most depressing anime youve watched

Yeah, that show hits hard in my opinion for two main reasons:

1. The issues are based in realism and the characters are relatable and believable and it doesn't pull a magic trick at the end like "friendship is magic and fixes it all" or "if you only work a bit harder you can achieve anything"

2. The story doesn't feel constructed around showing you the most amount of drama in an emotionally manipulative way which some other shows take it so far that it breaks the immersion

The single best other candidate I can think of is:

March comes in like a Lion

Pretty good still:

Monster

Oshi no Ko

Angel Beats

Being a bit too constructed with the suffering:

Banana Fish

It started great and kept going pretty well for really long stretches, but then it eventually comes down to 'friendship is magic':

Fruits Basket

Good for the most part, some traces of issue 1+2, but nothing major, but one can't ignore that it stays goofy for longer than NHK:

Trigun (original series)

Barely passes, but visually unmatched:

Violet Evergarden

Stay away emotionally manipulative sob-bait:

86

To your Eternity

Your lie in April

Planetarian

A Place Further Than The Universe

@Mazoy

Your Lie in April passes reasons 1 and 2 with flying colors for me, but it could be that I could relate to the story in a very personal way.

Anohana, while I found emotionally manipulative and melodramatic, is usually considered depressing.

A Place Further Than The Universe

@Mazoy

Your Lie in April passes reasons 1 and 2 with flying colors for me, but it could be that I could relate to the story in a very personal way.

Anohana, while I found emotionally manipulative and melodramatic, is usually considered depressing.

@mo_lave ive been meaning to rewatch anohana, i watched it years ago when i couldnt really interpret deeper meaning that would provoke any real sadness. what would you watch first out of the shows listed above?


@mazoy im contemplating going with violet evergarden or banana fish


wondering if u guys know abt clannad? ive heard it effected some people deeply

Haven't seen it myself!

what influenced u more violet evergarden or banana fish

@mo_lave ive been meaning to rewatch anohana, i watched it years ago when i couldnt really interpret deeper meaning that would provoke any real sadness. what would you watch first out of the shows listed above?


@mazoy im contemplating going with violet evergarden or banana fish


wondering if u guys know abt clannad? ive heard it effected some people deeply

@mo_lave I have to absolutely agree that Anohana is much worse than YLIA. For . Also mind that I only mean to stay away for the reasons I pointed out that NHK stands out among other shows. That's the entire reason I added the last four shows - that OP can still decide to watch them if they are more like "Oh, but I actually WANTED to watch a show like that" you know? :)

Banana Fish was the better experience and kept my interest more, because I'm not usually coming to shows just for the drama and heartache, however it did start to feel really repetitive and cruel and sad for sadness sake around the mid point. In all seriousness I wish I could go back in time and tell my old self to just stop watching after episode 13, because that's a good point to nope out of the rest. Also beware the trigger topics.

Violet Evergarden is absolutely strong when it comes to the secondary stories (as is Dororo as well, which I haven't yet mentioned). The overarching main character story is emotional and conclusive and then at the end they dropped it down the toilet in my opinion. There is a movie. There didn't have to be a movie.

But again, the visuals. There's no way Banana Fish could compete with the Violet Evergarden Visuals and they're not trying to, instead you get a good bit of MAPPA action instead, which is also not a bad thing.

But if you're really asking what affected me most personally, it would be 'March comes in like a Lion' and 'Trigun'.

@XDmyst If you're talking about Mazoy's list, Violet Evergarden first (I'm biased, and am regularly rewatching this), then Your Lie in April (also a regular rewatch), then 3-Gatsu no Lion. These happened to also be the first, third, and fourth animes I've watched when I started getting serious about it. Never looked at the medium seriously until I saw and finished Violet for the first time.

If my list is included, I'll add A Place Further Than The Universe (also a regular rewatch).

About Clannad, the visual novel is the superior experience.