You only live once, unless you're a cat, a superhero, or an anime character. Anime and manga are filled with characters who can't stay dead for too long. And there are plenty of reasons for this.
Sometimes, it's because the series takes place in a supernatural setting where magic has given the cast some power over death. Other times, a character has various incarnations who also happen to be doomed to short lives. Some characters are just lucky to live in a universe without any continuity. Finally, it just pays to live in a video game. In those types of anime, characters can practically buy a new life.
10 Leomon Is Often Slain In Digimon, But It's Not Always Guaranteed That He Will Come Back
Exactly how death works in the Digimon universe is complicated. Digimon seem to revert to their egg forms when they are mortally wounded, essentially allowing them to be reborn all over again. Leomon and his various counterparts are usually the ones to die the most often throughout the franchise and it's not always assured that he's coming back anytime soon.
It seems that Digimon who gets killed in the human world are dead for good, implying some aspect of the digital world is what causes the regeneration. Digimon who have their data absorbed also appear to suffer permanent death. The third season also drops the idea that Digimon can be reborn, but later seasons bring back the idea. The seasons also differ on whether Digimon can remember their past selves, allowing for a death of "self" even when a character is technically revived.
9 Death Isn't Going To Stop Ash Ketchum (Pokémon)
Ash might not have aged much during the years he's spent trying to catch them all, but he's sure died a lot, or at least been in death-like situations. Some ghost Pokémon removed his spirit after he was knocked out by a chandelier, he's been turned to stone, he's drowned, and he's even been faded from existence.
Admittedly, some of those could be excused as astral projections, but that's just the start of it. Of course, something like death isn't going to keep Ash from catching them all.
8 Ren's Constant Deaths Become A Running Gag (Shaman King)
In the world of Shaman King, characters can eventually develop the power to restore the dead to life, with Jeanne and Faust being two examples of characters who learn such a skill, and it comes in handy when your comrades just won't wake up.
Ren is a notable case. At one point, Yoh has to make a deal with Jeanne to bring him back to life, but him dying would practically become something of a running gag. At one point, it's commented on that he's died at least three times already.
7 The Sailor Senshi Will Not Stay Down (Sailor Moon)
Technically speaking, most of the cast started the series being killed, with the Dark Kingdom destroying the Moon Kingdom, and Queen Serenity sending the children of the moon to have new lives on Earth. After regaining their former memories and becoming protectors of the Earth, they would find themselves dying and coming back all over again.
The first five Senshi all die fighting Queen Beryl, but they are eventually restored to life by the Silver Crystal. Usagi seems to die fairly often, like when she uses the Silver Crystal's full power, or at least end up in death-like situations, like the time her Dream Mirror was broken. Anything from a wish to a kiss from Mamoru is usually enough to bring her back. Ironically, she's the last one standing in the final story arc during the battle with Chaos, with her friends being the ones destroyed. Their deaths were meant to be permanent this time, with their Star Seeds destroyed, but they still came back, anyway.
6 Yusuke Urameshi Starts His Series Off Already Dead (Yu Yu Hakusho)
Yusuke literally starts off the series dying and trying to find a way to return to the world of the living. He eventually finds his way back to the world of the living and becomes a Spirit Detective.
During his battle with Shinobu Sensui, he dies a second time, but finds coming back a bit easier this time around thanks to the revelation that he has yokai ancestry. The reason this didn't work the first time is that it was his spiritual training that apparently allowed him to tap into his dormant yokai powers.
5 Kohaku Can Survive What Was Meant To Be Unsurvivable (Inuyasha)
Kohaku's role in the series more or less starts with him being murdered and eventually revived by Naraku to toy with his sister, Sango. While it initially seems that he's merely a reanimated corpse, he eventually regains his memories and breaks free of Naraku's control, with a shard implanted in his neck keeping him alive. He initially wants to return to being dead, but eventually grows out of it.
Removing the shard was supposed to destroy him once and for all, but Kikyo's light managed to revive him once it was removed, appearing to take its place. The fact that Kohaku survived the transition to the spin-off proves it's hard to keep him down.
4 Sakura Is Trapped In A Murder-Revival Cycle Perpetuated By His Guardian Angel (Bludgeoning Angel Dokuro-chan)
Sakura might be a regular student, but he is destined to become such a supervillain that God has sent an angel, Dokuro, to deal with him. Dokuro falls in love with Sakura, which heavily complicates her mission.
On one hand, if he does something that she doesn't like, she tends to murder him in some horrifying fashion. While this was technically what she was sent to do in the first place, she always uses her powers to revive him. But this just starts the cycle all over again, putting Sakura in a seemingly endless cycle of death and revival.
3 Phoenix Ikki Falls And Rises Just Like Their Namesake (Saint Seiya)
The mythological phoenix was an immortal bird. It could die, but would immediately rise from the ashes as good as new. So, it makes sense that Phoenix Ikki from the Saint Seiya series would share this power with his namesake.
In fact, he's able to use it to his advantage to perform kamikaze attacks, since death is something he has no problem coming back from.
2 Goku Has Died A Minumum Of Eight Times In Dragon Ball
In the Dragon Ball universe, it seems like anything with a soul can and has been brought back from the dead at some point.
Goku himself seems to have died at least eight times throughout the franchise, give or take a few times where he simply just went to another plane of existence. Many of them were sacrifices, although the gravity is lost somewhat with the fact that he'll be wished back soon enough, anyway.
1 Snow White Consistently Evades The Finality Of Death (The Legend Of Snow White)
One of the most famous characters in fiction to die and refuse to stay dead is the classic fairy tale heroine, Snow White, a character who has been adapted numerous times in anime, including her own series in the 1990s. As with the original fairy tale, the princess' wicked stepmother manages to kill her three times, with a poisoned ribbon, comb, and apple. A fourth time is even added involving a magic rainbow.
While the dwarves manage to revive her the first two times in the original story, the anime adaptation gets a bit creative with Snow White's constant deaths. After she is poisoned by a comb, for example, Snow White gets to see her dead mother in the afterlife. And when she is eventually cured, she develops a habit of turning into a statue as a side-effect. There's also an explanation as to why Snow White never rots during her brief periods as a corpse: the witch wants Snow White's body for herself as a backup plan.