Tear Jerker / Yandere Simulator

This is all your fault.

This game revolves around the Villain Protagonist eliminating her rivals in any of a number of ways, from social sabotage to good old-fashioned murder. However, there's still some moments considered sad.

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• While the game is relentless in hammering home just how much of a monster Ayano can be, both she and her mother suffer from a type of insanity that causes incurable apathy towards the world, inherited from the Aishi family line. They're unable to experience emotions or see the world as others do unless they find their obsession. In the presence of their obsession, they're temporarily "human", but revert back to their psychopathic tendencies without them, essentially making them crave the way that person makes them feel. From there, obtaining said obsession gradually gives an Aishi the ability to experience emotions of their own, but their condition never goes away. Her father was extremely concerned with his daughter's lack of emotion, but her mother didn't think it was a problem, and continually told her daughter that she would one day meet the person who would complete her. YandereDev even claims that she only pretends to be like a normal student as a hobby, and it's her only hobby at that. This can be especially tragic for anyone who is familiar with, or has ever had to deal with severe personality/mental disorders.
• The second part of the October 2016 progress report really strikes home just how alone and shut out Ayano usually is (especially at the 7:00 mark). Ayano sees the world as bland and colorless, and without excitement. Her meeting Senpai gives her the sense she has been missing.
  • Another from July 2017 suggests that her father desperately tried to make his daughter "normal". When Ayano learned that faking emotions would get him off her back, he's happy momentarily... but he soon realizes she's pretending. Not only that, but the same video reveals that they did try to fix her, only to be told by multiple doctors that there was nothing that could be done.
• Killing the students. Most of the time it's kind of funny or just unemotional, but remember that these kids have parents at home waiting for them. Or worse, they don't.
  • If they don't have parents? What about siblings or other relatives? A pet that they cherish and vice versa? How about friends? Or even a decent future ahead of them?
• If the rival you chose to kill has pregnancy as her dark secret, this trope definitely applies. You're killing two people this way: The mother, and the child that will be forever unborn.
• Kokona's widowed father, due to his situation and what you can put him through, hypothetically. He puts himself in crippling debt to keep Kokona at school. How would he feel if he learned she was bullied to death there, or killed? Or if she never came home?
• The early-October 2015 update video is just utterly horrific for poor Kokona. She receives a phone call whereupon it becomes clear she's being roped into something she's ashamed of but pays her a lot of money, which is later revealed to be compensated dating. Yan-chan can publicly reveal this to trash the girl's reputation, at which point other students start bullying Kokona – her friends will kick her out of their group, banishing her to a bench on the roof where she sits alone whenever she's not in class (a convenient but evil way to get her alone for the kill). If you continue to gossip about her and further damage her reputation, it will get to the point that an entire group of bullies will vandalize her desk with horrible messages and claim it's from the whole school. By that time, though, Kokona won't be in school anymore.
  • It gets worse. That very point in the video reveals what happens to students eliminated by this method: they kill themselves. The shot that shows Kokona's vandalized desk and her utter shame at it all fades to a scene of her hanging at the neck in a black void. It's made arguably even worse given that YandereDev confirms that this is a completely unnecessary method of elimination; you only have to lower her reputation to the point Senpai rejects her. The only reason you would make the bullying so bad as to get somebody to kill themselves is if you were feeling extra sadistic.
  • That's arguably what makes it just as much of a horror to watch as it is a Tear Jerker: you were the reason why Kokona killed herself. You. Yes, Yandere-chan is a terrible human being who helped facilitate the events in all its extremity, but when it comes down to it, you went out of your way to see somebody suffer like that for no reason than just amusement. Even if Yandere-chan is a terrible human being who masterminded this, what does it truly say about the person controlling her very actions?
  • Even discounting Kokona's suicide for a second, the thing that makes this reputation hit all the more tragic for Kokona is that even Saki Miyu – her best friend who gladly lent a sympathetic ear when she tried to talk about her father's alcoholism and debt – abandons her. Granted, Saki's reaction to the gossip was shock and disbelief, but eventually, being near a student with that kind of a reputation would lower her own, so she had to abandon her to preserve her own reputation. Even if it's understandable, having your closest friends abandon you like that will really hit home for a few fans.
  • And the worst part of it all isn't even that the player went out of their way for this. It's how sadly commonplace this can be in the real world: bullying of this nature and being subsequently Driven to Suicide does happen, and its generally such a sadistic way to torture somebody that it's no surprise at all that the community regards this as a Moral Event Horizon. YandereDev really hammers in what kind of person Yandere-chan is with this line:
    YandereDev: "Remember. Yandere-chan is not a good person. She's a monster."
