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Please don't list this on a work's page as a trope.
Examples can go on the work's YMMV tab.

Tear Jerker: Puella Magi Madoka Magica

You know you have a sad anime when the eponymous character is crying in the first few seconds of the opening.

As a deconstruction of the Magical Girl genre with the plot of a Cosmic Horror Story it is no surprise that Puella Magi Madoka Magica would have Tear Jerkers. Yeah, it's that kind of show.

Mami's death in episode 3, as well as any mention of it in the subsequent episodes. Madoka crying the next morning during breakfast because she's so lucky to be alive is particularly heartwrenching.
- For This tropette, Mami's advice she gave to Madoka before she fought Charlotte and died got her, as it was seen as Mami's last words and wishes to Madoka before her heartwrenching death.
This tropette is rewatching the series. On Episode 6, when Madoka and her mother talks into the night and her mother asked to grow up faster so they can to drink alcohol together... *snif* I've dropped a few tears.
- Becomes even sadder when you consider what happened in the final episode. *sob* They will never get to drink together...
  - Scenes with Madoka and her family become Tearjerking when you watch the end and you realize just what she was giving up when she made her wish to erase every witch from the past, present and future, and ascending to a higher plane of existence at the cost of retconning her from existance. Not to mention, in this Crapsack World these are the only times we ever see a parent-child interaction since the rest of the girls' parents are either dead or missing: Mami's and Kyoko's parents are dead in Kyoko's case, her father went crazy and killed the rest of the family before committing suicide, Sayaka's are never shown they make a brief appearance at her funeral in Ep 11 and Homura is implied to be an orphan as no mention of her parents is ever made.
Episode 7, beginning, Sayaka in the bed, holding her soul. My god, she is so broken here.
"I'll never be able to hold him with these arms, or kiss him with these lips..."

It's one thing to lose the one you love to someone else, quite another to believe you can't have him/her anymore because something's happened to you that you fear would Squick that person out, and hence you feel "unlovable". Disabled and disfigured people can probably relate easily.

After Sayaka contracts and she's hit with misery absolutely equal to the happiness that Kyosuke will have thanks to her wish. This is what ultimately leads her to become a Witch in episode 8.
"I've been such a fool..."
- This has been extremely hard for this troper. Aforementioned quotation, along with a tear dropping into her soul gem, breaking it and turning into a grief seed, was too much, even though this troper expected it.
- Eri Kitamura, Sayaka's voice actress, said in an interview that she and Aoi Yuki (Madoka's voice actress) sobbed during the episode's recording.
- At the beginning of the episode, Madoka tries to convince Sayaka to stop fighting recklessly, resulting in the latter snapping at her for claiming to sympathize with her while doing nothing and tells her to become a Magical Girl if she really wants to understand what she's going through before storming off. This scene is tragic for a couple of reasons: 1) Up to then, Sayaka had been andamant about Madoka not contracting which shows just how much the stress of being a Magical Girl have really gotten to her. 2)There's also Madoka's Heroic Self-Deprecation which only gets worsened after this. 3. This is the last meeting between Madoka and Sayaka before she turns into a witch so there is no reconciliation.
Also from episode 8, Homura's absolutely heartbreaking breakdown after she saves Madoka from making a contract with Kyubey. "Why... Why must you always sacrifice yourself?"
- Aaand of course made Harsher in Hindsight (see episode 10 below). "Always". Homura has already seen Madoka die at least four times; no matter how hard she tries to change Madoka's mind again and again, it keeps ending, ultimately, the same way. Four times? I think the word that Kyubey and Homura uses is ... countless.
Episode 9. Madoka's reaction to Sayaka's death, leaning over the body and crying into her chest. Then, Kyoko's Heroic Sacrifice/Mercy Kill on Witch!Sayaka, saying she understands how horrible it is to be alone, and she won't let Sayaka die that way.
- We also see Madoka trying desperately to reach out to Witch!Sayaka by reminding her of the ideals she once had only for her to be rewarded by her former friend attempting to crush and kill her in turn. Even more jarring when you remember her first act as a Magical Girl was saving Madoka from a witch herself.
- Looking at the translated lyrics for Sayaka and Kyoko's duet (which is the special ending theme for this episode in the DVD version) will probably make you cry all over again.
