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| - A.K.A. "Mary Poppins Syndrome". An easy way to add anywhere from a twinge of sentimentality to a whole extra Tear Jerker scene to the end of your movie: after helping out and saving the day, The Drifter character must leave forever. Used a lot in solo series of many an Ensemble Darkhorse, as their adventures alone can't keep them in the small town forever; they have to plausibly be able to get back to the team. Excuses for why they need to leave are varied. Perhaps once their job is done, they are no longer needed and must set off for a new job, as with the Knight Errant. Perhaps they are bound by some kind of supernatural curse or spell that states they can only come back every X years or they can only stay for X days. Maybe they're just a traveler and can't deny the call of the open road or the cry of the sea. Maybe they must Ascend to a Higher Plane of Existence. Maybe they are starting or completing the Journey to Find Oneself. Maybe the final cut is missing some scene that could explain this. It doesn't count if the character was already dying for some understandable reason, has some kind of good, understandable, plot-related reason to leave, or goes off to a Heroic Sacrifice. This is when the character has become loved and respected by other characters, and has to leave for no other reason than "he must". This tends to happen a lot in Girls Love anime, especially if the heroines don't end up crazy or dead. Compare Riding Into the Sunset, Save the Day Turn Away, Walking the Earth. Also see I Choose to Stay, which is the polar opposite.
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