[DragoonKain3]

Originally Posted by grevierr

Just wanted to point out this little known series, on how to make an end of the world plot without all the grim dark

Stellvia of the Universe

Oh I frigging loved Stellvia of the Universe. Ironically, it's the second ED that describes why I love the grim dark approach. The lyrics tells of a very hopeless situation, but people will still persevere and even sacrifice themselves for the one they love.

Spoiler for save space for the English translation of the lyrics:

Where the end of this sky goes
Are waves of the future that cannot yet be seen
We are alive; we overcome many destinies
Who are we learning from, who are we asking?

People do not have time to fear encountering
The space between expiring lives
Even if this world would end today
I will still love you

The sunbeams through the leaves are gentle
But they are not for forever
The Earth is now blue from overflowing sorrow
If only words withered, leaving just love behind

People are led astray by expiring lives
Sometimes striking them harshly
Even if this world would end today
I will still protect you

I wish to deliver light to you, and heal [myself] with your smile

People do not have time to fear encountering
The space between expiring lives
Even if this world would end today
I will still love you

The end of the world, the end of the world
The end of the world, I will be with you

The end of the world, the end of the world
The end of the world, I will be with you

And holy crap, I think I just played the song 10 times over.

Originally Posted by Marcus H.

I think Symphogear is that close to being "desperate in the very first episode".

Last I checked the human race wasn't near extinction in the first episode of Symphogear.

Regardless, I don't know what makes "humanity fighting against extinction" as a plot so exciting to some.

Can't speak for others, but I for one like serious and grim "humanity vs extinction" stories because of what got me in anime in the first place, Super Dimensional Fortress Macross.

Not so much the TV series (which was much more light hearted), but Do You Remember Love is still etched in my memory, since I was only a child when I first saw it. And when....

Spoiler for it's a spoiler as old as Darth Vader being Luke's father:

they return to earth, only to discover it is absolutely devastated and that the last remnants of the human race IS on the SDF Macross, my juvenile mind just went "OH SHIT" from awe at the idea that humanity can be that easily wiped out.

Especially when you entitled to watch people die before your very eyes.

I can understand how a lot of people can get squeamish about character deaths. Me however, Higurashi pretty much desensitized me from violent deaths (if I wasn't already beforehand from games like Doom or Mortal Kombat)

It's like watching a hanging at the town square during the Middle Ages in a sense.

Nah, completely different. It's more like watching a horror movie, where you have a group of people trying to survive something that is out of this world, except this time it's on a GRAND scale.