Line #13 TearJerker/DGrayMan


1	[[quoteright:325:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/dgrayman-tearjerker_2758.jpg]]
2	[[caption-width-right:325:"I'm a crybaby... am I right?"]]
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5	There's no denying that ''Manga/DGrayMan'' is a series that loves to render its audience inconsolable.
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8	* Just the entire concept of the Akuma can teeter between nightmarish and TearJerker depending on how you look at it. You lose someone you love, someone you cared for so deeply that fat demons in trenchcoats wearing funny hats and ridiculous grins can feel it and approach you with the offer to bring them back. You agree to do so, and you'll find out that you brought back your loved one in the form of a [[EldritchAbomination metallic skeleton or some other mutilated variation thereof]] that proceeds to kill you because they have no other choice but to do so unless you kill them first, leaving either you dead and the resulting loved one ripping the skin off your body to wear as their own and take your identity from then on or for you to kill them (somehow), causing you to lose them all over again. And then there's the akuma itself. They were brought back to life against their will, only to be forced to murder the very person who brought them back to life, usually the same person whom they loved dearly. Then they would take over their loved one's body and resume their identity, usually portraying them as being of little emotion or ones many others would mistake as complete bliss, incredible obsession or extreme depression ([[SlasherSmile or something else entirely...]]). Inside, they're a tortured soul, forced to kill many while trapped in a body they can't always fully control, serving their purpose only as a bio-weapon of some sort whose only salvation is being killed by another. Oh, but not just ''any'' person! If you aren't killed by an exorcist, or their weapons, such as you, say, managed to kill yourself, [[FateWorseThanDeath your soul will be lost forever with no hope of being saved]].
9	* The part where Allen had tried to exorcise a collection of akumas masquerading as a happy family, only to be left crying in grief when one of the akuma blew themselves up before he could reap them, losing that soul.
10	* The Ghost of Martel arc is definitely one of the saddest moments in the series. It doesn't help that it's got such a haunting song in it as well...
11	--> ''"May I sing a song for you...?"''
12	** ''[[spoiler: "Are you going to sleep? I will sing you a lullaby then."]]''
13	** Bonus points for the song being Verse 18 of Mozart's Requiem Mass in D minor.
14	* Allen's flashback from the Jean and Leo arc...His cries for ''[[spoiler: Mana to come back to life]]'' were so heartwrenching to hear.
15	* Then there's the Fallen One arc. After Allen tries so desperately to save Suman, and then finds out his efforts were all for naught, since he'd already lost his soul, we get a flash to his daughter lying in a hospital bed, saying she had a dream where her father was waving goodbye.
16	* Pictured above: In episode 11, Miranda's inner thoughts right before she fully releases her Innocence
17	--> '''Miranda''': ''"As far as I remember, nobody ever thanked me. Everyone turned their backs on me. No matter what I do, I do it wrong. I can't help anybody. I can only be left behind, even if it hurts. But still. Even when I can't do anything well, I'll try anyway. Even though I decide to not try anymore, I regret it, and I attempt it again... After all, I can't do anything right. it's better if I don't try ''at all''. I'm an idiot, am I right...?"''
18	* The Krory and Eliade arc. Krory is an [[spoiler: Exorcist]] and Eliade is an [[spoiler: Akuma, so despite them being in love, he has to kill her, and during their fight she tells him that she was just using him. Then, when she thinks she's killed him, she turns back into her human form and walks towards him to say goodbye, only for him to suck out her blood from her neck and restore his health while crying, and she tells him that she loved him before turning into dust.]]
19	* Lenalee asking Lavi if she is still in this world after nearly dying. It's so touching, that later [[spoiler: Road uses it to MindRape Lavi.]]
20	* [[spoiler:Seeing Lenalee [[DespairEventHorizon completely break down mentally]] after Suman turns into a Fallen One followed shortly by the presumed brutal death of Allen at the hands of Tyki. The worst part is she gets to see the painful process through Timcanpy. And when the Asia Branch recovers him to their headquarters, she isn´t even allowed to see him.]]
