Aria the Scarlet Ammo: Difference between revisions

Kinji Touyama is no [[Ordinary High School Student|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.

 

 

 

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

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* [[Absurdly Sharp Blade]]: Shirayuki's sword is pretty sharp due to it being made with a special metal.

* [[Actor Allusion]]: [[Rie Kugimiya|Aria]] screams "[[Shakugan no Shana|Urusai!]]" ("Shut up!") a lot.

* [[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 [[Lethal Chef|can't cook]].

* [[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 [[Fan Girl|fangirls]].

** [[It Got Worse|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 {{spoiler|Riko's}} hatred for Aria comes into the equation, she really ''really'' enjoys combat [[Interplay of Sex and Violence|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 {{spoiler|or it could be Reki; examples are Kinji winning a lottery due to her presence, getting free food for Reki, and having Reki complete an event despite lacking the money to buy her a dress.}}

** 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, {{spoiler|Riko}}. {{spoiler|She lost both her parents at age 8, only to be taken in by Vlad, who proceeded to shut her inside a prison cell, taking away her precious rosary (a gift from her mother) and depriving her of even the most basic needs. One botched escape attempt resulted in severe punishment for her, until she was forced to join I-U and slay a Holmes in order to break free of [[Arsène Lupin]]'s legacy and take back her rosary, her identity and her freedom.}}

* [[But Not Too Foreign]]: Aria has some British heritage in her, which is why she has a middle name.

* [[Catch Phrase]]

'''Reki:''' "I am a single bullet. It has no heart. Therefore, it does not think. It just flies straight towards its target." }}

* [[Cat Smile]]: Riko tends to display one.

** Reki: {{spoiler|Her native all-female Ulus Tribe can only give birth to females, thus they must find a strong male warrior (in her case, Kinji); they also surrender their sense of feelings to Irokane, explaining their [[Emotionless Girl|emotionless nature]], as well as their freedom -- they devote themselves fully to their husbands, even unto death.}}

* [[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 Means Friendship]]: {{spoiler|Jeanne and Riko.}}

* [[Defrosting Ice Queen]]: By the end of her visit Kinji managed to turn Konayuki (Shirayuki's [[Annoying Younger Sibling|Annoying Younger Stepsister]]) from a man-hating Butei to another potential love interest. He even managed to make {{spoiler|Reki}} smile, if just for a moment. Now all these would be a good thing, except he has a [[Tsundere]] and a [[Yandere]] ([[Don't Explain the Joke|Aria and Shirayuki, respectively]]) to worry about.

* [[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 {{spoiler|Riko}} defeat {{spoiler|Dracula}}, 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 {{spoiler|Lupin}} 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. {{spoiler|Riko apparently can too.}}

** Though, for {{spoiler|Riko}}, it's technically {{spoiler|[[Up to Eleven|Quad Wielding]]}}

* [[Hair Decorations]]: Aria has hair clips, and Shirayuki and Riko have ribbons.

* [[Everyone Looks Sexier If French]]: {{spoiler|Riko}}

** 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. ({{spoiler|[[Chekhov's Gun|One Leopon attached to Kinji's cellphone ultimately made Kinji reconsider his decision to quit Butei High and resume his partnership with Aria.]]}})

* [[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]].

*** 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]].

** 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]]

** {{spoiler|Aria is the great-granddaughter of [[Sherlock Holmes]].}}

** {{spoiler|Riko is the great-granddaughter of Holmes's archnemesis, [[Arsène Lupin]].}}

** {{spoiler|Reki is the descendant of [[Genghis Khan]], who also went under the name of [[wikipedia:Minamoto no Yoshitsune|Minamoto no Yoshitsune]], a famous general in the 1100s.}}

** {{spoiler|Patra of I-U is descended from [[Cleopatra]].}}

* [[Girl-On-Girl Is Hot]]: {{spoiler|Invoked by Riko to get Kinji into Hysteria Mode again in the battle against Vlad.}}

* [[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.

