Fist of the North Star/Tear Jerker



Violence and brutality be damned, Fist of the North Star is arguably the most warm-hearted and sensitive anime series of the 1980's. There IS a reason that it's the Trope Codifier for Manly Tears.

"Raoh: Feel free to cry, Toki. I won't scold you again... Take care of your body, my little brother."
 * Any moment where a character with any shred of fundamental human decency cries Tender Tears or Manly Tears.
 * Kenshiro taking Taki home, shot to death for stealing water for his adoptive mother, and her anguished cry "He was only seven years old!" makes you want to pop the heads of Jackal and his band of bastards yourself.
 * When Bart's adoptive mother is killed by the impact of a dynamite throw away from a terrified little boy that it was tied to via Jackal. Even moreso heartbreaking in the manga when he calls her "Mommy" for the very last time as she dies with a warm smile.
 * The final three days of Rei's heroic life... oh God.
 * He gets two Crowning Moments of Awesome in before he dies, and they are very awesome.
 * Rei's death: He was already dying in absolute agony because of Raoh's attack, but then he undergoes Toki's even more painful treatment, which is so painful it turns his hair white, just so he'd have his strength back and a little more time to fight Judah. And the reason for fighting Judah? Just to avenge poor Mamiya's honor. Kenshiro himself says that of all the men he's met, Rei's the only one that was his true friend.
 * If you thought a rock guitar theme cannot make you cry, you have not heard Asunaki Tabi yet. The most heartbreaking uses of this song were when Shuh wept in the graveyard of the children murdered by the Souther and when he himself was
 * Fudoh's battle against Raoh had "crying time" written all over it from the start. Raoh, having felt fear when Kenshiro manifested Musou Tensei before him, concludes he needs to purge himself of all fear, and to do it he must first face the one man to make him feel fear for the first time: Fudoh. Raoh kidnaps Fudoh's adopted children and threatens to kill them if Fudoh does not face Raoh, and Fudoh must break his vow of peace to face him. Raoh demolishes Fudoh, but Fudoh refuses to give up and actually instills fear in Raoh by showing him how hopeless it is for him to fight without love and sadness. And then Fudoh ends up shot fatally with an arrow shot by Raoh's henchmen, defying Raoh's orders. Fudoh then declares that Raoh lost to him, and that he will keep on living in fear and never defeat Kenshiro. Then he dies surrounded by his children, all crying for their loss. Waaah!
 * When Asuka, Ein's adopted daughter, was asked why she is not crying at her father's funeral, she replies "If I cry, Daddy won't be able to rest." Kenshiro hugs the brave little girl with warmth and kindness and weeps Tender Tears of sadness in her place.
 * Actually, Fist of the North Star is able to combine a few of these with the raw badass of the characters to be a Manly Tear Jerker series. There are a few, generally involving the deaths of major villains. Shin, declaring his love for Yuria even as he dies from Kenshiro's techniques and throwing himself from his throne room is an early example. One of the most effective involves the death of one of the protagonists, however. The battle between The title of the episode that ends the fight says it all: "Farewell,  The Tears Fall Only Once!"
 * There's more to it: Turns out that part of the reason this is happening is that.


 * The ending credits of the movie, in which Kenshiro imagines himself walking through a beautiful forest and seeing Yuria happy, only to have everything fade back to the desolate nuclear wasteland it all really is.
 * Somewhere around half the cast is composed of tragic heroes.
 * The murder of Ryo, an innocent little boy, by Souther's poisoned bread in the original manga and the first Raoh Den film. Watching a massive warrior weeping with his beloved baby son limp in his arms, you'd either have to be as kind as Kenshiro or as evil as Souther if you believe the tyrant deserves any forgiveness.
 * is particularly heartbreaking.
 * The undisputed champion of tear-jerking deaths in this series is . His death is SO important, it's even used to signify the end of the second part of the first anime series.
 * death was made into an even greater Tear Jerker in the first Raoh Den movie, as it's accompanied by Soundtrack Dissonance with the song "Where The Lights Are".
 * Kenshiro's long, echoing Say My Name cries really drove it home. And then Shuu lasts just long enough to see Kenshiro as an adult. Cue Kenshiro being the most pissed off he's ever been.
 * Kenshiro Den has one of the most devastating ones in the entire franchise: The big man himself lets the waterworks flow at the revelation.
 * Jagi Gaiden can best be summed up as one long Tear Jerker after another from start to finish. From seeing Jagi as he was, his relationship with Ryuken,  Honestly, it's hard not to weep at how thoroughly Jagi's life has been screwed by both his own actions and bitter fate.