Aria the Scarlet Ammo



Kinji Touyama is no ordinary high school sophomore. Whenever he is "stimulated" by events around him, he switches into a sort of Super Mode called "Hysteria Savant Syndrome", shortened as "HSS" or also called "Hysteria Mode". Kinji attends Butei High School, a paramilitary academy specializing in assault, reconnaissance, escort, etc. -- specifically, the offensive-oriented Assault Section. However, thanks to a certain incident, Kinji demoted himself to the more rear-line Inquesta Section and is planning on quitting Butei High altogether. One day, however, he narrowly falls victim to a serial bomber called the "Butei Killer", and his life is thrown into a shock again, with the entrance of one of Assault Section's top students, the diminutive Aria H. Kanzaki.

Hidan no Aria (Aria the Scarlet Ammo, according to the subtitle, or more accurately Aria of the Scarlet Bullet) is a Harem Series, but also with plenty of action and thrills. Starting as a Light Novel, a manga adaptation has been made, and an anime series adapted by J.C.Staff was released in spring 2011. It also has a spinoff manga, Hidan no Aria AA, focusing on Akari Amamiya, a first-year Rank-E Butei and Aria fangirl who strives to be on equal footing with her beloved "Aria-sempai".

The series is licensed for simulcast streaming by Funimation and can also be watched on Hulu.

Note: Spoilers for both the light novel and the anime are here!

"Aria: "I'll blow a hole through you!" Reki: "I am a single bullet. It has no heart. Therefore, it does not think. It just flies straight towards its target.""
 * Absurdly Sharp Blade: Shirayuki's sword is pretty sharp due to it being made with a special metal.
 * Abuse Is Okay When Its Female On Male: Aria tends to use this trope on Kinji.
 * Actor Allusion: Aria screams "Urusai!" ("Shut up!") a lot.
 * In the "On the Next..." preview for Episode 11, Aria forgot Kinji's name. She guesses he could be Yuuji or Saito, names of male leads from Rie Kugimiya's previous Tsundere shows. Kinji claims to be Ryuuji, who shares the same seiyuu as Kinji, and she believes him.
 * Academy of Adventure: Butei High, naturally.
 * The Ace: Aria. She can be a one-girl assault team, able to handle any situation with nary a sweat, catch any criminal, so on and so forth... but can't cook.
 * Action Prologue
 * All Love Is Unrequited: Not that Kinji can't choose a girl -- it's just his HSS (that turns him into a Chivalrous Pervert) that makes it harder. Not to mention that said girls have a tendency to try to kill each other using their elite training, magic powers, and weapons... with Kinji always caught in the crossfire.
 * Almighty Janitor: Kinji is just a bottom-of-the-barrel Rank E (in contrast to Aria, a top-dog Rank S), just wants to be normal, attends the information-gathering Inquest Side, and usually gets pushed around a bit by females. But he's just Rank E on official records -- amongst his friends in Assault Side he is known as a Badass unofficial Rank S, turns into a ladies' man under HSS, and has an army of Action Girls willing to do anything for him.
 * Alternate Character Reading: Abused to the point where it's not even funny. Some examples are the various Butei specilizations, and an entire section in the fifth chapter of Volume 4.
 * Always Save the Girl: Kinji obtains this mindset in HSS.
 * Amazon Brigade: The Ulus Tribe, a 47-woman tribe.
 * Hotogi Mikos are another case -- all female, each with weapon and supernatural training on their disposal.
 * Animal Motifs: Aria and cats. Evidence are the Leopons, the random purrs in some scenes involving her, and Aria even growling like a cat whenever she's extremely pissed off. In episode 6 Shirayuki even calls her a "thieving cat" for (supposedly) taking Kinji from her.
 * Anime Chinese Girl: Koko
 * Annoying Younger Sibling: Shirayuki's younger sister, Konayuki.
 * The Archer: Kazayuki, Shirayuki's younger sister of one year. She's basically Reki with a bow and arrow. In one instance, she shot a running motorcycle's gasoline tank from a moving car from a distance.
 * Attractive Bent Gender:
 * Audio Erotica:
 * Badass: Everyone in Butei High, but Kinji gets a special mention. The reason many in Assault Side admire him is due to his performance in the entrance exams -- while under HSS, he completed his assigned task -- capturing students in a 14-storey building -- in a few minutes, defeating six teachers in the process. The fact that the teachers themselves have military experience only adds to his reputation.
 * Even when not under the influence of Hysteria Mode, he shows remarkably good judgement in combat situations, and is capable of intimidating a large number of thugs.
 * Badass Adorable/Action Girl: Any Butei Girl, but Aria, Shirayuki, Reki, Konayuki, Aya, Hina, in particular.
 * Badass Teacher: Butei High's teachers are some of the youngest of their kind, also they're rumored to be former assassins, soldiers, specialists, special forces, etc... and they might still have ties to their former careers.
 * Baka: Aria frequently refers to Kinji as "Baka-Kinji".
 * Barehanded Blade Block: Aria performs one in the beginning of episode 6. Kinji even bothers to hang a lampshade on it.
