Top 3 Saddest Anime You Can Watch On Hulu

Hulu is an American subscription streaming platform owned mostly by The Walt Disney Company, with a minority share held by Comcast’s NBCUniversal.

It debuted on October 29, 2007, and offers a library of films and television programs from networks including ABC, Freeform, and FX Networks, as well as Hulu exclusive programming.

Hulu originated as a partnership between News Corporation and NBC Universal, Providence Equity Partners, and subsequently The Walt Disney Company, with the goal of accumulating the latest episodes of tv series from their respective television networks.

In 2010, Hulu was also the first streaming service to add Plus to its name, introducing Hulu Plus, a subscription option that provided full seasons of programs from the companies and other partners, and almost instant access to the latest episodes.

In 2017, Hulu with Live TV, an over-the-top live TV service with linear television channels, was launched.

Most of these Anime fall into the Shonen, Seinen, and Josei demographics. Here’s a table explaining the various different demographics for Anime and Manga.

GenreSetting
ShōnenShōnen manga is primarily marketed toward male teen readership. The themes in shonen manga include sub-genre like martial arts, mecha, science
fiction, sports, horror, or mythological creatures.
SeinenSeinen manga is aimed to attract young adult men. Seinen manga mostly focuses on action, politics, science fiction, fantasy, relationships, sports, or comedy. 
JoseiJosei manga, also known as ladies’ comics, the most popular themes of josei mangas are typically drama, romance, or pornography. 
IsekaiIsekai is a fantasy-based genre where the mc is teleported to, reborn, or trapped in a fantasy or parallel unfamiliar universe. Some isekai even have beings from other worlds visiting Earth. Isekai uses world-building to develop an unfamiliar and adventurous setting.
Popular Manga Genres

What is Hulu?

Hulu is a subscription streaming service in the United States that is majority-possessed by The Walt Disney Company, with Comcast’s NBCUniversal having a minority stake.

It was established on October 29, 2007, and it provides a collection of studio films and television series.

Hulu began as a joint venture between News Corporation and NBC Universal, Providence Equity Partners, and eventually The Walt Disney Company, aggregating recent episodes of television series from their respective television networks.

Hulu debuted a subscription service called “Hulu Plus” in 2010, which included full seasons of shows from the company and other partners, as well as immediate access to new episodes.

How to get a Hulu subscription?

Depending on your budget and streaming requirements, they have a few different programs for you to pick from:

  • Hulu: Their ad-supported plan is only $7.99 per month (or $79.99 per year) and includes access to our ad-supported streaming library. With the Hulu student discount, eligible students can join up for our Hulu (With Ads) plan for $1.99/month.
  • Hulu (No Ads): Do you like uninterrupted streaming? You can watch most of those same episodes and movies without commercial breaks for $14.99 per month.
  • Hulu (With Ads) + Live TV, Disney+ (With Ads), and ESPN+ (With Ads): For $69.99 per month, you can prevent spoilers by watching your favorite primetime shows, breaking news, and sporting events in real-time. Subscribers to Hulu + Live TV may view anything in our streaming collection as well as additional content on Disney+ and ESPN+.
  • Hulu (No Ads) + Live TV, Disney+ (No Ads), and ESPN+ (With Ads): You can enjoy practically all videos from our streaming library without advertisements for $82.99/month, and you can take advantage of everything our Live TV plan has to offer, including access to Disney+ and ESPN+.

Hulu has a wide selection of Anime covering almost every genre. Here are the top sad and depressing Anime on Hulu:

Your Lie in April

Your lie in April, in so many respects, is an emotionally powerful show.

Despite its 2014 release, Your Lie in April is still regarded as one of the most heartbreaking Anime films of the last decade.

Fans would even go so far as to say it’s one of the saddest Anime to ever come out of Japan.

Synopsis

Kousei Arima is a child musical prodigy renowned as the Human Metronome for his precision and perfection in playing the piano. Kousei, who is guided by a stern mother and hard training, tops every competition he enters, garnering the adoration of his musical contemporaries as well as audience applause.

When his mother dies unexpectedly, the resulting trauma renders him unable to hear the sound of a piano, and he never returns to the stage.

Kousei, a junior high school student, lives a quiet and modest life with his friends Tsubaki Sawabe and Ryouta Watari. As he battles to come to terms with his mother’s passing, he continues to cling to music.

His boring routine is upended when he meets the eccentric violinist Kaori Miyazono, who engages him as her accompanist. These two teenage artists develop closer through deception as Kaori strives to colorize Kousei’s reality.

Review

The animation, characters, humor, concepts, music, and plot were all expertly blended together. It’s incredible how music is used as a driving factor in so many relationships.

The show started off looking like a standard romance or coming-of-age story, but as it went, that became less and less the case. The characters’ interactions were at times highly hilarious and over-the-top, but this just served to highlight the more melancholy and sensitive moments.

