Togainu no Chi



Togainu no Chi is the first Boys Love Game made by Nitro+CHiRAL; it is noteworthy for its violence and dark storyline. It was later ported to the Playstation 2 under the name Togainu no Chi: True Blood with the adult content taken out and some scenes censored, but containing more endings and a few new characters. One of the several manga adaptations (one which has no Boys Love content) is available in English from Tokyopop.

When Akira is accused of murder and sent to jail, he is approached by a mysterious one-armed woman named Emma. Emma has a deal for him; in exchange for his freedom, he will participate in a Battle Royale-esque competition taking place in the city of Toshima called Igura. The rules are simple; collect dog tags from other competitors by beating them in brawls. The one who collects the right tags gets to face off against Il-Re, the supposed undefeated champion of Toshima.

However, things aren't going to be easy for Akira; the people in the Igura are extremely brutal and not above murder in order to get what they want. There are also rumors of a mysterious black-haired man who has been killing off Igura participants seemingly at random, a man who seems to be almost invincible. To top it all, Akira's best friend Keisuke has followed him to Toshima out of worry, and Keisuke is nowhere near ready to take on the dangers of Igura...

An anime adaptation has been aired during the Fall 2010 anime season.


 * Abusive Parents:
 * Apparently
 * A Lady on Each Arm: Rin in the scene where he first speaks to Akira and Keisuke.
 * Aloof Older Brother:
 * Adaptation-Induced Plothole:
 * In the game, Akira had to travel to Igura by foot making it possible for Keisuke to follow him but in the anime it was changed to Akira being driven there. This was lampshaded in the next episode trailer with Akira asking Keisuke how he mangaged to get to Igura and Keisuke replying that he was in a daze.
 * In the game, a phone is given to Akira so that he can keep contact with Emma  However, nothing like that is given to him in the anime so
 * Alternate Character Reading: "Kiriwar" is pronounced "Kirio" and "n" is pronounced "Nano".
 * Anime of the Game
 * An Offer You Can't Refuse: Akira chose participation in Igura over a life stuck in jail for obvious reasons.
 * Anyone Can Die:
 * Since this series is rather dark and violent, expect a lot of people to die. The route in the game and the choices you make determines how many of the characters are alive at the end.
 * In the anime,
 * In the game,  is the only character who never dies. Or at least no proof is given.
 * Applied Phlebotinum:
 * Line, a drug from an unknown source which can largely but temporarily increase the physical and mental capabilities of the user.
 * Phlebotinum Breakdown and Toxic Phlebotinum: When its effects wear off, the user experiences severe withdrawal symptoms, seemingly proportional to the amount they have had.
 * Phlebotinum Overload: Taken in large doses, it can kill its user.
 * Armor-Piercing Slap: Akira gives one to  in episode 10. During his route   gives a good one to Akira when the latter refuses to recover after his.
 * Ass Shove: Happens to poor, poor  With screwdrivers. Yeesh.
 * Ax Crazy:
 * Several members in the Igura; Takeru is a particular example of what could happen to you if you inject too much Line into your body.
 * Also,, also after a massive dosage of Line.
 * Because You Were Nice to Me: Nano towards Akira.
 * Beware the Nice Ones:
 * Big Damn Heroes: in episode 10.
 * Bio Augmentation: The Nicole Virus, more commonly known as, is the result of augumenting a human to become a supersoldier.
 * Bittersweet Ending:
 * and that's the Good Ending.
 * The anime (mostly) follows 's final bad ending, albeit with various aspects of other routes chucked in Just Because, so this is only to be expected.
 * Black and Gray Morality: At first, the story appears to be the Excuse Plot of Akira being sent to Igura to kill Il Re, while violence and sex ensues. Later, we find out factions involved (the Military, Vishico and some individuals) are at battle with each other, over Line and, and every side has questionable motives which do not take the protagonist or other individuals into consideration.
 * Black Blood: Inverted. Since blood plays such an important role in the story, the anime emphasizes it by making it so bright red that it glows.
 * Bleached Underpants:
 * The PlayStation 2 port is cleaned up considerably, and the Suguro Chayamachi manga version is so thoroughly de-sexed that it's not identifiable as a Boys Love work at all.
 * Same happened to the anime to the point that entire sequences completely lost any sort of coherence.
