History TearJerker / Saiyuki

*** "Be strong, Genjo Sanzo"

** The flashback to the first time Sanzo ever killed a man, at age 14: [[spoiler:he shot the man who was threatening to rape him at point-blank range. He's still having nightmares about it 4 years later.]]
** Abbot Jikaku's [[spoiler:death, which echoes Koumyou's.]] In ''Saiyuki Ibun'', we see Jikaku actually knew Koumyou (then named Houmei) before he ever became a Sanzo.
* In the manga, after [[spoiler: Gojyo leaves alone to go after Kami-sama, Hakkai gets into an actual argument with Sanzo.]] After reading seven full volumes of him alternating between StepfordSmiler mode and cold-anger mode, watching him [[spoiler: shout]] is like watching your mom [[spoiler: shout]]; it's scary and not right and you want it to stop. Now, please?

** The giant bear Nataku resisting his orders just the tiniest bit at the urging from Kenren and [[spoiler: eating him entirely, and not leaving anything for evidence to use against him posthumously]] Kenren urging him on to the tiny act of defiance, even as he is dying, and sympathizing with his murderer... No wonder Gojyo has the biggest heart of any of the ikkou.

---> [[spoiler: Kanzeon Bosatsu (to Goku): ...I've made you suffer so much. In the place of my nephew Konzen, and his companions Kenren and Tenpou... Let me be the one to tell you, "I'm so happy... to have met you."]]
** The [[DownerEnding whole ending of Gaiden]], [[spoiler:just as Konzen and Goku finally made it to Earth's entrance door, the door was really close to being closed shut but Konzen used his body to keep it open so Goku can get through. He ends up getting crushed to death and Goku is left [[HeroicBSOD frozen for several days straight]] before having [[LaserGuidedAmnesia his memories sealed away by Kanzeon Bosatsu]] and imprisoned for 500 years.]]

* Sanzo's reaction when [[spoiler: Ukoku gravely wounded Goku. We've always seen Sanzo hurt and Goku losing his shit over him, but to see it finally reversed and see Sanzo COMPLETELY lose it is heartbreaking, especially since he's rarely lost his cool no matter what crises hits the group.]]
** For that matter, Gojyo [[spoiler:trying to revive Hakkai]] in the aftermath of that incident. Crosses firmly into the Awesome territory, because it's plainly obvious that Gojyo is ''completely freaked out'', yet unlike Sanzo he actually attempts to do something useful -- even though he has no healing powers like Hakkai, no resurrection powers like Hazel, and quite possibly no past experience at performing CPR, either. What makes it worse is that [[spoiler:the first thing Hakkai asks upon regaining consciousness is "how is Goku?". Granted, Goku did almost die shortly before that, but really...]]
---->"...Why are you making that face?.. :)" \\

* [[spoiler:Dokugaku's]] death in ''Reload Blast''. He dies after thinking of the brother he abandoned and how he was trying to make amends to Gojyo by taking care of Kou.
* [[spoiler: Goku and Nataku's reunion. They don't remember each other, but Goku still calls out to him.]]

** Tenpou running out of cigarettes. No seriously, especially since cigarettes are thematically linked in Saiyuki with life, his running out just as he's facing his last wave of soldiers is saturated with symbolism, without hitting you over the head. I really teared up though, when he thought about how he had to get more...

* [[spoiler:Dokugaku's]] death in ''Reload Blast''. He dies after thinking of the brother he abandoned and how he was trying to make amends to Gojyo by taking care of Kou.

* Hazel at the end of Reload, unlike [[GeckoEnding Gunlock]], he gets amnesia and when his caretaker hands him Gato's headband, he breaks down into tears.

* Pippi's death. At first you think her fate will be left implied, but otherwise ambiguous, having kissed Goku and ridden off to a hopeless war. But right when we were starting to recover from this, Minekura goes and makes it explicit with the distant explosion and the look on Goku's face... That's just cold.

