Happy endings aren't always assured in the world of anime, and plenty of stories end with the main character —whose journey we've seen throughout the series— perishing in the end.
Of course, just like in Western comics, it's not unheard of for anime characters to die and miraculously come back. In fact, some anime heroes are famous for dying more than once because of this. Admittedly, some stories that end with the hero's death do like to add some air of ambiguity of whether the main character is really dead or not. And if a story is popular enough to get a sequel, the main character will either be alive and well without question, unless they are replaced by a similar character.
10 Kimba The White Lion: Whether He Survives Depends On The Version
The animals of this anime seem to have become a little more accepting of the natural order than most humans, as Kimba even keeps around his father's pelt.
The original manga story ends with Kimba's death. Adaptations tend to go back and forth on whether or not to keep this ending. The 1997 film, for example, retains Leo's death, in which he sacrifices his life to give his flesh and pelt to a human friend.
9 Tomorrow's Joe: Not All Boxers Leave The Ring Alive
This boxing manga, which also inspired Megalobox, does not portray dying in the ring as uncommon. The manga even ends with Joe falling down and passing out in the ring, heavily implying he just died, although keeping it ambiguous for hopeful readers he could survive, as the last readers see of Joe is him being carried out.
Some anime adaptations have been more merciful towards Joe and either have him survive or just have him retire from boxing, although other versions keep the manga's ending.
8 Tiger Mask: The World Will Never Know His True Identity
Naoto Date is hit by a car and dies. This is made all the more tragic because he had just discarded his mask, meaning the world will never know he was Tiger Mask, especially since the fighter who survived constant attacks in and out of the ring was killed in a random accident.
Because of this, the sequel series, Tiger Mask W, ended up making Tiger Mask a legacy character, with a new fighter, the similarly named Naoto Azuma, taking on the identity.
7 GoLion: The English Dub Had A Few Tricks To Keep The Blue Lion Pilot Alive
In the anime series that would be made into Voltron, the Pilot of the Blue Lion, Takashi, died early on and was replaced by his twin brother, Ryou, who eventually dies towards the end of the series in something of a kamikaze attack.
When the series was translated into English, the brothers were combined into a single character, Sven, who simply disappeared to recuperate and came back all better. And while Sven sacrifices himself like Ryou, a throwaway line was added assuring he survived after all.
6 Witchblade: Masane Gives Up Her Life To Destroy The Witchblade
This anime, which is based on the American comic book that shares its name, focuses on Masane Amaha who becomes the bearer of the Witchblade, a weapon that seems to increase her desire for death and destruction.
Masane ends up using the Witchblade's power to kill herself in an act of self-sacrifice, as it also takes out the Witchblade and the I-Weapons, weapons created from corpses.
5 Banana Fish: Ash Dies At The Library
Ash Lynx, a teenage gang-leader based in New York City, is just about to take up Eiji's offer of going to Japan with him and giving up with life in the underworld.
Right when it seems he's going to turn his life around, his life gets cut short when Lao stabs him and he dies reading Eiji's letter, dying along in the New York Public Library, at least with a smile on his face.
4 Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann: This Anime Kind Of Pulls a Bait-&-Switch With The Main Characters
In the first episodes of this series, Kamina more or less functions as the main character, with Simon functioning as his follower and admirer. Then, Kamina dies early on, with Simon eventually getting more focus and becoming the proper main character.
Although he spends most of the series as a posthumous character, he still has a lot of influence in the series, having been the one to start the revolution. Even his spirit makes an appearance later in the series.
3 Cowboy Bebop: Spike Goes Out With A Bang
During his showdown with Vicious, Spike is badly injured, even though he is able to kill Vicious with a shot in the chest. In his final moments, he falls down some stairs, makes a gun out of his fingers, says "bang," and collapses.
As there is some ambiguity as to whether or not Spike succumbed to his wounds and died, some fans like to suspect he somehow survived. It's been rumored that even the crewmembers refuse to confirm whether or not he died because of this.
2 Death Note: Light Ignored The Obvious Flaw About The Death Note
Being the main character is often enough to qualify a character as the hero, even if they act somewhat like a villain. Although how sympathetic he is tends to vary from version to version, Light Yagami is such a protagonist who has known the dark side.
Light develops a god complex over the ability to kill his enemies using the power of the Death Note, to the point that he underestimates someone finally using the book against him by writing his name within it, which is ultimately how he meets his end.
1 Devilman: Akira Is Just Destined To Die
Akira's ultimate fate is to die at Ryo's hands, at which point he had already become one of the last humans in existence. The fact that the characters seem to be in an endless loop complicates things, but this seems to suggest Akira will die at Ryo's hands all over again.
Granted, as this series has had multiple reimaginings over the years, whether Akira survives or somehow revives depends on the version. The '70s anime ends things on a happier note, but, then again, the real Akira was dead from the start in that version.