15 Most Depressed Anime Boys List (2023)

In this day and age, depression, sadly, is prevalent among people. But it is not limited to our real world only. Plenty of anime characters also suffer from depression because of various causes. In this article, we’ll be talking about male anime characters with depression and making a list of the 15 most depressed anime boys.

15 Most Depressed Anime Boys List

1) Eren Yeager

Eren Yeager is one of the most popular and decisive anime characters of all time. People either love him or hate him. Eren started the series as a teenager burning in rage and aiming to eradicate the Titans from this world as revenge for his mother.

But as the story progressed and Eren channeled the true power of the Attack Titan, he began to get depressed. Multiple betrayals and the cruelties of the world and his own hand in it drove Eren into a hollow depression.

2) Shinji Ikari

Shinji’s deep depression can be largely attributed to his horrible father and the disgusting treatment he puts his son through. After witnessing the death of his mother in an experiment, Shinji is understandably traumatized.

On top of that, his father literally abandons him after the incident, leaving the poor child to deal with his grief and trauma alone. After becoming an Evangelion pilot, Shinji’s deep-rooted depression gets only worse. 

3) Zeref Dragneel

Like the rest of the depressed anime boys on this list, Zeref also had plenty of reasons to fall into depression. Losing his parents and little brother at a young age, he tried to bring his brother back to life, only to be cursed for practicing the taboo.

As per Zeref’s curse, everything around him dies. The more he loves something, the sooner they die but he is left to live an eternal life. Uff, talk about a downer!

4) Shoya Ishida

A Silent Voice is a beautiful, heartfelt story with well-written characters, and its protagonist, Shoya Ishida, certainly catches the attention. As a child, Shoya bullied the deaf and mute Shoko Nishimiya along with their peers.

When his classmates turned on him and blamed it all on him, Shoya’s depression began. Paired with his guilt for bullying the poor, Shoyo curled inside himself, his depression making him isolated from everyone.

5) Itachi Uchiha

Itachi Uchiha is simultaneously among the most hated and beloved anime characters of all time. While people hate him before learning his after, they hurt him after. Itachi endlessly suffered all alone, doing his duty without complaining.

Not only did the war and bloodthirst of people depress him, but Itachi also witnessed his best friend committing suicide and was made to kill his whole family. If that doesn’t give someone depression, what will?

6) Ken Kaneki

The protagonist of Tokyo Ghoul, Kaneki has suffered all his life, even before he gets thrust into the cruel world of Ghouls. His father passed away as a child and his mother was abusive to him. But after becoming a Ghoul, Kaneki’s life turned into a living hell.

No one can blame him for falling into depression after the cruelty he suffers, particularly the torture by Yomori. His ever-present depression earns him a spot on the most depressed anime boys list.

7) Kousei Arima

The next entry on this list of most depressed anime boys list is Kousei Arima. He used to be a prodigy at the piano but after the death of his mother, who is abusively strict on him for his playing, he stopped being able to hear music.

This psychological disturbance put the already traumatized boy into a heavy depression. It’s only after Kaori that Kousei gets over his depression and moves on with his life.

8) Kakeru Naruse

It’s Kakeru’s suicide that starts off the story of Orange. He’s a teenager who’s dealing with the death of his mother. Kakeru believes himself to be responsible for her suicide and this causes his misery-addled mind to fall into depression.

He’s very dissatisfied with himself and thinks of self-harming on a regular basis. It’s a gift that he finally opens up to Naho and Hiroto. But he is really one of the most depressed anime boys.

9) Tomoya Okazaki

It’s difficult to pick if Tomoyo’s early life was more horrible or his adult life. His mother died when he was a child, leaving him with his alcoholic and abusive father. After his father dislocated his shoulders in a fight, their relationship broke and Tomoyo fell into depression.

As an adult, Tomoyo’s wife Nagisa died during childbirth, leaving their daughter Ushio. Grappling with depression over Nagisa’s death, he left Ushio with her grandparents. Five years later, he reconnects with her, only for her to die in his arms a few days later.

10) Kiritsugu Emiya 

From the beginning of the story, we see Kiritsugu as a depressed and haunted individual. War and bloodshed had made him pessimistic toward the world and his childhood trauma only added to that.

After falling in love with Irisviel and having a daughter with her, Kiritsugu’s depression only increases, knowing he has to sacrifice her to win the Holy Grail War. He is, unfortunately, one of the most depressed anime boys.

11) Guts

Very few characters in anime have suffered as much as Guts has. Even before his birth, he has only faced misfortune and misery. After being born from a dead mother, Guts was taken in by a man who later sold him as a child to be assaulted. 

Later in life, Guts comes to find a close friend in Griffith and falls in love with Casca, but Griffith turns against humanity and assaults Casca in front of Guts’ very eyes. That will trip anyone over the edge into depression.

12) Natsuki Subaru

Even from the get-go, it is clear that Natsuki Subaru wasn’t a happy person in his life. This, unfortunately, doesn’t change even after he is transported to the fantasy world. Given the ability to die repeatedly and get to start again, it needs little imagination to guess how depressed that’ll make someone.

Watching his loved ones die and suffer brutally also adds to the depression. For that, he sits at the 12th spot on the most depressed anime boys list.

13) Rei Kiriyama

March Comes in Like a Lion is a beautiful journey of Rei as he gets over his depression and becomes a happy person in life. Facing the death of his parents and sister has caused him immense grief. Paired with a lack of any familial bond, his depression only increased. Thankfully, he found the Kawamoto sisters.

14) Kyo Sohma

Though every one of the Zodiacs suffered greatly, Kyo’s suffering is on another level. Born as the cursed Cat, he has been left out of the circle of Zodiacs and is hated because of his status as the Cat.

After having his mother commit suicide supposedly because of him and being cursed by his birth father, Kyo suffered another trauma when he saw Kyoko Honda die before him without being able to save her.

15) Junpei Yoshino

Junpei’s story will resonate with a lot of youngsters because the situation he finds himself in isn’t very uncommon in the real world. As a high schooler, he is bullied mercilessly and cruelly and isn’t able to tell anyone about it.

This creates negativity and resentment in his mind, leading to a deep depression that is also, unfortunately, quite common in the real world which is why Junpei is among the most depressed anime boys.

After this depressing journey, we end our list of the 15 most depressed anime boys here. These characters have been through a lot in their lives, and though a happy ending is not possible for all of them, we certainly wish that for a few. Now, on a more cheerful note, stay tuned to Otakus’ Notes for some fun and exciting anime content.

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Anamika Das

Anamika loves words and stories and putting them to pages. She also loves anime, manga, books, movies and everything fantasy. She has been a fan of anime since childhood and her admiration for it only grew with years. Her passion for writing is even more elevated by writing about the things she loves.