Heart-wrenching anime series that make viewers clutch their chests and cry their eyes out are favorites among certain audiences. Popular sad anime like Anohana: The Flower We Saw That Day or Clannad have already taken over a niche corner of fans' hearts. While these anime series have been around for a while and have grown to be some of the most popular anime in this genre, there is a plethora of underrated sad anime just waiting to be discovered.
Some sad anime haven't seen the limelight yet or haven't received the attention that they deserve. These underrated sad anime series are just as heartbreaking, emotional, and heavy on the heart as the more popular series, if not more.
10 Lost Memories Of Friendship (One-Week Friends)
High school student Kaori Fujimiya is a reserved girl who actively cuts herself off from her peers. Her classmate, Yuki Hase, has a huge crush on her and is determined to pursue her. One-Week Friends revolves around these two high schoolers and Yuki's attempt to befriend Kaori, whose memory resets every Monday.
As a result of an accident when she was in middle school, Kaori loses memories of everyone close to her every week. One-Week Friends beautifully portrays Kaori's loneliness and the weekly heartbreak of losing dear friends.
9 Star-Crossed Lovers (Banana Fish)
While Banana Fish is popular as the harbinger of the boys' love or yaoi genre, it is much more than that. Fans of the show are well-aware of the heartbreak it brings, both for the characters and the audience.
Following the meeting and relationship of 17-year-old street gang leader Ash Lynx and 19-year-old assistant photographer Eiji Okumura, Banana Fish takes viewers on a journey of love, violence, and heartbreak. The series constantly reminds viewers that death is permanent and second chances are rarely a reality in this cruel world.
8 Aftermath Of A Devastating Earthquake (Tokyo Magnitude 8.0)
Tokyo Magnitude 8.0 follows Mirai Onozawa, a middle school student who wishes to tear the world apart due to harsh circumstances at home. When she takes her younger brother to a much-awaited robot exhibition, a catastrophic earthquake with a magnitude of 8.0 strikes the Kanto region and lays everything to waste.
Mirai and her brother come across Mari Kusakabe, a motorcyclist and single mother who helps them navigate through the decimated city on a long and arduous journey. On this journey, emotions run high as they reunite with their parents.
7 Fate Plays Interesting Games (NANA)
Nana Komatsu and Nana Osaki are two rural women who travel to Tokyo to find their true calling and pursue their dreams in NANA. Because they share the same name, the two women find themselves together on the train and get to know each other, and even end up sharing an apartment in Tokyo.
NANA follows the development of their relationship from strangers to sister-like best friends who support each other through thick and thin. Over time, various situations harshly test their dynamic, resulting in huge conflicts and emotional reconciliations.
6 A Shogi Prodigy Tries To Understand Himself (March Comes In Like A Lion)
Rei Kiriyama is a Shogi prodigy and the protagonist of March Comes in Like a Lion. He moves out of his adoptive parents' house to live in Tokyo at the young age of 17. An introvert and a recluse, Rei is not close to anyone in school or at the Shogi Hall. He meets the Kawamoto sisters, Akari, Hinata, and Momo, and he comes to share a familial bond with them.
As March Comes in Like a Lion progresses, Rei learns to sustain himself physically and mentally and ask for help when required. The Kawamoto sisters, dealing with their family's tragedies, also help him with his issues.
5 Angel-Like Entities Long For Freedom (Haibane Renmei)
Haibane Renmei follows Rakka, a young being with small gray wings and a halo, as she wakes up in a new world and finds herself in an eerily strange situation. Warned to stay away from the wall surrounding the city and curious about the strange disappearances of her kin, Rakka tries to find answers.
Rakka emerges from a cocoon after a dream where she was falling. She tries to get to the bottom of the disappearances occurring on the "Day of the Flight," despite being warned not to investigate further.
4 Jazz And Friendship Through Hard Times (Kids On The Slope)
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Kids on the Slope is the heartwarming tale of Kaoru Nishimi, a classical pianist who finds himself in love with the joy that jazz brings to himself and those around him. As someone who frequently moved around, Kaoru was prepared to be lonely yet again this year. He meets Sentarou Kawabuchi, a notorious delinquent who introduces him to jazz.
Kaoru explores the world of jazz music by playing the piano in Ritsuko Mukae's family's basement record shop during after-school jazz sessions. The three develop a deep bond with each other and jazz music.
3 Survival Of The Fittest (Grimgar Of Fantasy And Ash)
Grimgar of Fantasy and Ash follows a ragtag team of individuals who have no memories of the past - except their own names - and are thrown into the unknown new world of Grimgar. In Grimgar of Fantasy and Ash, this motley crew is forced to survive by working the only paying job as soldiers in the Reserve Army and protecting the peace of their new world.
While Grimgar of Fantasy and Ash resembles a game isekai, it is far from a game. Survival is key, which requires them to put their lives on the line. Death is permanent with no second chances.
2 Memories Cost A Body (Kaiba)
Kaiba is a science-fiction anime where someone's soul lives on in their memories after they are dead. These memories can be stored in memory chips. Kaiba follows Kaiba as wakes up in a strange room with a hole in his chest and a locket that has a mysterious woman's picture inside it.
Escaping an attack, Kaiba stumbles upon a derelict village of underworld residents. He embarks upon a journey to the various planets of this universe to find the answers to who he and the woman are.
1 A Former Yakuza Takes Up Comedic Storytelling (Showa Genroku Rakugo Shinju)
Showa Genroku Rakugo Shinju follows Yotaro, a former Yakuza. Yotaro takes up Rakugo, the art of comedic storytelling, during his incarceration and gets inspired to pursue the same after his return to civilization. A huge fan of Yakumo Yurakutei, Yotaro desperately appeals to Yakumo to take him in as an apprentice.
During Yakumo's mentorship, Yotaro comes across Sukeroku Yurakutei, a late Rakugo performer whose style was at odds with Yakumo's. Showa Genroku Rakugo Shinju is set in the past and the present, beautifully exploring the hearts of those associated with this dying art.