* [[Grandma, What Massive Hotness You Have!]]: The landlady of hot springs the gang visits at the OVA -- herself [[Retired Badass|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 [[Guns Akimbo|same]] [[Dual-Wielding|time]].

* [[Highly-Visible Ninja]]: Hina Fuuma.

* [[Hime Cut]]: Shirayuki

** [[Katanas Are Just Better]]

* [[Hot Shounen Mom]]: Kanae, Aria's mother. No wonder Aria is so adorably cute; it's ''genetic''.

** Later in the novel, {{spoiler|she easily shoots Kinji's jacket buttons regardless whether he is hiding in a building or in a bulletproof van. She can ricochet the bullet more than once or shooting the armored van's window in the exact same spot to break it and still hit the button without even harming or grazing Kinji. And she does all that with just a Dragunov, which usually has an effective range of 800m and without any support tools.}} 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.

* [[Irony]]: {{spoiler|Riko "Lupin the 4th" Mine was driven to break free of her unwanted legacy by attempting to kill Aria "Holmes the 4th" Kanzaki. Considering it's the same thing her ancestor did, the only thing she could prove by trying to do so (regardless of the outcome) is that she's worthy of the title she despises so much.}}

* [[Japanese Christian]]: {{spoiler|Kinji's not-so-dead older brother Kinichi/Kana is apparently one, as he/she quotes verses from [[The Bible]] regularly.}}

* [[The Jimmy Hart Version]]: Carl Orff's legendary "[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FWiyKgeGWx0 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:''' "There are... and they're hazardous to ''me''." }}

* [[Joshikousei]]: They wear sailor uniforms while wielding their guns and swords.

* [[Magnetic Hero]]: Even without Hysteria Mode, Kinji pretty much got the entire Assault Side (boys and girls alike) admiring him. That, in addition to [[Chick Magnet|attracting]] [[Action Girl|a different sort of followers]].

* [[The Magnificent]]: Kinji, being a [[Badass]] [[Magnetic Hero]], has quite a lot of titles:

{{spoiler|'''Kinichi/Kana'''}}''':''' "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 [[Zettai Ryouiki|the waistline]], though they're often preludes to her drawing the [[Guns Akimbo|dual pistols]] holstered there.

** And her clan too, who are [[Badass]] Miko.

* [[Miss Conception]]: Aria thinks kissing leads to pregnancy -- {{spoiler|while trying to explain to Shirayuki why she and Kinji kissed}}.

{{spoiler|'''Kinji:''' "Obviously not!"}} }}

* [[Mistaken Message]]: Jeanne sends Kinji a letter with offical seal and such. Gouki and Ryou think it's a love letter. {{spoiler|Turns out its a challenge.}}

* [[Names to Run Away From Really Fast]]: Jeanne d'Arc the 30th -- {{spoiler|The Diamond Dust Witch, AKA Durandal}}.

* [[Never a Self-Made Woman]]: A very dark take on this trope. {{spoiler|Riko resents the world for not acknowledging her as an individual, but as a continuation of [[Arsène Lupin]]'s legacy. This drives her to become the Butei Killer in order to accomplish what Lupin never can: slay a Holmes and finally break free of his shadow.}}

* [[Nice Job Breaking It, Hero]]: {{spoiler|With Kinji and Aria defeating Sherlock Holmes and dissolving I-U, its remnants are now free to follow their plans, and each member knows a bit of each field akin to Butei's. In other words: the duo just opened a Pandora's Box of supervillains ready to do whatever they want and with the skills to back it up. Perhaps Kinji and Aria should be grateful for having Shirayuki, Reki, Riko, Jeanne, Hina, Aya, Gouki, Ryou, Misaki and the rest of Butei on their side, otherwise they'd be dead by now.}}

* [[The Nicknamer]]: Riko. She has a tendency to give a nickname to her friends.

