When Haruka discovers that the orphanage is being dragged through the mud by the media due to her, it is absolutely heart-rending. She then decides to disappear, with only Ayako being aware of the scandal, to whom she claims to meet up with Kiryu and return one day after his sentences finishes.
Kiryu's reunion with the orphans of the Morning Glory orphanage following four years of imprisonment starts out as a mixture between this and Heartwarming, with all the kids running to hug him and express how much they missed him, especially Taichi... All with the exception of Ayako.
Ayako quickly realizes that Haruka left without telling the whole truth, and she breaks down crying over that.
Worse still, this ends up being the last time the Morning Glory orphans see Kiryu.
"Tonight" from Kiwami returns at the karaoke clubs, the music video for which consists of screenshots from Yakuza 0 highlighting Akira Nishikiyama, Kiryu's old blood brother and, in happier times, his best friend.
Kiryu can also reflect on his time with Nishiki when talking to the hostess club girls, and sounds genuinely despondent at points. A decade after his sacrifice, Kiryu never forgot about his once-best friend.
While it's pretty missable, if while Kiryu is acting as Michio, he is asked by a girl about his love life, Kiryu can reflect on Yumi as well. He was acting pretty flawlessly until then, but you can choose to have him solemnly muse about how he could have had a life with Yumi had he chosen better. Not only that, Yumi's dying moments is still clearly in his mind as displayed by his flashbacks. Kiryu also states when remembering Yumi that Yumi was his only love, displaying that Kaoru may well have only been a crush and Yumi was the only person he truly loved. Although Kiryu is mainly a Celibate Hero at this point, this game, although subtle makes it clear it's because The First Cut Is the Deepest.
It's a blink and you'll miss it moment, but after rescuing Nagumo who subsequently begs Kiryu to be his aniki, Kiryu spends the majority of the cutscene with an uncomfortable, sad look on his face, no doubt stemming from the tragic deaths of the last two people who looked up to him and called him as such.
While it's heartwarming to see Kiryu and Pocket Circuit Fighter reunite after many years and reflect upon old times, you might come to the realization that, perhaps aside from Majima, he's the oldest surviving friend Kiryu has. Almost everyone else close to him from the time they met is long gone.
On his way to meet with Kiyomi at the top of the hill, Kiryu looks down upon the sunset-glazed Onomichi from his ropeway car, while reflecting on his moments with Haruka since first meeting her eleven years prior. It's a beautiful and sentimental moment that really shows just how much Kiryu cares about her.
Yuta's grief over his heritage as the second son of a Chinese Triad leader. When he realizes how much it screwed over his Love Interest Haruka and their child Haruto, he is willing to go as far as to charge at the Saio Triad HQ and burn it, his father Big Lo and himself to the ground just so nobody would go after them ever again.
Joon-Gi Han's death can be this for some, especially given his Ensemble Dark Horse status. The guy was an unhinged sadist and a Bad Boss to his men, but he developed Villain Respect towards Kiryu after their earlier clashes and was overall a Noble Demon who accepted Kiryu being superior to him. And then he is suddenly and unceremoniously shot, just before he could reveal to Kiryu what was going on.
A mix of Fridge Logic and a sad moment, when Kiryu and co. go to save Kiyomi, Hirose gave them ski masks, arguing that he used them back in the day to beat some higher ups, but when the team is about to uncover the secret of Onomichi, Hirose wears a ski mask. Later on, after being defeated and the secret uncovered, he reveals he killed his own anikis, and then in the flashback we're shown that he actually used the ski masks not to beat them, but to kill them.
More upsettingly, when Hirose is recounting the murders of his anikis, he stabs Matsunaga's father and looks down at the model kit of the Yamato he just dropped. He didn't just murder one of his closest friends. He murdered a father on his way home from work. It's little wonder why Hirose is so sweet to the boys as he is.
Worst part is, the mask he used for those murders was the same model used by Kiryu, not once, but twice.
