Goddammit, Kayaba! I am sick! And tired! Of you kicking my heart in the dick!!!
— Kirito, Episode 10
WARNING: Per wiki policy, Spoilers Off applies to Tear Jerker pages.
- Sachi's situation is pretty sad in and of itself. She lives in an area with poor reception, which glitches her and everyone around her. She dies because her lag prevented her from moving fast enough to escape. She was screwed over to begin with, because no matter how many levels she gained, she can never control how she lags.
- And then there's her death. It's just as sad as in canon, if not worse. The last thing she does before dying is tell Kirito it wasn't his fault... only for her lag to kick in at the worst possible time.Sachi: Kirito, this isn't your fault-your fault-your fault-your fault-your fault- (heavily distorted) yoooouuuuur faaaauuuult- (shatters)
- Even worse than that is the prize for defeating Nicholas the Renegade during the following Christmas event. In the original, it was a revival item that was only good for ten seconds after a player died, so at least it had some use even if it was a lost cause. Here? Well, as Kirito put it: "It's a hat. It's a god. Damn. Hat." And just to further rub salt in the wound, it's the same Charisma-boosting hat that Keita roped Kirito into this whole mess with, which he rejects and gives to Klein.Kirito: (to Klein; dully) But I do suppose I should thank you. You made me realize that by being nice and letting people in... they'll just die. But even still, thank you for showing me that there's still a part of me that can feel like this. Because now that I know where to find it, I've killed it forever.
- Klein's reaction is pretty bad too, as he suffers a minor breakdown because Kirito was "so close" to normal human interaction before this, and he knows that whatever happened has legitimately hurt his friend terribly.
- Before Kirito goes off to the Christmas event, he calls Klein by his real name. When he comes back, he ends by calling him "Balls." That's right, they managed to make the word Balls come across as sad.
- And the cherry on top of the shit sundae that is Sachi's death? Episode 14 reveals that Sugou is using the same technology from that Charisma hat on his test subjects, meaning Kirito will have to fight those inner demons again to save Asuna. Poor child...
- And then there's her death. It's just as sad as in canon, if not worse. The last thing she does before dying is tell Kirito it wasn't his fault... only for her lag to kick in at the worst possible time.
- Episode 4 shows that the circumstances of Sachi's death and her last words to Kirito have become a trigger for his Chronic Hero Syndrome. Throughout the rest of the series, he suffers some degree of mental trauma every time he hears someone say "It's not your fault."
- Silica's breakdown after her entire quest becoming a "Shaggy Dog" Story also counts.
- In Episode 6, the fact that Grimlock ordered a hit on his wife just because she was planning a raid with the other girls instead of making him a sandwich, which leads to her death and the guild's dissolution. Even Kirito is horrified by the turn of the events and the petty reason.Kirito: So let me see if I got this. You killed your wife because she wouldn't get in the kitchen and make you a sandwich?!
Grimlock: And what man would blame me?! Kains? Schmitt? You guys know what I'm talking about!
Kains: Don't... Don't talk to us, man.
Kirito: I can't believe you. You had something special. Something most people spend their whole lives looking for. And you just threw it away. And over what? A lousy meal? You never really loved her. You just wanted to possess her. You disgust me! - In Episode 7, Kirito's reaction to hearing Lizbeth's backstory starts out funny, but quickly becomes a tearjerker when he's begging her to stop inadvertently reminding him of his own loss.
- When trying to get Lizbeth to take cover while he fights the ice dragon, in his frustration, he screams "DO IT, SACHI!". The brief, ensuing pause was so thick, you could cut it with a knife.
- In Episode 8, Corvatz's death, if only because of the look on Kirito's face when he is once again watching someone die in his arms. Afterwards he's trying to crack jokes while insisting that he doesn't care, but it's obvious that he's struggling to hold himself together.
- As awesome as Kirito's speech was, you have to wonder, what happened to someone as young as Kirito to give him such a burning hatred of humanity? What broke him so much that he would became the asshole from the beginning of the show?
- As of Season Two, the answer might be Suguha.
- As awesome as Kirito's speech was, you have to wonder, what happened to someone as young as Kirito to give him such a burning hatred of humanity? What broke him so much that he would became the asshole from the beginning of the show?
