Samurai Deeper Kyo



Imagine if George Washington, Benjamin Franklin, and Thomas Jefferson teamed up with Johnny Appleseed and Pocahontas to fight the Salem Witches, who have resurrected King Richard the Lionheart and the Knights of the Round Table in order to take over the world--now stir it into an Anachronism Stew, put it all in Japan, and you've got Samurai Deeper Kyo.

Samurai Deeper Kyo is a thirty-eight volume manga about the exploits of Shiina Yuya, a sixteen year old bounty hunter seeking revenge for her older brother's death, who meets Mibu Kyoshiro, a medicine peddler, and Demon Eyes Kyo, who is trapped in Kyoshiro's body.

And then it gets complicated.

Cue Loads and Loads of Characters, loads and loads of Character Development, lots of Badassery, several Quirky Miniboss Squads, several BFSes, and what is probably the biggest Bodyguard Crush in history.

The manga ran from 1999-2006.

Kyo and friends appear in the Massive Multiplayer Crossover game, Sunday VS Magazine Shuuketsu Choujou Daikessen.

Please feel free to edit the the Samurai Deeper Kyo character sheet

This series provides examples of:
"Bikara: Getting distracted by a woman while a beautiful man like me is standing in front of your eyes.
 * Adaptation Decay: The anime. Very loosely based on the first sixteen volumes, and everything from the story to the character designs suffers. Most fans concur that the only good things to come of it were the outtakes.
 * A God Am I: The vast majority of the Mibu think like this. And in truth, no one really disputes them on that.
 * All Your Powers Combined: The Former Crimson King
 * An Aesop: Played poker-face straight countless times
 * Anachronism Stew: Shameless and blatant
 * And That's Terrible
 * Animal Eye Spy: Lord Fubuki and his cat.
 * Anti Hero: If Kyo, who got his nickname for perpetrating mass-murder on a ridiculous scale doesn't count, then there is no such thing
 * Art Evolution
 * Artificial Humans:
 * Ax Crazy: Ninety percent of the main cast is this, including the title character
 * Back to Back Badasses: The Shiseiten's special attack. Hotaru and Shinrei also do one of these, and it's a Crowning Moment of Awesome
 * Backstory
 * Badass
 * Badass Normal: Yukimura and the Ten, minus Sasuke. Bontenmaru fills this role in the Shiseiten.
 * BFS: Kyo's Tenro
 * Sasuke starts out with a sword the same size, despite having the body of a twelve year old.
 * Shihoudou's sword is also really damn big.
 * Hishigi's Hakuya is even more impressive.
 * Big Damn Heroes
 * Bishounen
 * Black and Gray Morality
 * Blade Run: Sasuke has one of these early on.
 * Blood From the Mouth
 * Blood Knight: It would be easier to name the characters who aren't.
 * Body Double
 * Bodyguard Crush: Go ahead, try to name a single time when a Kyo Killing Rampage isn't triggered by Yuya being directly threatened.
 * When he believes that Shinrei has.
 * In the anime, it's strongly implied Saizō has a crush on Yukimura. It's not helped by Yukimura teasing him
 * Bounty Hunter
 * Brother Sister Incest - anime only, betweeen Nobunaga Oda and Shatora.
 * Bunny Ears Lawyer: Julian and Shihoudou: even Kyo admits to the latter's Badassitude.
 * These two probably cross the line into Crazy Awesome territory.
 * Chekhov's Gun:
 * Cherry Blossoms
 * The Chick: Yuya
 * Children Are Innocent: Subverted with every character shown as a child except Yuya and flashback Tokito.
 * Akira, for example, is cheerfully slaughtering away on the battlefield by the time he's ten.
 * And the Mibu have no problem with using child soldiers.
 * Clean Cut
 * Cloudcuckoolander: Hotaru. It may just be Obfuscating Stupidity, as he proves many times that he's smarter than he seems.
 * Combat Commentator: Akira and Bon serve as this at turns for Yuya. Averted in the Akira-Tokito fight, as Yuya isn't around for that one.
 * Commedia Dell Arte Troupe
 * Conservation of Ninjitsu: Both played straight and inverted
 * Contractual Immortality: Can anyone name a non-villain who died at the end of the series? Sure, everyone gets badly beaten up, but...
 * Cooldown Hug: Played straight during Kyo's Superpower Meltdown: Yuya runs through the mess he's making to bring him back.
 * Crouching Moron Hidden Badass: Kyoshiro, though it's really hidden. The Former Crimson King is more overt about it all being just Obfuscating Stupidity.
 * Cute Bruiser: Antera
 * Defeat Means Friendship
 * Depraved Homosexual

and

Bikara: The suffering face of a good-looking man is dreamy."


