10 Anime That'll Make You Laugh And Cry

The only isekai on the list, Subaru is suddenly transported to a magical world full of monsters, beasts and a cute half-elf. It’s here that Subaru will finally become the hero of his own story, a knight that defeats bad guys and monsters who threaten the half-elf, Emilia, who he immediately fell in love with. At least, that’s what he thought would happen.

Unfortunately, life isn’t that easy for this otaku gamer. Shortly after spending the day with Emilia and helping her look for her stolen insignia, the two are brutally killed by an assassin. Then Subaru finds himself exactly where he was when he first met Emilia. It only takes getting killed a few more times before Subaru discovers he has the power to reverse time to a checkpoint, but only when he dies. Spoiler alert: it happens a lot.

After making new friends, often having to make the same friends more than once, Subaru struggles with making the right decisions that will not only help him reach a new checkpoint, but also make sure his friends don’t accidentally get killed along the way. Even with all the mistakes he makes, we can’t help cheering for the bumbling well-meaning idiot, hoping he can figure out how to make things right after each death.

With feeling death embrace him multiple times, as well as seeing the corpses or even the deaths of the people he holds dear, it’s truly crushing seeing our once joyful protagonist break into a shell of his former self. When best demon girl Rem, who wants nothing more than to love and support Subaru, also dies multiple times, the waterworks go off tenfold. Though there are lights of hope when we see Subaru actually smile and have fun spending time with his friends, there’s a tear for each laugh. Sometimes, even more tears.