Many anime characters suffer from the loss of one or both of their parents. An exceptional amount of these characters have lost their mothers, if they only lose one parent out of two.

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Protagonists have lost their mothers due to tragic accidents, brutal murders, and illnesses, both specified and unspecified. From Tohru's mother dying in an accident to Eren's mother being eaten by a Titan in front of his eyes, these protagonists all lost their mothers in tragic and cruel ways, heavily affecting their future development and outlook on life.

10 Kohana's Mother Died in An Unfortunate Accident (Magic-Kyun! Renaissance)

Kohana's mother, Sakura Aigasaki, was a world-renowned Artista and an alumnus of Hoshinomori Arts High School. Much like her daughter Kohana, she specialized in the art of flower arrangement with her own Light of Arte. However, it was revealed in the series' third episode that Sakura died before the events of the series in an unfortunate accident. Kohana went to Hoshinomori to follow in her footsteps and to honor her. It was also later revealed that one of the school staff, teacher Chieri Todo, was a good friend of Sakura when they were students.

9 Chino's Mother Died Of Illness When Chino Was Younger (Is The Order A Rabbit?)

Chino from Is The Order A Rabbit

Before the events of Is The Order A Rabbit?, Chino's mother Saki Kafu sewed the uniforms for the Rabbit House. She also used to be close friends with Cocoa's mother, was able to perform magic tricks, and could sing so well that she once was part of her husband Takahiro's jazz band. Her untimely, unspecified death led to Chino growing very lonely and isolated. This led Chino's father to later encourage her to make friends with Cocoa and her coworkers.

8 Tohru's Mother Died In An Accident (Fruits Basket)

tohru honda fruits basket

Tohru lost her mother to a horrific accident, not long before the beginning of Fruits BasketTohru clearly missed her and was still grieving for her mother early on in the series. She even went as far as bringing her picture to the hot springs with her during the first season, so her mother could share the experience with her posthumously.

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Tohru and her mother had an extremely close relationship before her demise, but Tohru thankfully had friends in the Soma family and in her classmates who were there for her while she was still grieving.

7 Alphonse And Edward Lost Their Mother To Illness And Tried Bringing Her Back To Life (Fullmetal Alchemist)

Edward And Alphonse Elric Brothers Full Metal Alchemist

Alphonse and Edward lost their mother, Trisha Elric, to illness at a young age. Since they had an extremely close relationship with their mother, who raised them on her own after their father left them, both brothers sought to use alchemy to bring her back. Unfortunately for both brothers, the ritual backfired, destroying Alphonse's entire body and Edward's left leg. Edward then gave up his right arm to bring back Alphonse's soul so he would not lose his brother so soon, and it was bound alchemically to a nearby suit of armor.

6 Kyoko's Mother Abandoned Her When She Was A Child (Skip Beat!)

Images feature a serious, mischievous, and sad Kyoko Mogami from Skip Beat

Kyoko's mother, Saena Mogami, was a single mother to Kyoko. Her father was left unknown in the anime, but the manga revealed that he was part of a company that rivaled the firm Saena worked at. Saena was verbally abusive towards Kyoko and never praised her unless she got perfect grades. She was also cold and distant towards Kyoko during her childhood in general. She later left Kyoko with singer Sho Fuwa and his parents, going as far as sending money to Sho's parents so they could keep taking care of her. Though it was not shown in the anime, Kyoko and her mother later reconciled in the manga adaptation after meeting each other again.

5 Barnaby's Mother Was Killed By Maverick (Tiger & Bunny)

Barnaby Brooks Jr. (Tiger & Bunny)

Maverick, CEO of Apollon Media and sponsor for Kotetsu and Barnaby on Hero TV, sided with Ouroboros so they would provide villains for the Hero TV show in exchange for using technology that Barnaby's parents made for the show. When Barnaby's mother and father found out, they tried to report this to the police. However, Maverick killed both of them in cold blood before they could and pinned the crime on Jake instead.

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To further cover up his tracks, Maverick altered Barnaby's memories so he would think that Jake murdered both of his parents. However, Maverick's abilities wore off years later and Barnaby remembered it was Maverick that murdered them. Even one more attempted brainwashing did not stop Barnaby from recovering the memories of his murdered parents again, and Maverick was successfully apprehended in the series finale.

4 Sōma Yukihira Lost His Mother To A Heart Problem (Food Wars)

some food wars smiling

Sōma Yukihira tragically lost his mother Tamako Yukihira when he was twelve years old. Tamako was extremely sociable and optimistic, like her son, and also resembled him visually including his hair (though her hair color was changed in the anime adaptation). Before the restaurant opening one day, Sōma found her collapsed on the kitchen floor. It was revealed that she had a congenital heart defect, which led to her collapse, and a month later, she died from further medical complications.

3 Eren Yeager's Mother Was Eaten By A Titan (Attack On Titan)

Eren Shows His Hand In Attack On Titan

Eren Yeager's mother, Carla Yeager, was the former waitress of a bar in the Shiganshina District and the second wife of Dr. Grisha Yeager. She had a kind and concerning nature, rebuking her loved ones for doing anything dangerous, and was concerned about Eren joining the Survey Corps. She was content with the simple aspects of life and was grateful enough to be alive.

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Unfortunately for Carla, she was killed during the invasion of Wall Maria and eaten alive by a Titan in front of Eren's eyes after she told Hannes to help Eren and Mikasa escape.

2 Haruhi Fujioka Lost Her Mother To Illness (Ouran Highschool Host Club)

Haruhi Fujioka

Haruhi Fujioka lost her mother, Kotoko, to illness when Haruhi was five years old (four in the manga). When Kotoko was alive, she was a kind and caring mother and an attorney-at-law who used her talents to take a small-time career helping the local citizens. She was also accepting of her husband and Haruhi's father Ryouji's bisexuality. She was also an alumnus of Lobelia Girls' Academy and a former fan of the Zuka Club. Haruhi decided to follow in her mother's footsteps, leading her to join Ouran Academy.

1 Lucy Heartfilia Lost Her Mother To An Unspecified Illness (Fairy Tail)

Lucy hugs Happy

Lucy Heartfilia lost her mother, Layla Heartfilia, to an unspecified illness when Layla was only twenty-nine years old. Like her daughter Lucy, Layla was also a Celestial Spirit Mage. She was so similar in appearance to her that Lucy was the spitting image of her mother. She was extremely compassionate and kind, treating her Spirits well, but she retired from being a Spirit Mage in X764 because of her fading health. Her spirits were distributed to Grammi, Spetto, and Zoldeo. Each of them was entrusted with a key until Lucy could later inherit the spirits.

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