We’ve all been to that place. The place that changes and goes like a wind, like clouds, like the traces of the heart. The place in our hearts that is irreplaceable and can not be reached, just worshipped.
Now, you might be thinking that I’ve lost it, but those of you who know the song Ana from Clannad, will probably know why I started this article this way.
Table of Contents
In today’s article, our theme is none other than anime and crying. Drama is something that anime in general is very strong at. Whether it be the story being sad or just heartwarmingly beautiful, you’ll likely be shedding a few tears for at least once while watching them.
I must now issue a massive SPOILER WARNING, as the article will be full of information on why I chose these anime in particular.
So, grab your tissue boxes and take a deep breath, for we’re diving into the sea of tears shed by fans after watching these anime marvels.
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Table of Content
Anime that will make you bawl your eyes out
41. Digimon Adventure
| Impact | Plot | Character Writing | Animation | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|
|
10/20 |
10/10 |
10/10 |
8/10 |
38/50 |
Hands up, all of you, do any of you remember scenes from this anime franchise, and yes, I could be talking about an entire franchise, but right now, out of the first ever series. Did that make any of you cry?
The truth is, I did. There were many very powerful and painful scenes, entire story lines and episodes worth of sad and often even depressing events in Digimon. While it is still an action oriented shounen series, it is still undeniably one that can pack a punch on the drama front.
I mean, don’t tell me you don’t remember Angemon’s heart wrenching last words after his fight against Devimon, Pumpkinmon, Gotsumon and Wizardmon’s sacrifice, Leomon… Whamon, or the Numemons anyone? They are some of the most memorable and tear jerking ones ever.
40. Gintama
| Impact | Plot | Character Writing | Animation | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|
|
11/20 |
9/10 |
10/10 |
9/10 |
39/50 |
Although it may be surprising, yes, Gintama also had quite a few intriguingly emotional parts. It’s strange, isn’t it? An anime that is as ridiculous and breaks the fourth wall as many times as this, actually has emotional moments?
Well, yes, yes it does. Despite all the ludicrous humour, weird situations, and entire filler arcs, Gintama also has a much more serious and therefore respectable side to it. The real serious story arcs feature really deep and thought provoking moments, and I’ve heard of people claiming to actually have cried because of these parts.
Just think of the Shogun Assassination Arc, where after all the struggle to save the shogun, tragically enough he still is killed. Tell me that didn’t move you at all!
39. Anohana
| Impact | Plot | Character Writing | Animation | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|
|
14/20 |
9/10 |
7/10 |
10/10 |
40/50 |
A lot of you will probably be angry at me for putting one of everyone’s favorites so low on this list, but you’ll have to hear me out.
Anohana is a beautiful anime about friendship, unfulfilled love and grieving over the loss of a friend. While I do admit it is beautiful in so many aspects, it lacks a certain thing: Consistency.
While the story itself is strong, it’s not nearly as strong as what you’d come to expect from an anime on this list, and therefore it doesn’t have as much power to it overall.
Yes, the last episode hits hard, and the way it ends is really, really tear jerking, and I admit, I cried too. The problem is, that up until that point, the story is the same as any other normal teen romance drama out there. It doesn’t even do all that much to convince you to want to cry, you’re just watching soap operas.
Other than that, it does deserve its place on the list.
38. Madoka Magica
| Impact | Plot | Character Writing | Animation | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|
|
16/20 |
10/10 |
8/10 |
7/10 |
41/50 |
As one of the most popular Magical Girl anime ever, you’d expect a bit of the “cute girls doing cute things” vibe from it, after all, the main heroines are all cute girls wearing frilly cute dresses and being adorable bff-s and all.
Too bad that’s not the case. Magical Girl anime never were about that. Some gruesome events lead to the untimely death of Mami after all, and to be honest, that is already worth a few tears.
The real hardest part of it is of course. Not her, but Homura. She does slowly turn to the dark side after all, and Madoka’s struggle to cope with this and losing her, a friend she loved so dearly, is devastating.
This one is anything but a happy anime about cute girls.