  - The image shown at the end of the episode while the song plays is devastating too. They are both submerged underwater. Sayaka, unconscious, is drowning and Kyoko holds her hand and looks at her with a faint smile. They're going down together. It perfectly captures the events of the episode. And this troper is about to cry just writing about it.
- ** And then there's Kyoko's thoughts as she's falling: "Please God...if this is how my life ends, show me a happy dream for once." *snif* This is probably the first time in a long while that Kyoko's cared about anyone other than herself. The last time she did a selfless deed which was to sign her life away as a Puella Magi in exchange for granting her father followers, it resulted in her losing her entire family in a Pater Familicide. Now that her attempt to change Sayaka back to normal has failed she's dealing with the fact that she brought Madoka to a death trap and someone is going to die because of her again. The music makes it more depressing.
  - In the manga only: after Kyouko's Heroic Sacrifice, she meets Sayaka again, waiting for her in the afterlife.◊
ALL of Episode 10. We see Homura constantly trying to Set Right What Once Went Wrong to save her friends from Kyubey and Walpurgisnacht, but fail every time so far. In most of these timelines, all of them die before her eyes. In the third timeline, not only does Sayaka become a witch and die, but Mami completely cracks and so she kills Kyoko by shooting her Soul Gem off, unable to handle how they'll become witches sooner or later... and Madoka has to shoot HER so she doesn't kill Homura. And then, not only do she and Homura fail to stop Walpurgisnacht without horribly corrupting their Soul Gems in the process, but she uses the last of her strength in a Heroic Sacrifice to drain the darkness from Homura's Soul Gem and asks for a Mercy Kill before she turns into a witch. The sound Homura makes before shooting her best friend to death is utterly heartbreaking.
- For this troper, Homura's silent Mercy Kill of Madoka's Soul Gem with the sole punctuation of the gunshot was the worst part.
- If you look at the clues it seems the Grief Seed she uses to save Homura was Sayaka's, Madoka carried it around with her all that time rather than use it.
- In the original timeline, Mami shows up, complete with Crowning Music of Awesome, just in time to save Homura from the witch who was trying to lure her to suicide. Knowing exactly what happened to Mami back in episode 3 turns this from a triumphant entry to an absolutely gutwrenching one. And seeing Madoka and Homura grieving over Mami's lifeless body just some minutes later.. *sniff*
- This troper cried throughout the entirety of episode ten. Seeing Homura before any of the events of the show took place, you can quickly piece together that the episode is going to be about how she is broken into the way she is in the present. You know it's going to be sad but this troper was not prepared.
  - Episode 4. After Mami's death, Madoka swears that she'll never forget her (since Magical Girls don't leave a body if they die in the witch's barrier, and Mami had nobody to remember her by). That by itself is depressing, but the exchange after that is even harsher in retrospect:
  Homura: Those words must make Mami Tomoe very happy. ...I'm jealous.
  Madoka: I won't forget you, either, Homura! I'll never forget how you saved us that day!
  - It's also Heartwarming In Hindsight: this time, Homura won't get to reset the Groundhog Day Loop.
- Not to mention that the episode turns pretty much everything involving Homura in the previous episodes into an epic Tear Jerker. After seeing everything she's gone through trying to protect Madoka, it's absolutely gut-wrenching to think of what she must be feeling when the girls that she was best friends with in previous timelines reject her advice...
- Episode 10 manages to take even the peppy opening theme, 'Connect' a tearjerker...simply by using it as the ending instead. Take a look at the lyrics, and you realize that the song is all about Homura and her resolve to finally save Madoka after all the failed recursions.
  - This troper found the theme to be on the verge of Tear Jerker from the very first episode. The song has never sounded peppy to me. It always carried a despairing, sorrowful tone. This combined with the imagery (see: page image) and the lyrics to form a lump in this troper's throat. With later revelations, it became a full blown Tear Jerker.
- It also provides a retroactive Tear Jerker. Notice that when they rescue Homura, Madoka and Mami appear to be working together as a team. Remember their conversation in episode 3? Where Madoka promised to become a Magical Girl and fight by Mami's side, right before the latter died?
