Cherry Blossoms/Playing With

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Basic Trope: Falling sakura petals have certain meanings in anime and other Japanese media, depending on the context.

• Straight:
  • In the Dating Sim Eien no Troperia, the unnamed protagonist meet the girl of his dream under a rain of cherry blossom.
  • In the movie Space Samurai Bob, the titular character fights the cyborg army of Emperor Evulz under a rain of cherry blossom.
• Exaggerated:
  • When they meet, the screen is almost entirely covered by sakura petals.
  • As more and more of Bob's blood spill to the ground, the cherry blossom turns from pink to blood red, and then to black.
• Justified:
  • It's the legendary sakura tree of the school of the unnamed protagonist, those meeting beneath it will have their love lasts forever.
  • These are some genetically-altered sakura trees FROM OUTER SPACE.
• Inverted:
  • The dream girl dump the unnamed protagonist under a rain of sakura petals.
  • As Bob falls, the cherry blossom turns white.
• Subverted:
  • It seems to be a sakura tree, but it's actually something else.
  • The cherry blossom imagery lead the viewer to believe that Bob will die making his last stand, but he survives.

Alice: "Aren't these cherry blossoms beautiful? Love is in the air!" Bob: "Bah! Humbug! Anyone who mentions Sakura petals should be baked into a black forest cake and buried with cherry pits in their eyes." Alice: "Happy St. Valentine's Day to you too, grumpy."

• Double Subverted:
  • ...which symbolism is almost the same as sakura.
  • ...and then he dies from his fatal injuries several days later, all the while contemplating the transience of life while watching cherry blossoms.
• Parodied:
  • The sakura tree actually preach about the meaning of love to the unnamed protagonist and the dream girl.
  • The unnamed protagonist meet his old buddy under the cherry blossoms -or- the dream girl meet an Onee-Sama under the cherryblossoms.
• Deconstructed: Bob tries to fight Emperor Evulz, but the sakura petals distract him, pervent him from getting a clear shot, are used by Evulz as cover, etc...
• Reconstructed: Bob uses the sakura petals to his advantage, and defeats Evulz.
• Zig Zagged: ???
• Averted:
  • There are no sakura trees in Eien no Troperia.
  • Being set in outer space, there are no sakura trees in Space Samurai Bob.
• Enforced: "Regardless of age and era, the viewers will understand the symbolism of sakura petals! Let's make him meet his dream girl under a sakura tree!"
• Lampshaded: "This sakura tree is as beautiful as the you in my dream."
• Invoked: To make sure their love lasts forever, the unnamed protagonist make a confession to his dream girl under a cherry blossom.
• Exploited: But before the unnamed protagonist can do so, The Rival steal the opportunity to do exactly that.
• Defied: The Rival burns down all sakura trees at the school.
• Discussed: ???
• Conversed: ???

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