30-DAY ANIME CHALLENGE! (DAY 12): Saddest Anime Scene

DAY 12:  Saddest Anime Scene

 

Ok, this is probably the article that will make all my remaining followers jump off a speeding train.

 

Soooooooooo…..saddest anime scenes, huh…………….

In the world of anime, there are a lot of emotional stuff that goes on.  These moments can range from a beloved character’s death, or a huge plot twist that shocks everyone, or maybe a confession/rejection scene.  In terms of sad scenes and being affected by them, I’m not one to warrant an immediate emotional response to things.  It takes a lot to get my tear ducts welling, and so far, not a lot of anime has made it that far.  There are some of course (and you guys probably know which ones), but other than those high-profile shows, there aren’t any other anime out there that can pierce the ice-cold machine located in the upper quadrant of my left ribcage pretending to be a heart.

ATTENTION:  THERE WILL BE SPOILERS FROM HERE ON OUT.  LEAVE IF YOU DON’T WANNA BE SPOILED ON SHOWS LIKE ANOHANA, CLANNAD, DEATH NOTE, AND CODE GEASS.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

You still here?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Ok, brave heart.

 

So some of the sadder scenes in anime happen to be the deaths of major characters that we’ve grown attached to.  Characters who die in a tragic manner, such as Nagisa (Clannad:  After Story) and L (Death Note) , are such examples.

Other times, it is not necessarily the passing away of the character but more of the emotional catharsis that comes with it, such as Menma’s ascension (Anohana), Mirai’s sacrifice (Beyond the Boundary), and Nagisa’s rebirth (as BS as that may have seemed).

Sometimes, it’s tears of joy that predominate a certain moment, i.e. the ending for FMA: Brotherhood, Shakugan no Shana, and Clannad After Story.

Romance can also factor in the hyperactivity of one’s tear ducts:  stuff like Toradora and Chuunibyou and even Guilty Crown all have aspects of romance that can pull at one’s heart strings.

HOWEVER, I am talking about NONE of those shows.

 

 

 

Nope, sorry guys, it aint’ Clannad that made this guy’s kokoro swell up with sadness.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

It wasn’t the death, or the romance, or any special act of self-sacrifice.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

But it was a simple talk about graduating and moving on.

 

 

 

K-On Season 2, Episode 20

Usually, I would apologize to people for picking something like this as the most emotionally taxing episode, but for this, I won’t say sorry for something that I feel strongly about, and here’s why.

After performing their last concert in front of the entire student body, the girls from Hokago Tea Time have a little after-show chat in the club room.  They talked about how surreal the concert felt, how some of them messed up, how much they ENJOYED playing for the audience. how everything went by so quickly, how it was the best concert they’ve played so far…..

 

……and then they started talking about their plans for the future…….

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

…….only problem was………there wasn’t gonna be a next year, since the four main members of the group are graduating…………

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

……and they started crying……………

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

/sniffs/ and it made me cry as well….

Now, the thing with this scene is not in the extravagance of everything, how bombastic the moment was when it happened, how they made something BIG in order to reeaallly get the feels rolling.

What they did was take an existing concept, insinuate it into one epic concert, and then have the characters discuss about it in the silence of the music room.  Not much to it, just five girls, in a room, by the window, talking and crying about how amazing everything was and how thankful everyone was for each other’s company.

And it works SOOOOOOOOOOOO darn well.

I admire moments like these.  I believe that the universe ends not with a bang but with a whimper.  Sure the HUGE orchestral themes and epic screams of despair and sorrow are amazing and really gets the soul going, but to me, it’s the quieter, more solemn moments that exponentially increases the magnitude of a situation.

And this scene does it fantastically:  the stage is simple (the five members sitting in a line), with beautiful, scenic lighting from the window (courtesy of KyoAni), some moments of complete silence from the BGM, and then topped off with a BEAUTIFUL acoustic rendition of one of HTT’s songs when it came to the emotionally-heavy parts.

Of course, the actual delivery of the scene maters the most, above all else.  And, to say the least, the scene with the five girls just conversing and reminiscing, by itself, could have carried the entire scene with great aplomb.

HOLY SHEEEEEEEEEEET LONG LIVE AND PROSPER TO YOU TOO, YUI!

It’s the way how everyone is characterized by how they feel about their situation:  one cries out to the injustice of being separated by graduating, one tries to smile while facing the facts, one tries to mediate everyone’s worries while being worried herself, and one cries solemnly, accepting the futility of it all.  However, by the end, everyone thanks each other for the past, is appreciative of the present, and is hopeful for the future.  The way this scene was directed and how these multiple emotional states are portrayed in one scene alone is superb and is rarely seen in anime, much less from a show such as K-On.  It’s amazing television, to say the least, that they are able to convey their emotions in a manner that we, the viewer, can fully sympathize with them due to the connection we feel from them ever since we first saw them back in season 1.

It all culminated up to this point.  It would’ve been awesome if they had ended the show on this note, but even so, this scene gets me everytime, and I will always look back to it as the scene that emotionally affected me, made me cry for the characters and their plight, and at the same time, made me hopeful about the future.

Some people may not get it, and that’s because it has to be seen and experienced to be believed in.

Now you may think I’m overanalyzing it, but I don’t care.  Let me be emotional for just one article please.  I’m literally tearing up as I write this, so give me a break.

Let me cry for a bit, then I’ll see you guys on Day 13……..

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