History TearJerker / HigurashiWhenTheyCry

* The Saikai episode adds a whole other level of sorrow for the survivors. While Rika has the ability to transfer her consiousness when dead, other people are not able to traverse the timelines so easily. So survivors of all those horrible incidents have to remain stuck in their awful timelines with loved ones dead, which was the case for Rena who had no idea why Rika was so willing to die. Rena had to live until adulthood in utter despair at her friends dying and the guilt of going insane eating away at her.

** The Saikai episode adds a whole other level of sorrow for the survivors. While Rika has the ability to transfer her consiousness when dead, other people are not able to traverse the timelines so easily. So survivors of all those horrible incidents have to remain stuck in their awful timelines with loved ones dead, which was the case for Rena who had no idea why Rika was so willing to die. Rena had to live until adulthood in utter despair at her friends dying and the guilt of going insane eating away at her.

** Worse, [[spoiler: Mion becomes so mentally broken that she believes it IS all her fault. She already had a massive guilt complex about failing to help Shion and Satoshi when she had the chance, and all of this just makes it that much worse.]]

* [[spoiler:Shion torturing and stabbing poor little Satoko to death in front of the imprisoned Mion]], because of [[spoiler:Satoko's]] [[TryingNotToCry attitude towards the whole thing]]. ''"Nii-nii! I'm strong now!"''

* Shion's breakdown while [[spoiler: asking if she can visit Satoshi and talk to him (despite the fact that he's in a coma)]]. It's hard to tell in the anime, but it looks like [[spoiler:Satoshi starts crying while she's talking.]]
* Any time Keiichi brings up [[spoiler: His awakened memories of his situation in Onikakushi-hen]] in Tsumihoroboshi-hen. Worst of all is when [[spoiler: Rena is bleeding all over, she still doesn't give in and keeps on trying to help him, and at the final moment, she doesn't even cover her head when he hits her.]]

* Just as Onikakushi-hen is way more sad from Rena's (and a bit Mion's) perspective after knowing the twist, so is Watanagashi-hen and especially Meakashi-hen (which tells the same events actually) from Mion's. [[spoiler: All the terrible things that happened were not her fault, but everyone, including Keiichi, believe Mion to be the culprit, and she is forced to watch/listen as her sister prepares to torture and kill Keiichi.]]

** Mion's role in it. [[spoiler: She is completely cold, emotionless, and unmoved by Shion's crying and pleading, and helps to force her through the whole ordeal without any apparent remorse. But a while later, we learn just how much she was suffering beneath this mask, and that she had three of her own fingernails ripped out afterward as penance. This is all revealed as Mion breaks down into tears, sobbing to Shion "It's wasn't fair that only you were punished! We're twins!"]]

* Heck, almost every time a character's DarkAndTroubledPast is revealed, it's a TearJerker if you like the character enough, the [[TearJerker strongest]] ones being [[spoiler:Shmion's past, Satoshi's dissapearance and Miyo's life in the orphanage.]]

** If the lyrics in the series of songs in the Yours album (Sorayume, Sora no Mukou, Confession, Thanks) are to be believed, and if they're canon, then Satoshi does indeed recover.
*** Though chances are they're all just Shion's ImagineSpot as she sits there by his bedside, reading and waiting...

* The door scene with Keiichi and Rena. While mostly scary due to it's intensity. It becomes sad when you find out what really happened. [[spoiler: Keiichi was suffering from the Hinamazawa syndrome and acting out of fear induced paranoia, that Rena might come in and kill him. Rena's joke about stalking him didn't help and she got her fingers nearly broken by him slamming the door on them. She tried to tell him it was a joke and she was sorry, but he was too far gone to believe her. Even before people found out the truth you can still hear her hurt cries while in Keiichi's perspective.]]

* It was only a brief moment, but this troper found [[spoiler: Mion's]] death at the end of Minagoroshi-hen, which was as if she was following [[spoiler: Keiichi]] at that. But what really got me was when [[spoiler: Mion silently waves goodbye to her sister, right before getting shot by Takano. Poor Mii-chan.]]
** What really got this troper was when [[spoiler: Mion touches her blood-covered hand just before that, the one that Keiichi held when he was dying. That made my heart break. Really, poor Mion.]]
* I'm not sure if this has been mentioned yet but [[spoiler: [[http://mymangalist.net/chapter/higurashi-no-naku-koro-ni-tatarigoroshi/7/9 this]] from Tatarigoroshi-hen]] definitely counts. Expecially heartwrenching for [[Tropers/ZoeZoeWriter this tropette]] because she'd just started liking [[spoiler: Sotoko]] in this arc.

