What do you consider the saddest anime?

I have several, but if I must pick one, it's A Place Further Than The Universe. Interestingly, it's simultaneously the happiest, too.

It wasn't the case at first, but when I rewatched it, I was purely, emotionally devastated.

59 points · 62 comments · view on lemmy.world

62 Comments

e0qdk@reddthat.com · 57 pts · 1y (4 replies)

My kneejerk reaction to the question is "Grave of the Fireflies".

RagingHungryPanda@lemm.ee · 17 pts · 1y (3 replies)

Ditto. I like a lot of sad stuff and that is just another level.

MelodiousFunk@slrpnk.net · 11 pts · 1y (2 replies)

It really is in a class all its own. I don't think I could ever watch it again.

jabathekek@sopuli.xyz · 6 pts · 1y (1 reply)

I haven't been able too either, ~17 years later. I honestly feel like it gave me PTSD.

nyan@lemmy.cafe · 5 pts · 1y

It's been more than 25 years for me. That movie is like a punch to the gut. And I don't even like kids.

OmegaLemmy@discuss.online · 15 pts · 1y (2 replies)

Oh mate, clannad was sad

zer0squar3d@lemmy.dbzer0.com · 3 pts · 1y (1 reply)

Clannad, after story, and then your lie in april.

ramble81@ani.social · 3 pts · 1y

Came here to find After Story, wasn’t disappointed.

Vibi@lemmy.blahaj.zone · 15 pts · 1y (4 replies)

Your Lie in April and Angel Beats! both crushed me 😭

OmegaLemmy@discuss.online · 3 pts · 1y (3 replies)

What's the deal with angel beats? I watched it and I just don't get it

Vibi@lemmy.blahaj.zone · 2 pts · 1y (2 replies)

::: spoiler spoiler

It pretty much takes place in a limbo/purgatory. Children who die without finding peace or have unresolved emotions end up there. The story slowly reveals this and explores each characters' reasons for ending up there - often confronting their death and untangling the things which kept them from moving on. Time itself is kind of nebulous there; two of the main characters, one who starts as a sort of antagonist and the protagonist, are kind of tied together by fate with the protag being a heart donor to the antagonist. The protagonist died before and his heart was given to her, but somehow she ended up there before him even though she lived a full life (if I'm remembering right) l. It's honestly a super beautiful story, and I think one of my favorite parts is the ending song/mv which plays at the end up each episode- it features every character, and as they move on during the series their spot in the ED is just blank with the final episode ending without any of them.

:::

reinei@lemmy.world · 2 pts · 1y (1 reply)

::: spoiler Tap for spoiler I absolutely agree 😭 But didn't the post credits scene after the last episode suggest at least some hope for all of them? (Or am I seriously misremembering this because my brain tried really hard not to think it was over?) :::

Vibi@lemmy.blahaj.zone · 2 pts · 1y

::: spoiler spoiler

You're remembering right (or we're both remembering wrong 🤭)! The final after credits scene implied that the two main characters were reincarnated, and as they were passing each other in a crowd on the street, something compelled the MC to reach out and stop Angel, reuniting them in their new lives 🩷 I think it was unclear if he fully remembered everything that happened, but it was the bittersweet, made me cry even harder, scene that we needed 😭

:::

Cairden@lemmy.world · 11 pts · 1y

Your lie in april

ImplyingImplications@lemmy.ca · 10 pts · 1y

I don't usually watch sad stuff so Welcome to the NHK is probably the saddest I've seen.

Brosplosion@lemm.ee · 10 pts · 1y (1 reply)

Your Lie in April. Easiest choice I've ever had to make.

brossman@infosec.pub · 5 pts · 1y

this one made me really sad for a long time

recursive_recursion@lemmy.ca · 10 pts · 1y (6 replies)

Next Stop Anime Postpartum Depression

  • Angel Beats
  • Death Parade
  • Steins;Gate S1
  • Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann
  • Eureka Seven (happy with the conclusion, sad that the journey is completed, doesn't help that E7 AO and the movies are also trash)
  • [C] Control: The Money of Soul and Possibility
  • Princess Principal (next movie when augh please release soon🙏🙏🙏)

All of the anime mentioned above are honestly great🤌 please consider giving any of them a watch if you're bored🤗

Chronographs@lemmy.zip · 7 pts · 1y (5 replies)

Man I didn’t think anyone else watched C

shirokuma@ani.social · 3 pts · 1y (3 replies)

There are three of us!

nyan@lemmy.cafe · 3 pts · 1y (1 reply)

Four, but I remember almost nothing about it beyond the fact I watched it.

recursive_recursion@lemmy.ca · 2 pts · 1y

When you've got a chance I'd highly recommend giving it a rewatch as the animation quality and high emotional stakes makes this enjoyable still to this day!

C - The Money of Soul and Possibility OP

recursive_recursion@lemmy.ca · 2 pts · 1y

Heck yeah!🎉

recursive_recursion@lemmy.ca · 2 pts · 1y

It's soo good🤌
I really enjoy watching and rewatching it

I think it's one of the main reasons why I obsessed over learning systems analysis

asudox@discuss.tchncs.de · 9 pts · 1y (2 replies)

Well, I can think of only Clannad: AF atm.

braindamagebuddy@lemmy.world · 2 pts · 1y (1 reply)

If you mean most tears, definitely Clannad. Probably others that would be more sad in a depressing kinda way though.

kouichi@ani.social · 3 pts · 1y

It would be incredibly depressing if you excluded the last episode lol

6U2cKs9fcF@lemmy.world · 7 pts · 1y

A silent voice

astro_ray@piefed.social · 7 pts · 1y

I Want to Eat Your Pancreas. The only anime that made me cry.

