Tear Jerker / Akame ga Kill!

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"Since we work in the shadows, Sheele's name will never appear in the Revolutionary Army's records. That's why I will remember as much as I can about her."

Akame ga Kill! is a series where Anyone Can Die and this isn't just limited to background characters and minor antagonists. Well established members of Night Raid and the Jaegers can also die and when it happens it usually isn't pretty. Its obvious that we'll be treated to many depressing death scenes and scenes of characters grieving over these deaths. Tearjerkers aren't limited to deaths but also the many depressing backstories of these characters as well.

Manga

• From one of the early chapters of the manga, Tatsumi finding out that there is no Teigu that can bring people back to life. After he is told this he goes to the graves of Sayo and Ieyasu proclaiming that he hoped they would come back one day but now has to face the harsh truth that they never will. This one especially hits hard with anyone who has lost a loved one but couldn't grasp the concept of death and how people who die never come back.
• Sheele's backstory. She had trouble making friends and finding a job when she was younger due to her clumsiness. When she finally found a friend who accepted her for who she was, their relationship was cut short because Sheele killed her ex-boyfriend to defend her. It's then revealed that her parents were killed by a people affiliated with her friend's ex-boyfriend, and that Sheele joined Night Raid because it was the only place where she could fit in.
• Sheele's death is still one the most shocking and saddest moments in this series, mostly due to the fact Sheele was Night Raid's first on screen causality. First, the scene gets the viewers, and the characters, to lower their guard when Sheele seemingly defeated Seryu and saved Mine from Coro. Then, a sudden bang occurs and Sheele is shot by a gun hidden in Seryu's throat. Paralyzed by the gun shot wound, Sheele is unable to move, and then Coro looms in on her and takes a bite out of her, ripping her in half. Mine's reaction only makes the scene much more of a tear jerker. When after being ripped in half, and most likely was in serious pain, Sheele still used her trump card, to let Mine escape. Seeing that Sheele was still alive, Seryu ordered Coro to eat her. Sheele then spends her final moment thinking about all her happy moments with Night Raid and stating how she loved all of them and their time together, all the while smiling. Her final thoughts were of Tatsumi, and she quietly apologizes to him, since she would never be able to hold him again. And then came the CRUNCH.
  • If all that wasn't bad enough, Coro was seen still chewing on her body in the next scene. Also, Night Raid's reaction at the news of Sheele' death was pretty heart wrenching.
  • Mine's infuriated reaction and desire to avenge Sheele by killing Seryu, even while acknowledging that Seryu technically didn't do anything particularly wrong since she was doing her duty, is perhaps the most heartbreaking part. It is heavily implied that the reason for Mine being a Tsundere is that she has problems trusting people as a result of being tormented by everyone around her when she was a child. Sheele however was the only member of Night Raid who showed Mine unrequited kindness and the two got along with each other because they were both perceived as misfits to society. Mine's outburst after Sheele's death is actually her unwilling to accept that Sheele is gone forever and that she'll no longer have anyone to support her. Her resolve is the definition of It's Personal.
• The night after Sheele's death, Tatsumi runs into Akame cooking a Dango dish. It turns out that Akame cooked this as an offering to Sheele because it was her favorite food. Akame then reveals that because Night Raid works in the shadows if any one of them was to die they will never appear in the Revolutionary Army records and once they're dead it's almost as if they've never existed. This is also one of the few times in the series we ever see Akame cry and it makes sense when you realize she already saw all of her allies in the Elite Seven die and that anyone in Night Raid who dies will only meet the same fate.
• The death of Bulat. Being the Awesome Mentor he was, and his Dying Moment of Awesome, passing the torch, and his final moments being being an Expy/Homage of Kamina. Since it's one of the few deaths that isn't preceded by a flashback of his youth, you can even hold some hope for him... but sadly, he was one of the first characters to die.
• Seryu crying over the death of Dr. Stylish. While Dr. Stylish was a horrible human being it isn't impossible to feel bad for Seryu as this scene shows she ended up the way she is now because she lacks proper guidance. Her parents who were the only reasonable role models in her life had died, and since she never saw their bad side (or was incapable of) Seryu legitimately looked up to Ogre and Dr. Stylish. While some find Seryu's actions to be mostly unjustifiable at the very least this moment shows that Seryu didn't have to end up the way she is now and that unlike other villains in the series she isn't an irredeemable monster.
