The 15 Saddest Anime Movies Ever

Anime, or animated film and television projects produced in Japan, cover the entire spectrum of genres and tones. As effervescent and joyous as anime movies can be, they can also be absolutely dreary and melancholy, depending on the story. The award-winning animation production company Studio Ghibli excels at this juxtaposition, with their acclaimed and beloved films celebrating life’s wonders and tragedies in equal measure. When anime movies lean in for sadder moments, they do so with heart-rending effectiveness that can leave audiences shaken long after the credits roll.

Simply put, as long as there’s been anime movies, the medium has embraced the possibilities of using it to tell tragic stories. These can be films with an absolutely downer ending to movies that tap heavily into melancholy themes, even if the main characters eventually come out okay. There’s just something about a true anime tearjerker that hits differently than their western animation counterparts.

So get ready to ugly cry, because here are the 15 saddest anime movies of all time.

An early cult favorite anime movie, 1973’s “Belladonna of Sadness” feels like an animated arthouse film with its surrealist imagery. Set in medieval France, the movie features newlywed couple Jean and Jeanne, who endure masochistic sadism on their wedding night from the local baron. Growing distant from Jean in the aftermath, Jeanne meets a ephemeral entity who promises her power. As Jeanne becomes more powerful and influential in their village, her conflict with the baron comes to a head, impacting their entire community.

True to its title, “Belladonna of Sadness” is not a feel-good film at all, to put it mildly, but one that deals heavily with violence against women. Jeanne comes to realize her own womanly power, but the path to get there is full of assault and her ascension is fleeting in a world dominated by vicious men. With its watercolor animation style, “Belladonna of Sadness” marked a major leap in animated style and technology, bringing its twisted story to striking visual life. A portrait of systemic cruelty perpetuated against women, “Belladonna of Sadness” is not for the faint of heart, but stands as an early anime classic.

Author Keiji Nakazawa drew from his own experiences surviving the atomic bombing of Hiroshima in 1945 for his historical manga series “Barefoot Gen.” The 1983 anime adaptation retained this focus, recounting the event from a child’s perspective for its story. Protagonist Gen Nakaoka lives with his family in Hiroshima as World War II nears its end. While struggling to make ends meet, the Nakaoka family endures the atomic bomb blast and its deadly aftermath as the city is completely leveled.

When it comes to Japanese narratives surrounding the widespread American bombing of civilian targets in WWIII, these stories are often incredibly bleak. “Barefoot Gen” is no different in this regard, with the movie already a grueling experience before the fateful bomb is dropped. The movie explores the physical and psychological toll the sustained warfare and literal fallout takes on Gen and his mother, unflinching in its depiction of the horrifying event. Later movies about the bombing of Japan would feature a generally more sophisticated approach, but “Barefoot Gen” gets unapologetically into the grit and misery.

Any list of sad animated movies or Japanese movies — or, in this case, bot — would be incomplete without the inclusion of “Grave of the Fireflies.” The 1988 film is set in the final days of World War II as the American military bombs the Japanese city of Kobe from the sky. Orphaned siblings Seita and Setsuko struggle to stay alive as they fend for themselves while food supplies in the city dwindle. The two children’s situation does not improve as Japan surrenders and the bombings cease, with extreme malnutrition taking its toll.

Arguably the saddest animated movie ever made, “Grave of the Fireflies” tells a beautiful but inherently cruel story. Seita and Setsuko represent an innocence that is the most unnecessary casualty of war of all, unspared from the horror despite their age and helplessness. Ultimately, “Grave of the Fireflies” is the kind of a movie that you only watch once, for the experience. Afterwards, you avoid revisiting its deep tragedy at all costs having been irrevocably changed by it and the sad fate of its main characters.