21	* Lavi's whole internal battle against Road (though it's really more against himself thanks to her powers of MindRape) involves him revealing that he's not supposed to care about the people at the Order but now sees them as his friends. He's also being forced to kill illusions of them, until his "heart" dies and he becomes emotionless. This causes him to try and kill Allen (who can't figure out how to save him without killing him) while Lenalee helplessly screams for him to stop. [[spoiler: When Allen is about to be killed, Lenalee realizes that Lavi was using his Flame Seal to melt the candles Road was using to threaten her and Chaozii. It is shown inside Road's dreamworld that Lavi stabbed himself to keep from being completely controlled, and he then uses the Flame Seal on himself in the real world. Then, in the dream world, he stabs the illusion of Allen because he'd figured out it was actually Road in disguise, and then talks to two past versions of himself, who question him and ask him why he's different from them, to which he replies that they're the same person. All of this happens while Allen is trying to save Lavi from the Flame Seal and yelling his name. When the past Lavi (which is a small child who first became a bookman) hears Allen's voice, he realizes that what Lavi was saying was true and escapes from the dreamworld.]] This turns it into a SugarWiki/{{Heartwarming Moment\|s}}. Yes, the whole thing is very confusing if you haven't actually seen it.
22	* There's the end of the journey to Japan. All the exorcists assemble on deck with three of the crewmembers, Anita and Mahoja, the only members of the crew not to have been fatally struck during the many battles on the trip. All the the doomed crew members call out to the exorcists to win, and all the survivors climb into a lifeboat. Then, Lenalee reaches out to help Anita on, and Anita strokes Lenalee's hair and tells her to grow it out again. At that point they realise that Anita and Mahoja are doomed as well. The look on Lenalee's face as she realises this is heartbreaking. It's also heartbreaking for Miranda as well- her Innocence was the only thing holding the ship together and keeping the crew alive. The way she cries when she admits she can can no longer keep it active takes from the audience as well.
23	* The scene where Tyki [[spoiler: gets stabbed by Allen and Road panics a bit and goes to help him, after which he smiles at her and tells her it's okay. He then gets stabbed AGAIN and falls unconscious. Later, Road tells Lero to make sure he doesn't get burned in a fight... and later on, his Noah awakens fully and he spends several minutes screaming in agony before he transforms into Joyd's true form.]]
24	** Then, in later chapters, we see Road and Tyki [[spoiler: in a room full of broken glass, with Road bleeding, and Tyki sitting there shaking, holding his head, covered in scars and telling Road that it hurts.]]
25	** God do the Noah get a lot of unexpected b'awww moments. The part where it's Skinn's [[spoiler: farewell party, and they're all being made to cry due to Noah's sadness and pain.]] Jeeesus, this family is insane.
26	** We know that the the Fourteenth Noah [[spoiler: Nea]] killed all of the previous generations of Noahs except for the Earl and Road 35 years ago. How many times must all of the Noahs cried as they felt their family getting killed by one of them?
27	* During the battle with the Level Four, when Lenalee synchs with her evolved Innocence. It turns to a pool of liquid in her hands, and as she is about to drink it, her [[KnightTemplarBigBrother brother]] Komui runs to her, almost on the verge of tears. She looks at him, and then just gives him a smile, and says "I'm off then, Brother" before drinking and synchronizing with the Innocence. Made more poignant since if she doesn't synchronize with the Innocence, it will kill her.
28	--> '''Lenalee:''' ''"So please, for now, say 'take care'. Because I want to smile and say 'I'm home' again."''
29	** To add on to this, earlier on a flashback to a young Lenalee is shown that when she first wakes up is she pretends to reassure herself by thinking the whole war with the Exorcists and Akuma was nothing but a bad dream. Once she gets up, she smells her brother's cooking filling the house and runs towards him smiling. She lampshades it by saying that it sounds like the happy ending of a shallow novel with no conflict but she's imagined this scenario a thousand times.
30	* The death of [[spoiler: Tup.]] He had been transformed into a Skull and there is nothing his friends could do but hold him and watch as he will turn to dust and die. After being transformed into a Skull, [[spoiler:Tup had no memories of his past life and wasn't responding to his friends' cries. Not until a few tears from a sobbing Johnny landed on his face. He then remembered how he was exhausted from overtime and wanted to sleep, so much that if he could, he didn't feel like waking up again.]] Then he told Johnny, with tears in his eyes, showing that he was back to normal, even if it was only briefly.
