Tear Jerker / Yakuza 0

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

"I'll do anything. Revenge, you name it... whatever you want! So, please... Please...!"

Despite being known for its amusing subquests and many more to break up the monotony, Yakuza series is also known for its dark and gritty storytelling. In this game, it is no exception, so you'll be expected to butt in to some serious tearjerking moments in game.

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Main Story

• While driving to Tojo HQ in order to try to save Kazama's reputation, Kiryu and Nishikiyama reminisce about the day they told Kazama they would follow in his footsteps and become Yakuza. Kazama tried to beat sense into them, but Kiryu was determined: he practically idolized Kazama and asked him why orphans like him can't have dreams. The next day, the two became yakuza.
• The end of Chapter 6. After Kiryu fights his way against Dojima Family members, fights Kuze in the sewers and meets with Awano, Nishiki comes with his car to take Kiryu out of town... so he can do him a Mercy Kill, feeling that if the Dojima Family ever puts their hands on him, he'll be tortured so much that he won't even look like human anymore. As Nishiki and Kiryu talk, Nishiki starts to lose his composure, saying that if Kiryu isn't there, everything is meaningless and he won't make it as a Yakuza without him. He even mentions that he would be dead anyway if it weren't for him. Kiryu asks Nishiki to kill him and take his head to the Dojima Family and use it as a mean to Rank Up. As Kiryu turns to face him, completely willing to die if it meant Nishiki would be free from the Tojo Clan's ire, Nishiki attempts to take the shot... but misses, his eyes clouded with tears. When Kiryu notes how his aim was off, Nishiki crumbles into a broken, sobbing mess, saying that he can't bring himself to shoot Kiryu. In the end, Kiryu takes Nishiki's car and returns to Kamurocho leaving Nishiki alone in the woods who ends up crossing the Despair Event Horizon and screams to the heavens.
• The death of Tetsu Tachibana. He had spent the past several years searching out his sister, his only surviving family who ran away from home with their grandfather to find him in turn and used his finances and information network to finally track her down and have her brought to Kamurocho. Just as they are set to be reunited, however, the Dojima Family finally capture him. He is brutally tortured and eventually struck in the head with a sledgehammer, dying mere moments before he could be reunited with Makoto. For extra amounts of cruel irony, Makoto is reunited with an already-dead Tachibana in the Empty Lot, the source of all their misery.
  • On a related note, there's Tachibana's breakdown after telling his story to Kiryu, tearfully pleading to be allowed to see his sister. It's the only time we see his cool, calm demeanour crack in the entire game, and it's utterly heartbreaking to watch.
  • The reactions of Tachibana's allies is what drives home how sad his passing is - Kiryu breaks into Manly Tears and lets out a pained Howl of Sorrow as he holds him. Later, Nishiki is clearly Trying Not to Cry, whereas Makoto mourns quietly when she realizes what happened.
• Makoto goes into Revenge Before Reason after Tachibana dies and goes to see Sohei Dojima to sell him the Empty Lot, in exchange for his three lieutenants' heads. Then Majima arrives just as Lao Gui shoots Makoto, and Majima's face only expresses sadness and disbelief. Makoto would have probably died, if not for Sera. Thankfully, she survives (as Shibusawa secretly told Lao Gui to not kill her to use her as a leverage), but is left comatose for some time, with whether she'd ever awaken left in question...
  • Majima's reaction (see the page image) makes it even worse. After spending so long and kicking so much ass to keep Makoto safe, all he can do is pound on the operating theatre doors and tearfully beg her to pull through.
    Majima: I'll do anything. Revenge, you name it. Whatever you want! So please... please...!
• Majima's rampage through the Dojima headquarters is equal parts awesome and tragic. The Mad Dog of Shimano is truly born in this scene, but it's revealed that he's not quite a bloodthirsty hunter so much as he is a cornered wolf dedicated to tearing everything that could ever hurt him or his loved ones to pieces. The rage in his voice gets across how many pieces his heart is in very well.
• The final scene with Majima and Makoto. She doesn't know his face since she just barely regained sight, and Majima refrains from speaking since he knows she would recognize his voice. He makes Makoto's doctor promise to take care of her instead of him and fades into the background after that. They would probably never see each other again. The whole scene is heartbreaking. And, when they do finally meet again, it's both heartwarming and heartbreaking.
  • Not to mention that it's probably the best possible option there is. Yes, many fans would've been happy if they recognised each other and became lovers, but remember: Majima acts like a clinically insane mad man to cope with the fact that he was used by the man who ordered his year long torture session, and by an old, slimy bastard.
• The after credits scene of Makoto visiting the Empty Lot is practically all sorts of tearjerking, from Makoto leaving flowers for the recently deceased Tachibana and sharing about her experiences involving Majima. But the biggest knife twist, is Makoto hearing an all too familiar music box tune, which is revealed to be the newly-repaired watch that she gave to Majima, she holds it close to her heart and tearfully thanks Majima, who's stuck by, just out of view, to see the unspoken promise he made fulfill itself.
• Every interaction between Kiryu and Nishikiyama, while heartwarming, becomes this when you remember what happens in Yakuza 1/Kiwami. For all the hell they go through and toughing it out as brothers, it doesn't last and fate turns the two steadfast friends into enemies.