* For some reason, the ending song of the first season (Why, or Why Not?) always makes me feel sentimental and depressed, especially when I realized that the lyrics sounded like they were describing Hinamizawa Syndrome. "The sound of footsteps became louder every day, then I realized the fact that there was no time."
** Well, there was also one really heart-wrenching part from that theme. Makes me teary-eyed too:

* Shion's breakdown while [[spoiler: asking if she can visit Satoshi and talk to him (despite the fact that he's in a coma)]] is one of only two things in this show that made me cry. [[spoiler:It's hard to tell in the anime, but it looks like Satoshi starts crying while she's talking.]]
* Any time Keiichi brings up [[spoiler: His awakened memories of his situation in Onikakushi-hen]] in Tsumihoroboshi-hen is this
* I keep crying every time I open that damned manga and turn to his memories in Tsumihoroboshi-hen. Worst of all is whenever she [[spoiler: Rena, that is, is bleeding all over, she still doesn't give in and keeps on trying to help him, and at the final moment, she doesn't even cover her head when he hits her.]]

* The original scene of [[spoiler:Rena and Mion's death]] itself is pretty heartbreaking too. Especially for [[Tropers/TsundeRay me]], who went into the series not knowing about the series [[spoiler:hitting the ResetButton]] with each new arc. Revisiting that scene, seeing Keiichi break down and apologize to Mion (who is unaware of what he is crying about), and ''especially'' witnessing [[spoiler:Rena's last moments and words in the flashback]] threatened to bring me to tears.

* The entire Yakusamashi-hen made me cry, if only because nothing bad actually happened until [[spoiler: the Yamainu came for Rika]], and especially the scenes with poor Satoko near the end when she sees [[spoiler: the corpses of everyone in the entire village in her school]]. Oh, and the first episode of the second season that shows the true ending of Tsumihoroboshi-hen. The flashback with [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UuofG8a7EEk that music]] playing in the background... * sniffle*
** For me, ''[[spoiler:Rena screaming her last breath'' as the scene of her death [[GoryDiscretionShot cuts to the cliff next to her and her hat falling to the river below]]]] did it. It left me wondering, ''Why? Why would [[spoiler:the Yamainu]] do such a thing to her?!''
*** The answer is that the scene is taken from Tsukiotoshi-hen and really... doesn't make much sense in the new context. Originally, [[spoiler:Rena had reached L5 and was running away from having trapped Keiichi in a burning house. Presumably, the Yamainu killed her in order to both destroy evidence and keep her from becoming a danger to others. ...Probably mostly to destroy evidence]].
*** The assumption for Yakusamashi-hen is likely that she happened to come upon the same thing Satoko did... just in progress.

** This troper finds [[spoiler:Satoko's last words about her nii-nii even more sad. She just... felt so ''bad''...]]
** The manga version of this is pretty tough to sit through. [[spoiler:After the rush wears off, Shion has this kind of dazed and disbelieving look on her face, which gets worse when she sees a vision of sorts of Satoko and Satoshi, who sternly reminds her of his last request. She then touches the stab wounds, and when the full full realization of what she's done hits, she embraces Satoko's body and absolutely bawls her eyes out over what she's done and become. Of course, that all goes right out the window a few minutes later when she's all "Screw it", but still, tough to watch.]]
** Despite everything she did in this arc, this troper bawled at [[spoiler:Shion's death, and her last minute promise that next time, things would be different.]] They somehow mangaged to make it worse in the manga, where [[spoiler:after falling from her balcony, Shion has a series of fantasies about being part of the main group; having lunch with them, treating Satoko like a little sister, all the things she never got to do because of her estrangement from her family. This culminates with her asking, "But... is this okay? Is something like this... really okay?" Cut to her shattered, lifeless body at the foot of the building.]]

* The ending theme of the anime always makes this troper shed a few tears, or at least sniffle a little, despite the fact that it seems the sort of thing he would be laughing at for the hilariously bad english. And this troper barely ever cries at anyting.

* This troper gets misty whenever any character asks the question, "Why did it become like this?" In her opinion, this is the most tragic line in the entire series.
* This one has wet teary eyes when thinking about the ending of Himatsubushi-hen. [[spoiler:when Rena finally realized that her friends were there for her and helping, they all died and left her the only person alive]]
* This troper burst into tears upon seeing [[spoiler:Shion torturing and stabbing poor little Satoko to death in front of the imprisoned Mion]], because of [[spoiler:Satoko's]] [[TryingNotToCry attitude towards the whole thing]]. ''"Nii-nii! I'm strong now!"''

