They won't be getting over it anytime soon. Join Ashley as we look over the times where anime characters were flat out rejected by the ones they had been crushing on hard
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00:00 Welcome to WatchMojo, and today we're counting down our picks for the most soul-crushing
00:09 moments where an anime character got their heart stomped into pieces.
00:19 Number 20, a schoolyard crushing.
00:21 A whisker away, "Young Love" is easy to build and even easier to break.
00:27 For what it's worth, Mio was willing to go all the way.
00:30 She wrote a heartfelt love letter and everything.
00:33 But unfortunately, some schoolyard jerks got it before it reached her crush, Hinode.
00:42 They recited the cheesy declaration to the whole class, and while Mio refuses to apologise
00:47 for her feelings, Hinode can't take the scrutiny.
00:51 He doesn't just publicly reject Mio, he flat out says he hates her.
01:07 Even if it is just to save face, it's hard to get past the fact that he sent his would-be
01:11 girlfriend running out the door in tears.
01:25 Number 19, shot through the heart, "Amagami Ezez".
01:30 The sun is setting, the park is empty, and Junichi is standing in front of a beautiful
01:35 girl.
01:36 The scene is romantic enough to single-handedly make him believe in love again, not wasting
01:41 the opportunity, Junichi squares up and tells Haruka how he really feels.
01:47 And he promptly gets rejected in the most matter-of-fact way possible.
02:02 While Haruka does commend his bravery, she still gives him a cold, hard no.
02:07 The reason? She prefers men who are older and more mature.
02:11 They say it's better to have loved and lost than to have never loved at all.
02:15 But after this, Junichi may beg to differ.
02:26 Number 18, all's fair in love, war, and witchcraft, "Maruka Majika".
02:32 It's no hyperbole to say Sayaka gave her heart and soul to this relationship.
02:37 She signed away her spirit, just so Kyousuke could play violin.
02:41 And what did she get in return?
02:42 A front-row seat to him cosying up with another girl.
02:46 That's what.
02:52 The revelation hits deep because Kyousuke never outright rejected her.
02:56 Even in the end, Sayaka didn't have the courage to confess her feelings.
03:00 Instead, she channelled those negative emotions into a more violent outlet, transforming into
03:06 a witch.
03:14 The only thing worse than seeing Sayaka succumb to her heartbreak is knowing that, with a
03:19 bit more open communication, things could have turned out differently.
03:24 Number 17, I love you like a brother.
03:27 A sister's all you need.
03:33 There's no coming back from the "I see you as a brother" line, and Itsuki knows
03:38 it.
03:39 Even though Ayane's trying to let him down easy, he throws her words in the trash, alongside
03:43 any hope of them rekindling their friendship.
03:46 Time can't heal this wound.
03:48 If anything, it only makes it worse.
03:51 Ayane's turn of phrase is a major reason Itsuki spends his adult life with a severe
03:59 little sister complex.
04:01 Yes, it's as unhealthy as it sounds.
04:04 This failed confession is even more depressing with the foreknowledge that Itsuki will never
04:09 come to peace with the sting of rejection.
04:12 Number 16, Jun's love song, the anthem of the heart.
04:17 Jun Naruse has a crippling fear of speaking out loud.
04:21 She can still sing, though, and luckily, she has the pensive musician Takumi to help her
04:26 turn her lyrics into words.
04:28 But, when she finally manages to say "I love you", it's Takumi who can't say
04:33 it back.
04:38 Instead, he responds with a heart-wrenching "thanks", and then admits that he loves
04:45 someone else.
04:47 Jun already knew that, though.
04:49 Still, she owed it to herself to say her piece, no matter the odds.
04:54 Both Jun and Takumi knew how this was going to end before either of them said a word.
05:00 But that doesn't make the reality any less painful.
05:04 Number 15, Confession Under The Stars, Monthly Girls' Nozaki-kun.
05:10 It took the whole season, but in the final episode, Sakura finally tells Nozaki what
05:15 we've all known from the beginning - she loves him.
05:21 Even for a blissful, tantalising second, it really seems like Nozaki feels the same.
05:27 After all, watching fireworks together feels like as good a time as any for their first
05:32 kiss, right?
05:34 But when Nozaki smiles and leans in, he says two short sentences that will take your heart
05:40 and squeeze it until it bursts.
05:55 And that's how the show ends.
05:56 No clarification, and no happily ever after.
06:00 The credits just roll, leaving Sakura and everyone else reeling from the cruel emotional
06:05 whiplash.
