Some of the best critically acclaimed anime leave the viewers sobbing by the story's end. In some cases, an anime's defining trait is its ability to draw out emotions; shows like Your Lie in April and Anohana: The Flower We Saw That Day rely on the audience's heartbreak to garner fanbases. These anime evoke painful feelings at any point in life that the viewers watch them, as the primary purpose of their stories is to make fans cry.

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That being said, an anime's "sad" factor can also relate to the audience's lived experiences. Even anime that function under a wide array of genres can have underlying themes of pain and coping that may not be as prominent until the viewer revisits the show at an older age. It may sound jaded, but it's remarkable how anime can age with their audiences and pull different, darker emotions from older fans with the same content that may be less upsetting to younger ones.

10 Yuri!!! On Ice Demonstrates How Fleeting A Chance At Success Can Be

Yuri!!! On Ice Characters

Yuri!!! on Ice is an overwhelmingly inspirational story with a happy ending. However, the base premise is a bit upsetting for viewers who are entering adulthood - Yuri is twenty-three years old and is supposedly passing by his "last chance" at achieving his dreams.

The world of competitive ice skating may not hold universal standards in terms of age, but there are a lot of fields that do turn their backs on individuals once they enter their mid-to-late twenties. This makes Yuri relatable, but it's also a cruel reminder of how fleeting success can be especially pertaining to age.

9 Samurai Champloo Ends With Unlikely Friends Splitting Up

Mugen Keeps His Distance From Jin In Samurai Champloo

Samurai Champloo never claims to be anything short of realistic in terms of its character dynamics, but most younger audiences are accustomed to found families sticking together once the adventure is over. This anime, on the other hand, takes the much more pragmatic route and sees Mugen, Jin, and Fuu go their separate ways in the final episode.

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For adults, this is bittersweet; the heroes have their adventure and forge bonds, but it's common in life for people to leave others behind and go their separate ways. There is something therapeutic about seeing the three main characters "move on," considering that this is a reality many individuals face. It's inevitable for some journeys to end.

8 Sword Art Online's Tragedies Become More Realistic As Viewers Enter 2022

Sword Art Online Characters

While Sword Art Online is a fantasy anime above all else, it has its sad moments. After all, Kirito is a teenager with the weight of many lives on his shoulders. What's unique about this anime is that anyone who watched it as a teenager is now an adult in 2022, which is the same year this story takes place.

Technology is exponentially developing in the real world, making this anime more and more possible as time goes on. While the stakes may have once felt far-fetched, anyone who grew up with the series can now start to understand the stress Kirito is under and how terrifying it must be to face actual death in a game.

7 Hunter x Hunter Fans Realize Just How Young The Characters Are

Hunter X Hunter Main Characters

Gon's young age as a shonen protagonist in Hunter x Hunter is emphasized by his older allies. Killua is also twelve years old, but characters like Kurapika, Leorio, and even Hisoka make Gon seem even younger for a hunter enduring the trials he does.

While watching this show at an age closer to Gon's, fans may feel like he and Killua are anomalies in a field full of adults. However, after viewers pass Kurapika and Leorio's ages and look back on the show, they realize how scary it is that all of these young heroes are forced to fight amongst themselves in such cruel circumstances. Gon's upbeat attitude adds a layer of optimism to the show, but with time, even the happier parts of the plot seem overrun by tragedies.

6 Oban Star-Racers Is Much Darker If Watched Chronologically

Oban-Star Racers Characters

Seeing as Oban Star-Racers is a show most kids watched while channel-surfing in the mid-2000s, it makes sense that its overarching storyline and darker themes would be lost on fans when they could only catch a few episodes here and there in non-chronological order.

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Rewatching the show in its intended order as an adult, however, proves just how dark this anime can get. Between character deaths, realistic and tense family dynamics, and the realization that winning comes with a price, this show is a different experience now than back in the mid-2000s.

5 The Promised Neverland Humanizes The Initial Antagonist By Revealing Her Past

Isabella The Promised Neverland

The Promised Neverland is sad no matter how old the audience is, and it's not quite old enough that audience members have experienced watching it as both kids and adults. Despite this, age has a lot to do with the anime, so it makes sense that the audience's age affects their perspective of the characters and story. Fans view the story from the children's perspective, but it's easier to project onto the heroes if the viewer is also young.

However, adults watching are also forced to relate to Isabella's age. As fans learn more about her origin and how this world works, her actions, while still cruel, make the audience wonder what they would do if given the limited options she was.

4 Erased Focuses On How Age Changes Perspective (And It's A Bittersweet Conclusion)

Erased Satoru

Erased is another anime that is pepetually downcast, but it's even more brutal to watch as an adult. Satoru is an adult himself, but he never quite got over the death of his classmate, Kayo. Seeing how he holds onto this regret for years is painful to watch, especially considering the anime's end.

Satoru intervenes and brings the killer to justice by reliving the period in his youth the murders take place, but he ends up in a coma and misses out on most of his life. It's technically a win, but this anime ending is far from a happily ever after.

3 Spirited Away Can Be Interpreted Many Ways

Spirited Away Chihiro By Tunnel

Spirited Away, like most of Hayao Miyazaki's works, is a story that pulls different emotions from each viewer. The actual story of Chihiro finding her way back to her parents is ultimately uplifting, but there are some details throughout the film that point to harsher realities. Chihiro's parents eat food that is not theirs, but their punishment seems excessive for their mistake. From here on out, Chihiro starts to drift further from her reality, even forgetting her name.

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Kids who watch this movie tend to focus on the adventure (which makes for a perfect film in and of itself). Adults watching tend to focus on the cruel circumstances Chihiro, and even Haku, endure for no justifiable reason. No matter the viewer's age, this movie is a timeless masterpiece, but the experience is different for everyone.

2 Orange Demonstrates That Closure Doesn't Fix Everything And People Grow Apart

Orange Main Characters

Orange is an anime with the primary intention of making its fans cry. While the other shows have their sad moments, Orange tells a crushing story of a high school friend group that grows apart after the tragic death of their friend. What sets this anime apart from other classic tear-jerkers is that it follows the characters' future selves as they write letters to the past in an attempt to save Kakeru.

While this show parallels Anohana, the latter focuses on closure over regret. Both are sob-worthy, but Orange shows how people grow apart and get hurt even with closure. Not everything is fixable. Even if the story's conclusion is relatively happy, the future isn't rewritten so much as it is diverted (it gets tricky). Their future selves still live with their regret, and it's a regret most adult viewers can relate to.

1 Pokémon (Especially Mewtwo Strikes Back) Uses Nostalgia To Create A New Experience

Pikachu And Stone Ash

It may be a bold statement to call Pokémon sad based on its straightforward premise and the fact most of its media comes in the form of games, but the original Pokémon anime can cause any veteran fan to burst into tears. Viewers watching Pokémon for the first time as an adult may have no emotional response, but considering Pokémon's consistent global popularity, most people have a nostalgic connection to the show.

Take, for example, the iconic scene from Pokémon the First Movie: Mewtwo Strikes Back where Ash "dies" and Pikachu temporarily mourns him. Fans have a nostalgic and therefore emotional connection to this timeless property. It doesn't hurt that the movie received a 2019 remake that revives the same feelings fans had in their childhood.

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