Thought on Sola? I rewatched it recently and I think that… unfortunately… It hasn’t aged very well. It came about at the time when animation was in that weird transition phase of “we’re not as well animated as past shows, but we have a fancy new style.” It’s like when games went 3D.
The story isn’t as original anymore either… It had some really nice moments though.
As for KimiMachi, I really need to rewatch that. I remember loving it at the time. One of the few shows I watched that year.
After merely watching episode 00 I fell in love with the characters. All of them had unique quirks that made them stand out a lot. And I continued to thoroughly enjoy watching the characters until the last minute of the anime without ever getting disappointed. Now that I think about it, while all characters did stand out, none of them seemed MORE special than the others. The side characters were on equal ground amongst themselves, as was the main cast. That fits well with the story.
I have recognized the main heroine’s voice actress right away and I was really concerned. She usually voices somewhat slow-witted, carefree, calm side-heroines. I was convinced that her voice was not fitting for a main heroine… but it actually fit the main heroine’s personality really well. And she was a great main heroine.
I was not able to predict the ending, or generally where the story was going, which is a plus. But I didn’t find it particularly sad. I don’t know why, but the last finalle failed to affect me emotionally. I did find it beautiful, though.
About KimiMachi, well, don’t expect too much.
Huh, nice to see it stand up to modern expectations. It’s a shame Sora no Method didn’t achieve the same…
I think the characters were very good. They all played their roles. Even the people who give you reason enough to dislike them are understandable. The only one I struggled with was the sister. Main girl was funny and charming enough.
There were two really good twists. The ending of one of the episodes is one of my favorite endings in anime of all time.
The finale was strange in that… It just felt acceptable.
I can’t understand what you’re talking about. I havent watched tokyo magnitude and I dont want to make the same mistake, how can I avoid it?
No one posted this yet, so I might as well say it.
Plastic Memories - I mean, some people would argue to a certain extent, but I still found this show tearjerking. The overall plot is what really gets to you. The fact that (Plastic memories spoiler) If you’re a Giftia, you can only live for roughly, about 9 years, then after your time is up, you end up loosing your memories, with nothing being able to trigger those memories back, if they decide to keep you around at least.
Sword Art Online (Both seasons) - Like Plastic memories, the overall plot is sad. Especially during the second season in the “Mother Rosario’s” arc. (SAO ll “Mothers Rosario” arc character spoilers) The fact that there are people like Yuuki, who have health issues, can go into a world, and live as freely as much as they want. Making friends, not getting hurt, and having the time of your lives.
Ao Haru Ride - This is an anime where I would say, it was more of a love, and reality show. But it does have its touching moments, especially towards the end when you find out why things have changed.
The Last: Naruto the Movie - I’m honestly not really a fan of the Naruto franchise, but I know the basic facts of it at least. This movie is pretty much just sad how (The Last: Naruto the movie spoiler) Hinata couldn’t admit her feelings for Naruto, and was knitting him a scarf that got ruined. Then she kept remaking her scarf, and it kept gettin ruined, it was cruel, after all that effort.
Studio Ghibli Films Basically, mostly everything they make is tear jerking. Spirited Away, My Neighbor Totoro, Grave of the fireflies, etc.
There are other anime’s where the sad scenes would come in, but, mostly every anime has a sad scene, but it’s not relevant much, so yeah.
Some people suggest Guilty Crown Which I plan on watching, and Future Diary But I found the main heroine as a turn off.
Myself;Yourself - Easily my favorite show with a semicolon in the title. This show is not without it’s problem (I wouldn’t exactly call it “good”), but it’s happy to pour on the drama pretty thick, and I appreciate that not everyone is in love with the protagonist. Be warned, though: this show gets dark at the end.
Well, make sure that the episodes you’re watching aren’t longer than 24 minutes and they have “01”, “02”, etc in their names and definitely not “recap” or “digest version”. Just pay attention to title and length and you should be fine.
I have a big problem with plastic memories though. the problem is that in the first episode, they literally tell you how the show will end. From the begining they warn you: hey don’t get attached to this character because she will die. And since you already knew what would happen I have problem feeling sad about the event of this anime. I had the whole show to prepare myself and when the end happened I was just like: meh, they literally said this would happen so it’s not that moving.It didn’t have the element of surprise that makes sad events tear jerking.
Also for SAO, I understand what you mean about how wonderful it is for a crippled or sick person to be able to live a normal live, aut the show lacks any real dramatic circumstances through the show. Especially during season two. In season one they actually died if their character died, but since this cannot happen in Alfeim, he could just rush in again and again until he succeeds which kinda ruins the feeling of danger in battles. I must admit there were some interesting ideas inthe show, but they did not develop them prorerly.
I really love Ghibli movies as well. The wind rises was especially tearjerking. I recommend it if you have not seen it yet.
Guilty crown is indeed amazing.
However, don’t expect crying while watching mirai nikki, it is a good show but it is not sad. it’s more of a suspense and thriller show.
If you’re looking for a sad series I recommend the black rock shooter OVA. It is really important that you watch the OVA and not the anime. the 8 episodes OVA is amazing, but the anime was pretty bad in my opinion.