 * An extremely similar situation also happened in  route in the game.
 * Blood-Splattered Innocents: Akira getting splattered with blood in episode 11.
 * Blue Eyes: Akira and Rin.
 * Body Horror: Arbitro's modifications on his slaves.
 * Boxed Crook: This is the proposal Emma offers to Akira, although
 * Boys Love: The PC Visual Novel. Some adaptations remove elements of BL.
 * Brainwashed and Crazy:
 * Break the Cutie:
 * Akira goes through a lot of crap in the series and it officially started when Keisuke  and it seemed to have ended   However he might have officially been broken when
 * Also what mainly happens on  route, intentionally.
 * Bridal Carry:
 * carries an unconscious Akira like this in Episode 10. Akira then carries Keisuke in the same way at the end of the same episode.
 * Also happens to Akira on route in the game.
 * Brown Eyes: Keisuke and Motomi.
 * But Not Too Gay: Hugs and hand-holding are as far as the anime will let anyone get. It's better than the manga by a little (if only in that regard) since volume 8, but considering that this is after all a Boys Love series and there's still subtext absolutely everywhere, you've gotta wonder what Aniplex was thinking. Especially given some of the other eroge-based shows that ran this season.
 * Cain and Abel: Rin's Cain to Abel. Unfortunately for Rin, it's not working out so well...
 * Cast Full of Pretty Boys: All Igura participants are male. All of them. In fact, the city of Toshima seems to have no female inhabitants. The only female present in the series is Emma, and she is a relatively minor character. Of course, it's unsurprising considering the original media is Boys Love.
 * Chekhov's Gun: Before going into Toshima, Akira is given a phone so he can keep in contact with Emma.
 * Chewing the Scenery: When your tormented hero is played by Kosuke Toriumi, you know that there's going to be a lot of screaming, and Akira doesn't disappoint.
 * Child Soldiers: Akira was trained to be one.
 * Clear My Name: The very reason Akira went to Toshima.
 * Combat Sadomasochist: Line users.* Compressed Adaptation:
 * The anime. Trying to squish plot elements from multiple routes into twelve episodes rarely works out well (especially when all your budget seems to be going towards paying for a new ending song for each episode), and Shiki's fans in particular seem to be unhappy with the his lack of appearances and.
 * Pragmatic Adaptation: So as not to neglect any of the boys, the anime follows Keisuke's route with a few important scenes from Rin and Motomi's routes tossed in. The last few episodes also append, with an original (and poorly-received) epilogue.
 * Corrupt the Cutie:
 * Crapsack World: Courtesy of the Third Division
 * Create Your Own Villain:
 * Crowning Moment of Heartwarming:
 * Cry Cute: Rin.
 * Curtains Match the Window: Keisuke and Motomi again.
 * Cute Shotaro Boy: Rin.
 * A Date with Rosie Palms: Shiki's route.
 * Deadly Game: Igura.
 * Death by Newbery Medal:
 * Death Seeker:
 * Despair Event Horizon:
 * Experienced by various characters.
 * Akira after
 * Keisuke after Akira unintentionally tells him off for being weak.
 * Rin after humiliation by
 * Died in Your Arms Tonight:
 * Did Not Get the Girl: Akira ends up with nobody at the end of the anime.
 * Dogged Nice Guy: Keisuke
 * Dub-Induced Plot Hole: Somewere between volumes 4 and 5 of the Tokyopop edition of the manga, the translators noticed that the character they'd been calling "Nicole Prumier" was actually supposed to be "Nicole Premier". Since this was plot-relevant, they had to change it mid-story.
 * During the War: The opening states The Third Division is responsible for the Crapsack World the story takes place in. However, this isn't touched on again until very late in individual character routes, and isn't mentioned in some adaptations.
 * Earn Your Happy Ending:
 * Keisuke's route.
 * Considering there is a ratio of seven official bad endings (two of them are YMMV, though) to five official good endings, this trope applies to the entire game.
 * Eroge: A rather violent one, at that.
 * Escape From the Crazy Place
 * Et Tu, Brute?:
 * Even Evil Has Standards: While it's probably more of personal taste then a sense of morality, Shiki is disgusted by the "modifications" Arbitro makes to the boys in his collections.
