The Most Complicated Anime/Manga You Ever Read or Saw

[Kagura]

What anime/manga lost you in deep confusion or you clicked rewind a dozen times to grasp or understand the plot. What left you awake at night pondering what you just saw?

List it here and why. Maybe in the process we can find some good anime for those looking for ideas.

[DeathScytheHC]

Twelve Kingdoms
Have to watch it like 3 times, and I still don't get some points of the story. Also, they are a lot of characters and it gets very confusing.

[Mutsuki_Kaori]

Serial Experiments Lain is one... I first saw that when I was much younger though so that was probably why, when I last saw it it was much easier to grasp... still a really nice one for the sci-fi fans.
There's also FLCL... ^_^
EDIT: Oh and Cat Soup... anybody saw the Hello-kitty on acid?

[DeathScytheHC]

Serial Experiments Lain is one... I first saw that when I was much younger though so that was probably why, when I last saw it it was much easier to grasp... still a really nice one for the sci-fi fans.
There's also FLCL... ^_^
EDIT: Oh and Cat Soup... anybody saw the Hello-kitty on acid?

Have to go with you on this one.
Also, Evangelion, every time I see it I understand something different. In addition the different theories that exist on internet don't make this easier.

[Kagura]

Serial Experiments Lain is one...

Yeah, I mean the first DVD Navi 1 or whatever was okay but getting deeper into Lain was a little difficult... looking away from the screen for even a second and you had to rewind it. :p

[emeraldisdead]

Serial Experiments Lain and Boogiepop Phantom. I love both series but they can be extermely confusing. I'd have to add Noein to that list as well just for the amount of quantum physics jargon used in the series but again I love it.

[Dragon]

Gundam by far. :confused: Who? What? When? Where? Why? There are soo many Gundam cartoons and era's I gave up on it after Endless Waltz.
Serial Experiments Lain and Boogiepop Phantom run a close second or third.

[Ashton_Anchors]

I had not seen the whole series of Utena before but I watched the movie (I own it) and I had to watch it like... 7 times before I understood what was going on.

[Sweat Revenge]

I'd have to say Ghost in the Shell: Sac. I never seen the first episode of it, and I by far don't understand most of it. I don't watch it that much, unless I feel like being confused.

[Glass-wing]

Boogiepop Phantom was really confusing.
and for a while Paranoia Agent was pretty confusing.

[Mistress of Darkness]

Im sorry, but the Manga "Glass wings" confused me dearly, it was awsome when I finally got it, but I had to read about 6-10 times to understand it, lol. . It might just be me though

[Ch*yeuk]

Death Note XD but it's awesome

[Sukeny]

Paranoia Agent confused me so much untill the last episode when things started to make a little bit of sence. ^^;

[scarecrow]

FLCL.
Don' nobody know wth's going on and why the first couple of times.

[DeathScytheHC]

On an anime club, in which I used to be a member, they told me that they have seen like 5 or 6 times Excel Saga and still they don't know what is going one. Haven't watched myself so I don't know why they told me that.

[Alpha]

Evangelion.

Infinite Ryvius.

[Holy Dragon Sword]

Serial Experiments Lain took me 2-3 viewings to understand ANYTHING. ><

Betterman's also kinda complicated, but for a different reason-- it constantly explains itself, which confuses the viewer. It can't just be a simple sonic boom attack-- it has to be a voice attack enhanced by charged air particles focused on the personal counterfrequency of the enemy, shattering its body. Explained in great detail.

[eternal_midget]

I'd have to say that Boogiepop Phantom is the number one most confusing series I've ever seen. Now I've only watched it once, cause I have so much other crap I haven't watched yet, but the way the episodes were thrown around erratically on a timeline of only a couple days, all centered around a single event was very impressive. Other series in random order:

Neon Genesis Evangelion
Excel Saga
Kino's Journey (only certain episodes, - Land of Books - being one)
Scryed (the manga was fine, the anime made no sense)
.hack//Tasogare no Udewa Densetsu - Legend of the Twilight Bracelet
Pilot Candidate/Candidate for Goddess, and
Martian Successor Nadesico

[ParaKiss]

Evangelion would have to be the worst. After watching End of Evangelion for the first time I started to wake up with headaches. Lol, I think I may have tried to understand it in my sleep. Overworked brain aye.

