Top Ten Shows Which Make This 30+ Year Old Tough Guy Bawl Like A Baby. Repeatedly.

Tearjerkers. We all have them. Whether it’s from a Disney film to a live action, there are certain moments in movies and shows that will make pretty much anyone bar the hardest of hearts get a little teary eyed.

In Japan, I swear they must have conveyor belts of creation in doing so because I have no idea how much fluid I’ve lost over the years from my eyes due to so many tear jerking moments in anime. However, I thought to myself ‘Yeah, these are my saddest moments but there are so many of them in just one show.’

So what are my saddest animes? Which show has the most tear jerking moments, where I know something is going to make me cry and I fight against it, but can’t…and then 2 episodes later makes me cry again for a different reason.

So today, I’m going to list my top 10 biggest tear jerking anime of all time. I welcome comments for other suggestions, as chances are if I have missed an obvious one out it’s because I’ve not seen it so please discuss yours as wells – these are just 10 anime I’ve seen from beginning to end which always make me cry more than one, and sometimes to near infinity.

My rules are as follows – I must have finished the series, and it will only include anime series, and not films (so that means obvious ones like Grave Of The Fireflies won’t be on the list). Other than that, go for it.

A few honourable mentions at first;

ANGEL BEATS: There was so much stuff happening in this short series that you almost forget just how depressing the story really is – a version of the afterlife, seeing the pasts of everyone, and of course the ending – Kanade and Otonoshi suffering the wisest, and I still bawl at the ending.

AZUMANGA DAIOH – What? This cute comedy a tearjerker? It may not be as heartbreaking as most on the list, but not tearing up during the graduation scenes or Sakaki leaving Maya makes you as evil as Tomo is…

BOKURANO – This is slowly getting there, mainly as I haven’t finished the series yet so I can’t include it but I get this horrible feeling what more can be done to the cast (Chizu…my god…Chizu…)

ANOHANA – Again, I’ve only seen a few episodes but here I’m waiting to get the full season release and already it’s depressing me with the concept…

ANGELIC LAYER – The anime is far, FAR more depressing – Shouko and Misaki. That is all. (Complete with added Sai back-story with her sister and anytime Hatoko is being a child…)

UTENA – Similar to Angel Beats, with so much going on it’s hard to differentiate all the moments in the series so I definitely didn’t have as much tears as I thought I would. That said, by the end of the series you will feel bad for Anthy…

FRUITS BASKET – If I was going via manga then this probably would have made it, the anime was more condensed but still had a lot of tearful moments, whether it’s Tohru and Kyo, Kisa, or Hatori’s past, they are all moments the anime doesn’t leave out and its heart wrenching.

PRINCES TUTU – Lastly, I didn’t include my favourite series of all time here, because its tear jerkers are all mostly nice ones in the end. Granted there are a lot of things to sob about, whether it’s Duck searching, Fakir desperately not watching to write, and Duck (as a duck) dancing in the end. However here is where I sob just for the torture and matching the tears of the characters in question…

NOTE: MASSIVE SPOILERS FOR SOME SERIES SO PLEASE STEP BACK IF YOU SEE THE NAME OF A SERIES AND HAVEN’T FINISHED IT

10) A TINY SNOW FAIR SUGAR

O.K, O.K, I can hear you now. What? This cutesy little series about some fairies trying to become weather fairies waiting for their flowers to bloom, have an obsession with eating waffles and cause hilarity when an organised young girl is the only one who can see them…and the fairies seriously ‘unorganise’ her life?

Well, trust me on this – whilst the show will give you cavities, there are so many moments I remember which had me bawling. You learn early about Saga’s mother, so as soon as something is linked with Saga’s mother, you have instant tearjerker. The two instances I refer to is first with the incident between Sugar writing an apology letter to Saga on her mother’s music (which caused upset to Sugar leaving Saga, then when Saga learned it was an apology, and you learn it was her music before then) and then the piano incident involving Greta. Saga’s mothers piano has been in a music shop forever, so when her rich rival/friend Greta purchases it, it brings this 13 YEAR OLD GIRL into depression, she becomes obsessed in trying to buy it back, ignoring Sugar and being downright cruel at times causing Sugar to get ill, leading to even more heart tugging moments as Saga realises how bad she’s become, and of course the kicker, being the goodbye being the two (seeing Sugar desperately trying to keep her bud from blooming just so she can be with Saga for another minute is wrenching…). Not to mention Greta getting distraught as she realises that with her rival depressed, she herself feels bad for being the indirect cause and realising she truly cares for her friend, and not just in a rival sense.