 * Diagonal Cut:Taken to its logical extreme, thanks to the Rule of Cool
 * Distant Finale
 * Dojikko: Sakuya
 * Doppelganger Attack: Benitora, in a rare Non-Ninja example
 * Dramatic Wind
 * Driven to Suicide: Hishigi, until Fubuki tells him that he isn't allowed to die until Fubuki says he can
 * Dual Wielding
 * Dysfunction Junction
 * Elemental Powers: Subverted. Hotaru, the fire user, is calm, while the ice user, Akira, appears calm on the surface, but push a few buttons and he loses his head. Not to mention that Shinrei, the water guy, loses his cool even more easily.
 * Elemental Rock Paper Scissors: Averted; It's demonstrated over the course of the series that the superiority depends on the wielder, rather than the element they are using. Hotaru initially wins out against Shinrei despite severe injuries from fighting Kyo, but only because he's using . Shinrei ultimately comes out on top because Hotaru's boost wears off. And of course, both of them get mercilessly curbstomped by
 * Empathic Weapon: The Muramasa demon blades
 * Enfante Terrible: Tokito, in the beginning
 * Estrogen Brigade Bait: Yukimura
 * Eyepatch of Power: Hishigi
 * You mean Bon-chan, right?
 * Him, too.
 * Fake Memories:
 * The Fog of Ages:
 * The Four Gods: Kyo's sword techniques
 * Four Is Death: The Shiseiten are frequently described as being gods of death. The Taishiro are possibly even more lethal
 * Gentle Giant: Bontenmaru. Sure, he has the whole "god of war" thing going on, complete with a berserker mode and everything, but he has a soft spot--not like that--for little girls, even ones that punch holes in him and torture him; and Akari reveals that he likes shoujo manga. As for Bontenmaru's reason for taking over the entirety of Japan? He wants to take it over so people can live their lives in peace.
 * Good Scars Evil Scars: Subverted with Yuya, who has a hideous scar on her stomach
 * It gets de-hideoused later on.
 * Played straight with Hishigi, who is covered in rather disgusting scars
 * Also played straight with Akira, who is COVERED in scars, but they are not obvious seeing as they are usually covered by clothes.
 * Gondor Calls for Aid
 * Graceful Loser
 * Guns Are Worthless: Yuya
 * The manga lampshades this by having Akari take Yuya's gun and attempt to shoot Santera with it. Santera stops the bullets, and Akari throws the gun away.
 * He Who Must Not Be Seen: Sakuya spends 32 volumes hidden behind her bangs, and the manga-ka is fond of "lighting" characters whose faces we aren't to see yet from the back, or putting them in elaborate, face-covering costumes
 * Hey Its That Voice: Dan Frickin' Green is the main character.
 * High Pressure Blood
 * High School AU: The author wrote one as an extra in the fanbook, and liked it so much that s/he wrote two "Samurai High School" drama CDs
 * And they're absolutely rampant in the fandom, though it's almost justified, because the cast is one hell of a Commedia Dell Arte Troupe.
 * Historical Hero Upgrade
 * Historical Villain Upgrade
 * Homage Shot: The manga opens with a lay-out and narration content ridiculously reminiscent of the first page of Rurouni Kenshin, which was still running at the time. The series probably originated as an attempt to cash in on Ruro Ken's popularity as historical drama with legendary swordsman incognito, but found its own very weird voice pretty quickly.
 * More precisely: SDK's first page runs, page-width panels going down:

"[First panel: bloody battle scene; whole page has artful blood drips all over it] "During the end of the warring states period... In a time of chaos, a war began to try to divide the country. This fight would later be known as the Battle of Sekigahara. Like thunder the war spread. Under this sound and bloody rain, many were killed.""

