Sekai and Kotonoha holding their cell phones in the promotional poster for School Days.
By
Zach Zamora
Published 48 minutes ago
Zach joined the ScreenRant Anime team as a contributor in June 2024, before taking on a Senior Writer role in November. Since then, he has covered breaking news and produced features and lists about the most popular anime titles.
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Anime fans are not strangers to odd stories. While anime may quickly be establishing itself as a major mainstream form of entertainment around the world, the general perception of it as recently as a decade ago wasn't quite as kind as it is today, thanks in large part to the strange stories being told in the medium.
Whether they were created with the sole purpose of shocking the audience, take unexpected twists and turns that no one in their right mind could have seen coming, or are simply a product of their time, some anime series are so wildly unhinged it's hard to believe they exist.
Bobobo-bo Bo-bobo
Animated by Toei Animation, Based on the Manga by Yoshio Sawai
Three curious characters fight while a plane takes off in Bobobo-bo Bo-bobo
If the title alone isn't enough to convince anyone that the show is off-the-wall bonkers, it won't take long for Bobobo-bo Bo-bobo to do the convincing on its own with its outlandish premise. The series is set in the year 300X, where the world is under the rule of the evil Czar Baldy Bald IV, who initiates a Hair Hunt on the citizens.
The Hair Hunt involves his army targeting and shaving the heads of every person they see. However, a powerful rebel named Bobobo-bo Bo-bobo fights back against Baldy Bald's tyrannical rule with his unique Fist of the Nose Hair, which allows him to use his nose hair like whips.
Bobobo-bo Bo-bobo is undeniably strange, but it's also an incredibly good time. The anime's early 2000s aesthetic only adds to its otherworldly absurdity, and fans haven't been able to resist falling for its odd charms in the 20-plus years since its debut.
Ghost Stories English Dub
Animated by Pierrot, Original Anime Series
The cast from Ghost Stories in the promotional poster of the series.
Some anime series have become immortalized thanks to high quality storytelling or visuals, while others go down in history for just how poor quality they are. Ghost Stories, however, is an odd case of a series being fondly remembered for just how bizarre its English dub was handled.
Early on in anime's Western breakthrough, studios were still feeling out the dubbing and localization processes, and had yet to establish any sort of ground rules. As a result, shows like Ghost Stories would premiere in which the English cast was given free rein to do pretty much anything they wanted.
The series' English dub is a surreal, often hilarious, and entirely inappropriate version of a show that had come and gone in Japan without making all that much noise. In the West, however, Ghost Stories is fondly remembered for just how wild the English cast went about dubbing it.
Back Street Girls: Gokudolls
Animated by J.C.Staff, Based on the Manga by Jasmine Gyuh
Yakuza-centric stories are rather commonplace in the world of anime and manga. Organized crime run by over-the-top tough guys will always have its dedicated crowd. However, Back Street Girls: Gokudolls asks: what if three yakuza members were turned into cute girls and made to be idols as a punishment from their boss?
The 2018 anime is as weird as it sounds, taking a highly comedic approach to a gender-bending yakuza story that surprisingly explores some of the darker aspects of the idol industry. Unsurprisingly, the show doesn't take itself all that seriously, but is a dumb-fun time for anyone looking for some laughs.
School Days
Animated by TNK, Based on the Visual Novel by 0verflow
A school girl standing in front of a metal fence and looking sad in the School Days anime.
Visual novel adaptations, unfortunately, aren't quite as common as they used to be. A staple of an anime culture that has largely died with the medium's recent ongoing boom, visual novel adaptations typically involved harem romances that were either overwhelmingly sweet or entirely unhinged. School Days belongs to the latter category.
In an odd move, studio TNK approached School Days with the intention of adapting its bad ending, something that wasn't usually done in other major visual novel adaptations. The anime's final episodes have stayed with viewers, with School Days attempting to deconstruct popular visual novel tropes by turning its characters into overly unlikable caricatures of disturbed high school students.
Today, School Days has become the subject of a number of memes in online anime communities, but during its initial airing, the series shocked anime fans around the world.
Midori Days
Animated by Pierrot, Based on the Manga by Kazurou Inoue
Every anime fan is weak to at least one single-season romance series. Even the most die-hard and devoted battle shōnen fans can't resist the genre's charms every now and then. Rom-coms have a unique quality about them, forcing viewers to feel every bit of the wholesome innocence and warmth of budding love.
In recent years, shows have pushed just how weird they can be while continuing to have the same effect, though one of romance's strangest titles was doing just that over two decades ago. Midori Days tackles the trope of a tough delinquent high schooler finding love, but rather than sticking to traditional story beats, it decides to turn the series' love interest into the protagonist's right hand.
There's a metaphor somewhere in the show's bizarre premise, but viewers will have to get over the fact that main character Seiji's right hand is a 16-year-old girl before discovering what that metaphor is.
Penguindrum
Animated by Brain's Base, Original Anime Series
Poster depicting Penguindrum's main characters.
Just because an anime series is considered a masterpiece by many doesn't mean that same series can't be one of the weirdest released in anime's modern era. Penguindrum explores themes like fate, family, and love on top of a number of societal issues, and does so by utilizing often vague metaphors and nonlinear storytelling.
For those willing to dive deep into a difficult to grasp anime story, then Penguindrum is the show to check out. The series is rewarding for those willing to put in the effort, but for others, it has a history of coming off as vague or even nonsensical at times. Penguindrum is weird and confusing, especially in its final act, but is worth the watch.
Prison School
Animated by J.C.Staff, Based on the Manga by Akira Hiramoto
The male characters in the anime series Prison School.
Weird anime cannot be discussed without touching on shows that are a bit more sexual in nature. 2015's Prison School does not hide its hand at any point during its 12-episode run, communicating very clearly with the audience that they're in for a raunchy, at times disturbing sexual comedy.
The series follows Kiysohi Fujino and his four friends, who become the first male students at an all-girls' school in Tokyo. However, after peeping in the school's bathing area, they're sent to the school's underground prison, where they're punished and tortured by their attractive female supervisors.
Prison School won't align with everyone's tastes. Some might find it hilarious, while others might be entirely turned off by its humor. Nevertheless, the series enjoyed a successful run in the mid-2010s.
Dead Leaves
Animated by Production I.G, Original Anime Movie
Original anime movies are often host to some of the most creative storytelling and highest-quality visuals anime has to offer. However, with more freedom can often come some ill-advised ideas. Dead Leaves, with its flashy, unique art style and experimental animation, is a feast for the eyes. The story, on the other hand, ranges from nonsensical to deranged.
The film follows Retro and Pandy, who, after a crime spree on Earth, are taken to the notorious prison Dead Leaves on the moon. From there, the movie becomes a roller coaster traveling from one odd development to the next, until the story devolves into an absurd, chaotic mess. Visually, the film boasts a unique and appealing art style, but that's really its only redeeming quality.
Bobobo-bo Bo-bobo
10 stars 9 stars 8 stars 7 stars 6 stars 5 stars 4 stars 3 stars 2 stars 1 star Like Follow Followed TV-Y7-FV Animation Adventure Action Comedy Fantasy Sci-Fi Release Date 2005 - 2005-00-00Cast
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Takehito Koyasu
Bobobo-Bo Bo-Bobo
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Ai Nonaka
Beauty
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Masaya Onosaka
Don Patch
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Shinichiro Ota
Narration
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