Top Ten Saddest Anime and Manga Moments

Some of the most depressing/tear jerking moments in both anime and manga; this includes moments from some series manga volumes that haven't made it into their anime yet

The Top Ten

1 Ace's Death (One Piece)
2 Gajeel Redfox's Death (Fairy Tail Manga, Chapter 488)

Hey, he died. But at least he resurrected...

No, this isn't a joke; it is already spoiling the series by putting this on the list, so I won't say if it is permanent or not (read it or guess based on how often Mashima kills off characters) but it is seriously one of the most heartbreaking moments in the whole series. Basically, during the Alverez empire war arc, he ended up having to fight the embodiment of death itself. After Levy falls into a near death coma (because she jumped into the fight, despite knowing that it would eventually kill her, out of her desire to protect him) he sacrifices himself to protect her, and ends up being slowly disintegrated to dust in front of her eyes. Seriously, watching them both crying their eyes out as they say goodbye is the most heart breaking I have ever seen in the whole series; they both really did love each other and did not want to be forced to live without each other, but they could only admit it when it was too late and they were going to be separated forever. - fabcats1

I cried. I so cried. It was the most heartbreaking thing I've ever saw in Fairy Tail. As I'm a Gale shipper and Levy's my favorite character of all time (and I have empathy) I felt really bad. Basically, even after she heard that it would kill her, she still wanted to be with Gajeel, and that just was the saddest thing for me. They would litarraly do everything, and that is why I cried there.

3 Homura's Past Time Lines (Puella Magi Madoka Magica)

This whole series is very dark and depressing, but Homura's motivations and past are easily the worst part of the series. She has a connection to Madoka; in a past life, they were magical girl's together, and Homura time traveled through 100 timelines, over the equivalent of 12 years. She did this because she wanted to protect her friend and change their fates. The worst part is, she wasn't always a jerk who was willing to kill the other girls; once, she had been an adorable dork who had been befriended by them. She became the person she is during the series after watching them lose their minds, turn on her and each other, and die horrific deaths. Even the gag and slice-of-life manga spin-off of Madoka Magica become sad when you realize they are all Homura's memories and observations of past time lines. - fabcats1

4 Marik's Goodbye (Yugioh!)

Marik has always been one of my favorite characters, despite being a murderous, insane whack-job. You can't help feeling bad for him because of his horrible past. (Not that it really excuses his actions; he does feel horrible for trying to kill Atem, all the stuff he put Yugi and his friends through, killing his father, and making his siblings suffer, but never shows any remorse over the other stuff he did. He tortured and killed people; a LOT of people) All that aside, you really feel bad for him by the end of battle city; he's been tortured and driven as far of the deep end as he can go and,despite his promise to help Yugi and make up for everything he did, he has totally lost the will to live and believes that nothing can save him from ending up in hell for his crimes. When he realizes that he is going to fade away for good, his last action is to appear to his unconscious adopted brother, Rishid, and apologize; despite how horribly he treated him, Marik thinks of him has his ...more - fabcats1

5 Kamina's Death (Gurren Lagann)

He was one of my favorite characters, and I was not expecting him to be killed so quickly into the series. It was especially sad because of the relationship between him and Simon; they may have not been blood related, but they were real brothers and for a long time, all they had was each other. It was really awful to realize that that relation wouldn't be shown anymore. - fabcats1

6 Mami Kills Herself (Puella Magia Madoka Magica, the Mang (A Different Story)
7 Griffith Joins the Godhand (Beserk)

More or less gore and horror, as opposed to sadness, but it is depressing that a once heroic character has lost it so much) - fabcats1

8 Fuji's Past (Rouni Kenshin Anime)
9 Jonathan's Death (Jojo's Bizarre Adventure)
10 Juvia Dies for Gray (Fairy Tail)

I was crying my eyes out when she gave him her blood so he could live. The fact that they had to fight each other to their death made it even sadder. He didn't want to do anything to her, he didn't want to live without her when she sacrificed her blood so he could live. He didn't want it to happen like this. He went through so much, had to watch another person sacrifice their self for him. He just wanted love. - PerfectlyPink1210

The Contenders

11 Break Dies (Pandora Hearts)
12 The Dragons Disappear (Fairy Tail)
13 Koro Sensei's Death (Assassination Classroom)

Crying over anime.

Is normal for me. - PokeFallsMagica

I can't stop criying everhome character is crying irina too that was the saddest moment in assassi nation classroom

14 Saiyaka Turn's Into a Witch (Puella Magi Madoka Magica)

Who is Saiyaka?

15 Stairway to Heaven/What a Wonderful World Arc (Jojo's Bizarre Adventure)

Anyone who read part 6 knows what I'm talking about. - hy89045

16 Burning Going Merry (One Piece)
17 Ikaros Dies (Sora No Otoshimono Final Eternal My Master)
18 Ball Breaker (Jojo's Bizarre Adventure Part 7: Steel Ball Run)

If you've read the Valentine fight you'll know whose death I'm talking about. It'll be a few years before SBR anime so no mentioning it here. But... Too many tears were present.

19 Yuya Starts the Apocalypse (Yu-Gi-Oh! Arc-V)

Without getting too overly spoiler-y; a cute and innocent thirteen year old finds out that he is basically his world's version of the anti- Christ right after over 3/4ths of his friends and allies are killed off. And then his girlfriend and one of his family members Bite it and his already fragile mental state furthur crumbles. Oh yeah; he is also apparently one of the reincarnations of the man who caused the first apocalypse a decade ago, and is apparently destined to become evil and do it again. Cue sanity loss and the start of the second apocalypse ( as predicted) - fabcats1

20 Elliot Dies (Pandora Hearts)
21 Oscar Dies (Pandora Hearts)
22 Bruno's Death (Yugioh 5ds)
23 Carly's Death (Yu-Gi-Oh! 5D's)
24 Carla Yeager's death (Attack on Titan)
25 Makoto's Deterioration/Death (Kanon)

Oh my god. This is the absolute saddest scene ever in an anime. Nothing has EVER topped it for me. - taishisohma

26 Griffith's Betrayal (Berserk)

Greatest plot twist in manga history

27 Atlas Floats in Space (Astro Boy 2003)
28 Yamcha Dies (Dragon Ball Z)
29 Itachi's Death (Episode 138) (Shippuden)
30 Jiraiya's Death (Naruto Shippuden)
31 Lelouch's Death (Code Geass)
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