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What is the most emotional anime in history?

Posted: Sun Mar 12, 2006 12:34 am
by swdarin
One anime that I feel is the most emotional in history would be... Neon Genesis Evangelion. What else?

Posted: Sun Mar 12, 2006 5:43 pm
by Jeni Nielsen
You need to make your topics into questions otherwise you'll never get anyone to post in them.

Are you asking us what we think is the most emotional anime? If you are then you should say so. Or if you're asking us to agree with you, you might want to give more reasons why you think so.

It's just a thought.

Posted: Sun Mar 12, 2006 6:23 pm
by shadowferret
Well, the most emotional Anime....

There's always the romance ones, like Whispers Of the Heart, and then there's, of course, GitS, with the philosophy. But, otherwise, I can't think of any on the spot.

Posted: Sun Mar 12, 2006 7:18 pm
by swdarin
Jeni Nielsen wrote:You need to make your topics into questions otherwise you'll never get anyone to post in them.

Are you asking us what we think is the most emotional anime? If you are then you should say so. Or if you're asking us to agree with you, you might want to give more reasons why you think so.

It's just a thought.
Hmm... Awright.

Posted: Sun Mar 12, 2006 8:59 pm
by AlphonseVanWorden
Jeni Nielsen wrote:You need to make your topics into questions otherwise you'll never get anyone to post in them.

Are you asking us what we think is the most emotional anime? If you are then you should say so. Or if you're asking us to agree with you, you might want to give more reasons why you think so.

It's just a thought.
It's official: Jeni Nielsen scares me. :shock:

Most emotional anime? In terms of series, I'd say Evangelion ("I must not run away. I must not run away.") and Serial Experiments Lain ("What does it feel like to die? It really hurts. ;)") Those two shows really do mess with my feelings.

In terms of film, most Ghibli product moves me to tears, and the end of Innocence freaked the holy whatsis out of me.

Posted: Sun Mar 12, 2006 10:05 pm
by Motoko2030
The anime series and movies that I find emotional are

Serial Experiments Lain
Mizaki movies
moments in GITS SAC

Posted: Mon Mar 13, 2006 7:58 am
by Jeni Nielsen
AlphonseVanWorden wrote:
Jeni Nielsen wrote:You need to make your topics into questions otherwise you'll never get anyone to post in them.

Are you asking us what we think is the most emotional anime? If you are then you should say so. Or if you're asking us to agree with you, you might want to give more reasons why you think so.

It's just a thought.
It's official: Jeni Nielsen scares me. :shock:
Hey maybe it came off a little strong, (sowwy), but there's nothing worse than having your own topic die. I've had it happen.

My vote for most emotional anime is Grave of the Fireflies. Without giving too much away I'll just say it made me both really angry and really sad all at the same time.

Posted: Mon Mar 13, 2006 12:25 pm
by AlphonseVanWorden
Joke a joke, Jeni. I had no problem with the response. :lol:

And GRAVE OF THE FIREFLIES was one of the Ghibli-related products that I meant; a complete list of Ghibli films that moved me would be too long.

I should've mentioned "She and Her Cat" (short film by Makoto Shinkai, included on the VOICES OF A DISTANT STAR DVD) and THE PLACE PROMISED IN OUR EARLY DAYS. Those had me all weepy.

So did VOICES OF A DISTANT STAR, come to think of it...

Okay, anything by Makoto Shinkai. Add his stuff to the emotional mix.

Posted: Mon Mar 13, 2006 3:56 pm
by AlphonseVanWorden
My vote for most emotional anime is Grave of the Fireflies. Without giving too much away I'll just say it made me both really angry and really sad all at the same time.
Actually, let me add NOW AND THEN, HERE AND THERE. I watched it again last week, and I was hurt, so hurt, even though I'd seen it before, even though I knew what would happen. This show plucks out my heart and uses it as an ashtray. I think it has a lot in common with GRAVE, in that both look at what war does to children, and with NAUSICCA, in production design. I strongly recommend the series to older teens and adults, but I warn people unfamiliar with the show that it's very, very painful to watch.