Substory and Side content

• When singing "Bakamitai", performing well in the song shows Kiryu drinking alone in a bar, gazing wistfully at an old photograph of Sunflower Orphanage, where he grew up.
  • Bakamitai itself is quite sad, sung from the perspective of someone longing for a partner who stopped treating them right.
    I'm such a mess, I'm lost, I'm no good at this
    I'm in love, still in love, still in love with you
    Try as I may, can't even drink this pain away
    Memories of you, all twisting my view, I've been a fool
• While most substories usually end on a funny or heartwarming note, one major exception with a Bittersweet Ending goes to the "Man with a Stranger's Face" substory. Majima meets a former yakuza named Akatani who faked his death and had his face surgically altered but still aspires to see his wife and son while keeping them from discovering who he really is. Although Majima tries to help bridge the gap, Akatani's former enemies realize who he is and holds his family hostage, leaving Majima to save the day. At the end, the bad guys flee and Majima urges Akatani to talk to his family and break the ice, but Akatani instead tells them he won't show his face to them ever again because of the danger they were put in. His son suspects it's his dad, but Akatani walks away intent on his word. Majima's face says it all. Majima would've ended up doing similar thing to Akatani in the main story itself.
  • Another substory, "Toilet Talk", is this, if only for the ending. While using the bathroom at a park, Majima notices a woman's handwriting amongst the graffiti and decides to respond to it. The two quickly become pen pals and soon agree to meet in person; the woman will be wearing a rose on her lapel so Majima can identify her. However, when he gets to the spot where they're supposed to meet, he gets jumped by goons who say he fell for the oldest trick in the book. After he kicks their asses, Majima can only curse himself for how he bought into such a stupid lie... And as he walks away, he fails to notice a woman wearing a rose, who realizes that Majima isn't coming...
• The substory "A Shining Example" sets up another tragedy in Kiryu's life by detailing his first meeting with a Yakuza-hating punk who he tries to set on the right path after saving him when he gets in too deep attacking a relatively weak Yakuza family. The punk's name? Shinji Tanaka. The melancholy music that plays during both of he and Kiryu's conversations highlights that in finding a true role model in Kiryu, he's sadly enough started walking down the path that leads to his death. The saddest part of it all is the fact that his looking up to Kiryu is intentionally similar to Kiryu's looking up to Shintaro and the fact that Kiryu explicitly tells him to find a way outlive him.
• While the song is rather muted, Cabaret Sunshine's Background Music Cabaret Sunshine ~False Love~ is a depressing little melody about how behind-the-scenes depressing the cabaret business is for some hostesses. The lyrics imply that the singer has actually become somewhat apathetic at the thought of giving false emotions to their clients, and they themselves feel as though their own romantic prospects are down the the tubes.

  How can I smile to men I've got no feeling?
  I realized that I lost every things women should feel.

  • In the same vein, the preparation screen song As You Like, most likely told from the Platinum Hostesses point of view implies their attraction towards Majima and how their improvement as hostess is for him to notice one of them and only that one girl.
• The Doll Girl quest. The little girl's mother can't afford to buy her any toys because she's working to pay back a loan to a pair of loan sharks. When she does, they tack on thirteen times the amount they loaned her and not only wanted her to work on the streets as a prostitute, but were getting ready to have her use her daughter as well to earn them money, and slashed up the girl's latest doll on top of everything. They fully intend to kidnap her and her mother can do nothing to stop it. Then Majima shows up.
  • A retroactively sad example is that Doll Girl would accidentally call Majima "daddy" to which he states that it sounded rather nice and he would like to be called that in the future. Anyone who played Yakuza 5 knows how that turned out.
• Bacchus makes several oddly-specific references to Kiryu catching a "knife between (his) ribs" if he keeps brawling on the streets. It isn't until the end of his questline that you learn why; his former star pupil refused to work for The Mafia, and they arranged his murder by a knife-wielding attacker, something Bacchus never forgave himself for. This is also why he goes out of his way to ensure Kiryu learns how to counter opponents who are wielding bladed weapons.

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