10 Heartbreaking Deaths In Anime

10. The Death Of Asuna - Sword Art Online

Easily one of the most notable and fan-pleasing aspects of Sword Art Online was the relationship between main characters, Kirito and Asuna. Beginning as a brief acquaintance and culminating in marriage and even a child (of sorts), their relationship was always a bright spot and that made the punch of Asuna’s death that much more potent.

Taking place near the end of the series, Asuna sacrifices herself to block Kirito from a blow that would have dropped his health bar to zero and ended his life out in the real world. At this point, the idea of death was fairly prevalent but, barring a band of one-off characters, viewers never had to experience the death of a familiar character up close.

Asuna’s death left Kirito a broken man, albeit for a handful of minutes. Though her death would be reversed at the end of the episode, viewers had been given no expectation that she would be able to come back, as death was always a constant and permanent threat throughout the series.