12 Tearjerker Manga That Will Rip You Apart
Who doesn’t love a good cry? We’ve watched various tragic anime in the past, but manga can be just as soul crushing! Here are some tearjerker manga that will destroy anyone.
1. Koe no Katachi (A Silent Voice)
Chapters: 64Status: Finished
Quick pitch: A Silent Voice follows Shouya Ishida, a boy who is also getting into trouble. When a deaf transfer student named Shouko Nishimiya is introduced to Ishida’s class, he deems her as the perfect target for bullying. Ishida bullies Nishimiya to kill boredom and doesn’t think about the effects of his actions until he starts to become ostracized by his own classmates.
2. Shigatsu wa Kimi no Uso (Your Lie in April)
Chapters: 44
Status: Finished
Quick pitch: Your Lie in April follows Kousei Arima, a young musical prodigy. His mom meticulously taught him to play the piano, which allowed him to dominate music competitions. After her sudden death, Kousei the will to play music and disappeared from the stage. His monotonous life changes upon meeting Kaori Miyazono, a violinist known for her free-willed performances.
3. Oyasumi Punpun
Chapters: 147
Status: Finished
Quick pitch: Punpun Onodera is a typical 11-year-old Japanese boy. He is a hopeless romantic and thinks he has a chance at first love with a girl named Aiko Tanaka. Slowly, his naive worldview crumbles after learning that relationships are a lot of work and after witnessing his father assault his mother. These two events throw his life into a slow spiral.
4. Bokurano
Chapters: 66
Status: Finished
Quick pitch: During summer camp, 15 children discover a network of computers and electrical equipment hidden inside a grotto. The owner of this equipment is Kokopelli and claims to be a programmer working on a new game, which involves a giant robot defending Earth against 15 alien invasions. Kokopelli asks the children if they would like to test the game. All but one child agree and sign a contract, not knowing that they are about to enter a dark world.
5. My Girl
Chapters: 44
Status: Finished
Quick pitch: Kazama Masamune is a single 23-year-old man. During the spring, he learns that an old lover has passed away…leaving behind his young daughter. They meet for the first time and Kazama must come to terms with being a single dad.
6. Spirit Circle
Chapters: 45
Status: Finished
Quick pitch: Fuuta Okeya is a 14-year-old boy with the ability to see ghosts. His somewhat peaceful life is disrupted after meeting a transfer student named Kouko Ishigami. After first, she wants nothing to do with Fuuta, but upon seeing his birthmark, she becomes his sworn enemy. Kouko claims to have cursed Fuuta in one of their past lives and intends to make him relive his deaths before killing him in the present.
7. Onani Master Kurosawa
Chapters: 31
Status: Finished
Quick pitch: Kurosawa is an anti-social student who looks down on his classmates, but he has a secret. Every day, he sneaks off to the rarely used girls’ restroom and beats off. His dirty hobby is discovered by Aya Kitahara, who uses the information to blackmail Kurosawa. What begins as a dirty joke ends up a heartbreaking coming-of-age story.
8. Satougashi no Dangan wa Uchinukenai: A Lollypop or a Bullet
Chapters: 13
Status: Finished
Quick pitch: Nagisa Yamada is bored of the countryside and plans on joining a military school. She meets a peculiar transfer student named Umino Mokuzu, who claims to be a mermaid in search of a true friend.
9. Fujimi Lovers
Chapters: 15
Status: Finished
Quick pitch: Kouno Jun fell in love with Hasebe Rino while in kindergarten. After Kouno confesses his feelings to her, Hasebe disappears. The strange thing is that no one seems to remember Hasebe except for Kouno. Several years later, Kouno is excited to learn that Hasebe has transferred into his high school…only to be distraught that she is not like how he remembers.
10. Futatsu no Spica (Twin Spica)
Chapters: 97
Status: Finished
Quick pitch: Asumi Kamogawa dreams of exploring the stars and enrolls into the elite Tokyo Space Academy. Her motivation is tied to a tragic rocket accident that happened when Asumi was 1-year-old. If she wants to be a part of Japan’s first manned space mission, she must overcome physical and mental trials.
11. Bitter Virgin
Chapters: 32
Status: Finished
Quick pitch: Daisuke is a popular high school student who would date any girl, except for Aikawa. He finds her “sweet virgin” annoying and aversion to physical contact offensive. His attitude changes after he accidently learns of Aikawa’s secret; she was sexually abused by her step-father and gave up a child for adoption. Aikawa is not aware that Daisuke knows her secret, but becomes more relaxed around him due to his mysterious compassion.
