This is a game that revolves around getting rid of your love-competition by any means necessary, and yet… even with all of the dark, disturbing, and downright sad things in this game, there's more than a few moments that make players go "awww" (though some are heartwarming in a creepy and/or twisted way).
- In a game about an emotionless love-obsessed killing machine, you can choose to forgo violence altogether and instead play cupid for all your rivals, setting them up with other boys. Imagine how your similar Yandere mother is flipping out at you for not following in her footsteps.
- On the flip side, imagine how relieved and proud your father must be to see that his daughter rejected her mother's tactics. Let's be honest, the man deserves something good like that to happen.
- In addition to that, you can also befriend your rivals and peacefully talk them into not pursuing Senpai. The cutscene is also another rare instance where Yan-chan is sincerely smiling. That is, if you ignore the very tempting "Eliminate" prompt for long enough.
- Yan-chan can use her normally violent tendencies to "persuade" those who are ruining the life of your Rivals to stop making them suffer. (Like kidnapping a loan shark's daughter and using her to force the owner to take back all the debt, for example.) Doing this, instead of simply murdering your rivals, is strangely heartwarming.
- For a game centred around a character YandereDev described as a "total monster", the above example showcases one of the game's (possibly many) options of Video Game Caring Potential moments.
- Choosing to lose the game isn't that bad. If you do lose, Senpai will still be happy in a relationship with whoever he ends up with.
- The game drives this home by playing a cutesy confession cutscene at the end of the week. It's nice to know that both parties are so happy with each other.
- Senpai accepts any confession he gets. He's just so nice you want to give him a hug.
- Ayano admits in the game's intro that she never felt anything before she met Senpai. He's such a Nice Guy that he managed to make a genuine sociopath feel human for the first time in her life.
- His rap battle against Budo reveals that he genuinely doesn't care what a girl looks like, or what clique she's in. If she's a good, kind person, she has a shot. What a nice guy.
- The teachers at the school seem genuinely to care about the students. Not one of them is ever rude to them unless they do something bad. Makes people wish they had them as teachers.
- On the rooftop Kokona Haruka confesses to Saki Miyu that she has a dead mother and an abusive father. Saki's immediate response is one of concern. She does not judge, and makes it clear she cares about her best friend.
- As of the "Friendship & Betrayal"
update, if you confront Kokona about domestic abuse, this doesn't seem to be the case.Kokona: He...he... He cries...
Yan-chan: What?
Kokona: He cries... and talks about his debt problems...
Yan-chan:Your father is in debt?
Kokona: When my mom died last year, my family lost a lot of money...my dad took out a loan so that he could continue to pay for my tuition fees... but... It turns out that he borrowed money from some really shady people... they raise the interest rate by 10% every ten days... and they threaten to get violent with him if he doesn't pay up...
Yan-chan: Loan sharks...
Kokona: I'm trying to help my dad get out of debt... I'm trying to earn money any way I can, but... the only ways to make money fast... are... gross... - Another thing is that, since Kokona doesn't actually suffer from domestic abuse, her willingness to meet someone on the roof to talk about it was probably her being incredibly concerned for whichever student left that note in her locker. What a sweet girl.
- As of the "Friendship & Betrayal"
- Call it 'Heartwarming on a Technicality', but even after you've trashed Kokona's reputation to the point that her friends kick her out of their group, you can still go up to the roof where Kokona is sitting alone on a bench and tell her she looks lovely. She performs the same animation she always does when complimented, but in context it feels much more profound, since you're the only person left who's willing to be nice to her... although you can then go and spread more gossip about her behind her back.
- Similarly, Musume used to still do the Social Butterfly pose after being released from being held hostage. It's exactly the same animation, but in context it feels like you can't take away her smile, even when she's been irreversibly traumatized.
- Students with the Heroic personality will do everything in their power to protect their classmates if they see Ayano attack people, even if it means facing a violent sociopath in a struggle to the death they may not win. At least by occupying you, they can allow other students to escape.
- You have to admit, there's something adorable about how Kokona and her friends go to the Cooking Club room to eat octopus hotdogs she made. Might also double as a Tear Jerker, since Yan-chan can ruin their friendship with Kokona, murder them, and/or frame Kokona by the end of the week.
