As most harem, romance and drama shows near their closing moments, the all important kokuhaku (confession) scene is the emotional catharsis that brings closure to the series as a whole. Typically, these scenes involve shy bishoujo finally gathering the courage to approach their long time crush and reveal their true feelings. Otherwise, the typical male harem lead temporarily sets aside his inner wuss and manages to pick one of the many girls that surround him.

But these types of confessions are commonplace, to be considered one of the best, the following confessions broke the typical confession template. From the perfectly timed to the worst timing imaginable, these confessions stand out among the rest as the epitome of drama.

#5. Kouta to Lucy (Elfen Lied)

We start things off with Elfen Lied, a story of bloodshed and the possible downfall of mankind…love indeed blooms in the most unlikely places. The main protagonist, Kouta, is seemingly your everyday average guy, but his tragic past is slowly revealed throughout the series. In his childhood he managed to befriend a girl named Lucy, what he didn’t know at the time is that Lucy was a diclonius, beings brought to existence for the sole purpose of bringing down the human race. However friendly she appeared at first, things take a turn for the worse when Kouta lies to Lucy, provoking the beast inside her to kill his immediate family.

In the dying moments of Elfen Lied, Lucy and Kouta meet once again. Despite their past, Kouta forgives Lucy, irregardless of her actions, Kouta cannot deny his feelings for her. Likewise, despite the guilt Lcuy feels for the pain she has caused him, she loves Kouta. The two kiss and we’re shown a slight glimpse of Lucy’s tender side, a sharp contrast from her usual murderous self.

I’m not sure about the rest of the world, but to forgive someone who killed my family, let alone come to love them, would be an impossible feat for me. The beauty of this confession lies in its message that love is indeed the height of all emotion.

#4. Sayuri to Hiroki (The Place Promised in Our Early Days)

A looming tower which threatens to tear the fabric of space, a promise between childhood friends to fly to said tower and the disappearance of once of the three into an alternate dimension caused by the tower. This is the setting for Makoto Shinkai’s Place Promised in Our Early Days a.k.a. Kumo no Muko, Yakusoku no basho.

Having lost Sayuri, one his best childhood friends, Hiroki is unable to sit around idly, doing nothing to help her. He instead takes it upon himself to fly to the tower, reclaim his friend and then destroy it.

As Hiroki draws closer to the tower, Sayuri’s consciousness begins to return. In the alternate dream world she senses Hiroki coming and the dream world around her begins to fade away. As she leaves her alternate world she prays to God to let her keep the feelings she’s come to realize, the love for Hiroki which she was able to find amidst the isolation of her dream prison.

But Shinkai isn’t well known for his happily ever after endings. When Sayuri wakes up she is unable to recall her true feelings for Hiroki. But it’s not a totally depressing ending, as Hiroki promises her that this is only the start of their lives, and that she can get all her feelings back, starting now.

While not a confession in its literal meaning, this scene was incredibly touching. Seeing Sayuri struggle so much trying to remember the important thing she had to say to Hiroki was almost unbearably depressing. While not the ideal ending for this rocky love story, the scene breaks through the desperation to reveal a shred of hope, hope that had previously been lost. I think the final line sums it up the best, Hiroki says: “We’ve lost the place of promise in this world, but even so, our lives begin now.”

#3. Nomiya to Yamada (Honey and Clover II)

Here’s a relationship doomed before it even has a chance to begin. While not exactly love at first sight, Nomiya slowly begins to realize his genuine love for Yamada. Following this realization Nomiya spends his entire screentime spread over two seasons, struggling to get Yamada to go out with him.

Unfortunately for Nomiya, Yamada is unable to overcome her obsession with Mayama, who is hopelessly in love with Rika. Trying everything from desperate pleas and multiple confessions to bluntly facing the reality of Mayama’s love life, Yamada is never able to let go.

After spending an entire day cheering up Yamada, the two wait on the train station platform for the doors to close and the train to speed them away from each other. But just before the doors close, Nomiya calmly confesses to her, leaving Yamada in a state of shock, completely unable to say a word before the train doors close and the two part ways. Freaking awesome.