 * Even the Guys Want Him: Akira, especially in the anime.
 * Everybody Has Lots of Sex: In Shiki's ending,  goes out of his way to seduce men and let them have their way with him.
 * Everythings Cuter With Kittens: Some cats show up in Nano's route.
 * Everythings Better With Zippers: Shiki. Who has zip-off leather pants.
 * Evil Redhead: Emma.
 * Expy: Admit it, you thought Gwen was Phoenix Wright when you first saw him.
 * Fan Translation:
 * As of September 2010, an English translation patch is still being created on the Yaoi Forever network. Until it finishes, there is an interview with the fan translator available at http://visualnovelaer.wordpress.com/2010/09/24/968.
 * As of 25th December 2011, an interim Christmas patch has been released.
 * As of 16th April 2012, another interim patch has been released.
 * Fate Worse Than Death:
 * Akira also prefers dying over losing his dignity.
 * Fauxlosophic Narration: Courtesy of n in the anime.
 * Fight Clubbing: Bl@ster started out as this.
 * Get a Hold of Yourself, Man!: Akira does this to  after he saves him from
 * The Glom: Rin towards Akira
 * Good Eyes, Evil Eyes:
 * Hannibal Lecture: Nano does this to Shiki.
 * Happiness in Slavery: Apparently Kau to Arbitro. Also,  route.
 * He Is All Grown Up: ending.
 * Hemo-Erotic: Some of the more deranged characters.
 * Hidden Depths: Most of the characters appear to have a simple yet sound reason behind their actions. However, the motivations of individual characters are explored in more detail in their individual routes, including their pasts and previous experiences with Project Nicole and the war.
 * High-Pressure Blood: The anime is particularly guilty for this. A small knife cut to the forehead results in the spraying of a large puddle of blood on the ground.
 * Ho Yay:
 * In practically every episode of the anime. In fact, certain scenes in the anime are even more HoYaytastic than their R18 PC BL game counterpart, probably as compensation for not including certain other scenes.
 * Episode 4 goes Up to Eleven. Starts out with Keisuke x Akira, then moves right along to Rin x Akira, and then wraps it up with Shiki x Akira.
 * In Episode 6, it seemed,.
 * Hypocrite: Akira becomes this at the end of the anime series.
 * I Call It Vera: Kiriwar refers to his pipe as "Mitsuko."
 * I Can Still Fight: Akira is fond of this, despite being stabbed in the shoulder, sliced on the wrist and severely malnourished.
 * I Choose to Stay: In  route, despite hating  stays with him even when he had many chances to.
 * I Didn't Mean to Turn You On: Akira to
 * I Have the High Ground: Shiki and n.
 * I Have You Now, My Pretty: Akira falls victim to this in many a bad end . Generally, no one kicks down doors to save him, poor kid.
 * "I Know You're in There Somewhere" Fight: Akira's and Keisuke's fight in episode 9.
 * In a Single Bound: Nano.
 * Informed Ability:
 * Akira is supposedly a good fighter, but in the anime he is more often than not getting his ass kicked.
 * Then again, most of the people he goes up against are REALLY tough and use Line. So ass-kicking is imminent.
 * Averted in the game and manga where Akira can curb-stomp normal Igura participants, stand his own against  and only has trouble against Gunji, Kiriwar, and Shiki.
 * Interplay of Sex and Violence
 * Ironic Echo: In episode 10, Akira saves Rin  Come episode 12,
 * It's All My Fault: Akira blames himself for  So much that he
 * It Always Rains At Funerals:
 * Happens whenever it rains in the PC game, however the only exception to this is Examples:
 * "It's Not Rape If You Enjoyed It": Hoo, boy...
 * I Want My Beloved to Be Happy: In Keisuke's good ending, he  Thankfully, Akira doesn't want him to.
 * Also on Shiki's good ending, as he and Akira are
 * Karma Houdini:
 * Katanas Are Better:
 * Although Igura participants aren't allowed the usage of firearms, their knives really can't do much against Shiki's katana.
 * Kick the Dog: Whether he deserved it or not. is still the equivalent of kicking a puppy.
 * Kill the Cutie: Poor
 * Kuudere: Akira has shades of this. Sometimes turns into a full-on Tsundere with Keisuke.