- Budo will not hold it against you if you decide to leave the Martial Arts club. While he seems disappointed, he will tell you that you're welcome to spar whenever you like. If you try to join again, he will firmly tell you that the club has agreed that former members cannot join again, but he hopes you understand.
- Oka is surprised if you ask to join the Occult Club, and outright tells you so. There's something strangely endearing about how she welcomes you to the club and tells you about their attempts to summon demons.Oka: "Y-you actually…want to join? This is wonderful news…perhaps the world isn't such a dark and lonely place after all…"
- If Yan-chan takes a picture of someone with the Social Butterfly personality, they will make a little surprised ":o" face at first, and then smile brightly while flashing double peace signs. The animation is just so cute. It's doubly so when the character in question is Kokona.
- Assuming the Matchmaker mechanic can apply to non-rivals, there will be plenty of chances for Heartwarming. Yeah, you could just matchmake a rival to dispose of her, but you could also make your favorite side character happy by getting them together with their crush.
- Basically, fans have badgered the Dev about wanting the opportunity to hook up Pippi and Ryuto, who have mutual unrequited crushes on each other but aren't important to the game's story. Dev has said he will consider allowing players to matchmake canon potential couples like them.
- While the Delinquents may be a bunch of jerkasses, a planned feature will have them treat Yan-chan as one of them if her reputation is low enough. It seems that they do look out for one another, along with other social outcasts and misfits.
- The current animation for preparing octopus hotdogs in the Cooking Club features a cute smile. This would be adorable enough already, but the two characters who perform this action thus far? Kokona, who damn needs something to smile about, and Yan-chan, our Emotionless Girl Villain Protagonist.
- In the "Raising the Strength Stat" video, there's something cute and endearing about seeing Senpai and Osana walking out of school together. She calls him a baka for whatever reason like she usually does, and he just laughs it off like it's an in-joke between them and he's used to it, which he probably is. It's a nice Friendship Moment.
- The May 2nd 2016 update added some interior decorating to the Light Music Club. With it came a Team Pet in the form of Mr. Jazzy Feet, a turtle. And he is positively adorable.
- The ten rivals have differing personalities and attitudes, from the tomboyish Asu to the feminine Amai, the shy Oka Ruto to the brazen Osana Najimi, and more. Senpai is so accepting of all of their personality traits and faults, he also sees the best in them and won't look upon them negatively if, for example, they end up covered in blood. Though Senpai will automatically freak out and trigger a Game Over if he sees you covered in even a drop of blood.
- The June 1st 2016 update is one giant Throw the Dog a Bone for Kokona. Not only can you now help her with both her dark secrets, but this is also the only update video in which Kokona isn't killed or harmed in any way (not counting the examples at the beginning of the video). In addition, Kokona gives up Senpai willingly, requesting that Yan-chan better be good to him.
- In more detail – Kokona asks Yan-chan to obtain a new uniform for her, because hers does not accommodate her massive bust. After Yan-chan does so, the two become friends. Later, Yan-chan confronts Kokona about her father and his drinking problem under the impression that she's a victim of domestic abuse. Kokona explains that her dad is not physically or sexually abusive. He does, however, dump a lot of his stresses onto her. Essentially, her mother was the family's primary breadwinner. When she died, he was left unable to pay for Kokona's tuition to Akademi. He ended up in crippling debt to a loan-shark. Yan-chan decides to "take care of" the problem. She kidnaps Musume, the loan-shark's daughter, and holds her for ransom: the payment being that all his clients have their debts forgiven. Once he agrees, Yan-chan releases Musume, then calls Kokona, whose dad has just received a call that his debt is paid. Yan-chan then asks Kokona to meet her the next morning to talk. At this point, the player has two choices: While Kokona is rambling on and on about how she'd been trying to earn money through questionable means, Yan-chan can "eliminate" (read: kidnap) Kokona right then and there. However, should the player ignore the prompt and let Kokona finish, Yan-chan simply asks Kokona nicely to back off of Senpai. Kokona makes it clear that she really likes him, but at this point she's so grateful to Yan-chan that she agrees and allows Yan-chan to have Senpai… on the condition that Yan-chan is good to him. As heartwarming as this sequence is already, the voice acting really adds effect to the entire scene. Mom0kinote has a real knack for making characters sound absolutely endearing.