Hirose's death. After Kiryu and the Hirose Family find out about the secret of Onomichi, Heizo demands that Hirose kill everyone present. Hirose, having long since grown attached to everyone in his family, hesitates, and then begins to ask Heizo if he can at least spare some of them. However, the second Hirose turns around, Heizo shoots him as punishment for insubordination. Lying in the arms of Nagumo, the captain of his family, Hirose admits that he killed his boy's fathers to protect the secret of Onomichi, and then dies peacefully just as Nagumo and Matsunaga finish telling him they don't blame him for what he did. To add insult to injury, right before Hirose dies, Heizo admits that Daidoji never told him to kill anyone who knew the secret of Onomichi. His orders were to destroy the Yamato Mark II. However, he lied to Hirose to get him to kill everyone so that he could keep his leverage over Daidoji. Hirose died knowing that all the blood on his hands was for nothing.
Kiryu is extremely upset by the revelation, breathing heavily and trying to keep it together as its an incredibly tragic mirror of how his own life was upturned by the yakuza.
In a more positive-yet-tragic note, Hirose is forgiven by Nagumo and Matsunaga for the murders of their parents in the funeral, meaning that even after such a crime against them, he'll still be their dad, and died as any dad would be.
Kiryu's reunion with Haruka in the hospital counts as this and Heartwarming. Upon seeing Haruka awake after being in a coma for the majority of the game, Kiryu tells her that he thought the second he saw her again after she ran away from Okinawa, he would lecture her nonstop about leaving the orphanage kids and him behind without a single word. But after a quick pause, Kiryu admits that now that he's standing here before her, finally reunited after all this time, he can't find anything to say. He's just far too relieved to see her again.
As smug as he is, Someya's love for his ex-wife and daughter is genuine, and his death may be the biggest case of Alas, Poor Villain this series has had yet. Sugai and Koshimizu watch as he has one final battle with Kiryu. Upon Kiryu's victory, Sugai reveals that they kidnapped Kiyomi, and were forcing Someya to fight and kill Kiryu in return for her safety. At this point, Iwami walks into frame and gives Kiryu an ultimatum. He'll release Kiyomi, but only if Kiryu kills Someya instead. Desperate for his wife's safety, Someya begs Kiryu to kill him, even handing him a knife to do it with. When Iwami's patience runs thin, Someya immediately stabs himself instead, hoping that his death will satisfy Iwami. Iwami simply twists the knife by saying that time's up, and walks away. Koshimizu then turns off the camera, but not before we hear a single gunshot ring from the other side. Distraught and heartbroken over his sacrifice meaning nothing, Someya begs Nagumo to take care of his daughter in his stead, and then dies. Kiryu, who had been Someya's enemy for a large portion of this game, roars in rage when Someya dies, and punches the TV Sugai was using to talk to them out of pure grief.
Even worse, Kiyomi was revealed to be alive after the fact. Someya died thinking his wife was killed, and will never know the truth.
However, it's thanks to such a sacrifice that Koshimizu changed his mind and spared Kiyomi, effectively rendering his sacrifice the last act of true love towards Kiyomi, and ultimately saving her life a second and last time.
Slightly less impactful, but before the final battle with Someya begins, Kiryu asks what happened to him, since he had been so willing to cooperate up until now, only to go back to being Kiryu's enemy in the blink of an eye. Adding to this is the mission objective, which contains Kiryu's thoughts on whatever the current story objective is. The only thought he can express in the moment is complete and utter disbelief.
Defeat Someya Why!?
If one pays enough attention, Someya has many similarities with Nishiki, in appearance (slicked-back hair, white suit), personality (both wanted to climb to the top of the Tojo Clan, had great ambition and would do what they deemed as necessary to further their plans) and even manner of death (both sacrificed themselves for their loved ones, i.e. Kiryu and Yumi on Nishiki's side and Kiyomi on Someya's). Through the game, Kiryu may have seen some sort of resemblence between those two, which probably adds extra anguish and anger to the Dragon the moment Someya dies.