There are a lot of fun moments in this series, the cuteness is overwhelming and is much underrated as a show because of its cuteness. Beneath it though, it’s a tale of a young girl realising she can still be a child no matter how grown up she wants to be and because of that, there are a lot of tender moments which will get the tear ducts working, and then even more depressing moments too…

9) SAILOR MOON

From one pseudo-magical girl series to the original (well, the first one I saw anyway), Sailor Moon has the advantage of being a long running series, meaning more potential moments for tears. For this reason it’s fairly low on the list, but trust me there is plenty to get all teary eyed from this classic.

I think the ending of Season 1 is enough to get us going. The final battle, seeing each of the Senshi in their own battles, each with an image of their loved one either physically or mentally, combined with Usagi’s final moment with Mamoru (Gomen…I can’t kiss you, because the others never got to kiss their loved ones…) as she realises her friends have died. But as the seasons continue, not do the endings get more tearful, even some of the one shot episodes can get you going.

Season 2 when they get brought back combining with just how tearful Usagi can be involving Mamoru – Usagi when she’s not being comic relief can be incredibly tear-tugging – an episode where Ami is considering moving abroad for study before coming back for the girls, and whilst opinion may be divided on Chibi-Usa, those moments when you see she is just a lonely little girl with these people who are possibly her future parents, you can’t help but feel for her.

Season 3 is probably where I began feeling more for the characters – the introduction of Haruka and Michiru, whilst the two aren’t my faves, it was the fact it did give us Hotaru, a sick girl who has no friends and get one in Chibi-Usa (I think this is where I liked Chibi-Usa a lot more) and the slow disintegration of Professor Tomoe’s mind which caused what would happen, plus there are some sad moments in general (when Haruka thinks Usagi’s heart is the one they need, she is absolutely torn in needing it and her compassion for Usagi, one of the few instances that Haruka/Michiru really didn’t want to do their job) made this my favourite of the seasons.

However, the grandest of tearjerkers is in the final season, Stars. And all I will say is this line from Rei, whose relationship with Usagi has always been my favourite, arguing all the time yet you get the feeling they care about each other the most in the Inner Senshi.

‘Baka…you still have Mamoru-san don’t you?’

So many tears came from that, not just because of what happened to Rei, and Usagi’s tears after it, but right from the beginning of the series, Usagi thinks something has happened to Mamoru, so that line makes the viewer absolutely devastating with what’s happened to both her friends and her lover, Usagi with all the power in the world, is in a state of uncontrollable depression. And with that, a character you’ve grown with for 5 seasons, it is terrible.

8) AIR

Be used to this – Key has a habit of making you sob like a baby. And the first Key series which got the tears flowing was the anime known as Air.

One word. Misuzu. Just Misuzu. The shorter arcs with the other girls did work, but not to an extent that Misuzu did. She was the eternal tearjerker. It was bad enough when you learned early on she has been a sick girl and has pretty much skipped school for the whole time so she has never made friends. And it’s bad enough that her aunt is not too attentive to her life (unless you’ve seen the movie, which is separate from this)…

…but every. Damn. Time. This kid breaks down, you will crack. Playing cards, making food, hoping to do homework, she is a sad little girl at heart, and this is before you learn of what is going to happen. I ranked this above Sailor Moon mainly because whilst Air is only for 13 episodes, that one mini-arc gets me so much and it’s in one whole arc – start to finish. Sailor Moon has major tearjerkers for the end of each long season, Air has one short arc but it hits you immediately and the end hits you infinitely.

There is a good plot involving what at first appears to be an alternate time line with the character Kanna, but even that gets heart wrenching when you realise what it’s a representative of the Misuzu arc. Hell, even the CROW is depressing when you realise who he really is.