  • It's really telling that in a community that has a thirst for bloodshed and sadism that rivals the likes of the Dwarf Fortress' community, this is generally considered one of the few lines most fans seem hesitant to cross. Given the fact that fans love being able to murder, torture and massacre to their heart's delight in this game, that should speak volumes on how much of a Moral Event Horizon this all is.
• The following update has Ayano kidnapping Saki Miyu so she can torture and brainwash her into becoming an obedient mindslave before releasing her into the school, whereupon she kills Kokona and then herself. Not only is Saki's mind completely broken by someone she thought was her friend (you), but the end result is Kokona being murdered by her best friend who had until then been missing for several days.
• In a subtle way, Kokona being framed in the December 2015 video counts, because of a small detail. The reason why her fingerprints are on a knife was because she was fixing a snack for her friends. Imagine the shock on her face when her DNA is linked to the weapon AYANO killed someone with...
  • The early-April 2016 build gave the game a partial version of the "expulsion" mechanic. One would expect Yan-chan would simply tell the Guidance Counselor about the Compensated Dating, since that's against school rules, but it's actually worse than that: Yan-chan instead steals a test answer sheet, has Info-chan copy it, and slips the copy into Kokona's desk. Cue Genka yelling at a confused and terrified Kokona, who then gets expelled.
    • The May 2016 build adds more ways to frame a rival, and requires one successful attempt each day. In other words, Kokona gets ratted out for selling used panties^note  (let the record show she's actually guilty of this one) and then framed for stealing, smoking, taking upskirt photos, and cheating before finally being expelled.
  • At the end of September 2016, with the reveal of the long-awaited Matchmaking mechanic, YanDev declared that after 18 months of torture, Kokona had earned a break. Heartwarming, right? It is! …Until the mid-March 2017 Update video, where Dev discusses how the upcoming club leaders might not have proper AI or pathfinding at first. To demonstrate this, he has Yan-chan stab Kokona in the throat in full view of the oblivious Gardening Club leader, who at that point, was not an actual student implemented in the game.
• In early August 2017, Dev added in a mechanic he'd mentioned several months earlier – the ability to set a utility bucket on top of a set of swinging doors as a trap to drench someone in liquid. As of the first build in which it appears, there's only one NPC on whom it works as of now, and that NPC is Kokona.
  • The mechanic works on every set of swinging double doors, and there are multiple buckets. This means you can set a trap to drench Kokona, then set up a second trap for after she's changed her clothes and reenters the building so she gets drenched again.
• Due to a desire to include an actual tutorial rather than just drop the player in to face Osana, Dev has heavily implied having Yan-chan take part in an optional mini-game in the Drama Club to learn elimination mechanics. Who's going to be on the receiving end of all this? For all we know, it's going to be Kokona. Then again, fans desperately want her to stay in the game, even if it's just a role as minor as that.
  • The above mentioned animatic released is very bad news for Kokona: Yandere-chan uses the info about Kokona's father's debt and Musume's role in it to literally drive Kokona to murder her. Seeing Kokona just snap is equally sad and terrifying, as it shows humans are very much capable of doing just that. Ayano gets off the hook without getting her hands dirty at all.
• As mentioned above, Saki Miyu came close to challenging Kokona's place as the game's resident Woobie in the mid-October 2015 build. This is because she's probably the nicest girl in school… and the first one you're able to kidnap and mind-break. After you kidnap her, initially she's scared but also annoyed – stay in the room with her long enough and she'll ask for a television to relieve the boredom – but as you torture her and her sanity drops, her dialogue changes.^† There seem to be four phases based on her sanity level: 100%, 97.5%-50%, 47.5%-2.5%, and 0%. Mom0ki's excellent voice acting makes her difficult to listen to if you have a conscience. Just before her sanity hits zero, instead of screaming and begging you to stay away like she did before, Saki simply closes her eyes and lowers her head, asking Ayano why she's doing this.
• The ambiguous fate of the Journalist. In 1989, he discovered Ayano's mother, Ryoba, was stalking and getting rid of any girl that developed an interest on the boy she had an obsession with—Jokichi Yudasei, her Senpai. He reports his findings to the police, and Ryoba is taken to trial. However, she's able to con the entire country of Japan into believing her as innocent, and that the Journalist was only seeking attention. The Journalist disappears from public view and loses his wife when she has their only daughter, who is speculated by fans to be Info-Chan. The Journalist encounters Ryoba again, thirty years later, but he screws up badly... Fearing for his life, he records his entire story on cassette tapes for his daughter to find, and flees to America. Unbeknownst to him, Ryoba is following suit.