You get to experience the characters’ various facets, from their silliness to their interior issues, with music serving as a unifying element throughout. Music was shown to be both a positive and a negative force in how it affected and was exploited by the characters.

As the story progresses, the romance becomes increasingly intense. It feels hopeless while also being beautiful and appealing.

The characters become considerably more forceful in their impact on the viewer as a result, and the tremendous impact of music is amplified.

It isn’t the quickest plot, and at times I was frustrated, but I felt like that was a necessary approach for what it was trying to communicate. The show’s quotes are captivating, and the challenges highlighted are both thought-provoking and emotionally heartbreaking.

This is without a doubt one of the best romances I’ve ever seen, as well as one of my favorite Anime series. I wouldn’t have tried it otherwise, but hearing so much about it piqued my interest, and I’m pleased I was moved by it.

Review of Your lie in April

Golden Time

Golden time: a story of obsession and terrible past

Golden Time is a really well-written romance Anime with a unique and interesting premise.

It’s about a boy named Tada Banri who loses his memory in an accident, meets an obsessive, immature, and possessive lady named Kaga Kouko, and falls in love.

Synopsis

Banri Tada suffers from amnesia as a result of a catastrophic accident, erasing his memories of his hometown and history. However, after being introduced to Mitsuo Yanagisawa, he makes a life-altering decision and starts a new life in law school in Tokyo. But, just as Banri is settling into college life, the gorgeous Kouko Kaga unexpectedly enters his life, and their fortuitous meeting marks the start of an extraordinary year.

After experiencing college life, Banri realizes he seems to be in a new and much more interesting world—a place where he can be reborn, make new friends, fall in love, make mistakes, and grow.

And when he realizes who he is, the path he has picked leads him to a blindingly bright life he will never forget.

Review

Unlike previous romance Anime, this one follows their journey as a pair and the difficulties they confront as a result of the girl’s obsessive nature and the boy’s terrible past.

The plot is sad, yet you will feel as if you are watching a light movie due to the humor used by the girl and her pals.

The soundtracks and flashback scenes are also incredibly believable.

Certainly, the Anime justifies its title since, once completed, you will understand why the title was chosen.

So, ladies and gentlemen, I definitely recommend this fantastic Anime to you.

Clannad

Clannad: a mixture of humor and sadness

Clannad, one of the most recognized sad Anime, depicts a motherless youngster whose father drinks and gambles. After Story, a sequel to Clannad recounts the difficulties and heartbreaks of a young married couple.

Events in After Story won’t have the same impact if you don’t watch Clannad first, therefore you’d need to watch that first in order to fully get to know the characters.

Synopsis

Tomoya Okazaki is a delinquent who believes he will never be successful or useful in life. He skips school in order to spend his high school years with his friend Youhei Sunohara.

While walking to school one day, Tomoya notices a little girl murmuring quietly to herself. She yells “Anpan!” (a popular Japanese meal) without warning, which captures Tomoya’s attention.

He quickly learns that the girl’s name is Nagisa Furukawa and that she exclaims things she enjoys to motivate herself. Nagisa claims they are now friends, but Tomoya walks away, dismissing the meeting.

Tomoya eventually befriends Nagisa after consistently noticing her presence in their school.

Nagisa has been held back a year owing to a terrible sickness, and her dream is to resurrect the school’s theatrical club, which Tomoya discovers. He agrees to help her attain her goal with the help of four other girls, claiming he has nothing better to do.

As Tomoya gets to know the females better, he learns of their concerns and challenges in life. As he tries to help each female overcome her own challenge, he realizes that life isn’t as dull as he originally assumed.

Review

I watched Clannad and at first thought, it was an “Okay, this is cute” type of Anime.

But as I continued to watch it, delving into the tale, and getting to know the characters and their stories, I changed my mind about watching Anime series.

From the moment I thought, “Okay, this is cute,” I realized it was one of the best I had seen so far… in my entire life, one that I would never forget and will continue to remember.

There are so many things that can happen in life, and we can either choose to get back up or let the problems that we face get the best of us, but we must remember that at the end of the day, there are those who rely on us, who care about us, and who will always choose to remember all that has passed, good or bad, without regrets.

Because it is in our memories that they will live on. I understand that Clannad is a tragic narrative, and I thought the same thing, but when you rewatch it, your entire opinion on the series may change. If you pay attention to what they say, you will learn a lot about it. It is an incredible story.

Conclusion

  • Hulu is an American subscription streaming platform owned mostly by The Walt Disney Company, with a minority share held by Comcast’s NBCUniversal.
  • It hosts a wide selection of sad and emotional Anime, so there’s plenty to choose from
  • The 3 saddest stories on Hulu are Your lie in April, Clannad, and Golden Time.

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