Tear Jerker / Nadia: The Secret of Blue Water

• Episode 5: Little Marie tells Nadia and Jean about how her parents were shot by Gargoyle's soldiers, ending her recollection in tears. Later, Nadia and Jean dig graves for Marie's parents, and tearfully reveal to the little girl that she'll never see her mother, father, or pet dog again. The episode ends with all three weeping at the graves, with Marie lamenting, "I want to go to Mama and Papa!"
• Episode 15: The climax of this episode involves a genial sailor, Ensign Fait, sacrificing his life to save the Nautilus both from a lethal gas leak and from being captured by the American battleships. What makes this moment truly heartwrenching is how Jean gradually becomes crushed when he vainly argues for the sailor to be rescued. Fait's death scene, incidentally, is truly terrifying, in which the sailor coughs uncontrollably to his death after screaming "Oh no! I don't wanna die! There's so many more things I wanted to do!" right after he told Jean that it was okay because he lived a good life. To have him completely contradict that right after, and in such a desperate manner, made this a huge Tearjerker. Jean's breakdown is similarly heartbreaking: he pounds his fist hopelessly on the sealed hatch to the engine bunker, calling Fait's name until he finally collapses on the floor, wailing hysterically. As for Nadia, Grandis had to slap her to calm her down. Afterwards, both are discussing about the incident, visibly shaked.
• Episode 16: The entire episode involves a trip to the Atlantis graveyard, in which the heroic sailors are laid to rest. Here, Jean discovers that his father has been killed by Gargoyle. As if he hadn't already been heartbroken, he becomes extremely depressed and even considers giving up inventing. Then, in a Heartwarming Moment, Nadia, genuinely worried about Jean, comes by and tries to comfort him; the episode ends with her weeping on his shoulder while they stand beside the funeral.
• Episode 22: Electra's entire flashback scene, where she tells how het homeland was destroyed and how she lost her family; there's a description of her dead brother's arm falling off when she attempted to grab it. And the ending of that episode, where Jean, Nadia, Marie and King are locked in the separating captain's room, with Nadia understanding she lost her last chance to have a meaningful relationship with her father, moments after instinctively rejecting him coming to hug her.
• Episode 24: Nadia has flashbacks of her time in circus, with the first one about her friend elephant getting euthanasied after accidentally wounding her, and the second about how the ringmaster trained her up in rope walking while cracking a whip on the ground before playing on her feelings by stating he's doing it for love.
• Episode 29: Nadia reveals to Jean and Marie why she's a staunch vegetarian: one day, she was able to speak with a cow bound for slaughterhouse...
• Episode 35: Nadia tearfully reveals that she feels like a totally selfish, unloveable person and tries to commit suicide to escape from her fate, feeling she was not good enough to be able to control the Blue Water and would instead cause mass cataclysms. Instead, she is gently lowered to the ground by her Blue Water ala Sheeta's crystal in Castle in the Sky (although this is revealed, not seen). Her friends are all traumatized by what she has done (Grandis slaps Nadia across the face, while Sanson calls her out for "playing this tragic little game of yours!"), but Jean kindly tells Nadia that he doesn't care about who she thinks she is, or even about her origins as an Atlantean—he loves her anyway. Nadia is so moved that she tearfully apologizes (perhaps also for other unkind words/things she said/did to him too). Later, they discover that it's Nadia's birthday and have a wonderful celebration.
  • In that episode, Nadia's breakdown after she explained what she's afraid she'll end up doing with Blue Water has her verbally deconstruct herself in a way that's pretty hard to listen to.
    Jean: Nadia! You must try to pull yourself together!
    Grandis: You must believe in yourself! So you can escape this fate!
    Nadia: What is there inside me that I can believe in myself, Grandis?! I’m selfish, and mean, and always get the people I love into trouble! I’ve always been a frightened little girl! Always running away! When I finally had the chance, I didn’t say goodbye to the man I knew was my father! I hate myself! Truly hate myself! There’s nothing good in me! I’m just a spoiled girl who’s inherited the awful power of Atlantis!
  • Later:
    Nadia: That's right. From another star. My people are not human at all. I'm not like any of you. I'm an alien being. [Abruptly Nadia yanked her hand away from him] You must take a good look at me, Jean! I'm not like you! I'm not an ordinary girl! I make everyone unhappy, and I will scatter unhappiness throughout the world someday! If not me, then my father, or Gargoyle... all by using the Blue Water!
    Jean: Nadia?!
    Nadia: Goodbye, Jean. [She then jump from the Babel tower]
• Episode 38: The Grandis Gang sacrificing the Gratan in order to cripple Red Noah to turn the tide of battle. The tank's been a part of the show since the very beginning and it's arguably just as much of a character as the Gang at this point. So it's destruction is a punch in the gut — and demonstrates that with the series in its final battle, anyone or anything can die.
  • There's also something simultaneously heartwarming and heartbreaking in that while the Gang's decision to sacrifice the Gratan is unanimous, it's ultimately Hanson who detonates its self-destruct charges. He designed the tank and now he has to kill his own mechanical baby to save their friends aboard the Nautilus. Hanson tries to be stoic like Sanson before pulling the trigger...but he's still clearly heartbroken.
• Episode 39. All of it. In particular:
  • Neo, formerly Benussis, waking up from Mind Control, greeting his father Neo, and trying to save Nadia. Even though Gargoyle unplugs him, he still manages to destroy Nadia's device, thereby freeing her. The Tear Jerker moment is when he speaks to her, both physically and in her mind, telling her he wished to live along humans and wishing her good luck. Nadia then saw her brother die in front of her.
  • Jean falling to his death, and Nadia weeping over his body. Meg Bauman's anguished performance here in the English dub is an absolute gut-punch and you'll be in tears along with Nadia.
    • The reactions of the Grandis Gang and the N-Nautilus crew here are also just as heartbreaking as Nadia's anguish. Nobody is saying anything or feeling particularly victorious at having beaten Gargoyle. They're looking on in their own silent grief, knowing there is nothing they can say or do to comfort Nadia (at least until Nemo gives the Blue Waters to his daughter).
  • It is the ultimate karmic payback for Gargoyle, but damn if it isn't sad this was All for Nothing when he is forced to realize that NO, he is not an Atlantean, but one of the human beings he so despised. All the loss and pain caused by the conceit of one man who thought himself to be more than a human, when the real Atlanteans showed themselves to be more humane than him.
  • Nadia being finally able to speak with her mother just before sacrificing her Blue Water to revive Jean, causing said stone to become as dead as lead.
  • Nemo deciding to sacrifice himself to destroy Red Noah. Nadia volunteers to stay with him but he refuses, ordering her to live and greeting his crew, asking Grandis to care for the children and Electra to care for their baby before wishing them good luck.