[eternal_midget]

You know, that might help, if I actually tried watching the Eva movies... I haven't seen either of them...

[evilmingdoctor]

typically alot of people would say lain, but i tend to like its ambivalent nature tbh; it's an atmosphere thing i guess

[Parfait]

Death Note makes you think and if you forget just a minor detail, it can throw you off. So I'd go with that, even though it's a reason I like it so much.

[Rubbersoul]

Death Note XD but it's awesome
I second that.

[Fallen Angel]

Lain... the end of Rahxephon (please someone explain! T_________T) and maybe Death Note.....

[black_myst]

Loveless ... definatly and YnM

[Alphonse Elric]

parinod agent

[Kurama]

Death Note can get pretty complicated sometimes and kinda makes you like "hmm im quite puzzled" hahah. But its so awesome at the same time

Also Paranoia Agent was confusing sometimes too.

[Spike]

Lain asks a lot of questions that it expects the viewer to answer on their own, that's what makes it so difficult. It's a very important anime for the cyberpunk community. I can't think of any others that have left me with more questions than answers except maybe GitS 2. I love em both though.

[Akumu]

I had not seen the whole series of Utena before but I watched the movie (I own it) and I had to watch it like... 7 times before I understood what was going on.

Seconded. XD If a person watches the Utena movie without knowing anything about that universe, then s/he's going to be very, very confused. And even if the person DOES know about it...

"Wow, Touga's life sucked. Oh, look, it's Shiori -- wait, she's sprouting sheets from her back -- SHE'S A MOTH?! WHAT THE F*** IS GOING ON --"

...yeah. Tons of random symbolism that'll throw you off. XD

Cat Soup is also crack, but at least it can be followed. Now, the first episode of Otogi Zoshi threw me way off, but watching the second one and then watching the first one had everything make sense. GitS is pretty complicated, too - miss any of the really important episodes and you'll be utterly dumbfounded.

[AnimeDudde]

Complicated anime? do those exist? lol jks xD I thought .hack//SIGN was pretty complicated, and Gundam SEED started off complicated, then it just got awesome :P

[Kurama]

Complicated anime? do those exist? lol jks xD I thought .hack//SIGN was pretty complicated, and Gundam SEED started off complicated, then it just got awesome :P

haha yeah that series was awesome. When it came on Toonami my sister had moved out and we always called each other after the episode and had discussions on it haha. They took it off the air before we go to finish though. I think im gonna pick up the dvds so i can finish it and see it unedited when i start buying Gundam Wing box sets.

[emmy]

Watching the 'End of Evangelion' before the rest...and with little sleep(anime marathon, blarg).

Though it seems to be equally confusing in the correct order anyway...

[Manadevil]

I think a lot of different animes can get you lost really easy. They tend to introduce characters really fast and it's hard to understand.

[SakuraFairy]

whilst playing ff7 i got so confused for a while, but then when it ended i was like,oh! Right! *realisation dawning*
lol

[SakuraFairy]

ok, i know its not really anime or manga but come on, it kinda is

[SakuraFairy]

Argghh!!!
What about Fooly Cooly!!
I only saw the movie and it totally rotted my brain

[Arcademan]

Paranoia Agent at first since the one that aired on Cartoon Network used the original Japanese anime with English dubs and some of the clues were on buildings and signs written in Japanese. Once I saw the version with the clues in the background in English, it made more sense ;)

[SakuraRay]

Paranoia Agent....i'm afraid to watch past the ep i'm on....and Millenium Actress!

[AnimeDudde]

haha yeah that series was awesome. When it came on Toonami my sister had moved out and we always called each other after the episode and had discussions on it haha. They took it off the air before we go to finish though. I think im gonna pick up the dvds so i can finish it and see it unedited when i start buying Gundam Wing box sets.

