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{{quote| ''"Your dreams are your own personal concerns... you should take on the challenge and fulfill your own dreams. However, your worries are my concern. Entrust every last one to me!"''}}
 
''Medaka Box'' is a manga series by author Nisio Isin (of ''[[Bakemonogatari (Light Novel)|Bakemonogatari]]'' fame), and artist Akatsuki Akira (of his "fame" as the ero-artist RIROLAND), about the [[The Paragon|paragon]] and all-around perfect student Medaka Kurokami, who is elected as the President of Hakoniwa Academy's student council by 98% of the student body. Possessed of a forceful personality, charisma, and incredible ability, she is accompanied by her loyal and [[Deadpan Snarker|snarky]] childhood friend Zenkichi Hitoyoshi, who has been at her side for over thirteen years.
 
Her first act is to set up a suggestion box where students can put in requests, which comes to be known as the [[Title Drop|Medaka Box]]. The series initially follows [[Strictly Formula|a standard formula]] where Medaka selects a request for help, then drags Zenkichi along into a complicated situation which is usually resolved by the chapter's end. For each completed request, Medaka has a potted flower brought into the Student Council room. Over the course of several chapters, Medaka manages to recruit two more members for the Student Council.
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** Present since {{spoiler|Medaka starts to see no value in Zenkichi}} and begins to act very cold to him as a result. Even now just to be with {{spoiler|Medaka he's sided with Ajimu and is undergoing the Flask plan albeit using different methods than the original mass murdering plan.}}
* [[Aloof Older Brother]]: {{spoiler|Maguro (Mr. Awesome-by-analysis) to Medaka and Kei (Mr. Axe-crazy) to Shori/Koi.}}
* [[Anguished Declaration of Love]]: In chapter 70, after being blinded by Kumagawa, Zenkichi rejects Kumagawa's [[We Can Rule Together]] offer and takes the opportunity to tell Medaka that he enjoyed the good and bad times they had together. An anxious Medaka tells him to stop talking as if he's about to die {{spoiler|right before he [[Taking You Withwith Me|drops himself and Kumagawa into a snake-filled pit.]]}} .
* [[Animals Hate Him|Animals Hate Her]]: Invoked. When they enter a zoo-like enclosure after finishing Munekata's battle they ''immediately'' know something is wrong because none of the animals are reacting to Medaka.
* [[Arch Enemy]]: Najimi to Medaka.
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*** Ajimu constantly plays with the [[Fourth Wall]], making constant references to the magazine the manga is run in. {{spoiler|She even names 21 [[Shounen Jump]] manga in a row in Chapter 116 when trying to enlist Zenkichi into her current plan.}}
**** {{spoiler|And in chapter 127 she directly says that any manga that goes on four more than ten volumes is coasting, so she is going to end this story before the anime begins.}}
* [[Break the Haughty]]/[[Villainous Breakdown]]: Misogi Kumagawa in Chapter 70 {{spoiler|after Zenkichi decides to [[Taking You Withwith Me|kill him, even if he has to kill himself at the same time.]]}}
* [[Brilliant but Lazy]]: Taken to extremes by Tachirai Kiruko, the head of the election committee who sleeps for 22 hours a day, has never been seen standing or even sitting, and is so opposed to doing work (her sleep mask even has "I CANNOT WORK" on it) that she was placed in Class A because no one knew what to do with her. When the treasure hunters reach her she doesn't even take off her sleep mask but instantly comes up with a difficult challenge for them.
* [[Brother-Sister Incest]]: Maguro Kurokami's fondness for his little sisters almost reaches this level. [[Berserk Button|Neither of them reciprocate those feelings]].
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** {{spoiler|Medaka vs Zenkichi}} - Victor: {{spoiler|Medaka - although Zenkichi was holding back due to his feeling for her}}
** Similar to Kumagawa's first action once joining team Medaka, Ajimu {{spoiler|utterly destroys [[Decoy Protagonist|the 6 fake suitors]] with 600 of her powers (plus one to count them all up).}}
* [[Cursed Withwith Awesome]]: Kujira Kurokami feels this way about herself, as she believes that genius cannot thrive without severe hardship.
** [[Badass|Hinkage Kuudou]] is known as "Mr. Unknown", as his abnormality means people neither see or remember him {{spoiler|as while he's huge and friendly, he's also so intimidating that most people want to forget his very existence.}}
** Medaka, by learning and mastering skills, caused anyone who saw her do so to lose hope of ever becoming great in their field and falling into despair. This means that practically any teacher she's had has pretty much given up and retired just from watching her progress. Were it not for Hinkage Kuudou's "Mister Nobody" talent, he'd probably cause this effect in people just from being seen. [[Rated "M" for Manly|He is essentially so manly that anyone who sees him cannot help but feel completely inferior to him in comparison.]]
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** Originally it was thought this was what Ajimu was [[Dangerously Genre Savvy]], with her knowing about plot armor and making [[No Fourth Wall|references to other ShonenJump serieses]]. Then it was discovered {{spoiler|that believing one is in a manga is a ''literal'' mental disorder in the Medaka Box universe, a result of a dangerous detachment from reality that results in self destructive behavior until they fail at something, at which point their belief in reality is restored.}} Unfortunately, Ajimu, being a near [[Physical God]], simply ''can't'' fail at something...
