 Different forms of media can operate on many different emotional levels. Anime is especially good at this. It can tell a tragic story, present a flawed character, and present a situation that resonates with the viewer. Despite being just animation, these characters can often be more human than those presented in cinema. And just as a warning, spoilers ahead. In most situations where there are multiple properties with the same name, we're primarily referring to the anime, though there are similarities with the manga, light novel, or book. And again, I'm sure you guys have your favorite moments as well. If you feel like another anime moment deserves a place on the list, make sure to leave a comment below. Now without further ado, here are 10 anime that made us cry. 10. Naruto Rock Lee Fight If there's one thing Shonen anime excels at, it's presenting two conflicting ideologies, personifying them, and having those two personas beat the crap out of each other. In Naruto, a 2005 anime by Masashi Kishimoto, two child ninjas, Rock Lee and Gaara, find themselves facing off against each other during the Tune in Exam Tournament arc. Leading up to this point, we've learned that Rock Lee is a ninja that has no natural talent, but has made it this far on sheer hard work. Gaara, however, has been the monster in the woods. We've only caught glimpses of his power, the remains of those who died crossing his path. While Rock Lee gives it his all, and surprises Gaara, they really are on a different level as we learn more about Gaara's own past later in the series. Maito Gaia, Rock Lee's mentor and father figure, holds off as long as he can, but finally decides to intervene, knowing that intervening on behalf of his beloved student means an automatic disqualification. 9. Erased Sacrifice Erased asks the question, what would you personally sacrifice to make the lives of those around you better? A 2016 anime by Keisame, Erased is the story of Satoru Fujinuma, a boy who can avoid life-threatening events by jumping back in time before the crisis. This time, to avoid the crisis of a serial killer framing Satoru for his own mother's death, he has jumped back to his childhood 18 years ago. Now he must discover the identity of the serial killer, and the key is saving the life of Kaio, one of his classmates who was murdered in the present. By the end of the series, Satoru has given up 15 years of his life to Akoma, all to protect those he loves. 8. Trigun, Death of Wolfwood Trigun, a 1998 anime by Yasuhiro Naito, featured the fan-favorite Nicholas D. Wolfwood, a man of God who wasn't above a little murdering. But we loved him anyways. Since the first time we meet Wolfwood, he's been carefree, ever-smiling, and without remorse for what he's done. But facing death alone in a church, the facade is pulled away, and we see Wolfwood curse his God just a little. I'm not ready yet. There's so much left to be done. I want to stay with them. 7. Haikyuu, Karasuno vs. Ayoba Josai If there's one thing that sports anime has taught us, it's that we have to do it for our senpais. Haikyuu, an ongoing 2014 anime by Haruichi Furudate, tells the story of an unlikely volleyball genius, Hinata, and the Karasuno Volleyball Club. Karasuno was once a great team in the region, but in the past few years has fallen to the trash heap. Hinata and several freshmen with unique sets of skills have injected new blood into the club, but with the new rivals come growing pains. All off-season, the entire team, and not just the freshmen, have been hard at work refining their skills. But despite it all, it's still not enough to beat one of their rivals, Ayoba Josai, in the last round of the Inter High Tournament. 6. Cowboy Bebop, You're Gonna Carry That Weight Cowboy Bebop is all about damaged people, a 1998 anime directed by Shinichiro Watanabe. Bebop might be one of the most pivotal pieces of media, glorifying the Nerduel bounty hunters. You're welcome, Firefly. While Cowboy Bebop is a fun and wild ride, assembling a cast of misfits from damaged and varied backgrounds, it's a tragedy when those misfits are slowly dragged apart by the ghosts of their past. Jed is left alone with the Bebop, but with no companions. Faye is left with memories of her past, but no home, and Spike is left to literally fight the ghosts of his past alone. Though it would be nice to imagine our favorite mercenary crew traversing space and living from bounty to bounty, that's not what we get. 5. Evangelion, Oscar and the Ava Series Prototypes Neon Genesis Evangelion is a 1994 anime directed by Hideaki Anno, followed by the 1997 OVA End of Evangelion. Evangelion is a lot to unpack. A deconstruction of the mecha anime genre, it often eschews conventional tropes for darker, more existential themes of loneliness and identity. This is primarily done through the exploration of the main cast of characters, the children, who are the only humans able to pilot the monstrous Ava units. The second child, Asuka Langley Soryu, struggles with self-worth. Throughout the journey, she's worried that she has no value outside of being a better pilot than everyone else. Unfortunately, she never comes to terms with this, and instead is asked to be the last line of defense for headquarters. For a few glorious moments, Asuka fights his never before against insurmountable odds, but even as Asuka cuts them down, she realizes that these prototypes can revive themselves, and all she can do is scream in vain as they hack away at her machine, body, and pride. 