Sometimes you just need a good cry, and what better way to encourage that than by watching some really, really sad anime? As fans of Japanese animation know, these devastatingly upsetting films and movies have been around for decades. Whether you need a refresher, are in the mood for something dark and moody, or just love heartbreak; this list is for you.
From sibling sadness to tragic romance, strangely melancholy sci-fi all the way through maudlin murder-mysteries, we’ve got a special kind of sadness for every taste. So grab a box of tissues and get ready to watch some really upsetting anime, because somehow heartbreak feels good in a list like this.
Where to watch: Netflix
Nostalgia can be the most melancholy of feelings and Flavors of Youth captures that perfectly. This charmingly animated anthology is all about those exact vibes as the loosely interconnected stories explore the power of nostalgia through the lens of food. Clips from the first entry, The Rice Noodles, have been used in many-an-aesthetic TikTok post and will absolutely make you cry. Not to be outdone, though, the following two just build on the power of The Rice Noodles, offering up thoughtful, emotionally driven, and bittersweet tales to jerk your tears.
See our list of the best anime on Netflix for more like this.
Where to watch: Netflix
Mamoru Hosoda is a beloved anime director and Mirai showcases his immense talent. This 2018 time-hopping family drama was nominated for an Oscar and a Golden Globe, and it follows a young boy named Kun who begins to feel displaced by his baby sister, Mirai. After running away and stumbling upon a magical garden, Kun meets both his mother and Mirai at different stages in their life, allowing him to explore the world and his family in a new way. An inventive and thoughtful take on the family drama, Mirai is a sentimental fantasy that’ll make you weep.
Where to watch: Hulu
Coming of age stories that deal with the realities of growing up are far more common in manga and anime storytelling, and Your Lie in April is a great example. A group of friends traverse growing up and all the struggles that come with it after one of them has a nervous breakdown. Each episode of this slice of life anime series offers ample crying time, especially as you grow to care about the characters and their journey into young adulthood. Moving and authentic, this is the sort of show we wished we had when we were teenagers. But at least we have it now!
Where to watch: Amazon Prime Video
Tomoya Okazaki is a disillusioned 17 year old. After losing his mother at a young age, his upbringing became abusive, making him unhappy with his life and hometown. Clannad follows him throughout his teenage years into young adulthood as he changes his life by helping a series of young women. This is the sort of tragic slice of life that’ll keep you crying and make you want to look after its young cast with your life. Very big “I would die for them” energy here.
Where to watch: Amazon Prime Video
One of the most well known sad anime of recent years, Makoto Shinkai’s Your Name. took the world by storm when it was released in 2016. A romantic anime story about fate, this epic blockbuster tells the story of two teens who begin to mysteriously swap bodies. Fantastical in the best way, this is a twisty tale that’ll pull at your heartstrings. Plus, Shinkai is a master of the visual landscape, so this is a truly astonishing feat of animation too.
Where to watch: Apple TV
This sentimental story centers on the ups and downs of an unexpected friendship. When a teenager, Takao, skips school in order to work on his true passion – becoming a shoemaker – he bumps into the beautiful 27-year-old Yukari. Both head to the stunning Shinjuku Gyoen National Garden, hoping to find solace. But instead they seem to always keep meeting on rainy solitary days. This is another pure vibes anime that’s super easy to rewatch and will keep your emotions flowing through your tear ducts as you explore the strange and unexpected relationship between them.
Where to watch: Hulu
It’s hard to make a tearjerker that’s also an engaging murder mystery, but Erased does just that. Satoru Fujinuma has a secret. He wields a unique power that allows him to travel back to precise moments in time, but only in connection to life or death moments. When Satoru suffers a great personal tragedy, his powers kick into overdrive, sending him back to childhood where he must stop a horrific set of crimes that upended his life so many years ago. Grief, love, loss and friendship all come into play as this twisty time travel mystery unfurls before us.
Where to watch: HBO Max
The second entry on our list from Makoto Shinkai, Weathering With You may not have replicated the global phenomenon of Your Name, but it’s an incredibly worthy successor. And as you might have guessed by our ranking, it’s also even more emotionally devastating. Escaping from his abusive home, Hodaka Morishima ends up on the streets of Tokyo. Soon he builds a found family including the enigmatic Hina, a girl with strange powers. This romantic coming of age tale is an enchanting climate change fable with some of the best animation you’ve ever seen.
Where to watch: Netflix
When it comes to contemporary anime there is likely none more emotional than A Silent Voice. This heart wrenching tale traverses bullying, suicidal ideation, and making amends all through the eyes of kids growing up and coming of age. When a young Deaf girl, Shoya, joins Shoko’s sixth grade class, she quickly becomes the target of his bullying. But the tide turns after his treatment of Shoya is revealed, she’s transferred, and he becomes a social outcast. Years later the pair cross paths again as Shoko tries to make amends for his cruel past.
Where to watch: Vudu
Grave of the Fireflies might just be the most heartbreaking film ever made, so there was no other choice to top our saddest anime list. Isao Takahata’s 1988 masterpiece is an affecting treatise on the horrors of war, told from the perspective of a pair of siblings in Japan during World War II. Suddenly alone after a nightmarish firebombing attack on their hometown, sincere and sweet Seita does his best to look after his younger sister Setsuko as the pair try to survive the wreckage of war with no adults to guide them. Their journey is one of love, grief, and devastating emotional heartache. Just as relevant and real as it was on release, this is a must watch, though many viewers can only take a single viewing because it’s just that sad.
Although this movie wasn’t directed by Miyazaki, it remains one of the best Studio Ghibli films of all time.
Rosie Knight is an Eisner-winning journalist, author and comics writer. She co-hosts Crooked Media’s X-Ray Vision podcast, discussing pop culture from superhero movies to prestige television to the best fantasy novels and, of course, comics.
