Princess Sarah/Tear Jerker
Shokojo Sera uses this trope to such good effect that it can reduce grown men to tears. Here's a very incomplete list:
- The death of Sara's father, and her fall from princess status, symbolized by Miss Minchin cruelly tossing her tiara to the ground.
- Sara's first night in the attic.
- Miss Minchin handing Sara a bundle of letters with cold satisfaction - her last letters to her dead father, returned unread by the postal department.
- Lavinia reaching a new low in sheer villainy by inviting Sara to her birthday party, only to ask her for a present in return - her precious doll, Emily, the only possession given to her by her father that she still owns.
- The entire episode entitled "Redemption In The Middle Of The Storm". This isn't subversion, it's a revolution.
- Sara's near-fatal illness, and her friends' desperate attempts to save her life.
- Sara and Becky being discovered by Miss Minchin while sharing a banquet, actually gifted to them by a kind neighbour on the sly, and being forced to sleep in the stable.
- The fire in the stable. There are no words.
- Sara's leaving the Seminary after being physically and verbally abused by Miss Minchin. The entire sequence, right up to the point where she walks to the water and sees a family of ducks torn apart by the wave, only to come together again, is a lesson in how to write a Tear Jerker sequence.
- The scene where the strong-willed Seira in the live-action drama cries after recieving her father's necklace, finally accepting the fact that her father is dead particularly yanks at the heart.
- And when Maria gleefully throws tomatoes at Seira, who at this point has lost all hope and down on her knees. She even bullies the rest of her classmates to do so as well. When Seira's friend Masami (who was blackmailed by Maria earlier) was about to do it fortunately Kaito comes in just in time to shield Seira, Seira sobbing out "I'm sorry ... I'm sorry" was utterly heartwrenching to see.
- Back to Princess Sarah