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Heartwarming moments in Higurashi: When They Cry.

Onikakushi-hen

  • Onikakushi-hen, the gang's "punishment" for Tomitake.

Watanagashi-hen

  • Shion, who is actually Mion dressed as her sister, brings Keiichi lunch when he's on the brink of passing out. She tries to apologize for her sister, but Keiichi tells her to tell Mion to not worry about it, as it was part of the club, and she leaves with a smile. The visual novel is more detailed in this scene, as Keiichi is almost brought to tears every time he takes a bite. It's almost romantic, but it shows how much Mion cares for him. This is possibly also after Mion told Shion about the doll, showing she wants to forget about what happened, and is slowly showing her girly side in the process.
  • In the Watanagashi-hen manga, Keiichi starts crying after Rika and Satoko go missing because he thinks that it's because he told Rika about going into the Saiguden with Takano, Tomitake and Shion. He refuses to tell Rena and tells her that she will disappear if he tells her. Cue Rena hugging him and saying "Rena won't disappear."
  • Rika telling Keiichi she's aware that it was him and Shion that broke into the shrine, but assures him that she is doing all she can to protect him, because she likes him. It's double heartwarming, because she uses cats and dogs as a way of getting the truth out of Keiichi without pressuring him.
  • Rena and Keiichi, who think they know that "Mion" has comitted horrible crimes continue to support her, only asking that she rightfully turns herself in for the thing's she's done. Rena doesn't entirely forgive her for the crimes at all, but she still greatly mourns her unjust fate as head of the house to the point Keiichi hears her crying. On top of this, Keiichi, who had been greatly spooked by the events of that year's Watanagashi has "Mion" ask him to come see her crimes if he wants to, and regardless of how much it could destroy his idea of Mion he decides to steel himself for what horrors he's about to see just so she's not alone. It's actually Shion pretending to be Mion, but that's still incredibly amazing considering it's coming out of Keiichi's and Rena's hearts and Keiichi is of especially weak constitution. Meakashi reveals that Keiichi's trust in her actually affects Shion, even after she thought that the "demon" had completely taken over and couldn't feel sad anymore, her eyes start to dampen when she's about to hammer nails into him and is unable to do so, whereupon she tells him to escape and never see her again, for she fears she won't be able to stop the demon from hurting him at that point since her mind is slowly eroding over time.

Tatarigoroshi-hen

  • Satoko is introduced as an "annoying little sister" type of character who seems to have a rivalry with Keiichi. When Keiichi finds out that he had to be the one to cook for himself since his parents left for a job, everyone decides to have a club game where the best food becomes the winner, and the worst becomes the loser, thus suffering the punishment game... which is to tell Chie, the "curry demon", that curry sucked. Everyone makes fun of Keiichi, including Satoko. Keiichi boastfully declares that he knows how to cook, despite knowing that he doesn't. Later that night, Keiichi almost burns his house down whilst trying to cook. Fortunately, Rika and Satoko arrive in time and stopped the fire. Satoko, Keiichi's own rival, decides to cook for him so that he could have dinner. She also prepared him some food for the club game they had, giving him some tips of her own.
    • Satoko calling Keiichi "Nii-nii".
    • Everyone makes fun of Keiichi's bento, not knowing that it was Satoko's. Keiichi holds up a literal trial in the whole classroom in order to defend Satoko's honor.
    • After Rika and Satoko exposed themselves as cheaters during the club games, Keiichi exposes himself too. While enduring the punishment game, both Satoko and Rika decide to take the blow for Keiichi.
    • For the rest of the days his parents were at Tokyo, Satoko cooks for Keiichi.

Himatsubashi-hen

  • There's no "Crowning Moment of Cute" page, so this example goes here: Akasaka first meets Rika. "Nipaa~"
  • Even cuter, when Rika is at the town meeting with the Sonozakis they are discussing rumors that there might be a cop snooping around, not knowing Akasaka is that cop. Rika expresses excitement since she likes the idea of a fresh new face in town. What makes it even cuter is, while she's listening, she's drawing a picture of her and Akasaka holding hands.