Kit@lemmy.blahaj.zone · 7 pts · 1y (1 reply)

Voices of a Distant Star. It tops Your Lie in April for me.

dgbbad@lemmy.zip · 2 pts · 1y

I came to say this. Holy hell it's brutal.

ninjabard@lemmy.world · 7 pts · 1y (5 replies)

Not overall sad but had moments that absolutely wrecked me.

Elfen Lied

Listen to Me Girls, I'm Your Father

A Silent Voice

Your Name

Cowboy BeBop

jabathekek@sopuli.xyz · 5 pts · 1y (2 replies)

Bang...

ninjabard@lemmy.world · 4 pts · 1y (1 reply)

See you, Space Cowboy

jabathekek@sopuli.xyz · 4 pts · 1y

*cries

tobogganablaze@lemmus.org · 1 pts · 1y (1 reply)

Listen to Me Girls, I’m Your Father

Is this like Higehiro, where it starts out really suggestive but turns into a kind of decent story? Because I'm getting nothing but red flags from the first episode.

ninjabard@lemmy.world · 2 pts · 1y

Yes.

Pistcow@lemm.ee · 6 pts · 1y (2 replies)

LA Blue Girl

tacosanonymous@lemm.ee · 5 pts · 1y (1 reply)

-_-

Pistcow@lemm.ee · 3 pts · 1y

(👁 ͜ʖ👁)

NineSwords@ani.social · 6 pts · 1y

Lot's of anime are sad but most of them end on a positive or hopeful note. That's why I consider anime that end on a bleak note to be sadder. Stuff like Grave of the Fireflies or the recent Look Back.

ReluctantZen@feddit.nl · 6 pts · 1y

Clannad After Story, Liz and the Blue Bird, Phantom: Requiem for a Phantom, Violet Evergarden, A Silent Voice.

cccrontab@lemmy.world · 5 pts · 1y

Grave of the Fireflies

NeryK@sh.itjust.works · 5 pts · 1y (2 replies)

It's been 20ish years but the name that sprang up to mind was Now and Then, Here and There. I don't remember much except it was pretty bleak and sad.

nyan@lemmy.cafe · 3 pts · 1y

Distant-future apocalypse with child soldiers and a scenery-chewing madman (not of the fun type) in charge. The adjective that comes to mind for me is "grim", but "sad" works too—no one escapes the story unscathed. I have the original DVDs around here somewhere.

MelodiousFunk@slrpnk.net · 2 pts · 1y

I couldn't finish that one. Still have the box set. But it was just too much.

jaschen@lemm.ee · 5 pts · 1y

Some might disagree, but I thought "Your Name" was sad.

Alwaysnownevernotme@lemmy.world · 5 pts · 1y (2 replies)

To your eternity

refurbishedrefurbisher@lemmy.sdf.org · 4 pts · 1y (1 reply)

I loved the first half of the first season, but I feel like it got a bit stale by the end of the first season. I haven't watched the second.

Would absolutely recommend, though.

GreenKnight23@lemmy.world · 2 pts · 1y
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Weebdeluxe@ani.social · 4 pts · 1y

Bible Black.

Mac@mander.xyz · 3 pts · 1y

Orange was pretty sad iirc.

mudmaniac@lemmy.world · 3 pts · 1y

Damn I can't figure spoilers. Sora yori tooi was unexpectedly good

GreenKnight23@lemmy.world · 3 pts · 1y (1 reply)
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Danterious@lemmy.dbzer0.com · 1 pts · 1y

Yeah agreed. The character building in that was good.

Anti Commercial-AI license (CC BY-NC-SA 4.0)

jabathekek@sopuli.xyz · 3 pts · 1y

Ninja Scroll. I will never forgive that evil dude for permanently cock blocking the protagonist.

Unboxious@ani.social · 3 pts · 1y

LOOK BACK was pretty dang sad, but it's one of the only 10/10 anime I've ever seen.

Dororo (2019) is also up there.

anon6789@lemmy.world · 3 pts · 1y

Other than Grave of the Fireflies, some others I never see mentioned are Saikano and In This Corner of the World.

USSEthernet@startrek.website · 2 pts · 1y

Trigun. Vash is just getting shit on for almost 2 centuries and all he's doing is trying to help humans, but his brother is just out to make him miserable.

Danterious@lemmy.dbzer0.com · 2 pts · 1y

Something that had sad moments and I think is often overlooked is Gene of AI. It is more of a philosophical anthology series though rather than a show that builds up characters to hit you with emotional baggage.

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vga@sopuli.xyz · 2 pts · 1y

Madoka was pretty bleak at times.

Rai@lemmy.dbzer0.com · 1 pts · 1y

Saikano is an underrated sad anime!

smiletolerantly@awful.systems · 1 pts · 1y

Lots of good contenders in this thread. I'll just add

Made in Abyss

::: spoiler for the scene where... Nanachi tries to gather the strength to end Mitty's suffering. :::


I have never cried so hard during any other piece of media, ever. My GF had to hold and comfort me because I just couldn't stop sobbing. That scene just... struck a nerve, I guess.

mo_lave@reddthat.com · 1 pts · 1y
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Gecko4469@lemmy.world · 1 pts · 1y

Japan Sinks 2020

Wolfs Rain