History TearJerker / Noragami

* Chapter 89 is when we all realize that things aren't going to get better any time soon. Yukine has been named by Father and unexpectedly retains his human form as a vessel, but with extra powers. He mercilessly attacks Yato, but Yato refuses to fight back, even though Kazuma keeps urging him to. Yato tearfully apologizes to Yukine, telling him that he doesn't belong with Father and begging him to come home. Yukine replies that he does want to go home... and then asks Yato where his sister ran off to. Yato is heartbroken when he realizes that Yukine doesn't think of him as his home anymore.

* Chapter 87.2 confirms the implications that [[spoiler: Yukine was abused by his alcoholic father when he was alive. It's implied that the neighbours ''knew'' about the abuse, but did nothing to help the poor kid.]]

** It all culminates in the fateful moment when Yato goes for the kill-shot on Father, only for Yukine to stop him and then ''go off'' on Yato for his deception, starting his transformation and leaving Yato [[BondCreatures crippled from Yukine's immense pain at being abandoned]], letting Father get away. Worsening matters is that Yukine sees himself as an asshole and a freak now, and runs away from Yato... and right into Father's hands. Predictably, Father names Yukine, turning him into a nora.

** The ending of the chapter actually manages to top the previous tearjerker: When the stinging gets bad enough, to the point of threatening Kofuku's life, Daigo goes to Yato and begs him to kill him (remember that he can't take his own life without hurting his master). Yato makes a show of exorcising the impurity out of Daigo without killing him and thus saving Kofuku. The real wham line comes last when Yato admits he actually didn't do anything: Kofuku and Daigo simply endured and suffered through their grief together, making it a unique case of Shinki who overcomes corruption on his own.

* Yato's past, especially his childhood, is this and NightmareFuel combined. What's actually worse is the impact that his so-called 'father's' verbal and emotional abuse has left on him. He [[StepfordSmiler may hide all the pain and insecurities beneath a cheerful and goofy demeanor]], but in truth, is a horribly abused and lonely boy who just craves for affection. What makes it all the more tragic is that this type of verbal abuse is something that happens in [[TruthInTelivision real life, too]].

* Yato's past, especially his childhood, is this and NightmareFuel combined. What's actually worse is the impact that his so-called 'father's' verbal and emotional abuse left on him. He [[StepfordSmiler hides all the pain and insecurities beneath a cheerful and goofy demeanor]], but in truth is terrified of his father because of all the killing he did under his influence. What makes it all the more tragic and scary is that this type of verbal abuse does happen in real life too.

** Yato has gone off on his own with another shinki, finally having resolved to kill Father despite that it may destroy him too, only hoping that it ultimately doesn't. Problem is, he knows Yukine and Hiyori would never let him go through with it, so he doesn't tell them.

** It all culminates in the fateful moment when Yato goes for the kill-shot on Father, only for Yukine to stop him and then ''go off'' on Yato for his deception, starting his transformation and leaving Yato [[BondCreatures crippled from Yukine's immense pain at being abandoned]], letting Father get away. Worsening matters is that Yukine sees himself as an asshole and a freak now, and runs away from Yato... and right into Father's hands.

** Yato saying sadly he does have someone he loves as he holds a small handmade Capyper which is revealed that Hiyori made for him.

* Yato's past, especially his childhood, is this and [[ NightmareFuel ]] combined. What's actually worse is the impact that his so-called 'father's' verbal and emotional abuse left on him. He [[StepfordSmiler hides all the pain and insecurities beneath a cheerful and goofy demeanor]], but in truth is terrified of his father because of all the killing he did under his influence. What makes it all the more tragic and scary is that this type of verbal abuse does happen in real life too.

* Yato's past, especially his childhood, is this and [[NightmareFuel]] combined. What's actually worse is the impact that his so-called 'father's' verbal and emotional abuse left on him. He [[StepfordSmiler hides all the pain and insecurities beneath a cheerful and goofy demeanor]], but in truth is terrified of his father because of all the killing he did under his influence. What makes it all the more tragic and scary is that this type of verbal abuse does happen in real life too.

