Coming from Nisio Isin of Bakemonogatari fame, Katanagatari is an alternate history take on Edo-era Japan that follows military strategist Togame and isolated martial artist Shichika as they try to capture twelve famous weapons that are powerful enough to sway the tides of entire wars depending on which side wields them. Togame and Shichika go through hell and back to reclaim these weapons, falling in love along the way and losing many people they’ve grown to care about to the unceasing violence of the world in which they live. You can’t help but root for these two young sweethearts to succeed, and every stumbling block they face on their journey will yank at your heartstrings to no end. All we want is for them to be happy and safe!

Speaking of alternate takes on Japan’s past, Dororo takes place in a war-torn time directly before the Jidai Geki era—demons lurk in the shadows, greedy samurai and local lords vie for power, and innocent people often end up as collateral damage. Caught up in the middle of all this is Hyakkimaru, a young man covered almost entirely in prosthetics because his body parts were sold to demons by his daimyo father, and Dororo, a young child who has to steal to survive.

This anime is particularly adept at giving the audience just the right balance of hope and despair. Hyakkimaru may regain a body part, but he’ll lose a friend in the process; or he’ll defeat someone who’s standing in his way of killing the demons, but they were only fighting him because breaking the demon pact will also break the blessing of prosperity that his body was exchanged for. Dororo won’t just make you cry, but force you to confront complex moral questions as well.

A mysterious deity creates an immortal being with no form or knowledge, but an endless ability to learn and adapt from its surroundings and releases it into the world just to see what will happen. The being, later named Fushi, can transform into any creature or person who strongly affects him (usually by dying after he’s made an emotional connection with them). Naturally, this leads to plenty of heartbreaking moments, as poor Fushi eventually becomes a walking graveyard of everyone he’s ever loved. To Your Eternity also holds the record for the fastest we’ve ever cried over an anime, as episode 1 is essentially its own mini-arc that tells the story of the nameless boy who becomes the immortal being’s first friend. Even if you know what inevitably has to happen to most of these characters, this anime makes you care about every single one of them just as much as Fushi does... because they forever enriched his life.

Two young kids versus a seemingly endless pit filled with bloodthirsty monsters... yeah, we don’t like those odds, either. Nevertheless, Riko and Reg are determined to reach the 7th layer of the Abyss (from which no human has ever returned alive) to find Riko’s missing mother who she believes is still stranded down there. Their journey is fraught with danger, and they have to make some incredibly difficult decisions—their friend Nanachi’s request from episode 13 is remembered as one of the most heartbreaking scenes of any anime in 2017—but Riko is so cheerful and Reg is so earnest that we have no doubt they’ll eventually achieve their goal. Whether they can actually make it back to the surface, or if they’ll even try, is another question entirely...