Tear Jerker / Sayonara, Zetsubou-Sensei

• Even the normally over-the-top ridiculous Sayonara, Zetsubou-Sensei has one of these in Episode 11 of the second TV series, when the girls sadly explain what has driven them to murderous insanity. "But... he never chose any of us."
  • The ending of Episode 11 is bad enough, as it moves completely away from the usual wacky and over-the-top tone. That's his entire class waiting for him outside the operating room. And if that isn't tearjerker-y enough for you, here's this AMV/parody ending.
    However, in the next episode, he's just fine.
• The author's Heroic Self-Deprecation. Be sure to read his notes at the ends of volumes.
  I think I'm creepy. I just can't stand any part of myself. If I went to a picnic and saw my ugly face reflected in the lake, I'd just jump into it. If I went shopping and saw my ugly figure reflected in the show window, I'd bang my head against the glass and cut my throat with a fragment. My TV is always on. That's because if I turned it off, I'd see my ugly reflection. On sunny days, I have no desire to leave the house. Even my shadow is ugly. I'm an ugly manga child who'll never see the day when I become a swan. I changed the lightbulb over my sink to the lowest wattage.
• The second-to-last chapter of the manga reveals that Kafuka is Dead All Along. Even worse, the last chapter reveals that her friends will eventually forget about her.
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  • Upon reaching this twist, the three opening songs that Kenji Ohtsuki performs for the anime start to become Harsher in Hindsight and come across as being rather painful when you take the lyrics in mind. Ringo Mogire Beam, in particular, hammers it with the chorus referring to how the persona thinks it's "Shangri-La" and "paradise" being with the person they love.
    I’m sitting up! Already,
    We’re twisting, twisting, twisting away
    Make it so I can’t tell why I’m trembling!
    Slipping away! I’m already a twisted human
    But if I meet you, I can change, right?
    (Just realize that I am here)

    ——Hito Toshite Jiku ga Bureteiru

    C’mon, run around trying to escape during that gap
    Dance the real rumba
    To have a light smile with you—
    That day will come
    (I believe in it rumba)

    ——Kuusou Rumba

    I swear it’s Shangri-La if I’m with you
    Our password
    (Apple plucking beam!)
    Over there
    Over the slight side of despair
    (Come over here!)
    I swear it’s paradise, we can do it
    Our password
    (Apple plucking beam!)

    —— Ringo Mogire Beam