Recommend cute and dark stories!

Enthriex 2022-08-11 17:01:36 UTC #1

I was thinking about whether there are cute and dark stories (like that dissonant style) it doesn't have to be like happy tree friends (I actually don't like that) but I mean as in having cute art that just addresses serious subjects. A Story you don't expect going dark since it starts calm. As an example of what I mean would be Madoka Magica ^-^

My current comic is like that as well, though I started with some mild serious stuff as to prevent misunderstandings (?) but the first chapter is really wholesome besides the short dark scenes in it. I love psychology, so, I thought it'd be interesting to explore an area not often touched which is children going through hardships and how that affects them in the longterm (though ofc with its twist of fantasy cause superpowers and their special circumstances)

So! I mention this as to explain what I would like to read. Not the same as I'm doing but like... A story that goes from nice to dark themes! If it focuses on the characters feelings or how events impacted them would be cool but it's fine if it starts cute and turns serious just like Madoka Magica

TheLemmaLlama 2022-08-12 00:28:05 UTC #2

In webcomics, or just in general? :] I assume you're familiar with most anime examples people often cite like Made in Abyss, Gakkou Gurashi, Happy Sugar Life etc Girls' Last Tour is less dark and more contemplatively nihilistic, at least in the anime, though I heard the manga has a really sad ending (I should honestly get to reading it myself sometime :P). I also liked Doki Doki Literature Club, which is dark and touches upon serious subjects but how serious you find it overall is pretty YMMV

UrMom 2022-08-12 00:40:24 UTC #3

Not super violent, cute-dark stories featuring kid characters, that starts off seemingly innocent is actually a really specific niche. I can't think of a single one that doesn't delve into mildly gory or bloody horror, also can't think of a whole lot outside of anime and/or manga, and "cute" is subjective.

If you're fine with violent cute-dark stuff I know of:

Higurashi no Naku Koro Ni
Wonder Egg Priority
Gakkougurashi!
Made in Abyss
Magical Girl Raising Project
Happy Sugar Life

As for webcomics I know of, the closest I got is:

^^^This one may not be your thing, it's main style isn't cutesy, but it switches between that an a cute style. Also the MC isn't a kid.

^^^Also not a kid.

Edit: Oh! For games: Night in the Woods and OMORI are pretty good.

Edit 2.0: Just remembered, not all of these start off innocent, so keep that in mind.

Enthriex 2022-08-12 00:57:42 UTC #4

Ohh I know of all of these Though I haven't read Gakkou Gurashi's manga or Girl's last tour's

I know of Happy sugar life but I didn't watch it, is it good then? :0 I just read somewhere the pink haired girl was crazy, something like that (crazy yandere type)

Doki Doki I watched it, though I watched Matpat play it haha (GT live) XD I was really amused by his reactions

Enthriex 2022-08-12 01:03:32 UTC #5

Hmm yeaah cute is subjective but didn't know how to say it better x'D Sorry, since I'm not a native speaker that's the best I could come up with haha, maybe like... something that looks inoffensive, calm but then turns chaotic?

Oh I did watch these except Happy sugar life and wonder egg priority. I'm fine with violence as long as the story is interesting ^^

And thanks for the recs! I started reading hollow a few days ago

It's alright if they're not kids, I meant likee calm stories that turn chaotic or delve into serious themes! Sorry if I couldn't explain myself better T-T

As for the games I also played these! I was wondering if it's worth it to buy Omori for switch to play the hikikomori route. Do you know if it's that different from the pc version? I only played the true ending thus why ask x)

Oh and I'm fine if it starts dark too, I actually love stories from many genres haha so thank you for the recs!

C.L.G 2022-08-12 01:46:44 UTC #6

Alrighty, then, here's my list.

Gravity Falls
Over The Garden Wall
Undertale (that is, if you go down the genocide route)
Cooking Companions
Coraline
Corpse Bride

That's all I could think of on the top of my head. All kid friendly.

TheLemmaLlama 2022-08-12 01:52:21 UTC #7

I haven't actually watched it myself, but I have watched this video about it - in short, there's definitely more to it than 'pink haired girl crazy' and it deals with themes of CSA ... (yes, I watch analysis videos of anime I haven't watched before :P)

Enthriex 2022-08-12 02:27:56 UTC #8

Hmm it doesn't have to be kid friendly though but thankss! I know all of them except cooking companions :0

UrMom 2022-08-12 02:28:24 UTC #9

Lol no problem! I knew the concept of what you meant, but what I found cute might not fit with your idea of it so I wasn't sure what to suggest. xP

Oooh Wonder Egg Priority is pretty good imo! If you get the chance you should definitely watch it, deals with the hard topics in a pretty creative way, definitely isn't the standard horror. I'd actually consider it more of a dark drama with some horror elements.

No need to keep apologizing! I just wanted to see if I could find anything in that exact niche. Madoka Magica is pretty unique in the fact that it gets really dark, has horror concepts, but it's really restrained with the blood and such compared to most. I'll let you know if I find any cute-dark stories featuring any age character then! I know a few in the dark/psychological niche, I'm actually a fan of stories with heavy themes myself, but the other ones I know of aren't cute looking. I guess that shows how rare the aesthetic is since you mostly just see it in Japan.

