10 emotional anime movies that you should watch

Emotional anime movies have the remarkable ability to make us feel strong emotions ranging from joy to grief. Through animated storytelling, they illustrate diverse facets of the human experience. Some movies tackle heavy topics like war and mortality while others poetically explore the magic of romance and connection.

The 10 entries on this compilation were specially chosen for their emotional resonance. Essentially, these emotional anime movies all deliver poignant narratives that reflect the realities of the human condition. Their stirring emotionality lingers powerfully.

So prepare for tearjerker stories as well as some heartwarming triumphs of the human spirit among these affecting films.

10 must-watch emotional anime movies that you should try

1. Grave of the Fireflies

Grave of the Fireflies (Image via Studio Ghibli)

Set during WWII, Isao Takahata's acclaimed 1988 antiwar film Grave of the Fireflies follows orphaned siblings Seita and Setsuko struggling to survive devastating aftermaths of the Allied bombing campaign on Japanese cities.

After losing their mother and home in a fiery Kobe air raid, Seita cares for his little sister Setsuko while their father serves in the navy, and his fate remains unknown. As the war winds down, their increasingly desperate circumstances push Seita and Setsuko's familial bonds and wills to persevere to the very limit.

The film highlights the compounding trauma and helplessness of children suffering war's direct humanitarian impacts. The lyrical animation and empathetic focus make Grave of the Fireflies an exceptionally devastating antiwar film and one of the best emotional anime movies.

2. Your Name

Makoto Shinkai's fantastical 2016 body-swap romance Your Name charmed global audiences with an ingenious premise underscoring adolescent relationships and gender roles. The film follows rural high school girl Mitsuha mysteriously waking up in Tokyo male student Taki's body on random days.

As the two communicate by leaving notes for each other, they try to help improve each other's lives. However, just as abruptly as it started, the body swapping stops, leaving them struggling to meet against all odds.

Your Name takes viewers on a soaring emotional journey as Mitsuha and Taki's bond develops within impossible supernatural constraints. Their star-crossed story illustrates how adolescent connections shape identity with remarkable narrative empathy.

3. A Silent Voice

A Silent Voice (Image via Kyoto Animation)

Kyoto Animation's acclaimed coming-of-age drama A Silent Voice tackles heavy themes including bullying, guilt, disability, and suic*de through a redemption narrative rendered with radical emotional honesty.

It follows Shouya, who severely bullies deaf classmate Shouko in elementary school, prompting her to transfer away. With Shouya subsequently branded the main perpetrator and shunned, lingering guilt plagues his adolescence.

Years later, teenage Shouya reaches out to Shouko in hopes of making amends. As they slowly reopen communication channels shuttered by past wounds, their evolving bond illustrates trauma's lingering impacts. A Silent Voice empathetically portrays disability while exploring forgiveness and accountability.

4. I Want to Eat Your Pancreas

I Want to Eat Your Pancreas (Image via Studio VOLN)

The 2018 drama I Want to Eat Your Pancreas is an uplifting anime film that thoughtfully explores love and loss through illness. High schooler Haruki Shiga spends his days alone until one day, he accidentally discovers that the reserved girl in his grade, Sakura Yamauchi, has pancreatic illness.

Haruki and Sakura form a secret friendship—going on escapades that Sakura hid from even her closest friends as she faces her terminal diagnosis. I Want to Eat Your Pancreas packs an emotional gut-punch, taking viewers on a cathartic journey with its endearing leads.

Their blossoming relationship makes you reflect on mortality.

5. Weathering With You

Weathering With You (Image via CoMix Wave Films)

Acclaimed director Makoto Shinkai earned praise for his 2019 animated blockbuster Weathering With You. It centres on Hodaka—a high school runaway struggling to make ends meet in rain-drenched Tokyo. He eventually meets the mysterious orphan Hina, who can control the weather.

As Hina uses her powers to make the gloomy Tokyo weather sunny, she becomes increasingly transparent and risks disappearing entirely. Hodaka must make the fateful choice between Hina's well-being and the city's.

Weathering With You spins a poignant tale capturing the uncertainty of youth and early romance. The high stakes of Hodaka and Hina's star-crossed relationship make for an emotionally stirring watch. And Shinkai's signature vibrant visual style adds plenty of eye candy.

