What are some good sad animes?

[Dirty Hipsters]

Berserk is pretty fucking depressing.

I mean, it's also totally badass, with great action and great art/animation, but god damn is it depressing (especially if you only watch the anime, which is WAY behind the manga, and ends on a pretty devastating note).

 

[Specter Von Baren]

Darker Than Black can get pretty depressing, especially the 4 OVA's that take place between season 1 and 2.

Casshern Sins is also a pretty freaking morose anime though I have to warn that the five episodes before the last feel like... it's like the original writer of the anime took a vacation without telling anyone how the story was supposed to go and they threw someone else into the writing role for those five episodes and threw the plot into a different direction from what it was supposed to until the original writer came back in time for the last episode and made a last minute attempt at getting the story to end how it was supposed to. Seriously, one of those episodes is just some sort of surreal inner mind crap with most of it involving looking at the scenery for long periods with nothing being said, it is so weird.

There's also Blue Sun No.6, though it's more somber than outright sad.

And my last suggestion is Phoenix, an anime based on work by Osamu Tezuka. It's made up of a couple vignettes but they like to drive the knife in hard and then kick you when you're down.

 

[BazaarFawkes]

Are you sure you aren't just immune to crying when watching sad shows?
I've watched quite a few emotion jerking animes myself and while I have never drop any physical tears, mentally though, Niagara falls were being made. xP

Anyway, here are my recommendations ~

* Hotarubi no Mori e [http://myanimelist.net/anime/10408/Hotarubi_no_Mori_e]: A 40 minute long movie about a girl meeting a spirit named Gin. I'm not saying anymore in cause I might spoil something.

* Natsume Yuujinchou [http://myanimelist.net/anime/4081/Natsume_Yuujinchou]: I wouldn't exactly call this a tear-jerking series at heart, but it hits you right in the feels so many times. I think it does a really splendid job in making you sympathise with the characters and understand where they're coming from regarding their situation.

Hopefully all of us here have provide hours of enjoyment for you to watch.

 

[Yopaz]

Myself; Yourself was pretty damn depressing. This is the only anime that has made me cry properly.

Also Welcome To The NHK was a series I thought was really fun the first time around and quite depressing the second time. Dark comedy where comedy borders tragedy.

 

[Pirate Of PC Master race]

Chrono Crusade,it's mostly action oriented with some tragic elements.The ending is heart breakingly sad for reason that the show semi spoils.Well worth it.

I might have my nostalgia glasses on but I second this.

 

[Fox12]

I've already seen Elfen Lied, Angel Beats, Clannad, Clannad:Afterstory, and AnoHana.
AnoHana got the closest to making me cry, but didn't get the tears to fall. I mean, it makes me tear up just looking at clips of it or hearing the opening, but no tears fall. I want to find an anime where I can't hold back my tears.

Oh man. Oh man, oh man, oh man, oh man. Saikano is probably one of the greatest "tragic" anime's I've ever seen, and most people don't even know about it. I can't recommend it enough. It's basically about this huge world war that breaks out, and Japan gets involved. It's interesting though, because there's not much action, and we're given almost no details about the actual war. Instead it focuses on the impact war has on the population. One of the best war stories/romances I've seen in anime. It's a tad bit melodramatic towards the middle, but man, the ending really delivers. It reminded me a lot of Grave of the Fireflies and Elfen Lied, although it's nowhere near as violent. Watch it.

I have to recommend Berserk, assuming you haven't seen it. It's a medieval fantasy epic, and probably the best one ever written. I consider it my favorite anime/manga. It's a great tragedy as well, and reminds me a lot of the great Greek tragedies I had to read in school, like Oedipus Rex. Berserk is a very "traditional" tragedy in that sense. It's similar to Game of Thrones, but far better. If you watch one anime in your life, this is the one. It's pretty brutal, but if you can stand Elfen Lied then you can watch/read this. The Manga is far more violent, but I felt like the anime had better pacing.