Pfff sorry, I wouldn't know, I've only played the PC version. Admittedly I haven't bought a new gaming console since the PS3 came out. x'D

Enthriex 2022-08-12 02:32:37 UTC #10

Haha well you can recommend me based on your concept of cute XD I actually liked a lot the higurashi's old series, not exactly for the blood but the paralell lines jumping, mystery and creepiness haha

Soo I'd be pretty interested on stories you like that go from normal/calm to dark or creepy BD Doesn't need to be cute necessarily ^^

Yess heavy themess and dark/psychological I do love so feel welcome to recommend your faves!

And haha yeah it happensss, my console before the switch lite was a game cube loool XD

ccmatta 2022-08-12 02:46:42 UTC #11

I love psychology
(...)
A story that goes from nice to dark themes! If it focuses on the characters feelings or how events impacted them

Can I suggest my own based on that? I mean, if you're cool with BL.
It's a romance ok yeah I know, but it's centered around a boy with depression and suicide tendencies. Currently we are in the calm before the storm! Things will get crazy in the future.SO... yeah... idk... if you'd like to take a look at it, here's the link but that's cool if it's not your cup of tea.

Enthriex 2022-08-12 03:25:38 UTC #12

How about a trade then? I read yours and you read minee, if we both like each other's we subscribe BD Cause ofc I won't force you to sub to mine You might like mine for those themess (dark themes), there's not much BL at the beginning but there's asexual, bisexual characters along with another that's dealing with lots of confusion but he dislikes girls and likes looking at boys (his case is quite complicated so I can't really say he is gay) there's lots of bromance and well probably themes you might like ^^ (I didn't tag it LGBT since it's not romance focused and wouldn't like to waste people's time x'D)

Enthriex 2022-08-12 03:48:03 UTC #13

I think the last reply wasn't sent as a reply but yeaah what I said above if you agree ^^

UrMom 2022-08-12 03:54:50 UTC #14

Whoo! Welcome to the "behind on buying consoles" club!

Is it weird that I didn't like Higurashi? It was the first time I saw the cute-dark style, and I hated it so much, it felt so overly edgy. Nowadays I'm used to the style, but I haven't watched it since the initial viewing. I should check it out again, maybe I'll like it more. Well, I already suggested the cute ones, so here are the not cute ones. Lol
Some of these aren't super dark, but fall under psychological imo, also some of these don't start out calm but I figured I'd throw them out there anyway.

^^^This one is discontinued, and more wholesome than dark, but it delves into mental illness and such.

^^^This one is more strange and surreal than dark, but it's definitely psychological.

I also have Drop-Out and Fresh Meat, but I've suggested those all over the forum already (And recently.) so you probably saw them.

I'm not going to properly promote it, but I'm also working on a dark, psychological, slowburn hurt/comfort type of drama. The main focus is domestic abuse, mental health struggles, childhood trauma, bigotry, eating disorders and eventually self-care. It is intentionally an uncomfortable read though, the MCs can be super flawed and problematic, it's meant for a 17 or older audience and the art style is also not too pretty. All the characters have a little bit of an ugliness to them. For you it may also be a bit difficult to read since there's slang and intentionally bad English grammar. If you're the correct age and interested in something like that I'll link it, otherwise I'll just leave it off at this.

ccmatta 2022-08-12 04:02:07 UTC #15

i'm already a sub! xD I just didn't have the time to read it yet, i'll read it on the weekend hahaha

Enthriex 2022-08-12 04:09:56 UTC #16

Hmmm noo it isn't weird haha, I probably watched it when I was more tolerant XD But I remember liking the friendship winning kinda thing, but what I liked was the girl struggling to get out of the game. I like it's lore related to Umineko no naku koro ni though I have yet to watch/play the visual novel XD I like the theories and stuff, not the edginess haha

I liked that it was all a mystery at the beginning and then they explained, though I think I go them wrong and watched "kai" first which is the second season look so I basically watched the "answer" arc first instead of the "questions" one hahah so when I watched the first season I understood it better because of my mistake XD and the edgy was much more on the first one since you don't know why they react that way (going all crazy) I at least appreciate the violence was always on the third chapter so it was easily skippable if you couldn't handle it. Hmm so I was like interested on what the syndrome was and what was going on behind scenes :0 + the protagonists struggle trying to break from the one day she is destined to die. So yeaaah for me it wasn't the edginess, it was everything else haha but I understand not everyone can handle it.

Oh and cool! I'll check them out and see what I like!

Yeah I'm way older than 17 lol I wish I was 17 again u_u just without going through school again lol

Hmmm and you can link it, even if there's slang I think I can understand it, it's more of a... when I write the slang doesn't come off easily but when I read it it's different! If there's anything new I'll just look it up, learn some new slang haha and I really doubt there's slang every 5 seconds of reading, so yeaah go ahead BD I like talking about those subjects as well

Enthriex 2022-08-12 04:10:37 UTC #17

Oh lol sorry! You're right! lmao

I'll read yours then XD!

ccmatta 2022-08-12 04:36:01 UTC #18

that's fine xD Read it just if you like it <3 but thank you :3

J.Lovelace 2022-08-12 07:39:53 UTC #19

"The Promised Neverland", "Shadows House", "The girl from the other side", "Kuro" might be what you're looking for.

And I don't know but maybe this? It's wholesome and eerie:

Enthriex 2022-08-12 17:56:33 UTC #20

Thanks for the recss, I've only watched the promised neverland though I only liked the first arc tbh, but I really enjoyed that part BD

And suree I'll check the comic out