 * And then Kinji does it himself two episodes later.
 * In the novel, he did with two fingers. And later, he uses a variant of the technique
 * Battle Couple: Kinji and any girl who fights alongside him, but primarily Aria.
 * Taken further back when a character reveals a certain past
 * Bayonet Ya: Reki is a sniper, so she doesn't carry sidearms. However, she always keeps a bayonet in case she has to fight on melee.
 * Beethoven Was an Alien Spy:
 * Berserk Button: Lets see...
 * Aria: Do not make fun of her flat chest, her childish appearance, her lack of grace, or Kinji, much less . She'll blast a hole in you, unless you're bulletproof, in which case she has alternative methods.
 * Kinji: Do not hurt women (especially if he's in Hysteria Mode), talk badly of, hurt his friends, or even try to kill him.
 * : Do not call her Lupin the 4th, control her life, treat her as anything but an individual, be Aria, or disobey her once she gives an order.
 * Shirayuki: Do not be a girl near Kinji (especially Aria) or try to kill him, much less seduce him... Long story short: don't do anything with/to Kinji.
 * The Berserker: Oddly enough, Shirayuki.
 * Betty and Veronica: Towards Kinji, Aria (and, to a lesser extent, Riko) is the Veronica to Shirayuki's Betty.
 * Big Badass Wolf: Haimaki is a giant one and Reki trained him in less than 5 minutes to obey her.
 * Big Damn Heroes: In episode 3, when the bus with a bomb is heading for downtown, Aria is unconscious, and all seems hopeless, when Reki appears in a helicopter and snipes the bomb on the bottom of the bus.
 * Aria saves Kinji later against Durandal.
 * Big Eater: Aria wolfs down peach buns like there's no tomorrow. And as it turns out can be one as well.
 * Riko in comparison seems to be a Big Drinker, with her drinking 20 packs of strawberry milk
 * Bishoujo Series: All female cast members thus far.
 * Bishonen: Kinji is a borderline case; played straighter with his best friend Ryou, who has a legion of fangirls.
 * Blessed with Suck/Cursed with Awesome: Kinji's Hysteria Mode, where he becomes a gigolo/ladies' man, but this isn't his ideal self.
 * Made even worse as under this mode Kinji literally can't refuse any request a girl makes... 'ANY REQUEST'. Now think of the options ladies (and guys alike).
 * Blood Knight: Whether or not hatred for Aria comes into the equation, she really really enjoys combat a little too much.
 * Bloodless Carnage: Justified by a very advanced ballistic weave in the uniforms for Butei students, which is capable of stopping even the hottest pistol-caliber loads at anything greater than point-blank range. It's not known whether it can withstand rifle ammo, however. Averted in the case of unprotected areas.
 * Born Lucky: Kinji has shades of this
 * Born in the Wrong Century: notes that Jeanne has shades of this. She is very formal, sends letters with wax seals, wields a zweihander (two-handed sword), wears plate mail, doesn't know what a vending machine is, and dislikes skimpy clothing (even school uniforms).
 * Shirayuki also counts due to her upbringing, choice of weapons, personality... well, except for that M60 she occasionally brings out against rivals for Kinji's affection.
 * Break the Cutie: Holy hell,.
 * Bromantic Foil: Gouki for Kinji.
 * Bullet Time: When Kinji enters Hysteria Mode.
 * Bulletproof Vest: Butei school clothes are made from bulletproof materials, and they also have SWAT gear if things go dangerous.
 * Bunny Ears Lawyer: Riko has an obsession with H-Games. She also happens to be Butei Academy's most reliable Knowledge Broker.
 * But Not Too Foreign: Aria has some British heritage in her, which is why she has a middle name.
 * Catch Phrase

"Kinji: "Shirayuki brought these drawers here. There won't be any hazardous objects lying--" Kinji: "There are... and they're hazardous to me.""
 * Cat Smile: Riko tends to display one.
 * Censor Steam
 * Chick Magnet: Kinji, by some miracle, keeps getting girls, and what's funnier is they all excel in at least one area of combat. He can probably even form his own elite strike team if this keeps up.
 * Child Prodigy: Aria is one --.
 * Chivalrous Pervert: Hysteria Mode Kinji.
 * Clingy Jealous Girl: Aria and Shirayuki are willing to attack anyone who tries to take him away.
 * Cold Sniper: Reki.
 * Combat Tentacles: Well, ponytails used with the same articulation of actual tentacles, but that's what hair technically is.
 * Crapsack World: The series shows some shades of it -- Butei was originally formed as a reaction to skyrocketing crime, featuring teenagers carrying concealed weapons, wearing bulletproof school uniforms, and functioning like police officers.
 * Cry Cute: Aria (as expected of a Rie Kugimiya role) --.
 * Curtains Match the Window: Riko has this.
 * Arguably Aria.
 * Custom Uniform: Riko modified her uniform to make it more Lolita-style.
 * Cute Little Fangs: Aria
 * Cute Witch: Jeanne
 * Daddy's Little Villain:
 * Dark and Troubled Past: Where the hell do we begin...
