Tear Jerker / Lost Judgment

Per wiki policy, Spoilers Off applies here and all spoilers are unmarked. You Have Been Warned!

This game really doesn't pull any punches with its subject matter, so if you're sensitive to this sort of thing, remember that the Content Warning is there explicitly because of that.

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Base Game

• The game's main theme, "Rasen", is a lyrical one. It's basically Despair Event Horizon: the song, best punctuated by Ado's powerful vocals. Just see the main hook for yourself -
  Omaera no sei da (x2) ^Translation  It's all your fault (x2)
  Ano kioku mo kono seisai mo ^Translation  For all those memories, for this punishment
  Omaera no sei da (x2) ^Translation  It's all your fault (x2)
  Iiwake nante kikitakunai ^Translation  I don't want to hear your excuses
  Koukai ya zetsubou kutsuu mo zenbu ^Translation  Regret and despair, pain and everything
  Kuso kurae! ^Translation  Can just fuck off!
• For anyone that's been through her situation and is a bit like her, watching Koda get harassed by Matsui's group can be very painful to watch. The fact that Mikoshiba encouraged it as well as the fact that he and the aforementioned group belittle her for being a weak link does not help, either.
• Sawa's conversation with Yagami in Chapter 4. All of it. Her breaking into tears, as shown in the page picture above only drives the nail down even further and the quote below sums it all up quite nicely.
  Sawa: You know what I wanted to be as a kid? I was so innocent, I wanted to be a teacher. And after Mitsuru-kun's tragedy, I felt practically obligated. And still… I just let history repeat itself!
  • In fact, all the things she had to go through counts. From having to witness her fellow classmate get bullied into suicide and watching her teacher do nothing except telling the bullies "don't overdo it", to having the same situation repeat itself in her own career as a teacher and being physically unable to do anything about it. No wonder you'll probably want to give her a warm hug after hearing about all of the above.
  • As a side note, while her crying in the English dub is pretty sad enough as is, her crying in the Japanese voice-track is downright soul-crushing.
• And finally... Sawa's death. After everything that Yagami went through back in the first game with Okubo and Terasawa, seeing her lifeless corpse causes him to yell out in anguish at his failure as well as repeating the same mistakes he made with Emi. If that wasn't enough, then Kaito's and Sugiura's reactions will twist the knife even further. And besides, the fact that someone had the absolute gall to kill an innocent and kind young woman (that someone being Soma) is downright depressing, but infuriating and terrifying at the same time.
  • Since Sawa Dies Wide Open, her eyes are shown to be red with some tears running down her face. She was crying as she was murdered.
  • Chairman Okuda, and pretty much the entirety of the school by proxy, does not take Sawa's death well at all. He can barely keep his composure when announcing the news to the students the next day and, in a private conversation with Yagami, he eventually breaks down in tears, unable to understand why anyone could do harm to her, and begs Yagami to find the truth and make sure her death is not in vain.
    Okuda: But one thing, Yagami-san, if you would... Could I ask that you continue to keep digging until you get to the bottom? Can you? Sawa-sensei deserves to have her chance at justice! (now crying) A wonderful teacher like her... why? She had her whole future to look forward to, the poor woman! And now this happens... It's just not right!
  • Another gut-punch comes in the form of the student conversations that you can listen onto after the above event, for example, during a side case in the school, every student in the school, specifically the ones on the 2nd floor, mourning and grieving Sawa, and they reminiscence about all the good times she brought them, about how she was so nice to all of the students in the school, and about she all helped them with their English studies. One student recalls how he was right there when she last left the school, and some think still can't believe her death and think she'll walk into the classroom at any moment. Either way, it's not hard to sympathize with the students, especially if you also had a teacher you really liked in school.
  • Even Kuwana of all people is genuinely distraught over her death. Out of the many collateral damage he had overlooked in his crusade, Sawa's death is the only thing that he truly mourns and regrets happening. He may not be willing to stop even after it, but it turns out that he was aware that she had been suspicious of him and not only did he refuse to harm or even considering killing her, he still tried to get her out of harm's way by trying to talk her out of investigating him. To find that his efforts instead lead to her death clearly is a source of guilt, and when Yagami furiously asks if he will be able to bring himself to look into Sawa's eyes in the afterlife, he is visibly dismayed and even admits that his shame over causing her death will haunt him for eternity and when he dies, he probably won't be able to look at her.
• It's hard not to feel bad for Ehara once he comes clean about what's he done. After all, he's just a man driven by grief-fuelled rage over a justice system that failed to convict the man who drove his son to commit suicide. This line says it best:
  Ehara: My son died and justice was blind to his pain.
  • The retrial adds to this. Ehara continues denying any accusation of him being Mikoshiba's killer, up until Yagami threatens to delete the recording of Sawa confessing to Kuwana about Toshiro's bullying situation, where he finally breaks and admits to everything because he considered that recording the only memento he had left of his son. This prompts Yagami to call out the justice system's many flaws and how it led to people like Mikoshiba walking free without any consequences as Ehara, with his motives finally out in the open, cries silently at the stand.
    • Even more sad is that Ehara is crying partially because he himself feels guilty over his son's death too. After all, it has him who pushed Toshiro away when he needed emotional support from his father the most, thus ensuring he would never turn on him whenever the bullies would give him a hard time. You could intepret Ehara wanting to atone his emotional coldness in the past as taking out Mikoshiba's life, hoping his son would forgive him in the afterlife.
