anime and manga that hurt your heart

[Alistair_Wonderland]

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.

Do the the end episodes of Love, Chunibyo, and Other Delusions count if part of that emotional mess included anger and me (who almost never swears) dropping an "f u" to the main character for heartlessly breaking the happy delusions that act as coping mechanisms for the two chuunibyo girl characters? I mean, it all ended well, but happy delusions are part of my life, and strays too close to insulting my Christian beliefs, which would be called delusions by many. I ended up liking the MC in the end because you could see that he felt awful and was only doing what he was told he should do, and eventually fixed his mistakes, but my gosh... why do people got to break people's coping mechanisms because they're not "living in the real world"? That's like kicking a guy in a wheelchair over to teach him to "stand on his own two feet". (As you can tell, still get a bit angry thinking about it.)

As for crying at an anime, I've cried at the mini-episode of Squid Girl where the mini-Squiddie outlived her owner. I'm an emotion wreck, I'll cry at anything, even the sappy, silly animes and cartoons.

 

[Hawthorne]

Seconding Your Lie in April (especially the concert at the end). I'll add Clannad; its first arc devastated me so much I had to set it aside for a few months before continuing. I've often observed the emotional distress an anime causes me is directly proportional to how much I'll enjoy it. Most of the memorable ones are the ones very sad, and Your Lie in April is very high on the list alongside Violet Evergarden.

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.)

Well, that's.... too bad. The series wrecked me badly enough (episodes seven and ten) that I haven't yet watched the film. It's a fantastic anime.

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

There are some intense moments in that list. I have a copy of Grave of the Fireflies but haven't watched it yet. Have you seen The Wind Rises?

 

[Hawthorne]

Along different lines the way Neon Genesis Evangelion paired choral and orchestral arrangements of Ode to Joy, the Hallelujah Chorus, and Joy to the World, with angel attacks was nothing less than glorious and truly awesome and always makes me misty-eyed. Some of the most memorable anime scenes for me.

 

[LeafByNiggle]

I've often observed the emotional distress an anime causes me is directly proportional to how much I'll enjoy it.......

I have a copy of Grave of the Fireflies but haven't watched it yet.

Then definitely don't watch Grave of the Fireflies because it is all sad, ending in death for everyone you come to care about in the movie, including a toddler. It is meant to be a realistic portrayal of conditions during the WWII firebombing of Tokyo. For this movie I think Hayao Miyazaki was more interested in making people share in his absolute hatred of war than he was in entertaining people. After watching it you might feel like it was good for you - in the same way you might feel after doing 120 sit ups. But you won't feel like doing it again right away. So I think you will get the emotional distress without really "enjoying" the film.

Have you seen The Wind Rises?

Only one main character dies in this one. However it is not quite as tragic because the death is not the result of human stupidity like it is in Grave of the Fireflies. There are some uplifting moments as we explore another one of Miyazaki's passions - flying machines. Even though the main character ended up designing the Japanese Zero fighter aircraft, his real passion is not in the combat potential but in the elegance of a perfectly designed airplane.

 

[Somber]

There are some intense moments in that list. I have a copy of Grave of the Fireflies but haven't watched it yet. Have you seen The Wind Rises?

Always good seeing you around the forums, Hawthorne!

Oh! "Grave of the Fireflies" is definitely worth the watch! I realize it may affect everyone differently, but I believe it is the anime that made me cry the most out of any that I've seen! Yes! I have watched "The Wind Rises", although it was some years ago so I don't remember it quite as well, but definitely one that brought some tears to my eyes! Studio Ghibli really has a way of bringing out very relateable human experiences and emotions in their movies.

Seconding Your Lie in April (especially the concert at the end). I'll add Clannad; its first arc devastated me so much I had to set it aside for a few months before continuing. I've often observed the emotional distress an anime causes me is directly proportional to how much I'll enjoy it. Most of the memorable ones are the ones very sad, and Your Lie in April is very high on the list alongside Violet Evergarden.

I have not watched those ones yet although I have heard good things about them!

 

[Hawthorne]

Then definitely don't watch Grave of the Fireflies because it is all sad, ending in death for everyone you come to care about in the movie, including a toddler. It is meant to be a realistic portrayal of conditions during the WWII firebombing of Tokyo. For this movie I think Hayao Miyazaki was more interested in making people share in his absolute hatred of war than he was in entertaining people. After watching it you might feel like it was good for you - in the same way you might feel after doing 120 sit ups. But you won't feel like doing it again right away. So I think you will get the emotional distress without really "enjoying" the film.


Only one main character dies in this one. However it is not quite as tragic because the death is not the result of human stupidity like it is in Grave of the Fireflies. There are some uplifting moments as we explore another one of Miyazaki's passions - flying machines. Even though the main character ended up designing the Japanese Zero fighter aircraft, his real passion is not in the combat potential but in the elegance of a perfectly designed airplane.

I'm sorry I wasn't clear. I mean to say the more emotionally devastating an anime the more likely I am to enjoy it! Ah, Grave of the Fireflies was actually done by Hayao Miyazaki's colleague and friendly rival Isao Takahata who went on to do Only Yesterday and Princess Kaguya (both excellent films).

The Wind Rises is one of my favourite Studio Ghibli films. Lovely score and tender story.

 

[Christopher Pineau]

"Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood" stomped on my feels with football shoes all throughout that series. Period paragraph. Not only the infamous chimera scene and how it ended with Scar visiting the father, but for me? The death and funeral of Maes Hughes--that just messed me up. I really liked his character, and it was just brutal for me to see how his little girl reacted to everything. The way she was confused and saying "Mommy, why are they putting Daddy in the ground?! He can't do his work in the ground," just...argh. The series in general had great characters and writing, and how Ed in particular grows throughout it impresses me.

 

[Trophonius]

Saikano, Clannad.

 

[TruthInLight]

Full Moon Wo Sagashite. But I'm over it now, the effect this anime had on me. Looking back and reflecting on the series, it was depressing how things turned out.

 

[Christopher Pineau]

To add another one...I've been rediscovering the HBO "Spawn" series and even though the violence, foul language and overall tone is not at all family friendly? The scenes where Al Simmons/Spawn interacts with a certain child character in the series are downright heartbreaking because the little kid in question sees through the cape, the chains and spikes, and the glowing green eyes to see just how hurting and broken inside he is after he finds out the hard way that you never make a deal with the Devil (Malebolgia, in the series). When she calls him "The Sad Man," it just goes right through me.