* Yato's past, especially his childhood, is this and [[Nightmare Fuel]] combined. What's actually worse is the impact that his so-called 'father's' verbal and emotional abuse left on him. He [[StepfordSmiler hides all the pain and insecurities beneath a cheerful and goofy demeanor]], but in truth is terrified of his father because of all the killing he did under his influence. What makes it all the more tragic and scary is that this type of verbal abuse does happen in real life too.

* Poor Sakura's fate

* Chapter 11: Yukine's ablution. All of it. We finally learn why he was being such a jackass. He died at a young age, and was jealous of the people still alive. Feeling they have family, a past, friends and a future when he had nothing.
* Chapter 14: Just Suzuha. He admits that due to the large amount of Shiki that Bishamon has, he's not really called anymore. He still nurses a dying tree back to life in memory of a living girl, that he loved but she has long since forgotten him. It is really hammered home when Kuguha just tells Suzuha, he is completely alone. No human will remember him, and even his goddess has forgotten him. It was so effective Suzuha crossed the DespairEventHorizon and let ayakashi kill him.

* Chapter 43: What starts off as another filler episode turns tragic when it is revealed that the old woman's deceased mother, whom she sought to return her bracelet to, is none other than [[spoiler: Mayu]]. The old woman suffers the curse of an ayakashi because of her SurvivorsGuilt, constantly dreaming about her mother's death during [[UsefulNotes/WorldWarII the war]]. [[spoiler: When the affair is sorted out, and the old woman able to return the bracelet to an unwitting Mayu, Hiyori quickly learns that she cannot reveal the truth to Mayu, and by extension Yukine because it delves into a god's most guarded secret: they inherited the lost memories of their shinki's past, and to reveal that knowledge is incredibly taboo.]]
** This, unfortunately, gets even ''worse'' when you remember that unlike in other stories where the happy, or at least bittersweet ending comes when the old characters pass away and are able to reunite with their dead loved ones in the afterlife, when the old woman finally dies of old age, [[spoiler: she and Mayu (along with her father/Mayu's presumably long dead husband) will ''not'' be reunited together in the afterlife because Mayu would still be alive as Tenjin's shinki with no memory of her family at all. So unless Mayu were to someday be killed or released by Tenjin or just somehow go to the Far Shore (which is saddening enough already), her poor daughter and husband will ''still'' be left longing and waiting to be with her for eternity; unable to find peace in death as they should.]]

* In Episode 5, the dead little girl who gets possessed by a ayakashi. We get a brief little HopeSpot when we think Yukine stopped her from being possessed, right up until she suddenly tells him that he smells nice. Yato has to kill her because she's fully possessed and Yukine ends up being very traumatized by it. Right before the possessed girl gets killed, Yukine has a vision of her in normal form running up behind him.
* Hiyori and her brother find out from Yato that [[spoiler:the black shadow that their grandmother sees is a Shinigami, meaning that she is approaching the end of her life]]. Yato tells them there's nothing they can do but make her comfortable, which prompts the Iki family to [[SugarWiki/HeartwarmingMoments move in with their grandmother]].
* [[spoiler:Tsuguha's death]]. After the battle that happens at the Iki Hospital, [[spoiler:Tsuguha is corrupted by Yato's Father with Nora and her memories start coming back. Bishamon desperately tries to take her mind off of it, but it doesn't work. Tsuguha breaks "The God's Greatest Secret" by remembering her real name, turning her into an ayakashi. Bishamon is distraught but refuses to kill her, prompting Kazuma to perform a MercyKill to save Bishamon's life after Tsuguha gets a hold on her]].
* [[spoiler: Ebisu]]'s death in chapter 35. Sobbing while in the arms of Bishamon. In the anime, it is [[spoiler: Yato]] that held [[spoiler: Ebisu]].

** Then there was Yato's reaction to seeing [[spoiler: the newly reincarnated Ebisu as a child]]. Later on, [[spoiler: the child Ebisu]] asks Yato that he must have been a horrible person [[spoiler: for making heaven want to kill him in his previous life.]] Yato then breaks down, says no, he was a good person and [[spoiler: asks Ebisu to forgive him for indirectly causing his death.]]
** [[spoiler: Ebisu's main shinki Iwami]] quietly begs [[spoiler: the child Ebisu]] to promise to never sacrifice themselves like that again.
* Chapters 70 and 71. Yato has spent almost the entire current arc trying to get an audience with Amaterasu in order to explain the situation with the Sorcerer. When he finally gets it, [[spoiler:she immediately declares Yato guilty and locks Yukine into a dark prison]]. Tenjin decides to step up and try to help Yato By calling a covenant to get the verdict overturned. [[spoiler:He loses his beloved Tsuyu in the first round]].

