Elfen Lied/Tear Jerker

""I wish somebody would hold me close now""
 * Most of Elfen Lied, but particularly the heart-wrenching last episode. Who'd ever thought you could care so much about regretless killers?
 * Read the manga for a double helping of melancholy.
 * Mayu's past does it for this troper, as does Mariko breaking down when she realizes her father is (seemingly) about to kill her. And from the manga, Diclonius #28. Poor, poor #28...
 * The scene where  was the one that got me. I made it through the backstory, and then there was this, and I couldn't hold it in any longer.
 * The entirety of  is what makes this troper break down and cry.
 * While certainly a very sad scene, and possibly the only real failing  ever showed, I don't believe he ever knew  . In fact, I don't think either anime or manga has him told, outright or perhaps at all   As far as he was concerned,     calling her out on her   may have been insensitive, but this was the first time he'd heard of this--I'm certain it sounded like an excuse, though it might very well have been truer in her case, due to her status as  . Perhaps a later talk with Nana might have shown him that there was something to what she said, after all.
 * Kouta doesn't know anything about Lucy's past. Hell, NO ONE except Lucy and the viewers know about her past in full. Arguably, this makes the whole situation even more tragic.
 * Five words (manga only):
 * For this troper, it was in the final episode where
 * What does it for me is Mariko starting to giggle as she begins to torture Nana. She was born a perfectly normal little girl with a mother who loved her. She could have grown up in a nice house by the ocean and gone to school. She could have had friends and a favourite novel. But instead she was locked up away from any hope; they made her into this irreversibly broken creature with no joy in life other than beating the brains out of someone else.
 * This troper is heavily emotionally affected by stories involving homelessness and abandonment, so he teared up for most of Mayu's scenes (especially the scene when Kouta and Yuka give her a birthday cake).
 * For this troper, it was Nana's final line at the end of the series: "There are so many wonderful things in this world. So many... good things..." The line was just so powerful after Nana
 * How about in the anime when Nana was being sent to battle by Kurama... and she asks for the pretty ribbon around his neck? (his tie)
 * Young Lucy:


 * broke my heart
 * Also at the very end of the manga

""Hey horned-girl! You're not a human, you're nothing but an ox."
 * Especially touching when we see . This proved this troper that despite, he will never stop loving her.
 * I can't even write this entry without crying... Just to think about how things could have been, and how desperate young Kaede must have been for any kind of love at all to be so grateful for even the little bit of warmth and comfort she received from Kouta.
 * And then...  had This Troper sobbing long after the manga ended.
 * Pretty much everything that involves Kurama, Nana and Mariko in the same scene. Especially near the end when
 * More from Lucy's past, when her Start of Darkness begins and she begins seeing hellish hallucinations. This troper has always felt shunned and mocked for being different, so needless to say, it touched a very sore and emotional spot.
 * Pretty much everything that involves Kurama, Nana and Mariko in the same scene. Especially near the end when
 * More from Lucy's past, when her Start of Darkness begins and she begins seeing hellish hallucinations. This troper has always felt shunned and mocked for being different, so needless to say, it touched a very sore and emotional spot.
 * More from Lucy's past, when her Start of Darkness begins and she begins seeing hellish hallucinations. This troper has always felt shunned and mocked for being different, so needless to say, it touched a very sore and emotional spot.
 * More from Lucy's past, when her Start of Darkness begins and she begins seeing hellish hallucinations. This troper has always felt shunned and mocked for being different, so needless to say, it touched a very sore and emotional spot.

"Stupid girl. It's because you trust humans, even though you aren't one yourself. You're different from us because you're not a human... even betraying you doesn't hurt inside that much."

"Could I ever feel anything close to love for a weird girl with horns?" "Then why... have you been so nice to me?" "Because I adore strange animals.""


 * I can't believe nobody has mentioned Kouta's last words to his sister before No wonder he was so messed up afterwards.
 * For This Troper, the tears always start flowing when watching the OVA when  Lucy's reaction and her pleas to   to hold on really drive it home; you can see her world falling apart as her only other best friend dies right there in her arms. The manga chapters that cover this are even worse, showing just how close the two girls had been to   before she died.
 * What really pulled at this troper's heartstrings was the scene where after Lucy reveals her powers to Aiko, her respond is not to reject her but take it in stride and later ask her to go on a painter's retreat with her  It is terribly tragic since Lucy finds a new friend willing to accept her for who she is and had seemed to learn from her past relationship with Kouta making her less Yangire: she refuses to kill Aiko's father to avoid making her cry, , encourages Aiko to seek out her mother and
 * What makes it even worse for this troper is that near the end of the manga when there are two side-by-side panels of the shootings.
 * The several breakdowns in the manga. Mayu and Nana  come to mind.
 * The scene with the puppy in Lucy's childhood. Earlier on it was stated that Kaede had suffered constant bullying at the hands of Tomoo and his gang, which had gone to the point of driving her to shut off her emotions in order to deal with the constant misery, refusing to become like them and start tormenting someonne else. Then one day, she finds a stray puppy and grows attached to it, then she proceeds to tell her new friend about the puppy, what does said friend does? She tells the bullies, that's what she does! Cue Kaede being forced to watch as Tomoo and his croonies beat the little cub to death. This ultimately becomes the last straw that pushed Kaede over the edge, leading her to awaken her deadly powers and slaughter everyone in the room. Now, while this moment can be see as her rightfully punishing the little devils that made her life a living hell, one has to remember that here is where Lucy begins her deadly quest to terminate mankind, ultimtely leading to one of the most tragic love stories in existence. Just to know that her plight could've been so easily averted by the staff of the Orphanage (Who ignored it all because they found Kaede's horns disgusting and her stoic attitue creeped them out) makes me want to break down.
 * Several minor characters get harsh or sad send offs. Kisaragi is introduced in the first chapter/episode, as a clumsy, somewhat ditsy secretary. When confronted with Lucy,
 * Saito was a scientist at the research facility, whe is one of the few people to actually like Mariko, as she acts as a mother to her, even though they've never met and communicate over a speaker.
 * But in Saito's case, the manga reveals she
 * Isobe, Kurama's assistant, is portrayed as reserved about his work, and trying to apply morals, when he is sent as Mariko's caretaker, he controls the bombs in her limbs (which he sees as excessive, cruel, and won't stop the girl).
 * In the anime, he was just a cruel scientist who didn't appear as much, and had more of a Karmic Death.
 * Shirakawa
 * The Agent
 * The closing theme of the anime. It's a very cheerful song about unrequited love.
 * The Agent
 * The closing theme of the anime. It's a very cheerful song about unrequited love.
 * The closing theme of the anime. It's a very cheerful song about unrequited love.
 * The closing theme of the anime. It's a very cheerful song about unrequited love.