10 Scariest Moments In Non-Horror Anime

Naturally, audiences go into horror anime expecting to be scared, so of course those shows pull out all the stops to terrify. But what about anime that present themselves differently? Sometimes it’s the shows that rarely focus on horror at all that hit the hardest when they decide to scare viewers silly.

Spooky surprises can be found in shounen anime such as Naruto and Fullmetal Alchemist, or even more obscure and unassuming anime such as Mushishi. 

10 Enter Orochimaru (Naruto)

Despite its bright veneer, Naruto is brimming with horror, from Kimimaro tearing his own spinal cord out to Itachi trapping people in mental torture dimensions. However, the show’s crown jewel of creepiness is Orochimaru, who menaces the cast throughout the entire show, with mass murder, human experimentation, and boatloads of body horror under his belt.

In the Chunin Exam Arc, his introduction sets a new standard for horror in the show. He has Naruto eaten alive by a giant snake, paralyzes Sasuke and Sakura with terror just by being there, and extends his neck to chomp down on Sasuke’s throat, infecting him with an agonizing Curse Mark. He does all this in the guise of a genin he murdered to steal his body, which is only revealed when his face is melted off by Sasuke’s Dragon-Flame Jutsu.

9 The Real Slasher (Durarara!!)

One of the strongest swords in anime is also one of the most terrifying. Saika is a sentient, cursed blade that loves humanity, and shows it by brainwashing anyone it cuts into its hive mind. After several episodes building up the mystery of who “the Slasher” is, in the episode “Mutual Love,” Anri is attacked by Haruna Niekawa, who claims the title.

Haruna rambles about how badly she wants Anri dead, leading an army of Saika-possessed people to her apartment. She lunges at Anri with a knife…only for Anri to block the blade with her arm without blinking. Anri is Saika’s true wielder, and proves it by piercing Haruna with her sword until the other girl succumbs to her control.

8 Shou Tucker’s Final Experiment (Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood)

Even the Homunculi embodying the Seven Deadly Sins have got nothing on Shou Tucker, who appears in only one episode but delivers the show’s most infamous scare. In the episode “An Alchemist’s Anguish,” he initially appears to be a dedicated researcher and loving father to his young daughter Nina, but he soon shows his true colors as a heartless mad scientist.

Shou reveals to a horrified Edward and Alphonse that he transmuted his daughter and her dog together, fusing them into a chimera. Unlike the more successful chimera seen later in the show, Nina is in terrible pain and has barely enough human intelligence left to express this to Edward. Shou is arrested, but there’s no way to turn Nina back into a human or ease the little girl’s suffering, moving Scar to kill her as an act of mercy.

7 No Ordinary Rabbit (Re:Zero – Starting Life In Another World)

Subaru Natsuki might be one of the most powerful anime characters to travel through time, but that power comes at a terrible price. He isn’t strong, smart, or skilled in magic: all he can do to get through this fantasy world is use his ability “Return by Death” to die over and over until he figures out how to win.

In “The Value of Life,” Subaru experiences a particularly gruesome death at the claws of the Oousagi. Thinking it’s a normal bunny, Subaru tries to pet it, only for the creature to bite off his entire hand. In seconds, an entire colony of Oousagi is on him, eating his other hand and feet, eyes and tongue, and even burrowing into his stomach to get at his innards. Before he can do anything, Subaru is devoured alive.

6 Off With Their Heads (Mushishi)

Mushi are simple forces of nature: some are harmless, others utterly horrifying. In the episode “Floral Delusion,” the mystical qualities of mushi meet the darker desires of humanity. Ginko visits Masaki, a doctor who cares for a beautiful woman who is blind, deaf, and mute. As befitting one of the scariest body horror anime, not all is as it seems.

The woman is infected by the same mushi that Masaki makes his “medicine” from. His family found her centuries ago and protected her for generations. Her body rots as she ages, but they refuse to let her go, beheading young women so they can graft their mushi‘s head onto a healthy new body. Ginko manages to save Masaki’s latest victim just before he swings the axe down.

5 Noah’s Ark Circus (Black Butler)

Black Butler‘s horror is usually of the supernatural variety. But the worst atrocities in the show are committed by humans rather than the forces of Hell, such as when Ciel and Sebastian infiltrate the Noah’s Ark Circus to investigate the case of several missing children.

They discover that the Circus has been kidnapping children to use their body parts in prosthetics and torture for entertainment. Baron Kelvin has two children killed on stage and the Doctor butchers a young girl and extracts her bones in front of Ciel, believing he’ll be impressed. Ciel, no stranger to cold-blooded murder himself, is instead disgusted and horrified by their brutality.

4 Akio’s True Colors (Revolutionary Girl Utena)

An anime much like Arcane: League of Legends, Revolutionary Girl Utena is an unconventional shoujo that tackles themes of abuse, trauma, and adulthood. Akio Ohtori presents himself as a kind adult authority figure to his teenage students but is in reality a cunning and cruel manipulator. Like Utena, the audience doesn’t fully understand Akio’s true nature until it’s too late.

“The Prince Who Runs Through the Night” not only recaps previous episodes but also recounts Akio grooming Utena, culminating in him driving her off school grounds and assaulting her. The whole time, the normally unshakeable Utena is rambling nervously, first trying to get Akio to stop, and afterward clearly trying to think about anything but what he did. The episode is framed so surreally that viewers might not get what exactly is happening at first but be thoroughly unnerved anyway.

3 Imperfect Cell (Dragon Ball Z)

Dragon Ball is famous for its flashy, drawn-out battle scenes, so it’s surprising to see the show introduce one of its villains in a manner more akin to a horror movie. Though Cell in his later incarnations is loud and bulky, his earliest form is a stealthy and terrifying killer.

Cell himself isn’t shown at first, only his huge molted shell and a town full of empty clothes, their owners nowhere to be found. Piccolo finally catches him in the act of feeding, by piercing a man with his enormous, scorpion-like tail stinger, liquefying him and drinking his body. The man pleads for help, but it’s already too late.

2 Amateur Brain Surgery (Hunter x Hunter)

The Chimera Ant Arc is the most horrifying storyline in the show. Its villains are insectoid creatures that take on the characteristics of whatever the Queen who birthed them devoured. When one Queen adds humans to her diet, her offspring are not only powerful but dangerously intelligent.

Neferpitou gets information on Nen use from a captured Pokkle through a crude lobotomy. Pokkle is stripped naked on a stone slab with his skull opened up, staring into space and numbly answering Pitou’s questions as they play around in his brain with a pair of sticks. When they’re satisfied, Pokkle is killed and his body fed to the Queen.

1 Mad Pierrot (Cowboy Bebop)

The crew of the Bebop regularly face off against intimidating criminals, but none quite like the villain of the episode “Pierrot le Fou.” Mad Pierrot is an utterly unhinged killer, taking childlike glee in committing horrific violence. The climactic scene where Spike fights him, at night in an abandoned amusement park, is intensely creepy rather than thrilling.

Instead of the usual soundtrack, there’s only silence or eerie droning in the background. Even victory is horrifying: Spike only wins by unwittingly triggering Pierrot’s trauma from being experimented on, letting him get a lucky hit in. Pierrot staggers around screaming for his mother like a frightened child, until he is finally crushed by falling park equipment.