Every now and then, a beautiful anime comes along to wow us with their stunning visuals and emotional storylines that tug on the heart strings and remind us what life is all about.

The next time you want to experience an anime with depth and emotion, consider these three wonderful creations:

秒速5センチメートル (5 Centimeters Per Second) (2007)

Makoto Shinkai is the creator of this emotional anime about two elementary schoolmates, Takaki Tono and Akari Shinohara. The two become very close friends and struggle to keep their close bond when Akari’s parents decide to relocate the family to another city for their careers. Although not terribly far from one another, their romantic feelings make them feel a longing to be close, yet neither one is able to express their special feelings. Eventually, Takaki must also move farther away from Akarai, but decides to visit her one last time before they lose touch forever.

モンスター (Monster)

Naoki Urasawa created this serious anime series where it follows the life of Dr. Kenzo Tenma, a young and talented surgeon working in Germany. Dr. Tenma is a skilled surgeon who, one day, was faced with the dilemma of performing life-saving surgery on a young boy with a severe head injury, or the mayor of the town. In the end, he chooses to operate on the boy and allows the mayor to pass away. This critical decision leads to his demise when he discovers the boy he saved becomes a serial killer. Dr. Tenma’s life heads in a downward spiral. He loses his job, his fiancée and his sanity, but quickly realizes that these events are nothing compared to the monster he saved on the operating table.

火垂るの墓 (Grave of the Fireflies) 1988

Perhaps one of the saddest and most emotional anime movies of all time, Grave of the Fireflies is surprisingly a Studio Ghibli movie. Set in 1945, shortly after WWII, brother and sister Seita and Setsuko are left on their own after air raids killed their mother and the survival of their soldier father are unknown. They manage to create a home in an abandoned shelter and help each other out to find food and stay safe. Eventually food and drink become very scarce and they struggle to make through each day. The only comfort they have in a world torn by war, is the light of the fireflies. This highly emotional story has a plot twist that will surely leave you in tears.