Simoun

In the world of Daikuuriku, everyone is born female, and chooses which sex they wish to become at age 17 with a trip to a magical spring. In this world, the peaceful theocracy of Simulacrum is guarded by magical flying machines called "Simoun", which can only be piloted by young girls who haven't chosen a sex yet. The Simoun can activate a magical power known as "Ri Maajon" (by inscribing enormous magical glyphs in the sky) that can destroy large numbers of enemy aircraft at once.

When the industrialized nation of Argentum decides that it needs to invade Simulacrum to acquire the secret of the Simoun, war breaks out, drawing the Simoun pilots into a lopsided battle. Because the war is raging, the Simoun pilots are granted an exemption from going to the spring for as long as they're willing to keep flying. One such pilot in particular vows to stay with her squadron until she becomes the ultimate Simoun pilot, and badgers her squadron-mates to do the same...

Simoun aired from April to September 2006 on Japanese TV, with an all-star (and all-female) voice acting cast, and two stage actresses portraying the series' romantic leads. Cited as the best anime series of 2006 by several bloggers, Simoun is known to some as an underrated and overlooked Anime series of high quality. The music alone is worth watching the series for, let alone the setting, plot, or characters... obvious fanservice like an all-female cast and powered lesbianism aside. The series has recently been licensed, and the (subtitled only) DVDs are available in North America.

A serial manga of this series has been released in Yuri Hime, with a slightly altered storyline.

Not to be confused with S1m0ne.

Tropes used in Simoun include:

The Ace^[context?]
Achilles in His Tent: Early on Neviril, later Dominura
Airborne Aircraft Carrier: Lots of 'em.
Alien Lunch: Episode 10.
Almost-Dead Guy: Flying an almost dead Simoun.
Alpha Bitch: Mamiina is a subversion. She acts like this at first (before her following Character Development) despite the fact she's not rich, but poor.
Anyone Can Die
Anime Accent Absence: When Plumbish priestesses speak in the language of Simulacrum, they sound exactly like native Simulacrans, with no traces of a foreign accent.
Anime First
Ambiguously Brown: Wapourif et al.
Applied Phlebotinum
Art Evolution: As the series continues, Wapourif's features become a bit rougher, and his chest shrinks.
Arc Words: Shin Tenchi e no Tobira
As Long as It Sounds Foreign: When Plumbish officials are shown to speak their own language, what is actually heard is Japanese phrases replayed backwards.
Ascend to a Higher Plane of Existence: Aaeru, Neviril, Dominura, and Limone in one sense; Onashia and possibly (eventually) Yun in another; Mamiina and possibly Angulas in a third.
Babies Ever After: Morinas and Wapourif have a child together, and Morinas is visibly pregnant with number 2 during the final episode. Wauf also has a fairly young kid in that same episode.
Beauty Mark: Morinas has one under her lip.
Belief Makes You Stupid: Averted. The only character who thinks this is also the only character who is truly and unremittingly evil. The idea that it is somehow a sign of weakness to have faith in someone or something greater than yourself is treated as highly sketchy and hubristic.
Bifauxnen: Paraietta.
Bishonen: Wapourif, among others.
Bittersweet Ending: Definitely more sweet than bitter, especially given the Plumbish authorities' Heel Face Turn, but it's the little things, you know?
Bokukko: Yun, who actually says the much more masculine "ore" instead of "boku".
- Kaim plays this one straight.
Broken Bird: Neviril, Dominura.
Calling Your Attacks
Catch a Falling Star
Character Development
- Mamiina goes from the Token Evil Teammate to The Messiah.
- Rodoreamon goes from an Extreme Doormat to The High Queen.
- Everyone gets a character development arc, remarkably for a cast of this size.
Cheerful Child: Limone.
Christmas Cake: Dominura.
- Shockingly not, as her official profile lists her age as 19 years old. Talk about Younger Than They Look.
Combined Energy Attack: The Iron Ri Maajon, among others.
The Comically Serious: Yun.
Conspicuous CG
Constructed World
Cool Ship: Arcus Prima, actually a former luxury liner converted to ad-hoc aircraft carrier. Certainly one way around the foolishly expansive glass-encased rooms and lush accommodations often seen in anime. When they get transferred to the Messis after the Arcus Prima needs to be repaired, their quarters are much more spartan.
Covers Always Lie: The front cover of the North American DVD release featured Neveril and Aeru sort of... hugging? Dancing? Playing patty-cake? Whatever they are doing they are close together and naked, but somehow their embrace has no sexual overtones at all, so the whole thing just looks weird. Also, there is not a single Simoun visible on the front cover, back cover, or spine. The series is named Simoun and the machines are nowhere to be found. Without already knowing the background to the series there is no way to determine even what genre the show is, first guess would probably go to Magical Girl or an Ecchi series.
Cross-Dressing Voices: All-female voice cast means that the male characters sound like husky-voiced women.
Dead Star Walking: Amuria.
Distant Finale
The Ditz: Floe, with a bit of Jerkass too. Aaeru also has her moments.
Dramatic Wind: Flight deck, episode 8; observation platform, episode 24.
Dude Looks Like a Lady: Pretty much anyone who has just chosen the male gender, as their sexual characteristics don't immediately alter. Notably, Wapourif still has very big breasts and wears his hair long.
During the War
Everyone Is Bi: Subverted and justified.
Expy: Onashia is one of Ayesha, She-Who-Must-Be-Obeyed, from H. Rider Haggard's adventure novels.
Faceless Mooks: The enemies of Simulacrum attack in swarms and wear full-body pilot suits and helmets that obscure even the tiniest bit of flesh. This de-personalizes them not just to the audience, but to the Sibyllae as well. When Neveril looks into the eyes of an enemy pilot just before he is pulled into the Emerald Ri Majon, Amuria herself says that she will no longer be able to kill them once she has looked into their eyes.
Fan Service: Kiss-powered airships, several kinds of skintight outfits.
- Dominura. In her nightgown. With bed-head. This stuff writes itself.
Fashionable Asymmetry (one bare shoulder, illustrated above)
Fat Bastard: The Defense Minister.
First Episode Spoiler: Amuria dies, Aaeru arrives in Chor Tempest as a replacement, and Neviril suffers a massive Heroic BSOD.
Forgotten Fallen Friend: One pair in particular in episode 1.
Functional Magic
