The 15 Best Sad Anime to Make You Cry

Japanese storytelling has almost no equal when it comes to making people cry through tragic endings, dramatic twists, and quiet farewell scenes. In this article, we look at the saddest anime of all time and put together a complete list of sad anime so you know exactly what to expect.

The titles here span a wide range of genres: some are films, others sit firmly in the action category, and a few look perfectly harmless on the surface until a single scene marks you for life.

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Plastic Memories

We are kicking off the list with a hidden gem, because you have probably already seen the most popular picks. Plastic Memories is one of the saddest anime that tends to slip under the radar.

The story follows a young man who takes a job at a company that retrieves companion robots owned by people who live alone, who need love, and who have built deep bonds with their android partners over many years.

Retrieving these robots feels a lot like a funeral. All of the robot's memories are wiped to keep them from causing problems in society. Inside the show you watch mothers lose children, marriages fall apart, and goodbyes no one really wants.

The protagonist ends up falling in love with a coworker who is also a robot and whose time is running out. It is a deeply depressing anime, but the ending hits hard and stays with you.

Clannad — A Story of Love and Loss

Clannad is set in a Japanese high school and follows a delinquent named Tomoya and a beautiful girl named Nagisa. They attend the same school and slowly grow closer over time.

At its heart, the anime is about the bonds between people, and it uses the friendship Tomoya builds with the girls at his school as its emotional thread. Clannad is one of the rare anime that can make you tear up in almost every single episode.

The story starts out gently, then unfolds into an incredible narrative. What stands out most is how naturally the bonds form, with nothing feeling forced along the way.

The first season is not really a romance. It is closer to a drama-comedy that revolves around the characters' pasts and the way those pasts catch up to them. There is a lot to say about Clannad, but the highlights are the captivating cast, the well-crafted drama, and the backstories that stay with you long after the credits roll. A solid 10 out of 10.

Angel Beats! — One of the Saddest

The drama takes place in a place beyond death. There, angels fight to fulfill their destiny and their future. Yuri, nicknamed Yurippe, leads the Shinda Sekai Sensen (SSS, the Afterlife Battle Front), which stands against God for handing her a life without purpose.

Angel (Tenshi) is the president of the student council of that world, and she clashes with the SSS members. The SSS fights the angels using weapons from their previous lives along with their supernatural powers.

Angel Beats! was one of the first sad anime I ever watched, and it really is something special. The drama keeps you hooked from beginning to end, and the whole series has a sentimental edge to it, with some of the most beloved love confessions in the anime world.

Your Lie in April — The Cruel One

Synopsis: Kousei Arima is a child piano prodigy already well known in the music scene. One day, his mother passes away, and the boy, deeply shaken by the loss, carries the consequences of that trauma for years.

He starts seeing the world in melancholic tones, and he can no longer hear the sound of the piano, even though his hearing is perfectly fine. Everything changes when he meets Kaori Miyazono, a free-spirited violinist who brings color back into his life and helps him move forward.

Even though music is a constant presence, it is not really the focus. The heart of the show is Kousei's romance and personal growth. The love story and the psychological drama are beautifully crafted, and the overarching plot has real depth.

A good drama is something that could happen in real life, and this one has it all: romance, comedy, tragedy, philosophical moments, and, most importantly, real character growth.

Your Lie in April earns its place on this list for a single reason: a story that hits you right in the chest. Expect fear, insecurity, old traumas, and tragedies that linger long after the final episode.

Anohana

Synopsis: The story revolves around a group of childhood friends who drifted apart after one of them died in a tragic accident. Ten years later, the group is brought back together by the ghost of Menma.

Menma's ghost appears before the group's leader, who has withdrawn from society, looking slightly older than when she was alive, and asks him for his help so she can finally rest in peace.

The whole anime has a youthful energy that makes you want to be a kid again, redo the little things, and appreciate what you once took for granted. The themes at its core are drama, friendship, and the group slowly coming back together.