 * Kinji:
 * Aria:
 * Shirayuki:
 * Riko:
 * Reki:
 * Deadpan Snarker: A lot of Kinji's commentary in the novels involves this, with him often noting the absurdity of the Butei way of life.
 * Defeat by Modesty: Riko manages to subdue Shirayuki quickly by lifting the latter's skirt.
 * Defeat Means Friendship:
 * Defrosting Ice Queen: By the end of her visit Kinji managed to turn Konayuki (Shirayuki's Annoying Younger Stepsister) from a man-hating Butei to another potential love interest. He even managed to make smile, if just for a moment. Now all these would be a good thing, except he has a Tsundere and a Yandere (Aria and Shirayuki, respectively) to worry about.
 * Deus Sex Machina: Kinji needs to be aroused to activate Hysteria mode.
 * Did Not Do the Research: Currently in the light novels Kinji wields a Desert Eagle he inherited from his father, however the only draw back is that because of the recoil he can only use it in Hysteria Mode, which is odd because the Desert Eagle is known for it's extremely light recoil due to the fact that the gun's weight compensates for the force and energy from the bullet leaving the gun.
 * Potentially justified by the fact that Kinji's father was an "Armed Prosecutor", one of the few occupations with a license to kill, and it's implied that they are sent against target as dangerous as (or even more so than) Kinji in Hysteria Mode. So it's rather doubtful that a normal Desert Eagle could be used as an accurate benchmark for that particular one.
 * Don't You Dare Pity Me!: A rare heartwarming twist on this trope: When Kinji and Aria helped  defeat , hence reclaiming her freedom and dignity, she was clearly filled with love and gratitude for both of them. After a moment, her professional pride in her   heritage returned, forcing her to recompose herself and declare her rivalry towards them anew; albeit one built on respect rather than hatred this time.
 * Dual-Wielding: Aria.
 * Though, for, it's technically
 * Volume 7 onwards introduces the third Quadra --.
 * The Dulcinea Effect: Genetically inherited by Kinji.
 * Dynamic Entry: Has happened a few times, notable incidents involving Shirayuki first slicing the door and trying to kill Aria with a sword, second time pushing down the door and trying to ventilate Aria with an M60.
 * Easily Forgiven: While Riko had her motives, it seems that Kinji and Aria overlook the fact that she tried to kill them earlier.
 * Same thing with Jeanne.
 * Elemental Rock-Paper-Scissors: SSR combat tends to fall into this category. From the only known battles so far fire>ice, and earth>fire.
 * Emotionless Girl: Reki, though mainly because she wants to have extreme accuracy when she shoots.
 * Hair Decorations: Aria has hair clips, and Shirayuki and Riko have ribbons.
 * Everyone Looks Sexier If French:
 * Everything's Better with Princesses:  is a princess who can kick your ass
 * To a lesser extent, Aria, too, considering that her grandmother was a Dame.
 * Cute Kitten: The two Leopons from the catching game machine in episode 3. They're so cute, they make Aria cuter.
 * Everything Sounds Sexier in French: Riko speaking French was very hot, to say the least.
 * Evil Counterpart: to Aria.
 * Evil Laugh/Laughing Mad:.
 * Exactly What I Aimed At: Reki doesn't miss. Even "miss shots" are deliberate (like that one time she managed to tame Haimaki with a bullet grazing through its back).
 * Expressive Hair: Aria's Idiot Hair.
 * Expy: Aria, to an extent, of every flat chested loli-Tsundere role Rie Kugimiya has voiced, due to her Rapunzel Hair, her Zettai Ryouki, and her attitude.
 * Reki can be considered one of Emotionless Girls such as Yuki Nagato or Tabitha personality-wise.
 * Teenage girl, pale green hair, Emotionless Girl behaviour, significant backstory arc to explain this (in the novels); she's very close to being a real Rei Ayanami Expy.
 * Jeanne d'Arc the 30th's armor, sword and hairstyle may as well make her a silver-haired, French version of Saber Lily -- with the same voice actress to boot, to near-Casting Gag levels.
 * In-series, the main girls -- Aria, Shirayuki and Riko -- have their first-year expies on the spinoff Hidan no Aria AA in the form of Akari Amamiya, Hino Raika and Shino Sasaki, respectively.
 * Eyecatch
 * Eyes of Gold: Riko
 * False Friend:
 * Famous Ancestor: Ooooh boy, we're in for a treat.
 * Fan Girl: Ryou apparently has a lot of these.
 * Fan Service: Expected of this kind of series. One notable example was when Kinji accidentally caught Aria leaving the shower naked. Another one is Riko reaching into her bra and showing almost everything down there.
 * Fear of Thunder: Aria is very afraid of thunder.
 * Feminine Women Can Cook: Shirayuki
 * Fetish Fuel Station Attendant: Riko, oh delicious Riko.
 * Fiery Redhead/Rose-Haired Girl: Aria
 * First Kiss:
 * Five-Man Band: Kinji and his four-person True Companions,.