* [[Deadly Doctor]]: Aka Aoki, chair(wo)man of the Health Preservation Committee {{spoiler|also a Not-Equal}}. Has [[Femme Fatalons]], a dark-colored nurse's outfit, and refers to her level as a "palace of pain".
* [[Deal Withwith the Devil]]: In chapter 117, {{spoiler|Zenkichi joins the Flask Plan}}.
* [[Deconstructor Fleet]]: The series may be seen in this way, given how it bandies about references to [[Shonen Jump]] manga.
* [[Decoy Protagonist]]: When Medaka is looking for her successor, a few interesting characters get pointed out by the cast as being especially likely to make it. [[Brown Note|Due to Kumagawa]], None of them do.
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** All of the Class Minus 13 {{spoiler|except Shiranui}} qualifies, to various degrees, as their despair and lack of restraint are considered as dangerous as their powers.
* [[Easily Forgiven]]: Oudo apologizes to Medaka for his wrongdoings - including nearly killing two people and trying to brainwash her. Medaka forgives him instantly, with no hard feelings afterwards. Of course, that was only after Oudo was so thoroughly humbled, that he swore to change his egotistic ways. This applies to most of Medaka's enemies {{spoiler|including Kumagawa, who she appoints as her vice-president, due to his ability to disagree with her}}.
* [[Explaining Your Power to Thethe Enemy]]: Usually happens either before a fight, or during the twist ending to a chapter.
* [[Eye Scream]]: In chapter 69 Kumagawa shows Zenkichi a little [[The Dark Knight|magic trick.]] Then he heals Zenkichi´s eyes... but not his eye-sight.
* [[The Faceless]]: Naze Youka's face is covered in bandages. In flashbacks, the bandages are replaced with a paper bag.
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* [[Heroic Sacrifice]]: {{spoiler|In order to bring the the fight between him and Emukae versus the Hitoyoshis to a draw, Kumagawa removes the bomb-bracelets' keyholes. Emukae, who just had a heart-to-heart moment with Zenkichi and her Minus power neutralized by Kumagawa, removes the bombs and smothers the explosion with her own body. This causes Kumagawa to freak out since it was completely unnecessary, and then she politely refuses to be healed afterwards.}}
** {{spoiler|Kumagawa himself}} gets to make one, opting to fight {{spoiler|Munakata}} to the death in Kikaijima's defence. He claims that {{spoiler|he feels strangely happy dying for a girl's sake}}.
* [[Hoist Byby His Own Petard|Hoist By Her Own Petard]]: Medaka of all people. Maguro's analysis of {{spoiler|Medaka losing to Zenkichi}} claims cutting off Zenkichi was this, as she was trying to become someone who would be useful to the many strangers that needed help. However to other people it would just look like throwing her childhood friend. Maguro claims this is one of the reasons that {{spoiler|few people voted for Medaka. This and the fact that they wished to set her free. It wasn't really clear which.}}
* [[Holding Out for Aa Hero]]: In chapter 138, Zenkichi calls out the rest of the student body on relying way too much on Medaka to solve their problems. He claims that ''they'' were Medaka's true enemy all along. {{spoiler|The crowd apparently agreed. Ajimu claims this is why they voted against Medaka -- not because they feared her, but because they wanted to release her from the burden they placed on her.}}
* [[Ho Yay]]/[[Les Yay]]: Invoked a few times between Zenkichi and Maguro, or with Koga's devotion to Naze. There's also Medaka kissing Mogana and proclaiming her love for her.
* [[Hollywood Healing]]: Koga Itami and Medaka Kurokami are main culprits, but there are other characters who also heaact that she's ''actually crazy''.
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* [[Laser-Guided Amnesia]]: Medaka, thanks to one of Naze's serums.
** And Naze herself, having used her serums on herself first to separate herself from the past.
* [[Leaning Onon the Fourth Wall]] / [[This Is Reality]]: Kumagawa does this a lot, referring to the fact that "this isn't a manga" or "If we were published in ''Shounen Jump''...", plus making fun of ''Shounen Jump's'' mottoes. This becomes a bit of a running gag, as the latest two villains also do the exact same thing (with one taking it up to madness mantras -- mentioning ''twenty one'' different Jump serieses and their protagonists in an attempt to tempt someone).
* [[Let's You and Him Fight]]: The Medaka's Successor Arc involves {{spoiler|Zenkichi turning on Medaka in order to prove a point, with '''Kumagawa''' of all people trying to be the voice of '''reason.'''}} This is, of course, all set up by {{spoiler|Najimi -- except for Kumagawa's deciding to go third wheel.}}
* [[Lightning Can Do Anything]]: Brainwashing people, stealing peoples' abilities, controlling 131,313 super computers all at once, magnetism, controlling the opponent's motor skills, and mind reading to name a few.
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* [[Older Than They Look]]: Hitomi Hitoyoshi, who is actually 42 years of age but looks 12.
