8 Anime With Bitter-Sweet Endings That Will Crush Your Heart
We've won! The enemies have been defeated, the planet has been saved, and the hero or heroine wins the love interest! But wait...why isn't anyone happy and cheering? What's with this heavy atmosphere?
That's because the price of victory was too heavy. The protagonist can't fully enjoy the reward of their actions because of a irrevocable loss that happened during the course of the event. This the realm of bitter-sweetness. It's not a bad ending, but somehow you can't help to feel like you've lost in another way. Almost like a mixture of sadness and nostalgia. This trope pops up often within anime as a strong ending point, once you've become emotionally invested into the characters. Which kind of sucks for the emotional viewers. Here are 7 anime that really hit it home with the bitter-sweet conclusions.
Spoilers For: Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann, 5 Centimeters Per Second, Puella Magi Madoka Magica, Tokyo Magnitude 8.0, Fate/Zero, Code Geass, Angel Beats! and Ano Hana.
#1. Fate/Zero
Saber destroys the holy grail to prevent more disasters, but it backfires consuming half of the town in fire.
Rin, Illiya, and Sakura are separated from their loved ones, and Kirei and Gilgamesh are still alive. However, Kiritsugu saves Shirou from the fire that eventually becomes the hero of justice in Fate/Stay Night.
#2. Puella Magi Madoka Magica
Madoka becomes a magical girl and changes the entire system so that witches will no longer exist, bringing Mami and Kyouko to life, however Madoka becomes non-existent as a result.
Meanwhile, in Madoka Movie 3 Rebellion, Homura gets her happy ending by creating a world where Madoka and Sayuka are still alive, however she steals Madoka's power becoming a demon to create this bizzare world. Even stating that her and Madoka will one day become enemies.
The two endings contrast in interesting ways. The original series has a more uplifting tone despite two of the main characters dying, and Rebellion ends with all the main characters alive in a ideal world despite having a depressing tone.
#3. 5 Centimeters Per Second
In the end, Takaki finally gets control over his life and starts to deal with his bitter feelings he's been harboring for years with Akira being engaged to another man. In the very last scene, Akira and Takaki cross each other on the railroad and stop to look back, only to be cut off by the train. When the train finally passes, you see that Akira has already left symbolizing that she's also moved on with her life.
It's highly likely that they will never meet see each other again despite growing up so close in their younger years.
#4. Tokyo Magnitude 8.0
After living through the harsh realities that earthquake survivors around the world experience, Mirai and her cute little brother find their way back to their home where their parents are waiting.
But something is wrong, their parents only see Mirai. Your heart becomes mercilessly crushed and as a viewer you experience pain on par with Grave of the Fireflies.
#5. Angel Beats!
Throughout the entire anime, you're given a glimpse at each character's horrible backstory which led to their death, and watch how they're able to overcome their struggles and move on to the next life. The entire anime is bittersweet as you watch the character you've grown to love all dissapear one by one.
#6. Code Geass
Lelouch is assassinated by Suzaku in a planned sacrifice to bring about world peace.
Meanwhile, Suzaku becomes Zero carrying the weight of the world's happiness on his shoulder and must keep his identify a secret for the rest of his life, essentially losing his friend and his past life in one fell swoop.
#7. Ano Hana
In the end, the group of friends are finally able to accept what happened to Menma and better understand their own feelings and relationships that were complicated due to Menma's death. Menma's wish is finally fulfilled and she begins to move on to the next life, as the cast quickly starts to uncontrolably cry realizing she's finally gone for good and not coming back.
#8. Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann
Simon and Nina finally defeat the Anti Spiral with the help of Gurren Lagann saving the day. Everything they've been fighting for, all the pain and hardships they've endured die along with the Anti Spiral.
Several days later Nia and Simon have their wedding, however everything isn't as happy as you think. Nia began to dissolve during the ceremony as result of her being a part of the Anti-Spiral and with the destruction of the Anti-Spiral himself, it was only a matter of time before she also vanished.
In the end, Simon has her memorial placed near Kamina's grave.
