A thread asking “What’s the most tear-jerking scene in anime history?” popped up on 5ch’s Nandemo Jikkyo G (Live/Anything Goes) board. Nominees ranged widely — “I’m tired, Patrasche” from Dog of Flanders, the clubroom scene after the school festival in K-On!, CLANNAD, Violet Evergarden, Toradora!, Re:Zero, Slam Dunk, and Trigun — with each poster championing whatever title hit them personally. One post naming K-On! sparked a mini-argument by claiming that “if that scene doesn’t make you cry, it proves you’ve never been in a club,” splitting opinion in the thread.
What people said
1AnonymousSep 21, 2026 20:57
Naoyuki: "Is it… really okay now…"
This one, for real.
3AnonymousSep 21, 2026 20:58
Second place goes to the letter scene from Violet Evergarden
42AnonymousSep 21, 2026 21:17
Re: #3
No way that's #1.
Only shallow people with zero life experience cry at that one.
4AnonymousSep 21, 2026 20:58
The endless dance of scarlet
6AnonymousSep 21, 2026 20:59
That's CLANNAD, isn't it.
It's a tear-jerker, but not sure it's the best.
9AnonymousSep 21, 2026 21:00
I remember being screwed because my dad was in the bathroom
11AnonymousSep 21, 2026 21:01
The scene in Re:Zero where Rem comforts Subaru
12AnonymousSep 21, 2026 21:01
"I'm tired, Patrasche… I've burned out completely." (mashing up the Dog of Flanders line with Ashita no Joe's famous "burnt out to a pure white" quote)
15AnonymousSep 21, 2026 21:03
I remember crying during Kaleido Star
21AnonymousSep 21, 2026 21:08
It's gotta be the scene where Nello and Patrasche go off with the angels, no question
31AnonymousSep 21, 2026 21:12
Re: #21
I know that one — that's the "full-spin reach," right? (pachinko slang for a flashy near-jackpot spin state)
22AnonymousSep 21, 2026 21:09
People who cry at Key (the visual novel studio behind Clannad, Kanon, Air) tearjerkers seriously seem dumb
38AnonymousSep 21, 2026 21:15
Bernie's video letter (Gundam 0080: War in the Pocket)
40AnonymousSep 21, 2026 21:16
Re: #38
I love the fan art of Chris losing it after realizing she's the one who killed him
43AnonymousSep 21, 2026 21:17
"Welcome home"
"dear"
is hard to give up too
47AnonymousSep 21, 2026 21:20
Re: #43
I like it because everything that follows feels so satisfying
45AnonymousSep 21, 2026 21:19
If you can't cry at the K-On! scene where everyone breaks down in the clubroom after the last school festival, you've probably never thrown yourself into something with a club or with friends
48AnonymousSep 21, 2026 21:20
Re: #45
Sounds like you've never done a club activity
51AnonymousSep 21, 2026 21:22
Youth sports anime are fun while you're watching,
but once it's over I hit level-2 depression
61AnonymousSep 21, 2026 21:23
Re: #51
So when does "level-1 depression" kick in?
69AnonymousSep 21, 2026 21:27
The part in Trigun where the priest dies
72AnonymousSep 21, 2026 21:28
Re: #69
I like that better than the original manga
70AnonymousSep 21, 2026 21:27
Re: #42
lol that says more about your life 🤣🤣🤣
76AnonymousSep 21, 2026 21:30
Re: #70
Sorry, did I upset you by trashing your favorite anime lol?
77AnonymousSep 21, 2026 21:30
102AnonymousSep 21, 2026 21:44
Re: #77
That's way too oversimplified.
That itself is the cliché.
103AnonymousSep 21, 2026 21:45
Re: #77
Definitely a One Piece diehard lol
78AnonymousSep 21, 2026 21:30
The Slam Dunk scene where Rukawa passes to Sakuragi for the first time and Sakuragi sinks his first free throw — the buzzer-beater comeback win, followed by the two rivals, who'd been at each other's throats, unconsciously high-fiving
87AnonymousSep 21, 2026 21:37
Re: #78
That never even aired in the anime, and it wasn't a free throw either — you're way off
86AnonymousSep 21, 2026 21:35
I got depressed when the heroine suddenly died in that oddly laid-back show, Katanagatari
91AnonymousSep 21, 2026 21:38
Re: #86
Yeah, it was so abrupt
96AnonymousSep 21, 2026 21:40
Re: #86
That character was built up purely for the revenge arc too
92AnonymousSep 21, 2026 21:38
The part in Toradora! where Yasuko shouts "I raised her!!"
95AnonymousSep 21, 2026 21:39
Re: #92
Yeah, that one's great
Background and Key Points
Threads debating the “most tear-jerking scene ever” are a recurring staple on 5ch, and the titles that come up vary widely depending on each poster’s generation. This time the lineup spanned everything from 1975’s Dog of Flanders to the 2010s’ Violet Evergarden. The friction in the thread came from several posts that named a specific scene and then flatly declared “if you don’t cry at this, you just lack life experience” — a stance that drew notable pushback around both K-On! and CLANNAD. There was also a correction regarding the Slam Dunk scene cited as iconic: a poster pointed out that the moment in question was actually never animated and only appears in the original manga, highlighting how the “famous scenes” people remember don’t always match what was actually adapted.
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