One happy café indeed.
There are plenty of heartwarming moments in Lycoris Recoil to go around.
Beware of unmarked spoilers!
- Episode 1:
- Chisato warmly welcomes Takina into LycoReco from the moment they meet.
- Chisato taking the time to patch up one of the wounded kidnappers immediately shows her kind side, even though she just finished beating them up.
- Episode 2:
- While patching up a wounded hitman, Chisato takes the time to ask who he plans to spend dinner with. It's enough of a gesture that he warns her about Robota's drone and, after Walnut is seemingly killed, for him to tell his comrades to leave Chisato and Takina alone.
- Upon learning that everyone involved in the Walnut case got out alive, Chisato hugs Kurumi. Small, but still heartwarming.
- Mika and Mizuki let Kurumi stay at LycoReco to lay low, which is heartwarming since they barely know her. Granted, she's providing them with tech support in exchange for asylum, but it's still a nice gesture.
- Episode 3:
- After explaining to Takina the real reason behind her dismissal from DA, Chisato hugs the distraught Lycoris and, after some nearby girls joke about it, lifts her into the air while proclaiming she's glad they met. Takina, for her part, doesn't tell her to stop.
- Chisato toys with Fuki and Sakura long enough so Takina can think things over and come join the mock battle. It's the fact that Chisato wants Takina to get some closure that makes this heartwarming.
- The end of the episode has Chisato saying that both she and Takina will be at LycoReco to play board games with the café patrons. This brings a clear smile to Mika's face.
- Episode 4:
- Chisato helping out a pair of customers at a diner figure out the menu is heartwarming in that she does it without any thought of reward. She's just doing it because it's a good deed.
- When Chisato is wondering if she'll never meet the one who sponsored her for the Alan Institute, Takina takes the time to embarrassingly pose like a fish in order to get her blonde partner out of her doldrums.
- Takina laughing at Chisato being humiliated by Mizuki at the end of the episode.
- Episode 5:
- After Detective Abe and his partner escape from the subway, they see Chisato and Takina pushing Mr. Matsushita around. Abe remarks that if whatever cover-up is going on allows girls like Chisato and Takina to live peacefully, it doesn't matter. This makes for a case of Dramatic Irony since he doesn't know that the two are Lycoris agents.
- It's during a deadly scenario, but Chisato screaming Takina's name when she and Silent Jin fall off the roof of a building implies just how much Chisato cares about her partner.
- At the end of the episode, Takina lies down on Chisato's chest to check for a heartbeat. Chisato only protests very briefly before letting her continue.
- Episode 6:
- Kurumi confesses to being the one who hacked DA during the arms deal raid, which caused Takina to lose her job at DA. Takina forgives her for this, claiming it was more her own fault that she got dismissed than Kurumi's.
- Episode 7:
- Chisato finds out that Yoshimatsu was the one who gave her an artificial heart and profoundly thanks him for it.
- Episode 8:
- While at first it seems that Takina is just trying to do things to make more money for the café, she uses a lot of what they earn to buy some ergonomic improvements, such as a dishwasher and a robot waiter. It shows she wants the café to not just succeed, but thrive.
- After Majima breaks into Chisato's safehouse, Takina tells her that she's going to assume Chisato is in trouble if she doesn't pick up her phone within three rings, and that she'll come running no matter where she is. When Chisato doesn't do it because Himegama knocked her unconscious at the end of the episode, Takina immediately drops what she's doing and rushes to rescue her partner.
- Episode 9:
- Learning that Chisato has only two months to live, Takina takes Chisato around the city on a day off for her to enjoy herself. Doubles as a Tear Jerker moment in that Takina is going back to DA the following day because Chisato negotiated for her to be reinstated, meaning they may never see each other again.
- When Takina learns what Himegama did to Chisato, her first instinct is to hunt down and kill her. Chisato talks her down from it, claiming it wouldn't change anything. Even in the face of her impending death, Chisato remains as kindhearted as ever.
- Mika's flashback reveals the reason why Chisato never kills: because when Yoshimatsu saved her life by giving her an artificial heart, he called himself a "savior". This had a profound impact on Chisato, who vowed to be the same and never to take a life.