** Yato revealing he bestows all his Shinkis with the Ne name [[spoiler:out of memory of Sakura (Tamano''ne'') to as a warning. Also a heartwarming moment, since even after her corruption and eventual destruction, he still remembers her.]]
** The reveal that Kazuma, like Yukine, [[spoiler:was killed by a family member. While Yukine was [[OffingTheOffspring killed by his father (probably due of his bitterness of his wife and daughter leaving him)]], Kazuma was killed by [[CainAndAbel his older brother]] [[AlwaysSomeoneBetter for being the heir of their family business.]]]]

* Hiyori and her brother find out from Yato that [[spoiler:the black shadow that their grandmother sees is a Shinigami, meaning that she is approaching the end of her life]]. Yato tells them there's nothing they can do but make her comfortable, which prompts the Iki family to [[CrowningMomentOfHeartwarming move in with their grandmother]].

* Poor Hiyori finally has her LoveEpiphany in chapter 78, and only because Kazuma stomps on her feelings for Yato and tells her to never go near him again.

** Yato revealing he gives all his Shinki ne endings [[spoiler:out of memory of Sakura to as a warning.]]
** The reveal that Kazuma like Yukine [[spoiler:was killed by a family member. While Yukine was killed by his father for some reason, Kazuma was killed by his older brother for being the heir of their family business.]]

* Poor Hiyori finally has her LoveEpiphany in chapter 78, and only because Kazuma stomps on her feelings for Yato and tells her to never go near him again.

* It is heavily implied that Yukine was left in the custody of his abusive father after his parents separated, his sibling, possibly his twin sister going with his mother. Said abuse escalated to the point where his father believed he'd finally killed him and proceeds to bury him '''ALIVE'''! That is where Yukine's deep-seated fear of darkness comes from. This is so heartbreaking that Yato himself starts crying after naming him.

* Chapters 70 and 71. Yato has spent almost the entire current arc trying to get an audience with Amaterasu in order to explain the situation with the Sorcerer. When he finally gets it, [[spoiler:she immediately declares Yato guilty and locks Yukine into a dark prison]]. Tenjin decides to step up and try to help Yato By calling a covenant to get the verdict overturned. [[spoiler:He loses his beloved Tsuyu in the first round]].

* Chapter 42: Despite being a lovey-dovey god-and-shinki pair that acts like a married couple, and considering Daikoku's love of children, Kofuku and Daikoku don't try to have children (by means of adopting the spirit of a deceased child), which baffles Hiyori. However, Kofuku reveals that they ''did'' try to raise a child once, but the fact that little Daigo didn't grow but was at the age where he asked a lot of questions began to take a toll on them. Soon Daikoku ended up stinging his master so much because he lied to Daigo by omission, unable to bring himself to break it to his son that he can't grow up because he's dead. Because of how bad it got, Kofuku had no choice but to release Daigo. They erected a headstone in their backyard in his memory.

* Chapter 43: What starts off as another filler episode turns tragic when it is revealed that the old woman's deceased mother, whom she sought to return her bracelet to, is none other than [[spoiler: Mayu]]. The old woman suffers the curse of an ayakashi because of her SurvivorsGuilt, constantly dreaming about her mother's death during [[WorldWarTwo the war]]. [[spoiler: When the affair is sorted out, and the old woman able to return the bracelet to an unwitting Mayu, Hiyori quickly learns that she cannot reveal the truth to Mayu, and by extension Yukine because it delves into a god's most guarded secret: they inherited the lost memories of their shinki's past, and to reveal that knowledge is incredibly taboo.]]

* [[spoiler:Tsuguha's death]]. After the battle that happens at the Iki Hospital, [[spoiler:Tsuguha is corrupted by Yato's Father with Nora and her memories start coming back. Bishamon desperately tries to take her mind off of it, but it doesn't work. Tsuguha breaks "The God's Greatest Secret" by remembering her life and death, turning her into an ayakashi. Bishamon is distraught but refuses to kill her, prompting Kazuma to perform a MercyKill to save Bishamon's life after Tsuguha gets a hold on her]].