37. Gosick
| Impact | Plot | Character Writing | Animation | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|
|
13/20 |
10/10 |
10/10 |
8/10 |
41/50 |
Unsurprisingly, there are crime and mystery based stories out there that are able to stir up a major emotion, and even able to bring you to tears. Just take Cold Case for example!
Gosick is all about mysticism, mystery and solving crimes in both the past and the present. Victorique’s razor sharp mind and Kazuya’s enthusiasm perfectly complemented each other, bringing us some incredible and fun mysteries being solved.
What really drove the story home however, was actually the ending of the story. Victorique’s prediction of the upcoming world war, the second world war beginning years earlier, and what our heroine has to go through just to get her happy ending.
Especially the happy ending. It is that ending, where our heroes finally get to live their happy free life together. If anything, that had to at least have had some of you in tears.
36. Candy Candy
| Impact | Plot | Character Writing | Animation | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|
|
18/20 |
10/10 |
8/10 |
5/10 |
41/50 |
The great grandmother of all of the beautiful anime nowadays. This beauty has brought us an epic story, an adorable main heroine, a beautiful historic setting and graphics far ahead of their time. 1970’s, people.
35. Chrono Crusade
| Impact | Plot | Character Writing | Animation | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|
|
19/20 |
8/10 |
9/10 |
6/10 |
42/50 |
Chrono Crusade was one of those anime from the 90’s which hit the spot when it came to being incredibly emotional. The ending, with both of our main characters passing away together, and being found, hand in hand, having fallen into an eternal sleep from which no one will wake them up, left many broken.
I myself admit, I only saw it once, but it will forever be something I’ll never forget.
34. Elfen Lied
| Impact | Plot | Character Writing | Animation | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|
|
17/20 |
9/10 |
10/10 |
6/10 |
42/50 |
If you’ve never seen Elfen Lied in your life or only saw the death count of it, you’d probably think that this is nothing, but a brutal bloodbath of a horror, but oh would you be wrong.
To better understand, here’s a few reasons why. For one, yes, Diclonius are deadly and seemingly emotionless monsters. However if you allow yourself to see behind the dark and grim surface, there always lies a terrible and traumatizing childhood behind it.
This, and the fact that humans experimented on them, tortured them, and worst of all, thoughtlessly killed them is just not fair.
If you’ve ever heard Lilium, the theme song of this anime, it gives you the vibes of being in a church. Have you ever thought of what if Diclonius are actually angels?
Anyway, the series’ real moral is that humans are evil and foolish creatures. Anything they don’t understand, they’re afraid of—and will find a way to destroy it.
33. Assassination Classroom
| Impact | Plot | Character Writing | Animation | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|
|
15/20 |
9/10 |
8/10 |
10/10 |
42/50 |
Although the anime itself is more comedic and action focused, it is necessary to note that in a way, it is still a drama anime. Sure, Koro-sensei may not have meant to literally destroy the world if his students failed, but it’s still strange to see said students become trained assassins instead of studying and focusing on not failing.
Then again, there was that last episode when the students did in fact manage to finally fulfill that task they made for themselves, and kill Koro-sensei. Despite the assassination being the goal for them, they did still grow to love their teacher and the goodbye is a tearful one.
32. Brave King Gaogaigar
| Impact | Plot | Character Writing | Animation | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|
|
19/20 |
9/10 |
9/10 |
6/10 |
43/50 |
Gaogaigar, the Brave King, the mightiest of the Brave Robos, is a completely insane dystopian sci-fi, in which people are screaming at the top of their lungs for almost one third of the full runtime. And that is a lot.
However, the series also has a powerful, and surprisingly touching side to it. The end of the story especially, when Mamoru, our main hero has to say goodbye to all his friends he made among the heroic Gutsy Galaxy Guard and escape the collapsing Trinary Solar System with the other survivor, a child much like him.
That one scene and the song to go with it… it broke my heart to pieces, and it also broke me. It was incredibly beautiful and sad, and I cried for hours afterwards.
