No Happy Endings 💔 Why New Anime Leave Us Broken

### Welcome to another post here in the community.

The feeling of finishing a new anime nowadays is almost always the same a weight on your chest, a lump in your throat, and that uncomfortable silence that comes after the credits. Have you noticed how this generation’s anime is increasingly _sad_ from beginning to end? It feels like happiness is just an illusion, and when it does appear, it's only there to make the character’s fall even more painful. But why is this happening? #### Why are so many recent anime embracing this melancholic tone? One of the strongest examples of this trend is _without a doubt_ [**Cyberpunk: Edgerunners**](https://myanimelist.net/anime/49782/Cyberpunk__Edgerunners "https://myanimelist.net/anime/49782/Cyberpunk__Edgerunners"). https://files.peakd.com/file/peakd-hive/alienpunklord/48fqkqECs6JXicusgJTsAMvtcWviq8V4Ee8LJwEWhXYHr4BVKxoZDZHeYahgT3gYCc.png [source](https://www.cyberpunk.net/edgerunners) From the very beginning, the anime carries a heavy energy, with the protagonist [**David Martinez**](https://cyberpunk.fandom.com/wiki/David_Martinez "https://cyberpunk.fandom.com/wiki/David_Martinez") immersed in a city that crushes dreams and people. And just when you think he's going to change his fate, everything collapses. Nearly the entire cast dies, and the ending is nothing but pain, loss, and emptiness. There’s no going back, no hope. And this _is not an isolated case_. Another anime that follows this path is [**Devilman Crybaby**](https://myanimelist.net/anime/35180/Devilman__Crybaby "https://myanimelist.net/anime/35180/Devilman__Crybaby"), where the protagonist [**Akira Fudo**](https://devilman.fandom.com/wiki/Akira_Fudou "https://devilman.fandom.com/wiki/Akira_Fudou") tries to fight evil in the world, but ends up watching everything he loves get destroyed. Literally. _The ending is an apocalypse_, where nothing is left not even the main characters. The work, based on the manga by the legendary [**Go Nagai**](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Go_Nagai "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Go_Nagai"), was adapted by [**Masaaki Yuasa**](https://myanimelist.net/people/1000/Masaaki_Yuasa "https://myanimelist.net/people/1000/Masaaki_Yuasa"), a director known for his boldness, and who wasn’t afraid to _show the worst side of humanity_. There's also [**Made in Abyss**](https://myanimelist.net/anime/34599/Made_in_Abyss "https://myanimelist.net/anime/34599/Made_in_Abyss"), which deceives with its cute visuals but delivers a story about pain, mutilation, and survival in a cruel world. Each descent into the Abyss is a loss. [**Mitty**](https://madeinabyss.fandom.com/wiki/Mitty "https://madeinabyss.fandom.com/wiki/Mitty"), for instance, represents one of the saddest and most desperate moments I’ve ever seen in an anime. And even with small, innocent characters, the anime doesn’t spare the viewer from suffering. https://files.peakd.com/file/peakd-hive/alienpunklord/23vhpygd6vKFGSGYRC4TiYUF3vbwTsXyPYCMkmMqrXCA2pJ62PW3qM8Yn3g53vt4DwBtU.png [source](https://animebird.net/2019/03/01/devilman-crybaby/) And of course, we can’t leave out [**Your Lie in April**](https://myanimelist.net/anime/23273/Shigatsu_wa_Kimi_no_Uso "https://myanimelist.net/anime/23273/Shigatsu_wa_Kimi_no_Uso"), where everything revolves around overcoming challenges and love only to end with the death of the protagonist [**Kaori**](https://shigatsu-wa-kimi-no-uso.fandom.com/wiki/Kaori_Miyazono "https://shigatsu-wa-kimi-no-uso.fandom.com/wiki/Kaori_Miyazono"), leaving [**Kousei**](https://shigatsu-wa-kimi-no-uso.fandom.com/wiki/Kousei_Arima "https://shigatsu-wa-kimi-no-uso.fandom.com/wiki/Kousei_Arima") alone once again. _You watch the two grow closer, rooting for them, and in the end, it feels like a stab in the back._ https://files.peakd.com/file/peakd-hive/alienpunklord/23vsGJQpCA8hfvRX56b1wx64NndSPwMZL2L3WefC1f3EjNMDd6wusCPLSRwSg2hdir5G9.png [source](https://animebird.net/2019/03/01/devilman-crybaby) What do all these anime have in common? It seems the new generation of creators is far more interested in showing the **fragility of life**, the traumas, the losses, the mistakes you can’t take back. These stories reflect a modern world that’s more _cynical, fast-paced, and uncertain_. Unlike many anime from the 90s and early 2000s, where the protagonist could lose but would eventually _win through effort and friendship_, today's message is: sometimes, _no matter how hard you fight, the world will crush you anyway_. And as painful as that is, maybe that’s what makes these stories so powerful. The author of [**Chainsaw Man**](https://myanimelist.net/anime/44511/Chainsaw_Man "https://myanimelist.net/anime/44511/Chainsaw_Man"), [**Tatsuki Fujimoto**](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tatsuki_Fujimoto "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tatsuki_Fujimoto"), has said in interviews that he likes creating stories that reflect his view of the world and it's not an optimistic one. The series is filled with pure tragedy, and characters are discarded brutally. And even so, or maybe because of that, _we care about them_. The truth is that modern anime no longer wants to sell you an escapist fantasy. They want you to face the pain. To feel. To cry. And that’s not necessarily a bad thing. https://files.peakd.com/file/peakd-hive/alienpunklord/48RPEoZwkFsqpq1Pes7XAg3GUsZuHYaNKGSr2yVvakexwgeDoDLpJ7dydR2EVeuJnV.png [source](https://www.thegamer.com/anime-that-will-make-you-cry) Series like _Cyberpunk: Edgerunners_ and _Devilman Crybaby_ are memorable precisely because they **aren’t afraid to shatter expectations**. It's not the happy endings that stay with us, but the ones that make us question everything. Maybe these anime reflect the emotional state of a generation that grew up amid crises, isolation, and rapid change. Maybe the creators are just trying to say: _life doesn’t always have happy endings, and it’s okay to feel lost about that_. And even so, we keep watching. Because deep down, _pain is also a form of connection_. Whether it's through the soundtrack of [**Eve - Kaikai Kitan**](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1tk1pqwrOys "https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1tk1pqwrOys") in _Jujutsu Kaisen_, or the screams of despair at the end of _Cyberpunk_, the sad anime of this generation strike right where it hurts the most and leave marks that don’t fade easily. #anime #theanimerealm #ocd #indiaunited #neoxian #archon #appreciator #manga #movie #ecency