And if that wasn't enough, Nagumo and Someya's rivalry is pretty much that of Kiryu and Nishiki's from the first game (a strongheaded yakuza and a more subtle and cunning yakuza trying to climb up the ranks, both fighting for the love of the same woman). No wonder Kiryu is so affected, as history repeats itself, complete with with a tragic outcome.
Kiryu reflects on the many parents he came across. Some are bound by tradition, while some never really loved their kid to begin with, and he realizes how all these parents and children never spending time together as a family led to so much heartbreak and destruction. Kiryu then decides to write a letter to the person he thinks he failed as a father: Daigo Dojima, the boy he dragged into the Tojo Clan against his wishes, only to then distance himself from Daigo and let him handle the problems that came with being Chairman alone.
Furthermore he writes to Daigo pleading that if he should die, not to avenge him. Kiryu feels his life isn't worth that much.
Majima and Saejima's reactions can also be pretty sad. Kiryu is pretty much among the few apart from each other they can really consider a friend, and their Tranquil Fury is clearly evident, being eager to avenge the death of their friend. However, once they read the letter, their expression changes into solemn sadness. It's clear that they feel bad for their friend, as while Majima and Saejima have managed to find peace with their Dark and Troubled Past, Kiryu never manages to find his happy ending and must settle for a Bittersweet Ending instead. The fact that they may well be feeling they failed as a friend by never managing to snap Kiryu out of the darker and sadder aspects of his life and the letter serving as seeming a last reminder that they failed must be pretty gutting, although at least they manage to find peace with that in Yakuza 7.
Kiryu's shocking and unexpected "death" at the end of the game. Just like Yumi in the first game, Kiryu tragically takes the bullet for both Haruka, Haruto, and Yuta, protecting them from Sugai. He survives, but he doesn't want them to know.
Worse is that the moment Kiryu passes out from his wounds, the game fades to black and the credits roll with mournful music in the background. Granted, this isn't the first time that the series has pulled this kind of fake-out, but the game really sets up the impression that Kiryu is officially gone. Which, in a sense, despite him still being alive, he is.
In retrospect, Haruka threw away her idol career to be with the orphans and especially Kiryu, however, she and Kiryu only had four rather brief moments together since then, and at least one of the two was unable to move freely in all of them, preventing them from spending time together the way they normally would have, not to mention the last moment they share being said "death".
The final scene of the game has Haruka, Yuta and the Morning Glory orphans watching as Haruto attempts to walk for the first time. A genuinely heartwarming scene which Kiryu, in his classic outfit, watches from afar. He is so close to his family, yet can never show himself. The only one who notices his presence is Haruto, who reaches for him. Haruka, noticing Haruto being distracted, turns her gaze to check, but misses Kiryu by a brief moment. The camera cuts between shots of Haruto's footsteps and Kiryu's footsteps, showing both of them struggle to walk.
The very last shot of the game. Kiryu slowly walks away to parts unknown as Haruka encourages her son to the backdrop of a beautifully poignant music. Her last line, "Hang in there", while meant for Haruto, could also be for Kiryu and the audience.
Kiryu's karaoke songs unique to this game. Full stop.
Cheerful instrumentation and the visuals of a delightful vacation may make you think that "Today is a Diamond" is a pretty upbeat and happy-sounding song, especially for Kiryu... until you read the actual lyrics: The singer dreams of how they’re looking forward to spending time with the one they love, then begs them to wake up. This clearly mirrors Kiryu’s situation in the story - wanting to spend time with Haruka only for her to wind up in a coma. The final line makes it worse as the singer, unable to wake their loved one, says that maybe "they should go to sleep too".
"Hands", which you unlock by beating the game, is a cross between this and heartwarming. It's Kiryu's Grand Finale in terms of karaoke songs, and it shows. Unlike all the others, this song is not edited to shorten its length - you have to play all 3 minutes and 35 seconds of it. Not only is the song symbolic for closing out his character arc, it's also symbolic for closing out his tenure as the series's long-time protagonist. Kiryu has come a long way since he first became a member of the yakuza, and has now become a father figure in his own right. Fittingly, the song's cinematic consists of clips between him and Haruto throughout the game.