 * The Hero/The Lancer: Aria and Kinji frequently exchange both roles with each other depending on the situation
 * The Smart Guy: Riko
 * The Big Guy: Reki
 * The Chick: Shirayuki (Not that she can't hold her own, though)
 * The Sixth Ranger:
 * Fluffy Tamer: Reki, who tames a giant wolf into submission using bullets in a few minutes.
 * Foe Yay:
 * Foreshadowing: The anime OP has Aria waiting for a train at the Baker Street Tube Station while glancing up at an outline of Sherlock Holmes on the platform wall.
 * Reki's taming of the wolf can be viewed as this too, considering
 * French Jerk:
 * Freudian Excuse:
 * Gag Boobs: Riko.
 * Gainaxing: Riko's boobs were moving like crazy in the first episode, though she wasn't doing much.
 * Apparently, at Butei High, the guys know her as "That loli with the huge tits."
 * Also Shirayuki as a part if the cheerleading squad.
 * Generation Xerox:
 * Genius Ditz: Aya Hiraga, Butei High's arms dealer, can modify any gun and sell most of the ammo they need. The catch: her modifications usually doesn't reach the client's desired settings (e.g.: Kinji orders a 3-round burst fire selector for his Beretta 92 Inox; her modification ultimately degrades from "up to 3 rounds per trigger pull" to "exactly two rounds per trigger pull").
 * Genki Girl: Riko, Aria around cute things or her favorite food.
 * Genre Savvy: Riko is this for the Harem Series. For example, one time, she called out Kinji to a karaoke bar, and when he began to discuss Aria, Riko told Kinji he needed to focus on her, because he was on the "Riko Route".
 * Kinji too, to a lesser extent, due to his exposure to Riko. In Volume 7, Kinji even says
 * Also Shirayuki.
 * Girl-On-Girl Is Hot:
 * Girls Love Stuffed Animals: Played straight with Aria and "Leopon". When Aria gets scared by thunder, Kinji brings out a Leopon and makes it talk to comfort her.
 * Girls with Guns
 * Grandma, What Massive Hotness You Have!: The landlady of hot springs the gang visits at the OVA -- herself a retired Butei and Tsuzuri-sensei's former partner -- looks way too young to be in her sixties (and is even voiced by Yui Horie).
 * Gun and Sword: Aria, though not at the same time.
 * And later  mirrors Aria as the.
 * Gun Kata: A variant of this style, known as "Aru-Kata" ("Aru" being spawned from the JP romanization of "Arma", Italian for weapon) is mandatory as per Butei cirriculum, The fight between in episode 4 showcases this perfectly.
 * Gun Porn: The novels go into a bit too much detail about the guns being used.
 * Guns Akimbo: Aria and Riko.
 * Hair of Gold: Riko
 * Hammerspace: Sorry, but there is just no other way that Aria hides two handguns and two katanas under her uniform.
 * And then there's Shirayuki.
 * Which is lampshaded in the spin-off manga Hidan no Aria-chan.
 * Hand Cannon: Kinji later carries a Desert Eagle Magnum as heavier fire power, just in case.
 * Handicapped Badass:, now over 200 years old, blinded by poisoning, but is still the leader of I-U. Didn't See That Coming.
 * Harem Series: OK so far in the novel this is Kinji's choice: Aria, Shirayuki, Reki, Riko, and Hina
 * Headphones Equal Isolation: While they're not necessarily isolating, Reki does wear a pair of these all the time to block out reality and have the best shots.
 * Healing Hands:
 * Hidden Depths: is the first prominent example ({{spoiler|supposedly she just does bad things to continue her family's legacy (see entry for {Irony}} on this very page), but in reality she does so to free herself from the imprisonment, and she is not happy in the slightest with her fate}}), but many other characters qualify too.
 * Highly-Visible Ninja: Hina Fuuma.
 * Hime Cut: Shirayuki
 * Hot Chick with a Sword: Shirayuki, Aria and Jeanne.
 * Katanas Are Just Better
 * Hot Shounen Mom: Kanae, Aria's mother. No wonder Aria is so adorably cute; it's genetic.
 * Hot Springs Episode: The OVA (Episode 13), which doubles as a field training consisting of Kinji, Aria, Shirayuki, Reki, Haimaki, Riko and Jeanne, with Tsuzuri-sensei as chaperone and Gouki as driver.
 * Hyper Awareness: Hysteria Mode.
 * An Ice Person: Jeanne d'Arc 30th.
 * I Can Explain: Kinji gets this far in explanations before bullets/melee swings/magic powers start flying around destroying everything around him whenever girls who like/love/have a crush on him attack each other.
 * I Just Want to Be Normal: Kinji
 * And later on this dream of his is completely shattered:
 * I Know Karate: Riko; to a lesser extent, Aria knows her Baritsu Style.
 * Identity Amnesia:
 * Idiot Hair: Aria has one that hangs over her head.
 * Implausible Fencing Powers: Butei High's SSR Side, who wield melee weapons, are capable of this. Just ask Shirayuki and.
