When it comes to shocking anime girls, it’s just more likely that the design or characterisation of all of a show’s female characters will alarm viewers moreso than that of any one of them in particular (looking at you, Uma Musume and Senran Kagura). Yet, when they do, anime girls rarely shock viewers in a good way. More often than not, the design and/or behavior of controversial anime girls outrages fans and causes backlash against the show and its writers.
Continue reading to find out more about some of the most controversial anime girls in recent shows (WARNING: Spoilers ahead!).
Ichigo Breaks Viewers’ Hearts in Darling in the Franxx
Ichigo’s actions in the fourteenth episode of the series sparked explosive controversy. In it, Ichigo’s jealousy of protagonist Hiro’s relationship with his love interest, Zero Two, prompts her to physically separate the two, then confess her (one-sided) love to Hiro.
Ichigo’s attempts to break up the show’s main ship left a lot of viewers feeling sour, with an alarming number threatening to quit watching. Ultimately, Ichigo’s actions not only made her fall out of favor with Hiro but with viewers as well; after the episode aired, fans turned on Ichigo, forming an aggressive anti-Ichigo cult that threatened the show’s future.
Caulifla Goes Super Saiyan Too Fast, Is Offensively Strong in Dragon Ball Super
Though Caulifla made Dragon Ball history by becoming the first female character to go Super Saiyan, she achieved those transformations with a shockingly small amount of time and effort (compared to the original Super Saiyans). Furthermore, Freeza states that she is much stronger than the OG Super Saiyans, which some fans find a preposterous and downright offensive suggestion.
Instead of being united in their excitement about a character with infinite potential, fans remain divided. Some even argue that her rapid power growth feels unearned and undermines the show’s integrity, and ultimately pass on watching DBZ Super because of her.
Kefla Exists (and is too strong) in Dragon Ball Super
Kefla, Kale and Caulifla’s fusion, shocked viewers just by appearing. Based on Kale and Caulifla’s powers, viewers argue that the show broke its own rules for fusion characters when they created her.
Some fans are willing to overlook the absurdity of her existence because she’s a cute anime girl (moreso than either Kale of Caulifla). Yet unlike the case with some other shocking anime girls, fans mostly agree that the writers botched Kefla’s development. Some fans even say that the only good thing that came from it was this Ultra Instinct Kamehameha in her (otherwise shockingly poorly reasoned) fight against Goku.
Machi Amayadori Goves Up On Her Dreams in Kuma Miko: Girl Meets Bear
Machi’s decision to give up on her dreams at the end of the series shocked fans not only because it seemed like an overly dark conclusion for such a cute anime, but because of how vastly different it was from the manga’s original ending. Even the creator of the manga took to social media to decry the show’s ending, calling it “unacceptable.” Fans of the series accused the writers of botching the ending and being cruel to the character. The backlash even got so bad that one of the screenwriters deleted his twitter account to get away from the haters.