"Thank you for saving Michael, Tar-chan. You're... a good brother."
Examples of tearjerkers in Jungle King Tar-chan. Despite it being primarily focused on humor, there are quite a lot of poignant scenes too.Examples from here on out will not be marked by spoilers. open/close all folders
32 Western Clans Arc
- Ryo-Shihan's relationship with Renhou. They were engaged and almost married each other until Renhou's siblings were assassinated by the Black Dragon Clan, meaning Renhou became the new leader of the 32 Clans. A 500-year old policy of the 32 Clans forbids Clan leaders from marrying someone inside their own court, meaning Ryo-Shihan was unable to marry Renhou. It gets even worse in the tournament; Ryo-Shihan gets faced with a Sadistic Choice of either surrendering to Black Dragon or winning for White Crane. The former meant that while he could marry Renhou, the 32 Clans would be turned into guilds of assassins under Black Dragon rule, while the latter option meant Renhou would stay in power, forbidding Ryo-Shihan from marrying her.
Corgan Arc
- Alexander's one night stand with the Queen of Arabia, which ruined his life. The Queen ended up being pregnant with Tar-chan and Alexander ended up jailed by the King, due to be executed. So Alexander flees and settles a new life in America with nothing but the clothes on his back, while the Queen was forced to abandon Tar-chan in the African jungles, leaving him to fend for himself. Keep in mind Tar-chan was just recently born.
- Alexander getting involved with MAX. When he decided to leave, he had to compensate by giving up his first born son. He ended up having twins, so MAX forced him to give up both and trained them both to be remorseless killers gathering revenue for MAX. The elder twin, Rot, ended up killing the other, Nit, in a death battle. This is all after the twins grew up entirely dependent on each other as well as Alexander's achievements in the newspaper, believing that if they became strong enough Alexander would accept them. So Rot escapes MAX, only to realize that not only had Alexander had another illegitimate son he previously abandoned(Tar-chan), but that he also had three more children after, who all grew up in happiness. Makes sense that Rot would end up holding a grudge.
- Turns into a Heartwarming Moment at the end of the Corgan arc, when Tar-chan manages to reconcile the entire family together (Even Nit). The Where Are They Now states that Rot was happily accepted into the family and even became vice-president of Alexander's hotel business. Tar-chan's fight with Apollonia shows that Lisa has accepted him enough to call him brother.
- Nit brought back to life as Apollonia. The scene with Rot futilely showing him pictures of the duo in the past really breaks your heart, as Apollonia fails to respond and the previously reserved Rot bursts into tears. Then you find out at the end of the arc that Apollonia actually still has his memories, which are just suppressed by a mind chip Tar-chan knocked out. Apollonia knocks out the MAX goons and returns to Rot, even though without MAX's medicine Rot will die in an hour. One of the final shots of the episode features the entire Corgan family, Rot and Tar-chan included, mourning over his casket, indicating he had spent the final hour of his life with the family he always wanted since childhood.
- Matt and later Michael being fatally injured by Apollonia (Matt is killed in the manga). The subtext is already horrible enough with brother killing brother, but the way Lisa and Tar-chan grieves really hits it. In Matt's case, Ryo-shihan exhausts himself using ki to heal his wounds, with Matt not surviving despite the attempt in the manga. Michael almost dies by replacing Anabebe as the Red Bandit, promising to be a fighter worthy of Tar-chan and Alexander, with a shamed-Anabebe just barely saving him by breaking the ring pole, while Ryo-shihan is upset over not properly learning how to heal wounds with ki like Zhou.
Vampire Arc
- Shimer kissing Edward right in front of Yannen. Keep in mind that Edward is a Manipulative Bastard using Shimer to gain control of King Dan, while the latter was the Victorious Childhood Friend who tried to save King Dan from Cerberus. Shimer is so deluded by Edward that she believes Yannen to be evil, which quite obviously breaks his heart. It's even worse when it's revealed that Yannen's father is a major supporter of Cerberus, who threw him in jail to be tortured after Yannen refused the opportunity to replace Dan as king. After breaking out with Algore's help, he goes to save Shimer, who still resists him. It takes Yannen getting beat into a pulp by the transformed King Dan for Shimer to finally have a Heroic BSoD and return back to him.
- King Dan turning into Cerberus' puppet. If Leia's flashbacks are anything to go by, Dan is both a firm, just king as well as a kind, doting father. Seeing the aftermath of Edward's "optical exam" in contrast to his previous behavior is really unsettling. Not helped by Leia being the Only Sane Man (who is alive) who actually questions Edward, with Shimer having completely fallen in love with him. Seeing King Dan fight against the Rose Tower guardians is also heart-breaking, as one is Leia herself and the other four are warriors he personally trained and has a family bond with. Heartwarming Moments at the end when Tar-chan similarly knocks out Dan's mind chip, allowing him to regain his memories just in time to block a missile aimed at everyone else, killing him.
Clone Arc
- Mr. Mexico giving Pedro a voodoo doll as a gift, shortly after making rice balls for him to eat. He shows Pedro a picture of his family and points out his newest born daughter, happily claiming that she has learned to say daddy for the first time. After resolving to retire after the tournament and encouraging Pedro to settle down with Helen, he gets killed by a MAX clone.