  • What's worse is, before fleeing the country, he chose not to warn the woman Ryoba was stalking, out of the hope that her death would be linked back to Ryoba and get her away from society.
• Getting rid of the rivals in a malicious way is incredibly sad when you think about it. Senpai is said to be on good terms with all of them, right here. One of them, Osana Najimi, is stated to be his childhood best friend. Another one is his little sister, Hanako.
  • Made sadder with Hanako, since YandereDev said that if Senpai's sister is taken out lethally, it will take a huge toll on his sanity. If his sanity is too low to be repaired, the ending won't be happy, either.
• It is also stated that Oka was one of the only people in the entire school to take notice of Ayano, because Oka is the type who gravitates to people she thinks are like her. In other words, Oka's dialogue in the Yanderetale Halloween gift may actually be pertinent to the final game – she thought she saw a kindred spirit in Ayano.
  • When pressed on the subject, YandereDev had this to say…
    "Several of the rivals are supposed to be likeable characters who don't deserve to die. I want the player to feel shame/guilt."
• Ayano's father Jokichi as shown in the tenth Basement Tape. He's essentially been whipped to the point that he won't fight the woman who took his life away and calls herself his spouse. Then again, she's a yandere who's willing to hurt him or even kill him if he refuses to be her husband, so it doesn't seem like he has much of a choice.
  • Made somehow worse in the late-July 2017 video, "Yandere-chan's Childhood". In it, we see that Jokichi is unwilling to accept that his daughter is an emotionless husk. He takes her to multiple doctors and buys her toys, anything to try and make her happy. Nothing works, and Ryoba, who has the same condition, doesn't believe anything is wrong and that they simply must wait until Ayano meets "someone special". Ayano pities him and wishes to not see him so upset, so she starts acting "normal", which allows them to be a functional family, but she soon adds that her father has probably realized she is faking her emotions.
  • From the same video, Ayano reveals that because of her off-putting personality, she was bullied a lot when she was a kid. We then see artwork of child Ayano being beaten up by her peers, having her schoolbooks destroyed and things thrown at her. Bear in mind, at this point, she hasn't actually done anything immoral — Creepy Child or no, she's still an innocent kid. It's somehow made worse by the fact that, due to her condition, Ayano isn't saddened or even angered by the bullying, only saying:
  It was... inconvenient.
• Ayano can frame another person for any murder she commits. Mindslaves can also be arrested if their suicide is interrupted, and the delinquents can be framed, too, if Ayano kills someone with their respective weapon without leaving her fingerprints.
• Murdering either Pippi or Ryuto. Imagine watching one of your good friends (who you secretly have a crush on) get stabbed to death, learning that they've been found dead, or hearing that they've disappeared without a trace. If they witness this, they'll tackle Ayano to the ground.
  • This also applies to killing one of the Basu sisters or Saki and Kokona in view of the other.
• This short fan-comic YanDev posted on his blog,. Ayano is petting her cat while asking Info-chan if Senpai has any allergies. Info-chan informs her that Senpai is allergic to cats. Yan-chan, without hesitation, snaps her cat's neck and throws them out the window before thanking Info-chan for the heads-up.]]
  • Shows up again in Yan-chan's backstory video. As she reached adolescence, Ayano had become desperate to feel something, anything. She finds a stray cat, and in an attempt to feel some kind of emotion, she kills it brutally. It didn't make her feel anything, however.
• YanDev has said in a twitter post that all women in Ayano's bloodline exhibit similar yandere behavior — in their late teens, they become obsessed with a single male, marry him one way or another, and live out the rest of their life together with him. When asked about what would happen if the husband passed away of illness or old age before the wife did, YanDev replied that an Aishi woman has no reason to keep on living without a soulmate, and that they'll kill themselves.
• Oka Ruto's existence is pretty sad. Why? Well…
  • She's a Shrinking Violet with severe social anxiety and paranoia who seems to have no friends and even less self-confidence. Despite her Occult Club already having several members, she's genuinely shocked if you ask to join. However, if you then decide to drop out of the Occult Club, Oka's dialogue makes it clear you're shattering what little confidence she had.
    "Y-you're not...going to leave us…are you?" [yes] "...well, that's to be expected… I mean, who would want to be in this club anyway..."
    • If you try to rejoin the Occult Club after leaving, Oka tells you this:
    "...Um... you already left this club once before... I... don't want to let you back in... you might just leave again... and it hurts when people leave... I don't want to be hurt again..."
    • She's one of the official rivals, which makes her an enemy of Ayano's who must be dealt with. Even though the player may want to give Oka a hug and tell her everything will be fine, the game requires the player to do horrible things to her (unless Ayano plays matchmaker, or befriends her.)