Life looks a lot different in hindsight, especially as an adult looking back on one’s own childhood days gone by. That axiom informs the 1991 Studio Ghibli movie “Only Yesterday” as a young woman named Taeko Okajima finds herself wistfully thinking about her upbringing. These memories are stirred as Taeko takes a break from her life in Tokyo to return to her childhood hometown in the country. One of the recurring fixtures of Taeko’s trip down memory lane is her complicated dynamic with her stern and emotionally unavailable father throughout her formative years.

One of the rare movies to boast a perfect score on Rotten Tomatoes, “Only Yesterday” navigates looking at life in the rearview. Quite a few of Taeko’s memories are painful ones, yet she continues to find solace in returning to the countryside from the big city. In essence, Taeko’s look backwards is a look at life on an abstract level, uneven and never quite how we think it’s going to go, but worth the destination. “Only Yesterday” finds the joy in reconnecting with raw roots, but not without the existential melancholy that so often walks hand-in-hand with nostalgia.

The 2007 romantic drama “5 Centimeters per Second” unfolds across three distinct acts, each set within a different pivotal moment in the life of its protagonist. Starting in 1991, elementary school student Takaki Tōno and his classmate Akari Shinohara grow close over their mutual interests. However, after Takaki and his family move away from Tokyo, he and Akari grow apart, despite sharing their first kiss. As Takaki progresses through life, eventually becoming a working professional in 2008, his personal life suffers as he is unable to move on from Akari’s hold on him.

A portrait in extreme and prolonged longing, “5 Centimeters per Second” really set the strong foundation for filmmaker Makoto Shinkai’s work moving forward. A happy ending is never a guarantee, but closure sometimes is as happy an ending as a character gets. This heartbreaking sentiment guides “5 Centimeters per Second” and its dreamy look at love lost through the circumstances of life. The movie serves as an excellent gateway into Shinkai’s filmography and the unique melancholia he brings to young couples.

The 2004 visual novel “Clannad” received a feature film adaptation in 2007, bringing its tale of doomed young love to life. High schoolers Tomoya Okazaki and Nagisa Furukawa bond as Nagisa restarts their school’s drama club. This helps the previously unmotivated Tomoya break from his teenage ennui while he and Nagisa begin to fall in love. However, Nagisa’s fragile health looms over the fledgling couple as they continue their lives together after completing high school.

“Clannad” telegraphs its tragedy relatively early on, but keeps us invested in its central romance, even as we have an idea of it’s going to prematurely end. Through his love for Nagisa, Tomoya learns how to truly live and appreciate the world and people around him. With that in mind, “Clannad” mixes emotional triumph and defeat in equal measure, with Tomoya’s journey increasingly bittersweet. A coming-of-age tale mired in loss and grief, “Clannad” streamlines its story into a 90-minute movie that makes its tale especially tumultuous.

Saying goodbye can be hard, and the difficulty in finally letting things go is the thematic centerpiece of “Children Who Chase Lost Voices.” The 2011 anime film has protagonist Asuna Watase forced to grow up in the wake of her father’s death. After meeting a pair of twin brothers, Shun and Shin, Asuna finds the mythical Gate of Life and Death. In subsequently exploring Agartha, the land of the dead, Asuna learns more about what it means to be alive.

Also known as “Children Who Chase Lost Voices Deep Below,” Asuna’s cinematic journey is a rich one, with an appropriately dream-like quality. Death and grief loom heavily over the movie, from Asuna in the aftermath of losing her father to those she encounters, but through the story’s fantasy lens. Faced with this strange realm, Asuna learns that the living should not carry the burdens of the dead. This underlying theme of moving on after tremendous loss strikes a deeply resonant chord, helping the movie tell its mature message within a childhood fantasy tale.

The pivotal postwar period in Japan is explored in the 2011 Studio Ghibli movie “From Up on Poppy Hill.” Set in 1963, Yokohama as Japan prepares to host the 1964 Summer Olympics, high schooler Umi Matsuzaki tries to save her neighborhood from demolishment and redevelopment efforts. Umi meets classmate Shun Kazama, with the two growing close as they renovate their local hangout building in an effort to spare it from land developers. The burgeoning couple learns more about their respective family histories during this project, intertwining with key points in Japan’s 20th century evolution.

