Tear Jerker / Chronicles of the Siren War

• Arizona's death. The description about her condition can make first-time readers turn away. Not to mention Thorson desperately trying to save her only for it to be for naught as she's Reduced to Dust. She gets better.

• If you think this is just an action story with cute girls, reading Laffey's experience prior to meeting Commander Thorson can make you seriously reconsider that idea.
  • She's separated from her three best friends who are now in the hands of powers who won't hesitate to use them against her.
  • Her previous commanders treat her as nothing more than a weapon and when she does things that they don't like, they either call her "useless" or "a demon".
  • Thorson is horrified when he finds out that Laffey has been living in a cold, empty room and has no personal belongings whatsoever except her bourbon which she drinks to not think about the pain of being alone.

• Just the state the Azur Lane base was in: all shut down and boarded up. Anyone who plays the game and watched the anime will feel disheartened to read this. It becomes a happy tearjerker once everyone brings it back to its former glory.

• What happens to Nachi is one of the many displays that showcases that War Is Hell. The last thing the shipgirl does is desperately cry for her sisters before being Killed Off for Real. At least she's given a proper burial and her soul is put to rest rather than be taken by the Creator.

• Pennsylvania reveals that following Pearl Harbor, Oklahoma was severely injured from the fight. However, instead of helping her, Eagle Union left her that way until she died. This caused Nevada to commit suicide, choosing to be with her sister.

• Warspite learns about the possibility of resurrecting Kansen, but to her disappointment, that ability only occurs in specific conditions which her dead friends did not undergo.

• The scene of Thorson helping Z23 bathe is heartwrenching: she's thin as a stick, too afraid to approach Laffey and Javelin because they might be illusions created to get her to kill them, and unable to shake off the lingering feeling of the Sirens' tentacles probing her mind.

• "Young man, this trap must be sprung. Your battleships would never make it. I am counting on you to finish the job." Rear Admiral Doorman then has his fleet valiantly sail into Jintsuu's trap just to give Azur Lane a chance to fight her Sakura Fleet. As in the real-life history, a torpedo snaps his flagship, the De Ruyter, in two and he calmly awaits his watery death on his sinking ship. His final words? "Fight well, young man."

• Hammann's reaction upon learning of the death of Sims.
  • Combined with Heartwarming, Yamashiro and the other cat-like Kansen sympathize with her plight and try their best to support her. Most notable are Yamashiro and Yukikaze, the former giving Hammann a hug while the latter expresses her condolences.

• Shiranui having to talk to Yukikaze about how seriously dire taking part in war is. It's only after Shiranui phases through her little sister that the latter starts to realize this before bursting into tears.

• Just about everyone saying tearful goodbyes before Midway happens because they know that this is a battle from which some of them might not come back.

• In Chapter 61, history has changed: Hornet sinks at the Battle of Midway. She even used her own body to intercept torpedoes so that her men can get to the escape boats. Enterprise witnesses this and can only scream in horror.
  • No matter the timeline, tragedy is just part of Enterprise's life.

• Chapter 63 shows that neither side wins entirely.
  • Poor Hammann can't catch a break as she now loses Yorktown.
  • Some of the Sakura Kansen did not survive the battle, and their sisters are understandably despondent once the news is out.

• While Akagi is a villain and deserves what she's got, you can't help but pity her as she's left broken and could only whispers Amagi's name.

• Tennessee's Freudian Excuse. She thought she found love only to then discover that the man actually had a wife and child and he used her.