31. Hinamatsuri
| Impact | Plot | Character Writing | Animation | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|
|
15/20 |
10/10 |
10/10 |
9/10 |
44/50 |
You may be wondering: why would you put Hinamatsuri on this list? It’s one of the most hilarious and ridiculous anime comedies ever.
Yes, by that you are correct, but you’re not wrong when thinking that “hey, maybe he has a point.” Hear me out here!
While Hina and her side of the story is all about the funny moral stories and cute moments, there’s also another Esper in this story who isn’t as lucky as her. That other character is Anzu.
After being bested by Hina, she doesn’t have the guts to go home to wherever she came from, and ends up becoming homeless. She’s taken in by the local homeless people who teach her humility, teamwork, and the importance of holding together in difficult times.
Anzu’s side of the story is filled to the brim with heartwarming, sweet, and emotional moments that will be sure to give you some reason to tear up.
30. Orange
| Impact | Plot | Character Writing | Animation | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|
|
15/20 |
10/10 |
10/10 |
10/10 |
45/50 |
Imagine receiving a letter from yourself and from the future no less. How would you react? The same happened to the main characters of this anime marvel, and since it speaks about their dear friend and/or love interest dying, of course they took things into their own hands.
The fact stands that every time the characters cry, you’ll pretty much feel like crying yourselves. And with a reason too. You already know that there will be a disaster unless they do something and this helps them work up the courage to face said friend with determination to save him, even if they’re scared.
A future without one of that special friend definitely seems bleak, and yes, the four friends know all too well, that even if they send their letters to the past, their life would not change (hence for the parallel timelines being created), but at least they’ll be hopefully happy in that timeline, right?
29. Gurren Lagann
| Impact | Plot | Character Writing | Animation | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|
|
19/20 |
10/10 |
10/10 |
6/10 |
45/50 |
Yet another entry on the completely crazy, but also incredibly emotional and sad entries on this list. Although Gurren Lagann goes against all logic, and sanity, it has moments like Kamina’s tragic death, and Nia’s fate to keep crunching away at your soul.
28. Your Name
| Impact | Plot | Character Writing | Animation | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|
|
15/20 |
10/10 |
10/10 |
10/10 |
45/50 |
Mitsuha and Taki, two very different young people, two teenagers whose fates are intertwined through space and time. It’s hard to even imagine what it would be like to become able to swap bodies with someone you didn’t even know.
What really is incredible in this movie is that it hits the hardest when you realize what you’ve been watching for the last hour or so. After that Taki’s desperate attempts to save the townsfolk, and his and Mitsuha’s fight to find each other, each are incredibly emotional and will be sure to bring tears to your eyes. This movie is incredibly beautiful on all fronts, although it only starts becoming really strong at about the halfway point of the story.
27. Grave of the Fireflies
| Impact | Plot | Character Writing | Animation | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|
|
15/20 |
10/10 |
10/10 |
10/10 |
45/50 |
War. War never changes. The true power of this animated masterpiece from no less than studio Ghibli, depicts just how cruel war can be. Our two main characters, a pair of siblings, suffer through the end days of World War 2, and slowly, but surely starve to death.
It pains me to even think about how real this is in fact. In a war torn world, people would often be left without a bite to eat for extended periods of time. The very picturesque and ruthlessly real depiction of that in this movie and the painfully emotional scenes are likely to bring even the coldest person to tears.
26. The Price of Smiles
| Impact | Plot | Character Writing | Animation | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|
|
16/20 |
10/10 |
10/10 |
10/10 |
46/50 |
What I love and dread most about this anime is the fact that there is so much realism in the war that goes down in its story. Yuki, the 12 year old princess and Stella, the soldier who’s lost basically everything that was ever important to her, have barely anything in common. Just two things:
For one, they both lost their parents the same day. Yuki was raised by Stella’s mother who was thought to have died however, so she became both of their mothers in a sense.
There are so many scenes, so many thought provoking and emotionally supercharged moments in this anime especially towards the end, that it’s hard to not start tearing up at least once. Everyone should see this anime at least once in a lifetime.
