The drama, the thematic music, the art, and the romantic gestures make a great love story and there’s no better medium than anime. They say your partner brings out the best in you. Whether it is Asuto (Kirito and Asuna) or NaruHina (Naruto and Hinata) being the power couples of anime, romance makes everything better. In fact, anime couples can make you cry and fall in love. Watching budding romance, no matter the ending can always lead the story into a happier place.
On a date near the cherry blossom trees or walking home together after school, anime couples can make us squeal with joy with hearts in our eyes. We’ve all probably wished for a beautiful relationship just like Kirito and Asuna. While all romance stories are based on real-life stories, they are meant to have real-life endings too.
There’s nothing more heart-breaking than our favorite anime couples meeting a tragic end that makes us all feel sad and broken. Despite that, there’s always a deeper meaning to be learned from the sad endings of any relationship. So, grab a bunch of tissues and read these 10 anime couples who met a sad ending:
10. Kosei and Kaori (Your lie in April)
A deeply emotional love series that brought together two longing souls Kosei and Kaori have one of the most beautiful relationships in the anime world. When a broken Kosei due to his mother’s death and free-spirited Kaori meet, the romantic background music can commence.
Kosei’s and Kaori’s relationship was one of healing and budding romance out of a miserable fate. Though they don’t end up together because Kaori meets her death due to her deteriorating health, the time they spent together helped him play the piano again.
Though he was distraught after she dies, her presence had left a huge impact on all of us.
9. Haruki and Sakura (I Want to Eat Your Pancreas)
An offbeat anime title almost always has a good storyline. Haruki (spring tree) and Sakura (cherry blossom) were fated to be together. While Haruki was waiting in the hospital room, he saw a diary that belonged to Sakura, who is one of the popular girls at school.
Being the popular girl, she’s fun but she has a secret that no one except Haruki knows. While they spent time completing everything on her bucket list, they get closer and even share a bed together. Suddenly, she meets her end by being stabbed.
A brutal death such as that is hard to digest. Haruki had loved her but he could never have her. An emotional turmoil of a story that presents fated love differently.
8. Hiro and Zero Two (Darling in the Franxx)
A story that takes place in a dystopian future where artificial children are made to protect the remnant civilization. Zero Two is a pistil and Hiro is a stamen and together they control Franxx, a mecha parasite that fights the bad guys.
Zero Two and Hiro immediately hit it off and they have fun for a while. As the series progresses, it is revealed that Zero Two and Hiro actually have a history together and understand the secrets of their world that had been pushed to the brink of extinction.
Their relationship was so strong that nothing could separate them, even death. They fought till their death so that mankind could survive. A tragic story of lovers that indeed stayed together till death did them part.
7. Hanabi and Mugi (Kuzu no Honkai)
This anime focuses on the toxic and complicated sides of a relationship. Hanabi and Mugi are high school students who have unrequited love for people older than them. To deal with their loneliness, they begin their fake relationship where they agree not to fall in love with each other.
This anime has many elements of the toxic relationship culture we face today. Hanabi and Mugi satisfy their loneliness sexually and emotionally. When both their unrequited loves got together, they felt broken and decided that it was best not to be in contact with each other anymore.
A heart-breaking emotional series that will make you love and hate everything about it, Kuzu no Honkai will show you the reality of unrequited love.
6. Mafuyu and Yuki (Given)
Given is a BL story that shows the blossoming of friendships and passion. Though this couple is not the main couple, their relationship plays a huge role in the story as events unfold. Their love story affected one of the OTPs of the series.
The story of Mafuyu and Yuki, is a love story that left a scar on the viewers. A small misunderstanding between Yuki and Mafuyu led to Yuki taking his own life with other added problems. Mafuyu was young when this happened and he had a hard time coping with it.
Their story left a mark on all the side couples where they each have their own story of how they moved on and found a new love. A beautiful yet emotional story that inspires music and love, while dealing with young love and death. Certainly, a wonderful anime couple.
5. Gin and Hotaru (Hotarubi No Mori e)
One of the biggest and most loved anime movies of all time, Hotarubi No Mori E deserves to be on this list. An emotional rollercoaster of evolving love that ended too soon, Hotaru met Gin when she was just six years old and got lost in the forest.
Gin is a mountain spirit that doesn’t age and will disappear forever with the touch of a human. Over the years Gin and Hotaru meet and their friendship turns into love.
On a particular festival night, Gin takes Hotaru on a date and accidentally touches a human boy. While Gin was disappearing, they confess their love to each other. A bittersweet moment to hold on to, as sad endings are never easy to accept, Hotaru agrees to move on from her first love.
4. Tomoya and Nagisa (Clannad)
Clannad is a beautiful story of love, friendship, and turning a mundane life around. Tomoya and Nagisa are high school friends who meet on the path to school full of cherry blossom trees.
Nagisa is a physically weak girl who falls sick almost every year and ends up not graduating. Tomoya helped her get through the school year and eventually become lovers. Shortly after Ushio was born, Nagisa passes away. Tomoya is heartbroken and leaves Ushio.
Eventually, he comes back and forms a bond with his daughter but the same condition was passed down to Ushio by her mother which ultimately caused her death. With everything left to lose, Tomoya cries for them both to be back in his arms. A truly heartbreaking love story of an anime couple that can get you weeping for hours.
3. Jinta and Menma (Anohana)
Anohana centers around a group of friends who lost their friend prematurely. The group of friends took it pretty hard and they eventually went their own ways, not knowing how to deal with it.
When Menma comes back as a ghost, she says she cannot leave the world until she fulfills her last wish. And so, Jinta, who was in love with her, regrouped and tried to figure it out.
The saddest part of the anime was that Jinta never got the courage to tell Menma how much he loved her. Menma’s ghost helped them find each other and help each other move on from their dear friend’s death.
2. Makoto and Chiaki (The Girl Who Leapt Through Time)
A real tearjerker, this movie is a slice-of-life-inspired movie about a high school girl who can travel through time. Although it has a fascinating plot, the story takes a melancholy twist that evoked sadness.
Makoto and Chiaki are best friends. With Makoto’s newfound time-leaping powers, she tries to travel through time to prevent bad things from happening. When she uses her time leaps to the last one, she uses it to try to save Kosuke and Kaho, her friends who were going to be hit by a train.
Chiaki, from a different era, comes in to save her, and eventually leads to Makoto realizing her feelings for Chiaki. But since they are from different periods, they couldn’t be together.
1. Yui and Hinata (Angel Beats)
Angel Beats centers around the afterlife, where people with hardships in life must overcome them to pass on and be reincarnated. The story revolves around Hinata who reached the afterlife where he meets Yui.
Sadly, Yui has been in a wheelchair most of her life. Hinata helped Yui fulfill her last wish by proposing to her. When she finally fulfills her wish in purgatory, she ends up leaving Hinata behind.
In a story filled with regret and love, Yui and Hinata made it to the afterlife and stayed together. They could have easily been one of the best anime couples.
Thanks for reading!!
