Summary
Plot armor is so prevalent foranimeprotagonistsand central characters that viewers don’t even question it. That’s why it’s always such a shock whenever a character dies at the beginning or early on in a story (or hasn’t ever been shown alive in the series in the first place). More importantly, theirdeath doesn’t mean the character’s influence on the plot is over.Sometimes, it’s the catalyst for the entire premise. At other times, the surviving characters slowly, but very surely, realize the deceased’s profound impact on them throughout their own journey.
It’s a wonderful trope that can tug at the heartstrings and give the anime an emotionally charged tone. The best part is, quite a few anime handle these themes of death, loss, and grief with the proper care and attention to detail that they deserve.
Spoilers Ahead forDeath Note, Gurren Lagann, Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood,andThe Faraway Paladin.
Anohanaranks highlyamong the saddest anime of all time, and fans can strongly attest to that. That is mainly because of a girl known asMeiko Menma. She’s a pivotal character, and her accidental demise traumatizes her circle of childhood friends. They attempt to move on as a group, but their circumstantial involvement in her death continues to haunt them. Ultimately (and very tragically), they all lose touch with each other and just go through the motions of life.
Jinta is one of Menma’s closest friends and always had a strong emotional connection to her. This bond and his intense sorrow enable him to see and hear her lingering spirit. He brings their mutual friends together to help Menma fulfill the one wish that has been keeping her from ascending to heaven.Anohana’splot wonderfully drives home how much Menma meant to her friends as they find closure and say their final farewells to her.
Virtually the entire world (anime fan or not) knows thatL’sdeath inDeath Noteis a pivotal moment that drastically shifts gears for the plot’s pacing. Hisuntimely end has implicationsthat are felt well into the second half of the story. Near and Mello, two of his proteges, go to extreme lengths to uncover the true identity of his killer. Interestingly, their motivation stems from a hunger for answers, rather than a desire for exacting revenge for their mentor’s death.
There are flashbacks in the anime to when Near and Mello were learning from L. They take guidance from his lessons and use their own intuition to catch and expose Light Yagami. L poetically still haunts Light Yagami from beyond during the latter’s final moments, showing his impact on the entire cast ofDeath Note,and not just his protegees.
Gurren Lagannis probably one of the most quintessential examples of an anime that delivers a masterclass in subverting fans' expectations with its twist of killing off one of its main characters early. The anime takes its time to foster a strong connection between viewers and the eccentric character,Kamina. That’s why his death feels so unexpectedly sudden and catches almost all the series' fans off guard. Obviously, in addition to the fans,his death has a traumatic effecton everyone within his circle. Especially Simon, who then goes on to replace Kamina as the protagonist.
In the series, Simon always looked up to Kamina, so seeing the person he idolized die the way that he did is a heavy blow for him. Kamina’s memory still haunts the anime’s narrative in a positive light through flashbacks that inspire Simon. It motivates him to realize his full potential and fight back against the true enemy of humankind.
Frieren: Beyond Journey’s Endis another anime where a pivotal character dies in the first episode, andits significance is felt long after. What makes this death so different from all the others is the idea thatHimmeldied from old age and not from an unexpected violent circumstance. Instead, his death was technically supposed to be peaceful for his comrades, but it becomes haunting for the immortal main character, Frieren. Despite their long history, Frieren realizes there was a lot she didn’t know about Himmel. She is literally forced to change her entire perspective after she realizes his dedication and love for her — but only post-mortem.
It makes every moment where Frieren reminisces about Himmel bittersweet. His actions and words, even his gifts, feel precious to her, but onlyafterhis death. This is a particularly sad plot point, considering how it took the death of someone very close to Frieren to make her change her worldview. She grows, of course, but at what cost? After that, though, Frieren promises herself that she will never take her life and her bonds for granted (despite her immortality).
Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhoodquite literally tests the emotional endurance of its viewers with the death of one of the show’s best characters,Maes Hughes. Although he was not the protagonist, he was still someone very close to the heroes who often served as a caring parental figure. His death was a critical factor that accelerated the investigation into the military to root out the corruption and the homunculi conspiracy.
After Maes' death, Roy Mustang, in spite of his own hardened personality, aggressively pursues their shared vision of a protective figurehead who defends his subordinates. Maes haunts the narrative long after his death through many emotionally heavy scenes.Every other characterfondly cherished the time they spent with him while trying their best to live up to the ideals he left behind.
William fromThe Faraway Paladinreincarnates as a babyand is raised by a curious trio:Mary, an undead mummy;Blood, a fierce skeleton warrior; and Augustus, a specter. The anime depicts a surprisingly wholesome and endearing dynamic between all four characters. After getting familiar with them, both Mary and Blood suffer agonizing deaths at the hands of an evil entity that they both serve. Worse still, they sacrifice themselves to protect William instead of giving him up to the entity.
William’s last act of kindness to his adoptive parents is helping them move on to the afterlife through his role as a Paladin of Gracefeel. He even adopts their names to honor their memory. Throughout the series, William remembers and honors how their lessons and their upbringing helped shape his kind nature.
WhileOne Pieceprimarily focuses on Luffy’s journey, it also thoroughly sheds light on the great pirate era. Fans of the series already know that neither of these would have been possiblewithout the death of the notorious king of pirates,Gol D. Roger.The man essentially just willingly surrenders to the Marines and is sentenced to execution. However, before his punishment is played out, he speaks of his treasure, known as the One Piece. He tells the world it’s free for anyone who can find it.
His death quite literally kicks off the entire narrative. The World Government and the Marines must deal with an influx of pirates inspired by Gol D. Roger, all of whom are seeking his treasure. Flashbacks to Roger’s prime reveal that he was in a league of his own, and theOne Pieceworld is still reeling from his actions of overthrowing the existing order with just his words.
The Summer Hikaru Diedis literally all about the main character’s death haunting the narrative. The character in question here is a boy namedHikaru, whose visit to the mountains of his village results in a fatal accident. As he’s about to die, he isconsumed by an eldritch horrorthat takes on his form. As that happens, only one person manages to figure out that something is wrong: Hikaru’s childhood friend, Yoshiki, who grows suspicious of the entity parading around as his deceased friend.
However, Yoshiki quickly accepts the new reality and continues to hang onto “Hikaru” so that he can avoid the crushing loneliness he would be forced to live with otherwise. Naturally, as the anime progresses, events start to occur that test the already strange and unhealthy bond between the two. Throughout the series, Yoshiki tries to reconcile with his memories of the real Hikaru and process his grief while surviving the otherworldly horrors hovering around him.