25. Grimgar of Fantasy and Ashes
| Impact | Plot | Character Writing | Animation | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|
|
19/20 |
9/10 |
8/10 |
10/10 |
46/50 |
Grimgar is actually a pretty dark piece of isekai fantasy. Unlike others of its kind, there is constantly a sense of dread in the air, as any of our heroes could die at any moment. And when it happens, it hits, and it hits hard.
It starts off with Manato, the former leader of the team. His death comes unexpected and uncalled for, and it leaves the team broken. They mourn his loss and are forced to accept a complete stranger into their team in Mary (or Merry, according to some sources).
It does work out in the end, even though Mary is broken herself. She seems cold and uncaring for her new teammates, but as later turns out, she has similar, if not worse experiences as them. She lost some of her best friends to one of the legendary beasts, Death Spots.
In the end everything is resolved, Mary is able to put her friends’ spirit to rest and becomes a fully fledged and important member of her new team, her new family.
24. Little Busters!
| Impact | Plot | Character Writing | Animation | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|
|
20/20 |
10/10 |
9/10 |
7/10 |
46/50 |
Key anime and J.C. Staff sound very nice together. And with a reason too. With the high number of characters, and story arcs, there is bound to be a lot of tearful moments and happy endings.
I should know, I cried my eyes out at just how beautiful it was and now complete with Kud Wafter, it will be a roller coaster everyone will remember.
23. To your Eternity
| Impact | Plot | Character Writing | Animation | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|
|
19/20 |
8/10 |
9/10 |
10/10 |
46/50 |
The story of Fushi, the immortal and ever living shapeshifting being is a real tragedy in itself.
No matter how many people he meets, how many friends he makes, or how many people he grows to love, he keeps losing every last one of them after some time. That and him being hunted by a being that can take his shapeshifting abilities and with them his memories of those people and animals from him, is just cruel.
They say you only die if people forget about you. Fushi’s struggling to not forget those who were important to him. Just one of these things would be beyond sad and could bring anyone to tears, never mind all of it.
22. A Silent Voice
| Impact | Plot | Character Writing | Animation | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|
|
17/20 |
10/10 |
9/10 |
10/10 |
46/50 |
Have any of you suffered from bullying? If so, did the one who hurt you, ever show any remorse? Well, in this movie masterpiece, Shouya Ishida gets a bitter taste of just how much it hurts if you’re on the other end of the bullying.
The whole story is a struggle for redemption and to be able to forgive oneself for past mistakes. Shouya and Shouko‘s story on its own is unbelievably beautiful, and the really emotional moments will hit like a train. There is no doubt that you will break down crying at some point, the question is just when.
21. Plastic Memories
| Impact | Plot | Character Writing | Animation | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|
|
17/20 |
10/10 |
9/10 |
10/10 |
46/50 |
What would you do if someone could tell you exactly how long you will live? This question is one of the driving forces of the story.
First of all, this is an amazingly beautiful and very emotional story. It speaks of how much human an artificial being like a Giftia is. Do they really have emotions, or is it just their programming?
Well, already the first episode that was so beautiful and soul crushing proves that Giftia do in fact know and express love in the most honest and heartfelt way. Little Nina’s tearful goodbye to her granny is just the beginning. This anime is out of this world when it comes to bringing the audience to tears.
20. Warlords of Sigrdrifa
| Impact | Plot | Character Writing | Animation | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|
|
18/20 |
10/10 |
9/10 |
10/10 |
47/50 |
An anime where modern day humanity wages war on the norse gods? Yes, it is here. The hardest part of this all is actually a war anime, and war is something that is never easy to talk about, even if it’s a fantasy.
The day the Pillars attack the Earth, most of the planet is left devastated and taken over by the evil pillars and their unstoppable armies. Odin offers humanity help in the form of Valkyries, warrior girls who possess the powers to fight the pillars.
Our main characters are a team of Valkyries, young and promising teen girls, with a heavily burdened destiny, and their leader, named by her Valkyrie name, Schwertleite, has to lead her formal sisters to victory in a losing war.
