Looking for manga / anime / LN / VN in which the main character's special ability destroys his or her own body cruelly. For example, if it has a demon / angel / etc in its body, then using it's ability would say, destroy(or otherwise severely damage) sections of its body, in exchange for using it (e.g. transforming body part into weapon) as opposed to just cleanly manifesting itself (like Soul Eater).

Notice the bold parts.
Please no stereotypical shoujo romance.

Edit: To clarify, I want it to be readily apparent. It can be something that recovers, the wound could heal, but it has to be readily noticeable and unpleasant. Like a gory Soul Eater as pointed out by Blique. Please no life force drifting away gradually, if life force is gonna go it better be extreme like Bokurano.

Noblesse - Nope, that's not his body
Gokukoku no Brynhildr - Not noticeably caused by the use of their abilities
Bokurano - Well, Life Force again, but it's readily apparent. Good :3
The Legend of the Sun Knight - Fits :3 Was hoping for sacrifices to occur each time he uses his abilities, but that's the closest thing so far.
Highschool DxD - Nope, life force again.
Shingeki no Kyojin - Nope. Itty bitty injury.
Soukyuu no Lapis Lazuli - Nope, side character.

Last edited by wotonito at 9:42 am, Jan 23 2014

Noblesse - The main character uses his life force when he uses his ability.
Gokukoku no Brynhildr - It's not so much the use of abilities, it's that once they were made that way, their bodies will start disintegrating without medicine.
Bokurano - Kind of. The children die after piloting once. It focuses on the psychological aspects.

None of them are exactly what you're looking for though.

You want it to permanently destroy parts of the body? Or just a momentary, somewhat gorier version of Soul Eater?

For the former, best I can think of is The Legend of Sun Knight (Novel), in which

And do you want it to be very apparent? For example, in Noblesse, it somewhat unnoticeably shortens his lifespan.

Highschool DxD (novel) - It can't be compared to the anime, 10x better
Noblesse - maybe?

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Code: Breaker-definitely, he needs to sacrifice his body parts/senses to unlock his Flames‘ powers..
Aiki-dislocates his joints..
Shingeki no Kyojin-the other way around, needs to be injured to activate power..
Soukyuu no Lapis Lazuli-few releases, but I think this kinda fit?? Not the male MC though..
Special Martial Arts Extreme Hell Private High School-if you‘re not strong enough, your power could kill you..
Defense Devil-
Zero-I think this had something like what you‘re looking for in the final arc..

Last edited by Knightzomegaz at 7:23 am, Jan 23 2014

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Shingeki no Kyojin
Claymore Well kind of...

That's all I can think of. These kind of chars aren't rare but they're typically not main chars.

Defiantly NABARI NO OU, its not the MC but one of the main character has this technique called Kira that slowly kills the user. The destruction isn't just internal, its also physical which is why he wears gloves to hide his deforming body. (When I say deforming, I mean the skin color changes)

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Dawn - Tsumetai Te has the protagonist manifesting his ability through changing his body. Not sure if it's as painful/destructive as you want, though.

Baroque - Ketsuraku no Paradigm also has some aspect of this, mainly with the side characters. Again, a bit of a stretch for exactly what you want, but it does have a good deal of body horror.

Antimagia has the protagonist losing his memories whenever he uses his powers.

And it's been a while since I've read it, but I think Variante might fit too.

Deadman Wonderland -


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Gate Keepers? maybe

Ajin - the ability manifests itself because of painful situations which the person still feels
Pupa - again ability to survive painful situations
Double Gauge main character is always sick because of his ability

Ah right I forgot this one! It is rare to see a fire user actually burned after using their ability.
Haru no Houtai Shoujo

Last edited by booknik at 3:40 am, Jan 26 2014

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