Sansuke
Nothing is permanent in this world including the people around us. People who we love, adore and can’t imagine or lives without can be taken away from us in just mere seconds, that’s a sad truth about life.
And anime is no exception, you can find countless anime characters who’re trying to recover from a loss of a loved one, maybe a friend or family member or even their mentor.
So, how do they overcome from such grief of loosing someone precious to them, that’s the million dollar question we’re are going to decode in this blog post.
Disclaimer: This story contains sensitive topics so viewers discretion is advised.
Anime Recommendations for how to overcome/get over the loss of a loved one
1. I Want to Eat your Pancreas, the one where Haruki can’t seem say goodbye to Sakura
I Want to Eat Your Pancreas is a romance drama centering around a reserved and isolated high school boy Haruki Shiga, who isn’t interested in making any kind of relationship with others but that’s soon gonna change.
When Haruki meets Sakura, she decides to make him her tag along partner to do all the things she can before she dies due to a pancreatic disease.
When unexpectedly Sakura leaves Haruki, his world is flipped upside down, as a result he stays coped up inside his room for days.
Which is a natural response for most of the people cause it takes time for them to digest the fact that their loved one is no longer with them.
In Haruki’s case, he was a nobody until Sakura came into his life but now that she’s no longer with him, he struggles to find a reason to continue living.
Haruki reflects on the times he had with her and the impact she had on his life making him realize that he can’t let all that go to waste.
It takes time but Haruki eventually does go to pay his respect to Sakura once he was ready make peace with the fact that Sakura is no longer with him.
None expects anyone to bounce right back after you loose someone, instead you should take time off, just be with yourself if you have but not for too long and when you’re ready, you will never be 100 percent ready but when you think you gathered enough courage, you ought to pay your respects cause life goes on and so must you.
2. Orange, the one where Kakeru keeps blaming himself for his mom’s death
Orange follows a high school girl named Naho Takamiya, who receives letters from her future self, advising her to prevent the regrets and mistakes that lead to the death of her new transfer student, Kakeru Naruse.
When Kakeru’s mother pass away, he keeps blaming himself for her loss cause he wasn’t their to help her when she needed him. He also keeps wondering if the last text he sent his mom, was she able to read it or not.
Throughout the series Kakeru keeps fighting a battle with his inner self and goes to the extent of killing himself due to his overwhelming guilt.
The only thing that keeps him saint were his friends. Having people who care about you and support you is essential when you are going through sensitive times like this.
Eventually with their help, he does gets to know that her mom did read his last message when he finds her mom’s phone. He also reads a message her mom wrote to him but couldn’t send it. It said how much she loved him and that she wanted him to be happy.
In life the answers we seek tend to lie around us but we chose to instead blame ourself for the problem which clogs our minds to look for solutions. But if you have the right people around you who can help you see the light, you can be saved from the guilt trap.
3. Blue Spring Ride, the one where Kou can’t seems to catch a break from continuous bad news
“Blue Spring Ride,” also known as “Ao Haru Ride” in Japanese, is a popular shoujo manga series written and illustrated by Io Sakisaka.
The story follows Futaba Yoshioka, a high school girl who reconnects with her first love, Kou Mabuchi, after he suddenly reappears in her life following a long absence.
If you have seen the anime, then you would know Kou is always shown with a sad face in the series. That’s because he has experienced significant turmoil in his family life, including his parents’ divorce, his mother’s death, and living with his paternal grandparents afterward. These events have likely left emotional scars on him, contributing to his sadness and reluctance to open up to others.
He may struggle to trust others or let them get close to him, fearing further pain or abandonment.
Kou eventually confronts unresolved issues from his past, such as his relationship with his family and his feelings for Futaba. By addressing these issues head-on, he can start to move forward and let go of the pain and sadness holding him back.
Sometimes in life, coping with sadness and grief may seem like the only viable option but learning to eventually letting go of such emotions, crying your heart out and finally let go of the pain weighing you down is actually the way forward.
4. Your Lie In April, the one where Arima first has to get over the loss of his mother and when he did, he now has to get over the loss of his first first love, Kaori
Your Lie in April is a critically acclaimed anime series that follows the story of Kousei Arima, a former child prodigy pianist who lost the ability to hear the sound of his piano after the death of his mother, who was also his strict piano teacher.
Kousei’s life takes a turn for the better when he meets Kaori Miyazono, a free-spirited violinist who brings color back into his monochrome world.
Your Lie in April is a story of loss, grief and the healing power of music.
With the entry of Kaori in Kousei’s life, he slowly but surely starts to let go of his grief and hear the sounds of his piano once again but now that he can hear the sound of his piano, Kaori is no longer with him to hear his music.
Initially, Kousei struggles to come to terms with Kaori’s death. He experiences shock and disbelief, unable to accept that she’s truly gone.
Over time, Kousei begins to reflect on his memories with Kaori and the impact she had on his life.
While he struggles to cope with the loss of Kaori, he gradually finds strength and resilience in the memories they shared and the music they created together. Through his grief, he learns to cherish the beauty of life and the importance of treasuring the moments spent with loved ones.
5. Oshi No Ko, the one where Aqua and Ruby must overcome the loss of their mother, Ai
“Oshi no Ko” is a manga series written by Aka Akasaka, the creator of “Kaguya-sama: Love is War,” and illustrated by Mengo Yokoyari. The story revolves around Ai Hoshino, a young girl with dreams of becoming an idol.
The teenager, Ai soon gets pregnant and gives births two twins Aqua and Ruby. Soon after their birth, Ai, is murdered by one her own fans in the presence of Aqua and Ruby.
Both these kids go onto to live with the burden of having watched their mother die right in front of their own eyes.
As the story progresses Ruby choses the path filled with light and decides to follow her mom’s footsteps to become a world renowned idol whereas Aqua chooses the path with darkness to uncover the identity of the person responsible for Ai’s death.
Only the first season has aired yet, so we still have to wait to see which of their choices ends up being the right one?
6. The Tunnel to Summer, the Exit of Goodbyes, the one where Kaoru is willing to wager his life span in return for his sister
Kaoru’s life is in shambles after the death of his sister and his parents having a divorce.
The guilt of his sister’s death keeps weighing him down and that’s when he hears a rumor that about the Urashima Tunnel which grant’s your heart’s desires if you walk through it in exchange for years of your life.
One day after school he wanders into a tunnel and when he comes out but to his surprise a few days have already passed by.
He decides to go all the way through the tunnel risking his life span in return for his sister but in the end he returns empty handed, gotten a lot older and without her sister cause you can’t bring the dead back if even at the cost of your own life.
The Tunnel to Summer, the Exit of Goodbyes beautifully conveys the thought that living you life for long isn’t the purpose of life but rather living life to the fullest is. Just like in his sister case, she may have had short life but she lived it to the fullest.
In the end, its not about how long you lived but rather how well did you live, did you lived it to the fullest?, if you did then that’s enough.
Getting over or saying your goodbyes doesn’t mean forgetting about that person entirely, it means to let go off the grief and pain weighing you down, making peace with reality and moving on in life while cherishing the good times you had with that person.
A lot of people fail to realize that saying goodbyes is actually about you letting that person know that you will be alright, eventually, so they shouldn’t worry and can finally rest easy now.
You know, the person you lost can’t be with you for the rest of your life but their memories and experiences you shared with each other will.
So will you self pity and make those cherished moments meaningless or will you move forward accepting reality along with those experiences? the choice is yours cause life goes on, so must you.
Also Read:
10 Anime Recommendations About Making The Most Of Second Chances
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