History TearJerker / ChainsawMan

--> '''Konbeni:''' ''[sobbing]'' I wanted to go to college, but I'm just going to my grave...!

* Aki lost his family to the Gun Devil, in what seems to be collateral damage from its attack. Even worse is that they died in one fell swoop right as Aki was about to bond with his little brother by playing catch with him.
* Himeno is so used to losing friends and partners that she doesn't even bat an eye when a girlfriend of one of them goes up to her on the street to slap and berate her for getting them killed.
* Kobeni’s status as the resident ButtMonkey is largely played for comedic effect, but her backstory and reason for being a Devil Hunter is actually quite sad - especially because she didn’t even want to join Public Safety originally. [[AbusiveParents Her parents forced her into it]] so she could make enough money for them to pay for her brother’s college tuition, and she openly admits that they loved him more than her. To make things worse, they apparently threatened to force her into prostitution if she didn’t accept the job.

** Furthermore, Makima's ''entire relationship with Denji'', which is made to seem uneven and dysfunctional but cute at first, becomes HarsherInHindsight given her true nature. To summarize: the very first person aside from Pochita to ever show (what seemed at the time like) genuine kindness to Denji was merely doing it as a sham. Not only did Makima have zero interest in Denji, but she was ''[[HopeCrusher actively planning to tear down everything he cared about]]'' just to force him to break his contract with Pochita, and any kindness she showed towards him was just to set him up for further trauma. For fans who finished Part 1 of the manga, it can be heartbreaking to see new fans start to read/watch the series and think that Denji and Makima make a cute couple, knowing that they'll be in for a massive gut punch once they reach the Control Devil arc.

%%Please see thread to discuss a replacement.

[[quoteright:300:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/denjicafe.png]]
[[caption-width-right:300:She didn't come to meet him. [[note]]not that she didn't ''try'', [[StarCrossedLovers but...]][[/note]]]]

[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/e6acc2dd_0bc9_4c9c_9333_81db7902808a.png]]
[[caption-width-right:350:She just wanted to help.]]

[[caption-width-right:300:She didn't come to meet him.]]

[[folder:Part 2]]

[[AC:Part 1: Public Safety]]

[[AC:Part 2]]

--> '''Himeno''': Don't die on me, Aki. So that when I die... you can cry for me.

--> '''Himeno''': Don't die, Aki. I want you to cry for me when I die.

* Denji gets asked out on a date by Asa, and he agrees almost immediately despite their bad first impression, because despite all the terrible experiences he's gone through, he still just wants to find love. But as we the readers know, Asa is only doing it because she considers Denji a criminal and won’t feel too guilty turning him into a weapon for Yoru to use. Asa unknowingly just becomes the latest in a line of women who take advantage of Denji’s feelings to get what they want.

* Denji gets asked out on a date by Asa but as we the readers know, Asa is only doing it because she considers Denji a criminal and won’t feel too guilty turning him into a weapon for Yoru to use. Asa unknowingly just becomes the latest in a line of women who take advantage of Denji’s feelings to get what they want.

* Right off the bat, we see Denji's living situation, maimed to sell body parts, desperate enough to immediately eat a lit cigarette just for 100 yen [[labelnote:Note]]A little less than $1[[/labelnote]], and being so hungry that he treats eating a slice of bread like a gourmet dinner. Even then, he doesn't seem to have much longer to live due to inheriting the disease that took his mother and [[BloodFromTheMouth coughs up blood]].
** During the eventful night that would lead to him becoming Chainsaw Man, said disease rears its ugly head as Denji talks to Pochita causing him to convulse violently and throw up a glob of red ichor. Denji's reaction is ''complete nonchalance'' as he casually comments his mom suffered the same condition. He has spent so long deprived of the most basic comforts in his life that the prospect of meeting a painful demise by consumption does not even faze him.

** Many chapters later, Denji has a dream of Pochita. It's one of the rare times he looks genuinely happy and looks excited to at least be able to dream about being with him again. But Pochita refuses, desperately pleading to Denji to never open the door he's hiding behind. Which is much later revealed to be the mental representation of Denji repressing the horrible traumatic memory of killing his abusive father in self-defense. It's implied that Pochita could have actually communicated with Denji in their merged form; but ,after realising how horrific his best friend's past truly is, the Devil sealed himself off in the darkest corner of Denji's mind in an attempt to protect him, [[NiceJobBreakingItHero unwittingly giving Makima exactly the tool she needed to break his will by just forcing him to open it]].

* Reze's death at Makima's hand. Her whole arc revolves her [[InLoveWithTheMark falling in love with Denji]], because of how similar [[BirdsOfAFeather both of their circumstances are]]. Denji offers to run away with her, but before the two can rendevous Makima brutally has her murdered. To add salt to the wound, right before having Reze killed, Makima brings up the Country Mouse conversation that Reze previously had with Denji, signaling that Reze was doomed to die from the start since Makima always had her in her sights.

** Denji appears to have waited all the way to nightfall for Reze until the cafe owner had to kick him out due to closing time. Meaning Denji likely spent the rest of the story believing that Reze really was faking everything all along.

* Bucky's death. The little guy was weak due to nobody being scared enough of chickens to warrant a powerful Chicken Devil but they were ultimately just a kind and cute critter not unlike Pochita. Even the usually aloof Asa is touched by their kindness when they show that they went to the effort of knowing her by name despite her actively avoiding them until then. All of this kindness gets repaid by the jealous Class President tripping Asa as she's running forward to finally mingle with her classmates, causing her to fall on Bucky and crush them to death. And all of this not long after the whole class declared them their friend.

** When you factor in Denji offering Pochita his body when he dies it's obvious that it never even occurred to him that instead the opposite would occur and Pochita would sacrifice his life so Denji could live a full life and he's likely not entirely sure how to deal with that fact.

---> Denji: ALL OF THE WOMEN I KNOW! EVERY SINGLE ONE HAS TRIED TO KILL ME! Everyone's after my chainsaw heart! What about my heart?! DENJI'S!