Anime as a medium has plenty of moments that have become legendary over the decades among the community, with many of those entailing the deaths of some major characters from the countless series, and a recent poll shows which early deaths hit home the hardest for anime fans. Spanning the likes of Fullmetal Alchemist and Fist of the North Star, there were plenty of franchises to choose from that had major deaths early on in their stories, but its no surprise that fans were drawn to the heart-wrenching deaths that took place in the world of anime.
In a recent poll by Goo Ranking, Netizens were able to share which early anime deaths hit them hardest, with a number of choices definitely surprising us as a number of unlikely series were chosen:
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10.) Fafner in the Zura – Shoko Hazama
9.) Kingdom – Li Pao
8.) City Hunter – Hideyuki Makimura
7.) Fullmetal Alchemist – Maes Hughes
6.) Puella Magi Madoka Magica – Mami Tomoe
5.) Cross Game – Wakaba Tsukishima
4.) Legend of Galactic Heros – Siegfried Kircheis
3.) Elfen Lied – Kisaragi
2.) Fis of the North Star – Heart
1.) Touch – Kazuya Uesugi
Easily, one of the most heart-wrenching deaths in this list is the loss of Maes Hughes in Fullmetal Alchemist, the soldier of the State that was killed early on in the series, shocking many of those who had jumped feet first into the world of Elric brothers. With Maes having one of the happiest families that has ever been seen in the world of anime, many fans are still wiping away their tears when it comes to his tragic death at the hands of the Homunculi.
In many Shonen franchises, death has become somewhat trivial, with the likes of Dragon Ball constantly bringing back characters with its “magic wishing orbs,”. Of course, this isn’t entirely unique to anime as a medium, with comic books in North America constantly taking advantage of the shock of death while also bringing back heroes and villains regularly. Needless to say, death remains a major element within the world of anime, with character deaths still shocking audiences to this day.
What anime death hit you the hardest over the years? What anime death recently threw you for a loop? Feel free to let us know in the comments or hit me up directly on Twitter @EVComedy to talk all things comics, anime, and the world of anime death scenes.