I wanna buy the DVDs too! Too bad baka bandai wont release a boxed set already -_-

[Zelgadis]

Millenium Actress, FLCL, Lain, and both the .hack series' (At least at first)

[SakuraFairy]

Millenium Actress, FLCL, Lain, and both the .hack series' (At least at first)


that true, i never really 'got' the end of lain. Mind you its been ages since i saw it. Who was that god guy really?!

[Jacku]

Death Note XD but it's awesome
I understand it pretty well except for whenever I forget about the rules.
Anyway, I am forever confused about Evangelion (It was the first few episodes and then it just threw my brain out the windo later on.) and and Serial Experiments Lain.

[tsukasa]

Seeing as I have never seen the entireity of:
Gundam Wing
FLCL
Neon Genesis Evangelion
I would have to say those.

[Vicious]

Neon Evangalion. I'm not a big fan of mecha animes but I hear this anime is one of THE best animes in the world today. So I checked it out.

I got confused up the yin yang! Oh well. I tried but failed. Moving on T_T

[Mitzuki]

Yamiboshi That was just to hard for me to understand the logic if it had any

[elisegrey]

Serial Experiments Lain <-- bwuh?

I recommend it to pretty much everyone, and then feel slightly guilty about the iminent brain-breakage...

But not enough. >D

[Satsukiyami]

FLCL... had to watch it twice. And Death note, i'm still getting through the manga but i love it!

[Amma]

For me it was Wish, I found it quite difficult to read since it was my first authentic manga, but eventually I got use to it after a while.

[GlazedDonuts]

I was following Evangelion until the end, with the crazyness, after a few watch throughs I got it, but at first, me = superconfused.

[Satsukiyami]

I was following Evangelion until the end, with the crazyness, after a few watch throughs I got it, but at first, me = superconfused.

You and me both... i only watched it once thou, i never had the courage to watch it again.

[Mamimi's Pimp Daddy]

I'd have to say Lain, Boogiepop and Evangelion, all of which I highly recommend.

[tsukasa]

seeing as how the creator of EVA went insane towards the end of the series, and since i, myself am also quite gone, i have a feeling that i will understand it perfectly.

[LadyTanyata]

Evangelion was a weird one. I undertsood bits of it but then there were bits that threw me completely!!

[bunny]

Please Save My Earth

Evangelion
FLCL
Lain
Gasaraki
RahXephon

[Blueharlequin]

Texhnolyze and Lain (I am afraid I will never finish them either), Noein (though its starting to make sense, ever heard of Schrödinger's Cat?), Blame! (manga and ONA)

I must be twisted cause I understand Eva and Boogiepop completely (from my standpoint). Gilgamesh threw me for a loop at first, then when it ended I had a conniption fit. Some of Haibane Renmei is a bit confusing, but I liked it. Heh, I could go on and on.

[Kurama's fire miko]

Eva and FLCL

[PunkR0ckPrinc322]

I think that Evangelion and FCLC were probably the weirdest and hardest to understant. Especially my roomate and her friend would talk about all the biblical references in Evangelion, I didn't know half of what they were talking about.

[everyday_dream]

I found Eva to be confusing, too(though I still really like it). *points to her "Eva broke my head" button* I haven't seen the movie yet. I hear it's quite the mind****-- I'm looking forward to it. :D

[Kaede]

.hack//SIGN, along with Liminality and all the other non-anime Twilight Saga things. I love them all, and I like to think I understand a lot, but there's just too much stuff in it all to not be confused...

[NancyBotwinsDeathNote]

Defintly Texhnolyze. XD

[oni/tenshi]

Death Note XD but it's awesome
Yeah that series is pretty smart (its my favorite).

I really like seeing L and Light each trying to out smart each other.
The art is really good too.

[SaSuNaRu]

Definitely the FLCL manga... I STILL dont get it.

[Dusty Chalk]

How come no-one has mentioned Akira yet? I didn't "get it" until I read the manga, and it was such a tentative understanding, that I have since forgotten the explanation, so now I'm back to being confused.

