As a Death Trope, there will be spoilers. Read on at your own risk.
Hesitant Sacrifices in Anime and Manga.
- Berserk: Inverted with the villain Wyald, whose motto is "Enjoyment and excitement!" and who claims that life is a waste, but ironically enough, he is terrified of dying. After he was killed off for good, it was revealed that his true form was a frail old man.
- Bleach: Played with (literally). Rukia calmly accepts her execution and as such believes she does not wish to be (nor is worthy of) rescue, due to carrying a heavy burden from the past that she feels ashamed about. But when Ichimaru Gin briefly offers to call off the whole thing, telling her that he has the power to save her, Rukia realizes how very much she wants to live. Then Gin tells her he was just joking and walks off, leaving her to physically and emotionally collapse behind him.
- Buso Renkin: Faced with the decision between stopping the villain, Victor, and saving himself from BECOMING a "Victor" (which is something like Walking Wasteland status), Kazuki panics a bit. It's a very human moment from a Wide-Eyed Idealist and Hot-Blooded hero."If I protect everyone else, who will protect me?"
- End of Evangelion: Asuka whispers repeatedly to herself/her robot for a full minute how she doesn't want to die before screaming it and hulking out on the Mass Produced Evas.
- Hellsing: The section chief of the Wild Geese expressed this kind of sentiment during Millennium's raid on the Hellsing manor. Captain Bernadotte belittled him for his cowardice for it but told him that he didn't want to die there either before continuing to fight.
- Inuyasha: Naraku (temporarily) tempted Saint Hakushin, a holy man, to the dark side by exploiting this trope. Hakushin was voluntarily buried alive in an attempt to become a sokushinbutsu
for the sake of the local villagers, who were suffering from famine. However, being entombed made him realize that he did not want to die, and realizing that the villagers were all awaiting his death caused him to resent them and made him vulnerable to Naraku's manipulation. - Nadia: The Secret of Blue Water: Some of the Nautilus crewmen are trapped in an area with a radiation leak during a battle. They can be saved, but only by exposing the Nautilus to the enemy. Captain Nemo makes the decision to let them die. Nadia is horrified, but one of the crewmen supports the Captain's decision... until the radiation starts killing him. At that point, he begins screaming that he doesn't want to die. But by then it's too late.
- One Piece: In the Enies Lobby Arc, Nico Robin tried to give herself up to keep her crewmates from being arrested (and later executed) alongside her. But later, when they risk their lives just to get within shouting distance of her and ask if she really wants to go through with her Heroic Sacrifice, she breaks down and begs them to save her.
- This is an interesting example in that Robin didn't admit this immediately. While she didn't want to die, she said she'd prefer death over being abandoned again, as despite her fondness for them she believes that the Straw Hats will eventually abandon her like everyone else because she's been a wanted woman her whole life. She finally admitted the truth while in tears after the Straw Hats proceeded to declare war on the entire world by shooting and burning the World Government flag, just to prove to Robin how far they would go for her.
- PandoraHearts: Oz sacrifices himself in order to prevent the world from getting dragged into the Abyss. Although he remains calm, composed and accepting the entire time, he does start crying with a bittersweet smile on his face, saying, "I don't want to disappear."
- Tokyo Ghoul: Plucky Comic Relief Seidou Takizawa has a complete breakdown while putting his affairs in order prior to the climactic battle of the series. He ends up writing "I don't want to die" in massive letters across his Will, breaking the pen in the process. However, he puts himself together in time for the battle and sacrifices himself trying to protect a wounded Amon from Tatara. Unfortunately for him, the sequel reveals he got his wish and survived......as one of Aogiri's Half-Human Hybrid experiments.
- Trigun: Wolfwood is on the verge of Go Out with a Smile when it suddenly occurs to him he wants to stay with his friends. For a brief moment, he reacts as he always had in life, screaming about how unfair it was and finally breaks down as he accepts that his entire life he had followed the wrong path.
- Yu-Gi-Oh!: The 4Kids dub implies that this was the case with Noah Kaiba. Although he still sacrifices himself so that the main characters can leave the Virtual Realm after his Heel–Face Turn, Yugi comments that Noah, being Noah, probably saved himself on a "backup file" beforehand.
