Depressing anime (but not Kanon depressing)
 

Hi, I'm looking for an anime or manga series that is depressing, but not like Kanon, Air, etc. where it depressing because of the characters relationships and individual tragedies, but depressing because the characters live in a world that is just so screwed up (though it can contain the aforementioned).

In other words, depressing like 1984. I guess I'm looking for something that doesn't make you cry, so much as make you feel really low and loose faith in humanity and all that is good(though maybe that's going a bit far). 1984 presents a world that is filled with literally 100% hopelessness.

The protagonist should be male and awesome as well.

mmm... I know exactly what you mean, being a big fan of 1984, so I will help you as best I can.

Well, the most obvious candidate is Neon Genesis Evangelion where the main character faces boatloads of mesed-up shit... a lot of people dislike him because he's sort of a wimp, but when given the situation, I don't bllame him too much. NGE is a show you need to see regardless, but if this is the kind of show you're looking for, now's a perfect opportunity watch (26 eps)

Texhnolyze is a brilliant choice - the main character faces insane challenges (he gets his arm and leg cut off in the first episode... and he's just left to die.) this show starts off REALLY slow (first ep is legendary for being almost 100% silent.) and it's really dark and grinding. I've only seen the first 5 eps, but I would like to continue. And yeah, from what I've seen the setting is pretty dystopian/oddworld like 1984 (23 eps)

And yeah, hopefully that'll do it for you for now, since I can't really think of any others. Good luck, and you have interesting taste ^_^

Probably :), but I also like Bleach.

I'm too lazy to think up complete series, but here are two movies I really liked :/

Jin-Roh: The Wolf Brigade - Set in an alternate history Japan in the 1950s, the story unfolds around Kazuki Fuse, a member of the military police force, who shut down his human side for his duty. It develops into a psychological drama of Fuse who is torn between love and his loyalty to the Wolf Brigade.(ANN) Really amazing animation and story line.

Tekkonkinkreet - Black and White live for one another/with one another just trying to stay alive in a corrupt world. Unique animation and amazing story line/plot.

This is a hard matchup being that 1984 was written in America by George Orwell in 1949, where the U.S. was at war with... get this, Japan. I'm pretty sure that views will be opposite concerning the Cold War, in which Japan is virtually unaffected. My best bet to you is to search very deep into archives and find which anime has somewhat of a bad ending and is depressing all the way through.

Ehhh try...
Hanbun no Tsuki ga Noboru Sora only 6 eps but its really good
Kimi ga nouzumo eien very depressing

ill repost if i can think of more

So you're not going to for individual/relationship tragedies but the overall society is depression? I'll recommend Samurai X: Trust and Betrayal and SaiKano

That's more Kanon depressing.

I guess so, but more specifically I'm looking for something that doesn't make you cry, so much as make you feel really low and loose faith in all that is good (though maybe that's going a bit far). 1984 presents a world that is filled with literally 100% hopelessness. I'll add this to the OP.

btw: Samurai X: Trust and Betrayal was great on every level, even great for being Italian food.

Well I wouldn't really call Hanbun no tsuki ga noboru depressing. I'd say more on the touching side then a depressing side.

you know what? I wasn't going to bring it up, but goddammit, you need to go watch Welcome to the NHK. That show is a comedy, but it's a sadistic comedy and the world is so utterly hopeless that you want to cry while you laugh. And i swear to god, the last few eps were inexplacably torn from the pages of 1984. I compare them often.

SaiKano didn't really make cry, but it just makes me shocked that something like this could happen, so I think it'll fit.

You might want to check out Innocent Venus. I think it's what you're looking for, definitely a dystopian world and dark atmosphere. There's also a depressing twist in it that I never saw coming, but I won't say anything more about that.

Thanks for the suggestions. It would seem like I could have saved some time by asking for depressing dystopias :). I started watching SaiKano, but I remember that the art kinda annoyed me.

Hanbun is one of my top favourites and i wouldnt call it depressing.
I love this anime. ^^

Any more depressing animes out there?

Also to add to the list Wolfs rain has a pretty good depressing vibe to it.

Black Lagoon

Mostly action. Only some episodes fit the depressing part but it really make you lose faith in humanity...

How about: Now and Then, Here and There

You shouldn't be looking for something as deep as 1984 in anime. It's just incompatible. While I'll admit anime can be deep, I think something like 1984 is unthinkable in anime.

But of course there are depressing dystopias in anime, just very different :) As somebody said, I believe Now and Then, Here and There fits the bill. I haven't watched it, though.

On the other hand, have you seen/read A Clockwork Orange? You should! Did you read Lord of the Flies? Brave New World?

Also, an interesting dystopian film which is very interesting and original is Last Night.

Try Iriya no Sora, UFO no Natsu. It's Saikano, but with awesome art and some deep angst. Doesn't get good until about ep 3 though.