20+ Depressing Anime Shows (And Moments) That Will Bring On A Low Mood

Some anime shows are more:

Depressing.
Bring on a low mood.
Dark.

And downright upsetting because of its kind of content, scenes, tragic moments, and themes.

Some of these anime are classics by this point, and others are underrated and everything in between.

Let’s talk about it.

1. Jujutsu Kaisen Season 2

Jujutsu Kaisen season 1 had its violent moments, and some of its savage moments no doubt. One of which is where Mahito shows up and f*cks up that kid’s life. He falls victim to Mahito’s ability.

In season 2 though, this is where the shit hits the fan for its depressing content and sad scenes.

You can mention:

Nobara Kugisaki.
Or the savagery of Sukuna.
Or Nanami.

And so on, and it would fit the mood given what happens to many characters, and people, and the overall tragic vibes of S2.

2. Akame Ga Kill

Akame Ga Kill can’t be ignored from a list talking about depressing anime content, scenes, moments, and shows as a whole.

The anime starts off with Tatsumi, the shounen hero who wants to fight for justice, make a lot of money in the capital, and help his village. But he soon realizes that the same capital is responsible for murdering the comrades he came with through enslavement.

Not to mention everything Is corrupt and killing the government and those who serve them is the only way forward. Hence the assassination group nightraid.

Many complain and claim this series “kills off characters” too much, but that’s the fucking point. It’s realistic, true to life, and doesn’t insert the “power of friendship” or any unrealistic elements too many shounen fall back to out of fear.

3. Attack On Titan

Attack On Titan has been going for years at this point. Since around 2013/2014, the anime starts off with some depressing content. We don’t even need to mention the later seasons given how vile it already is.

We see Eren lose his mother, and he can’t do shit about it. Armin watches as well, and so does the blonde guy who protects them as his mother sacrifices herself.

This carnage only continues from the viewpoints of Armin, Eren, and Levi, when the female titan shows up, and so much more.

It’s fair to include AOT as a depressing anime series.

4. Owari No Seraph

Owari No Seraph was made by the same WIT studios that also made AOT. So it’s not surprising to see why it’s on this list with its similar setup.

Child slaves work for the vampire race in this world, and the vampire race is hell-bent on ruling the humans. These children come up with a plan to escape and gain freedom but at the cost of their lives.

Only two survive. Yuichiro Hyakuya escapes, but his friend Mika becomes a vampire as punishment.

With 2 seasons so far and a third season in desperate need, the depression is bound to follow.

5. Plastic Memories

Plastic Memories is an anime with romance, but not an anime you can watch thinking it will forever be wholesome and cute.

The first episode shows this with the way it ends, and right after some laughter and comedy takes place.

Isla is a female robot, and Tsukasa is the guy who is teamed up to work with her. They essentially go on missions finding machines like Isla who are about to expire, or have expired, to put them to rest since if they don’t bad things can happen.

Tsukasa and Isla’s relationship is one of the most realistic and sad despite the context.

6. Higurashi: When They Cry

Higurashi When They Cry has many depressing moments, tragic moments, and outright savagery from start to finish. I mean, the anime is split up into mini-arcs for each character.

Each arc explores each character’s mindset, fears, worries, how far they’re willing to go for survival, even if it includes murder, and so on.

It’s like one big psychological experiment.

Nothing beats the original Higurashi, but the newer ones do the originals some justice.

7. Gakkou Gurashi

Gakkou Gurashi is the kind of anime you go in watching thinking it’s also gonna be cuter than it is. After all, the anime involves Yuki Takeya, a pink haired girl running down school hallways smiling and being happy.

She’s cheerful, upbeat, extroverted, and infectious with her positive attitude.

After episode 1 you see this anime is about to explore not just horror, but mental illness, mental health, PTSD, and dark topics.

It’s as much about survival as it is about battling the mental anxiety of dealing with it to put it lightly.

8. MHA S6

The 6th season of My Hero Academia has been nothing like anything seen before. Yes, season 4 was savage when Overhaul showed up, but S6 is where depression kicks in on a whole new level.

Even DEKU can’t remain positive after the madness that takes place and needs to be lifted out of despair by those around him.

So many deaths, tragic events, and losses, that it only makes sense that depression is in the air.

9. Naruto (Granny Chiyo arc/scene)

Naruto in general wouldn’t be included on this list normally, but the Granny Chiyo scene deserves special attention.

The depressing scenes that take place before and during speaks for itself. The music playing, the instrumentals, and everyone gathering around have the type of effect most other scenes in Naruto can’t compare to for depression specifically.

10. Undead Unluck (Gina) and some backstories

Undead Unluck is one of the underrated anime shows of this season. It started around October 2023 but is still ongoing in 2024.

It’s about “negators” who are humans that suddenly gain powers without warning, and as a result, end up killing those around them by accident. Worst of all, they are all kids when these events take place.

Like Fuuko, the main female MC whose power “Unluck” kicked in as her parents got on board a plane, only for the plane to explode moments later.

Gina is one of many depressing characters and tragic characters. Her backstory is depressing, her life is similar, and the aftermath is the same.

Backstories in Undead Unluck are like this in general.

