Bara no Maria
Bara no Maria (Maria of the Rose) also known by it's english title, A Brave Heart of Red Rose, is a Light Novel series written by Ao Jyumonji and illustrated by BUNBUN. The series follows Maria Rose, a red hair warrior who works as a "cracker", a mercenary, in the city of Elder where Maria's fellow companions try to earn money while Maria deals with weird and crazy people. One of the Running Gag's of this series is Maria's gender. Despite the female name, Maria's gender has never been confirmed in the series and it doesn't help Maria displays both typical boyish and girlish reactions and attitudes.
Important Note: Unless Word of God confirms it, Maria's gender should be left ambiguous so don't call Maria "he" or "she", just call Maria.... Maria.
- Ambiguous Gender: Maria. My God Maria. Maria looks female but could be a pretty boy. Unfortunately Maria acts in ways that makes Maria's gender unclear.
- For example, when a punk harass Maria in the first manga chapter by calling Maria a "little girl", Maria takes offense and tells the punk "I'm not a little girl". At first, this might suggest that Maria's a guy and took offense of being called a girl but because Maria was using male pronouns and was offended being called a "little girl", this on the other hand suggests that Maria's a girl and was using male pronouns to act tough and was offended to be called a little girl, not a woman.
- Bifauxnen/DudeLooksLikeALady: Maria, who else?
- Bishonen/Bishoujo: Maria.
- Bokukko: Maria's way of speaking which confuses fans on whether Maria's a guy or a girl.
- Gender Blender Name: Maria's a girl's name but...
- Hypocritical Humor: Aizen calls out on a wizard who's obsesses with Maria despite he himself is also obsessed with Maria as well.
- Katari gives a speech on Maria over getting lost in another dimension despite the fact he was responsible for sending Maria into said dimension in the first place.
- Idiot Lancer: Katari thinks he's smartest of the group when in reality he's really dumb.
- If It's You It's Okay: No matter what gender Maria is, Aizen will still love Maria.
- Improbable Age: Feiyan is a young boy yet is one of the leaders of the Serial Killers Guild.
- In-Series Nickname: Katari doesn't like being called "Crayfish Face".
- Stalker with a Crush: Aizan, who has a crush on Maria.
- Stalking Is Love: What Aizan believes much to Maria's chagrin.
- Unwanted Harem: Let's see, Katari, Maria's idiot Lancer, Aizen, Maria's Stalker and Jinwan, the other leader of the Serial Killers Guild who wants to pull out Maria's teeth.