Japanese Fans Rank Saddest Anime Ever

Sometimes you start watching a series, expecting fun and silliness and wacky action, and by the final episode you're a sobbing mess. You didn't sign on for this. But there you are, having emotions -- no matter how many times you watch it.

goo.ne.jp polled 500 anime fans to find out which shows get the waterworks going most of all. And the results will... actually probably not surprise you.




#3: Dog of Flanders


Based on the 1872 novel of the same name, Dog of Flanders tells the sad story of an orphaned boy named Nello and his dog, Patrasche. It's so widely accepted as one of the saddest anime ever made that it's become something of a meme in shows like Hayate the Combat Butler.


#2: AnoHana: The Flower We Saw That Day

This 2011 anime series based on a serialized novel of the same name centers on a group of teenagers trying to move on after one of them dies in a car accident. It's also been adapted into two manga series, an anime film, a game, and a live-action TV series.

#1: Doraemon


Coming in at first place is Doraemon, the classic long-running children's series about an earless alien robotic cat with a transdimensional pocket and his homework-shirking human friend Nobita. There have been plenty of tear-jerker installments over the show's decades-long run in TV and specials, but it's widely agreed that one of the hardest hitters was 2014's 3D animated film Stand by Me Doraemon.