But… the voice acting is sooooo unbearable at times. I don’t think the drama was all that good either apart from the episodes about that messed up old woman It was a pretty average show.
The protag was fine most of the time though. Protag, main girl, and annoying little brat were pretty fun to watch.
Now that I’m thinking about it… I think my biggest problem with it might be due to it being an adaptation. The underlying plot and message felt really weak and unsatisfying… Like they just forgot to include the right details…
Honestly, I didn’t care for the show until the finale. It was very well put together. I talked about it a lot in my Spring post. It got me, and most shows don’t, and I think the reason why is strangely surprising
SAO had Sachi, and even that wasn’t great. Alfheim had nothing. GGO had nothing. MR had bits in the book, but as far as the anime goes, all it had was a nice OP. Alicization also has bits, but it’s still pretty meh emotion-wise.
It’s not a feelsy series.
I don’t. They are boring.
Watched it with a group of people. Bought it on release, hyped to watch it.
So there’s a story going and then suddenly drama! But the drama didn’t matter! And then shocking revelation, and another shocking revelation, and then stuff starts to actually progre-Queue end credits.
Everyone in the group was disappointed. Anyone I ever watch a Ghibli film with always ends up disappointed. Ghibli films rarely end on a satisfying note. I always finish them and think “was that even worth it?” It’s like they start a story, and then just cut it off during the intro before anything good happens. The only exceptions I can think of are Ocean Waves, The Cat Returns, Ponyo, GoF, and Pom Poko… Three of those just felt like kids movies though, so they get a free pass. Oh, Mononoke actually had an ending too, so good job there guys.
The Wind Rises had some good comedy though, so there’s something.
Oh yeah, Mirai Nikki isn’t a tearjerker. There are jerks in the show, but not tearjerks.
.
Like I said, I wouldn’t call it “good,” but even if they didn’t always succeed with the drama, it was definitely there. I definitely tolerate average shows every now and then, if for no other reason than it recalibrates me for watching better shows with a slightly less critical eye.
Ehh… But I think SAO did have something sad in every arc… Especially the mother Rosario’s arc.
Oh I’m glad this was brought up again because I will always, always go with Full Moon o Sagashite. It’s the 52 episodes that make it difficult to slog through but wow is the reward sweet. I’ve mentioned this before but I think I’m drawn to this kind of style because it’s similar to Air in that They both follow incredibly upbeat heroines that crack under the weight of unfortunate circumstances and I will never cease to find that heartbreaking (T_T)
Having sad moments doesn’t make the anime a tearjerker. “a story, song, play, film, or broadcast that moves or is intended to move its audience to tears” (http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/tearjerker) SAO’s goal wasn’t to move us to tears (if it was it did a really bad job). I’ll compare this to K-On which no one would call a tearjerker yet (K-On! S2) I cry every time I watch the scene with Yui, Ritsu, Mio and Mugi performing Tenshi Fureta Yo for Azusa as it makes me think back to my grad and friends I had in high school that I haven’t seen since.
Two popular tearjerkers are Clannad and Anohana, you’ll notice both have sad moments through the entire series (probably a little above SAO’s saddest) with one final punch near the end.
Yeh. Ig. But I was judging by the main story in each arc.
SPOILER’S IN EACH ARC.
In the SAO arc They lived there for over 2 years. If they died in there, they would die in real life. It’s sad. Not to mention the ending when both Asuna and Kirito died
In the ALO arc Asuna was missing. Kirito had only 1 goal, which was to get Asuna back. The things he showed in there, his love for Asuna, the whole point of the arc, and U.S., knowing that Asuna was being raped, was just horrid and sad
In the GGO arc Someone who you became enemies with in the SAO arc, comes and wants to kill you. The fact that if you died in there by Death Gun, you would die in real life too. Not to mention the back stories.
In Mothers Rosario. Well. The whole arc was just sad when the truth was told. P
The only one there I’d agree with is Mother’s Rosario. Almost every shounen anime has death threats constantly and unless someone important actually dies they aren’t that sad. The point of all those moments also isn’t to make the viewer/reader cry, really just to develop characters and further the story.
SAO isn’t Shonen though…
I didn’t say it was, I said shounen anime constantly has exactly what you’re saying makes the first arc of SAO a tearjerker is something that’s pretty much a staple of shounen.
So basically… SAO isn’t a tearjerker but it is sad enough to make some people cry, right?
I don’t think SAO ever made me cry, but I never finished GGO so I haven’t seen it in its entirety.
What genre is SAO if it isn’t shounen?
Shounen isn’t a genre 
It’s a… Demographic label. A story could be about girls trying out makeup, but if the author intends for it to be popular with young boys, it’s a Shounen.
SAO is technically a Seinen btw, although it’s immaturity may throw you for a loop. It’s adult-ish content is what stops it being a Shounen.
True, I just referred to it as a genre because that’s how I usually see it labelled.
Also, I tend to think of shounen as a genre as well as a demographic because a genre is a way of categorizing things, and shounen is the category of “for young boys”.
I didn’t know it was based on the author’s intention, though. I thought it was based on what appeals to a specific group of people.
I see. I figured it would appeal to younger people rather than older ones.