Meakashi-hen

  • In Meakashi-hen, although it is an early sign that Shion has Hinamizawa Syndrome, when Shion first hears the extra step and believes that it's Satoshi, after a mental conversation with him saying that he'll stay with her and lend her his strength. I couldn't help but think how heartwarming that was, even after thinking "Oh shit, Shion's going insane"
  • When Shion's inner demon is first awakened, she holds her sister Mion down and strangles her, demanding she tell her the truth about Satoshi. She then notices that Mion has three fingernails missing, exactly like her due to her "distinguishing." Mion tearfully explained that, despite her stoic exterior during the actual moment of Shion's fingernail removal, she was appalled and outraged at their grandmother for being so unfair and demanded that she get the same treatment as her twin sister, because as Shion's twin, she wanted to suffer through the same thing along with her rather than see her suffer it alone. In the visual novel, this causes Shion to fight the "demon" (later revealed to be the Hate Plague) in her mind that's controlling her thoughts, arguing that there's no way that Mion could be guilty because she loves her sister and knows she cannot cry crocodile tears. Shion finishes it off by telling it to "fuck off" in her mind, upon which the voices in her head disappear for good. Shion apologizes but Mion nonetheless claims that Shion has been hurt a lot more than her, both sisters then embrace and fall asleep together.
  • A very small, barely noticeable one - at one point during her gradual spiral into total madness, Shion wonders if Grandpa Kimiyoshi, whom she has chained up in her torture chamber, has died yet, and expresses remorse at the prospect since she actually does love the old man. This may account for why she had been downright civil towards him in comparison to how she treats the rest of her victims.
  • Shion's dream at the end of the arc, moments before her death. She dreams of a world where she becomes Satoko's doting big sister. She gets along with the rest of the club members and is even a part of the club. Her wish comes true in Minagoroshi-hen.

Tsumihoroboshi-hen

  • During the Atonement Arc, the support Rena's friends give her after they find out that Rena killed the people who were conning her father out of a substantial amount of money. They tell Rena that she could have and should have come to them for help, and they make themselves come to terms with how Rena responded to her situation. Lastly, Rena's friends help her hide the bodies. Of course, they should have reported Rena to the police and made sure she got psychological counseling, but they got most everything else right.
  • Speaking of Tsumihoroboshi-hen, there's two of these within the same episode: when Keiichi confesses to his True Companions about the toy gun incident (to which Mion tells him that there's nothing wrong with hiding embarrassing parts of your past and Satoko reassures him that he's a great guy with nothing to be ashamed of), and when he apologizes to Mion for killing her in Onikakushi-hen, despite her not remembering:
    Keiichi: "I will never distrust you, no... I will never doubt a friend, ever again."
    • Special mention goes to Rika in this as she was the only one to understand Keiichi's sudden memories of killing Mion and Rena. It's the first time she ever speaks to him onscreen as her true self and one of the few times her usual Affectionate Gesture to the Head isn't in a mocking way.
  • A brief moment from the manga and the visual novel: After the confession scene above, Rena, in a moment of lucidity, comes over to Keiichi's place to apologize for their fight. She realized that it was extremely hypocritical of her to judge Keiichi for keeping his past a secret, when she did the exact same thing with her time in Ibaraki. Keiichi, of course, accepts her apology, and tries once again to reach out to her. Sadly, she rejects his offer, and the very next morning she takes the entire school hostage. But for that moment, Keiichi, and by extension the readers, saw the real Rena, and it gave a sense of hope that she could be saved.
  • The last episode of the first season has Rena prepared to kill everyone in the school because she's suffering a delusion about an alien invasion. Keiichi disables the makeshift time bomb she set up and challenges her to a fight (his baseball bat against her billhook), and although she's clearly willing to kill him, he peppers the duel with friendly banter reminiscent of their water gun fight earlier in the series. When she disarms Keiichi and pins him down, he tells Rena to finish him off, and instead she breaks down and cries at the realization of what she's done. He hugs her and tells her everything's going to be okay. It was enough to bring Creepy Child Rika to tears. Their whole dialogue just before the end of their fight and the way he manages to snap her out of her paranoia by taunting her as if it was a game is impressively well-rendered, especially in the sound novel.
    Keichi: What? You want me to be your maid? That's something…
    Rena: You don't need to be my maid but… the rest is the same… I want you to say "good morning" to me when I wake up and "good night" when I go to sleep. I want you to treat me gently and make me laugh. Hm? Ahahahaha! I guess no matter who wins, we'll always be… together.
    Keiichi: Yeah… we'll alway be together. […] Rena… even if we die, we'll meet again in another life. When that happens…
    Rena: Yeah… we'll laugh in a normal way. We'll have fun in a normal way… and we'll fall in love in a normal way. We'll never doubt each other. We'll always trust each other.
  • Mixed with Tear Jerker, Rena's determination to save Keiichi as revealed in a flashback of Onikakushi-hen. Even as he slammed her fingers into the door and possibly broke them, even as he spoke to her in the coldest voice possible, even as he pushed her away countless times, even as he rejected the dinner she worked so hard to make, even as he was beating her to death with a baseball bat, she never gave up on him. Her image song Dear You -Cry- resembles her determination very well.