- For extra heartwarming, Kokona mentions during her rambling about her guilt over Saki involving herself in the whole incident. Saki found out Kokona needed money, but didn't know why, nor to what lengths Kokona was willing to go. In order to help, Saki attempted to sell her used bra to a male student from another school… but backed out at the last minute. It puts into perspective how sweet, innocent, and caring Saki is. It also shows that Kokona really treasures their friendship, and had tried to not bring her down.
- A bonus to all this? Instead of only releasing Mr. Haruka from his debt, Yan-chan makes Ronshaku release all his clients from debt. Everyone who owed money is free, and won't have to worry about the company coming after them anymore.note
- It's also kinda cute hearing Kokona call Ayano Yan-chan.
- Best of all, the end of the video reveals what the next elimination method will be… MATCHMAKING! And with this method, nobody has to get hurt.
- In more detail – Kokona asks Yan-chan to obtain a new uniform for her, because hers does not accommodate her massive bust. After Yan-chan does so, the two become friends. Later, Yan-chan confronts Kokona about her father and his drinking problem under the impression that she's a victim of domestic abuse. Kokona explains that her dad is not physically or sexually abusive. He does, however, dump a lot of his stresses onto her. Essentially, her mother was the family's primary breadwinner. When she died, he was left unable to pay for Kokona's tuition to Akademi. He ended up in crippling debt to a loan-shark. Yan-chan decides to "take care of" the problem. She kidnaps Musume, the loan-shark's daughter, and holds her for ransom: the payment being that all his clients have their debts forgiven. Once he agrees, Yan-chan releases Musume, then calls Kokona, whose dad has just received a call that his debt is paid. Yan-chan then asks Kokona to meet her the next morning to talk. At this point, the player has two choices: While Kokona is rambling on and on about how she'd been trying to earn money through questionable means, Yan-chan can "eliminate" (read: kidnap) Kokona right then and there. However, should the player ignore the prompt and let Kokona finish, Yan-chan simply asks Kokona nicely to back off of Senpai. Kokona makes it clear that she really likes him, but at this point she's so grateful to Yan-chan that she agrees and allows Yan-chan to have Senpai… on the condition that Yan-chan is good to him. As heartwarming as this sequence is already, the voice acting really adds effect to the entire scene. Mom0kinote has a real knack for making characters sound absolutely endearing.
- On June 5th 2016, YandereDev proposed a beat 'em up system as a potential approach to the game. However, the responses from many fans were rather less-than-positive – several people on his blog wrote point-by-point critiques of it – and so the next day
he released a follow-up in which he apologizes for his rashness and admits it was poorly thought out, along with the ways it would and wouldn't work. You'd think that this would be a Tear Jerker moment and/or that Dev would retaliate, but he instead turned it into a lesson learned, taking some fans' concerns into account, and thanking the community for not being yes-men blindly accepting every idea and for being thoughtful with their responses even if they were against his proposal. Indeed, the top comments for both videos express compassion rather than backlash. In other words, even though his proposal was shot down, he appreciated that his fans cared, especially the ones criticizing it. It's a reminder that, even with the recent influx of prepubescent fans of this M-rated game, enough of the fanbase are not Midoris, but are people who like YanSim, care about it, and want to help by providing constructive feedback. - The July 24th 2016 video reveals that if the player kills one of the Basu sisters in front of the other (or Pippi or Ryuto in front of the other), they will not just stand there or run away anymore. They will fight back, and with the strength of a max-level Hero, at that.
- The Basu sisters' dynamic, as shown in-game and per Word of God. You can tell they're incredibly close by the fact that they're always together before class and during lunch. Inkyu is described as "a mini Midori", yet Sakyu humors her by answering her questions. They both wear similar contact lenses and makeup, implying shared interests. Even Info-chan notes how close they are. If you kill one in front of her sister, the other will attack you with all her strength. If one dies without her sister witnessing it, then for the rest of the game the surviving sister will be found in their typical meeting spot in a Troubled Fetal Position.
- Due to the Matchmaking Update getting delayed during September 2016, he released small previews each day past the original deadline until it was ready. Preview #6 shows Kokona and her new boyfriendnote about to confess their love to each other, walking together to school, and holding hands and sitting together on a bench during lunchtime (the later two also have them blushing and little hearts floating between them)
- Despite the fact that Ayano is a heartless sociopath and is doing it more out of Pragmatic Villainy than anything, it's sweet to see her set up a love confession and have it go through.
