anime and manga that hurt your heart

[Bramblewild]

Ok, anime and manga folks, let's be honest--we all have series and movies or even scenes in large series that are close to our hearts because they took our hearts and shredded them into a million sobbing little pieces.

For example, Your Lie In April. If you've seen the last three episodes of that series, I've no need to explain what it was like, and if you haven't seen them, no words of mine are adequate.

So, share with us, please, any series or scenes that left you an emotional mess.

 

[Gene2memE]

Grave of the Fireflies

Hauntingly beautiful and crushingly sad story of two young orphaned siblings trying to survive in the ruins of Japan in the final days of WW2.

 

[Petros2015]

Not sure if it qualifies, but the 1999 movie the Iron Giant
And Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind

 

[LeafByNiggle]

I agree about Grave of the Fireflies. And even though Iron Giant was American, it also has that anime feel to it. Both are very sad. But I would not say Nausicaa is sad, unless you stop watching 5 minutes before the end and miss her "resurrection" by the Ohm. Of those three, Nausicaa is my favorite. But if you are willing to sit through over two hours of disfunctional bullying and flawed but realistic lives trying with varying degrees of success to amend their ways, I highly recommend A Silent Voice (or The Shape of Voice in some countries). It has several tearful moments that make the two hour investment worthwhile.

 

[Petros2015]

But I would not say Nausicaa is sad

Nor would I but she made me "feel" - when she tries the stop the wounded baby Ohm from going into the acid lake, the moments when she was nearly shot; the first time I saw her try to stop the stampede...
And then later when I read the much more detailed manga... I've often referred to her as "a fictional character that I would take a bullet for"

As for Iron Giant, the moment near the end when he says the word "Superman". I have no words for that, can't even type it without tearing up.

Sacrifice, that's what they have in common. And love.

I'm not sure my office mate appreciated her as I much as I did though

 

[Bramblewild]

Yeah, A Silent Voice is a roller coaster, too. If you haven't read it, I'd recommend the manga for it, too. It's fairly short, 7 volumes, but as good as the movie was I think the manga is better in many ways, adding a bit more depth to some important scenes.

 

[LeafByNiggle]

@Petros2015,

Nausicaä, Nausicaä....what can I say about Nausicaä? There's the ethereal other-worldly music in the opening scenes and in the toxic jungle. Music is a very big part of the anime experience for me, which I guess is why I am not attracted to manga. In this case the music was from Joe Hisaishi, the long-time collaborator of Hayao Miyazaki. I have been trying to learn to play some of the Ghibli sheet music for piano, like the opening title music, the Nausicaä Requiem, and the Road to the Valley, but most of them are beyond my skill level. When I play them I recall the scenes in the movie where they occur. Try watching the ending "resurrection" scene with the sound turned off and you will see how important the music is to the overall feelings you get from the movie. Then there is the voice acting. (I watched the English dub.) I love hearing Patrick Stewart as Lord Yupa. At least his job was easier than most of the other voice actors because he did not have to match the lip flaps of the animation since Lord Yupa's lips are always hidden by his mustache. As for the story, it reflects many of Miyazaki's personal views and interests, from his love of all things that fly (both living and mechanical), his strong advocacy for nature and the environment, and his abhorrence of war and violence of any kind. The character of Nausicaä herself embodies all these properties.

 

[Yttrium]

The last episode of the first season of Magic Knight Rayearth (and the corresponding part of the manga). And you thought this show was an adventure story. Not, you know, a tragedy.

Episode 10 of Puella Magi Madoka Magica. Especially Homura's scream.

 

[Bramblewild]

Not anime, but very anime-esque or anime-inspired, but Avatar: The Last Airbender, Iroh singing Leaves From The Vine.

 

[Bramblewild]

Erased, the breakfast scene.

 

[Bramblewild]

When future generations want to know the meaning of the phrase "emotional devastation", they will be directed to watched episode ten of Violent Evergarden. It's the episode about the young girl whose mother is busy, with Violet's help, writing a bunch of letters to someone.

 

[LeafByNiggle]

When future generations want to know the meaning of the phrase "emotional devastation", they will be directed to watched episode ten of Violent Evergarden. It's the episode about the young girl whose mother is busy, with Violet's help, writing a bunch of letters to someone.

Not surprisingly, this episode ten was the basis for the feature length movie, Violet Evergarden - The Movie, that is now on Netflix. It tells the story from the perspective of the granddaughter of that same little girl, Anne, who stumbles upon those letters after the passing of Anne. The granddaughter then seeks to find out about the Violet a half a century later, and we finally learn what happened to The Major (Gilbert), which was an ongoing mystery for all of the series. Violet Evergarden - The Movie is a worthy end to the saga as it ties up all the loose ends in a satisfying way. (But definitely watch the series first, especially episode ten.)

The studio that produced Violet as well as the equally emotional "A Silent Voice" is Kyoto Animation (KyoAni for short). This is an impressive organization for their commitment to fair treatment of their employees, particularly the lower-level in-between animators which typically in Japan are seriously overworked and underpaid. KyoAni was more like a family, which made it so heartbreaking when an arson attack on the studio in 2019 killed 36 people and injured 34 others. This likely delayed the release of Violet Evergarden - The Movie.