• Extra Chapter 23.5 tells the story of three girls named Fal, Air and Luna, whose parents sold them to a man in the capital because heavy taxation had left them destitute. They look forward to having a kind master, which their master at first seems to be. Then he sells them to some of the most depraved people imaginable. Fal dies of the ensuing gory torture, and Luna commits suicide after having her eyes cut out. Air survives her disgusting treatment and hires Night Raid to take revenge. They do so, and once that's done, she kills herself with poison to join her friends. The icing on the despair cake is that she does this on the edge of a crowded street, and no one so much as looks at her. Damn.
• When Bors dies, it's because he came across a girl who'd been injured in the crossfire of his battle with Night Raid and kindly offers to treat her wounds. Only it turns out that it's Chelsea in disguise. After giving Bors a swift but fatal injury, she explains how he burned down her entire village because they were suspected of harboring rebels. Bors admits that he always knew karma would come to get him because of all the awful things he'd done, but that doesn't stop him from having a vision of when Esdeath convinced him to reveal his face to the other members of Jaegers, and for them to not treat him any differently because of it, followed by a flashback to the moment his daughter was born, and lastly by a vision of his wife and daughter at their home.
  • To make this even worse you get to see them at his grave along with a grieving Wave and Ran. Let's not talk about what happens at that place later on. It's too bloody horrible.
• Chelsea's death was pretty heart wrenching since it was one the most painful deaths in this series, and that is saying a lot. After seemly killing Kurome, Chelsea actually felt bad for Kurome and tells her that she will make a better future for her to be reborn in. Chelsea is then about to leave and return to Night Raid's base with Kurome's teigu. However, Chelsea soon finds out the Kurome is still alive and Kurome was able to steal back her teigu. Kurome reveals that the drugs she has been taking actually saved her from Chelsea fatal attack and that if Chelsea truly wants to kill her, she was to either destroy Kurome's heart of cut off her head. Chelsea, realizing that she is no match for Kurome, tries to make a run for it and use her teigu to escape. However, Kurome's puppet, Doya, destroys Chelsea's teigu, as well as shot off some of Chelsea's fingers in the process, dooming Chelsea of any chance to escape. Despite this, Chelsea still make a desperate run to safety, only to have her right arm cut off and shot again in the back. Just when Kurome's puppet, Natala was about to finish her, Chelsea realizes that she is about to receive retribution for her actions. Chelsea spends her final moments (most likely is an attempt to comfort herself) thinking about what would have happened had she succeed and how she wanted to be praised by the rest of Night Raid, especially Tatsumi, as well as something else. While it was not revealed what the "something else" was, it was heavily implied that Chelsea wanted to tell Tatsumi her feelings after the mission. To top it all off, the viewer gets one last look at Chelsea face, as she is crying and is clearly terrified to die, contrasting the faces of Sheele and Bulat who went out with a smile. And then there is what happens to Chelsea's body after her death.
• Wave and Kurome's conversation after Wave finds out that her encounter with Chelsea has greatly injured her. Despite appearing cheerful, Kurome is actually frightened at the fact that Esdeath might discharge her if she finds out about her injuries.
• A smaller one but after the battle between Lubbock and Mez, despite having killed Mez in battle, Lubbock honors the memory of his opponent and as she is dying closes Mez's eyes to allow her to rest in peace. It's one of the few times where a member of Night Raid not only showed remorse for one of the targets they had to kill but also honored their opponent as a fellow warrior and not an enemy.
• For some, Seryu's death. Especially since she drops her justice-crazed personality, after realizing that she is going to die. Worse in the manga since she dies thinking of Esdeath and how she will not serve the Empire again, which the readers later learn that Esdeath doesn't care at all about her death. To make the things more sad, the chapter when she and Koro dies ends with the children of Kyoroch that she befriended coming to the place where she played football with them, wondering about her absence.
  • Before that, when Mine gives Seryu her "The Reason You Suck" Speech, she sums the matter up with "You're insane" (some subs read "You're broken"). The look on her face (and in the anime, the tone of her voice) as she says that is not full of hatred or disgust, but pity. She knows all too well that Seryu could have turned out better, but is sadly too far gone now.
  • When Seryu sees Tatsumi and Mine, she's stunned at seeing the former there. There's a brief flashback to the first time they met, with her helping him find his way, and it comes across as Seryu being genuinely hurt that Tatsumi went to the "evil" side. Really, it emphasis the bonds that are torn by being on different sides of a war.