- In Episode 10, it really says something about Kayaba that he created Yui for the sole purpose of caring about the players of SAO, only to lock her away and force her to watch people give into despair over their fate day after day, for several years. Even Kirito reacts in horror over how sadistic this is.
- Yui revealing the truth to Kirito and Asuna, thanks to a momentary lack of jokes and a sincere performance by her voice actress.Yui: I-I'm sorry I lied to you. I inserted myself into your lives, and merely to satisfy my own curiosity... at least, at first... It was... nice to be a part of your family. I... I WISH I REALLY WAS YOUR DAUGHTER!
- Yui's death may be even more of a heartbreaker than in the actual series, since Abridged!Yui knows that Kirito and Asuna only adopted her as part of their mind games, and tries to reassure them that they don't have to "pretend to love me anymore." She 'dies' believing this to be the case, even as Asuna frantically tries to assure her that they have come to genuinely love her.
- Saddest of all are Yui's final words, which act as a critical hit to the freaking soul:
- It's made even worse by the stellar acting: Kirito's furious shouting and Asuna's anguished crying following Yui's death make the scene all the more difficult to watch without bursting into tears.
- There's a subtle, blink-and-you-miss-it moment earlier in the episode that, while played for laughs, has distressing implications: When Asuna wakes up and sees Yui in their bed for the first time, she gives a little shriek, and Kirito tiredly asks, "Seriously, Asuna, are these night terrors gonna be like a daily thing? Because at this point I think we need to get doctors involved." Asuna and Kirito have apparently shared a bed a few times by this point, and Asuna regularly wakes up screaming. Yandere though she may be, it looks like she's dealing with real life trauma at least as bad as Kirito's.
- Yui revealing the truth to Kirito and Asuna, thanks to a momentary lack of jokes and a sincere performance by her voice actress.
- Episode 11 is filled with these moments regarding Kirito and Asuna's relationship:
- When Asuna sacrifices herself to take a mortal blow from Kayaba, Kirito - Jerkass, Sociopathic Hero, Villain Protagonist, and Deadpan Snarker extraordinaire - is reduced to a shaking, silent, shell of a man as he watches his love die before him. And unlike in the original anime, where the moment she gets slashed is in silent, she lets out a gutwrenching sound this time.
- Kayaba's last moment with Kirito can be seen as this, oddly enough. The former sees himself and the latter as kindred spirits, being able to identify with being the Only Sane Man Surrounded by Idiots. To top it off, Kirito is the only one who understands all of his old movie references. He bids farewell to Kirito and Asuna by referencing an alternative name for the movie they were discussing earlier... which Kirito still doesn't know about.Kayaba: What do I have to feel down about? I'm just standing here watching my hopes and dreams crumble into the uncaring void. Thinking about how my business is ruined and, in all likelihood, I'm now the most wanted man on the face of the EARTH!
- Kirito and Asuna's last conversation as SAO ends, and neither knows if they'll ever see each other again.Asuna: (blushing) Well... these are our final moments together... I just want you to know-
Kirito: (completely breaks down)
Asuna: OH GODDAMMIT KIRITO!
Kirito: (sobbing) I'm sorry! I just - I don't want this to be over!
- Episode 12 forgoes the usual comedy to focus on the grim reality of Kirito's culture shock over returning from Aincrad, where he was a near-invincible hero, to the real world, where he's a wimpy teenage kid who no one takes seriously or treats with respect, least of all his little sister.
- He's so miserable in real life that Kirito's dreams are of being in Aincrad without having confronted Heathcliff. Because even though it was a death game, at least there he had Asuna and was actually happy.Kirito: Ah man, I sure am glad that business with Heathcliff was just a terrible dream. After all, SAO is where we really belong...
- Kirito gets to see a still-comatose Asuna married off by her uncaring father to Nobuyuki, who constantly flaunts his money and power in Kirito's face and makes no effort to disguise his perverted intentions for Asuna. By the time Nobuyuki leaves Asuna's hospital room, Kirito is stunned silent. Then he rallies himself, decides to strike back... and the most he can do is write an angry tweet about the situation.Kirito: What the hell am I gonna do?
