Anime creators always find a way to make their audience cry; it’s like they enjoy watching us crumble. Be it unrequited love, war, illness, or the sheer psychological collapse you still haven’t healed from, anime knows how to dig into your soul and twist it like a knife.
If you love to emotionally wreck yourself in the name of art for no reason (because same), you’re in luck. The list I’m about to give you will traumatize you for life. Just don’t blame me later.
And if you’re not into emotional anime and prefer something lighter, check out my previous articles:
Also if you’re wondering where to watch these gems, here are some free anime streaming platforms:
(Pro tip: If a series you love is officially available on Crunchyroll or Netflix, watch it there to support the creators!)
Now grab your tissues (and maybe your therapist’s number), because here we go.
1. Grave of the Fireflies (1988)
Genres: Drama, War, Historical, Tragedy
Description: The purest, most gut-wrenching form of sadness ever animated. Set in war-torn Japan, it follows two siblings, Seita and Setsuko, trying to survive amidst bombs, starvation, and indifference. It doesn’t dramatise war; it exposes it, the quiet, everyday cruelty that breaks innocence. Every frame bleeds pain and beauty, and the ending isn’t just sad, it’s soul-destroying. Watch it once, and you’ll never forget it.
2. Clannad: After Story (2008)
Genres: Drama, Romance, Slice of Life, Supernatural
Description: It starts with laughter, love, and sweet teenage nostalgia, but by the second half, it transforms into a brutal meditation on loss and resilience. It teaches that growing up means losing parts of yourself along the way, and sometimes, even love isn’t enough. The beauty of Clannad: After Story is that it makes the pain worth it, every tear feels earned, every heartbreak feels human. It’s not just an anime; it’s an emotional experience that changes how you see life.
3. Anohana: The Flower We Saw That Day (2011)
Genres: Drama, Supernatural, Slice of Life
Description: A ghost from childhood brings back the grief her friends buried years ago. What begins as a nostalgic reunion slowly unravels into raw guilt, regret, and unspoken pain. Anohana captures that universal ache, when time moves on, but grief doesn’t. Every episode peels off another emotional layer until the finale, which is a complete breakdown moment. You won’t just cry for the characters, you’ll cry for every “what if” in your own life.
4. Takopi’s Original Sin (2025)
Genres: Psychological, Drama, Tragedy
Description: On the surface, it looks like a cute kids’ anime, but within moments, it spirals into one of the darkest portrayals of childhood trauma and moral collapse ever written. It’s about innocence corrupted, the consequences of neglect, and the devastating ways children internalise pain. Takopi, a naive alien, tries to “fix” everything with kindness, but kindness isn’t enough against real-world cruelty. You’ll finish it feeling hollow, disturbed, and deeply reflective about how society fails its most vulnerable.
5. Your Lie in April (Shigatsu wa Kimi no Uso, 2016)
Genres: Drama, Romance, Music, Coming-of-Age
Description: A musical prodigy haunted by his mother’s death meets a girl who changes everything and then breaks his heart in ways he never imagined. The show flows like a symphony: beautiful highs, quiet lows, and an ending that lingers forever. It’s about rediscovering life through love, only to lose it again. Every piano note feels like a heartbeat, and when the music stops, so does a part of you.
6. A Silent Voice (Koe no Katachi, 2016)
Genres: Drama, Psychological, Redemption, School Life
Description: A boy who once bullied a deaf girl seeks redemption years later, but the guilt doesn’t fade easily. The movie explores loneliness, self-worth, and forgiveness with brutal honesty. It’s not just about being sorry, it’s about learning to live with what you’ve done. Every silent scene speaks volumes, and by the end, you’ll feel emotionally wrung out but strangely healed. It’s a story that forces you to look inward and question how you treat others.
7. I Want to Eat Your Pancreas (2018)
Genres: Drama, Romance, Tragedy, Slice of Life
Description: Despite its bizarre title, it’s one of the most beautifully tragic love stories ever. A quiet boy meets a terminally ill girl who refuses to be pitied, and their fleeting bond becomes something unforgettable. The story doesn’t romanticize death; it embraces life, showing how even brief connections can change you forever. The twist hits out of nowhere, leaving you breathless and broken in silence. It’s warm, then cold, like sunlight fading behind clouds.
