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Steins;Gate/Tear Jerker

< Steins;Gate


WARNING! There are unmarked Spoilers ahead. Beware.

  • The second half of episode 16 delivers them one after another:
    • In a heartwarming example, Mayuri realizes who Suzuha's father is: Daru. Daru and Suzuha share a moment before Suzuha departs in her time machine to set aside an IBN 5100 from 1975 for the lab to use.
    • The lab receives a letter from Suzuha a few hours later thanks to The Slow Path. The time machine hadn't been fixed properly; Suzuha suffered a concussion upon arriving in 1975 and didn't remember her mission until 2000. In the letter Suzuha begs Rintaro to prevent the damage to the time machine from happening, so that she can go to 1975 earlier. Rintaro finds out a few moments later that after writing the letter, Suzuha committed suicide out of Amnesiac Dissonance. Rintaro sends a d-mail to the past as Suzuha requests, but as Mayuri points out, this will totally negate the dear friendship they had all formed with Suzuha.
      • Shippai shita, Shippai shita, Shippai shita, Shippai shita! And the line scrawled down the page at the end. That got this troper good.
      • Despite undoing their friendship, it turns out that the d-mail worked.
  • How about a few episodes later when Okabe realises that to save Mayuri, he has to undo the D-mail that prevented Kurisu from dying? He spends the next couple of episodes (and a few more time loops where Mayuri dies) trying to Take a Third Option - and ultimately failing. The ultimate Tear Jerker comes when, having during this spilled the entire story to Kurisu herself, the two of them conclude that the only way to save Mayuri is to delete the D-mail; before contacting Daru to crack SERN's database and do just that, Okabe finally confess that he loves Kurisu, who responds by kissing him. Kurisu then apparently leaves on the train so as to avoid having to say goodbye to any of the others... only to run back to the lab and confess that she loves Okabe in return just as they are deleting the D-mail. Manly Tears all round.
    • It's even worse since she was interrupted. All she managed to get out was "I'm also in -" before he time travels. It's pretty obvious what she's about to say, but it's just a killer that she wasn't even allowed to say it properly.
  • Basically most of the later half of the show.
    • Episode 13. You won't be able to hold all your emotions.
    • Episode 17 when we find out just what Rumiho (Faris) sent in her D-mail. Normally, Faris is playful and energetic, but here we get to see a more vulnerable side of her. This episode also leaves Okabe conflicted because while reversing the D-mail will delay Mayuri's death by an extra day, he also knows he'll rob Faris of happiness with her father.
    • Episode 21 where Rinatro tries to prevent Mayuri's death without returning to the original timeline only for her to die again when she prevents his death. As she dies in his arms yet again, she reaches up to the stars and says she's glad she was able to be useful to him.
      • Also, while at her grandmother's grave, when it is revealed she can hazily recall each time she's been killed.
  • Episode 22: after Okabe tries to take a third option to save Mayuri's life without undoing the first D-mail, Kurisu insists that he goes ahead with it, even if it means she will die as she did at the beginning. Realising this is his only option, what does Okabe do? He hugs her while having an internal monologue about how he never told her what was in his heart, how he truly felt about her. All this knowing he is about to lose her.
  • Episode 23: the revelation that Okabe was the one responsible for Kurisu's death in the first place. It's a harrowing scene for both of them: she's bleeding to death, he's horrified that the girl he loves died in the first place because of him. It's a heart-breaking scene to say the least.
  • Another example overlapping with a Crowning Moment of Heartwarming is the last scene of episode 25. "Close your eyes". Cut to black.
  • Though Faris would typically use Crocodile Tears to get Okabe to play along with her, she is crying for real in her ending when she realises that Okabe had no memories of their relationship, feeling that she had effectively lost someone she cared deeply about.
    • For Okabe, he feels as though he had lost everything by entering this worldline, including his relationships with Daru, Mayuri, and Kurisu. To him, his friends are now complete strangers, the Lab doesn't exist, the Phonewave was never built, and he had no way of returning to a previous worldline due to these changes. He is all alone, isolated, alienated, in a world where no one knows who he is. Except for one person...
      • As for his relationship with Faris, he has no memory of it and having to confess to her must have been difficult. As he says, he didn't lose his memories of this worldline; he simply didn't have any to begin with.
      • However, he accepts this worldline as his new life once he learns that Mayuri and Faris' dad are both alive and well, so the gamble was worth it.
  • If the player chooses not to undo Ruka's D-Mail, the latter develops an identity crisis, lamenting that her wish to be a girl played a part in Mayuri's death, while at the same time, changing that would mean she'd have to suppress her romantic feelings for Okabe. Ruka even states outright that she's having gender identity issues because of this decision with no right answer.
  • In the film, a drunk Kurisu starts ranting and raving about some things Okabe told her while he was in the US and is upset that despite telling her that he loved her, he didn't even send her a text message. Or even as little as an emoji. Again, the alcohol might have an influence here, but from her perspective, that must really sting a bit as she feels like he doesn't care about her.
  • After Suzuha explains the circumstances surrounding Okabe's disappearance, the latter is shocked to learn that Kurisu time leapt. Learning from his own experience, he becomes majorly concerned about the potential mental damage she'll suffer from just trying to save him, to the point where he practically begs her not to do so for her sake. Kurisu defiantly tries to persuade him to accept her help, going so far as saying his disappearance will be like he never lived to begin with; to her, this is worse than not remembering him. You can feel the desperation in her voice as she pleads with him, even stating that she can't live without him.
    • Also, notice how Suzuha becomes completely silent during this scene? Once Okabe realises that Kurisu had time leapt, she doesn't say a word or interject at all...almost as if she's well aware of the damage excessive time leaping can do to a person, and thus she makes no attempt to convince him.
  • The night before Okabe disappears, Kurisu begs him one last time to allow her to help him, but he simply refuses and accepts his fate, assuring her that she has the other Lab Members by her side. Then she retorts with this line:
    • Kurisu: <tearfully> "Idiot! Can't you tell when a girl is trying to say that friends aren't always enough?!"
  • This scene works well thanks to Trina Nishimura's acting here. She is pouring her heart out to Okabe, but he doesn't seem even the least bit bothered by this, reducing her to tears as a result; it's only when she has to spell it out for him (see above) that he responds with a kiss, which only causes her to break down as the scene closes on the following exchange:
    • Kurisu: <sobbing> "You bastard... in one breath you tell me to forget, and the next you pull a stunt like that. How am I supposed to push you out of my mind now?"
    • Okabe: "I'm sorry..."
    • Kurisu: "It's not fair..."
  • Remember in Episode 22 of the series where Kurisu is cut off as she declares her love for Okabe the same way he did for her? Well, it happens again in the film, only this time we see it from her perspective. Her emotions are running wild as is but being interrupted like that while Mayuri and Daru don't even know who she's talking about causes Kurisu to drop to her knees and sob uncontrollably as she summons every ounce of will to even remember his name.
  • Once everyone remembers Okabe, Mayuri declares that while she doesn't who "Okarin" is, the name alone makes her feel warm. Overlaps as a heartwarming moment, too.