- He's so miserable in real life that Kirito's dreams are of being in Aincrad without having confronted Heathcliff. Because even though it was a death game, at least there he had Asuna and was actually happy.
- Episode 13 reveals that Yui was Faking the Dead, but due to Kirito's well-intentioned rescue attempt she was trapped inside a gem for months. It's quite clear the poor AI kid was horrifically traumatizednote , even if she bounced back pretty quickly.Yui: *voice hollow with a blank thousand-yard stare* I just had to sit there and watch as you moved on without me, leaving your only child to suffer in silence and isolation... *eyes normal, with a childish pout* also, you ruined my joke!
- The fact that Kirito and Suguha's relationship is so toxic and hateful that Kirito was seriously tempted to just let her die, and felt regret for saving her. Just watching the visceral disgust these two have for each other is painful for anyone who has had familial troubles.
- In Episode 14, Kirito snaps at Leafa after she can't tell him how to reach the top of the World Tree. While he calms down and says he's sorry, Kirito won't tell Leafa why he needs to get to the top so quickly. As heartbreaking as it is, Kirito still can't bring himself to trust people out of what might happen to them.
- It's especially bad once it's revealed that Leafa is Kirito's real-life sister Suguha. If she knew, she'd probably mock him for it. In a way, it makes Kirito's unwillingness to reveal his issues justified.
- In the preview for Episode 15, Suguha's thoughts reveal she did want to help Kirito before realizing who he was, but is so blinded by hate and spite for her brother that she literally cannot believe he's there for any other reason than to retaliate against her in some way. It's painful to see how toxic the siblings' paranoia is on both ends.
- Episode 15 has a Freeze-Frame Bonus that plays Suguha's tomboy tendencies for drama. Namely, Yui's quick interpretation of Suguha paints her as someone who is outright rejecting her femininity, and that there was something in her past that made her reject anything that made her appear feminine, apparently associating it with weakness. It paints Suguha more as a Jerkass Woobie who is Sour Outside, Sad Inside. Earlier parts of the episode seem to strengthen this, since Suguha mocks herself (through a voice in her head pretending to be her brother) for liking "girly shit".
- Episode 16
- Early on, Leafa makes a crack about Kirito's "totally real wife," making him snap that he gets "enough of that at home, and the less I think about that, the better."Leafa: Oh. Yeah? Got some trouble at home? You... want to talk about it?
Kirito: (sigh) What's there to talk about? Parents are never around, and I'm fairly certain my sister sustains her life force with a rich slurry of distilled human anguish and the souls of puppies!
Leafa: Sooo, not a fan.
Kirito: Oh, no, I'm a huge fan of the way she berates and belittles everything I hold dear because I don't have a buttload of sports trophies like her! I should really be thanking her for pointing out how my hobbies will lead me to die alone and unloved, slowly consumed by my legion of cats.
Leafa: Wow. Sounds like this... creative, young, beautiful woman is maybe lashing out. Is it possible you did something to hurt her at some point?
Kirito: That's the thing! I didn't do anything!
Leafa: (clenches fist) You ever think that maybe that was the problem?
Kirito: ...Huh? - When the Salamanders send a bat minion to ambush them, Leafa explains that the Salamanders power-level their pets' affection levels to make them more useful. At least, that's what the rest of the players think; the reality is that the Salamanders genuinely love their virtual pets and are devastated to lose them — which of course, one unlucky Salamander does while chasing Kirito and Leafa.Squeaker: D-did... did Squeaker do good... master?
Salamander: (tearfully) No... No... (sobs) Squeaker did great.
(Squeaker emits one last gasp and dies; the Salamander does an anguished Skyward Scream in response) - During the fight on the bridge, Kirito takes a moment to BEG for the Salamanders to back off so he can hurry up and rescue Asuna. Unfortunately, due to them being on an RP server, they think he's just Lost in Character.