• In a way, the teachers' reactions to murder are this. If a Teacher's Pet leads them to a body, they'll stop to react with horror for a second, before getting closer to call the police and keep an eye out for the killer. The voice acting makes it clear that they're pretty disturbed by what they're looking at. If they realize that Ayano is the culprit, they respond with a mixture of fear and anger before giving chase. As strict as they are, they still care about their students. One could only imagine what's running through their heads at exactly those moments.
  Teacher: This is a tragedy. Why would anyone do this? I'll call the police immediately...
• The Photography club is an example. They gradually become aware of a killer as the atmosphere drops, but it's made worse if you're in the club. As long as Ayano gets away with her crimes successfully, they'll never think she's the killer.
• This video YandereDev released on Valentine's day 2016. It starts out cute, with a Rival successfully confessing to Senpai. Only, a tear-stricken Ayano was watching the entire time. Her immediate response is to kill the rival, then Senpai, and herself. It's a blunt, disturbing look at what Ayano feels about Senpai, and what she is capable of if he's somehow stolen from her. YandereDev confirmed that the video has something to do with the teased SNAP mode.
• The fact that Ayano is most likely a Child by Rape. Listening to the Basement Tapes makes it pretty abundantly clear that poor Jokichi Yudasei is not with Ryoba Aishi by choice, and Ayano's conception was most likely not a willing one for him.
• In the mid-March 2016 build, YandereDev discusses the benefits of being in different clubs. At the end, Midori pops up and cheerfully asks him to talk about the Gaming Club – of which she, Pippi, Ryuto, and Mai are members. His response?
  YandereDev: "Oh, that's right. You guys. I forgot. Um, I can't think of any way a video game themed club could possibly benefit a serial killer in a high school. So, the player can't actually join your club. You guys are basically just a… Background decoration."
  Midori: "Uhhh, oh… Okay…" (slowly slides off the screen)
  • They're not a background club, anymore, however. They currently have a room with members.
• It is quite sad to see Dev talk about how he Took a Level in Jerkass due to the email problem. If an email is sent to him that is not important or deemed that way by the email guidelines on the site, not only are you hindering the development of Yandere Simulator, but you're stressing him out. To cap it off, he once said that he estimates the game won't be completed until early 2019, and that emails could delay it to be longer.
• The Flame Demon's backstory in Burning Love. It may or not be canon, but it's definitely tragic. He was born a normal human in 1431, to a wealthy noble family. One day, he and his family were attacked by a group of envious peasants hoping to steal some of their valuables. He only survived because he hid somewhere the peasants couldn't find him. However, this didn't prevent him from witnessing his parents be beaten and burnt alive. He made a Deal with the Devil to get revenge, and gave the peasants everything his family experienced and worse. Doing so, however, meant he had lost his humanity. What's worse is that later on, he reveals that all demons were once normal humans who made a pact similar to his.
• Musume Ronshaku's kidnapping scene. She's spoiled rotten by her father on top of being a complete bitch, but still.
  Musume: "... Daddy... Please... Help... I'm scared... I don't wanna die..."]]
  • Even though she's returned unharmed, Musume has been severely psychologically scarred by the experience. Even though Ayano helped Kokona, it was at the expense of another girl's sanity.
    • To elaborate, after being released, Musume will gain a permanent Shrinking Violet posture, identical to Oka Ruto's. Instead of walking around the courtyard while checking her phone, she will instead sit on a bench and stare at her feet with dull grey eyes. Instead of going to the pool with her friends, she goes to the same place near the fountain, sits, and stares.
• If Ayano decides to go through with her promise to help Kokona, the resulting cutscene has a couple of these.
  • First, of course, is the fact that halfway through Kokona's rambling, there is the option to "Eliminate" her.
    • If Ayano doesn't "eliminate" Kokona during the cutscene, she'll simply ask Kokona to leave Senpai alone and let her have a chance to woo him. And Kokona will gladly agree. Unlike the earlier conversations (including the beginning of this one) where Ayano speaks with a distinct lack of emotion, she's pleading with her. Then again, Ayano was revealed to be able to fake emotions and a normal tone of voice, so while her purpose is true, she's just manipulating Kokona more.
• The late-July 2016 build updated the Murder-Suicide animation to make it significantly longer and more disturbing. Why would this count as a tearjerker? Take a close look at the mindslave's face as she stabs your rival over a dozen times – her expression is no longer blank, but instead suggests she becomes aware of her actions during the act, yet can't stop herself.
  • Made even sadder if you use Saki as a mindslave and Kokona as a victim (or viceversa)– she's killing her best friend.