[TonightMidnight]

Definately Paranoia Agent. Usually I like complicated anime shows, that make you think. But Paranoia Agent was too boring to hold my interest or even make me think, so I gave up on it.

Hack.Sign, got a little weird, because I missed a couple of episodes so it threw me off.

I don't really get Evangelion either.

[Shizu-san]

Complicated shows... would Revolutionary Girl Utena count as a complicated show? There's so much symbolism in that anime (and in the movie) that I think even my high school English teacher would have a hernia. The thing is, it's blatant symbolism... but you just can't figure out what it means. At least, I can't.

Death Note makes one think. Pretty complicated, I would say, especially as one gets closer to the latest volume. Though I think Death Note cheats a little bit by putting in loads and loads of dialogue... "What is he thinking? Is he thinking what I'm thinking? Well, I'll out think him by thinking the opposite and saying the same thing that I was thinking in the first place... but wait, what if he's thinking that right now? " Arg.

[Iblis]

Crayon Shinchan.

It was just too much for me.

[Tsuzuki]

omg revolutionary girl utena i barely understood 4 min of it before i was like
what the heck is goin on?

[Sakuya]

Definitely the FLCL manga... I STILL dont get it.
Me neither. My friend loves that anime/manga and I'm not surprised that someone like him can understand it.

[Bolt_Gundam510]

i under stood the FLCL manga. you just have to think about it though and just listen to it real good then you'll know what's going on there any ways. the one manga i had troble with was 8 man it's an old anime but it was good the way every thing was done and all. but i was so lost in it i would rather do dishes or something.

[SakuraFairy]

i under stood the FLCL manga. you just have to think about it though and just listen to it real good then you'll know what's going on there any ways. the one manga i had troble with was 8 man it's an old anime but it was good the way every thing was done and all. but i was so lost in it i would rather do dishes or something.


FLCL was probally the wierdest. I don't even think its supposed to make sense, maybe the writers were taking copius amounts of something..:D

[Bolt_Gundam510]

FLCL was probally the wierdest. I don't even think its supposed to make sense, maybe the writers were taking copius amounts of something..:D

i think your right though when i first seen it i had a hard time following it. but after seeing it 2 or 3 times i cought on real fast. :)

[TheMangaQueen]

Deathnote is probably the most complicated manga I read (though if you read it slowly it's not so hard) and the most complicated anime would probably have to be Mirage of Blaze.

[WhistleBlower]

FLCL.
Don' nobody know wth's going on and why the first couple of times.
OMG my sister got the first book for me for my birthday and i like tried to read it and like laughed when she was around when in my head i was like what the hell. But i got the second book and i understood it like the 9th time around

[roxas87]

yeah flcl and so is bobobo <---i dont even know how many bo are there in the title its all random its funny but its also confusing

[TonightMidnight]

Crayon Shinchan.

It was just too much for me.

Are you serious? I've never seen it, but I thought it was a kids' show or something.

I agree with everyone on the Revolutionary Girl Utena thing. I tried watching the movie, and it got so complicated with all the symbolism, incest, and everything. Like, I didn't know if Utena liked that one guy...or Anthy. Then the brother slept with his sister...then killed her, and all that crap. I gave up. It was weird.

[kairi990]

Katsuhiro Otomo's "Akira" - It showed how corrupt mankind really is.

[ArGus]

Two anime that come to mind are FLCL and Evangelion. FLCL was confusing the first time I watched it.

[Jhynia]

You know, that might help, if I actually tried watching the Eva movies... I haven't seen either of them...

No... the movies make it worse, far far worse.

Also Hellsing left me going "wth"

[SaiRong]

Perfect Blue is a real mind job. When I watched it for a second time I was able to make a little more sense of it, but it was still complicated.

Paranoia Agent has been listed here, and it's also a brain twister. What goes through Satoshi Kon's mind to come up with these things?

Revolutionary Girl Utena can be complex at times, but if you just follow really closely and keep an open mind, that makes it a little easier. Though that's the TV series, the movie is a whole 'nother level of complicated.