• Wave finding out that Wild Hunt brutally raped and murdered Bols' family. Most of this moment is Wave quietly walking around the Emperor's palace visibly stricken as if he's been broken to his limit. He then walks into the Jaegers' meeting room where he mentally pictures Bols and his family during happier times followed by him breaking down in anger as he'll never get to see them like that ever again. Made all the more worse when you realize that Wave was one of the only people who accepted Bols as a friend.
• Run's death after his battle with Champ. Unlike other characters Run got to die satisfied knowing that the criminal who killed his students can no longer hurt anyone and that he could trust Wave and Kurome in changing the Empire for him. However as he is passing on Kurome is crying over his dying body not wanting to face the horror of losing another friend which leads her to use Yatsufusa on him turning him into a mindless puppet. The look of terror on his face as he is being stabbed with Yatsufusa knowing that there's nothing he can do about it only makes things worse. In the scene afterwards, Wave angrily calls out Kurome for turning their friend into a puppet and while the two are arguing Run's spirit returns. Even though he is gone and has no free will, he still doesn't want Wave and Kurome to argue. In fact any appearance of Run as one of Kurome's puppets could also be tearjerkers on their own since they're a grim reminder of the humanity that Run has lost and how messed up Kurome's fear of losing her comrades truly is.
• Lubbock's death at the hands of Izou. Not only had he began establishing himself as an important asset to Night Raid but had also began thinking about marrying Najenda after the revolution was over. The manga even gives the reader hope for him when he kills Syura and escapes the dungeon, but its all shattered when Izou slices him in half. As he's dying he thinks about how despite making Najenda proud and killing one of Night Raid's enemies, he will never be able to have a relationship with her. It's all made worse when you realize that unlike the other members of Night Raid, Lubbock didn't particularly care about the revolution but only wanted to impress his object of affection yet was killed just because he was seen with Tatsumi.
• Esdeath takes another opportunity to get Tatsumi to be at her side, until the latter admitted that he now has a girlfriend in Mine. This leads to a two-page spread of a close-up for her shocked reaction, being so shocked that she was frozen stiff for a moment. This and later Tatsumi's final rejection, especially during the failed execution led her to abandon Tatsumi. It's also heavily implied that her increasingly evil actions leading up to her final Moral Event Horizon was a decision to abandon all of her few virtues she did have left, since she'd never have a chance to be with the one she loved due to her actions, so why bother being decent all; going from an Affably Evil Mama Bear to a full-on Ax-Crazy, Faux Affably Evil monster.
• Chapter 56: The sad ending image of a beat up Tatsumi talking to a non-responsive Mine.
• Chapter 57: Najenda mourning Lubbock
• Chapter 58: As Izou is dying from Murasame's poison, his last request to Akame is that she take his sword and continue killing with it. When Akame kills him with a final slash to the back, Izou's last words are asking how she could refuse the last request of a fellow swordsman. Hate the guy for killing Lubbock or not (and trust us, he deserves that hate), but he really does care for his sword.
• Chapter 64: Seeing Wave desperately cry to Kurome for her not to go to her fatal confrontation with Akame is pretty sad, revealing all he is working to do to help her only for her to sucker punch him after their first kiss and leave, with his affection for her making her hesitant for a moment.
• Seeing Kurome in the final stage of her illness caused by the drugs The Empire injected into her. In the early chapters she was introduced as one of the toughest opponents in the series, but ever since the Bolick Assassination arc she's been visibly weaker and unable to complete any missions without her injuries getting in the way. A few chapters before her and Akame's duel, it's very clear that she's at the brink of death and is no longer capable of putting up a good fight.
• Tatsumi, after being slammed into the ground by the Ultimate Teigu, has a vision of a tearful Mine looking over his defeated body. Fortunately, this gives him the strength to get back up and fight again.
• Tatsumi's end, especially for how it happens. Like in the anime, he forces Incursio to evolve and destroys the Ultimate Teigu, but unlike there, he ultimately is consumed by the Danger Beast Tyrant and turned into another version of it. However, there's a brief Hope Spot when he fights off the beast's influence and goes to fight Esdeath with the Revolutionary Army. Surely this means he'll get an epic Final Battle, right? NOPE! Despite his power, he barely manages to do any damage to Esdeath before she badly injuries him, and in the end he begs Akame to kill him before the beast can completely take him over, which she does with tears in his eyes. Even though he ultimately survives, there's now the tragic implication that he'll be stuck in his dragon form for the rest of his life.