But let’s get to the moments. 1) Misuzu having to go back to her father 2) her aunt realising she truly loves her 3) Misuzu’s condition 4) her decision and…

GOAAAALLLL…

Rewatching it, any time she says ‘Gau’ makes me have to hold my tears in. This makes it even worse considering sadly her seiyuu Tomoko Kawakami sadly passed away from cancer in 2011, making these scenes even worse for her fans. But ‘GOAL’ is one of my personal biggest tear jerking moments of anime of all time, and am tearing up even thinking about it…

Gau…..

7) GOSICK

This is one which snuck under my radar in the last year, not just in how good the show was, but also in just how badly it tugged at the heartstrings. For what seemed initially a mystery show, the real mystery was how deep it would become when they began talking about Victorique’s mother – and beyond the comic moments between Kujo and Victorique, just how depressing the story got.

The tone gets very serious – hell, in fact after the first mini-arc, you actually feel sad for the villains when you learn the back-story, and their reunion at the end was the first time I realised this was going to be an interesting series. Seeing Victorique, so confident and almost bully like in the 1^st episode, become a scared girl begins to make you feel for her, and when we get to the first mention of her mother, and seeing her relief when she figures out she was innocent of her crime. Then her strain of saving her confidante Kujo shows she is indeed a stronger character than we initially figured out.

We get a lot of moments ranging from deep to heroic with our lovely little doll lass, but when we see the villain. And his relationship with his mother. Holy…

Little moments tug at your heart before this, like when Cordellia (Victorique’s mother) shows herself to be alive to Kujo, heart-warming victories for her, then the absolute torment she gets when she is forced to return to her father. It was here where I lost it – seeing Kujo unaware of the peril he is in when the two are finally close together, combined with her father’s sick twisted mind makes her a real tragedy. Of course, the end is many parts awesome and many parts tearjerker, (the fight between Cordelia and Albert being a perfect example) and granted, this doesn’t have any huge clear cut tear jerking scenes like Air and Sailor Moon does.

So why is it here? Because rewatching it in hindsight on a second watch you realise just how every moment in Gosick is relative to Victorique’s mindset and just how tortured she is. From being a child born of rape, to feeling the one person she could be with for the future is not going to be with her from a fortune told, the stress of the war, her mother’s potential lover almost trying to kill her, Victorique is a human tearjerker. She is one of my favourite characters in recent years (I’d say she is now top 5 in my favourite characters after rewatches) and seeing just how much pain she hides behind really wants to make me hug here. So whilst Air and Sailor Moon have more effective moments, the entire show and therefore Victorique, is a developing tearjerker, hence it’s higher position.

6) KANON (2006)

Return of the Key curse, the remake of Kanon I went into after watching the Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya and the fandom that was the KyoAni animation. I knew vaguely it was of a similar nature to Air but 26 episodes.

This meant more time to make me blubber.

Unlike Air which had 1 really traumatic arc, Kanon has 5. None of them perhaps as bad as Misuzu’s as the ending is at least happy, but overall you’ll be crying a lot more. The Key pattern is in full flow either, several girls with the lead character, he gets a connection with them, story is told. But here, he has had a connection with most of the girls in the past, and that link is where the tragedy comes from.

This hits you after a few episodes with the first arc, the Makoto arc. The fact that up until this it has been quite funny to be honest, Makoto saying she hates Yuuichi, the pranks she tries to do, combine with fun moments with Ayu, makes this similar to Air with its initial light heartedness. Which of course sets it up for when tragedy strikes. When you learn what Makoto really is, and how she degrades back to this state, from losing her ability to hold things, to losing the ability to talk, to forgetting people, it makes you scream ‘Auuu’. The wedding section at the end was the icing on the wedding cake, and seeing a girl who knows about what Makoto is and how she is going to be break down after being cold with Yuuichi earlier, you know it’s bad.

But it doesn’t stop there. We get the Mai arc, where Mai, the stoic girl who says little, had a link with Yuuichi when they were kids. Mai’s past is horrendous, her ability to heal with tears, her mother, the snow zoo (dear god, the snow zoo…), her manifestations of ghosts/spirits because of her own mind, and how because of this she is considered a danger to the student council when all she wants to do is protect her beloved friend Sayuri. Seeing her in tears when Sayuri is attacked and Yuuichi snapping her out of it, it hits you hard.