“From Up on Poppy Hill” works as a companion piece to “Only Yesterday,” albeit with its focus inverted to an urban setting instead of the other film’s bucolic environment. The 2011 movie looks back fondly at Japan just before its widespread modernization in the 1960s as the country’s culture stands at a crossroads. Highly sentimental, there is a quiet sadness to “Only Yesterday” buoyed by its attempt to highlight a bygone era. Fortunately, that wistful ache gives way to victory in the characters’ own terms, as it revels in its nostalgia and steadfast refusal to completely ditch the past.

The early days of Japanese aviation are the subject of the 2013 Studio Ghibli movie “The Wind Rises.” Beginning in 1918, the movie follows Jiro Horikoshi, who dreams of becoming a pilot, but becomes an aeronautical engineer instead because of his poor eyesight. As Jiro develops planes for the Japanese military in the 1930s, he reconnects with his childhood love Nahoko Satomi. However, as World War II looms, Nahoko’s health deteriorates, leading her and Jiro to enjoy their limited time together.

Horikoshi was a real Japan aviation pioneer, though “The Wind Rises” does take considerable creative liberties with his life for its story. Filmmaker Hayao Miyazaki offers a romanticized look at Japan prior to its WWII involvement, all centered around a dream of flying. “The Wind Rises” is lushly realized, with a vibrant color palette and warm lighting, particularly in its sweeping wide shots. But though the movie actively celebrates life and love, it’s also a reminder at both’s fleeting impermanence and the importance to live every day knowing an end is inevitable.

The 2013 Studio Ghibli film “The Tale of Princess Kaguya” brings its fairy tale to life with the delicate touch of a watercolor painting. The story features a girl, Kaguya, found in a bamboo shoot by a woodcutter and his wife in a remote village. As Kaguya grows older, her beauty and regal appearance leads to her relocating to the city where she becomes recognized as a princess. However, Kaguya increasingly longs for the countryside where she grew up, along with the family and friends that surrounded her there.

One of the more striking things about the unique art style for “The Tale of Princess Kaguya” is how it subtly changes depending on Kaguya’s mood in a given scene. Brush strokes appear on-screen as Kaguya feels trapped in her current situation while the light in her eyes dim as she becomes disillusioned with life in the city. These highlight the sadder themes within the story and Kaguya’s longing for the innocent home she made for herself in the country. A story about that sense of home and innocence lost, “The Tale of Princess Kaguya” is modern Ghibli at its most wistful.

Isolation and introspection run heavily throughout the 2014 Studio Ghibli movie “When Marnie Was There.” Social outcast Anna Sasaki spends a summer break from school at a seaside town on Hokkaido which features an abandoned mansion. Exploring the seemingly empty house, Anna meets Marnie, a strange girl who helps Anna emerge from her self-conscious shell. Anna investigates around town to learn more about her new friend, only to uncover a greater mystery about Marnie and herself.

With its premise and subtly atmospheric environments, “When Marnie Was There” is Studio Ghibli at its most haunting and ethereal. The story plays out like a mystery and ghost story all at once, though more meditatively rather than featuring any lingering sense of peril. As with any ghost story, there comes a deep sense of regret or, at the very least, of unfinished business here on Earth. One of the more offbeat Ghibli movies, “When Marnie Was There” makes the most of the stillness and that constant sense of longing, using both to quietly evoke aching loneliness.

The 2016 movie “A Silent Voice” flips the script, making its protagonist a teenage bully, Shōya Ishida, its sympathetic protagonist. After tormenting a deaf classmate, Shōko Nishimiya, Shōya’s reputation as a bully makes him a depressed loner who contemplates ending his own life. As Shōya tries to make amends to those he wronged, he learns Shōko is undergoing her own sense of isolation due to her condition and being naturally shy. This motivates Shōya to continue living to help her, even as his past comes back to haunt him.