Numerous wonderful moments decorate this wonderful anime and you’ll lose count of the emotional moments very easily.
19. Your Lie in April
| Impact | Plot | Character Writing | Animation | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|
|
17/20 |
10/10 |
10/10 |
10/10 |
47/50 |
This one is not an easy one. It starts off as a seemingly light hearted and cute romcom with Kousei, our main hero being the only one with a more complex background story.
However, as the plot further unfolds and you start realizing what’s really going on, it will slowly and progressively slope into a tear jerking teen drama.
Kaori’s feelings for Kousei are only obvious for us viewers. Her struggles to stay close to the one she loves, the announcement of her terminal illness, her final letter to Kousei… not to mention her bittersweet and heartbreaking goodbye, these are all so beautifully done and soul crushingly emotional parts. And they will make you cry — ugly cry.
18. Barefoot Gen
| Impact | Plot | Character Writing | Animation | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|
|
20/20 |
10/10 |
10/10 |
7/10 |
47/50 |
World War II is an often used and abused theme in anime. Barefoot Gen however takes it to a whole new level. It takes one of the most terrible acts of war, and makes a movie out of it.
On the day of the atomic bombing of Hiroshima, Gen, our titular main character, leaves for school, leaving his family, his pregnant mother and all his current worries at home.
However, the bomb goes off, and within just a long minute of disaster, the world Gen knew collapses and burns to ashes. His mother is the only survivor of the large family, and gives birth to a beautiful little girl in the middle of the disaster.
Barefoot Gen is a disaster movie done right, massively emotional, painful to watch, and will leave you scarred for life.
17. I Want to Eat your Pancreas
| Impact | Plot | Character Writing | Animation | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|
|
19/20 |
8/10 |
10/10 |
10/10 |
47/50 |
They say opposites attract each other and that’s also true to our two main characters in this wonderful story. The bookworm and the sweet, bubbly girl, who is dying due to a pancreatic illness. If that isn’t enough already to get you into the mood for crying, nothing is.
And of course as you’d expect, the two of them fall in love, but it can not end in a happy ending, so… you know. Crying is guaranteed.
16. Into the Forest of Fireflies Light
| Impact | Plot | Character Writing | Animation | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|
|
18/20 |
10/10 |
10/10 |
10/10 |
48/50 |
Gin and Hotaru’s meeting was the work of fate, that is for sure. We witness the small child grow up into a young woman, while her friendship slowly evolves into heartfelt romantic feelings.
There were some incredibly beautiful set pieces in this short movie, and every bit of it was worth gold. Of course the hardest and most tear jerking part is obviously the end of it.
It was so-so unbelievably beautiful… Or so I was told, I could barely see from my tears.
15. Dimension W
| Impact | Plot | Character Writing | Animation | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|
|
18/20 |
10/10 |
10/10 |
10/10 |
48/50 |
I’m sure not many of you would expect a sci-fi action series to actually invoke any emotions in you, but if you do, you couldn’t be more wrong. Dimension W is actually a deeply emotional and actually sad anime.
Take Kyouma’s origin story, a young man born with exceptional physical abilities, meets the love of his life, and even though they’re worlds apart, the two of them fall in love. In the end, he even proposes marriage to the beautiful Miyabi, but she’s terminally ill, and ends up dying, before their happiness could be complete.
Then there’s Loser. A man who lost everything, and isn’t afraid to throw all of it away, just to undo the unspeakable evil that befell the island where his body became crippled and damaged beyond repair. This includes getting his wife back, even at the cost of his own life. A tragic hero, and a tragically beautiful anime.
14. Astra Lost in Space
| Impact | Plot | Character Writing | Animation | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|
|
18/20 |
10/10 |
10/10 |
10/10 |
48/50 |
Understand this about Astra: Lost in Space: Although the focus of the story is a monumental space Odyssey, it is an incredibly deep human drama. All of the main characters are actually clones, and their originals wanted to get rid of them to get away with breaking a law.