But it gets even worse – at least Mai doesn’t vanish or die. The Shiori arc – seeing this girl who has apparently been sick for so long with ‘a cold’ seemed a bit weird. Then you get to see who she really is in connection to a cast member you’ve neglected most because she was a background character, then the whole birthday party, and the finale of that scene when you finally get her reunited with her sister…and then her image appears to die. There’s a lot of back-story with this one and to say it adds to the supernatural elements that Key is fond of doesn’t dampen the tears one moment.

But of course, we finally get the Sayuri/Ayu arc at the end. JESUS. O.K, it’s bad enough that Aya can’t remember what she has to do, and you wonder if she is even real or existing – it still hits us hard when Yuuichi can’t find her. But Sayuri…Sayuri’s mom Akiko, one of my favourite mothers in anime…and Sayuri’s trip on the depression train…

UGUUUU…..

Kanon works well in doing 4 small arcs, make them all potential tearjerkers throughout the series and setting us up for a great pay off at the end. Whilst the elements of comedy do work, the fact it’s more well likely to get a tearful reaction during my rewatches with each arc means it is doing its job VERY WELL.

5) PUELLA MAGI MADOKA MAGICA

Along with Gosick, the most recent series to crack this top 10, and easily the most infamous. Hence the original beware of spoilers comments because here, there’s is a ton of them.

Madoka has reached the hearts of many as being a real dark magical girl series, and whilst I feel series have done it before Magica (Princess Tutu immediately comes to mind), when it comes to tearjerkers, Madoka is ahead of the pack by a landslide. Which is weird because at first it had the unique visuals and what appeared to be a familiar magical girls plot (girls get mascot, mascot wants them to become magical girls, cue protagonist)…

…then episode 3. Yeah, let’s not hide it. The infamous Mami death scene was like the OMG of the anime universe because it was an original series, no manga spoilers so when people saw this, and it was like ‘Holy crap’. We’re not in Tomoeda now kids. It was the first of many where shock would be replaced with tears when the girls start to become magical girls – you wonder how this is going to turn out without their beautiful mentor?

Turns out, not so good.  More and more reveals occur which screw with our heroines minds, no thanks to our infamous protagonist, Kyuubey. Indeed, Kyuubey is one of those characters which screws everyone over for its own need, yet never feels *literally* that it is doing anything wrong. But the tearjerkers really begin to hit when our lead character Madoka is literally being held back as her friends are being turned into magical girls…and later witches. The show becomes infinitely darker, and even more so when Homura, the apparent antagonist, her motives become clear and why she is refuses to make Madoka become a magical girl. You really feel for Homura as her closest friend through many timelines is killed, and she only has one goal, to make sure she’s safe. And through the latest timeline, it seems even that cannot be done, even when all her other friends are dying around her.

Rewatching the show adds even more sadness, just some scenes with her mother take a much harsher tone after seeing the whole series, the scene that only Homura and her baby brother remember her after Madoka’s tear jerking (but Kyuubey owning) sacrifice, Sayaka’s broken love, Kyouko’s tragic past, each episode adds wham after wham after wham, and it gets more and more depressing but also engrossing as you wonder how this is all going to end. And indeed, the ending whilst excellent is also ambiguous considering Kyuubey didn’t really lose, just Madoka managed to just change things around. However, the fact that after episode 3 it manages to get worse for these eyes, is a testament of why this series is very well regarded.

4) SAIKANO

Sweet romance they said. Charming story they said.

In terms of short series, this one beats out Madoka (it was between these two for #5 and #4) for  practically being a tearjerker from the first episode to the end, mainly because of the character of Chise – she is such a tragic character, where her innocence of her face and idealism is countered by the fact she is a human weapon with an evil side – it’s not exactly the thing relationships would work at, and Shuuji is no exception.

Seeing a girl with seemingly no emotion and yet when she does, doesn’t understand them is tragic enough. Seeing her in the midst of confusion and Shuuji rushing to see her, just to hug her, to kiss her, yet with the thought in their minds that destruction is always there and upon, it’s a tragic love story of the bloodiest kind, and Saikano somehow manages to get worse and worse in the tear meters.