 * Laser-Guided Amnesia:
 * Laughing Mad: Gunji can really sound psychotic at times when he lets loose with laughter. Also, Line users, you'd be forgiven for mistaking them for different characters.
 * Le Parkour: Rin in Episode 4.
 * Licking the Blade: A popular display of Line users.
 * Lighter and Softer: Arguably, some of the Drama CDs, which feature more comedic situations.
 * Lima Syndrome:
 * Love Martyr: Keisuke starts out looking like one in regards to Akira.
 * May-December Romance: Motomi's route.
 * Mercy Kill: Attempted
 * The Messiah: Akira starts evolving into one after
 * Murderers Are Rapists: The Executioners play this straight. Shiki and  subvert this since
 * My God, What Have I Done?: Akira in episode 8 concerning
 * Mysterious Woman: Emma.
 * Neck Lift: Nano calmly grabs a Line-addled man by the neck to stop his attack, lifts him and proceeds to crush his neck.
 * Never Trust a Trailer: The final anime is completely different from the trailer. And not in a good way.
 * Not So Different: In the game, Keisuke and Akira acknowledge Nano, despite being emotionless and cruel to those around him, suffer from similar emotional burdens to their own due to
 * Off-Model:
 * Every. Single. Episode.
 * It Got Worse. Much worse.
 * The final episode essentially screams "We'll fix this when it comes out on DVD". But maybe we should at least give them credit for airing the episodes on time.
 * One Degree of Separation:
 * Out with a Bang: 's worst ending.
 * Pet the Dog: Shiki's route contains a few of these.
 * Playing Against Type:
 * Hikaru Midorikawa, who usually play the Uke in BL dramas, plays The Ultimate Seme Shiki.
 * Tomokazu Sugita normally plays Deadpan Snarker characters. He plays Keisuke.
 * Poker: Turned deadly.
 * Psycho Serum: Line, which casuses increased strength and speed along with occasional raving homicidal insanity. Self-limiting, as the higher the concentration percentage, the more likely it will kill the user.
 * Psychopathic Manchild: Gunji. n also has shades of this. "Would you still hold my hand now that it's been drenched in so much blood?"
 * Purple Eyes: Nano; although sometimes they look more blue.
 * Running Gag: The more humorous drama CDs always end badly for Akira and at least four of them end with him being molested by Shiki.
 * Rape as Drama
 * Rape Is Love: Averted on  route.
 * Red Eyes, Take Warning: Shiki
 * Revenge:
 * Akira towards Shiki for at the end of the anime.
 * This is also
 * Reflective Eyes: In the first episode of the anime, there are two seperate shots where Shiki and Akira's eyes are reflected in the other's.
 * Road Cone: Par for the course, as in most visual novels. And as with most visual novel-based adaptations, the anime did a little bit of cut-and-paste work. The Unpleasable Fanbase, of course, wanked.
 * Sadistic Choice: If Akira
 * Scandalgate: Somehow, this series got caught up in "Oreimogate", as it was temporarily pulled off of ANN's servers as a result of the leakage of Episode 2 of Oreimo.
 * Scenery Gorn: Wouldn't be a Nitro product without it! Also DUTCH ANGLES DUTCH ANGLES EVERY GODDAMN WHERE.
 * Screw Destiny: Akira refuses to follow Nano's apathy due to the belief he can change what happens in the future.
 * Sex Equals Love: Particularly guilty of this in most main routes.
 * Sex Is Violence: Shiki's preferred method of pummelling Akira into submission.
 * Sex Slave: Arbitro likes to produce these. Also,
 * Ship Sinking: In the anime
 * Ship Tease: The anime in particular seems to be hinting at the potential love interests of Akira. The anime seems to slide toward Keisuke/Akira though especially in Episode 9.
 * Shut UP, Hannibal: At the end of the first drama CD,
 * Single Palette Town: Toshima is very very gray.
 * Single-Target Sexuality: Keisuke to Akira, to the point fans call Keisuke 'Akirasexual'.
 * Sissy Villain: Arbitro swishes about in a feather boa, has a cleanliness fetish, collects statues of pretty boys....
 * Situational Sexuality
 * Snow Means Death: In episode 12, snow starts falling.