 

[Bramblewild]

So, the Violet Evergarden movie is on Netflix? I'm kinda glad to hear that, although I quit 'flix a while back. Also didn't know the movie tied in with that episode, though that may explain some of the more modern-looking imagery in some of the trailers or teasers

 

[Somber]

Here are the ones that made me cry the most:
Grave of the Fireflies
When Marnie was There
Orange
The Tale of Princess Kaguya
Your Name
Children Who Chase Lost Voices
Big Fish and Begonia
Wolf Children
Maquia: When The Promised Flower Blooms

 

[Petros2015]

Music is a very big part of the anime experience for me, which I guess is why I am not attracted to manga. In this case the music was from Joe Hisaishi, the long-time collaborator of Hayao Miyazaki.

Merry Christmas...

That's Joe, directing and playing - you can see the joy and reverence as he plays the piano, it's amazing and beautiful and epic, and everything I feel

 

[LeafByNiggle]

Here are the ones that made me cry the most:
......
The Tale of Princess Kaguya
.......

Oh,yes, I forgot about that one. As with Nausicaa, it was the music in The Tale of Princess Kaguya that hit me the most. The Procession of the Celestial Beings is heartbreaking because it sounds happy on the surface, but its constant repetition betrays a total ignorance of the human condition by these moon beings, while at the same time showing their absolute power over events. This power is briefly interrupted by the power of another music as the children appear, singing a song about the little things in life. You get the feeling that these beings have no real concept of joy. That feeling is reinforced by the fact that their faces are expressionless and their eyes vacant. The cyborgs from Skynet in Terminator had more humanity than these beings. But the most powerful music in this movie to me was the piece played over the closing credits, "Memories of Life." The title alone tells the sad story because the whole point of the ending was that Princess Kaguya was deprived of all of her memories as the robe of forgetfulness was placed on her and her expression went blank. I have the piano sheet music to "Memories of Life" and am trying to learn to play it.

And I could write all day about Your Name, but I've already done it in another thread.

 

[Bramblewild]

I heard about Maquia when it was showing in a nearby theater. Knew little about it, but decided to give it a shot, and went to see it. There weren't many people there to watch, maybe a dozen, more or less. What I remember most was when the final credits were playing, and that's usually when people start to leave, but none of us left, we all sat through the credits, and I'd guess none of us knew about the final brief scene at the end. It seemed like none of us were in a hurry to leave behind what we had just seen and felt.

 

[Somber]

I heard about Maquia when it was showing in a nearby theater. Knew little about it, but decided to give it a shot, and went to see it. There weren't many people there to watch, maybe a dozen, more or less. What I remember most was when the final credits were playing, and that's usually when people start to leave, but none of us left, we all sat through the credits, and I'd guess none of us knew about the final brief scene at the end. It seemed like none of us were in a hurry to leave behind what we had just seen and felt.

I bet that was beautiful to watch in the theater!!

Oh,yes, I forgot about that one. As with Nausicaa, it was the music in The Tale of Princess Kaguya that hit me the most. The Procession of the Celestial Beings is heartbreaking because it sounds happy on the surface, but its constant repetition betrays a total ignorance of the human condition by these moon beings, while at the same time showing their absolute power over events. This power is briefly interrupted by the power of another music as the children appear, singing a song about the little things in life. You get the feeling that these beings have no real concept of joy. That feeling is reinforced by the fact that their faces are expressionless and their eyes vacant. The cyborgs from Skynet in Terminator had more humanity than these beings. But the most powerful music in this movie to me was the piece played over the closing credits, "Memories of Life." The title alone tells the sad story because the whole point of the ending was that Princess Kaguya was deprived of all of her memories as the robe of forgetfulness was placed on her and her expression went blank. I have the piano sheet music to "Memories of Life" and am trying to learn to play it.

And I could write all day about Your Name, but I've already done it in another thread.

Yeah, I felt the same when the Celestial Beings came down and the music was so conflicting and upbeat for such a sad scene. I feel like they did a really good job at making it an emotional scene. Plus the artwork and the times where she was running and the sketching was all messy really felt so emotional, like the art was speaking. I think it had a lot of wisdom in it and I loved the song that she would sing!!

 

[NeysonClark79]

I was very moved by the plot of the anime "The City Where I Am Not". I liked it a lot. Really a plot that is very touching. I recommend watching it to those who haven't seen it. As a fashion designer, I especially liked the outfit of one of the actresses in this movie. She was wearing a hanfu dress similar to the one I saw here. It looked beautiful.

 

[Bramblewild]

I was very moved by the plot of the anime "The City Where I Am Not". I liked it a lot. Really a plot that is very touching. I recommend watching it to those who haven't seen it.

Is that "Erased"? I think your title is a more literal translation of the Japanese title, and I agree, it's a very good series with some moving moments.