• Leone's death. She lives long enough to bring Honest to justice and celebrate the end of the Empire thanks to fusing with Lionelle, but by that point, she's a Dead Man Walking. Her final action is remembering her first encounter with Tatsumi, before finally dying in the streets.
• Once again, the Emperor's death, only there's a little more detail to it. He still goes through with his beheading, but unlike the anime, where he doesn't seem to show much reaction to his death sentence, we do get to see one last look on his face; bags under his eyes and a broken smile, implying that he's had trouble sleeping since the Revolution. The poor kid, who wanted to do his best as the ruling monarch for the Empire, knows he screwed up and decides that dying for his people would be the least he can do to make up for it. He also said if he were to cry now, he'd be seen as a laughstock on his legacy. No doubt, he wants to cry, but he holds his tears in while holding his head high, and dies for the greater good of the people.
• Esdeath's death. In spite of crossing the Moral Event Horizon during her final fight, decides to die on her own terms standing up using the last of her Teigu's power to destroy her body before the Murasame curse could completely get her. she dies lamenting the fact that she could never get Tatsumi to truly love her, due to their Incompatible Orientation of opposing moralities, the only regret of her life. It comes across as somber and pitiful for such a significant villain who died losing everything due to her own stubbornness to her ways preventing her to get what she truly desired.
  • Prior to her death during her final fight, Esdeath unleashes her final Trump Card Ice Storm Commander-In-Chief, a "Russian Storm" that engulfs the entire continent of the Empire in a fierce storm. When Najenda points out that her men will be the crossfire, Esdeath responds by saying she cares only a little about them. This solidifies a final Heel–Face Door-Slam to what seemed to be in spite of her major faults, a Mama Bear to her subordinates that endeared readers. It especially comes across as even nastier as Esdeath had admitted to missing her fallen comrades in the Jaegers and earlier with the Three Beasts. Seeing this to be ultimately a shame of pragmatism that could easily be discarded, with only shallow interest in others at best- proving that she was inherently evil from birth with no chance of turning good, leaves a very tragic sense of Broken Pedestal disappointment towards Esdeath.
• Kurome is riddled with a massive amount of PTSD for all the people's she's killed, and she's began to see them as nightmarish shadows. Her final scene also doubles as heartwarming, as Akame comforts her before they sleep.
• Esdeath's men mourning her grave. While they may never know that she intentionally endangered them with her full power, they still cry in remorse for her demise. Showing that even some people mourn her passing aside from Kurome.
• Akame's fate. Despite Murasame being destroyed, she still has all the tattoos that came from activating its trump card, leaving her in excruciating pain. Despite this, she helped in creating the new Kingdom by assassinating corrupt politicians. The final pages of the manga are of her going on a journey to find the place where the sword came from, on the boat she wanted to have fun on with her friends and sister.

Anime

• Mine's death right after her battle with Budo. Even though Tatsumi tries to help her get treatment she accepts to die happily and admits her love to Tatsumi as she is dying peacefully.
• While Lubbock's death wasn't as shocking nor as cruel than it was in the manga, it was tearjerking nonetheless; after having managed to kill Syura, Lubbock, now falling towards his death, has enough time to reminisce over his time with Night Raid, as well as his love for Najenda, before thanking his teigu, which shatters as it finally runs out of string. And to twist the knife even further, Lubbock ends up impaled by numerous spears wielded by members of Wild Hunt upon landing. Tatsumi's reaction sums it up.
• Akame killing Kurome and the following aftermath. Not only does Akame grieve over having to kill her beloved little sister but Wave is in complete distraught having been unable to protect his comrade. Following this is Akame outwardly crying with the death of her sister and other comrades all starting to take their weight on her.
  • This is followed up in the next episode where Wave puts Kurome's bag of cookies in front of her grave as a tribute to his fallen friend while contemplating what he has been fighting for this whole time now that he's failed to protect several allies.
• The Emperor's freakout at the controls of Shikoutazer can be considered one if you think long and hard about it. This whole time he hasn't had the slightest idea that Honest has been lying to him and he has only been making things worse for the people. Unlike the other villains its actually possible to feel sorry for him because he meant no harm. Only more shattering during the scene where Tatsumi shows him the harm that Shikoutazer is causing to the public and he is outright distraught at the damage that has been done.
  • It's worse in the final episode where he's sentenced to die at the guillotine for the deaths he caused in the final battle. Not only that, but Surprisingly Realistic Outcome and Fridge Horror are present when you realize that even if the Emperor had not taken part in the final battle, he would have still be sentenced to death because of his actions as a Puppet King made the Empire a Crapsack World in spite of him wanting to be a good ruler.