- Now that the only remaining elimination methods are rival specific, YandereDev has mentioned that the next task is implementing a true rival. Meaning Kokona finally gets a break.
- Now that the "rivals" have been released and given character profiles, there's a moment of heartwarming related to Amai Odayaka, the week 2 rival: while several of the rivals depend on Senpai for emotional support, Amai notably makes friends with Senpai just so Amai can give him emotional support after he's reeling over however you eliminated Osana in the previous week, with Senpai feeling sad and vulnerable. And it's this friendship that leads to Amai falling in love with Senpai, so while several rivals fall in love with Senpai because he was nice to them, it's the reverse with Amai, as if you don't eliminate Amai, Senpai can fall in love with Amai because she was nice to him.
- Normally, Senpai will not deal with students with an extremely low reputation. That said, Osoro's love for Senpai is heavily implied to be a case of Because You Were Nice to Me.
- YandereDev has considered giving the player the ability to leave notes and gifts for Senpai, to show that Ayano may not be an emotionless stalker after all.
- Well, the actual reason for it would be to keep Senpai's hidden Sanity stat from dropping too far from your actions – if you play the game as a murderous sociopath (especially if Hanako dies), Senpai will be near-catatonic by the time Ayano confesses. Still, considering that, being a Yandere, she could just as easily not care and kidnap Senpai to be hers whether he likes it or not, it's sweet to know that Ayano does care about Senpai's well-being enough to at least consider cheering him up a bit before making her move.
- Shortly after making a video ranting about Twitch's ban of YanSim in January 2016, YandereDev began to regret it, as he felt it destroyed any chance of a peaceful resolution with Twitch – if Twitch unbanned the game after that, it would give the impression that they could essentially be bullied into submission; but if they didn't, that would give the impression that they were holding a petty grudge against YandereDev. In short, he had inadvertently created a Catch-22 Dilemma. As a result, he uploaded another video defending Twitch and providing more reasonable explanations as to why they never responded to him (such as the e-mails never reaching him for whatever reason or them simply having no protocol for what to do if a developer disputes the banning of their game) in an attempt to "extend the olive branch" and resolve the issue more peacefully.
- The second video apparently worked, as the saga came to somewhat of a resolution in February 2017, when Twitch finally responded with an email explaining not only why Yandere Simulator was banned, but also why they had remained silent up until now, and why the game was unlikely to be unbanned in the near future.note YanDev went over the email in the linked video, coming to the basic conclusion of "It sucks, but I can see why they did it now; I'll lobby for it to be unbanned once the game is more-or-less done."
- The second video apparently worked, as the saga came to somewhat of a resolution in February 2017, when Twitch finally responded
- For an April Fool's Day joke video, the "Male Rival Introduction Video" is surprisingly cute, with little moments like the delinquent boy giving Ayano his coat when it's raining, the little brother character shoving Ayano towards Senpai, and the athlete protecting her from danger. It all looks like something you'd seen in a fun, WAFFy harem anime.
- When discussing Kokona's and Kizana's similar appearances, one of YandereDev's original ideas was for Kizana to copy Kokona's hairstyle, then have Ayano bully her into changing her hair. However, he later came up with another possibility: Kokona copied Kizana's hairstyle because she idolized her. Kizana wants Kokona to change it because Kizana values creativity in others, and thinks copying makes Kokona derivative. So she wants Ayano to help Kokona change it so that Kokona can be her own person, rather than copy Kizana.
- This video from the Russian section of the fanbase, posted at the end of June 2017, wishing Dev a happy birthday. He shouted it out in his next video/blogpost and said it was the nicest thing anyone had done for him.
- YandereDev's birthday happens to fall right before Anime Expo (the largest anime convention in North America, held at the Los Angeles Convention Center), and in both 2016 and 2017 he attended and held meet-&-greets with fans, several of whom presented him with birthday presents. At the 2017 meetup, he was given a handmade Yan-chan plushie, which he showed off in his next video and gushed about how cute it is.
