Otaku USA Magazine
Japanese Fans Rank Anime’s Most Tragic Endings

Gutted.

That’s how you may feel after finishing the series and films on this list, which feature the most tragic endings in anime history, according to the Japanese fans who voted on ranking site Goo.

We definitely do not recommend watching them all at once.

19 (tie). Mobile Suit Gundam 0080: War in the Pocket

19 (tie). Mobile Suit Gundam MS Igloo 2: The Gravity Front

16 (tie). Tokyo Magnitude 8.0

16 (tie). Genesis of Aquarion

16 (tie). The Wings of Rean

15. Saikano

14. Hell Girl

13. Cowboy Bebop

12. Shinsekaiden Mars

11. Mobile Suit Z Gundam

10. Death Note

9. School Days

8. Space Warrior Baldios

7. A Dog of Flanders

6. Fullmetal Alchemist

5. Farewell to Space Battleship Yamato

4. Phoenix

3. Rose of Versailles

2. Space Runaway Ideon

1. Grave of the Fireflies

No surprise in the number one spot for the Studio Ghibli film which Roger Ebert once wrote “is an emotional experience so powerful it forces a rethinking of animation.” No big surprise, either, that multiple series on the list (Gundam, Rean, Ideon) come from the mind of Yoshiyuki “Kill ‘em All” Tomino.

How did the end of these anime affect you? Anything you’d add to the list?

Source: Goo

Matt Schley

Matt Schley (rhymes with "guy") lives in Tokyo, and has been OUSA's "man in Japan" since 2012. He's also written about anime and Japanese film for the Japan Times, Screen Daily and more.

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