Menma has a charisma all her own. After her death, none of her childhood friends wanted to accept what had happened, but in the end her only wish was to see them all happy.

I cannot honestly say I know what it feels like to lose someone like that, but I think I would feel exactly the way they do. Anohana is one of the few anime that made me cry hard and still left me wanting more. The cheerful atmosphere running alongside a current of quiet depression is what makes it what it is.

Anohana leaves you with memories and reminders that stay with you for years. It might just be one of the saddest anime you will ever watch. "The flower in the garden that walks with the wind...". That is the line that captures the whole anime.

Steins;Gate

Even though Steins;Gate wears the masks of mystery, suspense, adventure, comedy, and romance, it is one of the anime that made me cry the most. Both the first season and Steins;Gate 0. Steins;Gate is, without exaggeration, one of the best anime ever made.

The first stretch feels a little odd, confusing, and even pointless, but once you push through the opening 13 episodes, the story takes a completely unexpected turn, full of despair and emotion that can break even the toughest viewer.

Everything in the anime works: the soundtrack, the way the plot unfolds, and the epic finale. The series runs for 25 episodes, followed by a film and then a spin-off set in an alternate timeline that explores the consequences of the ending. An absolute must-watch.

Violet Evergarden

Violet Evergarden is a beautiful, emotional story that stays with you long after the final credits roll.

It follows the life of Violet Evergarden, a young woman who carries both physical and emotional scars from a devastating war. Despite her injuries, Violet is determined to find her place in the world and help other people who have been affected by the conflict.

Along the way, she comes to understand what love and friendship really mean and slowly begins to heal her own wounds. She does all of this while working as an Auto Memory Doll, writing letters on behalf of clients who cannot find the words themselves.

More Sad Anime

Most anime blend more than one genre. Many of them mix action, adventure, romance, and comedy, and yet there are always moments that catch you off guard and leave the whole show surprisingly heavy.

Below are a few more anime that are not built around sadness but still end up telling a heartbreaking story:

Wolf's Rain

Wolf's Rain is a dark, atmospheric anime about love, loss, and what it really means to be human. It follows four wolves on a journey to find a legendary paradise.

Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood

Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood is an anime about brotherhood, sacrifice, and the power of science. It follows brothers Edward and Alphonse Elric as they try to find a way to restore their bodies after a failed alchemical transmutation.

Grave of the Fireflies

Grave of the Fireflies is the well-known English title for the Studio Ghibli film Hotaru no Haka. This heartbreaking anime film shows the horrors of war. It follows siblings Seita and Setsuko as they try to survive in Japan during the final stretch of World War II.

Golden Time

Golden Time tells the story of Tada Banri, who, after a tragic accident, lost the memories of his hometown and his past. Despite this, he befriends Yanagisawa Mitsuo and decides to start over at a law school in Tokyo.

A Longer List of Sad Anime

Here are a few more titles widely considered sad and well worth looking into:

• Afters;
• Akame ga Kill!;
• Code Geass;
• Toradora!;
• Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood;
• 5 Centimeters per Second;
• Your Name;
• A Silent Voice;
• The Garden of Words;
• Steins;Gate;
• Hotarubi no Mori e;
• Golden Time;
• Death Parade;
• Kanon;
• Erased;
• Air;
• Guilty Crown;
• Orange;
• Violet Evergarden;
• Spirited Away;
• Fruits Basket;
• Little Busters!;
• Nana;
• One Week Friends;
• Nagi no Asukara;
• Sakurasou no Pet na Kanojo;
• Bokura ga Ita;
• Black Bullet;
• Chobits;
• Chrono Crusade;
• Zankyou no Terror;
• Kotoura-san;
• Re:Zero;
• White Album 2;
• Lost Song;
• Grimgar of Fantasy and Ash.

Manga and Merch of These Sad Anime

To wrap things up, we have put together a small list of manga and merchandise for the sad anime mentioned in this article. If the list hit home, share it with other anime fans and tell us in the comments which of these titles made you cry the most. See you next time.