Saddest anime and manga

Naruto leads with an ELO of 1,292, ahead of Assassination Classroom (1,256) and Demon Slayer (1,244). Ranked over 6,271 duels between 9 contenders, last updated August 24, 2026.

Discover which anime or manga moved fans the most. Vote for the most emotional work among the 9 finalists picked by the Instagram community.

How this ranking is computed

Every duel won lifts a contender and every loss drops them, by an amount that depends on the opponent's strength: beating the leader is worth more than beating the last. It is an ELO, the same principle as in chess. Duels are not drawn at random — an adaptive entropy sort puts the least predictable match-ups first, which settles the ranking far faster than a full round robin. A worldwide ranking is only published past 30 completed plays. Known limit: a contender who has faced few opponents keeps an approximate score, and the bottom of the table moves more than the podium.