 * Improbable Aiming Skills: Kinji, Kana and can easily do this in Hysteria Mode, but special mention goes to Reki: she can shoot an unlit clamp holding a bomb to the shadowed underside of a speeding bus... from at least 200m away and inside a pace-matching helicopter (think of the down draft on the bullet), through the siderails of the bridge that are flashing past several times a second... thus forcing the bomb to not only detach from the bus but bounce off the bridge to detonate harmlessly in the water. She is said to be able to shoot anything within a 2051-meter radius without missing.
 * Later in the novel, When she said she can hit anything within 2051 meters around her, she wasn't kidding.
 * In the Blood: Most of the cast is Badass because their ancestors were, you know their names from Famous Ancestor from up top. Also in-story their badassness took an even further upgrade due to the supernatural.
 * Ironic Echo: In Volume 3 of the Light Novel, Kinji tells Aria to mind "proper manners in the proper place" when she sits next to him during PE and tries to share a drink. A few paragraphs later he was caught with his hand in  shirt trying to get the pen she stole from him.
 * Irony:
 * It Is Pronounced "Tro-PAY":
 * Japanese Christian:
 * The Jimmy Hart Version: Carl Orff's legendary "O Fortuna" movement from his cantata "Carmina Burana" in episode 6, after Kinji opens a drawer brought in by Shirayuki when she moved in with Kinji and Aria.
 * I Can Explain: Kinji gets this far in explanations before bullets/melee swings/magic powers start flying around destroying everything around him whenever girls who like/love/have a crush on him attack each other.
 * I Just Want to Be Normal: Kinji
 * And later on this dream of his is completely shattered:
 * I Know Karate: Riko; to a lesser extent, Aria knows her Baritsu Style.
 * Identity Amnesia:
 * Idiot Hair: Aria has one that hangs over her head.
 * Implausible Fencing Powers: Butei High's SSR Side, who wield melee weapons, are capable of this. Just ask Shirayuki and.
 * Improbable Aiming Skills: Kinji, Kana and can easily do this in Hysteria Mode, but special mention goes to Reki: she can shoot an unlit clamp holding a bomb to the shadowed underside of a speeding bus... from at least 200m away and inside a pace-matching helicopter (think of the down draft on the bullet), through the siderails of the bridge that are flashing past several times a second... thus forcing the bomb to not only detach from the bus but bounce off the bridge to detonate harmlessly in the water. She is said to be able to shoot anything within a 2051-meter radius without missing.
 * Later in the novel, When she said she can hit anything within 2051 meters around her, she wasn't kidding.
 * In the Blood: Most of the cast is Badass because their ancestors were, you know their names from Famous Ancestor from up top. Also in-story their badassness took an even further upgrade due to the supernatural.
 * Ironic Echo: In Volume 3 of the Light Novel, Kinji tells Aria to mind "proper manners in the proper place" when she sits next to him during PE and tries to share a drink. A few paragraphs later he was caught with his hand in  shirt trying to get the pen she stole from him.
 * Irony:
 * It Is Pronounced "Tro-PAY":
 * Japanese Christian:
 * The Jimmy Hart Version: Carl Orff's legendary "O Fortuna" movement from his cantata "Carmina Burana" in episode 6, after Kinji opens a drawer brought in by Shirayuki when she moved in with Kinji and Aria.
 * The Jimmy Hart Version: Carl Orff's legendary "O Fortuna" movement from his cantata "Carmina Burana" in episode 6, after Kinji opens a drawer brought in by Shirayuki when she moved in with Kinji and Aria.
 * Kinji opens a drawer and gasps in shock as he discovers Shirayuki's massive collection of black and white underwear before immediately closing it*

"Aria: "Slave" Shirayuki: "Husband" (She wants to be his Victorious Childhood Friend, after all) Riko: "Playmate" Aya: "Best Customer" Hina: "Master" (After all, he defeated her while under HSS back in Middle School) Gouki: "Best Buddy" Ryou: "Best Buddy" (With shades of Ho Yay from observant girls' POVs)
 * Joshikousei: They wear sailor uniforms while wielding their guns and swords.
 * Just Plane Wrong: JC Staff went to town on the charter airplane that was flying the Tokyo Haneda to London Heathrow flight. First, it's modelled after a Boeing 737-600 (part of the Next-Gen series) with 2 extra engines tacked on for some random reason. The cockpit and instrument layout is from one of the next-gen 737 variants (600/700/800/900). Finally, the transponder info identifies it as a fictional "737-350". The modelled -600 has a range of only 3225 nautical miles, so it is impossible for it to make the direct 5183 nautical mile journey from Haneda to Heathrow. Almost none of the other variants can make it either, with ranges as low as 1540 nautical miles to just shy of 3500 nautical miles. Only one specific variant has the range, the 737-700ER, with a maximum range of 5510 nautical miles. The CG plane, even without the 2 extra engines is not modelled on this variant as its wings lacks the flared winglets found only on almost all next-gen variants, with the -600 being the sole exception.
 * Katanas Are Just Better: Aria has a pair of them hidden under her shirt.
 * Knife Nut: Kinji has a butterfly knife.
 * Riko dual-wields daggers.
 * Reki carries with her a bayonet.
