Death is as common in storytelling as it is in reality, and it's because of mortality that life seems to have more meaning. Anime relies on high stakes to keep audiences hooked, and the easiest way to raise the stakes is to make death a real possibility for a cast of characters.
No one will argue that characters, in general, shouldn't die, because that's part of life and telling a great story. But some deaths weigh heavier than others and even help establish characters as fan favorites. The most effective deaths are often the most painful, leaving audiences to imagine what might have happened if they had lived on.
Spoiler Warning: Given the nature of this list, character death spoilers can't be avoided.
10 Everyone Was Rooting For L To Defeat Light (Death Note)
Death Note takes a huge turn with L's untimely demise. A cat-and-mouse game abruptly cut short, L's death steals the wind from the anime's sails, leaving the show without its most popular character. And though it isn't Light who ultimately writes L's name, sealing his fate, Light's gloating smile as L dies in his arms ruins any trace of likability he still has.
In the case of L, fans simply couldn't get enough, and studios delivered. L appears in three Death Note live-action films, including L: Change the World, which feels like fanfiction and an ode to a character whom fans admire to this day.
9 Junpei's Had Potential That Will Never Be Fulfilled (Jujutsu Kaisen)
Jujutsu Kaisen gets right down to business. In the first episode alone, Yuji's grandpa dies, he meets Megumi, fights a demon on a decimated school rooftop, swallows the severed finger of a fearful cursed spirit, and becomes possessed, only to be confronted by Gojo Satoru. Jujutsu Kaisen doesn't drag things out, and compelling characters are introduced on a frequent basis. While many of these characters become permanent members of the cast, Junpei gets the short end of the stick.
Ruthlessly bullied at school, few could blame Junpei for having a nihilistic view of the world. It's easy to understand why he gravitates toward the cursed spirit Makoto, despite his cruelty. After all, Junpei has abilities that have never been addressed and feels seen for the first time. When he befriends Yuji, it seems Junpei will be redeemed. Instead, he is brutally murdered. The most deceiving part is that Junpei is featured in the show's opening credits, as though he is going to become a part of the cast.
8 Kamina's Death Is A Shock (Gurren Lagann)
Jocular characters tend to be divisive, and Kamina has a bombastic approach to achieving his goals. But his self-assured nature and conviction are precisely the traits that make his death early in the series so shocking.
Kamina's brutal demise and final words change the tone of the whole show. Suddenly, Gurren Lagann feels more meaningful, elevated by a death that adds depth to the entire cast, including Kamina himself. Is it any surprise that Kamina's glasses became an internet symbol?
7 These Kids Of Angel Beats Deserved To Live Out Their Lives
The characters in Angel Beats have to die in order for the show to exist. Set in a sort of high school purgatory between life and death, the characters must face the tragedies that brought them there. One by one, they pass on from Limbo to be reincarnated.
Unfortunately, since the audience exists in this purgatory with them, each "second death" feels like losing these characters to some great unknown circumstance. It doesn't get any easier as the series progresses and the characters become more established. If only all these good kids had been given the chance to live long lives the first time around.
6 Kyoko Honda Is The Mother The Younger Characters Deserved (Fruits Basket)
There are lots of dead parents in anime. But many shows fail to address the weight of such a loss, or do so only in passing, as a means to develop sympathy for a character. In the case of Fruits Basket, however, Kyoko Honda maintains a very real presence in the series.
Kyoko is the reason Tohru grows into such an empathetic, wonderful person. Kyoko is present in every episode, in Tohru's reminiscing or in actual flashbacks. Her influence is felt long after her demise, and her love exudes from every action taken by the characters who knew her. If every mom were like Kyoko, the world would be a kinder place.
5 Maes Hughes Is Everyone's Dad (Fullmetal Alchemist)
Fullmetal Alchemist features some of the best characterization anime has to offer. Arakawa is masterful at creating endearing characters, and Maes Hughes is a gem among gems. Perhaps Hughes's greatest charm is his mundanity as a hard worker, a military man, and a proud father. Hughes is the best version of an Everyman.
Hughes dies while trying to do the right thing, leaving his friends and family behind far too soon. His death sets a larger plot in motion and helps establish Roy Mustang as a tenacious adversary for the homunculi. When a man this simple and good dies, the grief remains palpable.
4 Menma's Death Will Never Feel Okay (Anohana)
Anohana would have no reason to exist without the death of Menma. Yet it's hard to watch this evocative series without wishing she were still around. Primarily a show about coping with grief, Anohana centers around the untimely death of a child.
Set five years after Menma's tragic accidental drowning, the anime details the struggles of her friends, who have grown apart since her demise. Menma reappears as a ghost and haunts her friend Jinta, asking him to grant her a wish, hoping to bring the group back together. Her tenacity and genuinely sweet nature make her truly lovable, and by the end of the series, the audience longs to have known her, too.
3 Mami's Demise Redefined A Genre (Puella Magi Madoka Magica)
Puella Magi Madoka Magica is known for being subversive, and it's easy to pinpoint the exact moment when the show establishes itself. The death of Mami in the third episode is as shocking as it is graphic with a literal decapitation by a clownish witch. Whatever audiences think of the show before this moment, they have to rethink every expectation thereafter.
It can be argued that Mami exists for the sole purpose of dying and proving that this is no typical magical girl shojo series, but the show doesn't cheapen or diminish her character. Mami is a tragic, well-established mentor archetype as the big sister to the other girls. Her death signifies the demise of their innocence.
2 Kaworu Could Have Cued The World's Salvation (Neon Genesis Evangelion)
Not everyone loves Kaworu, but a lot of fans certainly do. Kaworu is indeed the 17th angel, sent to destroy and remake humanity as part of the Instrumentality Project. Technically, this makes him an antagonist, but as usual in Evangelion, things are complicated. For one thing, Kaworu is queer-coded, and his affection for Shinji is seen as a landmark aspect of the series.
Shinji idolizes and idealizes Kaworu, and when Kaworu dies, some part of Shinji does as well. Thereafter Shinji falls into a state of despair that culminates in absolute apathy, and Shinji chooses to do nothing to save humanity. After Kaworu's death, Shinji gives up, and fans are left to contend with episode 25's infamous lack of resolution.
1 Fans Never Got Enough Of Ace (One Piece)
One Piece isn't known for killing off main characters, and technically, Ace was never a Straw Hat. But Luffy's adopted brother reappears just when he's needed and quickly establishes himself as a fantastic rogue, winning over fans with his cool demeanor and fiery conviction. Raised alongside Sabo, Ace and Luffy have a bond that defies traditional limits.
When Ace is scheduled for execution at Marineford, it's no surprise that the Straw Hats move heaven and earth to save him. And Luffy does rescue Ace -- only for Ace to die anyway, sacrificing himself to save his little brother. In a show that is usually playful, Ace's death is a remarkable sign that One Piece isn't afraid to be poignant, too.