Tear Jerker / Food Fantasy

Per wiki policy, Spoilers Off applies here and all spoilers are unmarked. You Have Been Warned.

Main Game and Gameplay

• Just about any moment where Rice cries or is on the verge of tears.
• A relatively minor example but in Double Scoop's death animation, Vanilla falls over dead while Strawberry cries and cradles his dead body.
• Sushi and Sashimi finding out Orochi's true identity.

Intimacy/Pledge Lines

• The fact that love can't completely redeem the more evil Food Souls. Some of these Food Souls become the way they did due to their Dark and Troubled Past and just having someone accept them doesn't mean that they'd change their ways right away due to the psychological scars they have or that they feel there is no turning back what they have become.
• Whisky admits he'll continue his evil deeds and sounds rather sad that he'll be dragging the Master Attendant in his obsessive quest to revive Lilia.
  "You know something? The price of being with me... is that your whole life... you'll be swindled by me. But if you still won't regret it, then rest forever in this dream I've weaved for you."
• Similarly with Spaghetti. He'll continue his evil deeds and wonders if the Master Attendant still has second thoughts about marrying him. Afterwards he warns him/her there's no going back.
  "The fate of this flower is bound to my destiny. It will bloom in my arms, but it will also suffer with me."
• Minestrone becomes downright unpleasant if the Master Attendant marries him, mocking you for his/her decision and insisting that nothing good will come out of it. He totally isn't happy that he'll be dragging the Master Attendant in his own traumas and issues.
  "You clearly don't understand. I extend my hand to you because I only want to draf you into my nightmare. Even so, you still love me? Even my nightmare? Heh, you're really the most imbecilic, dumb and incomprehensible fellow!"
• As a globetrotter, Chrysanthemum Wine never stays in the same place for too long and might leave one day. She wonders if the Master Attendant is still willing to wait for her. Fortunately her intimacy lines show that she'll stay together with the Master Attendant after all.
• While happy that the Master Attendant gave them some sort of happiness before their bodies completely turn into wood, Cordyceps and Chisui Moth Tea haven't completely gotten over their trauma over humans. Moth Tea will threaten the Master Attendant with murder if he/she ever leaves her, while Cordyceps is considering about infesting him/her with his worms so that the Master Attendant will never betray him. Doubles as Nightmare Fuel.
• Raindrop Cake sadly wondering why would the Master Attendant chose him, as there are other Food Souls who aren't "cursed" like him.
  "With me.....? There's better options, why do this? Is it... Is it because there's not even a chance to repent?"
• Green Curry telling Master Attendant for their own safety, that it would be best if both of them kept their distance while outside.
• If the Master Attendant marries Pizza, he asks if he/she likes daisies and is very happy about sharing them with him/her. Then you remember that the daisy was the national flower of his lost kingdom....
• If the Master Attendant marries B-52 (the Special one from the alternate timeline in which he was abused by scientists and transformed into a killing machine), he says he feels warm....but can't understand why.

Events

• In the "Wish of Dreams" Valentine's Day event. Steak, Red Wine, and Gingerbread are given a commission by an old woman whose son died in a war. His girlfriend is dying of an unspecific illness, and the player has to decide whether or not to lie to her and have Steak pretend to be her late boyfriend, or tell her the truth. The kicker is that regardless of your choices, the girl dies. Though, content that either she gets to see her late boyfriend calling for her in her deathbed and he still thinks of her even after he died if you tell her the truth, or glad that his proposal to her is his form of a send-off gift for her if you choose to have Steak pretend to be her late boyfriend.
• The beginning of the "New World" event. The Fallen Angels went rogue and destroyed the world, killing the humans and most of the Food Souls. By the time the story starts, only the Master Attendant, Rice, B-52, Peking Duck, Red Wine, Steak and Gingerbread are the sole survivors. One by one the remaining Food Souls start dying in order to protect the Master Attendant until only him/her and Rice are left behind, with the situation completely hopeless.
  • Goddess Rice's backstory reveals what happened afterwards. The Master Attendant sacrifices his/her life to give Rice time to escape. She falls into despair, cursing her own weakness and her inability to protect everyone until the God of Beginnings appears and gives her a chance to restart the world.
    Rice: "Although I was already determined to...although, I've already swore to...although, I've told myself to definitely stay strong, to definitely protect Master Attendant...After all, I am still unable to do anything? If so, God, why, did you bestow me life as a Food Soul?!"

