Rozen Maiden/Tear Jerker


 * Rozen Maiden is a masterwork in this regard:
 * It spends an entire episode watching.
 * At least in the anime, The manga on the other hand,
 * Another one for Hina Ichigo in the manga comes during her introduction. A flashback shows her previous owner telling her they'll play hide and seek; the doll must stay quietly in her case until she's found. Hina Ichigo agrees, "I'll wait." The next page shows an abandoned house, overgrown with vines as if several years have passed, and with a "For Sale" sign -- and, like a voice-over, the words, "I'll wait..." The implication is that she was conscious and lonely inside that trunk for years. No wonder she's so clingy in the present day.
 * This troper always breaks down watching
 * The raw despair and lack of a will to live demonstrated by Ill Girl Megumi aka Megu,
 * Suigintou counts too, at least when she's not in Axe Crazy mode (Ouverture in particular). Despite being brought Back From the Dead repeatedly, her death scenes make it as far from Death Is Cheap (or Narm) as it can be.
 * Suigintou's entire back story counts, at least where Rozen Maiden: Ouverture is concerned. You feel so sorry for her, and then realize it was because of that turns her into the Big Bad of the first season.
 * This Troper's favourite tear jerker is in episode 6 of Traumend, when  The most heartwarming tearjerker I've ever seen... because late is better than never.