Minagoroshi-hen

  • Lets face it, Minagoroshi-hen has a lot of heartwarming moments. The first one, though (especially for shippers) is when Keiichi wins the doll after altering the "destiny" of the toy shop contest. Keiichi then starts handing the doll over while Rika tries to stop him, but instead of giving it to Rena (and thus causing Shion to eventually go crazy), he gives it to Mion, who tries to point out that she's not girly enough for dolls, but Keiichi says that even if she's a Tomboy she's still a girl to him. Cue Mion becoming more feminine and Rena wanting Mion to accept Keiichi's wish.
  • In Minagaroshi Rika has finally found out who killed her. In a CMOA she refuses to be drugged so she'll remember who it is that kills her this time, and as she's being butchered alive the spirits of her friends who died protecting her in this arc surround her and promise to help next time.
  • Minagoroshi-hen, where Keiichi decides that if they can't get Child Welfare's help to save Satoko from Teppei with just the five of them then the help of the ENTIRE SCHOOL caring about and advocating for her must be the trick. Bonus for Rena when there's too many of them to fit the typical conference room: "Please arrange a larger room... It's the room that should be adjusted for US."
    • When even that doesn't work, Keiichi gets even more support by rallying the staff and perverted customers of Shion's restaurant. When this catches the attention of Oryo Sonozaki, whose family owns the village and hates Satoko's family, Keiichi personally threatens her before humbling himself, to beg for her help. Oryo is impressed enough to actually lend her support, and just about the entire population of Hinamizawa turns out to help as well, even setting up signs on the side of the road to beg motorists to help. Finally, the snobbish head of Child Welfare listens to them and calls Satoko one last time. Keiichi tells Satoko over the phone about everything they've done to help her, and Rika causes her to finally give in and ask for help.
  • When Keiichi is shot by Takano. From his being shot to his death, no matter how heartbreaking this moment may be, you see just how much his friends really care for him.
    • The scene right before that when Rika is prepared to die protecting Satoko and realizes how important her friends are. Then Keiichi, Rena and the twins come out of NOWHERE and save them both. Then they all kick butt.
  • In Minagoroshi-hen, the fact that when Rika suggests siccing the Yamainu on Satoko's uncle to keep her safe, Irie is willing to go through with it, despite Takano pointing out that this could endanger his career. At first it just sounds like the drastic action so often taken in Higurashi, but then you realize that beneath the perviness and the claims of needing to keep Satoko alive to further his research on Hinamizawa Syndrome, Irie really, really cares about her.
    • Similarly, Takano seems pretty insistent on eventually giving Satoko a Mercy Kill rather than letting her succumb to her illness and using her body as a test subject afterwards. Despite this, she's among the people who helps aid the cause of rallying support for Satoko to help her escape her uncle's abuse. It's highly likely that the reason she wants to end Satoko's suffering, either through death or helping prove that she's being abused and needs to be rescued from it (or both, given her plans) is that she's been a sad, scared child who was terribly abused by horrible adults and can understand how Satoko must be feeling whenever she has to live with Teppei, making this a big case of Even Evil Has Standards.
  • Shion remembering her promise to Satoshi and taking care of Satoko for him.