 * Spoiler Opening:
 * Start of Darkness:
 * Stepford Smiler:
 * Keisuke has shades of this in Episode 5 where he smiles at Akira despite it being clear he is disturbed by what Akira had done. Naturally, Akira calls him out on it.
 * Stockholm Syndrome:
 * Shiki's route.
 * And later
 * Stripperific: Inu/Kau's outfit.
 * The Stoic:
 * Akira has shades of this though he mainly falls under Not So Stoic.
 * Don't forget Nano!
 * Taste the Rainbow: As with most BL games. Akira's the sane guy/audience surrogate, Keisuke's the nice guy, Rin the young energetic guy, Motomi the old sensible one, Shiki the Bastard Boyfriend, the Executioners who are brutal, Arbitro with his weird fetishes and Nano the quiet one with Hidden Depths.
 * Terms of Endangerment: Gunji has nicknames for practically everyone; Ji-ji (old man) for Kiriwar, Papa for Arbitro, and Shikiti for Shiki. However, the best example of this trope is when he starts calling Akira neko-chan (kitty or kitten).
 * The Tease: Rin.
 * Tokyo Is the Center of the Universe: It's renamed as Toshima in this setting, though.
 * Trademark Favorite Food: The Stoic, tough Akira is implied to like omelette-rice flavoured solid. Since omelette rice is usually a kids favorite, he doesn't like it when people mention it.
 * Tragic Keepsake: In the anime,.
 * Typhoid Mary:
 * is another example as he carries the
 * Uncanny Family Resemblance: In Rin's Time Skip ending, . While they're not exactly family, the resemblance between is also remarked upon cryptically by several characters.
 * Unlucky Childhood Friend: Keisuke, usually.
 * Unless you play on his route, in which case he becomes a Victorious Childhood Friend.
 * Unusual Euphemism: On the obvious side and probably not too narmy, but in any of the PC H-scenes expect to see a lot of 'protrusion', 'male', 'meat lump', 'nectar' etc. being thrown around.
 * Used to Be a Sweet Kid: Akira, who looked a lot more affectionate and smiley when he was younger.
 * What Beautiful Eyes!:
 * Rin especially seems to like Akira's eyes but he has also gotten comments from others.
 * Shiki likes Akira's eyes as well, but for completely different reasons.
 * White Shirt of Death:
 * With a Friend and a Stranger: Akira and Keisuke meet Rin, who is mysteriously kind and highly effeminate. They stick together for a long time and become friends.
 * With Great Power Comes Great Insanity: If Line is used repeatedly, it will drive the user Ax Crazy.
 * Woobie, Destroyer of Worlds: especially in Shiki's route.
 * World of Cardboard Speech: Akira to  It doesn't work, unfortunately.
 * World War III: Starts before the game storyline causing Japan to be split into two zones. Although the game takes place during the war, this is hardly mentioned until the end.
 * Yandere:
 * Yank the Dog's Chain:
 * Something similar to the above happens in  route.
 * You Can't Fight Fate: Subverted. Nano, having experienced much pain due to, has become apathetic and feels this way. Then, Akira comes to disprove him.
 * You Got Spunk: Shiki becomes interested in Akira when he doesn't run, scream, or beg for his life like other participants.
 * You Need to Get Laid:
 * In the anime,
 * In the game,
 * Your Head Asplode:
 * With a Friend and a Stranger: Akira and Keisuke meet Rin, who is mysteriously kind and highly effeminate. They stick together for a long time and become friends.
 * With Great Power Comes Great Insanity: If Line is used repeatedly, it will drive the user Ax Crazy.
 * Woobie, Destroyer of Worlds: especially in Shiki's route.
 * World of Cardboard Speech: Akira to  It doesn't work, unfortunately.
 * World War III: Starts before the game storyline causing Japan to be split into two zones. Although the game takes place during the war, this is hardly mentioned until the end.
 * Yandere:
 * Yank the Dog's Chain:
 * Something similar to the above happens in  route.
 * You Can't Fight Fate: Subverted. Nano, having experienced much pain due to, has become apathetic and feels this way. Then, Akira comes to disprove him.
 * You Got Spunk: Shiki becomes interested in Akira when he doesn't run, scream, or beg for his life like other participants.
 * You Need to Get Laid:
 * In the anime,
 * In the game,
 * Your Head Asplode:
 * In the game,
 * Your Head Asplode: