Sad anime
9 Sad Anime That Will Make You Cry
Nine anime that will make you cry, from Grave of the Fireflies to Your Name, picked because the tears come from characters, not cheap shocks.
Sometimes you want a story that leaves you a mess on the couch. These are the sad anime we'd hand to anyone who asks for exactly that. A few will flatten you, some are more bittersweet than tragic, and one or two end up feeling oddly healing. Any of them can make you cry if you let it.
The rule we used: the sadness has to come from people you've grown to care about, not someone killed off for shock. We mixed films and TV, war and romance, family stories and grief, going from Studio Ghibli in 1988 to Kyoto Animation's recent work. Nothing below goes past the setup.
My 9 Animes
9 Sad Anime That Will Make You Cry
The nine picks
Grave of the Fireflies
Studio Ghibli · 1988
Isao Takahata's film follows Seita and his little sister Setsuko as they try to survive in Japan during the last months of World War II. It tells you how it ends in the first few minutes. That doesn't help at all. Takahata never looks away from what the war does to two ordinary kids, and we know people who loved it and still can't face a second watch.
- Best for
- When you're ready for something really heavy
- When to watch
- An evening with nothing planned after
Clannad: After Story
Kyoto Animation · 2008
This is Clannad's second season, and it follows Tomoya Okazaki out of high school and into work, family and adult life. Watch the first season before it; it won't land the same otherwise. When fans argue about the saddest anime ever made, this name comes up early, and it gets there by making ordinary days feel precious.
- Best for
- Fans of slow family drama
- When to watch
- A long weekend, tissues within reach
Anohana: The Flower We Saw That Day
A-1 Pictures · 2011
Menma died when she and her friends were kids, and the group fell apart. Years later she appears to Jinta, now a teenager who barely leaves the house, and asks him to grant a wish she can't remember. It's only 11 episodes. Watching the old friends get dragged back together, each carrying their own guilt, is rough going.
- Best for
- Anyone who's drifted apart from old friends
- When to watch
- A summer night with the windows open
Your lie in April
A-1 Pictures · 2014
Kousei Arima was a piano prodigy until his mother died. After that, he couldn't hear his own playing. Kaori, a violinist who does whatever she wants, drags him back on stage. The concerts are staged like fight scenes, and honestly the music says more than the dialogue does.
- Best for
- Music lovers and romantics
- When to watch
- A rainy spring afternoon
Violet Evergarden
Kyoto Animation · 2018
Violet was a child soldier. After the war she takes a job writing letters for other people, hoping to work out what her commanding officer meant by the last thing he said to her. A lot of episodes are about one client and one letter, so they work almost like short stories. It's also one of the best-looking TV anime we've seen.
- Best for
- People who like stories in small, self-contained pieces
- When to watch
- One episode before bed
A Silent Voice
Kyoto Animation · 2016
In grade school, Shoya bullied Shoko, a deaf girl in his class, until the other kids turned on him. Years later he goes looking for her to make amends. Director Naoko Yamada handles it gently, and the film cries with these kids rather than at them.
- Best for
- Anyone who wants a story about second chances
- When to watch
- A quiet night alone
March comes in like a lion
Shaft · 2016
Rei Kiriyama is a teenage professional shogi player who lives alone and feels mostly empty. Then three sisters in the neighborhood start feeding him dinner. The tears here are the slow kind, about depression and learning to let people in. Shaft draws Rei's worst days as cold, dark water, and the warm scenes at the sisters' house feel even warmer next to them. No shogi knowledge needed.
- Best for
- Anyone going through a lonely patch
- When to watch
- A cold winter evening
Wolf Children
Studio Chizu, Madhouse · 2012
Hana is a young mother raising Ame and Yuki, two kids who can turn into wolves. Mamoru Hosoda's film moves them out to the countryside and follows them as they grow up and each decide who they want to be. If you're a parent, or you remember leaving home, it'll probably get you.
- Best for
- Parents, and anyone who misses their mom
- When to watch
- Movie night with older kids
Your Name.
CoMix Wave Films · 2016
Mitsuha lives in a small mountain town, Taki lives in Tokyo, and they start waking up in each other's bodies. It opens as a body-swap comedy. Makoto Shinkai doesn't leave it there. If you've never cried at an anime film, this is the one we'd bet on, mostly because of the final act and the RADWIMPS songs.
- Best for
- Romantics, and anyone new to anime films
- When to watch
- Date night on the couch
Make it yours
Everyone has one title that broke them, and it's rarely the same one. Put these nine in a My 9 grid, swap in whatever wrecked you hardest, and share it. It says more about you than you'd expect. And the friends who cried at the same scenes? Those are the people to take recommendations from.
Opens the maker with these nine in the grid. Swap any of them for your own.