In addition to being dramatic, the concept of Nomiya’s confession is made of pure win. In fact, it’s made of so much win that I swear one day I’m going to try it…though I’m not sure if I have the confidence or style to pull it off T_T

Oh, and of course: lawl, unicorns

#2. Kaede to Rin (SHUFFLE!)

Falling just short of #1 is the undisputed queen of emo facial distortions, Fuyou Kaede (Higurashi doesn’t count because there was nothing else -.-).

It’s a well established fact that childhood friends, more often that not, get the short end of the stick, but few took it harder than Kaede. Having had a traumatic childhood with the death of her parents, Kaede places the blame on Rin and makes his life a living hell. When she finds out that it wasn’t his fault, Kaede makes it up to him by basically becoming his maid and servant. Cooking, cleaning, a place to live and daily morning wake up calls, Kaede dedicates her life to Rin.

So when Sia and Nerina show up, Kaede is understandably saddened as she and Rin begin to drift apart. However, due to the circumstances there’s little she can do, unable to oppose the will of the gods. But when Rin decides to date his senpai Asa, a fellow childhood friend, and begins to all but ignore Kaede’s existence, she snaps. After lashing out at Asa, almost killing her, and seeing how much Rin really cares for her, Kaede makes her last stand. She offers herself to Rin, promising to give him the rest her life in mind, spirit, and of course, body.

Psycho Kaede (as she is affectionately known) completely changed the feel of Shuffle. In addition to fueling the Asa vs Kaede fan war, most people agree that Kaede’s act of desperation is the sole reason behind Shuffle’s transformation from a light hearted school comedy into a full on romance drama. Kaede, even though you lost horribly, your sacrifice will not be forgotten!

…so what could possibly top Kouta’s act of forgiveness, Sayuri’s unfortunate memory lapse, Nomiya’s perfect timing and Kaede willing to give EVERYTHING for the sake of love?

#1. Akemi to Shuuji (Saishuu Heiki Kanojo)

How many things are there in this world that can cause enough emotional impact to make you shed tears? While the answer for that may differ from person to person, this scene is a likely candidate. Everything came together to make this scene unbearably sad. The event that preceded, the characters’ pasts, the surroundings, the music…everything about this scene was perfectly constructed, resulting in maximum angst.

A long time childhood friend, Akemi, has had a crush on Shuuji for as long as she could remember. But when her best friend, Chise, falls in love with him as well, Akemi decides to step aside and help her instead of competing (much like Mitsuki in kiminozo).

However, in the midst of an ongoing war, the once simple lives of these high school friends change drastically. Chise is chosen by the military to become and android weapon of mass destruction. This eventually leads to the attack of their hometown, in which Akemi becomes fatally injured. In her dying moments she confesses her love to Shuuji.

This scene is impossible to convey with mere words, you have to experience it to understand how awesome it was. I’ve watched Saikano three times and despite knowing that it’s coming, Akemi’s confession hits with full force every single time. Forget Chise and the pseudo-mecha, Saikano is worth a watch solely for this 10 minute scene of winnage. But don’t get me wrong, the rest of the anime was pretty good too.

As a side note, don’t watch the live action adaptation, the context and dramatics of Akemi’s confession are totally lost. Not to mention the fact that the movie kind of sucked in general, compared to the anime.

Honourable Mention: Kyon to Haruhi (The Melancholy of Suzumiya Haruhi)

Although he didn’t really confess, it was funny as hell and damned creative. Many argue that Kyon did this because he was trying to save the world and not because he was actually interested in Haruhi. I think the sequence of events that followed (chronologically) suggests otherwise. Plus, Yuki’s a loli and Mikuru is his sister ^^

So there you have it, my thoughts on the five most original, dramatic and emotionally impactive confessions in anime. While others try and perfect the drama of the typical kokuhaku scene, these confessions broke the mold and move the heart. (*Kyon sigh* that was so corny)

Oh, and if this post looks familiar, it’s because this is the second revision. I did a similar post before, but recently did some rethinking on the order, leading to a new list and a rewrite.

If there are any blatantly obvious ones that I’ve missed, overlooked or haven’t seen, point them out and I might do a ver 3.0 of this post someday XD It’s also a great way to discover new series, much like how you should be downloading Saikano right now if you haven’t already watched it ;)

~ Shirukii ~