"[Second panel: 'shadowboxing' image of dramatic duel] "These warriors, without taking care for the issues of the battle, had found the meaning of their lives in sword-handling... They lived only to improve their skill... And died...""

"[Empty white bridge space extending across page] "Among the men who disappeared at this historical time...""

"[Third/final panel: bottom of page occupied by close up of Scary Eyes (Red Eyes Take Warning in this case, but the manga's in black and white, so you can't tell)] "There was one who was called 'the unbeatable'...""

"[Two-page title spread, then complete tone-shift and Kyoshiro as The Ditz reading off a wanted poster, finishing the sentence] "The legendary wanted man, Demon Eyes Kyo.""


 * Meanwhile, Ruro Ken starts with, also page-width panels:

"[First panel: blood spatter flying] "One hundred and forty years ago, during the bloodbath in Kyoto touched off by the coming of Commodore Perry's black ships...there was a man known as the 'Hitokiri Battousai.'""

"[Second panel: similarly composed bloody combat scene, with our hero central] This man was a major player in the Meiji Restoration, for his skill with a sword was unrivaled. Once the war was over, he vanished without a trace. Time passed and legends formed, of how he was the strongest samurai to walk the face of the earth.""

"[Third/last panel: Scary Eyes Important Scar closeup] "And so, our story begins... In Tokyo, on the eleventh year of Meiji...""

"[Two-page title spread, next page opens with Kaoru's shout] "HITOKIRI BATTOUSAI!""