“A Silent Voice” is all about redemption, but given the suicidal trajectory of its protagonist, it goes through dark and depressing narrative territory before it gets there. Shōya eventually relearns how to live but has to endure a self-flagellating sense of guilt and shame to reach atonement. These sobering and somber themes make “A Silent Voice” markedly different from contemporary coming-of-age animated movies, frankly dealing with severe teen depression. However, as sad as “A Silent Voice” gets, the movie reminds audiences that tomorrow always holds the strong chance of things getting much better if you just hold on.

With three movies in this article, it’s clear that filmmaker Makoto Shinkai is a master at crafting anime movies with gloomy undertones. Shinkai’s 2019 film, “Weathering with You,” features girls who can magically control the weather with their emotions. Runaway high schooler Hodaka Morishima meets Hina Amano, an unassuming teenager in Tokyo who possesses this strange ability. Hodaka tries to take advantage of Hina’s powers for money, with Hina losing control as she and Hodaka endure unwanted attention from the authorities.

“Weathering with You” is an emotional rollercoaster ride, visibly punctuated by Hina making the weather increasingly erratic based on how she’s feeling at a particular time. Shinkai isn’t subtle in his depiction of climate-fueled weather disruptions, tying it organically into his young love story. Caught in the crossfire is Tokyo, which finds itself at the center of a meteorological maelstrom as the chaos escalates. Those visuals of a weather-beaten Tokyo underscore the emotional stakes to the movie, especially as Hodaka and Hina risk losing each other forever.

“Violet Evergarden: The Movie,” the spinoff film of the anime series, continues its title character’s adventures shortly after World War I. Violet is determined to decipher her love Gilbert Bougainvillea’s final words to her before he went missing and presumed dead. Gilbert is discovered to be alive but gravely injured from the war, unwilling to reunite with Violet to avoid becoming a burden for her. Meanwhile, Violet’s esteemed reputation as a writer has her commissioned to write letters on behalf of a dying child to his family.

From Violet and Gilbert’s complex love affair to Violet’s assignment from the terminally ill Yuris, “Violet Evergarden” is a smartly crafted tear-jerker anime movie. Despite Violet’s heartbreak over Gilbert, she still finds the empathy and compassion to complete Yuris’ dying wish and give his family a measure of solace in their grief. And while it does take some time to get there, a happy ending of sorts is had, albeit in life’s own complicated terms. Drawing heavily from its period piece setting, “Violet Evergarden” feels like a Japanese twist on “Downton Abbey,” but with a more humanist approach.

The 2023 musical drama “Blue Giant” is a love letter to jazz and single-minded drive to make it as a professional musician. After becoming obsessed with jazz music, aspiring saxophonist Dai Miyamoto relocates to Tokyo following his completion of high school. Teaming up with a drummer and pianist, Dai forms a passionate trio that plays in small clubs throughout the city. As the group prepares for their biggest performance yet, they endure an incident that puts their future in a precarious position.

Talking head interviews throughout “Blue Giant” hint at something cataclysmic coming for its core band, but the audience isn’t quite sure of what exactly. This foreshadowing is overshadowed by the movie’s ebullient musical numbers before tragedy rears its ugly head. This moment comes as a complete gut punch, making what should be a triumphant finish, instead, the movie at its most heartbreakingly bittersweet. “Blue Giant” is a rousing reminder that even life’s greatest victories come with unexpected defeats along the way, though that doesn’t mean the losses have to be accepted.

If you or someone you know needs help with mental health, please contact the Crisis Text Line by texting HOME to 741741, call the National Alliance on Mental Illness helpline at 1-800-950-NAMI (6264), or visit the National Institute of Mental Health website.