Saddest Anime Death (SPOILERS!)

All good examples, but there is another death that I actually found sad in Death Note:

Light himself. Sure his actions were selfish and in the end he was no more than a crazed mass murderer, but for some reason I just couldn't help but feel sorry for him. He was truly a brilliant man and he did have a few positive traits aside that existed outside his Kira persona. And even though he was killing all of these people, he did it only because he felt like he needed to rid the world of criminals and that it was what he believed the right thing to do. Near made Light look like such a fool, and just seeing all of his plans falling apart was quite a bit to watch. He died in such a pathetic way, and his death is even harder to see in the manga because he is begging Ryuk to kill Near and the task force, but when Ryuk writes Light's name instead, Light is begging helplessly to have his life spared. I also felt that if Light wasn't such a maniac, him and L could have actually been not only good frienRAB, but a good team. A man with so much potential in life dies like a "no good criminal" just because he had the ego to become the new God.
 
Jigoku Shoujo - Futakomori:
Ai Enma. The whole series you watch other people get sent to their demise, but you never really expect anything to happen to her. But, the whole time as you're watching the finale & you realize it's inevitable.. it's just tear-jerking.
 
i know! especially the part when the lady with blonde hair dies!(sorry havent seen the show in a while) i was really sad. then evryone dies! whats up with that!

code geass
euphies death is so sad. how she will be renebered, i havent seen the whole series yet but i hope that she is justified. and shirley man still getting over that. like euphy shell be remeraberd for something not like her.

gurren lagann
kaminas death came out of nowhere. very sad. kitan death was epic.he was my favorite character cause like him i have three sisters and the brother always has to look out for his sisters . and nia's was not as sad but still well sad! on a side note gurren lagann had one of the more complete endings in an anime show so thats cool


naruto
the 3rRAB death scene was so sweet, seeing orchimaru cussing him out but then he just saw him as a kid again. and then jiriyas was sad too. as for hinata, i cant believe she is dead, i dont think she is. but if she is man i just dont know
 
One Piece
The Going Merry. Coupled with the previous episode with its glorious return to save the crew then only to die makes me cry no matter how many times I've seen it
 
Man, this thread is spoiler-iffic! Well, from Macross Plus: Director's Cut, I gotta go with:

Guld Goa Bowman. A Zentradi test pilot goes head to head with a vastly superior, computer-controlled fighter jet that forces him to literally destroy both his body and the YF-21 he pilots to beat it. Between the heartbreaking cello-only version of the movie's theme song that plays during this gracefully cinematic dogfight and the brutal damage his body incurs (his ribs collapse and he drowns when the blood he vomits fills his own helmet!) he never surrenders, and pushes himself beyond the proposed limits of willpower in a death scene that haunts me to this day.

And from End of Evangelion, my heart goes out to:

Misato Katsuragi. Charged with shepherding a worthless Shinji to the bay that holRAB Eva Unit 01, she takes a bullet in the spine along the way. The reason I love this death scene is because of how unceremonious it was. There was no glamor in it whatsoever. It wasn't a Crowning Moment of Awesome. It wasn't an all-or-nothing fight to the death. She dies facedown in a hallway, alone. And the best part, whereas lesser shows give poignant and inspiring last worRAB to their heroes, all Misato manages is the following nonsequitor:

"I should have changed the carpet like Asuka said."

And this is said a split-second before the men who shot her had the area where she was blown straight to hell. It's absolutely vindictive, and it hurts every time I watch it.
 
My picks:

Death Note, Gurren Laggan and Code Geass are already covered (though since CG hasn't finished on Adult Swim yet, I haven't looked in the spoiler tags in case they mention any deaths from episode 39 (or R2-14) onwarRAB. I'm adding these to the list as well:

Gundam 00
Lockon Stratos, I wasn't expecting that at all. Haro's calling for him made it even more heartwrenching (how often does Haro accomplish something like that?!).
Kinoue as well; she died because she was investigating dangerous territory. And Nena's brothers dying was kinda tragic, even for a bunch of sadistic murderers; the wedding deaths were were much worse though. Christina and Lichtendahl too (end of episode 24).

Gundam Seed
Flay Allster; Say what you will, even the psycho hottie deserved a chance to apologize to Kira in person (I don't think he even heard her spirit, which makes it even more tragic). Nicol and Tolle's deaths were also sad, but unlike Flay, they went down fighting.

Berserk manga (not really a death in the literal sense but...)
pre-Eclipse Casca; she's like mentally dead now after what she went through. Makes you wonder if she even will be cured. (up to the end of vol. 27)

Outlaw Star
Hot Ice Hilda; she went down to soon.

Cowboy Bebop
Julia and Spike. Though, as hard as it was for me the first time I saw it, it did seem like the right way to end such a series. Bang...
 
Any saddest category Grave of the Fireflies is just on a completely different level. I swear I could have just won the lottery and then watched Grave of the Fireflies and be depressed.