I have to assume you've seen Neon Genesis, but since you didn't list it, I'll go ahead and mention it. The post modernist philosophy is terrible, but this show has some of the best character development I've ever seen in any anime. Period. The only anime that may surpass it in terms of character development is, maybe, the before mentioned Berserk. I still feel my chest seize up whenever I see the characters. It's a basic must watch for every anime fan, so if you haven't seen it, go and see it. And sooner rather than later.

 

[Little Woodsman]

I've already seen Elfen Lied, Angel Beats, Clannad, Clannad:Afterstory, and AnoHana.
AnoHana got the closest to making me cry, but didn't get the tears to fall. I mean, it makes me tear up just looking at clips of it or hearing the opening, but no tears fall. I want to find an anime where I can't hold back my tears.

Well, you asked for it....
If you can find it watch Who's Left Behind. I watched it with a group of people who had all seen Grave of the Fireflies and we all agreed that it was much much sadder.
Also give Voices of a Distant Star a try. But don't watch it alone. And remove all sharp objects from the room before watching it. Heck, remove all blunt objects from the room before you watch it...
Since no-one else has mentioned it I'll also point out The Cockpit another one set in WWII, several short stories including one about an Ooka pilot.
Aaand, there are parts of Fushigi Yugi that rank up there. The worst parts are at the middle, not the end.

Already been recommended, but the one that gets to *me* the most is Air....I can't even think about it without tearing up....
Also already mentioned Haibane Renmei which I didn't find as sad as the others mentioned here, but is a lovely anime, one of my very favorites and well worth watching even if you aren't looking for sad...

 

[PapaGreg096]

If you cannot sob at Bokurano then you have no heart
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=05p646nlYS0
Manga is worse by the way

 

[BNguyen]

Basically Clannad with a nicer ending and no Afterstory. I hated Afterstory...

How does a person even type that without dying?

edit: Oh yeah, IHow could I forget Higurashi No Naku Koro ni. It's really weird but it all makes sense by the end. It has a bit of annoying anime tropes but it's worth it.

I loved Higurashi, and it was a lot of things, but I don't remember it ever being sad. Just funny as shit, creepy, or cringy.

there was this part in the second season that felt both really sad and the resolution really uplifting, I was cheering for what the resolution brought up.

 

[Tanis]

Elfen Lied is the kind of anime that was poorly ended.

If you like the anime, you should read the manga.
The ending alone is heads above the anime.

 

[Flutterguy]

I wouldnt recommend 'Welcome to the NHK' to everyone, someone who watches anime and is anti-social however will either love it or hate that a TV show portrays them so well. It takes a very blunt approach to the otaku lifestyle as well as hermetic antisocial behaviour. Not a very happy show, but it is meant to be realistically plausible. Not all the episodes are great, however the comedy and story were enough to pull me trough, even though sometimes the show really made me feel depressed. I hate to use the term 'must see', just give it a go, one of the few TV shows I have seen with an honest true and powerful message that isn't a crock of shit.

Also 'Psycho Pass', slightly futuristic setting were all citizens have emotion chips. Anyone who becomes too emotionally unstable is imprisoned or killed. The story follows a young woman who recently joined the police force, and the small squad she is a part of. It's a blend of dark police drama, psychology and has something to say on restrictions and control of society not only pointing out flaws but necessity and dependence, all presented with a strong unique aesthetic.

If you somehow have not seen 'Deathnote' it is a piece of art. The first episode was slow, however the shows premise, character development and struggle with morals was perfectly executed. Well atleast the first season was, after that it fell on its face pretty hard.

 

[Dalton Bowers]

Kanon... Just Kanon
I am a 30+ yr old army infantry vet and that music still makes me want to curl up and cry.

 

[Flutterguy]

Also if you have somehow not seen Hayao Miyazaki's movies you are missing out.

Princess Mononoke and Nausicaa may satisfy your itch for tragedy and sadness. If that doesn't work Ponyo will atleast get giggles and smiles out of anyone capable of giggles and smiles.

 

[Crash486]

If there's any way you haven't seen Cowboy Bebop...
1. How dare you call yourself an anime fan
2. It's got a surprisingly tragic ending you sort of see coming, but still caught me off guard.