- On July 9th 2017, the first C# Unity 5 build of the game went public.note Why is this heartwarming? Well, just read that blogpost. And the one posted the day after. And his video on the subject a week later. It's obvious that YandereDev has regained his enthusiasm for working on the game. After watching him struggle and spin his wheels for nine months, it's nice to see him finally have some joy again.
- The video Yandere-chan's Childhood, if canon, reveals something surprising about Ayano: the reason she even bothered pretending to be a normal, happy girl was for her father's sake, who desperately wanted her to be happy, not the Empty Shell she was. The one thing she does feel before meeting Senpai is pity for her father, who'd do anything and everything to try and make her feel something.
- Also one for Mr. Aishi, who is shown trying to get help for Ayano, and outright arguing with Ryoba about it, since Ryoba doesn't see Ayano's obvious problems as anything to worry about. Given everything Ryoba put him through, it'd be understandable if Mr. Aishi didn't ever go against her out of fear, and for the most part, he seems like an extremely Henpecked Husband. But when it comes to his child? Mr. Aishi stands up and tries to fight to help her, no matter what his wife thinks. It doesn't work, but Mr. Aishi's love for Ayano and determination to help her, in spite of the circumstances behind her birth, is really very touching. One has to wonder if this is why Ayano seems to genuinely care about him, in her own, very limited way.
- Yandere-chan's first meeting with Senpai is adorable in its own way, this being the first time she actually does feel something, just before things turn creepy and we're reminded of just who she is and what she is willing to do to make him hers.
- Pouty Osana is just adorable.
- Senpai's new lines make him sound less like a self-centered douche and more like he's genuinely concerned about this strange girl. Even his "Game Over" line sounds like he's trying hard to be polite.
- November 6th, 2017 gave us a taste of the "Rejection" elimination, and with it, what a successful confession looks like. Osana is clearly trying to force her confession out, but is in Tears of Joy once Senpai reciprocates. Even if it is a Game Over, it's cute.
- Each interaction leading up to this is equally adorable.
- On Monday, Osana cooks Senpai lunch. If you don't sabotage it, he'll love it.
- On Tuesday, Senpai loans Osana a book that his sister gave him; it says a lot about how much he trusts her that he'll let her borrow something so important to him. If you don't destroy it, she'll tell him she enjoyed it. Even if you do, he'll still be upset, but Yandere Dev says that Senpai will be ready to forgive her by morning.
- On Wednesday, Osana sets out to find a new hangout spot for Senpai, and takes some photos of possible locations. If you leave her phone alone, Senpai will compliment her photography skills, and his dialogue implies that he's considering one of the locations she chose.
- On Thursday, Osana, in her own way, asks Senpai on a movie date.
- On Friday, Osana tries to introduce Senpai to her music tastes by putting together a playlist that she thinks he'll like. If you don't sabotage the audio, Senpai will actually like it, despite his more classical tastes.
- There's also the simple fact that Senpai is so forgiving that all five interactions have to go wrong for Senpai to reject Osana—if one goes right, he'll still find it in his heart to forgive her for the other four mishaps. And even when he does reject her, he does so as gently as he can.
- So far, Megami Saikou has been hinted to be rather cold and ruthless. Then, we find that she cares enough about her friends to make things really hard on anyone who kills them.
- Crossover with Tear Jerker. YandereDev included a hidden character in the Mid-January update named "Rainey" who spawns in the martial arts club if you type her name. He later confirmed on Reddit that Rainey is the name (or at least alias) of a fan who is terminally ill and is likely to pass away before the game releases so he agreed to include her as a tribute character.
- The first Headmasters Tape reveals that Saisho Saikou, the former CEO of Saikou Corp, founded Akademi High for his daughternote , whom he cherishes even more then his multi-billion dollar empire.
- Subverted in the second tape. The idea that he founded the school to make his daughter happy was a bunch of crap and misleading distractions, or at least not the whole truth. He was actually grooming her to inherit said multi-billion dollar empire.
- The Delinquents would have been expelled if not for one factor: Genka Kunahito, who readily advocates giving them a second chance. Her reasoning is that they're not inherently bad kids, but traumatized children who latched onto the first person who provided them with a solution to their problems (namely, Osoro). She's even willing to risk her career to help rehabilitate them.