The images of Chise in the sky with her wings apart, the deaths and blood of human and weapon alike – every hug that Shuuji gives her is like a dagger in the heart of the viewer, it doesn’t help with the ending basically telling you ‘Yeah, the Earth is going to die. Have fun living the rest of your life with no-one in it.’ This show is a pure physical tearjerker mainly due to flashbacks and the current activation of Chise – it may not be as mentally jarring as some of the entries here, but it is really emotionally draining because of how it hits you so hard early on, and then just keeps at the same pace of being depressed.

Its messages may be confusing (war and religious icons aside) but it’s appear to tug at your heartstrings is unparallel.

3) FULL MOON WO SAGASHITE

The series opens up with a depressing story – the main character is going to die in a year. Wow – hit us right off the back right? And then two angels of death named Meroko and Takato happily announce it to you…well, at least they transform into a rabbit and a cat so at least they won’t scare the poor lass.

Actually, for most of the series, this depressing fact is always in the back of your minds, despite it being surprisingly jolly for a lot of it. Mitsuki, our lead girl, gets transformed into her dream, an idol named Full Moon to see if she can use her songs to locate her young love from the past Eichi. It is a developing story at first as Mitsuki begins to try and conquer the country with music, has a rival, has troubles, comic foil, and her own developing friendships/relationships back at school, with her two new shinigami friends, and her music hating grandmother. There are definite sad moments in there, especially as we get the past of how Takuto died and became a shinigami, combined with Mitsuki’s doctor Wakayoji and her manager Oshige learning about her secret.

But the last arc…dear sweet god…warning. MAJOR SPOILERS.

She finally gets to America to locate her lost love, Eichi. The anime handles this scene differently than the manga which makes it infinitely more depressing. Mitsuki doesn’t know that Eichi has…well…died. And the scene – in the snow, the graveyard, the music…oh good god.

From that scene onwards, the rest of the series became a huge tearjerker. Mitsuki tries to kill herself, her grandmother realises what a jerk she has and tries to make amends, the relationship between Meroko, Takuto and a third shinigami Izumi, and the absolute heart ripping ending (in both a sad and happy way) with Mitsuki on her last day of life…I will keep shut about this but let’s just say it’s probably high in contention for one of my favourite endings in anime.

Takato’s past always links with this as well because he had friendships with both Wakayoji and Mitsuki’s parents, so he’s always had a connection with Mitsuki even before he became her shinigami. Rewatching this series a second time, every moment he looks after Mitsuki, whether as a friend, as a jealous man, or as a concerned citizen, it adds more thought into his interaction. Even Meroko, who seems to be the jealous type, has an utter amazing moment at the end of the series, which adds even more tears to it which is actually making me tear up a little even as I typed this. Combined with it playing those songs at exactly the right moments, it is absolutely heartbreaking and whilst the tears only really flow at the final arc, it builds up so subtly that it’s pretty much a 52 episode tearjerker.

2) FUSHIGI YUUGI

Hoo boy…where do I begin?

First of all, this was the first anime series I watched that made me cry. I managed to stay strong through certain scenes in Pokemon, Digimon and DBZ but one of the first series I owned on DVD, I was pretty much finished as soon as I got to the 2^nd half of the series.

With this and my number one pick, I’m simply going to list the moments because seriously, there is way too mention to mention. Again, MAJOR SPOILERS.

A)     The death of Tamahome’s family – this was the first moment more so that you knew the tables had turned in this series. Beforehand we had vicious and violent moments, and Amiboshi’s apparent death was sad but it didn’t hit us home (mainly because it had that aura of that he didn’t die perhaps?). But at episode 26, you see Tamahome, Nuriko and Miaka all happy…and then you cut to Kensuke reading the book and his face in shock. And when you bought this series, it ends on that episode! So you bought the second half, and you are greeted with Tamahome’s youngest sister saying her last words as she dies. And yes, I wanted to kill Suboshi when I saw it was him who did it (I don’t care how many shippers like him with Yui, they forget this happened. I don’t.) – I wanted Tamahome to break him in half. This of course gets a great karmic moment during a fight later in the series but seeing the little girl saying to Miaka thinking she’s Tamahome’s wife…oh god…

B)      Nuriko’s death – This is the moment everyone remembers the most, because it was the fan favourite character, the lovable homosexual cross dresser who was fun, Miaka’s closest then confidante, super strong, and made extremely sympathetic throughout the season that it completely catches you off guard that he gets killed during a fight with one of the lower Seiryu Seven – combined with that song, and the rest of the Suzaku Seven around his body. A lot of the other deaths are also sad, but this was the only one where the rest of the gang was around him, in the snow, seeing Tasuki, the resident badass absolutely lose it is a shock and it continues the idea of anyone can die…