[Nekochii]

Anime can be really confusing, especially if your a newbie. I've been an anime fan for years and I still get confused by some series. The most complicated anime shows/films I've seen so far are:

Akira
Perfect Blue
Paranoia Agent
Excel Saga
Puni Puni Poemi
Gundam Wing

Especially Akira. :confused:

[oni/tenshi]

yeah flcl and so is bobobo <---i dont even know how many bo are there in the title its all random its funny but its also confusing

There's 7.

BoBo-BoBo-BoBoBo..........-_-

[Ritsuka]

evangelion and boogiepop

[Angel of Chaos]

ALICHINO...hands down for me

[OneWingedAngel]

Evangelion for me. I ended up shaking the answer out of my 22 year old sister, but it turned out she didn't understand it either!

[Kurapica]

Fooly Cooly... Akira also confused me a bit.

[BlackClover]

Revolutionary Girl Utena
and
Cresent Moon
I got so lost it was ridiculous

[Zero Tolerance]

I'm going to have to say that weird show, bo bo bo bo , thats just plain strange
or....Ghost in the shell, if u miss the first episode, you're going to be lost. Paranoia Agent, that was one of my fav. anime's, but I was slightly confused in the prosses of watching it...and FLCL, that show is superb, but it can be odd and confusing at times.

[YamPuff]

Angel Sanctuary by Kaori Yuki. I was lost by page ten. :( Sad but true, so much information bombarded on us poor souls all at once. And I was all hyped up to read it, too. I couldn't tell who was who or anything

[MoonlightSoldier]

Karas. I have no idea what the heck is going on, except that the animation and cg is gorgeous.

[Mushee]

Loveless ... definatly and YnM
lol to watch YnM without reading the manga will make so really confused >.<
but even with the manga...you have to read acrefully or you'll be totally lost

[LKK6144]

Sex Pistols (to released by Blu under the name Love Pistols) is the most confusing manga I've read. I'm looking forward to owning the books so that I can spend the time necessary to decifer all the twists, turns, and complicated relationships in this manga.

[Ichigosmiles]

Serial Experiments Lain is one...

me too, and I'm afraid to watch 'mecha' or read it because it looks so complicated

[animevampire99]

Puni Puni Poemi
that show was freakin hilarious and mature out the wazoo lol

[Hale_Cross]

The most complicated manga/anime would have to be Fooly Cooly because the ending doesn't make a lot of sense in the manga at the very end.

[Verdekurama]

Fooly Cooly, I watched it with my brothers, and I had no clue what was going on, but it was funny.

[alucard666]

i use to think the gundam series, but i've seen so many now i understand whats going on.

[iBaa]

FLCL, Paranoia Agent, and to some degree Evangelion. That doesn't stop me from loving them though!

[CrazyCat]

FLCL and Paranoia Agent but I love them both.

[Honey]

easily fullmetal alchemist. it wasnt nessicarily confusing if you saw all the episodes, it was just so deep, like...every little thing played a huge part

one freaking confusing anime was FLCL...i had to watch it like...4 times to understand the plot...lol...luckly its only 6 eps :3

Edit: and yes, FLCL makes sense if you watch all the eps a few times, so it actually does have a plo (suprise huh? lol)

[DarkInuYasha]

FLCL and Paranoia Agent but I love them both.

There Are Really Confusing..... I had to Watch Paranoia Agent like 6 times to get it and FLCL just leaves ya hanging....... I heard there is more Episodes than the 6 ones they showed on Cartoon Network But they where to Graphic.... Did i hear right???:confused:

[alucard666]

i'm pretty sure that there are only the 6, unfortunatly.

[CrazyCat]

There are only 6 episodes. Not sure if the manga goes further though. It makes a lot more sense now that I've seen it a few times.

Paranoia Agent I actually understood without too much trouble. You just have to not take some things literally...or something like that. Still complicated.

