It’s not common for anime to feature unreliable narrators, but when done right, it elevates the experience of watching the anime series to a different level. When viewers are unaware of the truth, it takes storytelling into a realm of uncertainty that challenges those watching and makes them active participants in the narrative. Sometimes, the main character is being intentionally deceitful. Other times, it’s the plot itself that deceives both the protagonist and the viewer.
This twist can make an anime much more intriguing than if it was telling a story through an objective view. Viewers get a glimpse into the depths of the main character to see what kind of person they truly are. What makes a narrative like that interesting for viewers is the way it forces them to figure out fact from fiction. This adds a layer of complexity to the anime series and leaves a lasting impact.
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10
You Can’t Trust Anything You See in Welcome to the N.H.K.
Streaming on Crunchyroll
Welcome to the N.H.K. is a prime example of a main character who viewers can’t fully trust. Satou Tatsuhiro, a hikikomori main character, can hardly trust himself, and since viewers are watching the world through his eyes, it’s hard to believe everything that he perceives. He believes that his life is being controlled by a secret organization, but with no definitive proof, Satou gets driven to the brink of insanity. On top of this, Satou suffers from social anxiety and isolation, which only heightens his wariness toward the world.
Since Satou’s perception of reality is heavily influenced by his mental state, viewers can’t always trust him. He generally never has the full story. Since viewers are aware of this, this makes the anime even more intriguing to watch. Viewers have to decipher the clues on their own while considering Satou’s perception. With bits of truths sprinkled into what he perceives, it makes every episode intriguing to watch.
- Release Date
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2006 – 2006
- Directors
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Yūsuke Yamamoto
- Writers
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Satoru Nishizono
- Franchise(s)
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Welcome to the N.H.K.
9
Don’t Trust Your Eyes While Watching ODDTAXI
Streaming on Crunchyroll
Throughout most of the season, ODDTAXI completely fools viewers by depicting every character as some sort of animal. That is until ODDTAXI, Season 1, Episode 13: “Where To?.” In this episode, it’s revealed that Hiroshi Odokawa isn’t actually a walrus, but a human. He perceives everyone he meets as some sort of animal.
This causes a few issues, especially with the mystery behind the missing high school girl. Hiroshi has a black cat, and he’s constantly worried about whether it’s actually a black cat or a human that appears like a black cat. His visual agnosia is important to his character as it explains a ton of mysteries behind the anime. Odokawa’s condition helps him differentiate people, but because of the mystery, it causes him to doubt himself and what he perceives.
8
See The World According to a Master Manipulator in Classroom of the Elite
Streaming on Crunchyroll
Kiyotaka Ayanokoji from Classroom of the Elite completely flips the narrative with his deceptive character. At first, he makes himself appear as a typical high school student who’s simply eager to make friends, but as viewers watch on, they soon realize that’s far from his intentions. Kiyotaka intentionally tries to divert the narration and twist it into something he perceives. Not only is Kiyotaka deceptive, but many students in Classroom of the Elite exhibit this behavior.
Since many students are two-faced, viewers can never truly trust someone. Ironically enough, the ones who get unveiled by Kiyotaka end up being the most trustworthy though, since viewers are well aware of their true selves. Since Kiyotaka has a habit of withholding certain information from the viewer while also spinning his own narrative, it makes it even more difficult to pinpoint what is truly going on. This careful deception makes every episode and scene in Classroom of the Elite deliberate, and missing one moment potentially means missing a crucial hint.
7
You Only See the Story Through Watashi’s Eyes in The Tatami Galaxy
Not Currently Streaming
In The Tatami Galaxy, the main character is actually unnamed and known as Watashi, and viewers view the entire world of The Tatami Galaxy through his narrowed focus. Because of this, many things are seen from his perspective of life in a subjective way. There are plenty of “what-if” scenarios presented in this anime, shown in a time loop plot. The characters and environment portrayed within are solely due to how he views things.
The narration of The Tatami Galaxy is heavily influenced by Watashi, even to the point of the art style. Viewers see how exaggerated some character designs are, such as how the Softball Club all have eerily similar smiles. In this way, it seems like Watashi is controlling how the world works. Rather than living within the world, he’s the one manipulating it and telling a narrative to the viewer that only he wants to show.
6
You Have to Put the Abstract Story Together While Watching Sonny Boy
Streaming on Crunchyroll
The entirety of Sonny Boy‘s narration unravels as viewers dive deeper into its mysterious world. The students are stuck in a void-like pocket dimension of their school, and the longer they stay there, the stranger things become. While the anime follows a set cast that each has proper screen time, the dimension alters and changes with the students living within it. Due to how abstract the anime becomes, the narration of Sonny Boy relies solely upon the viewer.
Without a linear story and one that leaves much to interpretation, this creates a surreal, complex experience. Nothing is as it seems and what one viewer interprets could be entirely different to the next viewer. The characters themselves are driven by the world that they’re stuck in. Each one has their own interpretation of what is occurring or what is right and wrong. With a lack of clear direction in terms of the world rules, Sonny Boy is a dream-like trip that has viewers questioning many events that happen in the anime.