 * At the risk of insulting the hard work above: http://ani-haven.net/hr-alpha/Rurouni_Kenshin/1/2 and http://ani-haven.net/hr-alpha/Samurai_Deeper_Kyo/1/2. Check it out.
 * Huge Guy Tiny Girl: Non-romantic between Bontenmaru and . She can ride around on his shoulder
 * I'm a Humanitarian: The real Haira
 * The Idiot From Osaka
 * Important Haircut: Okuni
 * Implausible Fencing Powers: To the nth degree. Apparently, a sword stroke from Kyo has enough power to give truckload of high explosives a run for its money
 * Improbable Weapon User
 * Incurable Cough of Death: The Death Disease
 * In Love With Your Carnage: Izumo no Okuni is this way for Demon Eyes Kyo.
 * Jekyll and Hyde: Kyo and Kyoshiro. Subverted in the manga, played straight in the anime
 * Jerk With a Heart of Gold
 * Kick the Dog: Every minor villain that the heroes have to kill off has one of these moments. Every single one
 * Lady of War: Saisei
 * Large Ham: Bontenmaru. Also Kyo, at times.
 * Last of His Kind:
 * Licking the Blade: Name a character. Odds are good that they've done this at least once.
 * Loads and Loads of Characters
 * Loved Ones Montage
 * Luke I Am Your Father:
 * The Medic: Akari
 * Mismatched Eyes: Migeira in the anime
 * The Mole: Yukimura
 * Don't forget Chinmei,.
 * subverts this trope by virtue of mind control.
 * Mook
 * My Name Is Inigo Montoya: Every fight in the series goes this way. Every. Single. One.
 * Nakama
 * Names to Know In Anime: Excluding the big names in the anime, some other veterans do voice the manga-only characters, whether in games or drama CDs. Examples include Norio Wakamoto as Bontenmaru, Kotono Mitsuishi as Akari, Jun Fukuyama as the Sendai Aka no Ou, aka the former Crimson King. And you thought Lelouch was a Playing Against Type character for Fukuyama...
 * Obfuscating Stupidity: Hotaru is a good example, but the real winner is.
 * The Obi Wan: Muramasa
 * Odd Friendship: Benitora and Akira, who progress from Worthy Opponents to Nakama
 * Official Couple: Kyo and Yuya, Kyoshiro and Sakuya
 * In the manga at least. In the anime, there's only [[spoiler: Yuya's crush on Kyo/Kyoshiro and their growing feelings for her.
 * One Head Taller: If Kyo wore a Western-style button-down shirt, Yuya would hold conversations with/have infuriated outbursts at his breast pocket.
 * One Man Army: It would be easier to list the characters who AREN'T one.
 * The Only One Allowed to Defeat You: Yukimura towards Kyo.
 * Painting the Fourth Wall: Kyoshiro vs Benitora: "Can we just pretend the last 5 pages didn't happen?"
 * Parental Abandonment: Tokito and Hotaru
 * Petal Power
 * Playing Against Type: Megumi Ogata voices both Yukimura and Kosuke. While Yukimura sounds like her usual voice, this troper was a little surprised at how well she can do a gentle voice.
 * Poisonous Person
 * Promotion to Parent: Anna, Yuan's sister. Technically, their father isn't dead, but it's implied that he's not around often.
 * Punched Across the Room
 * Quirky Miniboss Squad: Taken to ridiculous extremes. You know they're overdoing it when even the main character gets one.
 * Race Against the Clock
 * Razor Wind
 * Red Eyes Take Warning: Kyo is the literal incarnation of this trope. Subverted in that this becomes a major factor in the story later on.
 * Red Oni Blue Oni: Kyo and Kyoshiro, Benitora and Akira
 * Redemption Equals Death
 * Really Seven Hundred Years Old: All of the Mibu
 * Retired Badass: Shihoudou, Anri, Muramasa
 * Reverse Mole:
 * Rule of Cool
 * Running Gag: Hotaru trying to move caterpillars out of the way so they don't get crushed during fights
 * Samus Is a Girl:
 * Admittedly, some fans weren't convinced she was a boy in the first place.
 * Say It With Hearts: Or in Chinmei's case, glasses-wearing smiley faces
 * Yukimura is the worst offender with this trope. Also, in Shihoudou's dialogue, everything from baseballs to little umbrellas show up.
 * Say My Name
 * Scary Shiny Glasses: Inverted in that Chinmei looks his most sinister when we can see what's behind those dark lenses
 * Scenery Porn
 * Sharing a Body
 * She Is Not My Girlfriend: Kyo's lack of reaction whenever someone tries to taunt him about Yuya
 * Akira has a few of these moments with . His reaction tries to be like Kyo's. It fails, hard.
 * Shirtless Scene
 * Shower of Angst: Yuya has a few of these
 * Single Stroke Battle
 * Sinister Silhouettes: Full of them
 * Slipknot Ponytail: Shinrei, during his fight with Fubuki
 * Sorting Algorithm of Evil
 * Speaks Fluent Animal: Muramasa.
 * The Stoic: Hishigi
 * Super Hero Speciation
 * Superpower Meltdown (Kyo)
 * Tagalong Kid
 * Tears of Blood
 * The Thing That Goes Doink: There is one at the end of chapter 12
 * The Only One Allowed to Defeat You: Yukimura tells Kyo not to die, as he is the only one who gets to kill him.
 * Time to Unlock More True Potential: Kyo's training with Muramasa. The Training From Hell is offscreen
 * Took a Level In Badass: Yukimura, Benitora
 * Transsexual: Akari, though she's played more as the Wholesome Crossdresser
 * Tsundere: Kyo suffers from a mild case with Yuya--mostly tsuntsun, but it never crosses the line into abusive (unless you count his obnoxious habit of half-stripping and feeling her up at random, no matter who happens to be watching at the time).
 * Tyke Bomb: Santera and Tokito
 * Unstoppable Rage: Kyo, after Nobunaga almost fatally wounds Yuya. This troper was a little freaked out.
 * Walk On Water: Shinrei and Fubuki
 * Weapons Kitchen Sink
 * White Haired Pretty Boy: Eventually averted with Shinrei, Yuan, and Anthony, but played mostly straight with Fubuki
 * Wholesome Crossdresser: Yukimura during the Tokugawa tournament. Everyone fell for it except Kyo.
 * Whole Episode Flashback: Well, chapters
 * Worthy Opponent
 * Wouldn't Hit a Girl: Subverted, as the gentlemen of the cast have no problem hitting their female enemies
 * Wrecked Weapon
 * Yamato Nadeshiko
 * You Killed My Father: Subverted