* The ending of Watanagashi-hen in the manga was absolutely heartbreaking to this troper. [[spoiler: Keiichi had bought another doll just for Mion and was wishing that things hadn't screwed up so badly so he could give her the doll and they could be happy. When he sees Mion, actually Shion, standing outside, he goes to give her the doll, only to be stabbed in the gut. The last pictures with him trying to clean his blood off of the doll almost made me burst into tears.]]

* While this troper considers himself a jaded stoic who didn't break down during the series (plenty of [[CrowningMomentofHeartwarming Heartwarming Moments]], but not {{Tear Jerker}}s) the song "You" and its lyrics did the work instead, and now becomes teary-eyed whenever hearing it, recalling the [[HappyEnding Good End]] they ''finally'' [[EarnYourHappyEnding earned]].

** The manga version of [[spoiler:Miyo's arc]] is honestly one of the most heartwrenching things this Troper has ever read. The punches start when the recently orphaned [[spoiler:Miyo]] is dropped off at her new orphange. The anime plays this fairly ominously with the orphanage worker glaring at her as soon as the social workers leave, but the manga version decides to have a brief HopeSpot to make things worse. "Oh, oh look! He's patting her head, just like her dad used to do to! Surely this guy can't-" [[spoiler:'''SMACK'''.]]

* This Troper may be alone on this, but she cried when,in the Tsumihoroboshi manga and VN, [[spoiler:Rena denies she's sad, and keeps saying that she finally got her happiness.Then she tries to laugh,but ends up ''crying''.]]This made this Troper bawl her eyes out.
** The bit in this scene that made this troper cry was the scene where [[spoiler:Everybody is talking about their sins and apologizing for not being there especially Mion]]

* Okay, final arc of Kai, the nakama is in the Sonozaki basement, and Kasai and Shion are buying them time to escape. Mion starts yelling for Shion to come down already. Gunshots. LOTS of gunshots. Rika, on the verge of tears, says "No, no, I don't want to give up anyone! ...This is the final world. I don't want this! I don't want a future in which Shion or Kasai die!" and starts bawling. That's bad enough, right? But it gets worse. When Irie is about to give himself up so everyone else can escape, Rena says, "If you go, then what did they (Kasai and Shion) fight so hard for?" and Mion shouts back, "Then what? Are you saying Shion should die?", Satoko delivers this tear-jerking masterpiece: "Please, stop it, Mion! My heart is about to burst as well. After all, Shion is my Nee-Nee." Mion, and this troper, BURST into tears.
** I was pretty much used to the violence and death at this point, and didn't care much that Shion and Kasai might be dead. After all, everyone is always okay again in the next world, right? Right? Then I remembered that this was the final world, and started being terrified.

** Seconded, both of them. But Hinageshi, in particular, was singlehandedly responsible for convincing this troper that doujinshi can be as good as canon. The part where Mion just breaks down, thinking that they don't love her anymore and that the village doesn't have a place for her just hits you straight in the heart. Never have I seen a story that so effectively portrays what it feels like to be a leader without a group to lead and be part of. (Incidentally, Hinageshi was totally Mion's arc, calling it now.)
* I, truly, almost never cry. But [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4-z7xlw5VNw&feature=related this song]], I feel, could very well be a TearJerker or a CrowningMomentOfHeartwarming for some people.

* YMMV, but this troper always feels a little sad when Shion beats Satoko in episode 16. I mean, Satoko annoys the hell out of me, but SHE'S A LITTLE KID. She and her family have been shunned by all the people in the village except for a few people, and now one of her friends (Shion disguised as Mion) is beating her up and telling her to suffer and die alone.
** She tried to ''kill'' her, so she does deserve sympathy.
** This troper agrees that this scene is heart-wrenching. Regardless if Satoko was a crybaby or if spilling your lunch isn't a good reason to cry, considering what she and her brother were going through, she doesn't deserve to be screamed at that the world would be a better place if she was dead. And even worse, the fact that everyone thought it was Mion was just more salt in the wound in that one of their closest friends is actually screaming at Satoko to die for being a selfish, repulsive monster. It feels like one of those moments when someone actually blames a rape victim for being raped.

--> '''Keiichi:''' Why didn't you ever talk to us about it? We're your friends right? We're supposed to be like family! If you had talked to us, we could have helped! We wouldn't have let you get your hands dirty! If we had worked together, we might have reached a better future than this one!

