Saddest/most depressing anime you ever watched, why and how did you react?

Fario-P said:
It's pretty amazing that a thread from 2007 has gotten so many replies from every year since it was made, and is still getting replies to this day, 13 years later. I won't lie, I spent a good amount of time trying to read all through the whole thread (yes, I read all 56 pages as of this typing) and liked certain posts here and there. That being said, the amount of unmarked spoilers and users returning to post on here without realizing that they already posted on the thread long ago is pretty... amazing. lol

Anyway, I just seem to love sad stuff in general. If you ask me about what video games are worth checking out, don't be surprised if I recommend you Chrono Trigger and Chrono Cross. Played those games already and want something more overlooked? I'll probably mention Pokémon Mystery Dungeon: Explorers of Sky and The World Ends With You if you still have your old Nintendo DS/3DS lying around. Newcomer to Bollywood movies? Kuch Kuch Hota Hai, Kal Ho Naa Ho, Veer-Zaara and 3 Idiots might be among the movies I'll recommend. Wanna know my favorite fairy tale? It's The Little Mermaid, of course. XD
So it's no surprise that I love sad anime and manga. It might be because I grew up with so much sad media that I don't really cry at anything I watch though and am not exactly sure as for what anime would count as "the most saddest/depressing" in the thread. Nevertheless, here's a list of some anime in no particular order—I'll give brief thoughts under spoiler tags just so my post doesn't take too much space, but I'll try not to spoil anything:

• Puella Magi Madoka Magica
  
  
  It's been years since I first watched this and last rewatched it, but still... what can I say? Everything about this whole series is just depressing, and much of what is happening to the main characters feel even sadder when you remember that they are 14-15 year old girls. The Rebellion Story and its ending especially takes the cake.
  
  
• Uta∽Kata
  
  
  I'm surprised that anyone in this thread's early days even mentioned this anime at all, since nobody really talked about it then and certainly no one other than me talks about it now. It's certainly a pleasant surprise seeing it mentioned already because it's pretty underrated in my opinion and it does deserve to be mentioned here—it's sad to see how harsh certain situations can seem to someone, even if they were raised well like the main character. Some backstories were pretty sad too, and that ending...
  
  
• Princess Tutu
  
  
  This series as a whole feels more happy or mysterious than depressing, with its many jokes and the strange things happening around the town. But there's still some sad backstories that make it worth mentioning here; the show does a great job at making you easily feel/root for these main characters. As much as I loved the ending and understood why things ended the way they did, I do also understand why so many people were saddened by it.
  
  
• Prétear: The New Legend of Snow White
  
  
  The original manga is a surprisingly emotionally-charged read, and while I definitely feel that it hits me harder, the anime adaptation still manages to maintain some level of feels while still being more light-hearted than most of the anime mentioned in this thread. There were certain characters that I expected to show up less often that ended up getting noticeably sad backstories, and I wasn't expecting some characters to react the way they did in certain episodes.
  
  
• Full Moon wo Sagashite
  
  
  The original manga definitely hits harder, but that's because it had character backstories and some unfortunate situations for certain side characters that not only weren't covered in the anime, but were also probably more depressing than (or as depressing as) the most notable plot twists this series has. If you thought all shoujo anime were happy-go-lucky with stereotypically saccharine levels of romance, this series might just prove you wrong.
  
  
• The Wind Rises
  
  
  Just the simple fact that this is based off a real person who lived during World War II should already give you the indication that this won't be a very light-hearted movie to watch. I'm so glad that the teacher in my high school film class put this on—not only because it's a Studio Ghibli film, but also because nearly the whole class was shocked by the movie's ending. They were literally at a loss for words. It's probably one of the few high school memories that I still remember and don't mind remembering.
  
  
• A Silent Voice
  
  
  This anime's portrayal of low self-esteem can be so stylized and yet feel so real that it actually hurt my enjoyment a bit lol.
  
  
• Air
  
  
  Everyone in the early years of this thread has already given their thoughts on this anime, so there's not really much that I can say about it that hasn't already been said. It's also sad that this anime seems to be forgotten by the anime community nowadays.
  
  
• Kanon (2006)
  
  
  Some parts of the pacing kinda kill the amount of feels I got as the show went on, but it still has a notable amount of sad moments. I mean... that first arc though...
  
  
• Angel Beats
  
  
  When I think of the term "sadness and happiness", I either think of that song from Paper Mario: The Thousand Year Door, or this show. It's brought me so many laughs and yet still has many tragic and depressing moments—I mean, it's a show about dead teenagers after all lol. I don't cry at anime at all, but the last episode still frickin hurts to watch even after all these years.

Feel free to consider this brief list as some recommendations :)