12. Ai-Ren
Chapters: 43
Status: Finished
Quick pitch: Ikuru is slowly dying. The organs that were transplanted to save his life are now killing him. Filled with distraught over the news, he requests the companionship of an AGH-RMS. The “Ai-Ren” units are artificially created humans with implanted personalities due to requested specifications. They are created to proved a sense of comfort to terminally ill patients, allowing them to rediscover happiness before their end arrives.
What are your favorite tearjerking manga?
Should’ve added Ran to Haiiro no Sekai.
I came to love all of the characters and couldn’t help but feel happy and sad with them, especially the main characters. It’s not a very long series but it’s definitely worthwhile. I’ve lost count of how many times I’ve read this manga, but the ending gets me every time. It’s a beautifully creative, magical series and I could not recommend it more to anyone else.
I’ll give it a read and let you know. Haven’t had the time to read a new manga for sometime.
I have read all of these manga. But none made me cry
Looking for emotional manga that will make me cry
I’m looking for manga that will emotionally crush me. I have yet to cry because of a manga or anime, but I love that post anime/manga depression feeling as weird as it sounds. It tells me that I was really attached to the characters I was reading about.
Things like Watashitachi no Shiawase na Jikan, Shigatsu wa Kimi no Uso, and Sundome for example.
The ones I listed as examples are tragic, but they don’t need to be sad. Happy or sad tears are fine, but I want something that made you feel really emotional or made you cry.
Well, if you’ve finished everything from the list, idk.
@redBurger
I don’t read much of this kind of manga, since I’ll feel shitty for days. But I do have some that I love.
Sci-fi and mystery
Tears of joy
Heavy drama
Heavy drama
Very heavy drama
psychological
Supernatural romance
I never cry when I read a manga with tragedy. The only manga that have made me shed a tear have been wholesome manga. I never cried but they made my eyes a bit watery because of how happy and nice everything was. One manga where I remember this happening was Aria towards the ending there was this really nice scene with a character named Alice. That scene made my eyes watery because of how nice it was. There have been several other manga as well but this is the first that comes to mind.
So I’m in the mood to see people crying. It doesn’t have to be sad, it could be happy tears too. Some great crying examples I can think of is:
K-On’s crying scene
Rei and Nagisa crying during the last ep of the 2nd season of Free!
Ookiku Furikabutte’s 9th inning in the 2nd season was awesome too.
Hikaru from Hikaru no Go(manga, i dunno about the anime) had a good one as well.
Please do recommend:
serious tears, not joke tears in chibi form or something.
the type who doesn’t cry or uptight/has a cold demeanor but when that person cries they cry
ugly criers
those where they don’t notice they’re crying but when they do they break down
the noisier they cry the better
if it’s a guy that was crying, the manlier the better
The longer it is, the better(though this is for manga more. If you’re gonna recommend a manga, I hope the crying scene’s more than one page)
another person seeing another person cry
another person crying because they saw another person cry
bonus points if it’s gif-able, but that’s not a requirement, ahaha
Please DON”T recommend:
crybabies or people who wangst over trivial shit. Well, crybabies are okay if there was a really emotional scene that crying was appropriate(see Oofuri example)
actual babies, because that’s just too easy <_<
crying scenes where their faces aren't shown, or crying was just implied
crying scenes with no tears.
As I said, it doesn't have to be sad and depressing tears! In fact, it would be awesome if it were happy tears. But I like depressing tears too. Any genre(even yaoi and yuri, so don't hesitate to recommend me stuff) is okay! Well, except maybe ecchi. But I'm fine with works with explicit scenes in them. If it's rape it has to be taken seriously, and not just for fanservice. If it's consensual sex then I guess I'm fine if it's fanservice. If it's gore I'm fine either way.
Well, this has been way too long ahaha. Here's my list.
There have been moments in manga and anime where I was close to shedding a tear. I did feel sadness or anxiety. But the series that really got me was Doubutsu no Kuni. It starts off cute and cuddly but it quickly becomes a story with deep meaning.
I find chapter 41 so touching that I tear up every time I read it. That one chapter has the most heartbreaking and then heartwarming character revelations I’ve ever seen. The series is full of intense moments that will make you feel for the characters. Animal Country, surprisingly human.
I read Oyasumi Punpun recently and I was so sure I was going to be depressed or crying by the end of it but I didn’t feel a thing.
So, idk whether anyone can cry