- During Mika's flashback, we see that Fuki once did actually care for Chisato, calling for help when the young Lycoris lost consciousness due to her congenital heart disease.
- Episode 10:
- Just before Mizuki is about to drive Kurumi to the airport, she gives Chisato a small fistbump. It's small, but it shows how much they mean to each other.
- When Chisato decides that the LycoReco café should close down, several of their patrons show up to protest it because they love the place. It just goes to show how much of a positive influence Chisato has had on their lives.
- Chisato is looking through a photo album of herself and Mika, which also features a Shiba Inu they once had. Though it's clear the dog is no longer with them, it's still heartwarming that the two once had a pet.
- Mika explains the whole story between him and Shinji to Chisato, fully expecting her to hate him for his hand in it. Chisato doesn't hate him, claiming that they are her two dads, and that she's grateful that Mika let her choose her own lifestyle. Mika is in tears at hearing his "daughter" forgive him.
- A secondary, less obvious, point is that the furisode Chisato is wearing is supposed to be for the Coming of Age ceremony, which doesn't happen until the age of 20. Even though Lycoris retire at 18 and Chisato wasn't expected to live long past then, outright owning such an expensive piece of clothing long enough to gather dust helps to show exactly how long Mika has acted as a father rather than following his mission.
- When Robota threatens to kill Shinji if Chisato goes near the Enkuboku tower, Mika tells Chisato that Takina and Fuki will be able to handle it. Chisato agrees with him, showing their absolute faith in her two fellow agents.
- Episode 11:
- Kurumi and Mizuki give each other a respectful farewell when they are both about to go on their flights out of the country. Then it becomes a funny moment when Kurumi tells Mizuki that the latter will be flying economy, not first-class.
- While waiting for her flight to take off, Kurumi continues her investigation into the artificial heart and discovers that Shinji had gotten Chisato a new model. It's clear Shinji still wants Chisato to live, even if he's the one who put her on limited time.
- When Takina decides to go AWOL during an operation in order to help Chisato, Fuki decides to let her go. This is a stark contrast to how she punched Takina for disobeying orders the first time around.
- Prior to Takina leaving, Erika runs up and hugs her while profusely apologizing for making Takina lose her job at DA.
- During her fight with Majima, Chisato sees Shinji's phone ringing three times. It then stops and then rings once more. Chisato realizes that this is Takina signaling her and that she's on her way.
- Just when it looks like Chisato is about to meet her end at Majima's hands, Takina shows up in a Big Damn Heroes moment. Then it goes bad when Majima still gets the upper hand on both of them.
- Episode 12:
- Chisato repeatedly forces Takina to avoid killing Shinji and Himegama because if she let either of them die, she wouldn't be herself ever again. She also talks Takina down by saying she can't live if it means Shinji dies, as she'd never forgive herself. Doubles as a Tear Jerker.
- Mizuki tells Kurumi that LilyBell agents have repeatedly tried to kill Chisato in the past, but Mika and Kusunoki were able to negotiate with their boss to stop the attempts. Despite how coldhearted she usually is, it's nice to hear Kusunoki had a hand in it.
- Episode 13:
- In a moment of Villain Respect, Majima stops his fight with Chisato when her artificial heart starts giving out on her, giving the Lycoris a chance to recover because he wants a fair fight.
- After everything she's gone through, Chisato gets her second chance at living when Mika gives her the new artificial heart. This doubles as a Tear Jerker, though, since Mika murdered Shinji in order to get it and lied to Chisato about how he obtained it, claiming Shinji lied about putting it in his chest.
- Silent Jin shows up at LycoReco as a customer in a case of Defeat Equals Friendship.
- Sakura, after spending a while in a hospital, finally gets one of the LycoReco's parfaits.
- Takina shows Chisato a picture of Saori that shows she's still dating her boyfriend. It then becomes a Book Ends funny moment when it's revealed that this is how Takina tracked Chisato down after she disappeared, as Saori accidentally caught Chisato in the snapshot.
- Chisato and the rest of the LycoReco crew take a trip to Hawaii in the epilogue, with Chisato not letting Kusunoki interrupt their fun.
- Chisato and Takina wear matching bracelets while in Hawaii.note