06:06 Number 14, Online Dating.
06:09 And you thought there was never a girl online?
06:12 If you love in the game, you love in real life.
06:15 Or so Hideki thinks.
06:17 Sadly, when he tries to make his and Akko's romance work IRL, he hits a stone wall, courtesy
06:23 of Akko herself.
06:28 When he blurts out his love for her, she turns him down without even taking a beat to consider
06:33 it.
06:34 And she does it all with a smile too, just to really rub salt in the wound.
06:39 Akko wasn't trying to be mean, but either way, it's going to take Hideki quite a while
06:44 to nurse his ego back.
06:46 Hey, at least they're still married in the game.
06:54 Number 13, Star-Crossed Lovers - Boarding School Juliet
07:05 The show may be inspired by Shakespeare's famous romance, but trust us, Inuzuka is no
07:11 Romeo and Hasuki is certainly not Juliet either.
07:15 Rather, their journey is full of misunderstandings, fights, and oh yeah, Inuzuka nearly drowning.
07:22 And yet, it's all for naught.
07:24 She's already happily spoken for.
07:26 Hasuki takes it about as well as you could expect.
07:29 That is, becoming a sobbing mess and yelling about how much she hates him.
07:34 They both know she's lying and somehow, that makes her tears even harder to resist.
07:47 Inuzuka assures her that they'll still be friends, but after everything Hasuki went
07:51 through, that feels like a hollow consolation prize.
07:56 Number 12, Heartstopper - Orange
07:59 After receiving letters from the future, Naho learns that her relationship with the sullen
08:04 Kakeru is literally a matter of life and death.
08:08 But in the end, not even the power of foresight can keep him from pulling away from her.
08:18 While Kakeru says everything is fine, he isolates himself with the smallest of gestures.
08:24 He doesn't walk Naho home and then refuses to borrow a pencil, and then begins to ignore
08:29 her altogether.
08:31 Kakeru's growing coldness is like watching a car crash in slow motion.
08:36 Not just because Naho is losing a friend, but because this breakup of sorts may very
08:40 well be Kakeru's death sentence.
08:51 Number 11, 100% Heartbreak - Mob Psycho 100
08:56 Shigeo Kageyama, better known as Mob, has felled evil cultists, overpowered espers,
09:02 and the manifestation of his own insecurities.
09:05 But there's one thing he can't defeat - the whims of a teenage girl.
09:10 It took three whole seasons of meticulous character development for Mob to finally ask
09:15 his crush, Tsubomi, on a date.
09:18 Then in an off-screen scene, she says no.
09:25 As you can imagine, grief-stricken subfest isn't the ending most people had in mind
09:30 for Mob Psycho 100.
09:32 While the show always prioritised Mob's personal growth over his dating life, it still
09:37 would have been nice to see him get the girl.
09:40 It certainly would have caused less tears.
09:48 Number 10, second place, Da Sister - Aeromanga Sensei
09:59 What is it with these kinds of anime?
10:01 Why do they always have to do this to the best girl?
10:11 As a fan of Masamune's writing, and apparently his absent personality as well, fellow light
10:17 novelist Muramasa confesses to him outright that she loves practically everything about
10:23 him.
10:24 Masamune to states how he's already into someone else.
10:37 Thankfully he spared her the fact she had lost out to his adopted sister.
10:43 Number 9, Cat Fight - Pokemon It's hard being a talking Pokemon, apparently.
10:53 In something of a homage to classics like Casablanca, the mascot of Team Rocket recounts
10:59 how he once fell in love with a female Meowth called Meowzy - one who was under the control
11:05 of a wild Persian.
11:07 Skip to present day, and Meowth finds himself battling said Persian in order to free the
11:12 cat of his dreams.
11:20 Surprise surprise, he actually manages to win, but Meowzy still rejects him in the end
11:26 because she finds talking Pokemon to be freaks.
11:29 What makes it worse is he learned to do that just to impress her.
11:44 Number 8, The Loneliest Tuba Player - Sound Euphonium
11:54 Man, who knew that high school music clubs could be so cutthroat?
12:03 Finally getting the dreamy first year all to herself, Hazuki confesses her feelings
12:07 of love, only to be met with a pretty pathetic reaction from Shuichi.
12:14 Despite having every reason to be upset, Hazuki instead immediately decides to help him romance
12:20 the childhood friend he not-so-secretly likes.
12:24 Because that's what friends do.
