If you were in her shoes, you'd cry too.
Being a melodramatic manga from The '70s, Dear Brother has a lot of tearjerking moments.
- The episodes that show us Rei's broken psyche, as well as her death and everyone's reactions to it. She was finally getting a chance to be happy, and in the way to what could've been her and Nanako's first official date... she gets hit by a train. Even Fukiko, who treated her so badly, collapses in tears. Not to mention, there's also poor Nanako being borderline cathatonic for days, her talk with Kaoru in which for the first time ever Kaoru can't help her, Rei's fangirls crying their eyes out during the wake, Fukiko's last goodbye as Takashi desperately tries to keep people out for some minutes so Fukiko make peace with Rei, even if it's only in front of her lifeless body (finishing with a Last Kiss); Nanako smoking for the first time to give her respects to Rei (the cigarette was one of hers), and her heart-to-heart with Fukiko in which she receives Rei's porcelain doll as a Tragic Keepsake.
- The manga is even worse, given that Rei completely gives up and chooses to commit suicide. Specially when she has a very bittersweet meeting with Nanako in which she gives her her doll Poupee-chan, and it's a Hope Spot for everyone... and it turns out to be Foreshadowing of her suicide. It's also Truth in Television, as it's noted that suicidal people often give their prized possessions away.
- Five words: "I thought she loved me!" . Seven more: "None of our love could reach her!".
- Junko Nakaya's Break the Cutie process. She seems to be The Ingenue and cute, then she gets sick, and then she gets publicly humiliated by being kicked out of the Sorority... poor girl.
- Episodes 27, 28, and 29. Poor, poor Mariko. So utterly creepy in the boxcutter scene. So terribly pitiful as she breaks down more and more.
- Aya being utterly broken (and having her reasons to be the bitch she is revealed) late in the series, ending with a suicide attempt that's barely thwarted by Nanako and Tomoko and followed by Mariko's You Are Not Alone speech. From Jerkass Alpha Bitch to Jerk Ass Woobie in one, two, three...
- In the manga, Kaoru's death, especially right after seeing her happily flying off to Germany with Takehiko.
- Not to mention her almost crossing the Despair Event Horizon right after Rei's death, coinciding with her thinking she'll have a relapse in her breast cancer. (Which in the manga turns out to be true.)
- "Mona Lisa" Komabayashi's Not So Stoic moment in the Sorority dissolution arc, when she realizes how far she and "Borgia" Ogiwara have gone, saves Nanako from falling off a balcony, and then breaks down in tears and begs Ogiwara to stop.
- Nanako's Anguished Declaration of Love, ending with her sobbing her heart out while Rei watches, completely lost as to how to respond.Nanako: I... I love you! [sob]