My Darling's Embrace

  • Moeka's story path boils down to the other lab mems trying to get her to come out of her shell, but towards the end, she has a Heroic BSOD after she realises she made a mistake in the group's submission video for a music competition. Fearing that she'll be rejected for this, she leaves and retreats to her apartment. When Okabe finds her, he notices she had been crying.
    • When one of her messages echoes her description of the protagonist for her novel (about no one needing her), Okabe asks if this is the case here, too... only to realise she actually felt this way. This leads him to take her hand to stop her from deleting her messages and asking her directly why she keeps running away from everyone. She finally opens up and reveals that everyone around told her she was an "unwanted child" to the point where she believed them; because of this, she had attempted to end her own life at one point, feeling no one needed her, that she'd be better off invisible to everyone, so she couldn't disappoint them, she wouldn't be a burden. You can practically feel the pain and loneliness in her voice as she says all of this.
  • Faris eventually opens up to Okabe about her past, revealing that she allowed people, adults in particular, to get close to her, only to betray her the first chance they get, with some even telling they'd be happier if she didn't exist. As a result, she developed trust issues growing up, and was scared of losing the friends she has because, in her mind, she won't know what to do if the other lab mems just disappeared from her life. That is until Okabe reassures her that they aren't going anywhere and tells her to simply have faith in them.
    • Faris has another Cry Cute moment in Suzuha's route when her attempts to charm Daru fall on death ears. There are no laughs to be had this time though, as Daru's cold dismissal towards her shatters her pride into tiny pieces, taking Okabe's kind words just to calm her down. As for Suzuha, she is too angry to raise her voice after seeing her future dad behave like this.
  • Why was Mayuri crying as she spoke to Okabe while he was asleep? We eventually learn that her family was moving away from Tokyo on the 20th of August, and memories of past events where she felt lonely without him resurface. It doesn't help that she had to lie to him to keep him from worrying. Learning this himself causes Okabe to almost have a Heroic BSOD when he finally realises just how much Mayuri meant to him, as well as how much he took her for granted.
    • As Okabe gives his Love Confession at the cemetery, Mayuri gives one of her own; she had liked Okabe for some time, and soon developed a sense of inferiority when Kurisu first joined the lab; she became saddened by how close Okabe and Kurisu had become, and started to believe she was being replaced, feeling that - in her words; the Gods were punishing her by making her move away. The confession ends with Mayuri sobbing after Okabe promises to never let her go again.
    • Speaking of, even the most hardened of players would wince at the sound of Mayuri crying, which can be likened to a small child being separated from her parents.

Linear Bounded Phenogram

  • Okabe's masquerading as "Alpaca Man" stops being funny once we learn that he had been putting on this act to cope with Mayuri's death in the current world line. Even after time had passed, he isn't over her passing, and used the "Alpaca Man" persona as a means to avoid facing that reality.
  • Kurisu speaking to her dad on the phone, in tears, and blubbering incoherently as she begs and pleads for his help despite their strained relationship. In her own words, she was a babbling mess for another 20 minutes before she was able to form another coherent sentence. It is one of Kurisu's rare moments of vulnerability, but it shows how much she wants to repair her strained relationship with her father.
  • Okabe is a complete emotional wreck after Mayuri goes missing after the lab is raided, and torment becomes so unbearable that Kurisu fears he will suffer a nervous breakdown. He reaches the Despair Event Horizon when a news report confirms his worst fear: Mayuri is dead. He is such a mess afterwards that Faris' butler, Kuroki, had to knock him out - twice - just to spare him further pain.
  • Faris comes close to having a Heroic BSOD after she learns that Suzuha has to leave for 1975 the following day and is hurt that the latter didn't tell her to her face, even snapping at her just for calling her by her real name. Given that she retreated to her room not long afterwards, she clearly regretted what she said.
  • While rescuing Suzuha from the collapsed underground station, Faris quietly breaks down in tears upon hearing the things Mr. Tennouji was saying about her in terms of how rough she'd had it for the past 10 years.
  • Ruka spent her entire story blaming herself for Mayuri's death on the 15th, feeling that her choice to become a girl via D-mail was the cause behind the latter's fate. In fact, "Hermaphrodite in the Labyrinth" is just Ruka's ending in the original game, only told through her eyes.
    • As if her description of what happened that day wasn't bad enough, we get to witness that fateful day for ourselves. This scene will no doubt strike too close to home for anyone who has survived or lost loved ones to a heart attack. The fact that Mayuri just collapses out of nowhere so suddenly makes it worse.
    • The CG of Mayuri suffering from a heart attack definitely qualifies, but also overlaps as Nightmare Fuel.
    • Daru's rant towards Okabe's non-reaction to Mayuri's death. It is genuine anger on full display, but at the same time, he doesn't realise that Okabe isn't acting this way out of malice, rather because he has had to relive the moment of Mayuri's death over and over to the point where he simply became numb to it.
  • Moeka spends the majority of her story at war with herself over whether to side with the Lab Mems or her contact, FB. Her loyalty to each side is frequently being tested, driven by her fear of being abandoned (again) no matter who she sides with.
    • A more heart-warming example, when Kurisu and Mayuri find her near the UPX building. The girls assure Moeka that they see her as a friend for reasons other than usefulness. She has never experienced real happiness until now, and their words gave her just that.
    • Kurisu's tearful show of gratitude when Moeka saves her from being mowed down by a speeding car.
    • Moeka's internal conflict reaches breaking point once FB gives her the order to kill the Lab Mems. So torn on which course of action to take that she finds any excuse she can to push her friends away to make her decision easier, but luckily Mayuri and Kurisu's words eventually reach her (not even realising she was crying the whole time until Mayuri mentioned it) and she decides not to pull the trigger. A real example of What Could Have Been if Moeka had thought for herself for a change.
    • The Lab Mems crying over Moeka as she slowly dies from the gunshot wounds she sustained protecting her new friends, just before she has Okabe send a D-Mail on her behalf.
  • The truth about why the death of Mayuri's grandma hit her so hard: Mayuri had promised to spend the day with her, but she instead went to ComiMa with her friends, leaving her grandma alone the day she died. Mayuri had blamed herself for it since then, feeling that she had broken her promise.
    • Her decision to rewrite this part of her life isn't any better though, as while she did get to spent one final day with her grandma, Mayuri still ended up in a world line in which the lab wasn't formed, and she had lost contact with Okabe for years before they finally reunited.
  • Nae (now 13) doesn't have it easy in her story; still coping with the death of her dad even two years later, she doesn't have anyone else to turn to other than the Akiha family. The fact that Mayuri also died in this worldline only makes her feel even more lonely, and the abandoned CRT shop her dad used to run only served as a painful reminder of what she had lost. Then to say nothing about putting up with Daru's perverted antics...
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