• The Basu sisters are very close – the only time they're ever apart is during class, as they're in different classes. Normally, they spend the morning looking for something outside the school, and the afternoon eating lunch on the roof. The late-July 2016 update gave them a unique routine quirk – neither sister will handle the death of the other well; if one of them dies (and the other didn't get the opportunity to attack you for it), the surviving sister will spend all her free time sitting alone in mourning.
  • Even sadder when you remember that their morning conversation the day after a body is discovered on school grounds has Sakyu telling Inkyu not to be afraid because she will always protect her.
    Inkyu: Always and forever?
    Sakyu: Always and forever.
  • Sending Pippi to kill Ryuto, as both of them have a crush on each other but neither can bring themselves to confess their feelings.
• Some players have noticed that, during the cutscene where Ayano invites Kokona to her house, there's a picture behind Kokona the entire time. Looking through the data files gives a better look at the picture, which sums up the entire situation with Ayano's parents: Ryoba is blissful, but even though his face is obscured, you can tell that Jokichi is unhappy.
• The promotional image for the Matchmaking elimination method depicts Ayano as a puppeteer toying with the Red Strings of Fate around people's limbs, pulling them together and away from Senpai. It serves as a solemn reminder of what kind of person our protagonist is. Though it may seem like Video Game Caring Potential compared to other methods, in context, it's ultimately just a nonlethal means to a selfish monster's ends.
  • Really, that's one of the saddest things about Yan-chan: She's doing a beautiful thing by helping others find love and not following down the path her mother took, and the people she pairs up are almost certainly going to look back and be grateful to her for help, but her nature as a yandere means she can't care about that, let alone understand it.
• Osana's Dark Secret was hinted at in this video. Apparently someone is threatening her and someone close to her somehow.
• Senpai's reaction in the second January Osana Progress Report to having to watch Osana, his childhood friend, choking to death right in front of him because of your actions.
  Senpai: Osana? A-are you okay? What's wrong? Hey! Do you need any help?! Osana! Oh my God! Osana, answer me! Wake up! Please wake up! Don't do this! Oh God! This can't be happening! No!
  • YanDev also mentioned that Senpai's sister would have the same reaction, as Osana's her childhood friend too.
  • In contrast, however, he also said that if you kept Osana alive in favor of killing Senpai's sister, she wouldn't try to help him calm down.
• As mentioned above, Kokona was the recipient of every elimination method for a long time. In addition to her likely being the optional beginners' tutorial (and thereby accidentally giving Ayano the idea of killing to begin with), he also declared her an ideal candidate for a possible post-game DLC rival if the game does well. What's her story? She has to relive a week of her life over and over, dying in a gruesome way every time, and she can only escape the loop if she kills Ayano.
  • In addition, Dev teased in two early-2017 videos a series of storyboards featuring Ayano and Kokona, with the former looking even more demonic than usual and the latter looking terrified. He confirmed it was one final all-rivals elimination method, but its mechanics were complicated enough that he said he would not work on it until Osana was complete.
• "The Reason Yandere-chan Lacks Emotions" really underlines the sad reality that Ayano's "love" for Senpai isn't even affection, as he simply gives her a twisted sense of reality.
  YandereDev: Imagine that you've been cold, blind, and deaf for your entire life, and then, all at once, you suddenly gain the ability to feel warmth, see beauty, and hear music for the very first time. Senpai's presence somehow enables Yandere-chan to experience the full range of sensations that she's been missing out on for her entire life. Yandere-chan instantly becomes addicted to this boy. It wouldn't actually be accurate to describe it as "love". She needs him, on a deeper level than she needs food, water, or breathing. In his presence, she feels alive, and in his absence, she feels dead. She doesn't even understand why this boy is able to make her feel things she's never felt before, but she knows she wants to enter a lifelong relationship with him, and keep him at her side forever. Losing him to another girl would be a death sentence. And so, she resolves to eliminate her competition by any means necessary.
  • He also proposes a possible alternate backstory for Yan-chan: it's not that she can't feel anything... it's just that she feels a perpetual sense of longing that she can't get rid of. She knows something is missing, but nothing she does can change it, leaving her depressed and listless for her whole life. So naturally, when her mother tells her that this condition will be cured when she meets a special someone, she obsesses over this moment in the future, when she will finally meet this person that will allow her to be happy.
• September 30, 2017 gave us the concept of "Driving Your Rivals To Murder in Yandere Simulator", which has a number of these moments.
