The 30 Day Anime Challenge Day 12 – Saddest Scene in Anime

We Found You! (Obvious Spoilers)

As always, here’s a quick reminder of the schedule before we get into things for today. This is the twelfth day and I’ll be covering the saddest scene in anime for me. This one is a bit different than what day 25 will bring because I won’t be talking about a character dying. At least not in the traditional sense.

The very first Anime ABC’s I ever did featured Anohana which is an emotionally resonate series for me personally (as well as several others in the community). It deals with the tragic loss of a childhood friend for a close-knit group of people. They all cope (or don’t) with it in different ways and have to learn to move on from their grief. Pretty standard stuff, a heap of melodrama, and pretty sad.

I’ve mentioned before that the series is so personal for me because I’ve lost a lot of friends in really horrible accidents growing up. It’s relatable even if all the actual events in Anohana aren’t. With all that being said, you can of course read my full thoughts on the series via the link provided above. Today I’m just focusing on the ending of the series, so HUGE spoiler warning.

Last chance to bail if you haven’t seen this show already. It’s short, like 11 episodes, I can wait.

Ok, I think it’s safe for me to keep going at this point. Here’s a clip of said moment:

Apologies for such a long clip

In the end, Anohana slips into its emotional climax when the main character Jinta can no longer see Menma. She tells them that she is playing hide-and-seek knowing that she only has a few minutes left before she disappears. The gang frantically runs around searching for her and calling out. Finally, they are all able to see her (which in itself is special and meaningful) she says her final goodbye and then disappears with a, “You found me!”

I really, and I mean really like sad anime but not a lot of them do it for me. This is one of those shows that hits me hard. Not only that, but Anohana is one I can’t watch all that often. I could barely stand to look at that clip I provided for you. Not because I don’t like it but because it makes me legitimately sad. Shows like Clannad have their moments, but they have always fallen short of achieving the same level of emotional response from me that this series has.

We’ve reached the point where I turn things over to you. What is the saddest moment in anime for you? Let me know in the comments below. If you like what I’m doing here please consider donating to my Ko-fi. I hope you’ll come back tomorrow for day 13 of the challenge where I’ll be discussing what anime character I am most similar to. Oh, that’s a tricky one! As always, thanks for reading!

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