5
The Protagonist’s Grief Distorts The Reality You See in Tokyo Magnitude 8.0
Streaming on Amazon Prime Video
Tokyo Magnitude 8.0 masterfully depicts how grief can drastically alter someone’s reality. Mirai Onozawa and Yuuki Onozawa navigate the city of Tokyo, which was struck by a deadly earthquake. Throughout most of the anime, viewers are led to believe that Yuuki was alive and well. Even Mirai believed that fact and wholeheartedly believed her brother was still with her.
Tokyo Magnitude reveals Yuuki’s true state carefully and subtly, by showing a strange scene with Yuuki and his backpack, not adding up to past scenes. The revelation of his death comes as a shock to both Mirai and the viewers. It’s a heartbreaking scene, especially since Mirai fully believed that Yuuki was still with her. Tokyo Magnitude 8.0 does an amazing job at capturing how grief can alter someone’s reality to where they believe a loved one is still alive.
4
Denial is the Real Monster You Should Fear in School-Live!
Streaming on Amazon Prime Video
School-Live! at first glance looks like a comedy zombie anime, especially with its cute art style, but it has heartbreaking moments that viewers weren’t prepared for. It follows Yuki Takeya, a young high school student who lives at the high school with a few other students when a zombie outbreak occurs. The show is completely deceitful from the very beginning. It promises a wholesome, comedy-filled story about their survival, but it’s far from that.
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It’s later revealed that Yuki fools herself into believing that her teacher, Megumi Sakura, is still alive. She sacrificed herself to save the other students. Because of Yuki’s denial over her death, viewers see Megumi appear with the girls for the first six episodes, though her presence is eerie. School-Live! transitions to this shock seamlessly and steadily builds up to it with the way Megumi doesn’t interact much with the other characters and appears almost ghost-like.
- Release Date
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July 9, 2015
- Network
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AT-X
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Inori Minase
Yuki Takeya (voice)
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Ari Ozawa
Kurumi Ebisuzawa (voice)
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Mao Ichimichi
Yuuri “Rii-san” Wakasa (voice)
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Rie Takahashi
Miki “Mi-kun” Naoki (voice)
3
You Can’t Trust Anyone in Higurashi: When They Cry
Streaming on Amazon Prime Video
Viewers are generally completely left in the dark in Higurashi: When They Cry. Left to their own interpretation and how to piece together the mystery over the string of deaths occurring, it’s easy to misinterpret a scene. Each character is given proper development as the blame for these deaths shifts. Viewers get a glimpse into their lives and how they orchestrate themselves to prove that they’re not the killer.
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Although the cycle of death continuously occurs, viewers get bits and pieces of truth to put the puzzles together. The main characters of Higurashi: When They Cry are at the hands of the plot and the curse that controls them. Since the main characters can’t fully be trusted, the narrative the anime creates leaves viewers on edge. Although many things remain predictable, the anime manages to pull out a plot twist that works.
Higurashi: When They Cry
- Release Date
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April 5, 2006
- Network
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AT-X, BS11, Kansai TV, Tokai Television Broadcasting
- Directors
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Chiaki Kon, Daisuke Tsukushi, Shunji Yoshida, Makoto Sokuza, Matsuo Asami, Tsuyoshi Yoshimoto, Hisakazu Ishikawa, Son Seung-hui, Hideki Takayama, Shigeru Ueda, Yoshihisa Matsumoto, Tomoko Hiramuki, Yusuke Onoda
- Writers
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Rika Nakase
2
The Story You See in Serial Experiment Lain Is Fully Told Through Lain’s Eyes
Not Currently Streaming
Lain Iwakura from Serial Experiment Lain closely dives into Lain’s psyche. Since the anime is viewed through her subjective outlook, what viewers see on screen is often what Lain perceives. Serial Experiment Lain often blurs the line between reality and the digital world, so it’s hard to trust Lain’s interpretation of what is truly happening. This allows for multiple interpretations to occur, and it’s often up to viewers to believe what is real and what is biased by Lain’s view.
Even characters within Serial Experiment Lain doubt Lain herself. They often question her reliability on certain matters, which doesn’t help viewers in the slightest. The fact that characters within her world also doubt her experiences makes viewers unsure whether to believe Lain’s words. This anime does it purposefully to misguide the viewer and lean into the surreal factor of the anime.
1
You Have to Follow Every Perspective to Fully Understand Monogatari
Streaming on Crunchyroll
The Monogatari series is known for its multiple narrators who tell the story of the season. Although it does sometimes change, many of the stories within the series are narrated by Koyomi Araragi. His personality is often the culprit of the unreliable narrator method. How he views other characters can be seen as untrustworthy to the viewer, since his perception of these characters is often the thing that blinds the viewer from how they actually are. Viewers solely see the story through the narrator’s eyes, which often leads viewers to question whether or not what they see is the truth.
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Araragi is also prone to over-exaggerating moments and instances, which shift the reality of the narrative as well. Araragi omits information and also has moments where he forgets things, which ultimately changes the way the story is perceived by the viewer. Monogatari doesn’t hide the fact that its story is heavily influenced by who’s telling it. When it shifts perspectives, viewers are aware of it as the tone shifts as well.
Monogatari
- Release Date
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July 3, 2009
Cast
