Sometimes you just want to find a show that will let you feel some things. Often the best way to do this is by watching a touching anime that is guaranteed to make you cry. There are a ton of shows out there both popular and that have gone under the radar that will make any anime fan break down in tears.
If you are looking for a great story coupled with tons of heartbreaking twists, then look no further than the ten anime on the list below. Just make sure to have a box of tissues next to you before you begin your anime binge.
10 Kobato
Kobato is a story by Clamp that never got the same recognition as some of their more popular series. Kobato is a girl with no memories, but she has a glass jar that she is told to feel the jar up with hearts of those she has helped to heal. Kobato soon gets involved with a daycare with her friend Fujimoto who slowly begins to understand just how kind-hearted the strange girl is.
Kobato is a story about getting the thing you truly want only to learn that there are far better things in life.
9 Sunday Without God
Sunday Without God is an anime based on a light novel about a young girl named Ai. Ai is a grave keeper who can send the souls of the dead to their final resting place. Things quickly get twisted, though, as she learns that her whole village was murdered by a man bearing the same name as the father she has never met.
The world Ai lives in is twisted, and the more she adventures out of her village, the more her heart breaks.
8 You Lie In April
You Lie in April is an anime that will leave you in tears by the end. The anime follows young Piano player Kosei as he gets close to a young violinist named Kaori. The two start to develop a deep friendship as the show goes on with Kosei learning tons about life from the girl with whom he is falling deeper and deeper in love.
If you love more realistic love stories with tragedy mixed in them, this is the way to go.
7 No Game No Life: Zero
No Game No Life: Zero is a prequel movie that explains how the world was once at war. The movie revolves around two characters from different races who fall in love, Riku and Schwi. The only problem is that the world is at war, as previously mentioned, and the two should be killing each other, especially since Riku is a human, and humans are now on the verge of extinction.
The story of the couple is rough and proves that love can transcend just about any obstacle.
6 Anohana: The Flower We Saw That Day
Anohana is another drama based anime about a group of friends who drift apart after one of the members of there group dies. Now in high school, Jinta has started to see the ghost of Menma, his dead friend, and she is asking that he finds a way to grant his final wish.
This leads to Jinta pulling his group of friends back together in order to give Menma her rest.
5 Plastic Memories
Plastic Memories is a show revolving around robots who take on a human appearance and appear to have emotions. Tsukasa is paired up with his partner Isla who is a robot. As it turns out, these models have a short run time meaning that Isla is getting closer and closer to her shut down date.
The two take on jobs to pick up failing units and must face the families that have grown to love them.
4 Violet Evergarden
Violet Evergarden puts you in the shoes of a young girl named Violet, who was a former child soldier. After a vicious battle, she finds herself freed to live her life, but the man she loves, Gilbert, isn't anywhere to be found. While waiting on Gilbert to appear, Violet takes a job as a letter writer who helps put people's feelings into words.
This sends her on a heartwarming quest to learn more about herself and help others overcome grief.
3 5 Centimeters Per Second
This is a story about two kids named Takaki and Akari who met when they were kids. As fate would have it, they ended up moving away from each other but kept in touch for a few years using letters. The story revolves around several different acts that show what the characters are doing as they grow up.
The pain the two feel from being separated feels incredibly real and well-paced.
2 A Silent Voice
A Silent Voice is a story that revolves around a boy named Shoya and the girl he used to bully for being deaf, named Shoko. In high school, the two characters meet up once again, and Shoya tries to befriend Shoko in order to atone for the time he spent bullying her in the past; he even goes as far as learning sign language to talk to her.
The story talks about the effects of bullying and making amends and is sure to bring viewers to tears by the end.
1 Voices Of A Distant Star
This is a shorter anime that tells the story of a young girl sent off to fight aliens in a distant galaxy named Mikako and the boy that stays on earth and still loves her Noboru. The two stay in contact through messages that take longer and longer to send as Mikako has to drift farther and farther away from earth for her mission.
The anime shows both sides of the relationship as both characters grow older.