  • This video paints Musume Ronshaku in a much more negative light. She berates her for her practices of compensated dating, calls Kokona a slut by implying she sleeps with the men that she goes on dates with, and tells her maybe she'll be able to buy herself some self-respect. The entire time, we're treated to images of Kokona slowly breaking down in tears as Musume continues to berate her. Even worse, in current builds, Musume now has an entire gang of girls who are just as cruel as she is.
  • At the end, Kokona loses it and beats Musume with the baseball bat Ayano provided her, and by the time she's out of it, Musume is dead. By the time she realized what she'd done, Ayano had already called the police. What's worse, Ayano had already set a perfect alibi for herself, stabbing Kokona in the back at the end.
• November 6th, 2017 gave us a canon elimination method. Rejection That sounds bad enough as is, but the video actually makes it a bit more depressing, and disturbing. Yan-chan first puts emetic poison in Senpai's food to make Osana seem that she did it. Then, she ruins a book Senpai loaned to Osana by dumping it in the school fountain. Third, Yan-chan steals her phone and takes panty shots with it to make Osana look like a pervert. Yan-chan then fiddles with her phone a second time, making Osana miss her date with Senpai. Finally Osana's phone gets stolen again, this time to upload an edited audio clip that makes it sound like she's bad-mouthing Senpai.]] Throughout the entire elimination, it's clear Osana is saddened that Senpai is disappointed in her, making it clear she values his friendship and doesn't want to let him down. The rejection cutscene has Senpai state he doesn't like her that way. Osana will panic and ask what she did wrong, but Senpai will simply tell her to stop and will walk away. Osana will remain confused and heartbroken.
• The "Bullies and Phone Addicts" video introduces us to Musume Ronshaku's Girl Posse. These fine folks make it their personal business to spread as much misery as possible to their victims in ways such as hate blogs and blackmail. We even get to see first-hand their cruelty when they round on Daku Atsu.
  • Now we have Horuda Puresu, an emotionally fragile girl who constantly gets bullied, possibly to extreme levels. Her default appearance makes her look helpless. She too, can be driven to become a mind-slave.
    • What some fans may see as worse is that she was originally just a placeholder for the Mysterious Obstacle in Osana's week.
  • What's even worse is Yan-chan doesn't need to make Horuda a mind slave. If Yan-chan shows a picture of someone talking to one of the bullies and claims they're the cause of all her suffering, Horuda will attack them of her own volition.
• The new Game Over screen from the March 2018 Update video. If Ayano has too low reputation and attends class, she'll essentially become the talk of the school, and if her reputation is that low in the final game, Senpai won't accept her love confession.
• If the mysterious woman with the suitcase really is the daughter (aka Megami's aunt Ichiko Saikou) mentioned in the headmaster's first tape, that would mean that either she abandoned her responsibilities and hasn't spoken to her father, who built Akademi High for her and therefore was betrayed by the daughter he loved so much, or he did something that caused her to leave her family. Needless to say, something bad might have happened between them.
  • Confirmed and elaborated on in the second headmaster tape. It turns out that the whole "built the school to make her happy" thing was just a cover story, and the true purpose of the school was to be the final step in his plan to groom her to inherit his empire, which had been going on since childhood. Shuyona is not surprised that she would get fed up and leave him after all that. In addition, Shuyona realizes that her brother, Ichirou, who had a normal childhood up to this point, is going to be put through an accelerated version of all that.
    Shuyona: Ahh, that poor boy...
  • Then there's why Ichiko left: she's convinced she has a twin sister somewhere whose voice only she can hear. That leaves three theories: either she's completely lost the plot after being groomed all her life, her father has been lying to her, or this has something to do with FUN GIRL, who claims to be said twin sister, and to have her own tragic backstory tied to Saisho.
• The Counselor, Genka Kunahito, looking troubled and tired in the Delinquent video. Considering the previous image was of a Tranquil Fury Headmaster and that her job is supposed to be keeping Akademi students in line, she's only just realized what she's gotten herself into: she only has ten weeks to reform the Delinquents back to the way they used to be, or they'll all be expelled, and Genka will get fired.
  • The Delinquents themselves count. Originally, they were five ordinary boys targeted by Musume and her Gang of Bullies, who were unable to prove to the school that they were being harassed. It progressed to the point where they all decided to kill themselves as a desperate attempt to escape from the bullying. They only found peace from the bullying when they decided to follow Osoro Shidesu, the eighth rival. They learned that if they kept a fearsome attitude and appearance, they will be left alone, and that they'd rather have the whole school fear and hate them than being harrased and ignored by them. It's tragic because this is how kids act in real life now.
• The entire “Star-Crossed Lovers” video and song. Ayano is just staring out the window, reminiscing of the events where she met her Senpai, with the somber tune playing in the background. Makes it really easy to sympathize with her, no matter how horrible of a person she is.