C)      Yui and Miaka’s relationship: Seeing these two disintegrate thanks to some manipulation of Nakago is heartbreaking. Yui  turns vicious, believing everything is Miaka’s fault, and Miaka blames herself thinking she was only caring about Tamahome when that wasn’t true. Despite Miaka’s many faults, her love for her friend was always there and strong and seeing Yui being played for a fool until near the end was just bad to see – when you know good friends and they break up because of misunderstandings, (admittingly the misunderstanding was that Yui thought she was raped)  then it hits you further.

D)     Amiboshi/Suboshi – As much as I hate Suboshi, the relationship when Amiboshi is alive and lost his memory, he begins to regain it when Miaka finds him, and is pretty much an honorary member of the Suzaku Seven, so Suboshi’s decision to make sure he forgets about him, whilst it does lead to another scene of Suboshi being despicable, later, seeing his tears as his only family is now forever lost to him, is still tragic.

E)      Chiriko’s Death – This one surprised me because sadly Chiriko wasn’t a major player in the show but the way he died was truly heartbreaking. Bring controlled by one of the Seiryu Seven, Miboshi, this 13 year old kid actually stabs himself to save his friends. It was the define Chiriko moment (he’s much better represented in the manga) of the anime and again, Tasuki’s tears really add to the moment.

F)      Soi’s background – Soi, with the exception of Amiboshi was easily the most likeable of the Seiryu Seven. She doesn’t have any grudge against the Suzaku 7 and actually admires Miaka for following her true love (she even reveals to her that she was never raped by Nakago, actually giving her the will to continue to fight), the reason why she fights is because of Nakago. This is the only time Nakago ever feels bad for anyone when she protected him from a sword blow by Tasuki, and seeing her past, her parents sold to a brothel, being slapped around by slave traders, you really wish this character was on the Suzaku Seven…

G)     Hotohori’s Death – Mitsukake’s death was also sad but he didn’t get a huge death scene unlike Chiriko, so whilst his is definitely sad, Hotohori’s is almost as bad as Nuriko’s, as we get his theme played through as he whispers his last words in memory of his widow and to Miaka. Miaka hears this via the Universe Of The Four Gods and it just pains that he got what he wished for….just didn’t live to see it…

There are plenty of general moments through after the second half – Yui sacrificing herself to help Miaka after realising everything that has happened, Chichiri’s tears for Mitsukake, the death of Shoka, even Nakago’s past at the end makes you slightly realise why he became the monster he became. In short, the last half of Fushigi Yuugi is like a roller-coaster of depression and tears, and you can’t help but join in for the ride.

1)  CLANNAD/CLANNAD AFTER STORY

I think even a blind man could see my number one choice – if you’ve noticed, the top 3 series have all been 52 episode series. The advantage all these series have is the fact they can develop several arcs involved all the characters involved so that when you get to those tear jerking moments, even if you know it’s coming, you are going to feel it. Like Fushigi Yuugi, there is too much throughout the series so again, individual moments.

1)      Fuko slowly disappearing – The first of the arcs, and boy does it begin to really hit you quickly. Fuko at first seems like a weird, energetic girl, and Tomoya has his fun taking advantage of her silliness (like FY and FM, Clannad also manages to hit the right moments with its comedy) but then you meet her sister, and she then mentions that Fuko is in the hospital in the coma. Suddenly the rumours of a ghost girl become apparent, and the fact the closer you become to Fuko the longer it takes to lose sight of her. When Sunohara, the chew toy, is getting annoyed about something he thinks he’s forgotten, you know it is going to be sad. The  first time I cried was seeing Sanae, my favourite MILF if you remember, welcome Fuko back…before collapsing in tears because she can’t see her but can still remember elements of her, knowing she is with Tomoya and Nagisa, but can’t see her. Every time Nagisa cuddles Fuko as she gets more lonely is like a further dagger in the heart, and dear god, the birthday scene. It’s just…gah. Yes, she does get a happy ending (and one reason this is #1 is how the music is played right at the perfect moments, same with #2 and #3) but this is just the start…

