- A lot of people seem to be affected by Brolli leaving behind Cat Beast.
- The Movie-Within-A-Movie, A Majcher Mistake. Starts off as a goofy miniature version of Diamond In The Rough, until the main character starts murdering children in exchange for sex, and then rapes Keine while jaunty Yoshi's Island music plays.
- Kaguya getting killed by Brolli through an air embolism in episode 10. Brolli's claims of "She'll be fine, she's immortal!" doesn't make things any better.
- The backstory of Vic Chaos and the truth about Arturo and Yuuka. If you didn't hate Arturo the first time, you REALLY will, this time.
- What's worse is that Yuuka's worst fears came true. That not only did she get blamed for this incident but also had her flower field, which she let Arturo rape her to protect, burned to the ground. And if that wasn't bad enough she was trying to amend her mistake by letting the human village children survivors live there. Even Vic was horrified when he saw the death he and Mokou caused.
- And also his absolute downfall of what he became. He can barely sleep, fearing Yukari may visit him again. There is absolutely nothing he can do, because who would believe that he went to a fantasy realm and became a killer? People would treat him like a lunatic hobo because the truth would be so outlandish that it would be impossible to find someone that would actually believe in him, not even the tin-foiled conspiracy theorists. Even if Word of God says that he would work to convince kids to not accept Yukari's offer, what exactly he can do about it? It's pretty established those kids who become gappies are nearly hopeless and why should they listen to a lunatic hobo?
- A mild one but in episode 12 when Tenshi reveals to Momoi that she hid that she knew that Brolli was a Gappy from him, in order to manipulate him into involving all of Gensokyo in an incident. She starts crying, but just says that she doesn't care about doing what she has to do.
- The destruction of the Scarlet Devil Mansion and the outcome of the battle between the Diamondback beasts and Flandre. To elaborate, Hydrus orders the mansion destroyed so they can pin Flandre under the rubble, and when Flandre screams this voids spell card rules, Lepus hypnotizes her and screams, "Screw Spell Card Rules!" While she's stuck, the rest of the beasts gut the entire mansion from the inside, crushing Flandre. The rest of the Scarlet Devil Mansion crew, especially Koakuma, are devastated.
- Brolli finally calling home to his parents, only to realize going home is no longer an option without serious consequences: his cat died since he left him unattended, he has been expelled from school and wanted for truancy, and his parents think Brolli just ran away to Japan "for fun," effectively disowning him.
- Nitori giving into Brolli's demands and giving away the weapons of the Kappa Valley so he can make more swords, even though he has more than enough; as Brolli walks away, even Nitori thinks they're doomed.
- The Climax, which temporarily kills off fifteen characters in the span of ten minutes.
- For some, seeing Youkai Mountain turned into a war zone.
- When it turns out that killing Brolli would resolve the incident, virtually every character is willing to kill him without question, even Reisen, who must kill him to save herself and their child (knowing he'll go to Hell) or die with him. Then Reimu of all people tells them to stop.
- In the wide scope of things, the Tenshi vs. Brolli battle is sad for some because Tenshi used to be one of Brolli's friends. Imagine if the person you used to go fishing and playing with caused an entire war to get a ton of people killed, and that sums up this whole mess in a nutshell.
- The fate of the Kappa Valley, with a smidge of horror. To hammer in the point, the dead kappa at Nitori's feet is the same one who told her not to give her stuff to Brolli. And then, the team that comes to save the survivors are forced to kill the survivors when they start attacking Brolli.
- Sanae's betrayal, which often causes most viewers to turn against Sanae afterwards.
- The Myouren Temple ambush. That's right: the Myouren Temple, led by Byakuren, who is known in fandom[[notecanonically, her friendship level is only Medium[[/note]] as one of the nicest characters in Touhou, is forced to gun down Reimu, Sakuya, and Youmu before they save Brolli, who poses an existential threat to the youkai]]. And to make it worse, it seems Byakuren staged the hostage situation so Reimu and co. would not find out the truth, so shooting them was only a last resort.
- Brolli's last stand against Tenshi, where he will not only take Tenshi out to stop the incident, but let himself die in the process so Gensokyo can feel safe. The whole time, Brolli is crying his eyes out, knowing he's not only going to die, but he's going to Hell once he does die.
- Brolli's actual death. Whether or not you think he deserves it, the reactions from Aya, Momiji, and Reisen don't make things better.
- Nitori returning from Youkai Mountain to frame Aya and Momiji for friendly fire when they were really just trying to save Brolli.
- Brolli's trip across the Sanzu River, where he realizes he left behind Reisen, he will go to hell, he loses his beret after Komachi said he could keep it, and when Komachi comes to collect the tax based on how many lives he's touched, he can only give her a thirty mon coin (in comparison, the worst criminals get at least 10000).
- The Epilogue. After all that heartache and trauma, all of the villains get away unpunished because Brolli was the one considered the big threat, so they are treated like heroes. Meanwhile, all of the "heroes" [[NoGoodDeedGoesUnpunished are punished or cross the Despair Event Horizon.]] And it all gets exponentially worse as it goes...
- The
accompanying music... - The fact Brolli is Forced to Watch the widespread damage he has caused or get trapped at the bottom of the Sanzu River. Worse, the only incentive to watch is that he'll go to Hell and no longer exist.
- Reimu, who absolutely hates Gappies, actually mourns Brolli for his attempt to do good. Meanwhile, Marisa, who welcomed Brolli into Gensokyo shrugs Brolli's death off as another expendable Gappy Stu.