- Not only that, Genka doesn't deny that she could've prevented this, taking the first step in averting Adults Are Useless by talking about her failure and owning it. Even if she should've stepped in sooner, it's clear that she knows this and is determined to set things right. That takes one hell of a lot of humility and strength of character.
- Also, if Yandere-chan blames the delinquents for her being covered in blood, she sincerely apologizes to her for accidentally putting her life at risk by allowing the delinquents to carry weapons on school grounds, accepts full responsibility for it, and makes up for it by banning the delinquents from carrying weapons. This shows that she holds herself fully responsible for the delinquents becoming who they are, and is willing to do whatever it takes to make things right.
- The story of how they came to join Osoro is a bittersweet one. After witnesses Osoro defeat at least ten people single-handed, the bullied boys began following her around "like baby ducks following their mother," and imitating her. (This revelation is coupled with an image of one of the boys offering Osoro a snack as they all trail after her.) Rather than get irritated and telling them to go away, Osoro responded to this by... befriending them. It's also heavily implied that she's the one who taught them how to fight. Toxic Friend Influence she may be, the fact that Osoro befriended and became genuinely protective of these boys is a hint to what lies beneath that tough exterior.
- Not only that, Genka doesn't deny that she could've prevented this, taking the first step in averting Adults Are Useless by talking about her failure and owning it. Even if she should've stepped in sooner, it's clear that she knows this and is determined to set things right. That takes one hell of a lot of humility and strength of character.
- If you ask to join the photography club, their leader has some pretty heartwarming dialogue.
- If the school atmosphere is high, he'll respond by cheerfully admitting that the club is mostly an excuse for he and his friends to hang out and goof off, and apologizes if you were looking for a real photography club. If you say you want to join anyway, he happily welcomes you into the group, saying you're welcome to hang out with them, and offers you some snacks. It's pretty sweet, especially when you remember that he's never even met Ayano before.
- If the school atmosphere is low, he's more serious, and explains that he and the rest of the club are going to patrol the school to try and figure out who's caused all the school's problems, saying, "Everyone in this school deserves to be safe and happy. We won't let anyone turn our school into a dangerous, scary place."
- Even though it's an act, there's something truly heartwarming about seeing Ayano on stage during the drama clubs activity.
- Filed under "Heartwarming in a twisted way" is A Childhood Lesson; it starts with Ayano helping her mother with dinner when Mrs. Aishi "accidentally" cuts herself, which she uses to segue into a lesson on how to properly clean up blood. While the intent is so that Ayano can use this knowledge to get away with murder later in life, Mrs. Aishi is so nurturing about it that it still comes off as sweet. In addition, considering their biological sexes, a lesson on cleaning up blood would be perfectly innocuous in any other context.
- Raibaru's backstory. She was the original Martial Arts Club Leader who had a 100% win streak. When she was finally defeated by Budo, she was... actually relieved, as it meant that she could try out other hobbies she couldn't before. After leaving the club and putting Budo in charge, she became close friends with Osana, to the point where they wear matching accessories and are virtually inseparable. If you try to attack Osana in front of her, she will instantly flip and deliver a No-Holds-Barred Beatdown.
- We can now listen in on the Basu Sisters' conversations. The way Sakyu promises to protect Inkyu is very sweet.
- Now that the August 31st, 2020 build has officially released Osana as a rival, it's possible to eliminate her without violence or cruelty in a couple of ways:
- Ayano can befriend Osana by going to Osana's stalker's house and getting back Osana's cat so the stalker can't use the cat as leverage to prevent Osana from calling the police. If you do this, to pay Ayano back, Osana will agree to stay away from Senpai for the sake of Ayano's feelings, so Ayano now has less competition for Senpai's heart without having to hurt or kill people.
- Also, it's possible to matchmaker Osana with a boy who has a crush on her, namely Kyuji Konagawa. It will take some work, as the process takes all 5 weekdays, but if Ayano succeeds, Osana and Kyuji will confess feelings to each other and hold hands. However, the "RIVAL ELIMINATED" message during this scene will remind the player that as heartwarming as this romantic confession is, Ayano only gave them this happiness for selfish reasons, as Osana being a couple with Kyuji means less competition for Senpai's affections.
- The cut scene where Taro first meets Amai. He goes in sad, either because he feels bad about hurting Osana's feelings or because of her death and she does her best to cheer him up.
