Romance is one of the most sought after genres in any popular media, and anime is no exception. There are countless notable series out there that have made their mark as the best romance anime.
But what elevates romantic stories for a larger number of viewers in this medium is also the emotional impact they have on them. Especially if the show is accompanied by depressing and tearjerker plot elements.
Below we have listed seven romance anime that we would like to recommend to the reader, as we think that they have some of the saddest endings in any anime ever.
Best Anime with heartbreaking endings
Your lie in April
If you are reading this list then you probably were expecting to see this show being mentioned somewhere on this list, well we are getting done with it at the very beginning. Your lie in April is a romantic drama by Naoshi Arakawa following our two main characters, Kosei Arima and Kaori Miyazono.
Fourteen Year old piano Prodigy, Kosei has a mental breakdown after his mother dies, and is unable to play the instrument anymore.
This changes after he meets Kaori, a fourteen year old violinist, and is slowly brought back to the music, which is a key element in this show, surrounding the romance which we are not going to spoil.
But you probably have guessed by now considering the kind of list you are reading, that things just don’t fall into place. Your lie in April is a real tearjerker and the fanbase can attest to that, if you haven’t checked it out yet, then we would highly recommend you do so.
Clannad
Originally a visual novel from the famous developer Key, Clannad was their third and most popular series that got turned into an anime in 2007 and other media adaptations that followed after.
Clannad is a romance/drama series that follows through the life of Tomoya Okazaki, a highschooler who has nothing to look forward to in life until he comes across someone special.
Tomoya comes across Nagisa Furukawa, a girl who is going through troubled highschool life due to several illnesses, but she keeps finding things to look forward to that keeps on motivating her. Nagisa motivates Tomoya to look forward to things in life with her, to help her overcome various obstacles.
Clannad’s story is followed up with a sequel called ‘Clannad: After Story’ that shows our characters outside highschool living a grown up life going through hardships, and it completes this tearjerker of a story.
Anohana: The Flower We Saw That Day
Anohana: The Flower We Saw That Day is quite the mouthful for a title and sounds more like a slice of life title rather than something that could be an emotional roller coaster.
Translation of the original Japanese name for the show stretches even longer, “We Still Don’t Know the Name of the Flower We Saw That Day”. The romantic premise of the story is a bit different compared to the other common shows in this list, even though it once again follows school kids experiencing trauma and loss.
The plot follows a group of six friends who used to play together but they slowly drift away from each other and stop being friends due to a tragedy that breaks them apart.
The actual show starts from a point where the six kids have grown up to high schooler age and reflects back to their past friendship. Mostly centering around the leader of the group, Jinta Yadomi, who turned into a shut-in, avoiding highschool after the said tragedy took place.
Jinta is also at the center of the romance surrounding the show, but it’s better if we leave it at that with a heavy recommendation if you are looking for a romance anime with a sad ending.
I Want to Eat Your Pancreas
Yes you read that title right, ‘I Want to Eat Your Pancreas’ does not sound like it could be a show which would even remotely have any emotional storyline.
Created by Yoru Sumino, originally a visual novel, and later adapted into a film by Studio VOLN in 2018. The premise is a simple highschool romance that spirals into a sad story about terminal illness.
The film follows an unnamed high school student who comes across a diary of his fellow classmate, Sakura Yamauchi who is terminally ill and it has to do with her pancreas. Sakura wants to maintain the remaining days of her school life unclouded by the thoughts of what’s coming for her.
She takes an interest in the protagonist since he doesn’t treat her differently due to her conditions ‘I Want to Eat Your Pancreas’ being a film makes it an easy recommendation from us, a sad and sweet tale that will make you bawl your eyes out in one sitting.
Angel Beats!
Angel Beats! Is another masterpiece from the mind of Jun Maeda, the creator of Clannad, which we have already mentioned in this list. Spanning only around eleven episodes, this show can be binged in a single sitting.
Just like most of the other shows on this list, Angel Beats! has a High School setting but with a twist, the High School is sort of a simulation.
In order to get reincarnated into another life, souls that went through trauma and hardships have to go through a limbo, which is depicted with a highschool environment.
Angel Beats! follows a lot of characters and their stories, but the main focus is on a boy with amnesia, Yuzuru Otonashi who joins the rest in an organisation named ‘Shinda Sekai Sensen’ or SSS for short.
They are waging a fight against the higher beings of power, who are responsible for their present situation in life.
One of the opposing characters is supposedly an angel, also the student council president. Probably the most interesting premise out of all the shows in this list so far, gets a heavy recommendation from us.
Plastic Memories
Going into a completely different kind of setting as opposed to the usual highschool slice-of-life setting that we have covered so far in this list, Plastic Memories is a show that takes place in the distant future.
Written by Naotaka Hayashi, this thirteen episode show tackles the concept of Androids living alongside humans, and puts forward the blaring question of romance between the two.
The plot tells the story of an advanced android model, called Giftia, produced by the world’s leading android production company. They possess exceptional human-like qualities which differentiates them from other machines.
But the catch is that Giftias come with an expiration date, their average life expectancy is around nine years. If the date is surpassed then the Giftias start experiencing memory leaks which can force them to cause violent outbreaks.
Teams of Giftia and human employees are tasked with handling this, and this brings us to our two main characters, Tsukasa Mizugaki, a spotter and Isla, a Giftia. Also that’s where we will leave you with our recommendation for Plastic Memories.
Cyberpunk: Edgerunners
Definitely the most popular title in this list which most readers probably have already watched unless living under a rock.
Based on the CD Projekt Red, the popular polish video game developer’s game that took the world by storm on release, Cyberpunk 2077. Animated by Studio Trigger, who are known for some great shows like Kill La Kill and Little Witch Academia.
Cyberpunk: Edgerunner might be the most odd pick out of all the other shows in this list, considering how romance is not really at the center of the show.
But the romance between our main characters, David Martinez and Lucy is important nonetheless, considering the amount of emotional damage it will do to you by the end of the series.
The story is set in the same city as the game’s universe, but the events take place in the year 2076. Cyberpunk: Edgerunners deals with bureaucratic crime and cybernetic implants in the heart night city.
After a chance meeting with a mysterious netrunner, Lucy, Our protagonist David’s life spirals into a fast paced life of surviving as an Edgerunner.
Cyberpunk: Edgerunners has received several nominations for it’s outstanding animation and storytelling, including being nominated for one of the best video game adaptations for the year 2022, so we naturally had to include it in our list.