If you decide to see it, get the boxed set and watch all thirteen episodes in a single evening, or on a rainy afternoon.

Be warned; NOW AND THEN isn't a romantic comedy, nor is it an action series, nor does it fit many of science fiction's most deeply loved and honored cliches. There's no gratuitous violence or snicker-inducing fan service in the episodes. But there is a world of hurt to be seen, a world not unlike our own.

The series deals with child soldiers, torture, violence against women, ethnic cleansing, occupation of other countries, ideological fanaticism, terrorism/guerilla warfare, loyalty to home and friends, and killing as vengeance. The show's not at all a simple good-versus-evil tale; a lot of characters you learn to love do some really, really questionable things, and not everyone makes it through the series intact.

These aren't spoilers. I'm not sure anyone could ruin the experience, unless the person told you who lives and who dies. And I won't do that.

When you first watch the show, you suspect it's going to be a "modern teen winds up in magical or high-tech world" tale a la GARZEY'S WING or ESCAFLOWNE. But things quickly take a turn for the worst, and just when you think you've seen the very worst, you discover more horrors.

I think the first episode is effective, in that it shows you the normal life of Shu, the main character. Then his normal life is taken away from him, and he asks himself, "What kind of place is this?"

The characters he meets have had similar experiences. They had homes, neighbors, families, loved ones. All the things we take for granted. Now all that's gone, and the characters have to make painful decisions in order to survive.

The character design is deceptively simple, and that makes everything far more painful, far more effective. It's an example of presentation helping content. You think these sweet, innocent-looking, simply-drawn characters will be sweet, innocent people in a typically upbeat story, or you think that nothing bad will happen to a certain character. Then the brutality kicks in, and you're all the more hurt for the set-up.

There's no safety for anyone in the series.

"Evil" isn't some abstraction in the show; there's nothing supernatural or theological about it. It's the product of mental illness, of the desire for revenge, of loyalty, of the desire to get home. It's all-pervasive. Sometimes it's even convincing in its arguments.

But you have good, genuinely nice characters, too. They're human; they don't always do the right thing, but they try. And you worry about them.

NOW AND THEN, HERE AND NOW gets even more painful when you think of "comfort women" during World War II, of the use of children as soldiers in the Congo, of various terrorist and counterterrorist actions.

Of history, both past and present. Now and then.

Incidently, NOW AND THEN was created by Hideyuki Kurata, the fellow who created R.O.D. and worked on EXCEL SAGA, and directed by Akitarô Daichi, who directed JUBEI-CHAN. I never, ever expected those two had something like this in them.

Posted: Wed Mar 15, 2006 3:31 pm
by Gillsing
I haven't seen any of the most emotional anime, but the most emotional anime I have watched is Elfen Lied.

Posted: Thu Mar 16, 2006 3:26 am
by Míxtil
Grave of the fireflies easily. Had me crying for days.

Posted: Thu Mar 16, 2006 8:07 am
by Elmo
It's got to be grave of the fire flies or Jin Roh.

...or escaflowne but i don't think depression at having wasted an hour of my life on such pap was the emotional response you meant. :P

Posted: Tue Mar 21, 2006 8:32 pm
by Spica
The most widely accepted answer is Evangelion. It's the most emotional anime I have ever seen. I, of course, have not seen every anime ever made, and so could not say for sure. I would guess that some bishonen fangirls would probably think that their own favorate bishonen anime is the most emotional, but then, they are an odd bunch.

Posted: Tue Mar 21, 2006 8:34 pm
by Someone
Grave of the fire flys that is one enmontional movie.

Jin Roh

Posted: Wed Mar 29, 2006 1:20 am
by Tonks_kittygoth
Jin Roh is pretty darn sad.
I thought Wolfs Rain was gut wrenching too.

The end was so depressing I didn't buy the anime, like I had wanted to,
because of it.

SPOILER

It takes everyone you care about,
kills them horribly, then restarts
so they will go on endlessly.
de-press-ing