4. Voices of a Distant Star Text messages Voices of a Distant Star is a 2002 anime directed by Makoto Shinkai that boasts a simple premise. Staying connected through email, the person you love over relatively increasing distances. What happens as the time between messages moves from moments, to hours, to months, to finally years? And what if the person at the other end of those messages confess their love to you? Though, space and now relativistic time separate you. Mikako has been traveling near light speed, which puts a nine-year difference between her and her friend Noburoo back on Earth. She's only 16 when she finds herself alone and behind enemy lines in another solar system, and Noburoo is now 25, heading with a fleet to rescue her. 3. Full Metal Alchemist, The Chimera Full Metal Alchemist is a 2003 anime directed by Seiji Mizushima that works on the theme that all magic must have a cost. In a journey to find the Philosopher's Stone, a mythical artifact with limitless alchemic power, brothers Ed and Al need Sho Tucker, a sewing life alchemist. Professor Tucker needs to be re-certified as a state alchemist this year, where else he loses his certification and all the privileges that come with it. Though the Brotherhood version is often hailed a superior, this chilling moment was first depicted on screen in the 2003 anime. Ed and Al work with Tucker to study for their own certification test, and are entertained by Tucker's daughter Nina and their family dog, Alexander. Ed's success puts only more pressure on Tucker as he fails time and time again in his specialty, creating intelligent chimeras. Tucker, in a desperate attempt, sacrifices his daughter and dog and fuses them together. He successfully completes his goal, but in turn, loses his family and his certification. Once Ed finally learns of Tucker's vile actions. Number two, Steinskate. Mayuri dies again and again. Steinskate, a 2011 anime directed by Hiroshi Hamasaki, that examines the concept of time travel and destiny. Rintaro Okabe claims to be a mad scientist, but realistically is more an eccentric engineer. He chances upon time travel first through text messages and later from memories directly transferred from his future self. True to form, Rintaro first uses this power for selfish reasons, and then begins to use the power to better the lives of those around him, granted, in weird ways. However, he's finally discovered a tragic feedback to this effect. He has now created a timeline where his best friend and loyal supporter, Mayuri, will always die. Okabe moves heaven and earth, trying out every permutation of events, literally putting himself through torture, only to watch his best friend die in front of him time and time again. Number one, Grave of the Fireflies. Rice balls. Grave of the Fireflies is a 1988 animated movie written and directed by Isau Takahata, that depicts the struggle of a Japanese boy, Seita, and his sister, Setsuko, in World War II Japan. Tragedy after tragedy befalls Seita and his sister. Their house is destroyed in a bombing, and their mother dies from severe burns. They turn to their aunt, who takes advantage of them and drives them away from home. It all comes to a head when Seita discovers that Setsuko is dying from malnutrition. With the last of their mother's savings, he buys food for his sister. But by the time he's returned, she is delirious from hunger. So delirious that she's eaten mud and rocks that she believed to be rice balls. And while he's desperately preparing her food, she dies. Honorable Mention, Violet Evergarden, a mother's letter. Finally, an honorable mention from one of my favorite anime, Violet Evergarden. The light novel-based anime was created by Kyoto Animation and first debuted on Netflix in 2018. The story revolves around Violet, a girl adopted at a young age by the military and taught to kill, eventually helping them win the war. When she returned from the war, she was basically a robot. She knew nothing about civilian life and had to learn how to properly express herself and empathize with others. Another veteran from the war gave her a chance and hired her to become what's called an auto-memory doll, basically a writer for others who have difficulties with reading and writing, or simply expressing their feelings in words. Although sluggish at first, Violet eventually learns how to communicate effectively with others and put their words powerfully on paper. In one episode, she's hired by a sickly mother to write letters for a whole seven days, but it's not revealed whom they're for. Her seven-year-old daughter, Anne, loves her mother, but is irritated by Violet's presence, who is seemingly stealing all her mother's attention. Anne grows angrier and angrier, until, eventually, Violet leaves, and the mother passes away soon after. At the end of the episode, it's revealed that the letters were for Anne all along, as they would be delivered to her every year on her birthday for the next 50 years. You see, every now and then, you find a piece of media that outgrows its own medium, a video game that becomes more than just a simple video game, a song that becomes more than a song, a movie that becomes more than a movie, and an anime that becomes more than an anime. Almost anything can give us a sense of entertainment and enjoyment, but oftentimes, entertainment is fleeting. What's more important is something that can make us feel a deeper emotion, a movie that can make us laugh, an anime that can make us cry, a game that can give us sorrow or fear, or a song that can give us joy, a piece of media that can make us feel... something. After all, isn't that the main goal in life?