Saikano is sad, but it's not really that good. There's really not much substance to it. Is the ending even really that sad? It's been awhile since I saw it, but I thought it had a happy ending?

Attack on Titan is new and relatively tragic for an actiony war anime.

Tokyo Godfathers is also pretty good and tragic

 

[JadeWah]

Been a while since I've seen it, but Kimi Ga Nozomu Eien or in English: Rumbling Hearts. It's 14 episode long only, but I remember thinking the pacing was fine and they didn't drag it out for the ending, like some animes do.

 

[Casual Shinji]

Sad anime are generally not very good, because they're so set at being sad no matter what. This includes anime like Grave of the Fireflies and Now and Then, Here and There, where I'm like 'Okay, I get it... It's sad. Show me what else you got.' Just relentlessly piling on the sadness and the tragedy creates a numbing effect. As opposed to stories that dish out the sadness in smaller packages inbetween other events.

 

[Nouw]

Sad anime are generally not very good, because they're so set at being sad no matter what. This includes anime like Grave of the Fireflies and Now and Then, Here and There, where I'm like 'Okay, I get it... It's sad. Show me what else you got.' Just relentlessly piling on the sadness and the tragedy creates a numbing effect. As opposed to stories that dish out the sadness in smaller packages inbetween other events.

Gotta agree with you here. Someone mentioned Fate/Zero but by the end of the two seasons nothing had really touched me. Don't get me wrong, it's a great anime but it's just always so serious all the time. I like a good drama but without some kind of positivity to counteract this, the truly dark moments end up making not much of an impact at all.

Want to know the one scene I did find myself crying over? It's when one of the characters named Waver talks to the person he convinced was his grandparent. While they're watching the sunrise on a roof, his 'granddad' tells Waver that he's known for a while now and he talks about how he got to experience all the things he otherwise couldn't have without Waver. This interaction was such a refreshing break from the flavours of regret, self-loathing and melancholy the show revolves around. The tragic main character? Fuck him, he didn't get any of my sympathy. It's such a shame because if the show had been just a bit more cheerful at times the sad moments would have been seriously crushing.

Over the years I've spent here reading threads about anime that made people cry, Fullmetal Alchemist came up every time without fail and after having seen it I know why. As @CasualShinji said, the sadness should come up in small amounts in between other parts that aren't a shade of downer. FMA does this really well. I believe there was an excellent Jimquisiton episode on this, I'll try dig it up.

 

[00slash00]

Saikano.
A high school boy starts going out with a girl who is also a warmachine. She's often away because of a war that's currently going on and their relationship gets affected by it more and more.
It has plot holes but the anime is about emotions more than about logic and it is very emotionally powerful.
I highly recommend it.

I can't believe I had to scroll this far down before Saikano showed up. It took me some time to really get in to it but once I did...oh man, my heart. So many feels.

 

[00slash00]

If there's any way you haven't seen Cowboy Bebop...
1. How dare you call yourself an anime fan
2. It's got a surprisingly tragic ending you sort of see coming, but still caught me off guard.

Saikano is sad, but it's not really that good. There's really not much substance to it. Is the ending even really that sad? It's been awhile since I saw it, but I thought it had a happy ending?

Attack on Titan is new and relatively tragic for an actiony war anime.

Tokyo Godfathers is also pretty good and tragic

Sainkano took a while to pick up steam (which is an issue considering how short it is) but I really got in to it toward the end. I definitely would not consider it a happy ending. I don't really want to talk about the ending because I don't want to spoil anything, but I felt quite depressed when the series ended

 

[Casual Shinji]

snip

Anime tends to have a big tragedy boner like that. I don't know if you've ever seen Dog of Flanders, but it's the same type of deal. Given it's originally a Belguim story, but Japan is crazy about it likely because it's so ludicrously sad. There's like multiple anime versions of this story.

I'd say one of the saddest moments in anime for me was the ending to Peter Pan no Boken. Eventhough it is basically a happy ending, it's extremely bittersweet. Also the invisible girl episode of The Moomins.