31	---> ''"If I could live, I wouldn't care if I had overtime forever ..."''
32	** What made it even worse was the reactions of all his friends as they watched him die. [[spoiler:Especially Allen, who wasn't there to see Tup's final moments but knew that he had died.]]
33	** Heck, even ''[[{{Jerkass}} Kanda]]'' had what could be called a sad look on his face; he usually acts indifferent towards things like that.
34	* Pretty much any scene accompanied by [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F6-tLMDq33k this]] track from the OST.
35	** The story from the very first chapters (must've been the second) that this track was named after deserves a mention as well. Those poor boys. Poor Jean and poor, poor, miserable Leo. Seems like it's a general rule in D.Gray-man that there must be tears in the end.
36	* And there's the scene ParentalSubstitute and TricksterMentor General Cross Marian shows that [[JerkWithAHeartOfGold he's not a]] ''[[JerkWithAHeartOfGold completely]]'' heartless bastard when he has to tell Allen that he's the host for the Fourteenth Noah, and will eventually have his personality subsumed and be forced to fight his friends. He hugs him, apologizes, and rails against the Fourteenth for choosing someone with friends and a future like Allen. After Allen leaves, he says he can't make fun of General Tiedoll for being affectionate with his students anymore...
37	* The arc [[spoiler:involving Kanda's and Alma's past]] is really sad for the most part. Then chapter 193 comes along in which [[spoiler:Alma is driven to a massive killing spree, only to stop when he sees his best friend show up. Then after greeting him and cheerfully telling him he is going to kill him he attacks Kanda. Sadly, the fight doesn't go very long before Kanda is forced to strike down his only friend.]] After reading this any sympathy for the Black Order is completely erased; they [[spoiler:ended up forcing a child to go on a rampage and fight his only friend AND forced said only friend (also a child) to kill him in self defence.]] This incident [[spoiler:is what [[BreakTheCutie broke any cuteness]] Kanda had to begin with, turning him into the {{Jerkass}} we know today.]]
38	* Detailing on the aftermatch of the example above, Volume 20 came out with the three-pages-long extra chapter 193.5 - Have a handkerchief or two at hand... It's made 10 times worse by the simple fact that the other extra material in that volume are expanded bios on the flashback chapters. To further expound on this, its shown Fo carrying the body of Edgar (Bak's dad) over to his wife and saying while crying that it took a long time but the Second Exorcist Project will finally be stopped. In addition, Bak and Tui and their fellow scientists requested For not to protect them if anything happened. It ends with a panel of Edgar and Tui holding hands TogetherInDeath with Fo still crying and saying they were fools for rejecting a guardian angel's protection.
39	* From the anime we have a flashback to the accident that resulted in Mana's death. What makes it worse is you already know what happens after that and how Allen got his scar...
40	* Tokusa tearfully asking Madarao to absorb him after he loses both arms and can't fight, rendering him useless. By having Madarao - the most likely candidate to become a new womb - absorb him, he hopes to live on and still contribute to the war effort. Why? ''"Because we too would like to save this world"''.
41	* Tewaku stumbling around the battlefield, still horribly mutated and crying for her brother and companions, delivers this line just before [[spoiler:Millennium Earl uses the Ark on her]].
42	-->''"Everyone... please don't leave [[ThirdPersonPerson Tewaku]] alone..."''
43	* Chapter 198 when you place the face of Alma's [[ReincarnationRomance predecessor]] that Allen sees Kanda and Alma's attempts to kill each other and Alma's earlier attempt at a double-suicide all the sadder.
44	** Not to mention that when Allen attempts to intervene in Kanda and Alma's fight, Kanda lashes out at him, blaming him for how things turned out, even calling him a Noah. This culminates in Kanda stabbing Allen with Mugen, fully awakening the 14th.