 * Knowledge Broker: Riko is one, but she demands payment in the form of H-Games that would be inconvenient and difficult for a girl of her age to acquire.
 * Lampshade Hanging: Kinji throws this around alot in the novels, and funny enough most of them reference to anime/manga scenarios... now the series does have its own Anime and Manga.
 * Lethal Chef: Aria; this comes up in volume 3 where Kinji and Aria infiltrate castle and pose as butler and a maid, respectively. Kinji cooks while Aria takes the credit.
 * Like Cannot Cut Like: Shirayuki and Absurdly Sharp Blades cancel each other out.
 * Little Miss Badass: Aria.
 * Lolicon: Kinji's classmates think he's one due to his association with the diminutive Aria.
 * Loss of Identity: What is dealing with for the first 3 volumes, but it gets solved with a little help.
 * Lovable Sex Maniac: Riko.
 * Luminescent Blush: Aria has a lot already.
 * Mad Bomber:
 * Magic Knight: Jeanne plays this role -- she wears modified plate mail, wields a zweihander, and can cast ice magic.
 * Magic Skirt: Illustrated in Episode 1 of the anime, even before the opening theme started.
 * Averted in episode 6, courtesy of an Aria somersault (and they're white).
 * Magnetic Hero: Even without Hysteria Mode, Kinji pretty much got the entire Assault Side (boys and girls alike) admiring him. That, in addition to attracting a different sort of followers.
 * The Magnificent: Kinji, being a Badass Magnetic Hero, has quite a lot of titles:
 * "Husband" (On account of being both a good leader and fighter)
 * "Ally" (With subtle hints of a crush)
 * "The man worthy of being my great-granddaughter's partner"
 * "My little brother whom I've always loved""


 * Male Gaze: All over the place. In particular, there are a lot of shots of Aria at just around the waistline, though they're often preludes to her drawing the dual pistols holstered there.
 * The Man Behind the Man: The man behind all the crimes against Butei appears to be none other than.
 * Marshmallow Hell: Kinji gets into a lot of these (even from Aria's surprisingly soft flat chest). He accentuates the "Hell" in Marshmallow Hell because it is an easy way to trigger his HSS.
 * Master of Disguise:
 * Meaningful Name: Aria is a solo song in an opera, showing Aria's loner side. This is Lampshaded by Aria herself.
 * Meido: Aria, Riko have worn the uniform. And now we Jean to the list.
 * Miko: Shirayuki's typical outfit
 * And her clan too, who are Badass Miko.
 * Miss Conception: Aria thinks kissing leads to pregnancy --.
 * Miss Conception: Aria thinks kissing leads to pregnancy --.

"Kinji: "By the way, "Dress Scan" is a skill I learned in Inquesta. It is a method to analyze and memorize a person's characteristics in order for investigation to proceed smoothly. There's definitely no ulterior intention here or anything like that. I'm telling the truth.""
 * Mistaken Message: Jeanne sends Kinji a letter with offical seal and such. Gouki and Ryou think it's a love letter.
 * My Name Is Not Durwood:
 * Mysterious Past: Reki is so mysterious, no one even knows her last name.
 * Names to Run Away From Really Fast: Jeanne d'Arc the 30th --.
 * Never a Self-Made Woman: A very dark take on this trope.
 * New Powers as the Plot Demands: Seen in Kinji's fight against where new versions of HSS conveniently appear.
 * Nice Job Breaking It, Hero:
 * The Nicknamer: Riko. She has a tendency to give a nickname to her friends.
 * Kinji: Ki-kun
 * Aria: Arian (sometimes)
 * Shirayuki: Yuki-chan
 * Reki: Rekyu
 * Aya: Ayaya
 * Hina: Fuu
 * Heck, she even calls herself Rikorin.
 * Noble Demon: I-U has shades of this. Some (especially ) are this; others... are just plain demons (and in some cases, not just figuratively).
 * Not Cheating Unless You Get Caught: Kinji has to play a soccer game to finish his required credits... It's a Long Story, and since his team -- Aria, Shirayuki, Hina, Gouki, Ryou, -- never played well before, they get manhandled, until Kinji goes into HSS and tells them in the locker room to do this trope. That's right -- Butei use their elite skills (and magic powers) to win a soccer game.
 * Not Himself: Kinji in Hysteria mode.
 * Not So Different: Aria and Riko -- they're both short, both are Quadra, both have Girlish Pigtails, and both are fourth-generation descendants of famous men..., respectively.
 * Not What It Looks Like: When Kinji gets into a... complicated position with a girl or too close to one acutally.
 * Obfuscating Stupidity: Riko.
 * Oh Crap: Plenty to go around...
 * When new villains are introduced.
 * When Kinji meets a new girl who takes a liking to him.
 * When something goes wrong (above two examples, plus the occasional terror plot).
 * When the new opponent isn't human, is a special psycho genius, or is simply killing for fun.
 * When two girls who like Kinji meet each other.
 * When any girl meets Shirayuki and tell her they're in love with Kinji.
 * When you get a surprised ambush attack.
 * Being Kinji in all of the above.
