Bokurano (Uninstall)...

This is an anime series called Bokurano (Japanese) or Uninstall (English). The anime is very dark and almost twisted and explores strange elements of parallel universes, giant robots, and destruction of mankind.

The story consists of several kids who find a cave on a beach and explores to find that there is a person living in the cave. The person offers the kids to try out a "game" but requires the kids to sign a contract before playing. Right after the contracts have been signed the kids end up waking somewhere on the beach and not long after that, a giant robot starts to attack the city they're in. Another giant robot appears and sends these kids inside it, only to find out that the person in the cave is inside. The person explains that there will be several battles to come and each person must pilot the robot they're in once and must win the battle against the other robot.

The rules are to fight the other robot and must win or else the world will get destroyed. After the person piloting wins, they die. There are no quits or refusal to battle, otherwise the world will get destroyed.

Soon after a couple of battles the kids find out that the robots they fight are not just any robots. They are actually robots with people in the same situation as the kids themselves except from another parallel world.

The series is revolved around these kids and their experiences in dealing with the situation and the pressure of having to operate the robot to kill another person in order to survive. Some are unexpected cold in killing, finding no hesitation, and others could not find the courage to operate the robot because they're scared of not knowing what will happen when they do.

I find this series enjoyable to watch although it destroyed my brain afterwards. I like the concept of people being scared to use technology against another person because the outcome could literally be anything. What was going through the minds of the characters is also another thing quite interesting to think about because one day they were normal, the next day, they're killing to save themselves. The impact it must have had on them must have been huge.