Animation Film

The saddest anime movies of the all time

Sometimes, instead of laughing, we want to cry a lot or see something that moves our heartstrings. For those moments, we can always count on anime of the genre tragedy, drama or sadness. If tears are your thing, here we present you with the saddest anime movies ever. Get comfortable, and get the tissues ready!

The saddest anime movies

Akame ga Kill

Year: 2014
Studio: White Fox
Episodes/seasons: 24 episodes

In a fantasy world, the fighter Tatsumi heads to the capital to earn money for his hungry people. There he finds a world of unimaginable corruption, with a depraved prime minister manipulating the child emperor. Tatsumi is recruited by the Night Raid, a group of assassins dedicated to eliminating the corruption that plagued the Capitol by mercilessly killing those responsible.

Akame ga Kill is a great dark fantasy series, recommended for anyone who enjoys violent stories and great characters. Compared in darkness to Shingeki no Kyojin, Elfen Lied, and Death Note, this anime is as sad as it is enjoyable.

Angel Beats!

Year: 2010
Studio: PA Works
Episodes/seasons: 13 episodes

A high school serves as a compound for the souls of teenagers who passed away but refuse to give up their life attachments. They have to learn to let go of what they wanted in life, to rest in peace.

The premise of Angel Beats shows us by itself a sad subject by nature. Life after death, and the hardships of a group of “ghosts” who can’t get past it. As if that were not enough, they are adolescents who were just beginning to live, which makes everything more tragic. If you feel like a supernatural drama, Angel Beats is your best bet.

Ano Hi Mita Hana no Namae wo Bokutachi wa Mada Shiranai (AnoHana)

Year: 2011
Studio: A-1 Pictures
Episodes/seasons: 11 episodes

Jinta Yadomi lives as a recluse, spending her summer vacation playing video games. One hot day, his childhood friend Meiko “Menma” Honma appears and asks to be granted a forgotten wish. The point is that Menma died years ago.

AnoHana features characters whose past mistakes create an unbearable burden. The story centers around a group of friends in their teens, separated by a tragic accident. Survivors spend their days trying to shake off their guilt, getting the viewer involved with their stories. After watching this series, you sure end up crying even when listening to the ending.

Boku Dake ga Inai Machi (ERASED)

Year: 2016
Studio: A-1 Pictures
Episodes/seasons: 12 episodes

When a tragedy is about to happen, Satoru Fujinuma is thrown back in time several minutes before it happens. He takes advantage of this powerful and mysterious phenomenon, which he calls “Revival,” to save many lives. However, being accused of murdering someone close, Satoru once again returns to the past. But this time, instead of a few minutes, it was sent 18 years ago.

Boku Dake ga Inai Machi follows Satoru on his mission to determine what really happened 18 years ago. This is intended to prevent the death of a classmate while protecting loved ones in the present. The anime offers many philosophical themes: the love of a mother, the love of a child, parental abuse, the loneliness of youth, among others.

Clannad

Year: 2007
Studio: Kyoto Animation
Episodes/seasons: 23 episodes

Tomoya Okazaki is a rebel without a cause. One day while going to school, he meets a girl who mutters passes herself. Her name is Nagisa, and although the first meeting does not make meya in Tomoya, as the days go by, they become friends. Nagisa is behind in school due to illness, and together with Tomoya and other girls, she decides that she wants to restore the old Drama Club.

Clannad is an emotionally attractive anime. It begins with a depressed individual who attends a new high school and finds himself in a typical harem anime situation. However, the series shines through its characters. They all have a sad and realistic past, and together they manage to overcome adversity.

Death parade

Year: 2015
Studio: Madhouse
Episodes/seasons: 12 episodes

There is no heaven or hell after death, just a bar that stands between reincarnation and oblivion. There the manager will challenge each pair of recently deceased to a random game. The right to reincarnate or the misfortune of falling into a void will be wagered on them. Whether it’s bowling, darts, hockey, or whatever, each person’s true nature will be revealed in a horrifying parade of death and memories.