45	* Kanda and Alma have ''so many moments'' but chapter 200 topped it all. [[spoiler:Thought you'd never see Kanda hold someone and ''cling''? How about Kanda crying and smiling while [[DiedInYourArmsTonight holding his dying beloved]] ? Doesn't help that the goddamned lotuses turned up again, possibly hinting that he died as well.]]
46	** Chapter 202 gave us an indication about that last line. [[spoiler:Everyone in the story is assuming [[TogetherInDeath Kanda has died with Alma.]]]] You may bawl your eyes out now.
47	** When the smoke clears and we see Kanda's messed up body, the whole of the end of the Alma-Kanda arc... both heartwarming and tearjerking.
48	** Though at the end of chapter 207, [[spoiler: Kanda has returned to the Order. A bit dirty, but his very Kanda-like smirk is enough to warm any fangirl's heart.]]
49	* Chapter 206. We get to see what Allen's state was like after [[DespairEventHorizon Mana's death]], and it's ''not'' pretty. His death left him a completely EmptyShell, a far cry from the cheerful cute kid we saw at the start of the series. He refused to speak or eat anything for days, and when he finally ''did'' start speaking, as Cross noticed, he started talking like ''Mana'', possibly to cope with the severe loss.
50	* Chapter 215 :[[spoiler: Allen's whole predicament after [[EnemyWithin The Fourteenth]] leaves his body. He has no idea what happened, just that The Fourteenth hurt Johnny, and that Kanda is now tending to the injured Johnny. He's visibly trembling and takes a few steps back, convinced that he hurt him. ]]
51	** The aforementioned scene [[HarsherInHindsight becomes worse]] when you realize that in chapter 167, Cross told Allen that [[spoiler: when he becomes the fourteenth he would have to "kill someone he cares about"]]. His paranoia over [[spoiler: hurting Johnny]] in this chapter shows that Allen is still, absolutely, ''horrified'' over the fact that he might end up doing that due to [[spoiler: the 14th taking over him.]]
52	** [[spoiler: Allen coming to terms with the fact that he does feel lonely. Seriously.... [[IronWoobie the poor guy]] just ''[[TraumaCongaLine can't]]'' [[TraumaCongaLine catch a break.]]]]
53	* The confrontation between the 14th and the Earl in chapters 218-221 in general. Especially with the reveal that Mana, thought to be dead up until that point, is actually still alive within the Earl but is [[BrainwashedAndCrazy so far gone off the deep end]] that [[AlternateIdentityAmnesia he doesn't remember Allen at all]] and is [[IdentityBreakdown firmly convinced Mana is not himself but some random stranger that murdered his brother]].
54	** His / The Earl's broken, lost, and confused expressions throughout the chapters are just heartbreaking and a far cry from the silly-but-intimidating figure the Earl was made up to be until that point. He swings from violent rage to childish clinging to near catatonic grief and then back confusion and crazed glee within the drop of a hat. Seeing it momentarily breaks the 14th's resolve and gives the Earl just enough time for CROW to interrupt the battle.
55	** With later chapters in mind it's heavily implied that the Earl considers [[spoiler: Mana]] and his nature as a FriendToAllLivingThings a threat to not only his plans but his entire existence and tries to make [[spoiler: Mana]] docile by frequently subjecting him to MindRape. [[spoiler: Mana]], a born {{Determinator}}, is essentially suffering a FateWorseThanDeath.
56	* Allen's breakdown in chapter 230. He is in a really f*cked up situation (which is nothing new, considering all the [[TraumaCongaLine shit]] he's always put through), and he knows it.
57	** Him finally accepting Timcanpy's death just makes the scene all the more heartbreaking, as he realizes that Timcanpy is gone forever, never to return again.
58	* Chapter 232 starts dwelling on Allen's childhood properly, and god it's not pretty at all. [[spoiler: The poor kid was a victim of violent physical and psychological abuse for years, at the hands of a particular clown, in the circus where he used to live. Worse, his interractions with the director heavily implies the man was a sexual predator, and had his sights on Allen, with the poor boy being seemingly aware of it and understandably freaking out completely. The worst part of it all, his own family sold him to the circus all because he had a strange left arm, sad.]]