2)      Kotomi’s past – Kotomi like Fuko is quite an amusing character at first, has some quirks to say the least, and her story is basically getting into society and making friends. Of course, being a Key character, that means we’ve got to make her suffer. So when she thinks Ryou may have been in an accident, she freaks. When she sees a mysterious man near her house, she panics and just says ‘he’s a bad man’. It’s quite obvious she has been scarred, but you don’t know why or how. Fortunately Key delivers, and you learn of her parents death, the scar in her heart with her last words before they left on their plane, the return of the luggage, and perhaps most tragic of all is something people tend to forget about. She knew Tomoya the earliest out of all the girls, and Tomoya remembers – and of this, she has loved him the longest. Yet she doesn’t do anything, she sits back and suffers in silence, mainly because of the new friends she has. Kotomi for the longest time was my favourite of the girls and this depressed me so much…

3)      Tomoyo’s story and the tears of the Fujibayashi twins – Tomoyo doesn’t seem to have any heartbreaking moments and the twins certainly don’t…at least you think. Tomoyo reveals her past involving her brother and what changed her which again, is much more upsetting than expected and puts everything in Tomoyo’s perspective from when you saw her being the badass she is, to when she qualifies as student council president. But even though I love Nagisa, when the twins realise that they’ve lost to her, you can’t help but tear up as they begin to cry, in a combination of a) they can’t have Tomoya and b) they can’t bear to hate Nagisa for it. Indeed, the fact all the girls remain friends throughout is a testament to the characters and how much this show prepares the jolly, the happy and the sad…

4)      Nagisa and her parents – we love Akio and Sanae. Best parents ever? Definite a rare case of not only both anime parents being alive but also in a loving family (and are hilarious to boot). Yet when you see what they’ve sacrificed to be with Nagisa with their careers, combined with Nagisa’s illness, you really feel for them. And when Nagisa freezes on stage, Akio becomes awesome. It’s more happy tears as the ending hits, but you get to love this family. Hence why After Story becomes the greatest anime tearjerker ever..

5)      Nagisa’s death – do we even need to explain this one? Seriously – this is probably my biggest cry moment ever – I’ve actually tried rewatching this scene with the intent to not cry. And I’ve failed. Every time. The hints are there – the snowbound rounds, the fact the doctor may not make it in time, the hints of Nagisa’s ailing health…you feel it’s going to come, yet you pray it doesn’t. You’ve come to fall in love with Nagisa in After Story after Tomoya and Nagisa get married, she had a job, became pregnant, you want her to live a normal life. And yet, she doesn’t even get that. The aftermath, with Tomoya basically forgetting about his daughter for 5 years…

6)      Ushio/Tomoya: …becomes even more heartbreaking when they reunite. The train ride when Ushio asks about mommy, Tomoya can’t even hold back the tears. Neither could I. Ushio saying that one of the only places she’s allowed to cry is in her daddy’s arms. And Sanae…SANAE. She has held onto the grief of her daughter’s death for 5 years just so she could be a strong guardian for Ushio and a morale support for Tomoya, and finally releases it. Clannad has so many great characters but Sanae is close to my favourite and seeing this wonderful mother break down is just crushing…and of course, we’ve got the penultimate episode. Ushio and Tomoya in the snow. You think they are going to finally have a happy life – Ushio is back with her daddy, she’s at kindergarten, she even gets Fuko back (happy tears) as a friend who keeps trying to kidnap her in her goofy way of all things cute, but then when she has the same illness as Tomoya, cue the music…

These are all the major tear jerking moments of Clannad, and there are so many other things not even mentioned. The realisation of who the girl and robot are in the illusionary worlds, the Misae flashback, Yukine’s brother, seeing little Mei get harassed by the soccer jerks and Sunohara actually getting a kickass moment, Tomoya’s breakdown with his father and his history with his grandmother, and even the reset ending, when Tomoya wonders if he could speak to Nagisa before he finally gets that happy ending, it’s just one long tearjerker. A close call, but Clannad gets the nod as the biggest tearjerker in anime.

I’m sure there are ones people think are stronger or better, so please, put some down – hell, there’s probably loads I haven’t seen and should. I only need a few pounds of liquid every day after all..