- What's actually the foundation of this RP community's "lore": the players of Queen Sakuya and Commander Eugene (Becky and Bryan) used to date before the events of the Fairy Dance arc. However, their relationship was clearly toxic, and when they inevitably broke up, both had a severe case of Never My Fault, and began attempting to one-up each other, starting by hacking each other's accounts and stealing each other's avatar, and playing up stereotypes in their roleplay. What's worse is they dragged their other friends, the fellow leaders of the fairy races, into picking sides, and when the Spriggan leader, Kirito Prime/Ted, tried to deescalate things, the two paid him back by slaughtering the Spriggan playerbase and kicking Ted from the game! Now, the Slyphs and Salamanders mutually look down on Spriggans, and hate Kirito for sharing the same name as every other Spriggan including their ex-friend! Kirito is literally the Last of His Kind and hated for it over a toxic break-up being taken too far!
- Speaking of the genocide of the Spriggans, while he may be severely offended by it, this was a faction of players who idolized Kirito and his exploits in Aincrad, to the point that almost all of the Spriggans named their characters after him. Some of them may have even been SAO survivors. However, because of the incredibly toxic RP, they were horribly bullied. Add in their leader trying (and failing) to calm tensions down between a pair of petty ex-lovers who were his friends, the Spriggan players got chased off of the server and were made into The Scapegoat for the race war.
- In this treatment, Cazmer's "mad dreams" were simply to get his two quarrelling friends to meet face-to-face in hope that they could make peace with one another and stop tearing the community apart so the game could be fun again. Sakuya/Brian banishes him from the game instead. Kirito is completely disgusted with Eugene and Sakuya's players' immaturity and friendship-ruining antics.Cazmer/Travis: I only regret that I didn't stand with my Spriggan brothers when they needed me the most! You! Last of Kiritos! I am so sorry for the way I treated you. I-I had to maintain the ruse! It was the only way! I just wanted peace between the races!
- As Yui frustratedly calls Leafa out on, the past few episodes have been a huge waste of time since Leafa couldn't deliver the army they needed to take on the World Tree, with the treaty between the Slyphs and the Cat Sith just being a petty statement blaming Sakuya's ex over opera tickets instead of The Alliance that it was in canon. Kirito is visibly frustrated with how pointless the time he spent saving the Slyphs and Cat Sith was. For all the animosity Leafa has held against her brother so far, she reluctantly manages to force out a sincere, if somewhat clumsy apology for her failure to help him out.
- Early on, Leafa makes a crack about Kirito's "totally real wife," making him snap that he gets "enough of that at home, and the less I think about that, the better."
- Episode 17
- The moment when Suguha, tagging along during a hospital visit, realizes her brother earnestly loves Asuna, and in the process realizes something about herself.Suguha: So, like, what do you get out of this? Are you hoping she'll be all grateful you didn't leave her while she was under? (laughs) 'cause, right now, she does not seem like a lot of fun at parties—
(she sees Kirito silently holding Asuna's hand)
Suguha: Ah. Sorry. (Mirthless Laughter) I'm the worst... - This leads to a mental breakdown once they're back in Alfheim.Leafa: Wow... he seems to... really care about her.
Kirito: Mornin', princess. How's it going?
Leafa: I... I... I DON'T KNOWWW!! (starts bawling)
Kirito: Oh no. Not again...
Leafa: (sobbing) So there's this guy, and I thought he was the problem, but now he might actually be nice! Which means maybe I'm the problem! I DON'T WANNA BE THE PROBLE-HE-HEMM!! - Kirito's "The Reason I Suck" Speech while waiting to respawn after his failed rescue attempt, accompanied by flashbacks to his friends in Aincrad and his home life with Suguha. What makes it better is that it's a subtle Take That! and Deconstruction of how Kirito seems to have nostalgia for when he was in Aincrad, breaking down what a sad existence it was and how Kirito is only fond of it for selfish reasons. Only for it to loop back into a Reconstruction when he realizes that real life isn't much better as he realizes that for Aincrad's many problems, he at least had friends, something he doesn't have at this point in the story:Kirito: Well, this is just! Perfect! I don't get it... I would have been able to do this before. But hey, what else is new? Things were so much better back in— ugh, am I seriously getting nostalgic for the flippin' death game?! The heck is wrong with me?! What, can I not be happy unless the whole world rests on my emaciated shoulders? "You think you're a big shot, you think you don't have asthma? Well, I've got a reality check for you, nerdo! You're just a kid who's good at video games, and that was useful exactly once. There was only one place on earth where you had the social leverage to make anyone like you, and it's gone"... They're gone. Face it, what's the real world got to offer? Asuna's slipping away. Tiff's got a family to look after. Who does that leave me with? ...Suguha? (scoffs) Fat chance... Well, actually... I guess she did come to the hospital with me. And she didn't even try to pull anything. That was weird, but... nice. Reminds me of when we were little... Heh. (sighs) Probably never have each others' backs like that again...
