Anakin's fall did need to be tear-jerking. But it wasn't even tear-jerkingly bad. Instead it was pretty much a yawn.
The insertion of Hayden as ghost Anakin in ROTJ, was the final nail in the coffin. Anakin goes from being an evil Sith back to his ordinary evil "Jedi" self.
If we go by the saga alone, we see Anakin was never truly a hero. He wasn't even remotely likable. There was nothing to redeem. There was nothing "tragic" about his character.