8. Violet Evergarden (2018)
Genres: Drama, Fantasy, Slice of Life
Description: Violet, a war veteran turned letter-writer, tries to understand what “love” truly means after knowing nothing but violence. Every episode is a standalone story of emotion, grief, longing, and forgiveness, wrapped in breathtaking animation. But beneath the beauty lies pain: the pain of lost time, of words left unsaid, of scars that never fade. It’s not tragedy for the sake of tears; it’s tragedy that heals. You’ll finish it broken but comforted, like someone gently closed a wound.
9. 5 Centimetres per Second (2007)
Genres: Romance, Drama, Slice of Life
Description: This isn’t a love story; it’s a story about distance. About how life pulls people apart, not with malice, but with inevitability. The pacing, the silences, and the melancholy visuals make it painfully realistic. It hurts not because something happens, but because it all fades away, slowly, quietly, like snow melting. It’s the kind of sadness that doesn’t shout; it whispers.
10. The Wind Rises (2013)
Genres: Historical, Romance, Drama
Description: A poetic reflection on ambition, love, and loss set during Japan’s war years. It follows Jiro, an aircraft engineer whose dream of creating beauty is shadowed by the destruction his planes bring. The film feels nostalgic and bittersweet, a masterpiece that celebrates passion but mourns its cost. It’s not overtly tragic, but its quiet acceptance of suffering will linger in your heart long after the credits roll.
11. To the Forest of Firefly Lights (Hotarubi no Mori e, 2011)
Genres: Romance, Supernatural, Drama
Description: It’s short, only 45 minutes — but it captures the entire spectrum of love and loss. A girl befriends a spirit who disappears if touched by a human, and as years pass, their bond deepens despite the inevitable end. It’s innocent, tender, and utterly heartbreaking. The simplicity of its tragedy is what makes it unforgettable. It doesn’t need words to hurt; it just does.
12. Tokyo Magnitude 8.0 (2009)
Genres: Drama, Disaster, Survival
Description: No fantasy. No magic. Just reality, a devastating earthquake and two siblings trying to find their way home. The emotional weight builds gradually until it crushes you in the final episodes. The realism makes it scarier than any monster could be. It’s a raw reminder of how fragile life is, and how easily everything can change in a single moment.
13. When They Cry (Higurashi no Naku Koro ni, 2006)
Genres: Horror, Psychological, Mystery
Description: What looks like a cute countryside slice-of-life quickly becomes a psychological bloodbath. Every loop, every smile hides a layer of paranoia, murder, and despair. It’s less about jump scares and more about the creeping horror of losing your mind. As the truth unfolds, it becomes a tragic cycle of regret and hopelessness. You’ll never see cheerful openings the same way again.
14. Shinsekai Yori (From the New World, 2012)
Genres: Psychological, Sci-Fi, Dystopian, Drama, Horror
Description: A haunting, slow burn that explores what humanity becomes when power replaces morality. Set in a future where psychic humans live in a “utopia,” it follows children discovering the horrifying truths buried beneath their society’s perfection. The show mixes fear, guilt, and ethical decay in a way that slowly eats at your sanity. There’s no single tragic moment; the entire series is tragedy disguised as evolution. By the end, you won’t know whether to cry or question your existence.
15. Devilman Crybaby (2018)
Genres: Action, Psychological, Horror, Tragedy
Description: A modern reimagining of Go Nagai’s classic, beautiful, bloody, and biblical. Akira, the sensitive boy who becomes a demon to protect humanity, ends up witnessing its complete annihilation. The visuals are chaotic and poetic, the soundtrack unforgettable, and the ending… indescribably cruel. It’s a story about love and loss on a cosmic scale, when even angels weep, and all that’s left is silence.
16. Made in Abyss (2017–2022)
Genres: Adventure, Dark Fantasy, Drama, Mystery
Description: Do not let the adorable art fool you; this anime is horrifyingly tragic. Children descend into a massive pit called the Abyss, where every level brings pain, death, and unspeakable truths. It’s a brutal commentary on curiosity, obsession, and the cost of innocence. You’ll start with wonder, then slowly realise you’re watching a nightmare in disguise. The deeper they go, the more your heart breaks.
17. Bokurano (2007)
Genres: Mecha, Psychological, Drama, Sci-Fi
Description: A group of kids signs a contract to pilot a giant robot, only to learn that every victory costs one of their lives. It’s an emotional war between survival and morality, where heroism is a curse, not a gift. Each episode tears apart the idea of “sacrifice” until nothing remains but hopelessness. It’s mecha, but rewritten as tragedy, and the pain feels too real for fiction.