- This Troper watched the whole series. Episode 10 was my favorite. After watching a few more episodes from the beginning, I saw Sayaka claiming that Homura was doing everything for herself. That was the one moment I wanted to punch Sayaka in the face.
Episode 11: Near the end of the episode... Homura laments her inability to defeat Walpurgis Night. Lying in defeat she prepares to turn back time again... only to stop after remembering what Kyubey told her, that each time she goes back, things get worse for Madoka. Not wanting to screw her dearest friend over further, she lies there and sobs, despair finally hitting her and causing her soul gem to visibly increase tainting...
- The music that plays during the scene takes this from a tearjerker all the way up to just plain heart wrenching.
- I'm broken crying when Madoka and her mother have their last talk. She knew the consequences of what she would do and yet she had the courage to convince her mother to let her go to her death or something worse...
- Sayaka's funeral.
  - The brief few seconds of that scene was barely enough to get this troper to cry, and this is coming from the guy who nearly cried during Asuna's funeral despite never watching the show or reading the manga and knowing little of the show. Though now the image of Sayaka's photo during said funeral gets to this troper from time to time.
  - It's not so much the funeral itself as it is the reality behind it. It shows us for sure that yes, Sayaka is dead.
  - Consider also that funerals for Magical Girls are probably rare events since Magical Girls don't leave a body when they die in the witch's barrier or that their bodies are never recovered when they become witches. Both Mami and Kyoko are dead too, however only Madoka and Homura are the only ones are aware of it and so neither gets a send off. Sayaka only managed to get one due to Kyoko carrying her body out of the barrier after she became a witch and having her body found shortly after.
- The conversation between Madoka's mother and teacher in this episode, especially combined with the conversation between Madoka and her mother in episode 6. It really hits home how unfair it is that the characters have to suffer so much, when they're basically still children. These are not the stakes they should be playing with.
Episode 12. You are all but guaranteed to cry when you see Madoka giving her heartfelt goodbye to Homura before she ceases existing altogether.
Madoka: Goodbye, Homura... My best friend.
- What, just there? This tropette was sobbing when Madoka uses her wish to prevent the birth of witches, by either giving Mercy Kills to the magical girls who are about to become bewitched or cleansing those who aren't beyond salvation. Specially when we see her helping out the historical magical girls (Anne Frank in the train to the Nazi concentration camps, Queen Himiko during the destruction of her kingdom, Cleopatra before the battles with Rome, and Joan of Arc when she's about to be burned at the stake.)... and then, her last talk with Sayaka, in which she helps her pass on much more peacefully as they listen to Kamijou's music.
  - She removes only the completely tainted Soul Gems. If you look you can see the green-haired Girl disappearing after that.
- Not to forget the scene with Tatsuya drawing Madoka in the sand...and then we see Homura smiling at him, wearing one of Madoka's ribbons.
- And a few moments later, and we know Homura remembers, when Junko Kaname quietly says, "If I had a daughter ..."
- The fact in itself that Tatsuya and Homura are the only people who remember Madoka, not her other friends or parents, and that Homura is the only one who knows of her sacrifice and grieved for her.
  - True story: this troper went into the series and managed to keep a completley straight face and barely teared up throughout the entire series, all the entries above included. Cut to Tatsuya drawing Madoka in the sand. Then she broke down in tears, still does every time she sees that scene, couldn't stop crying for a while, and still cries upon every rewatch during every scene with Madoka and her family. That is how powerful that moment was, in light of the rest of the episode.
- The one scene that never failed to tear this tropette up was the one with the green-haired girl who Madoka saved. Just looking at her, all alone and sobbing in despair, had so much emotion in it, and makes you think of how many things like that are still happening in the world.
- This tropette almost made it all the way through the episode only tearing up, but Homura using a bow instead of her guns in memory of Madoka made her sob.
- Oddly enough, this troper found Madoka and Sayaka's conversation in episode 12 sad. Mainly because Sayaka was willing to accept the fact that Kyousuke loved Hitomi instead of her and move on.
The drama CD Memories of You, especially the ending.
- The Third one details on the past of both Kyouko and Mami and it's really heartwrenching even on observation alone. Kyouko used to be an idealistic Magical Girl and probably the only friend Mami had. Then Kyouko's tragedy happened, she grew cynical and argued with Mami... until she decided to go on solo, then Mami desperately tried to make Kyouko stay with her. It ends with Kyouko beating the crap out of Mami, leaving her battered and crying over their broken friendship and her being all alone again...