Character Backstories

• Crab Long Bao's Master Attendant summoned him so that she could escape an arranged marriage and see the world. For a while, the two of them travel the world until one day, she collapses and falls into a coma. Turns out, the reason why she wanted to see the world so much was because she was born with a terminal illness, one that would cause her to lose all five of her senses shortly before her death and because of this wasn't allowed outside her house to have a normal childhood. He then tries to fulfill all of her wishes so that she can die in peace with her final one being able to see the peach blossoms one last time. However, the doctor had told him that she probably wouldn't be able to make it to the next year. He then leaves her in Long Bao's care while he seeks out Wonton who tells him that Cloud Tea can make a medicine that can temporarily restore her senses. While Cloud Tea is working on the medicine, Crab Long Bao buys fake flowers to put onto the peach trees. Once all of the preparations are finished, he gives his Master Attendant the medicine and the group celebrates. Afterwards, his MA decides to rest on his shoulder and he breaks down in tears because he feels as though he has lied to her and broken his promise. She tries to comfort him saying that he tried his best and tells him that she'll become a peach blossom and will always be by his side and then passes away soon afterwards.
  • A moment that made his backstory ever sadder was when his Master Attendant told him that she had come to terms with the fact that she was going to die soon and tries to appear strong to make him not worry. Some time later, he sees her crying in her room lamenting her fate and he doesn't know what to do.
  • The events in Long Bao's backstory are similar. His Master Attendant was formal royal chef who had opened up a small restaurant in his hometown. However over time, the man grew older and began to lose his sense of taste. Not wanting to hurt the old man's feelings, Long Bao asked the customers to lie about the food still tasting good. However, one day Crab Long Bao and his MA eat at the restaurant and he tells Long Bao to tell the old man the truth. The old man collapses from the shock and had to taken to the hospital. Long Bao then overhears several of the townsfolk apologizing to his MA for the lying. The doctor then tells Long Bao that his MA wants to say something to him. But when Long Bao finally entered the room, his Master Attendant had died already. This causes the Food Soul blame himself for lying and he runs away from the town in guilt.
• Sanma's Master Attendant (who is revealed to be a goddess) fading away because last of her followers died. (It is implied that it was the Sakurajima Plague that killed them).
• The reason for Raindrop Cake's current condition. His former Master Attendant was a simple yet kindhearted man who always helped others. Over time, his health began deteriorating but Raindrop Cake couldn't figure out why. One day, their village was attacked by a Fallen Angel who began destroying the place. Enraged that it was destroying all the hard work his Master Attendant had done, Raindrop Cake flew into a rage and began wreaking havoc on the Fallen. However, in the middle of the battle, he sees his MA's dead body and realizes that he was draining his health. Shocked by this Raindrop begins blaming himself for his Master Attendant's death.
  • A later event just makes things worse. Turns out Raindrop Cake was kidnapped by a woman who was desperate to make a contract with a Food Soul. However he tried to resist and return with his old master and in the ensuing struggle, he killed the woman in self-defense. In her dying breath, she says that he will only bring misery to all his masters from now on. Afterwards his Master Attendant dies of old age and years later he makes a contract with a terminally ill girl who succumbs to her illness in the end. Causing Raindrop Cake to believe the woman was right and that he brings nothing but pain to all his Masters. It finally takes the friendship of Bonito Rice and Unadon and the selfless love of the playable Master Attendant to have the poor guy some chance of emotional recovery.
• While it by no means excuses his actions, Spaghetti's backstory. His Master Attendant had recently been brought into his father's house and his family seemed to accept him despite him being a commoner. However, they all secretly hated him and the father only cared about him because he summoned a Food Soul. One day, the family poisons the MA and Spaghetti finds out the truth. This causes him to believe that nobody can be trusted and begin to become the manipulative person that he is currently.
  • To make things worse, at first Spaghetti decided to get close to the father in order to win his trust and avenge his Master Attendant, but ends up embracing the man's mindset that in this world only the strongest can survive.
  • Also Spaghetti's reason for recruiting Oyster? His lost innocence reminds him of his previous Master Attendant.