Death Parade offers game scenarios from a different perspective. The series produces sensations of emotional appeal, terror, and beauty combined with the show’s style. Each episode, implausible as it may seem, leaves a clear message and a life lesson. Without a doubt, an anime that is worth watching.

Hybrid Child

Year: 2014
Studio: Studio Deen
Episodes/seasons: 4 episodes

Kuroda, the master puppeteer, is the creator of the “Hybrid Child,” specialized androids that are neither machines nor humans. Oriented to wealthy but lonely people, who yearn for company, a Hybrid Child can grow as a human being if it is loved and cared for by its master. Despite being designed like dolls, Hybrid Children have a conscience and can feel.

Hybrid Child is made up of three very emotional and tragic love stories. They explain the depth of a bond between a Hybrid Child and its owner. Compared to other Shonen-Ai, Hybrid Child is quite particular. The story is quite complex and emotional, and it will not disappoint you even if you are not too fond of the genre.

Hanbun no Tsuki ga Noboru Sora

Year: 2006
Studio: Group TAC
Episodes/seasons: 6 episodes

After contracting hepatitis A, Yuuichi Ezaki is confined to a hospital. To ease his boredom, he sneaks out, looking for trouble with his nurse. When he meets a girl his age who also remains in the hospital, he is captivated by her beauty, but not by her personality. However, tragedy looms over them, as the girl, Rika Akiba, is terminally ill.

Hanbun no Tsuki ga Noboru Sora’s greatest strength is its story and its characters’ interactions. He ignores all other details and focuses on Yuuichi and Rika’s relationship and their circumstances. Of course, the premise promises to bring tears to your eyes, but it’s also worth watching for its story.

Isshuukan Friends (One week friends)

Year: 2014
Studio: Brains Base
Episodes/seasons: 12 episodes

Yuuki Hase finally finds the courage to talk to the girl he likes and ask her if they can be friends. Kaori Fujimiya is very reserved and rejects him. Later, Yuuki finds her having lunch on the roof and decides to follow her every day. They spend time together and she is gentle, but at the end of the week, she rejects him again. Then Kaori’s secret is revealed: At the end of the week, her new memories are erased and reset every Monday.

Isshuukan Friends shows the difficulties of making friends and falling in love when your memory doesn’t last long enough to bond. Kaori’s amnesia affects not only her but also her family and friends. If you had a hard time fitting in in school, you would love this sad but hopeful anime.

Kanon

Year: 2006
Studio: Kyoto Animation
Episodes/seasons: 24 episodes

When he was a child, Aizawa Yuuichi often visited his cousin in town. However, something drastic happens, which keeps him away for seven years. Now, Yuuichi returns, but his memories of those days are just gone. Upon settling in, Yuuichi meets several young girls, all of them connected to his past. As he befriends her and continues to interact with them, the forgotten memories of his childhood begin to resurface.

Suppose you like any kind of romantic drama or are looking for something refreshing and unique. Or maybe you just want something to make you cry. Kanon is the anime for you. Heartwarming characters, full-blown drama, and some laughs too. Not for nothing is it a mandatory reference when looking for handkerchiefs.

Kaze to Ki no Uta (The Poem of Wind and Trees)

Year: 1987
Studio: Unknown
Episodes / seasons: 1 (OVA)

1887, elite school in France: Serge Battour returns and remembers his youthful days. 1880, same school: Son of a viscount and a prostitute (both deceased), Serge is smart and sweet. But he is alienated by his family due to his heritage. At school, she meets Gilbert Cocteau, a gorgeous and lonely boy who sells his body for unknown reasons. Serge’s attempts to get closer to Gilbert are unsuccessful, and yet there is something that draws them toward each other.

Kaze to Ki no Uta is a fantastic introduction to an even better manga. Even this small part of the story is intriguing, emotional, and downright charming. He is considered a pioneer in the Yaoi and Shonen-Ai genres, and his tragic character makes him a reference to the drama genre. An excellent option if you like the genre.