  - It's more tragic when considering the fact that Mami died a gruesome death... and ALL while probably thinking that her friendship with Kyouko remain unrepaired, and Kyouko herself has become dismissive on her existence and death.
  - Listening to the Drama CD, young Kyoko sounds like Sayaka, an altruitic, idealistic Plucky Girl who even looked up to Mami in the same way Sayaka did, except for the Calling Your Attacks. Its pretty depressing to listen to Kyoko energenically talk about how she wants to use her powers to protect everyone around her (at one point, she even questions if its so strange to make a selfless wish), then flash to after the Pater Familicide to hear her bitterly proclaim how those attacked by familiars arent worth saving and that she intends to only use her power for herself. The contrast between pastKyoko and presentKyoko is heartwrenching.
  - And it kind of makes sense on why Kyouko is the first to die when Mami snapped in the third timeline.
  - And the two of them are hanging out together when Madoka sees them again in Heaven ...
  - There's also the scene with Kyouko's family. Not only does the fact that they seemed so happy make their final fate even more tragic, but there's also the knowledge that while they were around, they gave Mami a brief taste of the happiness of having a family when they had her over for dinner, which proves that Mami also suffered as a result of the Pater Familicide.
The upcoming PSP game reveals Mami's witch form. One word: Candeloro. It's pretty heartwrenching to realize that even Mami succumbs to despair in one timeline or another. The fact that her familiars strongly resemble Madoka and Kyoko just make it so much worse.
- Kyoko's witch form is fittingly named Ophelia. Considering the original Ophelia drowned and Sayaka's witch is a mermaid, the connection makes it just all the more tragic.
- Now you can watch it in action! Poor Mami. She needs a hug. Badly.
- And poor Kyouko. "Sayaka, I understand now what you said before. This is...real..despair.."
- Ypu thought those were bad? Good news! You can even turn Homura into a witch now!
The fanvids and other fan-content for Madoka also have their sorrow-filled moments.
- Case in point: 魔法少女に花束を, or more commonly, A Bouquet of Flowers for a Magical Girl (English Subtitles). KOKIA's powerful vocals coupled with the abstract, symbolic imagery will fill you with sadness. The simple little glimpses of Madoka breaking into tears makes you simply want to join her in crying. The sequal, 私の太陽, translated as My Sun, once again leverages KOKIA's voice and the imagery of Homura visibly breaking down over missing Madoka, and will make your tears into a waterfall.
  - This third video, 【まどかマギカ】水底のマギカ【KOKIA】, featuring "I Believe" by KOKIA, will make you weep for Sayaka and Kyouko.
- This fan rendition of Madoka's Goddess theme from episode 12 will tug at your heart, especially more so if you've watched the episode.
- This award-winning AMV, Mahou Shoujo Requiem, combines its powerful lyrics with some of the more emotionally powerful moments, all but certain to make you realise you still have a few more tears to shed. Little wonder it won so many "Best Of" awards from so many anime conventions.
- Rolling Homura is so fitting to poor Homura's plight, you just want to hug her and cry for her. You'll still cry for her sake when Madoka hugs her in your stead in the end.
- This epicly editted MAD called Walpurgisnacht, initially comes off as a Crowning Moment of Heartwarming, showing a much less bleak possible route Homura's many time loops. However, things don't end well... Every one dies (except Homura of course), and despite slight twists, all the deaths are depressingly familiar to those who have finished the show.
Simon & Garfunkel's "Scarborough Fair" is already a rather poignant song. Add PMMM to it and you will have something in your eyes. "She once was a true love of mine..."
The show's seeming message that if something's too good to be true, it probably is; even if you only want to selflessly help someone (or humanity in general). Also the Family Unfriendly Aesop that helping others may only hurt you, and that idealistic belief in The Power of Love, The Power of Friendship and The Power Of Heart most certainly will. ("Silly Rabbit, Idealism Is for Kids!!", quoth the Urobutcher.) Yes, those philosophies are arguably correct at times, but they're still extremely depressing.
You sound really bummed out there. But I can help you cheer up.
Just make a contract with me, and I can ease your pains forever.