- Aya and Momiji are dishonorably discharged from the tengu army and Aya loses funding for the Bunbunmaru Press after being framed by the kappa for treason.
- Nitori is treated as a big hero, and the only survivor to know that Nitori is responsible for the Kappa Valley massacre is called a liar.
- Sanae realizes she is indirectly responsible for the deaths of thousands of tengu and kappa in order to save Gensokyo and her shrine from Brolli, only to learn from Tenshi he was an ordinary kid like her. Even worse, Sanae can't do a thing to Tenshi or else she will reveal the truth about the incident to everyone. If the truth got out that thousands died to kill an innocent boy, it would cause an uproar that would make the previous incident look tame. In other words, Tenshi will get away with both causing the incident and indirectly dragging Sanae across the Moral Event Horizon with her, and there's nothing she can do about it. To twist the knife even further, it turns out Kanako and Suwako were the ones to convince her to do it in the first place.
- Tenshi, despite her smug satisfaction for outsmarting Sanae and the Myouren Temple, didn't want to kill Brolli. Brolli was one of her friends, but she saw his death coming anyway for being an untrustworthy Gappy Stu. So, she killed him to give him a dignified and heroic death before the rest of Gensokyo could plot a much more sinister death.
- Sakuya wakes up at the Scarlet Mansion, when Remilia reveals that she didn't send Sakuya to help with the incident, but to get her out of the way with the rest of the incident resolvers so she could aid in Brolli's death. In a Freeze-Frame Bonus, looking at Byakuren's face reveals she ultimately regrets her decision, and because Tenshi has blackmail on the Myouren temple, there is nothing she can do. Sakuya quietly mourns Brolli as Remilia shrugs it off, insisting that it's payback for the destruction of her mansion. Meanwhile, Patchouli considers doing a similar incident to get rid of Marisa, but Byakuren declines.
- In a case of Fridge Horror/Brilliance, the Cirno Day screening forgot to include the Epilogue scenes for Mokou and Kaguya, implying they had died permanently thanks to the incident. While this wasn't the case, and is actually one of the brightest moments in the ending, many of the people present at the Cirno Day screening were more freaked out than intended.
- Reisen crosses the Despair Event Horizon after Brolli's death, confining herself to her bed and, despite mentioning how much she loved being in Gensokyo rather than the Lunar Capital, wishes she never left. Then, just when you think nothing worse can happen, it does: because Brolli is so much more powerful than Reisen, Eirin informs Tewi that Brolli's DNA is trying to override hers, eventually causing her to [[ConvenientMiscarriage miscarry their child]]. Since Tewi had spent the movie teasing Reisen over her romance with Brolli, Eirin forces her against her will to deliver the news. The last shot we see is an outside view of the House of Eternity seen for the page image (originally used in a gag when Brolli first slept with Reisen and presumably got her pregnant), leading to this ambiguity: we don't know if Tewi told her the news or if Reisen found out on her own...
- Counting also as Nausea Fuel, Yukari now has Brolli's body, hung up in a meat locker next to [[TheReveal every other child she's gapped in]].
- And finally, for the grand finale! The fate of the beasts: Lepus, Velupe, and Hydrus will forever be locked in Brolli's body as it decays over time, without death or hope of escape, as the [[AndIMustScream lack of space crushes them for eternity.]] Particularly heartbreaking is Lepus: the most likable of the Diamondback beasts is reduced to a sobbing mess at the thought he is going to die. However, when Velupe reveals they're going to be trapped forever, all Lepus can do is scream until he is muffled by Brolli's collapsing mind.
- When it finally cuts back to Brolli, he is so far past the Despair Event Horizon that he is begging to be sent to Hell. Shiki then reveals because he actually feels regret and remorse over his actions, he gets one more chance, just as long as he realizes that it's not what he has, but ''who he is'' that matters. As he's being reincarnated, Brolli asks 'Who am I?' and Komachi says 'For how much you cared about Gensokyo, I'll tell you who you are, you WERE different!' and hugs Brolli.
- For many viewers, the Downer Ending was already bad enough, but some viewers said Diamond In The Rough crossed the line after adding the Inferred Holocaust factor: it's bad enough Brolli died and led to the downfall of so many people, but Gensokyo is in ruins, its factions have been greatly torn apart, and this cycle of destruction is not only going to continue, but it's going to get worse...
- The
- When looked at from a wide view, the fact everyone is responsible for Brolli's death and the incident that caused it. Initially, Yukari promises Brolli power, which lures him to Gensokyo. Once he's there, Marisa entices Brolli into selfishness and Reimu pushes him away from doing the right thing. Then, Sanae lures him away from Reimu by being a fellow outsider, despite her lack of knowledge, and Reisen lures him away from Yukari, teaching him that maybe giving into the luxury of Gensokyo is a good idea. As a result of Brolli's resulting hedonism, Aya is forced to publish a news article on Brolli to detail his weaknesses to protect the Tengu Village, the Moriya Shrine goddesses must employ Tenshi and the Myouren Temple to protect their shrine, Tenshi must make a giant incident to get back at the people who want to kill Brolli, the Myouren Temple must mask the fact they're trying to kill Brolli to keep their followers, and Nitori is too much of a pushover to say no to Brolli taking the Kappa Valley's weapons. Ignoring that Yukari was the original cause by gapping in Brolli, the ensuing chaos of the ending is everyone's fault.
http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Tearjerker/DiamondInTheRoughTouhou
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