11. Madoka Magica

Madoka Magixa hasn’t aired in a while now except for some side stories. That said, the original changed the magical genre by introducing the DARK side of Magical girls, which is why it has depressing moments.

Magical girls are supposedly heroes in the eyes of many naive girls who are preyed on by a certain alien. But once they make the contract, regret sinks in and it’s too late.

Their life is on a timer pretty much.

Homura Akemi is the embodiment of why this anime has depressing aspects to it.

Relevant: 16+ Anime With Suicide As A Plot Point Or The Main Theme

12. Clannad After Story

Clannad season 1 has its sad moments and emotional scenes. Like with Sunohara’s sister and their relationship, or Nagisa, or Kotomi Ichinose, etc. But season 2 is where the ship sinks, emotionally.

This is the season where Tomoya and Nagisa have a kid together and are in a relationship.

It’s legendary for its sad content.

13. Violet Evergarden

Violet Evergarden does things differently. It’s a slice of life anime by Kyoani that makes every episode emotional and different based on the stories of many people.

The MC Violet Evergarden is searching for what “I love you” means, and on her journey, she helps many people express themselves through writing (part of her job) and get their feelings across to those who matter to them.

In turn, Violet learns a lot about herself, her pain, and her upbringing, and is able to become stronger.

14. Magical Girl Site

Magical Girl Site, like many magical girl anime after Madoka Magica is depressing. The girls in this series as the name implies become magical girls through a strange website.

After gaining power, the aftermath is even worse than Madoka Magica in many ways.

It drives some people to madness, and each character deals with their situation differently, some to extremes where you may question their mental health.

That’s the point.

15. Railgun (sisters arc)

Railgun is an action/superpower series where characters are espers. You have all sorts of content, but some of it can be admittedly depressing.

The sister’s arc in Railgun is the ultimate depressing in the series so far (anime).

This is not just one of the most important arcs of the anime, but it’s connected to a lot of the main story and ties up a lot of loose ends as you discover the darker side of Academy City.

16. Hell Girl

Hell Girl is an anime that seems forgotten. The series is about Ai Enma, a girl who after facing discrimination decided to get revenge on the villagers, and was punished by the Hell Master for it.

She’s a slave to hell and made to send others to hell who do bad things and has done for 100s of years.

In the story itself, many people do things like kill pets, let animals die out of pleasure, spread false rumours to destroy reputations, and more.

It shows the ugliest side of humanity.

17. Psycho Pass

Psycho-Pass starts out with depressing content. They find a woman in an alley traumatized. That’s only the half of it.

Akane Tsenamori sees this on her first day of being a beginner police officer. Much more is to come as well that she’s unaware of.

In this technologically driven world, you have guns called dominators that can judge whether a person should be killed, arrested, or spared based on measuring their mental health state in real-time.

A serial killer is on the loose, but his mental state is so calm the guns never fire on him. This exposes the flaw with this tech and is a major part of the anime’s story, and also the depressing scenes found in this anime.

18. Shield Hero Season 1

Shield Hero season 1 will always be remembered in anime history for its content. It caused many feminists and politically correct websites to criticise it for rightly highlighting the toxic side of feminism, r*pe accusation culture, and being held accountable for it.

Naofumi Iwatani is falsely accused, and it destroys his reputation. Only down the line is his innocence gained but not after facing depression himself, losing trust in others, and facing necessary hardships because no one decides to listen to him.

19. It’s You Guys Fault I’m Not Popular?

This is the type of anime where the depressive side has more comedy to it rather than outright depression. After all, it’s about Tomoko Kuroki who has a teenager who gets up to weird shit.

A typical teenager with not much self confidence, self esteem, belief in herself, or ambition.

She has ONE good friend, but beyond that not much else and is anxious a lot.

20. Happy Sugar Life

Satou Matsuzaka is the pink haired Yandere crazed maniac of this series. She’s innocent and pure to everyone outside her circle, and even to those within her circle. But beyond that, she has a dark secret.

That secret involves adopting (off the street at random) a girl called Shio Kobe who was abandoned.

Satou falls in love with this girl, and that’s where the deranged and messed up themes take place.

It’s the motivation for violence, brutality, savagery, and even betrayal. The plot and its ending are depressing.

21. Sword Art Online Season 2 (Mother’s Rosario Arc)

SAO had some depressing moments in season 1, mostly relating to the girl with black hair who died which affected Kirito;s mood.

But season 2 with the Mother’s Rosario arc made things that much more depressing and tragic than SAO has ever been.

Yuuki Konno’s introduction, her being friends with Asuna and play fighting with Kirito, as well as helping them fight. In the real world Yuuki is sick and has aids, but thanks to technology she can live a “real life” in virtual reality.

The outcome of her condition is one of the more emotional episodes there has ever been, especially from an Isekai series.

22. A Silent Voice

Being bullied is bad enough, but being bullied for your disabilities is a whole other extreme.

The main character Shouko is bullied for being deaf, and later almost commits suicide when she’s older because of all that past trauma that still haunts her and affects her self-esteem to a great degree.

She carries that stress daily, and the memory is burnt into her personality which is that of a girl who is anxious and seemingly weak.

One of her bullies tries to make up with her after he feels the weight of his actions later and feels intense regret for what role he played. This adds to the emotional and depressive elements of A Silent Voice because of the complications and conflict.