Anime That Will Make You Cry
Welcome, Fantasy Nerds! People that don’t watch anime often associate it with epic fight scenes or what’s known as “fan service”. However, there are a lot of anime out there that are surprisingly deep and heartfelt. If you’ve ever found yourself shedding tears during an anime, this post is for you. Here are our favorite emotional and tear-jerking animes!
This anime is one you probably expected to be on this list, as it is a recent smash hit and well-known for its unique premise and emotional storyline. Frieren follows the Party of Heroes after they have defeated the Demon King. Frieren, a long-living elf, finds herself the only one of her party still young and fit enough to continue adventuring. As she reconnects with her former party and takes on a journey with new companions, she begins to realize how short life truly is for humans.
Frieren now has to come to terms with her regrets because she didn’t spend time with the people she cared about when she had the chance. This is something that, even as humans, we can all relate to. We found ourselves tearing up many times at the way this anime revisited Frieren’s memories, the emotions they brought out of her, and the lessons she can apply to her new relationships.
While this anime is a little bit older, debuting in 2018, Clever only recently watched it. She devoured the whole series, including the spin-offs and movies. The story follows an orphan who was raised from a young age for the sole purpose of being the perfect soldier during a violent war. Violet is a brutal and efficient soldier, who never learned or understood emotions. After the war, with her mentor – the only person who cared about her – presumed dead, she attempts to restart life as an auto-memory doll. She takes this job writing heartfelt letters so she can learn to understand the last words of her Major: “I love you”.
This anime makes you cry not just for Violet as she faces her trauma and learns to feel for the first time. The clients she writes for often have heart-breaking stories as well. Some are wracked by their own trauma from the war and struggle to express how they feel to loved ones. Others are facing death and the letters Violet writes need to live on to carry their last messages. All of the stories are touching and will have you reaching for the tissues. This anime is beautiful in the fact that it doesn’t shy away from topics of grief, heartbreak, and wanting to be worthy of love.
Grimgar is an anime we can’t recommend highly enough. It follows a party of beginning adventurers who were transported into a new world and must now fight to survive. They struggle with grit and determination through monster battles, but alas they are untrained and unprepared and therefore make some costly mistakes. Deep friendships are forged through their common struggle, which is what makes this anime so emotional. This is another series that doesn’t shy away from grief and guilt and will leave you feeling the party’s grief heavily.
There is the original Fullmetal Alchemist and there is also Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood, this is solely my opinion but I would recommend watching the original Fullmetal Alchemist first, although it is more difficult to find on streaming platforms! This is what I would call a classic anime which a lot of people have likely seen, but the character connections and the difficult situations Ed and Al have to overcome are heart-wrenching and overall this anime is full of life lessons that will bring you to tears multiple times. I think I cried at least once during each episode! Episode four especially ruined my life, if you know you know.
This anime straight-up wrecked me. It was also the first anime I ever watched, and what got me into anime so take this with a grain of salt! The premise itself is already somber as it takes place in a realm after death, similar to limbo in a way. The character relationships, and the hardship of understanding and grasping the reality of your situation are what hit me in my core. The ending of the anime destroyed me emotionally so definitely be prepared for that if you watch it, and we highly recommend you do!
What Do You Think?
Did the anime on this list make you cry? Are there any tear-jerkers that we forgot to include? Let us know in the comments!
Thanks so much for reading!
-Clever & WTF