Matsuribayashi-hen

  • The end of the last arc, as it is the only arc where nobody dies. It's very rewarding after having sat through many arcs in which people die in pretty horrifying ways.
    • Rika really puts it in perspective;
      Rika: Takano and Hanyuu, were you listening to what Mion said? We don't play Old Maid. Just Old Geezer. Takano laughed it off as being the same but it is a completely different game. After all, if one adds the missing card that is taken out in a game of Old Geezer, it becomes a game without losers.
      Hanyuu: Rika?
      Rika: After adding Hanyuu, our missing card, the world became a world free of losers. It is the height of folly to purposely take one card out of the game. This world doesn't need a loser.
  • Tomitake preventing Takano from being arrested and scapegoated like Nomura planned and getting her treatment for her illness instead. He also says that he'll forgive her even if nobody else will, and that he will help her heal and gradually become Miyoko Tanashi again.
  • There's a brief scene in which a beaten, broken Takano runs into Hanyuu in the woods. Everything is reversed from the usual perspective. Takano is distraught and vulnerable, while Hanyuu has discarded her usually shy and cute demeanor for something more in keeping with the god she represents. She speaks with authority, listens to Takano's sad story, and declares that Takano is forgiven. It's a powerful moment, and it reminds us that despite all the misery Takano caused, she herself was ultimately another victim and a pawn in someone else's sadistic game. That Hanyuu is able to see that and look past everything Takano has done (albeit first ensuring that her powerbase was eliminated) can inspire some tears.
  • There's a part towards the end of Matsuribayashi-hen where the group thinks that Shion has been killed (she hasn't), and Satoko calls her her "Nee-Nee", admitting that she thought of her as a surrogate sister, which causes Mion to embrace her and break down. The effect is enhanced by the knowledge that in Watanagashi-hen and Meakashi-hen, Shion killed Satoko in a particularly bloody and sadistic way, as Shion has become The Atoner in the later arcs.
    • Also, Shion's last words before making her attempted sacrifice is a request to let her twin sister Mion know how much she loves her and that she hopes they will be twins again in their next life.
  • In Matsuribayashi-hen, the reconciliation between Ooishi and Akane (who regularly brings flowers to the dam site manager's grave, despite having fought him fircely during the conflict) is a surprisingly sweet moment. It's made all the more heartwearming that Ooishi just understood he has been fighting the wrong enemy for four years.
  • At the very end, when Rika finally turns the calendar to July 1. The relentless tension of the entire series to this point makes that simple act very satisfying.
  • At the very very end Miyoko completing her flag collection and her parents surviving the bus crash, due to Bernkastel's intervention also saving her from the orphanage.

Gou arc Tataridamashi-hen

  • The small bonding moment between Irie and Keiichi, as they talk about their shared admiration for Satoko and the promise Irie makes with Keiichi (and later Shion) to never make Satoko cry. Knowing this series, that promise is as good as broken, but the audience knows how determined they are to keep it.
    • As mentioned before, Shion pops up as they’re talking and wants in on the promise to never make Satoko cry, stating she is Satoko’s “nee-nee” after all. Fans of the previous series will remember that Shion, at one point, blamed Satoko for Satoshi’s disappearance and even killed her gruesomely, before remembering that Satoshi begged her to take care of Satoko. Heck, in Matsuribayashi-hen, Satoko calls Shion her “nee-nee”, so this was a very sweet and very heartwarming call back.