* Sanzo's prayer for the living

** Goku and the bird. It's a dead bird. And you will cryyyyyy.

** Sanzo also gets one, when stripped of the sutra he's supposed to be protecting, and the last link with his master, horrifically injured and in no state to get out of bed, he continues to try to crawl out of bed to go kill Kami-sama and get it back. But the kicker is him insisting they don't call him Sanzo as he does it. Because thats not his name after all, it's a title, given to the keepers of the sutras, and he's lost not one, but TWO sutras now. For his entire adult life, he has defined himself by his title and his quest to recover the Seiten sutra. In fact, he always introduced himself by his full title until Goku showed up and shortened it to Sanzo. So without the Maten, Sanzo DOESN'T EVEN KNOW WHO HE IS ANYMORE. He is literally no one until he gets it back.

* The ending of ''Saiyuki Gaiden'', especially [[spoiler:Kenren, Tenpou, and Konzen's deaths]].

* Oh, god, ''{{Saiyuki}}''... where to begin?
** Just about anything to do with Koumyou Sanzo, mostly due to one we see early on:
-->Sanzo: I couldn't save him...

** Sanzo's prayer for the living
** The ''entire'' manga chapter "10 Years Ago."
** In the manga, after [[spoiler: Gojyo leaves alone to go after Kami-sama, Hakkai gets into an actual argument with Sanzo.]] After reading seven full volumes of him alternating between StepfordSmiler mode and cold-anger mode, watching him [[spoiler: shout]] is like watching your mom [[spoiler: shout]]; it's scary and not right and you want it to stop. Now, please?

** Sanzo also gets one, when stripped of the sutra he's supposed to be protecting, and the last link with his master, horrifically injured and in no state to get out of bed, he continues to try to crawl out of bed to go kill Kami-sama and get it back. But the kicker is him insisting they don't call him Sanzo as he does it. Because thats not his name after all, it's a title, given to the keepers of the sutras. and he's lost not one, but TWO sutras now. Since the death of his master, and his acceptance of it in burial, he has defined himself by his position. In fact, he always introduced himself by his full title until Goku showed up and shortened it to Sanzo. So without the Maten, Sanzo DOESN'T EVEN KNOW WHO HE IS ANYMORE. He is literally no one until he gets it back.
** ''Gaiden.'' When Nataku is ordered to kill Goku, just as Goku has finally been given a name and had been looking forward to telling it to him. Also the scene where Goku is stuck in his SuperPoweredEvilSide, and Konzen, despite having three trained soldiers nearby, refuses to back away, kneels and clutches Goku, pressing their foreheads together and declaring that ever since Goku put his hand in his, he hasn't been able to let go. Also ''also,'' Kenren, Konzen and Tenpou explaining a PinkySwear to Goku, and they all swear that they'll be together forever on Earth. This series makes an ''amazing'' use of ForegoneConclusion, because even as you're getting attached to the pre-incarnations of these characters you already love, you know that they HAVE to die for the rest of the story to be possible... even though they're all so happy! And devoted to each other!
** Especially the ending of Gaiden

* Sanzo's reaction when [[spoiler: Ukoku gravely wounded Goku. We've always seen Sanzo hurt and Goku losing his shit over him, but to see it finally reversed and see Sanzo COMPLETELY lost it is heartbreaking, especially since he's rarely lost his cool no matter what crises hits the group.]]
* Pippi's death. At first you think her fate will be left implied, but otherwise ambiguous, having kissed Goku and ridden off to a hopeless war. But right when we were starting to recover from this, Minekura goes and makes it explicit with the distant explosion and the look on Goku's face... Thats just cold.

** The giant bear Nataku resisting his orders just the tiniest bit at the urging from Kenren and [[spoiler eating him entirely, and not leaving anything for evidence to use against him posthumously]] Kenren urging him on to the tiny act of defiance, even as he is dying, and sympathizing with his murderer... No wonder Gojyo has the biggest heart of any of the ikkou.

* Sanzo's reaction when [[spoiler: Ukoku gravely wounded Goku. We've always seen Sanzo hurt and Goku losing his shit over him, but to see it finally reversed and see Sanzo COMPLETELY lost it is heartbreaking, especially since he's rarely lost his cool no matter what crises hits the group.]]

---> [[spoiler: Kanzeon Bosatsu (to Goku): ...I've made you suffer so much. In the place of my nephew Konzen, and his companions Kenren and Tenpou... Let me be the one to tell you, "I'm so happy... to have met you."]]

* In ''Saiyuki Reload,'' Yakumo's death in volume one.