[Stelu]

I got totally lost in Evangelion... I think. I haven't watched it since 8th grade, it'd probably make sense now.

xD

I believe every manga/anime has it's own complaxity. Have you ever tried to dscribe one? x_X I get so confused...

[tonyadpx]

I think the original Ghost in the Shell movie and manga were about as confusing as anime get for anyone unfamiliar with techno-jargon. Still love them both, though.

[gugenorchide]

tonyadpix, oh, Ghost in the Shell definately, even the new one baffled me until I watched it about five times consecutively. They do like to make you confused these scriptwriters. :D Though even if they are confusing there is no getting away from how brilliant the graphics are and how much the sheer scale never ceases to amaze me as a viewer.

[Suranime12345]

I wouldnt call GITS complicated, just wordy and fast-paced. There could definitely be more going on thats all; its the concept of "stand alone complex" that creates a reccuring theme extravaganza and inter-episode-referential-fervor that can throw viewers.

The most complicated anime Ive ever seen is probably s-CRY-ed. There are so many new words that the viewer must learn and not much else that interests me is happening plot-wise, plus like a good handful of characters all of whom are called by different names by different ppl...its like being lost in a bathroom and being plagued by french dictionaries....i think

Call me simple if you will, but its complications are the main reason I refuse to watch s-CRY-ed.

[bleachedgantz]

Yu-gi-oh! Why Would You What To Fight Someone With Cards?

[zetsui101]

Evangelion the first time I watched it was confusing, but as the series progressed, I started to understand it. Now, as much as I love s-CRY-ed, I couldn't really figure out the overall plot. it started to get a little easier to understand until Kyoji Mujo showed up. Ghost in the Shell took a couple times watching it to understand it. the first anime I ever watched (Furuba) was a lttle confusing at first until I read the manga. then it made more sense. ^^

[xo_Shannon_xo]

The most confusing anime I ever watched was AIR TV. The beginning episodes I understood, but near the end it just lost me :confused:.

First of all, what's up with the girl in the sky? Yukito is supposed to save her but how? Then he did something and he turns into a CROW! The show doesn't explain why he turned into a crow, or if that crow is even him for that matter!

In the end, Misuzu DIES! She isn't saved or anything! You don't find out if the girl in the sky is saved! NOTHING IS RESOLVED! Also who are those two little kids on the beach. Is the girl the next winged being? BAHHH IM CONFUSED!!

Well, despite being a confusing anime, it was still beautiful. The animation, the story, the music, I loved it all.

[jazzman]

For a Manga prolly Akira... it haunts me

[yDiZv]

deathnote .... I guess, took alot of thinking to even understand one page when it came
to the detective stuff I was like wha... ? *reads bubble 5 times* ah .... I think I get it. AWESOME >_<;

etc.

[soutetsu]

Neon Genesis Evangelion...wow that was hard to understand!

[elliemae]

sometimes i dont understand
Neon Genesis Evangelion

[Ritsuka]

i would say neon genesis evangelion

[shaoyouru]

I would have to say Serial Experiments Lain. That anime was so strange I had to watch it over and over to completly grasp everything in it. Well, I watched it around when it first came out so...

By the way, Ritsuka, your sig looks familiar. Anyone know where that sig is from? ^
I think it's Martel from Symphonia, but I could be wrong...

[SILVERPATCHES]

Planet Ladder Vol. 1 and Shaolin Sisters Vol. 5 come to mind. Had to reread both a couple of times in order to figure things out.

[silverash]

Death Note was pretty hard to follow at times, especially when there were grammatical errors in the scanlations...or even the official translation >.>"
i also find it hard to follow series like Furuba and DN Angel which have long waits between volumes...not that the plots are hard to folllow, but I forget what happens ^_^;;

[TonightMidnight]

Probably Paranoia Agent.

[Chexednut]

Ditto with Paranoia Agent. I liked it though. It gives you a strange grasp on alternate realities and what a mind can actually make you think is real.

-Ghost in the Shell S.A.C
-Gundam SEED

My mind's fairly agile. Then again, I'm just weird, so it makes things easier. xD