One of the things we love about anime is the way it tells stories with characters we become so connected to, that when they experience sadness and grief, we can’t help but experience it alongside them. Most of us have watched anime that told stories that were so emotional, it was almost impossible for us to keep from crying. Here’s a post exploring the best anime series that have affected fans deeply and made us cry, including the outstanding Violet Evergarden.
Violet Evergarden Made Us All Cry
Kyoto Animation is expert at creating characters who affect us deeply, and no work of theirs made fans cry quite like Violet Evergarden, a Netflix-funded series that was so good, we’ll happily forgive the company for making that awful Japan Sinks 2020. It’s the story of a former soldier, who must build a new life after the war she was fighting in finally ends. As she gets used to her new job as an Auto Memory Doll, writing letters that capture the emotions of her clients in the perfect way, she works through her grief over the death of Major Gilbert during the war.
The 2018 series was concluded in the Violet Evergarden: The Movie final film, which was the only movie that could get me into a movie theatre during the pandemic. I loved the film, and though there could have been no better resolution to this amazing story… and I’m happy to say that the film is finally coming out on Blu-ray, which you can preorder from J-List!
Ten Times Anime Made Us Cry!
I asked J-List customers to share the emotional moments in anime that moved them to tears for one reason or another, and here’s the list we came up with!
The story of a future world in which humans live alongside advanced androids called Giftias. There’s just one problem: they all have a built-in life span of nine years and four months before they must be retired. I’m sure none of the characters we care about will be in this situation!
The last great Gainax anime before the company faded in influence (to be replaced by Khara and Trigger), Gurren Lagann told the story of people who live underneath the ground, debating about whether such a thing as “the sky” actually exists, yet they go on to dominate the galaxy. It’s an anime that obsesses about drills so much, the story itself is one giant drill.
Clannad starts out as a harem anime, but its second section tells one of the most poignant and emotional stories in the history of anime. It’s based on a visual novel by Key written by Jun Maeda, expertly animated by Kyoto Animation. (The visual novels are available for Nintendo Switch with full English text support here.)
Clannad was not the first time Jun Maeda made us all cry like babies. It all started with Air, just about the most beautiful 12 episodes of anime you can watch.
Jun Maeda scored another direct hit to fans’ collective hearts with Angel Beats! in 2010. Did this anime make you cry?
Sometimes we cry not because we’re sad, but to celebrate a character’s journey to a better place. The conclusion to Kaguya-sama season 2 which focused on Yu Ishigami was outstanding.
Another show that caused fans to reach for their tissues was A Place Further Than the Universe, about four girls and their journey to Antarctica, literally a place that’s farther from Japan than outer space. Will Shirase find out what happened to her mother several years ago?
One of the best anime series of the past decade, AnoHana told the story of a group of emotionally troubled teenagers who are visited by the ghost of a friend who died many years ago. A genius story created by anime writer Mari Okada.
Finally, my introduction to the world of anime that was so well-written it could affect us more deeply than any other kind of media began long ago when I discovered Star Blazers (Space Battleship Yamato). Can you imagine experiencing a scene like this from such a young and impressionable age?
That’s our list of amazing anime series that have made us cry over the years. Did we miss your favorite sad anime? Post it below, or tell us on Twitter!
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