Gou arc Nekodamashi-hen

  • As bizarre as it sounds, Takano actually breaks down and is genuinely remorseful for even considering murdering Rika and her friends. She even gives herself up of her own volition.

Gou arc for Satokowashi-hen

  • Surprisingly, Teppei Hojo, the abusive, selfish, violent Teppei, ends up having a big moment of this. After having experienced visions of two alternate timelines where he died, Teppei realizes that he will most likely die alone due to his life choices. He ends up running into Satoko, who's rightfully disturbed to see him again, he offers her some food with some sweets without asking for anything in return. He then interferes and protects her from a gang of delinquents who harassed her, and Satoko vouches for his actions soon after. The duo then walk home, and Teppei asks Satoko voices a wish to start over, wanting to at least share a meal with her some time. However, a Surprisingly Realistic Outcome happens and Satoko has a minor freak out when Teppei tries for a handshake. He can only accept this is a result of his own actions and lets her be, only wishing to perhaps chat with her when she's ready.
    • The entire episode ends up quite Heartwarming in Hindsight when in the Tatariakashi-hen arc and in the final miracle fragment seen at the end of Sotsu, Teppei actually makes good on his growth into a better person and while he still meets a tragic demise in the former, in the latter he is forgiven and accepted not only by Satoko, but by Shion and the village as a whole.

Others

  • This one also crosses over with Awesome Music but Dear You -- Bond certainly deserves a mention here. (Spoiler warning, though. But the impact is bigger once you've finished the series.)
    • Like one of the comments on Dear You — Bond video says: "The world decided that they had to die. They told the world to go fuck itself."
  • The properly named "Kokoroiyashi-hen", aka Heart Healing Chapter. It's even post Kai.
  • Rena confessing her feelings for Keiichi in the last OVA. Rival shippers may not find it cute, but the scene certainly is both cute and funny (Rika shows her dislike of romance), with all the blushing.
  • The alternate ending, Miotsukushi-hen also has this really sweet scene where Keiichi, in answering an interrogation by Rika, recounts how he gained forgiveness from one of the girls he shot at with his model gun and then goes further and lets Rika know that he remembers when she forgave him for what he did in Onikakushi-hen. The scene that ensues brought Rika to tears.
  • How about the change in the opening credits of Kai? All season we've seen Rika stop, turn around, and wave at the camera towards the end. After Minagoroshi-hen, we see that she was waving at Hanyuu, who promptly runs over to catch up with the gang.
  • The last Kira OVA features a much younger Rika who somehow ended up in the present. The scenes between her and Hanyuu are absolutely heartwarming. Especially the part where Hanyuu tried to keep the younger Rika from going home to all the cycles of despair that would await her. Younger Rika's response? She was willing to go home because she wanted to see Hanyuu again. Cue "awwwws."
  • The fanmade manga-only Hinageshi-hen chapter is a cross between this and a Tear Jerker. Mion has gone to a cram school away from Hinamizawa to get into Tokyo University, but stress and homesickness makes her do badly. Returning home out of desperation, she ends up believing that the rest of the club is plotting to kill her. However, it's cleared up as a misunderstanding, and no-one dies. Mion starts crying in happiness that her friends are still with her... Cut to the real world, where it is revealed that Mion has been catatonic after the Great Hinamizawa Disaster. Oiishi and Akasaka are at her side, having tried to question her. As her body starts crying, Oiishi says that it is the first time she's reacted since the disaster, and that they should leave. He notes that a flower placed in a nearby vase (a hinageshi) has faded. As he tells Akasaka, the meaning of a hinageshi in flower language is 'consolation'.
    Narration: That girl surely won't return to this world anymore. But that girl is certainly saved... in the dream...


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