6. 5 Centimeters per Second

5 Centimeters per Second (Image via CoMix Wave Films)

Makoto Shinkai's emotional film 5 Centimeters per Second firmly established his reputation for visually stunning anime storytelling. Through three vignettes, it explores the gradually drifting apart of two close childhood friends Takaki and Akari.

The first act shows Takaki moving away when they are still young, maintaining contact through letters. The second depicts their further growing distant as challenging high school life keeps them preoccupied. In the final chapter, Takaki reminisces about Akari as an adult while struggling with directionless.

The delicate animation and raw emotionality make 5 Centimeters per Second a thematic companion to Shinkai's previous exploration of love in Voices of a Distant Star. It's an introspective look at how time and changed priorities alter or end relationships.

7. Wolf Children

Mamoru Hosoda's critically acclaimed 2012 family drama Wolf Children takes parents and guardians on an emotional rollercoaster. College student Hana begins a secret romance with a man who reveals himself as a werewolf.

After the werewolf dies in an accident, Hana is left alone to raise their two children, Ame and Yuki, who struggle with their half-wolf and half-human heritage. Hana relocates them to the countryside, where the children choose between living as wolves or assimilating as humans.

Following Hana's selfless efforts in raising Ame and Yuki, Wolf Children tugs at the heartstrings and illustrates the depth of maternal love. Hosoda's earnest storytelling makes it one of the best emotional anime movies, about parental dedication.

8. The Garden of Words

The Garden of Words (Image via CoMix Wave Films)

Acclaimed director Makoto Shinkai is behind the esteemed 2013 romantic drama The Garden of Words. On rainy mornings in Tokyo's Shinjuku Gyoen park, high schooler Takao Akizuki plans to become a shoemaker and skips class to sketch shoe designs.

By chance encounter under the park pavilion, he meets the enigmatic Yukari Yukino. She is a teacher who is being bullied by her students and facing isolation. As the rainy season brings them together frequently, they develop a tentative friendship and comfort.

However, their orderly lives face disruption after someone discovers their secret meetups. The Garden of Words impresses with its delicate animation and empathetic leads. The innocent connection between Takao and Yukari makes for an understated yet affecting tale of human bonds conquering life's storms.

9. Hotarubi no Mori e

Hotarubi no Mori e (Image via Brain's Base)

At only 45 minutes long, the 2011 supernatural romance film Hotarubi no Mori e delivers an impactful emotional journey economizing its mature story. During her summer stay at her uncle's rural mountain home, six-year-old Hotaru gets lost in the spirit forest.

She meets the mysterious masked forest spirit Gin, who warns her never to touch him lest he disappear. They develop a strong friendship over Hotaru's successive summer visits. But as Hotaru grows into a teenager, she begins questioning if they can share anything beyond wistful company.

Adapted from an acclaimed manga one-shot, Hotarubi no Mori e anime conjures beauty and melancholy from a fantastical premise. Fans of emotional anime movies cannot help but get invested in leads with an achingly poignant connection.

10. In This Corner of the World

In This Corner of the World (Image via MAPPA)

Based on Fumiyo Kouno's manga series, the critically praised In This Corner of the World illustrates civilian life in Hiroshima during World War II. Its narrative focuses on 18-year-old bride Suzu Urano adjusting from an undemanding life in Eba to the difficult survival constraints of Kure after her 1944 marriage.

As Suzu helps her in-laws and neighbours amid war rationing, she discovers inner resilience she didn't expect. But an even more considerable ordeal emerges after the August 1945 atomic bombing of Hiroshima.

The anime drama renders Suzu and her fellow citizens' struggles through delicate details, resonating with those knowing war's tragic impact on ordinary lives. In This Corner of the World puts a beautifully human face on the horrors of war.

Conclusion

The emotional resonance of anime's animated storytelling makes these films truly cathartic viewing experiences.

Whether wartime tragedies or coming-of-age tales, they tackle the human condition's joys and sorrows with rare elegance. So watch these modern animated emotional anime movies to get swept away by their transportive storytelling. Their stirring narratives will linger with you long after you are done watching.