Even though we’re talking about clones, they are all independent, thinking people who have their own life, emotions, fall in love and most importantly, they live. By the end of the story, they become a small family, and this helps them overcome the greatest challenges.
13. Tokyo Magnitude 8.0
| Impact | Plot | Character Writing | Animation | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|
|
18/20 |
10/10 |
10/10 |
10/10 |
48/50 |
Sometimes all it takes is a bad wish to cause a disaster. When a frustrated child wishes to rip their slowly collapsing family life to shreds, she doesn’t expect it to come true.
Imagine yourselves in the middle of a massive earthquake and while you’re trying to survive it, you’re forced to work together with complete strangers even.
This type of drama, especially since little kids are in the middle of danger, is my weak spot, and I’m sure I’m not the only one.
12. Love, Chuunibyou and Other Delusions
| Impact | Plot | Character Writing | Animation | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|
|
20/20 |
9/10 |
10/10 |
10/10 |
49/50 |
Another half fantasy, half comedy slice of life anime among the crying express? Yes, actually it happened.
Season 1 ends with Yuuta finding out the tragic past that turned Rikka into a Chuunibyou patient. This leaves Rikka emotionally broken and she tries to abandon everything that makes her who she is, and even her friends.
However, Yuuta and their friends don’t give up and they manage to snap her back to her senses. The season then ends with Yuuta opening up the gateway to the Unseen horizon where Rikka is allowed to tearfully say goodbye to her father. I was left as a crying mess at the end of it all.
11. Rascal Does not Dream of Bunny Girl Senpai
| Impact | Plot | Character Writing | Animation | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|
|
19/20 |
10/10 |
10/10 |
10/10 |
49/50 |
One could almost think this is actually a Key anime. The main character goes around helping beautiful and cute girls with their problems in life. Sakuta and the titular bunny girl senpai make for such a nice couple on top of all of that, it’s impossible.
Some really deep and strong stories go down in front of our eyes every time a new girl is either introduced or has their story unfold, and some really thought provoking and even tear inducing moments are almost impossible to avoid in cases like this.
10. School Live
| Impact | Plot | Character Writing | Animation | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|
|
19/20 |
10/10 |
10/10 |
10/10 |
49/50 |
In a story about coping with losing your loved ones and the whole world falling apart around you, you can expect a lot of sad and tragic moments.The tragic fate of Megu-nee, Yuki’s beloved teacher, and especially the entire last episode will leave you bawling your eyes out.
9. Release the Spyce
| Impact | Plot | Character Writing | Animation | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|
|
19/20 |
10/10 |
10/10 |
10/10 |
49/50 |
You’d never imagine how an action packed anime about ninja spy girls could be emotional, but it’s actually true. There are some really heart wrenching moments in here, including the episode when the main characters, Moonshadow are defeated and seemingly their leader is killed. Then the story of the leader’s mentor dying at the hands of the villain, and finally the leader and her mentor bidding goodbye to each other, each are easy to bring you to tears.
8. Angel Beats
| Impact | Plot | Character Writing | Animation | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|
|
20/20 |
10/10 |
10/10 |
9/10 |
49/50 |
Maeda Jun, NaGa and P.A. Works are a perfect combo to get your eyes dry and sore from all the crying. Angel Beats presents us with not much of a cohesive story, but a more or less episodic structure and character drama out the roof.
I especially felt Yuuri’s and Otonashi’s story crushing my heart and so many episodes ended with me having used a box of tissues. I think there are all too many people out there who knows what I mean.
7. Sweetness and Lightning
| Impact | Plot | Character Writing | Animation | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|
|
19/20 |
10/10 |
10/10 |
10/10 |
49/50 |
Already the basic idea of the story is one that will leave you in tears. Our main hero and his daughter have lost their mother/wife and thus have to struggle through every single day having to learn things one step at a time.
6. Wolf Children
| Impact | Plot | Character Writing | Animation | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|
|
20/20 |
10/10 |
10/10 |
10/10 |
50/50 |
Yes, the long list of 50 point anime begins here. There are just no words that can begin to describe how beautiful every last one of these are.