** {{spoiler|Also, Ajimu, who claims to be older than the universe.}} Quite possibly {{spoiler|Hanten}} too.
* [[Overshadowed Byby Awesome]]: Played with. Zenkichi {{spoiler|barring his parasite eyes}} is the only "normal" one out of all the main characters. Despite this, he manages to get most of the fights and somehow keeps up with all the super powered people in this series. Maguro even calls him "normal cool" claiming that he is unique because he is normal. {{spoiler|However, in the Medaka’s Successor Arc, Najimi sends five normal girls to compete in Medaka's treasure hunt where they not only do better than Zenkichi(who came in dead last being unable to solve the first clue), they actually manage to make it to the final round and briefly manage match Medaka. After noticing Zenkichi placing in dead last in the treasure hunt in comparison to the other normal people, Medaka throws him aside placing him directly under this trope in her eyes.}}
** Most of the School is subject to this by Medaka ({{spoiler|no surprise}}) during the school festival she engages in a huge tug of war with everyone(including former enemies) vs. her {{spoiler|and WINS}}. The [[You Have Got to Be Kidding Me!]] moment afterward is an understatement.
* [[People Puppets]]: When Miyakonojou Oudo uses his "Weighted Words".
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** {{spoiler|In chapter 140, Medaka stops the manga from ending. That's right, a character in the story decided it wasn't going to end.}}
* [[Shonen]]: The series becomes a more typical shonen fighting manga after the [[Genre Shift]].
* [[Shout-Out]]: Maybe, when Tsugiha-- sorry, '''The Magical ? Wonder Tsugiha''' -- renames the final scavanger hunt challenger "Koyabashi" after [[Star Trek (Filmfilm)|reprogramming her challenge]] and [[The Usual Suspects|taking over "Kobayashi's" narrative]].
** More blatantly, Anshin'in references ''21'' famous Shonen Jump series in the span of one page (chapter 116) when she {{spoiler|tries to convince Zenkichi to join her side}}. (Following in Misogi's footsteps?) <ref>If you're curious...:''[[Dragon Ball (Manga)|Dragon Ball]], Cobra, [[City Hunter]], [[Fist of the North Star]], [[Slam Dunk]], [[The Prince of Tennis]], [[Captain Tsubasa]], Sexy Commando Gaiden, [[Video Girl Ai (Manga)|Video Girl Ai]], [[Hikaru no Go]], [[Rokudenashi Blues]], Sakigake Otokojuku, [[Yu-Gi-Oh (Animeanime)|Yu-Gi-Oh]], [[Dai no Daibouken]], [[Ultimate Muscle]], [[Rurouni Kenshin]], [[Jo Jo's Bizarre Adventure (Manga)|Jo Jos Bizarre Adventure]], [[Yu Yu Hakusho]], [[Houshin Engi]], [[Saint Seiya]], and Keiji''.</ref>
** It may just be a reference the Translator, Editor, or Scanlator popped in, but on page 12 & 13 of chapter 36, Zenkichi asks for some encouraging words, so Medaka says "GO GET HIM TIGER!", something a certain Mary Jane character used to say to Peter Parker. Whether or not this is an actual example though, I am not too sure.
* [[Slasher Smile]]: Several characters get these, including Medaka.
* [[So Bad It's Good]]: Inverted (of course) by Medaka: her drumming is so perfect it's boring and Zenkichi asks her to not participate in the battle of the bands.
* [[Spanner in Thethe Works]]: Zenkichi defeating and befriending {{spoiler|Munekata}} after taking over for Medaka. The leader of the Flask Plan had intended for Medaka to be the one doing the befriending.
* [[Stepford Smiler]]: Kumagawa. It's so creepy that [[Not So Stoic|his rare expression of unbridled rage and hate]] is actually less disturbing. Also [[Walking Wasteland|Emukae]]. {{spoiler|Kumagawa ditches the smile after getting his original power back.}}
* [[Super Mode]]: {{spoiler|Medaka's Perseus/War God Mode}}, of the Unstoppable Berserker variety.
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* [[Taking the Bullet]]: {{spoiler|Kumagawa loses the rematch with Munakata when he takes a bullet meant for Kikaijima.}}
* [[Take That]]: [http://i17.mangareader.net/medaka-box/100/medaka-box-2514727.jpg Against intellectual elitism.]
* [[Taking You Withwith Me]]: In chapter 70, after being blinded by Kumagawa, Zenkichi rejects his offer (restored eyesight in exchange for Zenkichi's loyalty), says goodbye to Medaka {{spoiler|and stomps the arena floor hard enough to drop both him and Kumagawa into the pit of snakes.}}
** {{spoiler|After it becomes clear that Kujira has bested Shibuki, Kumagawa tells her to lose spectacularly and kill everyone (except him, of course) with her ultimate Scardead power.}}
* [[Theme Naming]]: The Kurokami family - Kajiki (swordfish), Maguro (tuna), Kujira (whale), and Medaka (Japanese killifish). [[Meaningful Name|There's a reason why one of them is a mammal.]]
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