• An example that can hit close to home for some. (Minus the whole serial killer thing.) Salty Tofu was neglected by his Master Attendant over his older brother. In fact, the only interaction he and his Master Attendant had in the backstory was when the MA was yelling at him. Since he saw the MA as a father figure, he began to resent Sweet Tofu and he made it his goal to take his place in their Master Attendant's heart. Sadly, this would never be fulfilled because the MA was a serial killer and was forcing Sweet Tofu to help him commit murders. Eventually, Sweet Tofu had to kill him once he realized he was planning to make them take the fall for his murders.
  • In sort of a Nightmare Fuel way, Salty Tofu returns back to the restaurant after being tricked by a story his brother made up. When he opens the door, he sees a bloody mess consisting of his Master Attendant's dead body along with those of the authorities and his world is turned upside down. Despite being neglected by his Master Attendant, he still considered him be like his father figure and the restaurant to be his home.
  • And the worst of it? Sweet Tofu had kept quiet about the Master Attendant being a serial killer to protect his brother from the awful truth (also hoping the Master Attendant would return to his senses someday). When Salty Tofu found out anyway, he ended up resenting his brother even more for being locked out of the loop.
• Cordyceps and Chisui Moth Tea being betrayed by the villagers they helped and sold out to an organization that did horrible experiments on them. Even though they escaped, the experiments took a toll on their bodies, which started to transform into wood. No wonder they have huge trust issues towards humans, included the Master Attendant.
  • Their point of views just make things worse. While Cordyceps decides to become more ruthless and cynic to protect his sister, Moth Tea is lamenting that her brother isn't the kind person he used to be and resolves to become stronger in order to bring her old brother back.
• Ume Ochazuke's backstory starts with the line "I don't like tears" which sets the tone for it. Her former Master Attendant initially treated her well until he found out that she wasn't good at fighting Fallen Angels. From then on, she was forced to stay in a filthy rat-infested room. Her MA would still send her out to fight Fallens, believing that he could still get some usefulness out of her and she would often come back bleeding and covered in bruises. Her only friend was a nameless servant girl that the other members of her Master Attendant's household would also mock due to her clumsiness.
  • What makes this more heart-breaking is the fact that Ume Ochazuke is one of the more cheerful Food Souls.
• Every time a Food Soul goes through a Traumatic Superpower Awakening. These include:
  • Salad had been raised in isolation by his overprotective Master Attendant, to the point he wasn't aware he had powers as a Food Soul. He only discovers his powers out of desperation in order to protect his new friend, Yogurt from a pack of wolves.
  • Salt n' Pepper Shrimp and Rice were experimented by cruel scientists until the latter is deemed a failure and disposed off. He ends up awakening his powers due to pure rage and despair after finding out what happened to Rice. This causes him to see all humans as ruthless monsters.
• Durian Pancake's previous Master Attendant was a woman who wanted to summon a Food Soul in order to fight against Fallen Angels in exchange for money. What she got was a shy little boy that wasn't particularly powerful and spoke to his robot companion as if he were alive. Disappointed, she left him in an abandoned house to die, while he waited for her for years, wondering what he did wrong. No wonder he became even more antisocial after that.
  • What's even more sad is that despite treating his rabbit as a Companion Cube, he's painfully aware it's not actually alive.
• Mousse was blamed for the murder of an important political figure, and was forced to plead guilty under orders of his previous Master Attendant. After he was executed, Blue Cheese, Chiffon Cake and Paella brought him back to life with some magical seeds, but Mousse lost many spiritual energy in the process, forgetting all about his life and regressing to a child-like appearance.
• Omurice's Master Attendant Lacey had a childhood friend named Joel who had died in a Fallen Angel attack and she blamed herself for his death as she had wanted to play hide and seek with him that day. Omurice pretended to be Joel in order to make happy and kept it up for many years. As the years passed by, Lacey became an old woman and started to go senile. One day, she and Omurice are talking about Joel when her memories come flowing back after hearing him speak (Joel was mute). Seeing her condition, Omurice breaks down in tears for the first time in his life and doesn't care about Jello during this moment.
  • It is also implied that another reason why he hates Pudding is because the latter told Lacey that Omurice wasn't Joel, making her sad.