* The ending of Onikakushi is tragic enough in the game and the anime, but the manga pushes it right into TearJerker territory when [[spoiler:Keiichi's final letter is read over a montage of flowers being placed on Keiichi's desk, the teacher announcing the deaths to a shell-shocked class, Keiichi's parents mourning their son's death,]] and as if you aren't getting misty-eyed already, it finally ends with [[spoiler:Rika comforting Satoko as she sobs her eyes out over losing three of her best friends.]]

* The fate of [[spoiler: Satoshi]] in Outbreak, [[spoiler: it's implied that Outbreak is the world where Bernkastel stopped Miyo from losing her parents. However, everything is still fine and Keiichi, Rena, Irie and everyone are still there, as well as Satoshi's lack of presence. Since Satoshi isn't around, it's safe to say that similar to worlds before, Satoshi had come down with Level 5 of Hinamizawa Syndrome and was kept in the Irie Institution. However, in the world of Outbreak, after Hinamizawa was quarantined, Irie along with the soldiers working in the institution, came down with the virus they were working on and against and it's implied they all ended up killing each other except for Irie, who AteHisGun in front of Rika. With the one person who was working on saving his life and bringing him home to his little sister gone, Satoshi's pretty much dead.]]

* A bit of FridgeHorror for you: In Watanagashi/Meakashi, This Troper just didn't forgive [[spoiler:Shion]] because of two characters that suffered [[MoralEventHorizon a bit too much]]: [[spoiler:''Mion and Keiichi''. Mion never wanted the YakuzaPrincess position, felt really guilty of taking Shion's place because of an accident both caused, was completely unable to do anything for Satoshi, which we see she tried (same for Rika there), stripped three nails because of this very same guilt, has to see her sister become crazy because ''she fell in love with someone'' (needless to say, more guilt), and has to see all her friends murdered and tortured by Shion. Keiichi thought he had hurt a girl that liked him and made her go crazy (not at all wrong), tried all the way to make things right and ''died thinking all the killings were his fault, and that Mion was the culprit, when it was Shion that did it all''. And more: There are people on the internet that say that [[FanDumb all the killings by Shion were completely justified]]. Then why did she stab Keiichi, who knew nothing about her backstory and was actually trying to set things right, just wanting to see Mion smiling again?]] [[NiceJobBreakingItHero Nice job there]], [[spoiler:Shion]].
** Let's not [[RonTheDeathEater demonize]] [[spoiler:[[NeverLiveItDown Shion]]]]. That's the tragedy of this series. If there's a series that personifies PoorCommunicationKills, it's Higurashi. Also, how is that FridgeHorror?
** Not demonizing, just not completely justifying.She does learn from her mistakes and helps the cast in later arcs.And this Troper think the person above tried to do a failed TakeThat to the aforementioned FanDumb.
** I actually believe that most of the deaths, save the last two caused by [[spoiler:Shion]] were somewhat justified. We have a {{Yandere}} who just lost their love. I would have been surprised if they ''weren't'' dying if [[spoiler:Shion]] thought they caused it. [[spoiler: Mion and Keiichi's deaths can only be explained with "temporary" insanity,]] but just because It can be explained doesn't mean I think the last two were justified.

** The bit in this scene that made this troper cry was the scene where [[spoilers:Everybody is talking about their sins and apologizing for not being there especially Mion]]

** To make this a bit sympathetic to [[spoiler:Takano, even if she did spare Satoko the girl herself '''is''' infected with the [[HatePlague Hinamizawa Syndrome]]. Satoko already lost all her friends and would be subjected [[FateWorseThanDeath under heavy experimentation]]. Even if she escapes that her insanity would leave her all alone and eventually [[DrivenToSuicide drive her to suicide]]. Takano simply chose the lesser of the two evils; ease Satoko's eventual suffering by {{Mercy Kill}}ing her.]]

** To make this a bit sympathetic to [[spoiler:Takano, even if she DID spare Satoko she IS infected with the [[HatePlague Hinamizawa Syndrome]]. Satoko already lost all her friends and would be subjected [[FateWorseThanDeath under heavy experimentation]]. Even if she escapes that her insanity would leave her all alone and eventually [[DrivenToSuicide drive her to suicide]]. Takano simply chose the lesser of the two evils; ease Satoko's eventual suffering by {{Mercy Kill}}ing her.]]

