Anime not only captivates viewers with its thrilling action and battle scenes but also evokes deep emotions! You can explore these emotions by watching the best sad anime. These series combine love, loss, and various human conditions that easily resonate with viewers.
Moreover, these series showcase unfulfilled dreams and tragic love stories that fill your heart with deep love and emotions. Additionally, they capture the essence of sadness in the most beautiful form. Get ready to embark on the adventure that will surely bring tears to your eyes!
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Best Sad Anime
1- Your Lie in April
- IMDb: 8.5/10
- Genre: Romantic Drama
- Release Date: October 10, 2014
The journey of emotions started with the popular series Your Lie in April, which features an amazing blend of music, loss, and love. The story showcases a young prodigy pianist named Kōsei Arima. Before his mother’s death, he lived a joyful and passionate musical life. However, an accident occurred that took his mother and also impacted his hearing. This left Arima’s life dull and colorless, as he was now unable to hear the sound of his own piano playing.
Suddenly, everything changes when he meets Kaori Miyazono, a lively and free-spirited violinist. Fortunately, Kaori’s passion for music and unique style inspire Kōsei. This inspires him to return to his piano and rediscover the joy of music and life. Overall, this journey helps him learn that music is far more about expressing emotions and embracing freedom than about rules and perfection.
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2- Cyberpunk: Edgerunners
- IMDb: 8.3/10
- Genre: Cyberpunk
- Release Date: September 13, 2022
Another loss-focused narrative is the best sad anime list, Cyberpunk: Edgerrunners, which takes place in today’s fast-paced, advanced technology world. The story follows the life of a young boy named David Martinez, who navigates the unwanted and dangerous environment of Night City. However, a tragic accident leads David to lose everything and ultimately become orphaned.
After that great grief, he discovered a powerful cybernetic implant called Sandevistan. This implant provides him with incredible speed, allowing him to join the group of mercenaries known as Edgerunners, as he desperately wants to escape his difficult life. There, he meets Lucy, a skilled hacker who becomes important to him. Together, they embark on a mission to uncover the dark realities of the world and face various challenges.
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3- Clannad
- IMDb: 8.2/10
- Genre: Romance, Drama, and Slice of Life
- Release Date: October 4, 2007
Now, this anime plotline begins with a sorrowful journey as Tomoya Okazaki, the main character, faces the tragic loss of his mother at a very young age. Which feels quite sad! That’s why this series earns a spot on our list of the best sad anime. Besides this, we return to craft, as Tomoya currently struggles with his father’s distant relationship.
However, a day comes when he meets a shy girl, Nagisa Furukawa. In the series, she appears as the year repeater who struggles with health issues from her previous year. After they begin helping each other, their journey intertwines themes of love, family, and personal growth. Additionally, Tomoya learns how to overcome his past and embrace his future life.
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4- Anohana: The Flower We Saw That Day
- IMDb: 8.1/10
- Genre: Coming-of-age
- Release Date: April 14, 2011
We can’t imagine losing one of our childhood friends; if that happens, our lives would just shatter! But this all unfolds in Anohana: The Flower We Saw That Day. Here, the story revolves around a sweet group of childhood friends. However, their lives experience a devastating turn when the tragic death of one of their friends, Meiko “Menma” Honma, occurs.
Later, after this incident, the group leader, Jinta Yadomi, struggles with the death of her beloved friend. She unexpectedly encounters the ghost of Menma, who cannot move to the afterlife because his wish is not granted. However, Menma does not remember what his wish is. To help him discover it, Jinta brings their old friends back together. They work as a group to uncover their friend’s wish, highlighting the beauty of friendship, love, and loss in this heartfelt anime.
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5- Angel Beats!
- IMDb: 7.6/10
- Genre: Fantasy
- Release Date: April 3, 2010
This story stands out from other sad anime because it does not include the narrative about losing family and loved ones. The plotline follows a young man, Yuzuru Otonashi, whose life changes when he wakes up in the afterlife with no memories. Feeling lost and confused, he meets Yuri Nakamura, who leads a group called the Afterlife Battlefront and fights a mysterious girl named Angel.
These Afterlife Battlefronts consist of dead students in this world who are trying to understand their circumstances and find peace. When Otonashi decided to join them, he uncovered the truth and regretted the circumstances that trapped him there. While he learned this, he explored the meaning of friendship and loss. As well as how to move on from the past and discover the true meaning of life, making this the best sad anime heartfelt journey.
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Wipe Your Tears!
Fall in love? My answer is Yes! After you watch these best sad anime, I believe your answer will also be Yes! As these hidden gems feature awesome plotlines and character development that fill your heart with deep emotions and your eyes with tears! After reading this article, please go and start binge-watching them. Then let us know in the comment section if you feel the same or not.