59	* Chapter 235: It definitely says something when the first creature to even show ''any'' sort of affection to Allen (who was just called 'Red' back then) was a ''dog''. Heartwarming, and ''terribly'' heart-wrenching.
60	** When Cosimov tries to [[spoiler: feed poisonous food to the dog to kill it, "Red" kicks the food away and desperately tells it to run, despite knowing what's coming for him if he angers Cosimov. Cosimov then literally tries to ''choke the poor kid to death,'' and would have probably succeeded if not for "Allen" intervening and biting his hand at the last moment. Nonetheless, he is knocked out, and when he wakes up, he finds that the dog is gone, and starts fearing that Cosimov killed it... until he sees "Allen" performing with Mana onstage. Relieved that the dog is safe, he just tells it to lay low until Cosimov calms down as time passes, and then thanks it for the first time. In response, "Allen" licks his grotesque left arm, which pushes Red to tears as he hugs the dog and thanks it again before sending it off to Mana. He prays and hopes for the dog to be happy with its master... [[YankTheDogsChain only to find it lying dead and lifeless beside a grieving Mana the next day.]] ]]
61	** To add context to the scene where Allen licks Red's arm; he had had always been mistreated and ridiculed because of his left arm, and he himself also probably hated it, as it was hard to operate and didn't feel human, bringing him nothing but misfortune. But then he met this dog "Allen", that stuck with him in the winter, even if only for a few days, and didn't treat him as an abomination like the humans did. After being treated like crap for his whole life, this was the ''first'' time he was shown some affection, even if it was little. Is it really any wonder that the poor kid was moved to tears?
62	** Chapter 236 makes it worse. In an earlier flashback, "Red" noted that it was strange that Mana wasn't crying, with Mana claiming that his tears had dried up years earlier. ''This'' flashback reveals that he had to force himself to not cry for fear that the Earl would come.
63	* The current incarnation of the Millennium Earl is by Cross's admission extremely pitiable and tragic in general. With the context of the reveals in chapters 218-243, it's more and more likely that the people of the Order that are aware of his background [[MercyKill see killing him as a mercy rather than an justified act of vengeance]]. Cross even calls out Road and the Noah for using the Earl as a tool and manipulating his broken mind to their own ends, knowing that his current host,[[spoiler: Mana]], is not interested in their plot of vengeance. It's further implied that the man is barely capable of coherent thought anymore and that the current generation of Noah act independently on what they "think he should want" rather than explicit orders; foreshadowed in earlier chapters by the Noah taking time babysitting him.
64	** Essentially, Apocryphos' MindRape of [[spoiler: Mana]] through Allen in Chapter 242 wound up putting the power of an immortal demigod in the hands of an amnesiac PsychoticManchild.
65	* The 14th's melody is especially beautiful and sad [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mwUkkl8iEzc]]
66	** When Allen starts playing it in the Arc he notes with some confusion that he recognizes the melody and the notes: It's later revealed to be the song Mana sung when he met Red / Allen, and the letters are the "symbols of prayer" he taught him on their travels around England.
67	* The end flashback of the [[spoiler: Earl of all people]] is this as it implies that the 14th [[spoiler: Nea]] is responsible for the former's insanity.
68	* The song "Musician (Tsunaida te ni kisu wo)", especially as it's sung by Allen's [[Creator/SanaeKobayashi voice actress]] and could be seen as his perspective.
69	* From the third ''Reverse'' novel, Allen [[spoiler: taking [[WeNamedTheMonkeyJack his name from Mana's dog who was named after Mana's brother Nea's friend]], after Mana apparently goes (even more) insane and mistakes the little nameless boy for said dog.]]
70	** That whole damn chapter [[spoiler: (Lost Fragments of Snow) is one big tearjerker as we see how horribly [[ThePollyanna Allen]] was abused, physically, mentally ''and'' emotionally. Then comes his guilt upon the realisation that Mana's (worsened) unstable state might have been his fault. This means that even ''during'' his time with Mana, the [[IronWoobie boy]] [[ItsAllMyFault was a broken mess]]. Just TRY to finish the whole thing without getting the urge to [[TheWoobie hug him]] ''at least'' a few times throughout that ''single chapter''. ]]

Context TearJerker / DGrayMan