Some of the most dramatic moments in anime come when a tight-knit team splits up. Even though sometimes these splits are temporary, like when Usopp leaves the Straw Hats after a row over what to do about the Going Merry in One Piece, it doesn’t make them any less devastating. Others are permanent – there’s no going back from what Griffith did to the Band of the Hawk in Berserk. But whether these splits last forever or just for a few episodes, they do a great job of exposing the characters’ personalities and relationships with one another. They also make us cry like the anime fanboy babies we are!
1. Anteiku Gets Raided – ‘Tokyo Ghoul’
Anteiku was a tight-knit community dedicated to helping Ghouls get their nutritional needs while minimizing harm to humans. At first, Kaneki depends on this organization to help him survive his unexpected transformation into a Ghoul.
That all comes to an end when the CCG raided the cafe and destroyed it. During the resulting chaos, Aogiri Tree was able to swoop in and kidnap Yoshimura, while the CCG made off with Kaneki. By the end of the event, everyone from Anteiku had either disappeared or been kidnapped, critically injured, or killed.
2. Makarov Disbands The Fairy Tail Guild – ‘Fairy Tail’
After learning that the Alvarez Empire was planning to invade and attack Fairy Tail, Makarov made the painful decision to shut down the guild. He believes that the only way to protect the Guild’s members – the people he considers family – is if they no longer exist as a group. He decides that he’s going to try and take on the Empire himself, because the Guild members are his children, and shouldering the burdens of the family is what a parent does.
Ultimately, they do reunite and take on the Empire, but separating is a tough hurdle to overcome.
3. Team Urameshi Goes Their Separate Ways – ‘Yu Yu Hakusho’
After defeating Sensui and finding out that Yusuke actually possesses demonic heritage, Team Urameshi decides to pursue their own goals. Yusuke wants to head to the Demon Realm to meet his ancestor. Kurama and Hiei are heading there too – Hiei has wanted to do so from the jump, and Kurama is being compelled to do so by a former ally who he had a falling out with, Yomi. Meanwhile, Kuwabara wants to stay in the human realm and focus on his education.
But even the three who go to the Demon Realm don’t stay together. Instead, they end up supporting different candidates for control over the Demon Realm’s political system – the outcome of which is decided by a tournament.
4. Team Rocket Disbands – ‘Pokémon Journeys: The Series’
A few episodes before the end of Pokémon Journeys, Team Rocket temporarily disbands after a heist goes poorly and they fight about it afterward. The whole episode seems to lead up to their breakup, because they use pretty much every Pokémon they’ve had throughout the series in their attempt to steal Pikachu.
This turns out not to be permanent. Working in Team Rocket’s cafe just isn’t their vibe, and neither is being separated from one another. By the end of the series, they’re reformed as a group and they’re back to trying to capture Pikachu. But we won’t be seeing any of that, because the next Pokémon series is going to feature a whole new cast of characters.
5. The Band Of The Hawk Is Sacrificed – ‘Berserk’
Griffith’s attack on the Band of the Hawk is one of the most brutal betrayals in anime history. Despite the fact that the members of the mercenary band once risked their lives to rescue Griffith, he decides to sacrifice them all in order to gain the power of the God Hand and become Femto.
He eliminates most members of the group, sexually assaults Casca and traumatizes her so badly that she’ll spend months barely able to function, and forces Guts to watch everything. With so few members left alive, the Band of the Hawk no longer exists, and Guts and Griffith are now bitter enemies.
6. Luffy & Usopp Fight Over The Going Merry Crisis – ‘One Piece’
After sailing on the Going Merry for a while, the Straw Hat’s beloved ship has taken some serious damage. After the shipwrights they take her to say she can’t be fixed, Luffy decides that they’re going to have to replace her with a new ship. While the whole crew is emotionally attached to the Going Merry, Usopp has the strongest feelings about her. Not only was she a gift from his childhood friend Kaya, he also finds the idea of throwing out something because it’s weak or damaged to be terrifying, because he’s one of the weakest members of the crew. This has recently been proven to him violently when the Franky Family gave him a savage beatdown.
After an argument with Luffy, he challenges him to a fight for ownership of the Going Merry, and claims that he’s leaving the crew and setting out on his own. Eventually, he does return, but it’s a long and painful journey to get to that point.
7. Deku Leaves Class 1-A To Protect Them – ‘My Hero Academia’
Class 1-A has been working together to complete classwork and fight villains since they first entered U.A., but when things got really serious, one member decided to handle things on his own. After Shigaraki’s power upgrade, he gained the ability to track One For All, which means that he can track Izuku. Izuku doesn’t want to lead Shigaraki to his friends or to any civilians. He decides to leave U.A. and become a vigilante hero, saving as many people as possible as he prepares to take on Shigaraki and All For One, alone.
This backfires – he becomes far too exhausted to continue, and the rest of 1-A won’t stand for it. They aren’t going to let him sacrifice himself, they are going to work together and help him. So this is a temporary fallout, but still a dramatic one.
8.The Bebop Crew Part Ways – ‘Cowboy Bebop’
The Bebop crew might have forged tight bonds over the course of the series, but they’re all outrunning their own pasts, and eventually they’ll need to go confront them.
The biggest departure is Spike’s. He goes back to the Red Dragon Syndicate in order to confront Vicious and deal with the past he left behind. It’s unclear whether he survives this encounter, as the series ends just when it’s over. Meanwhile, Ed goes off to search for her father. Faye left initially but realized that the Bebop was the only place she felt at home… but this happened just as Spike was leaving. Whatever happens next for the crew’s members, it won’t be together.
9. Geto Betrays His Fellow Sorcerers – ‘Jujutsu Kaisen’
When Gojo was a teenager, he was part of a small cohort of student Jujutsu Sorcerers. One of the members was Geto, who ended up becoming one of his closest friends. But Geto would end up leaving the group in one of the most horrifying ways imaginable – revealing his genocidal intentions in a series of violent acts.
Geto wanted to destroy everyone in existence who isn’t a curse user. He believes that not only do they discriminate against curse users, they also create the majority of the curses they have to fight. For him, the only solution is to wipe them out. This, of course, results in his expulsion from school, and turns him into a major enemy until his ultimate defeat.