Death in anime is never a guarantee. In fact, some anime like to double-down on the lack of meaningful consequences and stakes by repeatedly bringing characters back from the afterlife. Worse, characters escape certain death and make death feel like a fad rather than a meaningful story beat. Not all anime have this problem, but those that do will often cheapen character sacrifice and ruin the stakes.

Anime that rely on cheap death only to subvert expectations by bringing characters back risk ruining the story's believability. What's the point of narrative stakes and audience investment if a character's death is meaningless in a literal sense? If a character can just spring back to life, that will ultimately harm the overall cohesion of the narrative and cheapen the experience. Surprisingly, many popular anime share this problem in droves.

Sword Art Online: Alicization Constantly Escapes True Death Through Artificial Means Streaming...