- After his attempt to storm the World Tree is a dismal failure, Leafa resorts to begging Kirito to change tactics, and ends up saying more than she should.Leafa: Please, stop! Just shut your face... I'm telling you, the two of us aren't enough. You're just gonna keep getting hurt for no reason!
Kirito: She's in trouble. She needs my help. I have every reason.
Leafa: Gosh darn it, Kazuto! Why couldn't you ever fight for me this hard?! (gasps in wide-eyed horror)
(Beat as the background music stops)
Kirito: What did you just... Sugu?!
Leafa: Oh no, oh no no no...
Kirito: Suguha?! Is that you?! - In the aftermath, when Kirito confronts a crying Suguha through her door, he assumes that their time together in ALO was his hated sibling messing with him... just as she did when she learned his identity.Kirito: Hey. You, uh, in there?
Suguha: (through the door) Go away!
Kirito: Cool, cool... So, this may come as a shock to you, but uh, couple of questions rattlin' around the old dome, if you'll indulge me. Like, what's going on here? Did you know it was me the entire time? And since when do you even play video games? I thought you said that was, and I quote, "Stupid nerd shit!" Did... did you go out and buy an Amusphere just to fuck with me?! You were at the hospital! You can't possibly still think she's not real!
Suguha: (huddles into herself)
Kirito: Was all of this just some elaborate prank, or are you just so cruel that you can never let me be happy?! Do you really hate me that much?! - Which drives Suguha to fling open the door and rant back at him, revealing what destroyed the siblings' relationship.Suguha: (in tears) How could I hate you?! I don't... I don't even know you anymore! You just left me! You left me all alone! We used to be best friends! I wanted to be just like you! So... when Grandpa wanted to teach you kendo... it made me wanna learn too!
Kirito: K-kendo? What does kendo have to do with—
Suguha: Grandpa never wanted to train me, he was only ever interested in his grandson! So when you got bored and ditched me to go work on your dumb computers, I had to man up for you!
Kirito: (gasps)
Suguha: He did everything he could to get me to quit, to prove I wasn't good enough! But I hung in there, hoping you'd come back! So we could be like we were! I tried to make it seem fun so you'd realize what you were missing, but you just shut me out! All you cared about were those stupid games!
Kirito: H-hey, come on, that's not fair! It was Mom's idea to have me learn coding instead.
Suguha: Oh, DON'T give me that bullshit! You didn't even TRY to fight her on it! These last couple of days, all I've seen you DO is fight for what you care about! (dripping with tears) S-so what? W-was it me? Was I just not worth the effort? We used to be so close... but maybe that was all in my head... So how dare you accuse me of hating you, when you clearly never gave a shit about ME!
Kirito: (looks away) I... had no idea...
(beat)
Suguha: (barely audible) Just leave me alone. You've had enough practice.
(Suguha quietly shuts the door on Kirito; another Beat, and the credits fade in as Kirito stands in front of Suguha's door, silent) - A possible case of Fridge Tearjerker could be taken from Kirito's "The Reason I Suck" Speech, from the fact that he mentions he has asthma. It's likely that he and his mom's concern for his health is what led him to go into programming and abandoning kendo, which caused his fallout with Suguha. The way Kirito brings it up suggests it's a spot of insecurity for him, meaning his relationship with his sister was completely destroyed because he didn't tell her it was for his health. Worse, this could mean that Suguha's efforts to "make [kendo] seem fun" to entice him back instead made him resent her for seemingly flaunting her good health and being able to do something that he physically couldn't.
- To emphasize just how bad things have gotten between the two siblings, the episode ends with Silent Credits instead of using the usual "Love Rising" outro.
- The moment when Suguha, tagging along during a hospital visit, realizes her brother earnestly loves Asuna, and in the process realizes something about herself.