Fullmetal Alchemist
Hughes. It's not even the death so much as the reaction to it by his kid at the funeral... Gets me EVERY SINGLE TIME

Saikano
Akemi's death in Saikano is just brutal. I think I was close to balling just from so much going on. #1) She's dying, but not only is she dying her body has just been crushed and a mess. The sheet is covering her broken body and all she's hanging on for is to be able to finally confess to Shu, which she does as she dies.

Air
Misuzu... God just hearing that song from Lia play makes me tear up thinking of her ending and the scene.
 
This... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E-lUngmKcVU

I really have to say the dub made a pretty decent job at this!

Made me cry...

And please, don't kill it by saying "Why can they just wish him back?"...
 
Actually, this is probably the one death in all of DBZ where that argument DOESN'T apply, since Piccolo/Kame are dead and the dragon balls defunct in Trunks' alternate future.

...Although I suppose there are always the Namekian dragon balls.
 
Fullmetal Alchemist
There's not much I can add to Hughes' death that hasn't already been said. Best death in animation since Turpin's death in STAS, in my opinion.

Nadia: The Secret of Blue Water
The shock of Gargoyle's ruthless (and silent, well animated) execution of Jean in the final episode is surpassed only by Nadia's emotional breakdown over his body and the Blue Water miraculously reviving him.
 
Full Metal Alchemist

Hughs. I remeraber being so upset during the burial scene. That entire episode tore me frustrated and sad at the same time. If by any chance, should that episode show up on television again, I will refuse to watch the second half of it.

The Daughter of Twenty Faces

Since this series is new, I'm just going to say everyone who died in the "train episode". I hated that scene despite how a turning point was in need of occurring. Still, that was just a montage of death and despair.

Gundam 00

His name is Lockon Stratos and he is greatly missed. ...Why does he have to have a twin brother? >
 
YES! I knew that episode was coming from a review that I heard but it still really got to me. Just wow.
Fullmetal Alchemist
Jumping on the Hughes bandwagon. He was such a lovable character... His funeral is heartbreaking. Plus the end of the episode when Ed sees spirit Hughes waving from the train platform and not realizing what it meant. Gah, that episode gets me every time.

Also, agreed on Nina as well.
Code Geass
Euphie's death gets me every time. The whole situation is absolutely tragic, what with the whole thing stemming from a bad joke. Plus, I absolutely adore SuzaEuphie and him holding her hand as she dies breaks my heart.
Code Geass R2[xspoiler=Separated for dub watchers]Shirley's death is really sad, considering the circumstances. Stupid Rolo.

Though speaking of Rolo, his death scene is kinda sad, too. I never quite came to like him, but I did pity him in the end. I guess that's better than nothing.

And I'm also going to say Lelouch, even though I don't think he's dead. His "death" scene is really heart-wrenching. Realizing that this is the culimation of his and Suzaku's plan... both characters are making the ultimate sacrifice (if in different ways) for the sake of the world. And only a handfull knows what a hero Lelouch was in the end, which is really sad.[/xspoiler]Yu Yu Hakusho
Yusuke's second death. Yes, he comes back but that scene gets me every time. The build up is really sad; the music that plays during Kuwabara's reflection on his relationship with Yusuke really makes the whole thing. Yusuke sacrifices himself in order to awaken power in his frienRAB... and it doesn't end up being enough to beat Sensui, which is practically a slap in the face.
One Piece
I second the Going Merry. Never thought I'd cry for a ship, but I definitely cried during that scene.
 
Yeah Grave of Fireflies is just pretty much the saddest thing in anime period.

BUt anyways heres mine :

Marcoss Frontier

Mikhail's death hanRAB down is proally one of the saddest deaths I have ever seen in anime. He gets stabbed by a Vajra, confesses his love to Clan Clang and then proceeRAB to die. I'll admit its proally one of the coolest deaths but god damn if that wasnt sad as hell.

Blackcat

Saya's death at the hanRAB of Creed and Train coming to late to stop it. It made that much sadder because of what she was to Train (what would of been the love of his life) and her last worRAB to him "forget about me", I mean that right there almost made me shed a tear.
 
I haven't watched too many anime series where people have really died, but here's my list.

One Piece
Bellemere's death was so tragic. I cried so much during that episode.


Digimon
Wizardmon in Adventure and Leomon in Tamers

Fushigi Yugi
Nuriko and Hotohori. I think that Nuriko's death was much sadder in the original series, but I think that the second OVA series made Hotohoir's death more tragic too. I still cry during those epsiodes.
 
Pheonix handles death really well, especially the manga. The whole theme of the book is rebirth, and how everything must come to an end to give way to a new beggining. Some of the stories span several decades (in some cases thousanRAB of years) and so we often see many die, but its shown as a natural thing. Its not neccesarily sad, just a normal part of life.

Gurren Lagann has so many manly deaths, as stated. So does Giant Robo, I love the feeling of desperation in that show as countless hero's give up their lives so Giant Robo can keep fighting, really well done.

Also
MUSASHI!!!!
 
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