• In the anime only ending, Tatsumi's death. He goes down sacrificing himself to save the innocent civilians caught in the crossfire of the revolution from a crashing Humongous Mecha, dying a painful death in final struggle to stop the debris. Akame comforts Tatsumi in her arms as he dies of exhaustion, while she cries how this wasn't supposed to happen. Made all the harsher when Esdeath coldly slaughters half the people Tatsumi died trying to rescue.
  • To makes things worse, in the last episode of the anime, the village of Tatsumi still waits for his return (and the one of Sayo and Ieyasu) without knowing that he and his friends will never come back again.
  • Perhaps the worst part is that after Esdeath is defeated by Akame she freezes her dying body and Tatsumi's corpse destroying any trace of their existence in the process. There really is NOTHING left of Tatsumi.
• In the anime finale, not even fan favorite Esdeath was exempt from the wholesale slaughter of the main cast and even her death can be considered a tearjerker. The conclusion of the final battle in the anime has Esdeath finally being put in her place by Akame and is now what she has always feared becoming... another statistic of the war. Despite being the strongest villain in the series and one that is responsible for the deaths of many people, Esdeath accepts her defeat and in her final moments achieves what she was unable to and freezes her dying body and Tatsumi's corpse so that they can be Together in Death. It's not only moving to see Esdeath go down so honorably, but to also achieve what she never could in her lifetime. Just as saddening is the fact that in freezing herself and Tastumi, Esdeath completely destroys her and Tatsumi's bodies meaning that there is no trace of Tatsumi left in existance.
• Also from the anime only ending, Leone's death. She took multiple shots in the chest while finally killing the prime minister, but hid her wounds from Akame. She gives her friend a final farewell hug before vanishing. The last thing she sees is her old neighborhood at peace, being rebuilt by the new world order, better than the way it was when she grew up in it. After achieving closure, she wanders into a dark alley where she bleeds to death.
• The anime original ending is a downer itself. Even though the revolution was a success all that remains of Night Raid and the Jaegers are Akame, Najenda, Wave, and Run. All that's left of their comrades are memories and it is those memories that are the only reason these characters continue to keep on living. Though it is undeniably the worst for Akame who has now seen all of her comrades die in the Elite Seven and now Night Raid, had to kill her beloved little sister, her one alive friend has a shortened lifespan and could die at any moment, and she is left to wander alone only choosing to go on because it's what Kurome and her deceased allies would have wanted. The ending only becomes more of a punch to the audience when a narration reveals that due to Night Raid appearing nowhere in any record of the Empire's history, all of Akame and Najenda's comrades will be forever forgotten as if they never existed (except probably Tatsumi, since his village still waits for his return), and Akame due to being Night Raid's remnant will be met with the same fate when she eventually dies.
  • In other words, Akame is left behind.
• Also doubling as Awesome Music the anime's main theme Fallen Heroes becomes one when you realize that its meant to be a ballad for all of the deceased members of Night Raid.

Akame ga Kill! Zero

• Akame being separated from Kurome after their training session together. In the scene before, Kurome was scared to death of the monsters she and Akame had to face and seeing other children die in the training. Kurome is completely dependent on her older sister, but because Gozuki and the Group of Terror Leader will not allow siblings into the Elite Seven, Kurome is left behind and does not take it well at all.
• The Zero series gives us Akame's First human kill as an assassin of the Empire◊ Just so you know Akame's first human kill was a woman named Martha, who was Akame's Parental Substitute and the closest thing to a mother Akame ever had, in case you didn't know who that was.
• Kurome's transformation from kind young girl into the person she is today. We have previously seen that she was very dependent on her sister and is traumatized by what she has had to see. So seeing her witness the deaths of others she is teamed up with and getting Psycho Serum injected into her is absolutely heartbreaking.
• Kurome and her squad's first mission. In contrast to the Elite Seven, Kurome's squad immediately sees the death of two of its members. Remus' death in particular is painful to watch as even though she was beaten badly she's still alive and the Leader of the Group of Terror gives her hope of returning to her family. However Remus ends up being killed just as she starts feeling hopeful because the Group of Terror Leader has deemed her as "useless".
• Akame bawling her eyes out begging Cornelia to open her eyes. Even Gozuki who up to that point is presented as seeing his children as expendable tools admits to himself that knowing one of his children is dead is a painful feeling.