In Wolf Children Ame and Yuuki, two siblings who are the offspring of a human woman and a wolf taking human form, have to cope with their being half blood and therefore shapeshifters, and being torn between their wolf and human sides.
In the end they both need to make their choice, and they both go their own paths in life, hopefully the right path for them.
5. The Day I Became a God
| Impact | Plot | Character Writing | Animation | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|
|
20/20 |
10/10 |
10/10 |
10/10 |
50/50 |
This one’s a Doozy. First of all, it’s not your usual Key anime, as it takes an unusually realistic approach to a strange title. By the time you realize who the title refers to, you’re already in deep.
Hina, Yota, and all of their friends go through so much, and learn from each other as much, that by the time it comes to an end, you’ll have cried your eyes out a dozen times if not more.
4. Poco's Udon World
| Impact | Plot | Character Writing | Animation | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|
|
20/20 |
10/10 |
10/10 |
10/10 |
50/50 |
A coming of age story with a star studded cast this one is. I’ve been expecting a lot from it, and I was not disappointed. The parts that drive it home most are the ones that follow Souta and his sister finally understanding how important it is for them both to accept growing up, and start their lives over with the blessings from their parents. There is no end to the tears in those parts, and the ending theme at each episode as well.
3. Irozuku, The World in Colors
| Impact | Plot | Character Writing | Animation | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|
|
20/20 |
10/10 |
10/10 |
10/10 |
50/50 |
Call me crazy, but this anime is so beautiful that I can’t even begin to describe it. The creators at P.A. Works went all out with both the visuals, the story, the lovely characters and the world in general. Magic, love, friendship, time travelling, this one has them all.
But probably the one part that really spoke home with me was the ending of it. The Seven Colored Penguin, the child tale that was the frame of this story is what made me fall in love with this anime ultimately.
2. Violet Evergarden
| Impact | Plot | Character Writing | Animation | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|
|
20/20 |
10/10 |
10/10 |
10/10 |
50/50 |
Everyone knows how incredibly beautiful this anime is, and it all stems from the fact that Violet isn’t always the main character. In each beautiful part, she’s just a supporting character, and lets the focus character of the episode take the reign.
Episodes 7 and 10, and the Gaiden movie do the real magic here, but there are so many other heartwarming, or sad but uplifting stories there. Better prepare your boxes of tissues for this one.
1. Clannad
| Impact | Plot | Character Writing | Animation | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|
|
22/20 |
11/10 |
11/10 |
8/10 |
52/50 |
I’m sorry, but I had to do it. You see, this anime is something out of this world when it comes to making people cry. There isn’t a moment when you’re left without something to start tearing up over.
What also speaks for this anime in general is that later on, even over a decade later, drama anime still take ideas from this one. It featured story lines and characters that are just too perfect, and something, just small elements even are still in use and copied actively.
Honorable Mentions
I’d like to add a few important honorable mentions.
One of which is Air. As a sister to Clannad, some of the most incredible and beautiful ideas for the younger sister were actually borrowed from here. Especially Nagisa being ill and subsequently succumbing to it. I’d also like to add that the final episode is something incredible.
In the last episode we actually live to see the first ever moment when the English Dub is actually better than the original Japanese. Luci Christian’s incredible delivery of the grieving mother is just heartbreaking.
The other will have to be Kanon. If Air was an inspiration, Kanon was even more. Entire characters and story arcs were lifted over from Kanon to Clannad, after being perfected and made worldwide famous and beloved. Kanon is probably the easiest Key anime to get into the franchise with. It still is one of the most emotional anime ever.
(aaaandd… I also got a one more bonus for you, there’s this underrated anime that made me bawl in front of my parents HAHAHA! I know, I know it’s embarrassing, but you should check it out! It’s called Hal. Oh! And I almost forgot, it’s a movie not a series so it won’t take too long for you to finish.)
Did we break your heart? make you cry?
And that would be our list. How did you like it? Did we miss any? What is your favourite go-to anime when you want to cry? Tell us down in the comments!
