Tragedy

After discussing tragedy stories in other forums, I thought I might start my own here. So this will be just a quick update.

So, when I read or watch something, one of my favourite genres is tragedy because it evokes that emotion, but what makes a good tragedy? Thinking about it, tragedy covers such a broad range of topics. When we say tragic, do we mean something emotionally tragic, where the majority of the story is spent developing the characters within the story to a point where we grow attached to them? Of course the best ones for me are also intertwined with romance, because the ending always leave you hoping for a miracle that will never come. The best example of this would be Koizora, as not only does it spend the time developing the characters and such, but it is also a manga version of a semi-biographical work. That sense of reality makes it all the more tragic once we reach the climax of the story. A few other fictional series I can think of with similar elements include Mucha Kucha Daisuki, Wasurerarenai and Socrates in Love. There are also ones with the promise of tragedy but despite all the hardships, a miracle occurs and no-one dies. The most supreme example of this, and one of my personal favourites is Boku no Hatsukoi wo Kimi ni Sasagu. In terms of tragedy, there are also the sports novels where one becomes incapable of pursuing there dream, but through hard work and determination (and a montage) are able to overcome their obstacles to rise to the top. Unfortunately, I have no such examples, but I hope you understand what I am talking about. Another type of tragedy I have become fond of include battle/war type series. Ayashi no Ceres, and to a lesser extent Immortal Rain although I didn't find the latter all that tragic, where it shows the emotional and physical loss of a world gone power and science mad. Yes, I am a sci-fi nerd, what of it?

If you have no idea what I am talking about, because you know jack all about manga and the like, more relevant versions of what I am talking about include Romeo and Juliet and Titanic.

So what I want to ask is what is tragedy to you? I would like to know if you have read/watched anything that would be defined as a tragedy and what you thought of it. Please leave any comments in the message board to the right or the comment section below, I would love to hear what everyone thinks!

Also, the links go to hosting sites of the respective manga series mentioned. No download required for any of the links. Being fair to scanlators and the like, I have tried to use Botato Comics where possible.