* Plenty in ''HigurashiNoNakuKoroNi'', notably [[spoiler: Keiichi remembering a past iteration of their GroundhogDayLoop where he went [[ThroughTheEyesOfMadness insane]] and murdered Mion and Rena. Rena's [[IKnowYouAreInThereSomewhereFight "Believe me"]] as she stretches out her hands to Keiichi (right before he bludgeons her with a baseball bat) makes it heartbreakingly clear that the events leading to this end were [[PoorCommunicationKills a series of terrible mistakes]].]] Luckily, the scene that follows turns it right around into a massive CrowningMomentOfHeartwarming.

* Satoko's PTSD reaction to Keiichi rubbing her head, after less than a week of living with her uncle.

** The bit in this scene that made this troper cry was the scene where [[spoilers: Everybody is talking about their sins and apologizing for not being there especially Mion]]

** For me, ''[[spoiler:Rena [[NightmareFuel screaming her last breath]]'' as the scene of her death [[GoryDiscretionShot cuts to the cliff next to her and her hat falling to the river below]]]] did it. It left me wondering, ''Why? Why would [[spoiler:the Yamainu]] do such a thing to her?!''

* [[ToThePain FINGERNAIL.]] [[NightmareFuel PUNISHMENT.]] That is all.

* How about most of Meakashi, mixed with NightmareFuel?

* There were a few fanfics that won a contest and were officially made into non-canon manga. "Limit" mixed NightmareFuel with TearJerker, however Hinageshi-hen and Nienagashi are this. In the former Mion is off at college and comes home for a festival. A tradition of the village is that everyone makes a doll representing themselves and send it down the river to celebrate Watanagashi. If a person's doll goes missing, however then that person will die. Mion returns, but her friends are avoiding her. She finds where the dolls are one day, and finds hers is gone. She becomes paranoid. [[spoiler:Turns out hers broke and they were fixing it. The TearJerker is the end, which is post "gas accident" and Mion is the only survivor- but she's comatose, and will never leave her dreams because, in the waking world, everyone she loves is dead.]] For the latter, the TearJerker comes when Satoko almost drowns in a river. Keiichi comes to get her, but due to the rapids and the fact he can't swim he isn't much help. Keiichi remembers a story he heard on how a boy let go his friend to save himself in that river some time ago, and he begins to think of that. [[spoiler:He lets [[HeroicSacrifice himself go.]] He ends up in class, but is a ghost. He thinks everything is fine until he sees his friends crying, then figuring out how stupid his decision is. Turns out it was AllJustADream after he sacrificed himself to save Satoko, and both of them are safe.]]

** The VN and Manga version is worse. [[spoiler:Hanyuu stops time, so everyone sees the bullet before it hits him, and talks about it. Keiichi gives a speech, everyone is either bawling or ready to bawl, and then time strats flowing again. He's shot, and Takano's men go at the gang for the last kill]].

* There were a few fanfics that won a contest and were officially made into non-canon manga. "Limit" mixed NightmareFuel with TearJerker, however Hinageshi-hen and Nienagashi are this. In the former Mion is off at college and comes home for a festival. A myth is that if a doll is not set, then the person will die. Mion returns, but her friends are avoiding her. She finds where the dolls are one day, and finds hers is missing. She becomes paranoid. [[spoiler:Turns out hers broke and they were fixing it. The TearJerker is the end, which is post "gas accident" and Mion is the only survivor.]] For the latter, the TearJerker comes when Satoko almost drowns in a river. Keiichi comes to get her, but due to the rapids and the fact he can't swim he isn't much help. Keiichi remembers a story he heard on how a boy let go his friend to save himself in that river some time ago, and he begins to think of that. [[spoiler:He lets [[HeroicSacrifice himself go.]] He ends up in class, but is a ghost. He thinks everything is fine until he sees his friends crying, then figuring out how stupid his decision is. Turns out it was AllJustADream after he sacrificed himself to save Satoko, and both of them are safe.]]

* I keep crying every time I open that damned manga and turn to his memories in Tsumihoroboshi-hen. Worst of all is whenever she [[spoiler: Rena, that is, is bleeding all over, she still doesn't give in and keeps on trying to help him, and at the final moment, she doesn't even cover her head when he hits her.]]

** To make this a bit sympathetic to [[spoiler:[[BigBad Takano]], even if she DID spare Satoko she IS infected with the [[HatePlague Hinamizawa Syndrome]]. Satoko already lost all her friends and would be subjected [[FateWorseThanDeath under heavy experimentation]]. Even if she escapes that her insanity would leave her all alone and eventually [[DrivenToSuicide drive her to suicide]]. Takano simply chose the lesser of the two evils; ease Satoko's eventual suffering by {{Mercy Kill}}ing her.]]