Anime is primarily famous for its vivid storytelling, mind-boggling plot twists, excellent graphics, animation, range of emotions, and character depth. But when it comes to an anime with a strong emotional chord there is an abundance of anime available online depicting sadness, happiness, fear, anger, surprise, and numerous other emotions on screen.
The characters develop through different life stages, and the range of emotions they display is one feature that the anime is loved for. And while the anime mainly explores the different emotions of a human being and sometimes of demons, depression is a common theme Otaku usually gets along with.
This article will discuss 10 such depressed anime characters with whom you can brood along and find which of the following depressed anime characters’ emotional backstories is as relevant as yours. So, let’s get going:-
10 Depressed Anime Characters Who Were Protagonists
1. Sana Hidaka from Myself; Yourself
Number of Episodes – 13
Where to Watch – Crunchyroll
Sana Hidaka is the main protagonist in the anime Myself; Yourself. Sana comes back to live in an apartment in his hometown and realizes that everything has changed except some things.
Sana had a crush on Nanaka, and he still has a crush on her. He was bullied in his childhood during middle school years and tried to commit suicide.
The suicide led him to become blood-phobic, and that’s how his emotions took a turn, and the anxiety and depression caught him. He used to play the piano but forgot every song except the song Nanaka wrote for him. It is a teen-school romance drama anime with enormous character depths and a range of emotions.
2. Naho Takamiya from Orange
Number of Episodes – 13
Where to Watch – Funimation
Another teen drama on the list is Orange. The main character Naho Takamiya one day receives a letter from her future self of ten years in the future. In those letters, the exact events of the day were written, and Naho continues to receive these letters.
It was later discovered that Naho kept sending those letters to her younger self, stating that she had made some seriously wrong choices in her childhood and was guiding her younger self to take the right decisions, specifically regarding Kakeru.
She discovers that after ten years, Kakeru will no longer be with them, and that’s why she tells her younger self to watch over him. The main character Naho is in deep pain and is loaded with depression and regrets.
3. Katsuhira Agata from Kiznaiver
Number of Episodes – 12
Where to Watch – Crunchyroll
Katsuhira Agata is a semi-emotionless protagonist and is being bullied by people around him in school. Kiznaiver is a group of like-minded people who can feel the pain and agony of each other.
One day a mysterious girl in the school tells some of her classmates that they are selected to become Kiznaivers. Katsuhira Agata is a semi-emotionless but sensitive kid, and throughout the series, he is displayed as a depressed kid.
4. Nozomu Itoshiki from Sayonara, Zetsubou-Sensei
Number of Episodes – 38 (3 seasons)
Where to Watch – Crunchyroll
Nozomu Itoshiki is a high school teacher. He is highly pessimistic and tries to hang himself at the beginning of the series, although he is saved by one of his students who somehow manages to prevent suicide.
Nozomu now takes the classes of students, and they make him realize that there is more to life. Throughout the series, Nozomu remains a pessimistic crybaby, feeling sorry for himself.
5. Tatsuhiro Sato from Welcome to NHK
Number of Episodes – 24
Where to Watch – Crunchyroll
The main protagonist in Welcome to NHK is Tatsuhiro Sato. He is a university dropout and living in Tokyo City. He is under-confident and in his fourth year of unemployment. He meets a girl named Misaki Nakahara, who agrees to help him boost his confidence.
She began to take sessions with him in a public park, where the duo also shared their life experiences with each other. Tatsuhiro is one of the most depressed anime characters who search for reasons for his sadness everywhere.
6. Kosei Arima from Your Lie in April
Number of Episodes – 22
Where to Watch – Crunchyroll, Netflix
Your Lie in April is an emotional drama love story. The story is about Kosei Arima who suffers a mental breakdown when his mother dies during a piano recital. This leads him to become secluded from everything. He does not do anything in life and avoids playing the piano.
One day he met a girl named Kaori Miyazono, who was anemic and made Kosei play the piano with her. Kosei loves her until the story takes a turn, and Kaori’s condition turns critical. Kosei is mentally retarded and is purposeless in life.
7. Hei from Darker Than Black
Number of Episodes – 37 (2 seasons)
Where to Watch – Crunchyroll
Darker than Black is a sci-fi, mystery thriller anime. The main character Hei is one of the psychics who holds certain paranormal powers, which can unveil the secrets of “Hell’s Gate.”
He meets Suo while searching for his lost friend and permits her to join him on this journey. As they start the journey, they discover they have some connections with each other and a dark secret that may change everything.
8. Lain Iwakura from Serial Experiments Lain
Number of Episodes – 13
Where to Watch – Crunchyroll
Lain Iwakura is a junior high school student whose family includes an inexpressive elder sister, an emotionally distant mother, and a computer-obsessed father. She is a socially awkward, introverted, and sensitive girl.
A series of events change her perception and consciousness when she learns that her dead classmate has sent emails to the students stating that she has abandoned her physical self and is living in a virtual reality of the Wired. From there starts Lain’s change in perception, doubt of reality, and self-belief.
9. Yuji Kazami from The Fruit of Grisaia
Number of Episodes – 23 (2 seasons)
Where to Watch – Crunchyroll
Grisaia is a romance, drama, and thriller. The protagonist Yuji Kazami is transferred to Mihama Academy. It’s a prison-like school and has five female students in it. Each of them has their reasons for being there. Yuji does not like school, as he demands an everyday school life.
10. Rei Kiriyama from March Comes in Like a Lion
Number of Episodes – 44 (2 seasons)
Where to Watch – Funimation
March Comes in Like a Lion is about Rei Kiriyama, a seventeen-year-old boy who lost his family in an accident and lived with his father’s friend’s family. After completing middle high school, he moves out, lives alone, and has only a few friends.
He deals with life changes and struggles of being independent and earning money away from home. The series gets really emotional and progressively depressing.
So, these were the 10 depressed anime characters you can brood along with. All of these anime characters are created with excellent graphics and express each character’s emotional arc profoundly. We hope you find this article useful. We will be very happy to collect your feedback. Drop them in the comment section below.
