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1* The manga adaptation of "Testation" is one, especially after the Major jacks into Kago's cyberbrain.
2** The track "Beauty is Within Us" also hammers Kago's intention with the episode.
3* While much of "Time of the Machines" is played for laughs. Kusanagi's reservations regarding the Tachikomas and eventual decision to have them dismantled is not. Not to mention the poor Tachikomas lack of understanding about her concerns. The poor things think that she's ''mad'' at them and attempt to avoid punishment by hatching a bizarre scheme to appeal to her and prevent their removal. And when they (understandably) spy on her and Batou's conference, they are lead to believe that she was actually angry at him and not them. So they decide to throw him a party to make him feel better, [[DownerEnding they all get shipped back to the lab a few days later...]]
4* Most of "A Tachikoma Runs Away".
5* In the climax of the first season, when the Tachikomas sacrifice themselves to save Batou, using the very few weapons they have. His personal Tachikoma is the [[HeroicSacrifice last to go]], and it looks to Batou, says, "Mr. Batou... [[ItHasBeenAnHonor Goodbye]]" and cries a ''single tear'' of organic oil. This is especially heartbreaking because of the symbolism of humanity that Batou literally installed by giving the Tachikomas organic oil to begin with. They get better, but the fact that ''robotic armaments being scrapped'' can cause real world tears.
6** Batou's horror as he realizes exactly what they're doing.
7** "What you have is certainly not weak."
8** That oil tear also calls back to In an earlier episode, when a Tachikoma ran away and said it couldn't cry in the same way as a little girl, Miki, that it had befriended. It still cried an oil tear to match up with the girl, possibly so she wouldn't feel alone. The fact that this time the Tachikoma cried only because of it's own situation suggested it might have attained a new level of sapience, that it truly had gained Ghost after all.
9* The third episode of the first season, "Android and I", especially the end when he realized that the android, Jeri, admitted to being in love with the Canadian ambassador's son who was willing to die to keep them from being captured. When Togusa watches the movie "Breathless" at the end and asks his wife where the extra lines are at the end of the movie, she replied that there were none (because the Jeri repeated the lines verbatim before they were caught).
10* In the sixteenth episode of the first season, "[=Ag2O=]," the Tachikomas just got shipped off, leaving Batou in a subtle bit of turmoil before he has to investigate a former boxing champion that was a personal hero of his. By the end of the episode the man's been arrested for leaking military info, and Batou, in sheer frustration at the man throwing away everything for more profit when he already had a loving wife and comfortable life as is, practically smashes the liquor the man's wife had given him and the case of natural oil he'd gotten for his Tachikoma before furiously throwing himself back into training while cursing the man.
11* The end of 2nd Gig's "Trans_Parent." The VO who provided the little girl's voice ''earned'' her pay. When you watch the little girl struggle to get out of her wheelchair and try to find her father only to discover that she's blind AND crippled it's hard to fight the tears when you know that she will never hear his voice or receive a gift from him again.
12** becomes a bit less so when you remember the guy was an international terrorist who likely caused hundreds of children to be crippled, blinded, or worse, himself. That said, [[ManlyTears Batou's english VA's voice broke at his lines talking to her]].
13* 2nd [=GiG=] later has two practically back to back, the first is: Motoko asking Kuze if he can fold cranes using his left hand -- with all the implication that has. Then, right after that hearing [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0UEkrUVmPIc the Tachikoma sing this cheerful song about butterflies and living things while they send the satellite containing their collective consciousness plummeting into the path of a launched nuke.]]
14-->The earthworm, the cricket,\
15the water snake\
16everything, everything is alive\
17and are friends\
18We all are alive\
19We laugh because we're alive\
20We all are alive\
21We are happy because we're alive
22** "I don't believe it. Do you want to know something? I'd bet anything that all of you have ghosts."
23** While not actually sung by the Tachikomas, their theme song "be human" is both hilarious ("If I just could be more human, I'd have so many little babies and maybe a wife") and gutwrenching, underscoring the contrast between the Tachikomas who want to be human because they see their existence of specialized function as a curse, to the humans who want to be more like robots so they can perform better. One comment left on a youtube upload of the song:
24--->I am not an emotional man.\
25I am not bothered by horrific crimes or tragedy.\
26While I believe human life has value, I do not grieve at its loss.\
27I am not moved by random acts of kindness.\
28God help me, this song made me cry.
29** "[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZfC-Yp7yvBA&feature=related I Do]]".
30* Most of the flashback portion of episode 11 of 2nd GIG (AFFECTION), but especially the one line toward the end:
31---> "I'm going to practice folding paper cranes so that I can make them for ''you'' someday, okay?"
32** "She is probably still looking for the first boy she ever loved."
33** The part where she ends making a mistake and tearing the paper crane she was making. You can clearly see how much effort she's putting in it, the sound of that tear might as well be the sound of her young heart breaking.
34** Cue the song "Take a Little Hand".
35* "Motoko! MOTOKOOOO!"
36* After taking Dr. Asura into custody for trying to defect to North America, Batou's Tachikoma is sad because it didn't want his memories deleted on orders from the Major. Batou also asked the Major if the Tachikomas could visit him in case he's placed under house arrest.
37* The end of the episode "Excavation" is definitely a gut-wrencher. The state of New ''Tokyo'' looks so incredibly sorry. Whatever that happened during the war must be really bad...

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