Let the tears become the rainfall in this forest. Spoilers left unmarked.
- Akita's death is this to some people, especially her fans. Some people got really connected to her and her internal struggle.
- Even people who hate or dislike Akita feel sad mostly for the reactions of the other characters. Mitsuru and Takayuki show that they really do care for Akita, and Minato breaks down.
- Akita's backstory. In the canon, Akita used to be a happy girl, until she was abducted by her once Childhood Friend and cousin, Hideyoshi, who tortured her and forced her to rip off her own fingernails (and Word of God even states that he raped her, which is sadly not that surprising). Sometime before or after this, a teacher close to Akita, Nicole, dies of cancer. When she returned, Akita joined the Committee to help her family, where something happened between her and her partner Takayuki, which resulted in the both of them hating each other. And, well, then the Killing Game happened. The worse thing is, canon makes it pretty clear that this isn't even half of the story. It gets WORSE.
- Kazuhiko's death. He seriously seems to regret what he has done to Akita and accepts his death, even though he was given an unfair trial.
- Once again, made worse by how the others react, especially Ayano. Ayano is a mess and has to be forced to see her boyfriend get brutally killed.
- The fact that Ayano tried to save Kazuhiko from his own execution. It is even implied that she would have willingly been executed along with him, which is probably why Monokuma chose to restrain her.
- The fact that Mirabilis tries to get herself executed instead of any of the culprits. You can tell that she truly cares for other people and finds that although what the culprits did was wrong, they don't deserve to die. She will rather have herself die.
- Ayano's suicide attempt. Although it was caused by the suicide video, it is sad to see Ayano try to kill herself. Made worse since the author makes it clear that nobody is safe and some people were scared she was actually going to die.
- Minato confessing that they were in love with Akita. It is such a sweet but heartbreaking moment because they are talking to Ayano due to she also knowing how it is like. By the end of the conversation, Minato is holding onto Ayano tight, bawling their eyes out.
- Shinichi's death. Mostly because he does not deserve it. He is shown to suffering for a long, long time before finally dying with all his classmates trying to save him. The author shows that she knows how to make scenes sadder through character reactions. Especially of poor, poor Naoko.
- Shinichi's past is more explained in the Christmas Special. He grew up in an abusive home with a single mother that was too busy getting drunk, gambling, and having sex to take proper care of him. He is instead raised by his neighbor, a woman named Hanako that is part of the Saviors of Humanity. Somewhere in the gap between this story and the special, his brother is born, and it is strongly implied that Shinichi takes care of him by himself and will do anything to protect him. Keep in mind that Shinichi is only fifteen.
- Hanako herself is this now. Although we do not know a lot about her, all we know is positive things. The mastermind sent a video of Shinichi dying to all known Saviors, including her. Hanako is not going to have a happy day, and she probably still has to take care of Shinichi's younger brother all by herself.
- Actually, it is possible that Hanako and all of the Saviors fell into despair because of Shinichi's death. It is sad to think about how a group of people that are trying to overthrow a corrupt government turns into the very things that they hate so much.
- Kira's motive. She found a loophole in the Water Motive through the use of suicide. So she tried to kill herself, but Monokuma ruined her plan, resulting in Shinichi's death instead.
- Cassius's death. It is very debatable whether or not Kira or Cassius killed Shinichi. Even though it is sad to see such a fun character get brutally killed all because he was an idiot who wanted to hide his secret. And it is even worse because Kira tries to save him, only to get blinded instead.
- Made worse that it is now canon that Cassius is innocent. Cassius was killed because the students altogether rebelled against Monokuma and almost ended the game. He was an example to all of them that Monokuma isn't afraid to kill the innocent.
- Kyoto's death. He dies painfully and slowly by a bullet wound to the stomach. Worse of all, he is conscious through the whole ordeal by sheer willpower to relay information about Kaneshiro Kazuma to somebody who already knows. Then he starts going through his regrets with Ayano before saying that he forgives her. Then he dies in her arms.
- Naoko's death. The poor girl got so brutally tortured that she fell into despair before dying. It is bad enough to see somebody like her tortured, but it is even worse to see that even people like her can fall into the darkest depths of despair.
- Doesn't help that her Implied Love Interest Takayuki is also in the room. Ayano even notes that he looks dead inside. Imagine seeing somebody you love go through something like that.
