Barefoot Gen, Volume One by Keiji Nakazawa

The plotline has been done to death (pun intended!) that it comes across as overtly exploitative nowadays. I Want To Eat Your Pancreas (2018) Image Source: Ĭinema’s idea of saddest stories often includes cancer-afflicted youngsters. In fact, the sweetness and innocence of these portions makes the inevitably sad ending more depressing.ġ9. The best parts of the anime are naturally the genuine affection Nello and Patrasche feel for each other. Like Ghibli movies, the film handles emotions with astounding subtlety unlike the average Disney animations. Despite the simplistic animation style, Kuroda tells the story in an undeniably compelling manner. The 1997 version stays faithful to the book. A Japanese animated series on Nello and Patrasche was made in 1975. Though the story is set in a 19 th century village in Antwerp, Belgium, it was extremely popular in Japan from the early 20 th century. The popular 90s anime is based on the classic 1872 children’s literature written by a British-French author under the pseudonym Ouida. Yoshio Kuroda’s Dog of Flanders tells the incredibly sad tale of a little boy named Nello and his dog Patrasche. The Dog of Flanders (1997) Image Source: Here are the saddest anime movies that can help you process and release all those pent-up emotions:Ģ0.

Yet they’re all tinged with melancholy and wistfulness. Some may feature fantasy plots, others are set in grim and grounded reality. While some of these anime movies may be escapist, others will leave you sad and teary eyed. There’s something so relieving about a good purgative cry. My list here attempts to put together anime that evokes genuine human emotions from hand-drawn or computer-generated characters. All these anime were largely aimed at adults and incorporated complex, mature themes sometimes missing even in live-action films. But the Japanese animation perfectly addressed the nation’s social realities and created plenty of naturalistic dramas. Consequently, the video revolution of the 1980s strengthened the prospects of anime in the Western countries.Īnimation is naturally expected to feature fantastical and otherworldly elements.

Moreover, with the emergence of major animation studios in Japan in the 1980s, the manga were adapted into anime. The diversification is so profound that manga covers everything from dystopian sci-fi tales to slice-of-life social dramas. The Japanese graphic or comic novels, known as manga, don’t confine themselves to superhero saga and risqué adult stories.

But in Japan, anime and manga have long been major cultural forces, and in the 21 st century have gained admirers and fans across the globe.

In cinema, animation is reduced into a genre for family entertainment. Animation is repeatedly misunderstood as a medium for kids.

Barefoot Gen, Volume One by Keiji Nakazawa