* [[Older Than They Look]]: Both Aria and Riko.

** Tamano a minor character introduced later on {{spoiler|700-800, knows Kinji's ancestor, uses ye old language, as well knows Shirayuki and her ancestor}}, but looks like a little girl.

* [[Otaku]]: Gouki is a vehicle nut, which helps Kinji and Aria a lot.

* [[Our Vampires Are Different]]: {{spoiler|Vlad Dracula, an actual vampire who has acquired the ability to mimic the form of humans. He is able to mimic special qualities of humans by sucking their blood.}}

* [[Passing the Torch]]: As of Volume 5 Aria has inherited the title of "Scarlet Ammo" from {{spoiler|Sherlock Holmes}} after she and Kinji defeat him.

* [[Patient Childhood Love Interest]]: Shirayuki.

* [[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 -- [[Almighty Janitor|under HSS, however, he has the skills of a Rank S]] [[Up to Eleven|and possibly even higher than that]].

* [[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 [[True Companions|each other out]].

* [[Something Else Also Rises]]: Kinji and his Hysteria Mode.

** 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, {{spoiler|to [[Sherlock Holmes]]'s "armed detective" philosophy. No wonder they were the target of the Butei Killer.}}

* [[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. {{spoiler|He can [[Barehanded Blade Block|stop Jeanne's blade with two fingers]], slice Riko's bullet in half mid-flight, and dodge a 7.62mm rifle round at point blank.}}

** Kinji Touyama ([[The Captain|Team Leader]]/[[The Mario|All-Around Combat]]/{{spoiler|[[Dual-Wielding|Quadra Combat]]}})

** Aria H. Kanzaki ([[Number Two|Tactical Assault]]/[[The Lancer|Lieutenant]]/[[Dual-Wielding|Quadra Combat]])

** Reki ([[Cold Sniper|Long-Range Support]])

** Hina Fuuma ([[Highly-Visible Ninja|Reconnaissance/Distraction]])

** {{spoiler|Jeanne d'Arc the 30th ([[The Smart Guy|Tactical Planning]]/[[An Ice Person|Ice-Elemental Combat]])}}

** {{spoiler|Elle Watson ([[The Medic|Medical Support]])}}

** Misaki Nakasorachi ([[Mission Control|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".

* [[Ungrateful Bastard]]: {{spoiler|Kinichi was (supposedly) killed saving average citizens from a sinking ship. However, instead of treating him like the hero he was, because they didn't want to be sued, the company that owned the ship said the sinking was mainly Kinichi's fault, and that he was a horrible Butei, forcing Kinji to mull leaving Butei; fortunately for him Aria's presence changed his mind.}}

* [[Unobtanium]]: Irokane, a rare magical metal everyone is fighting over.

* [[Wacky Marriage Proposal]]: {{spoiler|Reki orders Kinji to marry her with a gun pointed at him, on the roof of the school.}}

** In Volume 10 we get another one.. {{spoiler|Long story short Kinji has a genetic cloned girl who is more or less his sister, who is yandere for him. Trying to get rid of her he comes up with a ploy to get Shirayuki to act as his sister. How does he doe this?? Bring a bouquet of roses, asks Shirayuki Hotogi to become Shirayuki Touyama, and does this on one knee. Note the knee thing was a battle injury not yet healed, and Shirayuki always wanted to marry Kinji.}} Someone [[Pass the Popcorn|get the popcorn.]]

* [[The Watson]]: Aria the Holmes initially chooses Kinji to be her Watson. {{spoiler|Later on we're introduced to Elle, John Watson's ''great-granddaughter'' who was [[Les Yay|meant to be Aria's fiancé]].}}

* [[White-Haired Pretty Girl]]: Jeanne d'Arc the 30th.

 

{{reflist}}

[[Category:Seinen]]

[[Category:Anime of the 2010s]]

[[Category:Manga]]

[[Category:Light Novels]]