- Mitsuru's death. The real stinger is when Takayuki states that he failed Akita. Ouch.
- Mirabilis's death. She was being choked with a chain as her classmates encouraged her to not die before she was shot by Hayato. Made worse by how her eyes seemed to ask why and that her body simply fell after she died.
- Even worse, Monokuma doesn't even let the students give her a proper burial. They briefly fought for her body before Monokuma won out and took her body to Requiem knows where.
- The fact that Mirabilis made her own grave. Ouch. That hurts.
- When Yasu gets drunk, they are still acting like a queen, but then they start crying about...whatever Dango is, their best friends dying, causing Cassius's death, and being miserable. Oh dear lord.
- The flashback of when Kazuhiko and Ayano started dating each other. Ayano is basically dead inside but Kazuhiko manages to break her out of her despair. And it's very heavily implied that this scene is the reason why Kazuhiko decided to kill Kotori.
- The sexual assault scene with the fake Kazuhiko. Kaneshiro is trying to break Ayano and he tries to do it the lowest way possible. Ayano has to kill the fake Kazuhiko to make him finally stop assaulting her. And the poor girl really does not react to this very well.
- Yasu's suicide attempt. Seeing them in so much suffering is just painful, and, sadly, this was not shocking. Atsuto, Ayano, and Akemi stop them before they can do the deed. The reason why Yasu stops is that Atsuto reminds them of Mochi, leaving Yasu in tears.
- Miyuki's death. The poor girl was beaten to death in a very cutthroat manner. And we do not even want to know what Namita's reaction to this will be.
- The fact that Namita out of all people killed Miyuki. What could have happened for her to do such a thing? She's clearly not happy about it either. Just...why?
- Even with the fact that Namita killed Miyuki, she and Tsukiko have a very touching final goodbye that leaves Namita in tears. Everybody else then gathers around them in an embrace. Even knowing their possible fate, they still defend Namita.
- Hotaru and Hayato choosing to stay behind in the Killing Game. It is both sweet and sad, and, even with Hotaru trying to comfort Ayano by saying you can't have a game with just two people, nothing in the rules state otherwise. Monokuma would probably have them kill each other.
- Why does Akemi have such a hatred for killers? Because his mother and brother were killed in a hostage situation and went free because of their high position in the Committee. Ouch.
- Namita's comforting of Akemi. It is such a nice thing that she forgives him for snapping underneath all of the pressure.
- The surviving students have such a nice moment together. Although it is nice in context, it is so clear that they are all going to suffer. That this is a such a short-lived moment of happiness.
- Hanako and all the other Saviors getting slaughtered since they successfully pull Ayano out of the Killing Game. It is sad to see all of them get killed all so easily.
- The rape scene. Just the rape scene. Just seeing Kaneshiro breaking Ayano's psyche and breaking her to the point of despair has broken many readers.
- The others being forced to eat Mirabilis. It's painful to see Tsukiko, Yasu, Atsuto, and Akemi's reactions when they are faced with the truth. Especially Yasu, considering Mirabilis was their friend.
- Miyuki's backstory gets overshadowed by the other moments (probably because its reveal is part of Monokuma's plan to distract the students). She was raised outside the cities and in the forest in a big family. There was a rival clan, and Miyuki fell in love with one of their members and started dating her. Then it turns out the girl was just using her and then she and her family whipped out all of Miyuki's except for Miyuki and her baby sister. Miyuki kills her lover but gets severely injured in the process. Then, having nowhere else to go (and staying meaning certain death), Miyuki takes her sister and runs to the city where she places her in an orphanage. All this time later, Miyuki has been homeless, living out on the streets and hanging on by a thread, while helping strangers for no cash.
- Minato's death. Just Minato's death.
- Using the distraction, Ayano gets to Minato's collar and unlocks it. This triggers their action and Monokuma said in the prologue that if anybody else other the mm does this, Minato will get punished. And OH BOY. Minato is dragged by the chains onto the ceiling with Hotaru and Hayato, who are barely hanging on with their lives.
- Hotaru is forced into a decision on to whether or not to save Minato or Hayato. She knows Minato is already marked for death, so she chooses Hayato. We do not want to know how the others will react to Hotaru's decision as she is automatically pulled into the execution room after Minato's death.
