As many suggested: Violet Evergarden. Other suggestions:
Couple of people beat me to Violet Evergarden, which I maintain is my #1 pick for "you will NOT be okay" shows.
BUT
In a thread about "anime that will mess me up," how has nobody beaten me to Grave of the Fireflies? HO-LY SHIT. If you don't feel like your soul has been torn out and stomped on watching this movie, you straight up don't have one.
Can I interest you in
spoiler
some birthday letters
Tokyo magnitude 8.0 That anime hit me pretty hard.
Made in abyss
I'm gonna second both Violet Evergarden and Your Lie in April.
Violet Evergarden, hands down, is the most I've cried watching something.
Plastic Memories is also really good for that at the end, but the overall show imo isn't quite as good. Still, I rated it a 9.2/10
Came here for Violet Evergarden. My wife could always tell when I was watching it because I straight up sobbed like a child every single episode. Bring tissues; you will not be okay.
Both sound very promising, I’ll look into them
Your lie in April hits really hard and very unexpectedly
I messed up and deleted that one during formatting. It absolutely did hit hard!
When you put "Shigatsu no Lion", I thought you also referred to YLIA.
Yeah I messed up, should have been Sangatsu no Lion and Shigatsu wa Kimi no Uso…
Grave of the Fireflies
Good one, thank you!
Violet Evergarden
A Place Further Than The Universe (here, the ride is also literal)
Spirited Away
Steins;Gate
The Garden of Words
Nagi no Asukara
I think I’ll check out Violet Evergarden ASAP as it seems the most popular answer! Also, thank you for the rest, I have heard of most of them but haven’t seen them yet.
A Place Further Than The Universe is technically a slice of life...
But damn does it have some moments that hit hard. Especially towards the end.
The plot sounds interesting enough, I’ll check it out, thanks!
Idk if despair is what youre looking for but "Shiki" messed me up pretty good.
I didn’t think to add that one - I have seen that one about a decade ago, but that is a good suggestion! Thank you
It's one of my faves but too traumatic for me to watch more than once lol. I recently finished happy sugar life which was also pretty crazy. Idk if you've seen that one.
MAQUIA
Little Busters
Wait, Angel Beats! was sad? I mean, it had some moments but it wasn't really something I would consider incredibly emotional.
I guess if you're looking for something with similarly sad moments, I'd recommend (if you haven't already seen them):
Yeah it’s more like you said, it has its sad moments. I’ve read that it made people cry, so that’s why I included it. Thanks for the list, I haven’t seen most of those
Darling in the Franxx. It's a bit fanservicey, but left me all emotional, which is not an easy task.
Idk if these are but I mostly know romance animes:
Clannad Fruits Basket Violet Evergarden (?) Oregairu Plastic Memories Golden Time
To Your Eternity made me cry repeatedly.
Damn, am I the only one who didn't like Violet Evergarden? Maybe I didn't give it enough time to get going. I try to give every show at least 3 episodes to grab me and it just didn't land.
Nothing wrong with not liking something, maybe it's just not for you.
I didn't finish it. I gave it more than 3 episodes, but still just wasn't interested...
The Day I Became a God pretty much pissed me off, plastic memories & a silent voice made me cry like a little girl, school live I cant really describe the feeling. If i think of anymore i'll edit some in
I’ll definitely look into The Day I Became a God, I’m a bit unsure about School Live, is it that good?
School Live! is good, I liked it a lot. If anything, go watch it without reading any review or summary.
Might be pink tinted glasses but I remember liking it but might not be that big of a rollar coaster in hindsight if im going to be honest. Give it a shot
Zankyou No Terror
Was great, but it got a little weird towards the end like it wanted to do more with its world and new characters but didn't.
Devilman Crybaby
Saikano
I'm surprised no one has mentioned 'Rascal does not dream of Bunny Girl Senpai' yet. It was a great ride of emotions right till the end.
Anime; the one thing that gets us closer to each other and brings us together.
All spoilers must be tagged!