The Most Violent Anime of Fall 2023

Gore/Splatter is a horror subgenre that specializes in depicting over-the-top violence with blood and body parts flying in every scene. When the story has more action than horror, it becomes action/splatter. You can technically call it action/horror, but we feel action/splatter is the more apt description of this particular subgenre. In terms of live-action movies, think of the works of Quentin Tarantino like Kill Bill or The Hateful Eight.

This subgenre has always existed in anime, but it was a niche genre that only hardcore fans knew about. But when highly popular series like Parasyte and Tokyo Ghoul appeared a couple of years back, they brought this genre to the mainstream audience. And then massive hit anime like Attack on Titan and Goblin Slayer came along, and they propelled this subgenre to a new height. The fall 2023 season has both the new season of Attack on Titan and Goblin Slayer. However, the most violent anime of the season actually belongs to an entirely different series. It’s called The Kingdoms of Ruin, and this is why it deserves the title of the most violent anime of the season.

The Story of the Kingdoms of Ruin

In the world of Kingdoms of Ruin, witches are hunted by regular human beings due to the fear of their immense magical power. As one of the most powerful witches in the world, Chloe the Ice Witch is near the top of the wanted list. But that doesn’t stop Chloe from traveling all over the world to train her one and only apprentice, a human boy named Adonis.

One day, while Chloe and Adonis are in the middle of crossing a desolate desert, a group of highly trained soldiers from the Redia Empire launch a surprise attack on them. Chloe easily defeats them, but what she doesn’t realize is the fact that the soldiers never have any intention of defeating her. What they are trying to do is to set up a trap to instantly transport Chloe and Adonis to the center of the Redia Empire. They may lose their lives, but these soldiers succeed in executing their mission.

Chloe and Adonis find themselves in the middle of a platform at the heart of the Redia Empire, surrounded by heavily armed soldiers and the clamoring people of Redia. They use a mysterious device to block Chloe’s magic, leaving her as powerless as a regular human. From then on, Adonis has to witness his beloved teacher being humiliated, tortured, and killed. As if that’s not enough, Emperor Goethe of Redia orders his soldiers to behead Chloe and display her head to the cheering crowds. From that moment on, Adonis promises to himself that he won’t stop until he kills every single human being in the Redia Empire.

A Large-Scale Revenge Story Like No Other

As you can tell from the description above, The Kingdoms of Ruin is built on top of the most popular premise in action/splatter stories, a revenge story. Most revenge stories pit the protagonist against a central antagonistic figure. The hero focuses his anger and hatred against the villain who has done him wrong. However, since Kingdoms of Ruin strives to deliver as much carnage as possible, the target of revenge can’t be just one single person. It needs to be as large-scale as possible. It strives to be Attack on Titan, rather than the Vinland Saga.

To accomplish that, the story prepares the best setup possible for this ambitious objective, which is picking the right place to kill Chloe. By choosing to execute Chloe right in the middle of the kingdom, among a crowd of thousands of people, Adonis has no choice but to direct his anger and hatred towards every human being who cheers as Goethe kills Chloe and the witches who let Chloe die. Had Goethe killed her in the middle of a secluded area, surrounded only by his elite guards, Adonis wouldn’t have felt the need to massacre the entire world. He would only direct his vengeance on Goethe alone.

Thanks to this simple yet crucial storytelling decision, the story has a reason to let the main character unleash his fury on every single human and witch. Drastically increases the scale of revenge and destruction. What follows is absolute carnage that kills thousands of innocent people in the Redia Empire, and every witch who hides on the moon.

Turning the Shock Value to the Max

Action/splatter stories thrive in graphic violence. As a matter of fact, it strives to be as creative and as brutal as possible when it comes to sending people to the afterlife. The same thing applies to Kingdoms of Ruin. In every single action sequence, this series tries its best to enhance the shock value to the max. It’s not enough for the protagonist to simply kill multiple people, he has to do it in the most gory way possible. The goal is to make the audience feel uncomfortable and a bit squeamish.

That’s why rather than shooting a bullet to the head, Adonis would shoot a magically enlarged bullet into a building, causing massive destruction and killing countless people in the process. It’s not enough for the character to simply stab his enemy, he has to chop her head off and proudly show her head to a crowd of euphoric citizens.

Sure, Attack on Titan and Goblin Slayer have their fair share of graphic violence, but none of them went as far as skinning the opponent’s face and using it as a mask to deceive his comrades. Kingdoms of Ruin is the only series that is willing to go that far, and that’s why it is the most violent anime in the Fall of 2023.

Kingdoms of Ruin is available to stream on Crunchyroll.