** This, unfortunately, gets even ''worse'' when you remember that unlike in other stories where the happy, or at least bittersweet ending comes when the old characters pass away and are able to reunite with their dead loved ones in the afterlife, when the old woman finally dies of old age, [[spoiler: she and Mayu (along with her father/Mayu's presumably long dead husband) will ''not'' be reunited together in the Far Shore because Mayu would still be a shinki living in the Near Shore with no memory of her family at all. So unless Mayu were to someday be killed or released by Tenjin or just somehow go to the Far Shore (which is saddening enough already), her poor daughter and husband will ''still'' be left longing and waiting to be with her for eternity; unable to find peace in death as they should.]]
*** This actually applies to ''every shinki'' in this story. It's impossible that all shinkis had terrible lives before they died; many of them probably had wonderful lives and loving families and just happened to be unfortunate enough to die young, which would provide a good reason for them to want to continue living. Just imagine how many loved ones of shinkis are out there, having died and are now waiting for them forever in the Far Shore. How many parents, siblings, spouses, relatives, and friends have had loved ones die from diseases and accidents and other things beyond anyone's control, spent the rest of their lives missing them, and then passed on feeling happy that they'll finally be together again... only to find that their son, daughter, brother, sister, wife, husband, is ''still'' not there with them and can't be found no matter how hard they look, because they're still in the land of the living for who knows how many centuries as memory-less shinkis with no intentions to die any time soon.

*** This actually applies to ''every shinki'' in this story. Just imagine how many loved ones of shinkis are out there, having died and are now waiting for them forever in the Far Shore. It's impossible that all shinkis had terrible lives before they died; many of them probably had wonderful lives and loving families and just happened to be unfortunate enough to die young, which would provide a good reason for them to want to continue living. So really... how many? How many parents, siblings, spouses, relatives, and friends have had loved ones die from diseases and accidents and other things beyond anyone's control, spent the rest of their lives missing them, and then passed on feeling happy that they'll finally be together again... only to find that their son, daughter, brother, sister, wife, husband, is ''still'' not there with them and can't be found no matter how hard they look, because they're memory-less shinkis in the Near Shore with no intentions to die any time soon.

** This all, unfortunately, gets even ''worse'' when you remember that unlike in other stories where the happy, or at least bittersweet ending comes when the old characters pass away and are able to reunite with their dead loved ones in the afterlife, when the old woman finally dies of old age, [[spoiler: she and Mayu (along with her father/Mayu's presumably long dead husband) will ''not'' be reunited together in the Far Shore because Mayu would still be a shinki living in the Near Shore with no memory of her family at all. So unless Mayu were to someday be killed or released by Tenjin or just somehow go to the Far Shore (which is saddening enough already), her poor daughter and husband will ''still'' be left longing and waiting to be with her for eternity; unable to find peace in death as they should.]]

*** This actually applies to ''every shinki'' in this story. Just imagine how many loved ones of shinkis are out there, having died and are now waiting for them forever in the Far Shore. It's impossible that all shinkis had terrible lives before they died; many of them probably had wonderful lives and loving families and just happened to be unfortunate enough to die young, which would provide a good reason for them to want to continue living. So really... how many? How many parents, siblings, spouses, relatives, and friends have had loved ones die from diseases and accidents and other things beyond anyone's control, spent the rest of their lives missing them, and then finally passed on feeling happy that they'll finally be together again... only to find that their son, daughter, brother, sister, wife, husband, is ''still'' not there with them and can't be found no matter how hard they look, because they're shinkis in the Near Shore.

*** This actually applies to ''every shinki'' in this story. Just imagine how many loved ones of shinkis are out there, having died and are now waiting for them forever in the Far Shore. It's impossible that all shinkis had terrible lives before they died; many of them probably had wonderful lives and loving families and just happened to be unfortunate enough to die young, which would provide a good reason for them to want to continue living. So really... how many? How many parents, siblings, spouses, relatives, and friends have had loved ones die from diseases and accidents and other things beyond anyone's control, spent the rest of their lives missing them, and then finally passed on feeling happy that they'll finally be together again... only to find that their son, daughter, brother, sister, wife, husband, ''still'' is still nowhere to be found no matter how hard they look, because they're shinkis in the Near Shore.