• Ayano in "A Childhood Lesson." She helps her mother with dinner, and gives a surprised, worried gasp when her mother cuts herself while chopping vegetables. She just seems so... innocent. This is by far the most normal we've seen Ayano, and it's heartbreaking to know what that wide-eyed, quiet, obedient little girl is going to become.
  • Worse, this video confirms that without a doubt, Ryoba is actively trying to shape Ayano into a murderous Yandere like her. And, unless you have Ayano go down a more peaceful route and break the cycle, it'll work, and Ayano will likely do the same thing to her own daughter/son.
• Sakura Hagiwara has an incurable heart disease and will most likely die before she's in her thirties. Then again, killing her out of mercy will only let her lose out on what she could experience before then, like a miracle cure...
• Shoku Tsuburaya will make you feel really terrible if he saw you kill someone and then try to join the Cooking Club.
  You...killed someone. Someone who had friends. Loved ones. Hopes. Dreams. Plans for the future. Memories of the past. And...ah...all of that was just...wiped out. How could you do that? ...You need to leave.
• The October 14th, 2018 build gives us not one but several through Genka. Getting caught by the teachers doing something inappropriate now sends you to her so to give you a chance to explain your behavior. The tearjerker part comes from getting Info-chan to send to info about Genka, which comes in the form of her audio recording about the delinquents. Ayano can then blame them for your behaviour, which is a tearjerker not only because the delinquents are repeatedly blamed for things they didn't do and/or causing someone else to act erratically, but from the look on Genka's face when she genuinely believes that her attempt to reform the delinquents has driven Ayano to extreme measures and unusual behaviour in an attempt to deal with the problem, and she ends her attempt to reform them and expels them.
  • By far the worst one, though, is when Ayano blames the delinquents for her being covered in blood. She says it in a very melancholic voice that sounds like she's about to break down in tears. Genka visibly gasps after Ayano tells her, and says "No, it can't be" in an equally melancholic fashion. Genka truly believed that her inaction with the delinquents nearly got an innocent (to her knowledge, anyway) girl killed.
• YandereDev went out of his way to show that killing random students in his game can have dire consequences in the long run.
  • One example is the Student Council, a small group of four elite students who act as hall monitors and disciplinarians. If Ayano kills one of these girls, the Student Council President, Megumi Saikou, will order security cameras and metal detectors placed around campus, essentially turning the school into a concentration camp. This will permanently create a gloomy and oppressive atmosphere that causes the students to become scared and paranoid of each other. While her face isn't shown during the end-of-day text, if you look closely her hands are shaking, likely out of a mixture of anger and grief.
  • Miyuji Shan, the lead singer of the school band and president of the Light Music Club, is a more personal and heartbreaking example. She has a fun, spunky personality and wears bright red makeup to match it. She also loves her band mates so much that if the player kills any of them Miyuji will break up the band and disband the club out of grief and show up to school without her makeup or piercings. If you compare her old pic on your smartphone with her post-murder look, it's like looking at two different people.
• The July 2019 build finally introduces the Mysterious Obstacle to killing Osana: her best friend, Raibaru Fumetsu. She was the original leader of the Martial Arts Club with a 100% victory streak until she was finally defeated by Budo. For her though, it was a relief, and she felt she could leave the club to him so she could pursue other hobbies. That's when she met Osana and the two of them became close friends, to the point where they wear matching accessories and are virtually inseparable. If Ayano kills Osana (or anyone else for that matter) in front of her, Raibaru will go on a Roaring Rampage of Revenge. Ayano has no chance of beating her in combat and will immediately get a game over, but it's a Pyrrhic Victory for Raibaru. Her best friend is gone forever.
• Even Mission Mode has a surprisingly tear-jerking setup. Think Nemesis is just a random NPC who exists solely to present another obstacle for Ayano? Not at all. As it turns out, the Retribution comic reveals that she's actually Hanako Yamada. Senpai was Ayano's first victim in this alternate universe, and his murder turned Hanako from a sweet, bubbly Little Sister Heroine into a bitter, vengeful Serial-Killer Killer who dedicated her life to hunting down Ayano; with full intent to make her pay in blood for her crimes.
  Nemesis: (drops a polaroid photograph into Ayano's lap) This is the first target you were hired to assassinate. Do you remember this boy? Do you remember his name?
  Ayano: …
  Nemesis: He was my brother. (Senpai can now be seen in the photograph) His name was Taro Yamada.
• The Headmaster Tapes. They document thirty years of one man's life going to Hell.
