Comedy can be a tough genre to tackle. The writers want the audience to be happy and laugh as they watch the series unfolding, but they also want viewers to connect with the characters and care about them. That can be hard to accomplish when trying to maintain a comedic tone, which is why many comedy anime take a break from their silly shenanigans to include heartfelt and emotional scenes.
Of course, accomplishing this task is easier said than done, because these types of scenes have to be able to fit in organically with an otherwise light-hearted show. Fortunately, there is no shortage of comedy anime that have managed to explore its characters' emotions on a deeper level without sacrificing the overall tone.
Warning: Heavy spoilers for some of these shows follow.
10 Hachiman Wants Something Genuine (My Teen Romantic Comedy SNAFU)
My Teen Romantic Comedy SNAFU has plenty of comedic moments to spare. However, on occasion, the show does take time to display to the audience the true emotions of the service club's members. One of the most infamous and tense moments comes in the series' second season when protagonist Hachiman Hikigaya tearfully admits to the other two members, Yui Yuigahama and Yukino Yukinoshita, that he wants a genuine friendship.
Until this point, Hachiman avoided investing himself emotionally in anyone around him, including Yui and Yukino. He did not see them as people who cared about him, and so he tried not to care about them. But once he realizes that they've always been friends, he confesses to the two that he wishes for them all to truly get to know and understand each other deeper than the surface-level relationship they have had up until now.
9 Kyosuke's First Date Doesn't Go As Planned (Oreimo)
Oreimo spends the first season building up to a relationship between the protagonist, Kyosuke, and his younger sister, Kirino. On top of that, the title translated to English reads "My Little Sister Can't Be This Cute," leading viewers to believe the series is heading toward a romance between siblings.
However, the series takes a sudden turn in the second season when a relationship begins to bloom between Kyosuke and Kirino's friend, Ruri. Kyosuke and Ruri make a nice couple, giving many fans hope that the series is heading in a different direction. Unfortunately, those hopes are quickly dashed when Kyosuke and Ruri go on their first date, in which it is revealed to the audience that she intends to break up with him to help further his and Kirino's bond.
8 Hikari & Iroha's Love Is Put To The Test (Real Girl)
Real Girl starts off as a romantic comedy, about an unpopular high schooler named Hikari who begins dating the overly popular Iroha from his class, with the one caveat being that she is moving away in six months. However, it is eventually revealed that Iroha is actually due to undergo brain surgery that will make her lose her memories.
As a result of this revelation, the final few episodes are considerably more somber than the rest of the series, as Iroha and Hikari come to terms with the fact that their relationship must end, and they may never see one another again.
7 Isla & Tsukasa Make Memories On Their Last Day Together (Plastic Memories)
Plastic Memories tells the story of a future in which androids live alongside humans and are nearly indistinguishable from them. The main difference is that androids only live for about 9 years and 4 months. The protagonist, Tsukasa, works at Terminal Service One, where he is partnered with an android named Isla.
Of course, the two begin to fall in love, even though Isla's lifespan will be ending very soon. This culminates in the final episode of the series, in which Tsukasa and Isla decide to spend her final day together. They read from her diary, take care of her herbs, and go to an amusement park. As they ride the Ferris wheel, Isla asks Tsukasa to be the one to deactivate her, and they kiss one last time as her body shuts down.
6 Shizuku Discovers Haru's Family Issues (My Little Monster)
My Little Monster's love story avoids other romance anime cliches by having its main characters, Haru and Shizuku, confess to each other early on, rather than spending the entire series building up to the confession. Instead, the series explores their relationship as they try to figure out how they feel about each other and how they make one another better people.
Over the course of the series, it is clear that Haru has issues with his family, as he is not currently living with them and he tries to hide from his brother, Yuzan, every time he comes around. Later, a series of flashbacks reveal the broken relationship he has with his brother who wishes Haru had never been born. On top of that, it is revealed that their father has been trying to control the direction of Haru's life by trying to force him to go to the school he has picked out.
5 Sawako Discovers The Truth (From Me To You)
From Me to You is chock full of as many heartfelt scenes as there are comedic moments. The series' main protagonist is a socially awkward high school girl named Sawako, who suddenly finds herself making friends and experiencing new things.
One of the more memorable episodes comes midway through the first season. Sawako discovers that Kurumi has been spreading rumors about her and that she is also in love with Kazehaya. Despite this, Sawako believes that Kurumi is struggling more than she is and wants to support her.
4 Nanami Is Kidnapped By A Snake Familiar (Kamisama Kiss)
In the first few episodes of Kamisama Kiss, protagonist Nanami becomes an Earth God of a local shrine, and Tomoe, her love interest, becomes her familiar. In the 4th episode, Nanami finds herself kidnapped by another shrine's familiar, Mizuki, who wishes for her to become his new god.
As the episode progresses, it is revealed that Mizuki's god, a Water Deity, died several years prior and that he has simply been lonely living at the shrine. Feeling sorry for him, Nanami promises that she will come back and visit him and the plum tree that his former god had grown.
3 Rikka Confronts Her Father's Death (Love, Chunibyo & Other Delusions)
Love, Chunibyo & Other Delusions is full of silly situations due to the premise of a high school girl, Rikka, who is trapped in the delusion that she possesses magical powers. The protagonist, Yuta, helps her through her delusions and gradually becomes romantically interested in her.
In the second half of the first season, it is revealed that Rikka's father died three years before the series began. This leads to an emotion-filled "showdown" between Rikka and her older sister, Toka, in which the latter tries to help the former confront the death of their father and come to terms with it.
2 Miku's Confession Is Ruined (The Quintessential Quintuplets)
As a harem anime, The Quintessential Quintuplets is full of comedic moments. However, the series is full of heartfelt moments both between the sisters and with their tutor, Futaro. Some of the series' more emotional moments come near the end of the second season, when Miku, Nino, and Ichika are in a race to confess their feelings to Futaro.
The most noteworthy of these sequences occurs when Miku is working up the courage to tell him how she feels, but Ichika interrupts and Futaro overhears, effectively ruining her confession. This wrecks Miku who runs off crying and refuses to come out of her room.
1 Kaguya Missed The Fireworks With Her Friends (Kaguya-Sama: Love Is War)
Kaguya-sama: Love is War is a romantic comedy in every sense of the word. The series' two protagonists, Kaguya Shinomiya and Miyuki Shirogane, are constantly at each other's throats, trying to force the other to confess their love. This ongoing war results in many hilarious situations, but the show does not shy away from bringing the audience to tears.
In the season one finale, Kaguya's father forbids her from going out with her friends to see the fireworks display. She has been hyping up this event and now all her hopes for the evening have been shattered. However, she successfully sneaks out and the viewer has a second to feel happy for her.
Unfortunately, the fireworks display ends by the time she arrives, and she cannot find her friends. Kaguya breaks down and begins to cry, having missed out on the event she had been looking forward to for so long.