 * Ojou: Aria, Shirayuki, are all some to an extent (they have either a long family lineage, or are descendants of nobles).
 * Older Than They Look: Both Aria and Riko.
 * Tamano a minor character introduced later on, but looks like a little girl.
 * "On the Next Episode of..." Catchphrase: "I'll blow a hole through you, if you don't tune in next week."
 * Otaku: Gouki is a vehicle nut, which helps Kinji and Aria a lot.
 * Our Vampires Are Different:
 * Overprotective Dad: Aria's father is very likely to be one, as he did tell his daughter that kissing leads to pregnancy.
 * Passing the Torch: As of Volume 5 Aria has inherited the title of "Scarlet Ammo" from after she and Kinji defeat him.
 * Patient Childhood Love Interest: Shirayuki.
 * Playing with Fire:
 * POV Boy, Poster Girl
 * Power Levels: Butei have a rank level -- for example, Aria is a top-dog Rank S, while Kinji is a bottom-of-the-barrel Rank E (in normal mode, at least -- under HSS, however, he has the skills of a Rank S and possibly even higher than that.
 * Prehensile Hair: is able to manipulate her incredibly long ponytails with the agility of actual limbs, and use them to wield knives in combat.
 * Rapunzel Hair: Aria's hair almost reaches her ankles while in ponytails.
 * Shirayuki has comes down to her hips.
 * Same for Riko,
 * Running Gag: Everytime Kinji gets another girl to join him, rumors start flying around Butei High on how this happened. Then again, Kinji is like a magnet...
 * There's also the constant destruction his room suffers whenever girls with a romantic interest in him fight each other, such as that between Aria and Shirayuki, as well as between.
 * Sailor Fuku
 * Scars Are Forever: The scar on Aria's forehead will always remind her of how close that bus incident was.
 * Science Versus Magic: Averted -- Butei High trains students from both technological and supernatural disciplines, and even encourages team-ups between members of either discipline.
 * Secret Legacy: The Touyamas' HSS have different triggers that turn them into ass-kicking machines. Kinji's trigger is Deus Sex Machina -- which he often considers a curse.
 * She Cleans Up Nicely: Reki -- normally, and with new clothing, makeup, and straightened hair.
 * She Is Not My Girlfriend/He Is Not My Boyfriend: Kinji and Aria frequently invoke these.
 * Shock and Awe: Turns out Hilda can shoot out electricity at her enemies, although the drawback is she doesn't generate her own she just manipulates it like a transformer.
 * Shout-Out: One of the Light Novel chapter titles is "You Stole The Precious Thing".
 * The final shot of the opening credits, in which Aria shoots out a rose, is reminiscent of Saeba Ryo doing the same in the second opening of City Hunter.
 * Riko's name may be one to both
 * Aria gets mistaken for Miku at one point in the light novels.
 * "Study in Scarlet" of the titular Hidan, or "Scarlet Ammo", is a clear reference to the title of the first Sherlock Holmes novel A Study in Scarlet.
 * The whole OVA episode is a Shout-Out to The Grudge.
 * Shrinking Violet: Misaki Nakasorachi is a stuttering ditz. A definite cutie, though this keeps her stuck as a B-Rank despite being, ironically enough, an excellent Mission Control.
 * Small Girl, Big Gun: Reki and her big-ass sniper rifle.
 * Somebody Else's Problem: Butei teachers are a bit hands-off when it comes to a student's problems. After all, they're expected to help themselves and each other out.
 * Something Else Also Rises: Kinji and his Hysteria Mode.
 * Spell My Name with an "S": Though a minor case, there's some debate between Kinji's last name -- "Touyama" or "Tohyama".
 * Then there's a case with the primary antagonist organization for the first few volumes, whose run-ins with this trope are compounded by pronunciation issues. Initially, this organization was called "EU", straight from the pronunciation. A few volumes down the road and it's revealed what the name actually means. The name is composed of the letters that the Imperial Japanese Navy and Kriegsmarine used to designate their submarines, respectively. The problem? The IJN used the letter I to designate their submarines, and the English fanbase mistook it as an E because the Japanese I is pronounced the same as the English E.
 * Spiritual Successor: Tokyo Butei High School,
 * Supreme Chef: Shirayuki can really cook. And not just your average meals we're talking sashimi, chinese, and turning left overs in the best late night meals. And she's supposed to be the Ojou.
 * Suspiciously Specific Denial: Kinji makes a comment about his "Dress Scan" ability in the third volume.
 * Then there's a case with the primary antagonist organization for the first few volumes, whose run-ins with this trope are compounded by pronunciation issues. Initially, this organization was called "EU", straight from the pronunciation. A few volumes down the road and it's revealed what the name actually means. The name is composed of the letters that the Imperial Japanese Navy and Kriegsmarine used to designate their submarines, respectively. The problem? The IJN used the letter I to designate their submarines, and the English fanbase mistook it as an E because the Japanese I is pronounced the same as the English E.
 * Spiritual Successor: Tokyo Butei High School,
 * Supreme Chef: Shirayuki can really cook. And not just your average meals we're talking sashimi, chinese, and turning left overs in the best late night meals. And she's supposed to be the Ojou.
