Death is a common theme in all media, anime being no exception. Fans have watched countless times as their favorites die in a series. Usually, death comes suddenly and shocks the audience just as much as the other characters. But there are other times when death in anime is much more predictable.

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The audience knows it's comin - they simply don't know when. However, even when fans can predict the death of a beloved character, it can still be just as sad and as shocking as sudden death. Predictable or not, some deaths pull at the heartstrings anyway and leave viewers in tears.

10 Kyoko's Death Is A Catalyst For Events To Come (Fruits Basket)

kyoko handa fruits basket

From the start of Fruits Basket, the audience is well aware of Kyoko Honda's death. Her passing is a vital part of Tohru's character and is a deciding factor in her actions. Despite this knowledge, when the scene of Kyoko's death is finally revealed to the audience, it is still shocking and upsetting to see. This moment is especially heartbreaking for the audience after coming to know Kyoko through Tohru, learning about the many ways she touched others' lives, and seeing her special relationship with her daughter.

What brings it all to a head is Kyo's presence at the incident. He witnesses the horrible event and even blames himself for it ever happening. The misunderstanding he has when Kyoko utters her final words makes the situation all the more painful.

9 Rosette And Chrono Share Their Final Moments Together (Chrono Crusade)

Chrono and Rosette's death, Chrono Crusade

Rosette Christopher is an exorcist for the Order of Magdalene. She and Chrono form a contract to save Rosette's brother, Joshua. This contract has severe consequences, especially for Rosette. Every time she uses Chrono's power, it takes years off her life, preparing the audience for her eventual death.

Rosette and Chrono deteriorate from the contract and choose to spend their last days together. Rosette breaks down, fearing her approaching death, and Chrono holds her as she cries into him. The audience can feel the pain and dread the two must experience. In the final scene, the Order has found them, only to arrive too late. Rosette and Chrono have already passed, their hands entwined and peaceful smiles on their faces.

8 Isla Chooses To Love Tsukasa Despite Her Short Lifespan (Plastic Memories)

Ilsa the robot girl in plastic memories

Isla is the partner of Tsukasa Mizugaki in Plastic Memories and is part of a race called Giftia. Because Giftia have such short lifespans of only nine years, her death is imminent from the start. With only 1,000 hours left to live, viewers know she won't survive much longer.

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As Isla and Tsukasa spend time together, they soon fall in love. Isla fears her feelings, worried she will only bring him pain when she's gone. But Tsukasa is determined to be with her until the very end. When her time finally comes, the arrival of her death hits hard. She says her goodbyes to a tearful Tsukasa, thanking him for everything. The audience can feel Tsukasa's agony as he reaches out to her in her last moments, as though his grasp may keep her with him.

7 Misuzu Loses Her Life To A Mysterious Illness (Air)

Misuzu Kamio Death Air TV

An unknown illness plagues Misuzu Kamio in the series Air, preventing her from forming close bonds with others. When she tries, she becomes sick and cries uncontrollably. No one knows how to stop this mysterious ailment. To prevent it, Misuzu spends most of her life alone, even keeping a distance from her adoptive mother.

By the end of the series, her death is unavoidable. Her mother cares for her as best as she can, but she never recovers. Misuzu's death is still a shock and her slow decline is painful to watch. She becomes so deteriorated that she can no longer walk. Seeing her struggle in her last moments to make it into her mother's arms to say goodbye is heartwrenching.

6 Naoko And Jiro's Love Is Cut Short (The Wind Rises)

Naoko Resting By Jiro The Wind Rises

Naoko and Jiro fall in love while vacationing at a summer resort. Before he leaves, Jiro expresses his desire to marry Naoko. She initially turns him down, revealing that she is ill with tuberculosis. She agrees to marry him once she is well and goes to stay at a sanatorium to recover.

In a change of plans, they get married before she recovers. Her condition at their impromptu wedding alerts the audience to her approaching death, and it only worsens soon after. Jiro and Naoko know she won't have much longer. Naoko appears one last time to Jiro in his dreams. In a tear-jerking farewell, she tells him to live on without her and to carry her love.

5 Itachi Dies For His Brother's Sake (Naruto)

Itachi And Sasuke During Itachi's Death

It is easy for the audience to assume Itachi's eventual death, especially since Sasuke vows to take his life and avenge the Uchiha clan. When he finally succeeds, however, the tables turn as Sasuke learns the truth. Itachi tells him of his mission appointed to him by the Leaf.

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Itachi had never wanted to end their clan but had no choice. He had never stopped loving Sasuke, and his love was the reason he spared him. The emotions Sasuke feels boil over in the moment when Itachi gives him that final forehead poke. Not only is this an emotional scene for fans, but it is also a pivotal moment in the story that changes everything.

4 Kikyo Gives Her Life To Defeat Naraku (Inuyasha)

Inuyasha kisses Kikyo

Kikyo's death comes as no surprise since she had already died and resurrected once at the start of Inuyasha. Her restless soul wanders since then, waiting for its end. That moment arrives when she maintains a mortal wound from her final attack on Naraku. The group watches helplessly as the life slips from her, Kagome in tears at her failure to save the priestess. Kikyo and Inuyasha have one last tender moment as Inuyasha sheds tears over her loss. They share a goodbye kiss as Kikyo's body fades, her soul finally at rest. The death of Kikyo is quiet yet sorrowful.

3 Sakura Is Destined To Die From The Start (I Want To Eat Your Pancreas)

Sakura Yamauchi I Want To Eat Your Pancreas

The audience knows that Sakura Yamauchi will die from the start. She carries a deep secret under her positive attitude: she has a terminal pancreatic disease with only months left to live. Despite this, Sakura lives her life to the fullest and brings new light into Haruki Shiga's life.

Viewers anticipate her eventual death, and while the death itself is no shock, how she dies is unexpected. Rather than succumbing to her illness as predicted, she dies in a sudden murder. The reveal of her death comes in a newscast that Haruki sees on television. The moment of his realization is heartwrenching for the audience to watch.

2 Nagisa Gives Her Life For The Life Of Her Daughter (Clannad: After Story)

Nagisa Furukawa's death scene in Clannad.

Clannad introduces Nagisa as the sickly female lead. She repeats her final year of high school due to her illness and meets her future husband, Tomoya Okazaki. When they marry and start a family, it's no surprise that the pregnancy has put Nagisa's life at risk. As the family worries about what they should do for Nagisa and her child, it foreshadows Nagisa's coming death.

When in labor, her family fears she won't make it through the birth. Nagisa fades in and out of consciousness, alerting the audience that her life is slowly slipping from her. Watching Tomoya try to wake Nagisa is devastating. When the realization hits him, the audience's hearts sink with his.

1 Kaori Says A Final Farewell To Kousei (Your Lie In April)

Kaori's Treasure And Letter Your Lie In April

Though Kaori is working to help Kousei through the death of his mother, her approaching death is apparent in Your Lie in April. She is physically weak from Freidrich's Ataxia and worsens as the series progresses. She knew from an early age that her life would be short despite the many attempts to save her. Her final surgery is on the same day as Kousei's performance, where she dies during the operation. Viewers are left in tears as Kousei reads her farewell letter to him that expresses the feelings she couldn't say in life.

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