    • As an extra kick in the teeth, after he confesses, several reporters leave the room excitedly gossiping that "the pervert cop is a murderer too!" Even after exposing the truth about Mikoshiba's death, the media doesn't care and persist in surface level reporting, while ignoring the bullying crisis.
  • Not only a memento of his son but also the clear proof of Mikoshiba bullying his son, deleting it would mean he publicly turn a blind eye to his son's bullying just like the school did. Even if it's just temporary until his release from prison where he can reveal his plan it's just too much for him.
• He may be a madman, but Kuwana's reason for his crusade against bullies is very sympathetic. He was a homeroom teacher and one of his own students tried to commit suicide due to bullying he turned a blind eye to. What's worst, the bullies got off scotfree due to throwing one of them under the bus, and years later they don't even regret what they did. It's no wonder he started trying to get justice.
• Speaking of which, Kuwana's very motive for his crusade and his Start of Darkness - the hidden video that he kept of Mitsuru being mercilessly bullied by his classmates on the day of his attempted suicide. Sugiura's appalled reaction said it the best when he saw the video for himself:
  Sugiura: These little shits are the worst.
  • The sad part? None of the students that are shown in the video show a single hint of remorse for what they did to him years later. Not Mamiya (who recorded the whole thing on her phone), not Kawai (who was Mitsuru's assailant), not Akaike (who was joyfully watching Mitsuru's suffering) - none of them.
  • Even worse, Kuwana had only just barely collected the footage before Mitsuru jumped from the roof. Had he been on the scene even a few minutes sooner, the entire vicious downward spiral of revenge he would go down would have never happened.
• Then, there's Reiko Kusumoto, the mother of the boy who is now in a coma. Sure, she murdered one of the bullies, but you can't help for feel bad for her once you see her dilemma: she could either let Sawa's death go without justice paid or be sent to prison after her son just woke up from his coma.
• When it isn't busy being amazing, the Final Boss encounter with Kuwana is this. After dealing with RK and Soma, Kuwana plans on blowing up Kawai's body so that Reiko's secret stays hidden, along with Kawai himself, especially since Mitsuru had just woken up, and it would be absolutely devastating not only to separate a mother from her weak and ill son but also for him to be branded a murderer's son by the rest of society. Yagami, on the other hand, still torn about Sawa's death, tries to talk some sense into Kuwana, by reminding him that keeping Reiko's secrets will only do more damage in the long run and that Sawa will never get her justice if he takes this route, all the while the game's final boss theme, "Unwavering Belief" slowly builds up. In the end, Kuwana is reduced to an emotional wreck, ultimately resorting to settling the score once and for all the only way he knows how. Kaito's comment before the fight best sums it up:
  Kaito: The way I see this, Tak... you and Kuwana both have your reasons. Something to consider. But between the both of you... is there really a right answer?
  • To drive the point further with Kaito's words, the build up before "Unwavering Belief" plays is called either "Justice or Evil?" or "Good or Bad?".
• Kuwana goes through an absolutely massive Trauma Conga Line during the ending. Too conflicted to use the bomb to erase the evidence of Reiko Kusumoto's crimes, he furiously engages Yagami in a final battle, but Yagami proves to Kuwana how seriously outmatched he's been the entire game, beating Kuwana to the point he can barely stand and only limply push his fists towards Yagami after the fight. Finally broken, Yagami lets Kuwana know the real cost of his crusade as the collateral damage he's caused over the years has irreparably ruined the lives of many and created villains like Soma and Bando, and indirectly caused the death of Yoko Sawa, the only other person who ever cared about the bullying of Mitsuru Kusumoto that led him down this path. Unable to contain his grief he falls to his knees as he breaks down in tears because of the fact. As if that wasn't enough, Reiko shows up on the scene to let Kuwana know that he doesn't have to hide her crimes anymore and that she's turning herself in. Completely broken by the reveal Kuwana gut-wrenchingly cries in that his efforts were All for Nothing.
• Kenya Oshikiri's backstory, basically a yakuza Tyke Bomb trained and beaten into being a killer despite himself by his dad. During a tailing mission, Yagami notices Kenya look like a scared animal always looking over his shoulder in case his dad comes back. At the end of the story, his dad shows up and Kenya looks like a deer in the headlights, only having the courage to fight his dad after Todoroki and his other pupils get mercilessly beat up.

The Kaito Files

• Early in the story, Kaito is cornered by Senda and has hired Fudo Oshikiri, the father of Kenya from Seiryo High, to fight him. Despite barely putting a dent into the former-yakuza, Fudo hears Jun call Kaito his father. Having had a Heel Realization after having been beaten and disowned by his own son during the main game, he somberly leaves stating that he doesn't want to ruin any more families than he already has.
• For a Blood Knight of the highest caliber, Kenmochi's mental state is quite the tragic mess. After his second boss battle, he breaks down sobbing to Kaito about how he's haunted by the memories of Mikiko's family, who he killed starting a fire, and how it was an accident he never meant to happen, having been told their house was unoccupied. Since then, he's been constantly drinking and fighting, trying to find some way to ease the pain he feels. Things get worse later on when he learns just how much he's been manipulated by his supposed best friend Kyoya, and how Kyoya intended to kill and dispose of him. When he confronts and kills the man, Kenmochi is visibly crying and desperately asking him why it had to be this way.