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Anime is known for being inventive, but as a thousand infomercials have taught us over the years, some inventions would be better off not existing. What functions as a plot device or MacGuffin in an anime could have devastating consequences in real life. Some anime inventions are in and of themselves too destructive, while others would spark corruption, society collapse, or war.
While otaku sometimes joke that they wish life was more like anime, it’s hard to say those words and actually mean them, considering how dark the medium can get. Who wouldn’t be corrupted by a Death Note? Who wouldn’t become immersed in an alternate reality and never want to leave?
10 Nothing Good Comes Of Banana Fish (Banana Fish)
Ash Lynx, gang leader and abused adopted son of a mafia boss, has problems enough even before the drug colloquially known as Banana Fish enters the picture. Given a small sample of the drug by a dying man, Ash and Eiji Okumura embark on a journey to uncover the secret of the substance. What they discover is galling, to say the least.
Like most psychotropic drugs, Banana Fish has a devastating impact on those who ingest it and those in their vicinity. Users of Banan Fish become deeply paranoid and violent, turning on their own friends, even massacring their brothers-in-arms. Banana Fish would only contribute to the narcotics epidemic that’s ravaging the world, and nobody needs that.
9 The Sybil System Has Dystopia Written All Over It (Psycho-Pass)
Psycho-Pass borrows a lot of its tropes from sci-fi classics, and the Sybil System feels like something right out of the mind of Philip K. Dick. The world of Psycho-Pass is governed by AI that foretells people’s likelihood of committing crimes even before they commit them. Given this, the mere intention of causing harm can lead to a person’s arrest, and the mere thought of ill-doing lowers one’s place in society.
Through the eyes of an unsympathetic machine, right and wrong are distinguished without empathy. Add to this the chilling fact that the Sybil System is composed of disembodied human brains and it becomes the backbone of a real dystopian nightmare.
8 Titan Injections Would Be Seriously Bad News (Attack on Titan)
Created from the spinal fluid of titans, the titan injection is a harrowing invention indeed. Used both to transform Ymir into a cognizant titan and transform Eldian criminals into mindless monsters, the injections are responsible for much of the devastation wrought on Paradis.
Transforming people into monsters is complicated in the Attack on Titan universe, but the central inhumanity of such an act is irrefutable. The injection claims most of its victims’ personal agency, dooming them to an existence of mindless rampage thereafter. There’s no justifying that kind of torture, and the rage felt by the people of Paradis is more than understandable.
7 The Philosopher’s Stone Always Leads To War (Fullmetal Alchemist)
In countless stories, heroes and villains alike seek immortality. And yet, few characters ever achieve this goal, as immortality always comes at a high price. In the case of Fullmetal Alchemist, the philosopher’s stone grants immortality at the expense of sacrificing the lives of thousands of people. Horrible though it is to acknowledge, there are undoubtedly people in the real world who would happily make such a trade.
Fullmetal Alchemist uses the philosopher’s stone and the fallout surrounding it as an effective allegory for genocide. Mortality is what makes us human, and a philosopher’s stone in cruel hands would be a nightmare.
6 NerveGear Could Prove More Addicting Than WoW (Sword Art Online)
Almost every arc in Sword Art Online takes place in virtual reality, which contributes to the many reasons why the franchise never feels especially meaningful. NerveGear, the technology used to immerse characters in virtual reality, might be seen by some as liberating, as it allows users to improve their quality of life by escaping reality for a more idealized fantasy world.
Yet, sci-fi stories have proven time and time again that forsaking reality for the sake of a dream world never ends well. NerveGear users become addicted to the technology, suffering muscle atrophy and failing to move forward in their actual lives. Anyone concerned about gaming addiction would have a lot more to worry about if NerveGear existed. Games are wonderful escapism, but not at the expense of reality.
5 Akira’s Stolen Humanity Is A Warning (Akira)
Akira was once a person. Victimized by the government, Akira developed psychic abilities that exceeded his control and destroyed all of Tokyo with a force similar to that of an atomic bomb. Akira was dissected, had his organs separated, and was cryogenically frozen beneath Neo-Tokyo. In essence, mankind’s reach exceeded its grasp, at the expense of millions.
While turning children into bombs is fantastic fictional commentary, it’s a horrific idea. Akira isn’t an invention, but a person who was abused and then treated like an object. Akira‘s outlook on humanity is decidedly bleak, and the story should be taken as a warning.
4 The Wired Represents The Worst Of The Internet (Serial Experiments Lain)
Serial Experiments Lain came out in 1998, and, to this day, few anime have made such poignant commentary on the dangers of technology. People rely on the internet to communicate, work, and enjoy their daily lives. However, an over-reliance on technology can have dangerous consequences.
In Lain, the protagonist becomes infatuated with the idea of living virtually after she’s contacted by the ghost of a dead classmate. This classmate claims to be alive, only having abandoned her physical body to live within the Wired online network. Lain, introverted and neglected in real life, is tempted to forsake reality. This is how cults are formed, and it’s hard to think of a more nefarious version of the Internet than the Wire.
3 AI Goes Wrong So Easily (Vivy: Fluorite’s Song)
It doesn’t take much for friendly robots to become Skynet, and any story featuring artificial intelligence is bound to delve into the darker consequences of mankind’s attempt to “create life.” One problem with artificial intelligence is that if it succeeds, it becomes indistinguishable from human intelligence, for better or for worse. In Vivy: Fluorite Eye’s Song, the callbacks to The Terminator are apparent. The warning is familiar: once a creation has its own will, it is harder to control, and peace between these two factions may prove impossible.
2 Ex-Arm Technology Is Almost As Bad As The Anime Itself (Ex-Arm)
The auto-mail of Fullmetal Alchemist gives disabled people limbs again. The robotic arms in Megalobox are used for sport and entertainment. The robotic limb presented in 2021’s worst anime, however, is simply inane.
When high schooler Akira Natsume dies in an accident, he’s not allowed to rest in peace. Instead, his brain is combined with a robotic weaponized arm. Honestly, that’s no where near as cool as it sounds, and it sounds rather ridiculous to begin with. The last thing anyone in the real world needs is adolescent brains attached to deadly robotics. In a show already loathed by otaku, an invention this poorly thought out is just more fodder for the wolves.
1 The Death Note Creates Serial Killers (Death Note)
The Death Note is deadlier than virtually any real-world weapon. And while Light Yagami wreaks enough havoc on his own, if he had been even slightly more sadistic, the results would have been heinous. If all it took to kill someone was writing their name in a notebook, the world would be in deep trouble.
Perhaps the most chilling aspect of the Death Note is that it distances the murderer from the victim. It’s one thing to pull a trigger while pointing a gun at someone, and quite another to sit quietly in your room and casually write their name on paper before going off to bed. Death Note gradually condemns Light’s actions, and for good reason. Human beings should never be given such a cruel power.
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