Kiznaiver

Year: 2016
Studio: Trigger
Episodes/seasons: 12 episodes

Katsuhira Agata is a reserved teenager whose sense of pain has disappeared. His peaceful demeanor makes Katsuhira a constant target of abusers, who demand large sums of money from him. One day, Katsuhira, his friend Chidori and four other teenagers are kidnapped and forced to join the Kizuna System as “Kiznaivers.” Those who participate are connected by pain: if one member is hurt, the others will feel an equal amount of agony.

Kiznaiver is not an anime for everyone, although it is very easy to love it if you liked it. It deals with deep themes, such as apathy, abuse, and the influence of emotions in human life. Nothing screams drama like someone who can’t feel pain and suddenly feels someone else’s. So if you haven’t seen it, we assure you that you won’t waste your time.

Kuzu no honkai

Year: 2017
Studio: Lerche
Episodes/seasons: 12 episodes

To the outside world, Hanabi Yasuraoka and Mugi Awaya are the perfect matches. But really, they just share the same secret: they are both in love with other people they can’t be with. As Hanabi and Mugi spend time together, they decide to use each other as a substitute for the one they love. That is why they share physical intimacy: to avoid their loneliness.

Kuzu no Honkai is undoubtedly a memorable drama/romance that is very strong. Deals with controversial topics, like settling for someone you don’t love just because you’re not alone. Tears are assured, both by the premise and by the development of the story.

Loveless

Year: 2005
Studio: JC Staff
Episodes/seasons: 12 episodes

Ritsuka Aoyagi is a 12-year-old boy, who for some unknown reason, suffers from amnesia. His brother died recently, and on his first day at the new school, he is approached by a stranger. Agatsuma Soubi claims to have met her brother. Ritsuka discovers that Soubi and her brother were a “fighting couple” and that now he is their replacement. Together, they try to find the truth behind their brother’s death.

In Loveless, each person is born with cat ears and a tail, which disappear when they have sex. For this reason, the ears and the tail are symbols of virginity and innocence. Besides, there is a fighter in each “fighting partner” and someone who takes all the damage. All this makes anime a unique combination of drama, love, philosophy and mystery, with a supernatural touch.

Tokyo Magnitude 8.0

Year: 2009
Studio: Bones and Kinema Citrus
Episodes/seasons: 11 episodes

Mirai Onozawa is dissatisfied with her life and wishes to break everything in a moment of frustration. Unfortunately, these destructive thoughts seem to come true in the form of a magnitude 8.0 earthquake only moments later.

Tokyo Magnitude 8.0 focuses on a rare theme to find in anime: the pain and destruction of a natural disaster. The story explores the aftermath of an 8.0 earthquake and how it affects innocent individuals. It is a depressing portrait of real-life tragedies. A heartbreaking story about pain and grief caused by forces totally beyond the control of the characters.

Plastic Memories

Year: 2015
Studio: Doga Kobo
Episodes/seasons: 13 episodes

Tsukasa Mizugaki is a failure but manages to get a job at SAI Corp. They created the “Gifts”: highly advanced androids that appear human. Gifts have a maximum useful life of 81,920 hours. Tsukasa is responsible for collecting expired Gifts before they lose their memories and turn hostile. Without expecting it, Tsukasa begins to have feelings for a Giftia called Isla, whose expiration is very close.

Yes, Plastic Memories is full of cute girls, but it’s surprisingly sad. Mortality and what it means to be human are topics that this anime deals with. The main character is human and works collecting expired Giftias without understanding people’s attachments to them. Sure, until he falls in love with a Giftia and things get interesting.

Those were our top favorite saddest anime movies, in no particular order other than alphabetical. We hope you liked them as much as we did, and that you didn’t need too many tissues! As always, you are welcome to leave your opinions below. If you liked our list or not, or if we left out any of your favorites. All comments are welcome, especially if they are constructive or complimentary. We read on the next list! And you, do you enjoy crying watching anime?

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