Firstly, I'd like to split the "sacrifice" into three types: Love, Righteousness and Repayment.
Sacrifice for Love
Sacrificing for love is when a character uses their own love to protect someone they love. The person they love may be a romantic partner or a family member, but these characters regard their loved one very highly, to the point where they will do whatever it takes to keep their loved one happy or alive, even if it cost their own lives.
Example 1 is Hinata from Naruto, although she didn't die, but she jumped in front of Pain's attacks to block them from Naruto, because she loved him.
Another example is Yueru in Chinese Paladin, even though she loved Li Xiaoyao, choose to sacrifice herself so he and the girl he loved could live together because she just wanted him to be happy, regardless of who he is with.
Example 3 would be Al from Fullmetal Alchemist, who sacrifices himself near the end of the series to bring back Edward's missing arm so he can defeat their Father.
Fourth example is Yu'er sacrificing her last bit of her energy to protect Jingchou in Xuan Yuan Sword when Blood Pearl was taking everyone's lives, she said "if in this world, only one of us can survive - it has to be you."
Final example is Xiao Yao from Fairy of the Chalice, she exchanged her own life (thousand years of cultivation) to bring back the wife of the man she loved back from the dead. She had no regrets whatsoever, even though she would turn into ashes herself.
I believe these characters care so much about the person they love in such a selfless way, that they don't even spend a minute thinking about their own fate.
Sacrifice for Righteousness
These characters choose to sacrifice for someone (they may not even know well) because it was the right thing to do. These characters have a strong sense of what's right and wrong, although they may not admit it or realize it at first, but they will show it with their action when the critical time comes.
An excellent example of sacrificing for righteousness is when Yusuke in Yu Yu Hakusho pushed a small boy out of the way from a moving vehicle and then got hit himself and died.
Example 2 is when Chiyo in Naruto sacrificed her remaining Life Energy to resurrect Gaara, redeeming her part in the sealing of the Ichibi.
The third example is in Gurren Lagann, during the final battle with the Anti-Spiral, Kittan sacrificed himself to give the others a chance to win the battle. He did it because he knew it was the right thing to do, that it would give Dai-Gurren a chance to save the world.
Example 4 is Madoka in Puella Magi Madoka Magica, she makes a huge sacrifice with her wish - where is granted the ability to destroy all witches before they are born. She effectively becomes a god. However, she is written out of existence, unable to be known to or interact with anyone. The only person who remembers her is Homura.
Another example is Jing Tian from Chinese Paladin 3 willing to use most of his life to exchange for and revive all those who were killed by Evil Sword Immortal.
The final example is the epic scene in Strange Hero Yi Zhi Mei when the brocade guards realized that Li Gexiao was all along doing the right thing, even though he was framed and was sentenced to death, but the guards realized what wrong or right meant, and in the name of justice, they decided to give him to a count of ten where they wouldn't see a thing (so they could use this time to escape), even though doing this would put them and their families in great risk.
Sacrificing for righteousness may be even harder than for love. My thoughts are, perhaps these people have a very firm beliefs. Or perhaps they were inspired by someone else's sense of justice and came to a realization on what they should be doing. As what Yumeke said, Anime characters who sacrifice for righteousness may be influenced by the samurai ethos, also known as Bushido (way of the warrior) - underlines four main concepts: Law of honor, obedience, duty, and self-sacrifice. Again, this is why I say Wuxia and many Action Anime are very similar. Wuxia (Wu literaly is the same word as Bo in Japanese) means martial arts or warrior, and the concept of chivalry, righteousness and self-sacrifice are all quite similar. (That's why Anime fans should totally try out some Wuxia series - Watch Top Recommendations here!)
Sacrifice for Repayment
Sacrificing for repayment is the third form of sacrifice I've seen in shows. Usually, these characters were formally evil and undergo a great change after they were inspired by another character (usually the hero) or was saved by someone. These characters often come back and save the hero or another good character as repayment.
An example is Gaara, after battling with Naruto and realizing that true strength came from protecting those he loved, Gaara began to realize his mistakes, and thus changed. In a later episode, he came back to save Rock Lee as he was about to be defeated. Although Gaara didn't die, he used up almost all his energy to help Rock Lee, which signifies that he was ready to sacrifice his life for it.
Another example is Vegeta from Dragonball Z. Even after he was spared by Goku after their fight on earth, he was still evil for a while but there were several times when he saved or helped the good guys. When he went to earth and lived there for a while, he gradually became good and if not for him, Gohan would have never defeated cell. He stumbled again when he accepted the Majan Power but realized his mistake and sacrificed himself (by blowing himself up) to try and save the world and his family from Buu.
My Thoughts on Sacrifices
I find self-sacrifices in both Anime and Wuxia very appealing, because I love seeing characters think for others. Also, it's something that I feel would be hard to imagine in real life, as we're not even in these situations, so it would be impossible to know what we'd do, but in a fantasy world, it's always nice to know that such nobel and selfless characters exist.
(Yu'er's sacrifice in Xuan Yuan Sword, giving her last energy to Jingchou)
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