12:26 We hope you're happy with yourself, Shuichi.
12:28 After all, tuba players need love too.
12:37 Number 7, Ninja Rejection Knockout - Naruto
12:46 We will be the first to admit that Sakura's crush on the last Uchiha wasn't exactly
12:51 the most endearing character trait, but it's still pretty hard to look at this scene and
12:56 just disregard the raw emotion.
12:58 In a final desperate plea to stop Sasuke from hopping over to Orochimaru's side, Sakura
13:04 confesses her feelings to him then and there.
13:08 Alas, her words don't have the intended effect, leading him to knock her out to prevent
13:17 her from following further.
13:23 Sorry Sakura, guess revenge is just a tad more appealing than teenage romance.
13:29 Number 6, second place to Sister - again!
13:33 Oreimo
13:38 From the same mind that insists sisters are the only way forward, we have this little
13:44 number. A story about a guy who is utterly convinced his sister is a top-tier waifu.
13:57 Alas, as a result, Kyousuke ends up losing out on the chance to date the most adorable
14:04 gothic Lolita to ever grace animation.
14:07 She was quirky, sweet and wholeheartedly invested in our lead's happiness, and yet he just
14:13 couldn't bring himself to abandon Kirino.
14:23 If that wasn't bad enough, the breakup pretty much swears her off love forever. Great going,
14:30 Kyousuke!
14:36 Number 5, and they call it Kitty Love - Monogatari series
14:45 There's no denying that Araragi has no shortage of lovely ladies in his life, some of which
14:50 he really shouldn't be within arm's reach of. But that's a whole other story. As it
14:55 happens, his classmate Hanakawa ends up getting her heart broken while also having to deal
15:00 with an oddity that turns her into one deadly kitty. After a bloody skirmish and heartfelt
15:12 confession, Tsubasa is able to return to her original self, but still has to endure the
15:18 after-effects of her friend rejecting her outright. We know Hitagi is best girl, but
15:33 still, this is hard to watch.
15:40 Number 4, now boarding flight to Heartbreak City - White Album 2
15:52 Walking out on the bubbly heroine in order to get with the quietly aggressive waifu?
15:57 That takes some stones. When it comes to the final hurdle, musical genius Haruki can't
16:03 help but go after the beautifully lazy Kazusa. Seems like a simple set-up, right? There's
16:08 just one problem. Accompanying him is his bestie and original love interest, Setsuna,
16:14 who still very much has the hearts for him. What does he do? Make sure she has a front
16:35 row seat while he locks lips with her romantic rival? Come on, man, at least have a little
16:41 tact.
16:52 Number 3, Bear Curry - Lovely Complex
17:05 Despite originally harbouring a hilarious form of animosity to one another, given their
17:09 sensitivities about their sizes, Atsushi and Risa eventually find themselves slowly starting
17:16 to fall for one another, with Risa being the one to make the first move. Unsure of his
17:27 true feelings, Atsushi ends up rejecting her. While brushing it off as nothing, Risa is
17:37 eventually unable to hold back the tears and breaks down in front of her friends. If that
17:42 wasn't bad enough, the only word she can bring herself to mutter is "Bear Curry".
17:47 It's so deliciously sad.
17:57 Number 2, DigiDestined2BeHeartbroken - Digimon Adventure 02
18:03 All stand for the passing of what had once been a beloved ship. I mean, what the heck
18:08 happened here? The original series spent a good amount of time hinting that Tai and Sora
18:18 had a deeper friendship than most. Ago, we assumed that things would take a romantic
18:23 direction when they grew up. However, turns out that Sora has a thing for rockstar bad
18:29 boys, as it's revealed she's into fellow DigiDestined Matt. Kudos to the team's fearless
18:48 leader for letting her go in such a mature manner, but damn, that must have stung.
19:17 Number 1, Rem Gets Remjected - ReZero
19:24 Look at that face. Look at that face. How do you manage to bring yourself to reject
19:29 such a pure cinnamon roll? How? Okay, Rem may have killed you in one timeline, and Emilia
19:37 is kind of cute, but come on. Through his various deaths and reincarnations, Subaru
19:46 ended up earning the affection of this pint-sized Oni. They triumphed and suffered together
19:52 across all manner of hardships, and just when Rem found the courage to confess her true
19:57 feelings, Subaru decides to fall back on the half-elf.
20:13 Is it too late for another restart? What anime rejection are you still not over? Let us know
20:23 in those comments below.
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