  I'm not really sure if I got the job because I qualify for it, or because...I meet some invisible criteria that I'm not aware of.
  ...If Akademi High was built solely for one girl, and that girl has graduated...what happens next?
  Can everything really...collapse...this...easily? Cameras...interviews...police...I don't want this to be my life.
  What... a god damn DISGRACE! Innocent? INNOCENT? Innocent my ASS! SHE'S THE CULPRIT! SHE DID IT!
  This was...this was the only good thing I had going for me. And now, I'm watching it...die.
  When I asked them about that woman who just walked by, they... their attitudes changed in a heartbeat. They slowly turned away from me and returned to their work in silence. They ignored me, as if I wasn't even there! I haven't been treated like that since I was a schoolboy!
  I sacrificed the best years of my life for this school. And what did I get in return? Wrinkles...and hair loss from all the stress. A big, fat gut. I don't even recognize the man in the mirror anymore.
  At this point, it's clear that nothing I've tried over the past 30 years is going to save the school's reputation, so..
  How he spent hours buried underneath rubble...staring at the corpses of his dead friends. He said...he still sees them...on the back of his eyelids...every time he closes his eyes.
  I know I have to dispose of these tapes, but...maybe I'll keep them...for a few days...Listen to them one last time...try to figure out where it all went wrong...
• Now that Osana has been released as of August 31st, 2020, there are some tear-jerking elimination methods:
  • One method is to drive Osana to suicide. You even get a voice-over of Osana's mother calling for her daughter, only to walk into her room and be horrified at the sight of Osana's hanging body; the player only sees her legs hanging there limply.
  • Another method is to make it look like Ayano has befriended Osana by retrieving her cat from a stalker, only to drug Osana's tea so that Osana can be tied to a chair and eliminated. Osana never sees it coming.
  • And yet another method is to kidnap Osana and break her down until she loses her independent will, so Osana can be ordered to kill someone (including potentially her friend Raibaru) and then herself.
  • If the player manages to kill Osana's best friend Raibaru, Osana will run to her corpse and breakdown upon realizing that her best friend has died. Her voice sound extremely devasting, making the player feel bad for what they done.
  Osana: Raibaru!! Oh my god! RAIBARU! Answer me! Wake up...please...wake up...don't do this! Oh god...! This can't be happening! No! NO!!! ...he...hello...police...? I'm...a...student at Akademi.....my friend is...dead...I'm...I'm not sure what happened.....please....send someone....anyone...
• Some of the canonical ways Ryoba dealt with some of her rivals are this.
  • Sumire Saitozaki, a shy girl who is stated to have been nothing but a kind-hearted individual that would never wish harm upon anyone, is brutally murdered by Ryoba in the third floor girls' bathroom. Because of the circumstances leading to her death, her spirit was unable to pass on to the afterlife and she became the restless spirit that Ayano can see if she takes a picture of the bathroom in the present.
  • Honami Hodoshima is a shy bookworm whose only mistake was to fall in love with Jokichi, and judging from their interactions, it probably took her a lot of courage to even start a conversation with him. She canonically was crushed to death by a falling bookshelf.
  • Sumiko Tachibana and Ai Doruyashi, an aspiring athlete and pop idol respectively, were both killed doing what they loved the most. Both girls had a lot of talent and very promising futures ahead of them, and all of that just disappeared without a trace.
  • Komako Funakoshi, a kind girl who embodies all the positive traits of a Yamato Nadeshiko and is the most popular girl in school because of it. Ryoba spreads malicious gossip about her, making her go from a beloved girl whom everyone loves to an outcast no one wants to be near to. In the end, all the nasty rumors about her are too much to handle and she ends up dropping out of Akademi High. As a saving grace however, bullying her until she commits suicide will cause the police to treat her death as a deliberate murder and it does not grant you the true ending of 1980s mode.
• Some of the Dark Secrets the 1980s Rivals have can be heartwrenching. Kaguya accidentally killed a friend's beloved pet by feeding it something that is toxic to them, Sumiko accidentally gave her class food poisoning once by not properly preparing a dish, Ai's first attempt at writing song lyrics was so bad that the entire school laughed at her, Teiko feared scoring 99/100 so much she bribed a teacher to bump it up to a perfect grade, Chigusa nearly became a Casting Couch victim and only escaped it by convincing someone else to sleep with the producer instead, and Sonoko has a history as a delinquent (with a long rap sheet) that she fears will ruin her career if word got out.
• The "Happy" Ending of 1980s mode: Ryoba is so desperate to get Jokichi that she is willing to break the timeline, make a deal with FUN GIRL, and sacrifice Ayano's existence just to get him.

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