 * Suspiciously Specific Denial: Kinji makes a comment about his "Dress Scan" ability in the third volume.


 * To a lesser extent, everytime Aria calls Kinji her slave when someone tries to take him away from her.
 * Super Reflexes: Another of Kinji's HSS abilities.
 * Sweet Polly Oliver:
 * Take That: Riko, being a Genre Savvy H-game aficionado, immediately dumps away sequels and later versions of some games Kinji bought for her in exchange for information about Aria, proclaiming them as insults to the originals.
 * The Tease: Riko.
 * Terrible Artist: Jeanne is good at so much stuff, but she's terrible at drawing.
 * Theme Naming: Kinji and his older brother Kinichi have this, with Kinichi being "Kin 1" and Kinji being "Kin 2".
 * The Hotogi sisters' names end with "-yuki".
 * Third Person Person: Riko deliberately invokes her "cutesy" personality by frequently referring to herself in childish third-person.
 * This Means War: The Light Novel's first seven volumes introduce a few factions.
 * Thou Shalt Not Kill: Codified in the Butei Charter's Article 9 -- "Regardless of the situation, a Butei cannot kill."
 * Those Two Guys: Gouki and Ryou are practically the only guys who interact with Kinji onscreen. They also pop on and off in both the novel, manga and anime.
 * The Three Faces of Eve: Aria is the child (short, irritable and romantically awkward), Shirayuki is the wife (sweet and demure), and Riko is the seductress (sexy and proud of it).
 * Through His Stomach: Shirayuki tries this with Kinji.
 * Title Drop: First invoked by in Volume 4 of the light novels.
 * Trademark Favorite Food: Aria definitely loves (and is absolutely adorable when eating) her peach buns.
 * Riko and her strawberry au lait
 * Haimaki and fish sausages
 * Reki and her energy bars
 * True Companions: Butei are expected to help each other out, whatever the situation. It is even encoded as Butei Charter Article 1 -- "Never leave your comrades behind". And as the series progresses, Kinji and Aria diversify from a two-man partnership to a strike team-caliber group:
 * Kinji Touyama (Team Leader/All-Around Combat/)
 * Aria H. Kanzaki (Tactical Assault/Lieutenant/Quadra Combat)
 * Shirayuki Hotogi (Melee Combat/)
 * Reki (Long-Range Support)
 * Hina Fuuma (Reconnaissance/Distraction)
 * Riko Mine (Information//)
 * Gouki Mutou (Transportation)
 * Ryou Shiranui (Infiltration)
 * Misaki Nakasorachi (Field Coordinator)
 * Turn Out Like His Father: Subverted Kinji does not want to become this, but circumstances might say otherwise. An example of such is his upgrade to carrying a Desert Eagle Magnum, a .50 handgun his father used during his days as "armed prosecutor".
 * Two Aliases, One Character: In the Light Novel.
 * Ugly Guys Hot Daughter:
 * Ungrateful Bastard:
 * Unobtanium: Irokane, a rare magical metal everyone is fighting over.
 * Unstoppable Rage:
 * Use Your Head: Kinji's secret skill.
 * Victoria's Secret Compartment: Riko, being the adorable tease that she is, gives Kinji her gaming-coupon after opening her shirt and extracting said ticket from between her firm and ample breasts.
 * Victorious Childhood Friend: Shirayuki's ultimate goal with Kinji -- graduate together with Kinji, marry him and have 7-8 children, all of whom would look like "Kin-chan-sama".
 * Wacky Marriage Proposal:
 * In Volume 10 we get another one.. Someone get the popcorn.
 * Wake Up, Go to School, Save the World: Not exactly saving the world, but solving criminal cases and everything else fits. And if you're a really lucky Butei all these might happen after school, not on your way to school (just ask Kinji at the beginning of the series, or a bus full of Butei students during episode 3 and mid-volume 1 of the novels).
 * The Watson: Aria the Holmes initially chooses Kinji to be her Watson.
 * White-Haired Pretty Girl: Jeanne d'Arc the 30th.
 * Yamato Nadeshiko: Shirayuki. This is Lampshaded by Kinji in the novels.
 * Yandere: Shirayuki -- early in episode 2 she displays Dull Eyes of Unhappiness when she suspected Kinji is with someone else. Upon discovering that Aria is freeloading with Kinji, she decides to "exorcise" her twice (first, by cutting her down with her katana; second, by blowing hundreds of holes through her with an M60). Even when she was forced to take Aria as a bodyguard, she still shows contempt for the diminutive girl.
 * And despite the fact they became friends, she'll still chase her down accusing her of taking the lead.
 * You Gotta Have Blue Hair: Reki's hair is green, and Aria's is bright pink.
 * Zettai Ryouiki: Aria, combining this with her twin tails and attitude (as well as the voice), makes a Grade S.
 * Plus the Cute Little Fangs.
 * Possibly to Lampshade this, Aria's rank in Butei High? Rank S.
 * Plus the Cute Little Fangs.
 * Possibly to Lampshade this, Aria's rank in Butei High? Rank S.