashikei, like those iyashikei in post-apocalyptic settings, incorporate a lot of content which could be easily viewed as dreary and pessimistic for a reason, even giving a platform to the thinking and sentiments common in existential depression. You know, if you walked into a building or individual room and immediately a strong and pungent odor assaulted your nostrils, you would immediately register it and likely react and find it unpleasant, but after a while you would start to forget altogether about there being any distinct smell at all which distinguished it from the outside or where you came from. If you eat your favorite food once a month or once a week, it's one thing. If you ate it every single day or even three to five times a day at every single meal, you would probably start to grow sick of and lose taste and desire for it. Balance. Yin and yang.

And to provide even a more specific example of how one could benefit or have a different experience from your own with the type of anime you mention and even specifically one of the ones you list by name, I found certain messaging and ideas in Ergo Proxy incredibly life-affirming and it's why it remains in my Top 10 as one of my favorite series to date.

WatchTillTandavaNov 23, 8:44 PM

Nov 23, 8:29 PM

#11

FanofAction

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Oct 2013

7274

So people who want to can consume them. Some people like to be sad. Also, not everyone is going to find the same things sad or depressing. I wasn’t particularly depressed when watching Fate/Zero.

Nov 23, 8:49 PM

#12

thewiru

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Feb 2014

1499

>Catharsis is from the Ancient Greek word κάθαρσις, katharsis, meaning "purification" or "cleansing", commonly used to refer to the purification and purgation of thoughts and emotions by way of expressing them. The desired result is an emotional state of renewal and restoration.
In dramaturgy, the term usually refers to arousing negative emotion in an audience, who subsequently expels it, making them feel happier.
The first recorded uses of the term in a mental sense were by Aristotle in the Politics and Poetics, comparing the effects of music and tragedy on the mind of a spectator to the effect of catharsis on the body.

Nov 23, 8:49 PM

#13

Hikinekomori

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May 2012

1008

Humans are designed to evolve and adapt, in order to do so experience is needed. Literary genres such as cyberpunk, post-apocalyptic or drama are mental gyms to explore, discuss, share thoughts, scenarios and emotions. Dystopian worlds are based on real events and push people to reflect on the possible directions and future scenarios that man is taking and the choices he must make today. Unlike escapism which is the escape from worries, these genres put you face to face with your deepest fears, making you reflect on the future of the planet and man or just dramatic events. By exploring and sharing these themes it is also possible to exorcise and defeat them, materializing them with fantasy so that they do not come tangibly into being and if they ever should, be ready to face them.

Nov 23, 9:04 PM

#14

cyandaqil

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Nov 2015

721

Nothing’s wrong with being sad. Unless you’re a robot that’s supposed to be all sunshine and rainbows.

Cold-hearted orb that rules the night

Removes the colours from our sight

Red is grey and yellow white

But we decide which is right

And which is an illusion.

Nov 23, 9:48 PM

#15

Serafos

🍅 Tomato 🍅

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Feb 2020

99790

Because people can have different tastes and preferences?

Nov 23, 10:19 PM

#16

zzz

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Sep 2014

2024

if every show were "happy", that positivity would lose its weight with the absence of the opposite end of the spectrum; without sadness, we lose reason to appreciate happiness

there's a time and place for both, people are allowed to have a preference for whatever they desire more at the time. sometimes they'll resort to the 'happy' shows to uplift them, while other times the 'sad' shows can serve as something relatable and thus comforting in their own way. if one side of the coin doesn't resonate with you, that's perfectly fine, but that doesn't mean it shouldn't exist.

💤

Nov 24, 1:19 AM

#17

Lucifrost

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Feb 2016

11963

Reply to thewiru

@thewiru
I only hoped to answer the original question.

その目だれの目？

Nov 24, 2:06 AM

#18

Zarutaku

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Sep 2016

10319

So that a part of the audience feels that they aren't alone with their depressive thoughts.

No, this isn't my signature~desu.

Nov 24, 2:17 AM

#19

Catalano

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Oct 2010

21170

how is ergo and fate depressing? one is a mystery cyberpunk anime and the other is a shitty action harem.
It's the viewers' fault for finding these kinda anime depressing

Nov 24, 3:15 AM

#20

TransferUser

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Apr 2024

505

Can someone explain to me what makes Fate/Zero depressing? I thought it was an awesome show that gave me a lot of highs without ever leaving me dispirited.

Nov 24, 4:17 AM

#21

Joshhhp

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May 2020

740

Because life is nothing but a deep spiral of depression.

For what reason were depressing anime like Texhnolyze, or Fate/Zero, or Ergo Proxy, or Jin-Roh even made? (28)

MAL is the perfect place to shit talk about people's opinions.

Nov 24, 6:18 AM

#22

AnimePedestrian

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Jan 2021

1656

I don't find Fate/Zero all that depressing, it ends on a bitter sweet note. Whilst the baddies won, Saber was left on the hill of Camlann in despair and Kirisugu didn't save the world. The hope of the series lies in Shirou Emyia selflessly tokening away Kirisugu burden - promising he will take on the mantle of hero. This allows Kirisugu to finally rest, and take it easy, for he no longer has the weight of everyone else's happiness on his shoulders.

Sometimes it takes a real man to be best girl. Gilgamesh is also chad.

[/center]

Nov 24, 6:36 AM

#23

rbp_pbr2

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Oct 2018

Texhnolyze, Ergo Proxy and Jin-Roh are dystopias, there is a long literary tradition. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dystopia

I don't think that Fate shares much thematically with any of the others.

Why do people do a sad art? Because sometimes people do a sad.

Nov 24, 7:26 AM

#24

23feanor

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Jun 2019

4047

I finished Texhnolyze as part of a group watch a week ago, and wouldn't exactly call it depressing, nihilistic and brutal yes.

Texhnolyze, Casshern Sins and Girls Last Tour all touch upon the theme of mono no aware, or pathos of things, the impermanence of life, something that I only began to appreciate as a concept the older I got. As such these shows are quite thought provoking and worth watching in their own right. But you have to be in the right mood to pick them up, they aren't easy to watch popcorn entertainment.

Not sure I'd group Ergo Proxy and Fate Zero into this group though. It was a post apocalyptic mystery thriller. Fate Zero is shounen action with historical heroes.

Nov 24, 12:54 PM

#25

Zalis

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Jun 2007

3994

Geneon Entertainment USA, which produced English dubs and distributed DVDs in North America until 2007, was a co-producer on both Texhnolyze and Ergo Proxy. So somebody somewhere in the decision-making chain must've determined that those kinds of stories would have an appeal to Western audiences. Maybe they were wrong, but there was a reasonable case for it, given the dystopian themes mentioned above, and the prevalence back in the day of movies like Blade Runner, Terminator, The Matrix, and Dark City.

Everything that connects to MAL

Contains Ecchi, but not Tagged Ecchi: Part 1 || Part 2 || Part 3

Nov 25, 7:49 PM

#26

Kruszer

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Dec 2012

9613

Some people are just masochists who enjoy feeling like pounded dog shit after watching something and these series were made to cater to them. I don't agree with Fate/Zero and Ergo Proxy being on the list though.

"The name's Gambit. Remember it."
-Gambit "X-Men '97"

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For what reason were depressing anime like Texhnolyze, or Fate/Zero, or Ergo Proxy, or Jin-Roh even made? (2025)

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