- How does Minato die? By being slowly torn apart. During this whole time, Minato does not scream. And what are Minato's last words to Hotaru?...I'll be with Akita now...Ouch.
- Namita's death. It's just cruel although it's not that long, it's sadistic.
- Namita gets stabbed in the heart after being stabbed in the arm and leg. She instantly dies but its clear that Monokuma doesn't want a long, painful death like the other executions, but to get into the heads of the others.
- So how does Monokuma try to get into the other's heads? By having the two figures stab Namita into she is a pile of viscera. God.
- The reveal that Hotaru has been raped by Kaneshiro not once, but twice in the story. The first time was in the prologue, while the second was at the beginning of chapter four. Damn, that hurts.
- Just the opening internal monologue of chapter five. The whole thing just makes you want to hug Ayano and punch Kaneshiro.
- Ayano tries to kill herself again in the first part of chapter five. Unlike last time, this is not under the influence of the Suicide Video. She would have gone through with it if Hayato, Kira, and Takara didn't arrive in time. Note Hayato is the one who stays with her because, unlike Kira, he was talked down from his suicide attempt by Tsukiko.
- During her sleepover with Atsuto, Ayano has a panic attack triggered by a nightmare. Atsuto does not want her to be alone because she is the only person left that is connected to the survivors of the first two games, who he thinks are all dead.
- In Tsukiko free time events, she shows signs of survivor guilt because both Namita and Miyuki died instead of her. She wonders how the two of them would get along with her friends outside the Killing Game. And then it is revealed that Tsukiko watched her motive sometime after the trial. She cries about how all of her friends are dying and how she is still alive.
- Learning how much of a hold Ayano Kirigiri has over Kira's mind. She has so much control that she convinced Kira into a marriage of convenience and becoming her traitor during the Killing Game. Ayano Kamukura even likens their relationship to the one between Kotori and Kazuhiko, even though Kotori was a lot more abusive towards Kazuhiko.
- Kira was raped in the past, which is something she and Ayano Kamukura bond over because its a shared experience.
- Ayano shows clear signs of PTSD because of Kaneshiro raping her when he has another conversation with her. What makes it worse is that he reveals that Ayano is pregnant with his child. She then realizes that she can't do anything about it, as there would be no way Kaneshiro would stop using her.
- Tsukiko and Akemi are the new victims. Although they are so used to death, being very connected to these two (except for Ayano for Akemi, she still hates Akemi), they still feel sorrow for their loss.
- Even with the reveal that Kira was Ayano Kirigiri's traitor, Ayano Kamukura still mourns her loss when they eventually find her body.
- Akemi is the traitor for Kaneshiro. He was still an ass but he had morals, shown with how he disagreed with the way that Kaneshiro did things, so much that he killed somebody else to make sure Kaneshiro wouldn't be able to have him or Tsukiko as his puppets anymore. He originally joined Kaneshiro so he could find out who killed his mother and sister.
- This gets more tragic once you realize that Kaneshiro was the one that caused their deaths. Kaneshiro revealing this sent Akemi in a state of so much shock that he suffered a heart attack in the real world and died.
- The murder plan. Tsukiko going insane is sad enough to think about it, much worse that she decided to kill Kira because of the despair. And, unlike other despairs, its hinted that Tsukiko felt remorse and hated herself for her actions, which is why she allowed Akemi to kill her. Akemi wanted to outplay Kaneshiro but it turns out that Kaneshiro outplayed him instead. Real life isn't a game of chess.
- Hayato almost getting executed because Natsumi makes him accidentally 'attack' Monokuma by tripping over him. Yasu is able to convince Monokuma to stop, however...
- Because he has nobody else alive to execute, Monokuma decides instead to defile the dead even more and put Tsukiko and Akemi through the execution. Its sad to see how powerless they are, even in death they are nothing more than Monokuma's play things.
- The utter despair caused by Kaneshiro being revealed to Atsuto.
- Takara trying to comfort Ayano when she has what seems to be a panic attack because of figuring out who the mastermind is. This concern is what caused his death.
- Yasu's thought process in general is depressing. Their self hatred even with all the awesome things that they have done has caused many readers to want to hug them and punch their dad.