18. Now and Then, Here and There (1999)
Genres: Drama, War, Psychological, Adventure
Description: A forgotten masterpiece that hits harder than most modern dark anime. A cheerful boy is pulled into a war-torn world where hope is a rare currency. It deals unflinchingly with child soldiers, abuse, and the loss of innocence, yet it somehow finds moments of fragile humanity amidst horror. It doesn’t scream sadness; it whispers it, quietly breaking you with its realism.
19. Given (2019)
Genres: Romance, Drama, Music, LGBTQ+
Description: At first glance, it’s a soft, slow-burn boys’ love story, but beneath that lies deep grief, healing, and the power of music to carry pain. It’s about finding love after loss, and the guilt that lingers even when you move forward. The songs, especially “Fuyu no Hanashi,” will shatter you. Given isn’t devastating in a loud way; it’s quietly beautiful and leaves your chest heavy with unspoken emotions.
20. Phantom: Requiem for the Phantom (2009)
Genres: Action, Drama, Psychological, Thriller
Description: A twisted dance of identity, love, and control. Two assassins are trained to kill and stripped of everything, names, pasts, emotions. Their growing bond becomes both salvation and doom in a world that doesn’t allow either. It’s cold, stylish, and soaked in quiet tragedy. Every gunshot feels like another piece of their humanity lost.
21. Parasyte: The Maxim (2014)
Genres: Action, Psychological, Horror, Sci-Fi
Description: An alien parasite takes over a teenager’s hand, forcing him to coexist with a creature that questions what it means to be human. What starts as body horror evolves into something deeply philosophical, about morality, empathy, and evolution. It’s less “sad” and more existentially heavy. You finish not crying, but deeply uneasy, realising the monsters might not be the aliens after all.
22. Death Parade (2015)
Genres: Psychological, Mystery, Drama, Supernatural
Description: Welcome to the afterlife, where souls are judged through twisted games. Each episode tells a new story of human flaws, regrets, and love. The show’s brilliance lies in how quietly it builds emotional impact until the finale hits you like a delayed breakdown. It’s elegant, haunting, and deeply humane. You don’t just watch Death Parade; you feel its questions long after it ends.
23. Texhnolyze (2003)
Genres: Cyberpunk, Psychological, Sci-Fi, Tragedy
Description: A descent into pure nihilism, this is anime as art, philosophy, and despair. Set in a crumbling underground city, it explores what happens when humanity abandons purpose entirely. It’s slow, quiet, and suffocatingly hopeless, the kind of story that doesn’t break your heart; it erases it. The ending is silent, stark, and unforgettable. It’s not entertainment; it’s emotional decay.
24. Perfect Blue (1997)
Genres: Psychological Thriller, Horror, Drama
Description: A former pop idol’s mind fractures as fame, identity, and paranoia blur into madness. It’s not horror because of monsters; it’s horror because it feels real. The movie exposes the dark side of fame and mental illness with terrifying precision. You’ll question what’s real, who’s real, and whether you’re still sane. When it’s over, you’ll need a moment to collect your thoughts and maybe yourself.
25. Serial Experiments Lain (1998)
Genres: Psychological, Cyberpunk, Mystery, Existential
Description: A surreal deep dive into loneliness and the blurred line between the digital and real worlds. Lain, a quiet girl, slowly dissolves into the Wired, an internet-like network that consumes her identity. It’s not about tears; it’s about mental disintegration. You won’t “understand” it fully, and that’s the point; it’s meant to unsettle you on a subconscious level. Emotionally detached yet profoundly disturbing.
BONUS: Neon Genesis Evangelion & The End of Evangelion (1995–1997 / 1997)
Genres: Mecha, Psychological, Sci-Fi, Drama
Description: What starts as a cool mecha series quickly turns into one of the most infamous psychological breakdowns in anime history. It’s depression, guilt, trauma, and philosophy masquerading as robot battles. The deeper you go, the more you realise it’s not about saving the world, it’s about the impossibility of saving yourself. The End of Evangelion takes all that mental chaos and paints it across the apocalypse. You don’t finish this anime. It finishes you.
Some stories don’t just entertain; they damage you beautifully.
These anime don’t offer happy endings; they offer truth, pain, and the kind of emotional catharsis that only comes from breaking apart.
So if you’re ready to lose a few tears (and maybe a bit of sanity), start anywhere on this list.
Just remember, you can’t say I didn’t warn you.
And when you’re done crying your heart out, maybe… read something lighter next time, okay? And make sure to follow my profile at HerCampus at MUJ.