Gainax Ending: Definitely more sweet than bitter, but it's not clear exactly how and to what extent everything's been made right, where the Eternal Maidens are, and where Simulacrum is going as a country.
Gainaxing: In one of the commentaries, the character designer admits to having drawn Paraietta as if she wasn't wearing a bra.
Gender Bender
Genki Girl: Aer.
Growing Up Sucks: The girls lose their ability to fly a Simoun once they have chosen their gender.
Hair Colors: There's only one reused color among the whole cast.
Ham and Cheese: Mamiina is this in-universe, even after her Character Development away from being the Token Evil Teammate.
Heel Face Turn: Mamiina; and, at the end, the entire nation of Plumbum.
Heel Faith Turn: the Plumbish government.
Heroic BSOD: Neviril after the events of the first episode.
Heroic Sacrifice: Mamiina.
Hero of Another Story: Vyura.
He's Back: Neviril.
Huge Schoolgirl: Paraietta, despite being around the same age as the rest of the Sybillae (barring Rimone/Limone) can stand almost eye-to-eye with Dominura.
Hopeless War
Human Aliens
Human Outside, Alien Inside: Their reproductive cycle only results in female children.
Imperial Stormtrooper Marksmanship Academy
Important Haircut: Rodoreamon, Mamiina.
Impossibly Cool Clothes
Industrialized Evil: Subverted.
Innocuously Important Episode
Insistent Terminology: "WE! ARE! NOT! AT! WAR! WE ARE PRAYING TO THE SKY!!!"
Intergenerational Friendship: Possibly the ultimate example (and possibly more than a friendship): Yun is sixteen. Onashia is a Time Abyss.
It Gets Easier: Though the Sibyllae are originally very clear that they are priestesses, not soldiers, and that they are praying, not fighting, (See Insistent Terminology above), as the series progresses they stop "Offering prayers to Tempus Spatium" and begin "patrolling," and they stop "inscribing Ri Maajon" and begin "fighting." No one notices the transition as it happens, until one day it is pointed out that even the Sibyllae have begun to "fight." Needless to say, they do not take this realization well.
Japanese Pronouns: Yun refers to herself as ore, which is ~~extremely wierd~~ a practically non-existant case in a woman.
Jigsaw Puzzle Plot
Ki Attacks: Or Energy Weapons, or a mix of the two.
Killed Off for Real: Mamiina, among others.
Kawaiiko: Limone, who is really just a little kid.
Lens Flare
Losing the Team Spirit: Amuria's death is bad enough, but Neviril's subsequent Heroic BSOD leaves Chor Tempest in tatters.
Lost Technology
Love Dodecahedron
Meaningful Name: Dominura, who isn't that kind of dominatrix, but only just.
Meddling Parents: Halconf.
Meganekko: Kaimu.
Mercy Kill: Yun to Onashia:
The Messiah: Rodoreamon.
Miko: Most of the cast.
Mildly Military
Mind Screw
The Mole: More than one of them.
Morality Kitchen Sink: This is the show that gives us Yun, Mamiina, Paraietta, the nations of Argentum and Plumbum, and the Defence Minister of Simulacrum.
The Mourning After: Neviril with regards to Amuria; Rodoreamon with regards to Mamiina.
Mr. Exposition: Guragief in episode 2, Wapourif in episode 3, Onashia and Kyuushuu-sama in episode 21.
Mr. Fixit: Wapourif.
Mysterious Parent: Actually, a mysterious grandparent: Aaeru's grandfather.
Nakama
Never Found the Body: Amuria.
Near-Rape Experience: Almost done to Neviril by Paraietta.
No One Could Survive That: Angulas.
Nuclear Weapons Taboo
Number Two: Guragief on the Arcus Prima. The Messis doesn't seem to have one.
Odango: Aaeru.
The Ojou: Rodoreamon.
Onee-Sama: Neviril
Only One Name: Namely in the anime. In the manga, Aaeru and Rodoreamon get last names, but even then they're the only ones.
Outrun the Fireball
Overtook the Manga
Pastel-Chalked Freeze-Frame: Several per episode.
Phlebotinum Overload: The Emerald Ri Maajon out of control.
Pillar of Light
Polluted Wasteland: Argentum.
Promotion to Opening Titles: Yun.
Reassigned to Antarctica: Chor Tempest's transfer from Arcus Prima to Messis.
Redemption Equals Death
Rite of Passage: The decision of gender.
Rummage Sale Reject: The flight suits that the sibyllae wear.
Say My Name: AA! E! RU!
Schoolgirl Lesbians: The ships are powered by lesbianism. Yes. Powered.
Shrines and Temples
Shower of Angst
Sister-Sister Incest
The Sky Is an Ocean
Sleazy Politician: The other countries are nominally the antagonists, but the real Big Bad is the Simulacran Defense Minister, an Obstructive Bureaucrat General Ripper Hollywood Atheist Sleazy Politician. He's such a bastard that we cheer when the peace treaty deposes half of the Simulacran government, because at least it's possible for Anubituf to negotiate constructively with Plumbum.
Slow-Motion Pass-By
Snub By Omission: As mentioned under Funny Aneurysm Moment, when Chor Tempest gets asked to show a Plumbum priestess around their ship, they naturally start off with introductions, with the priestess repeating each name as she's told it... except Aer's.
Spell My Name with an "S": In spades. Aaeru/Aeru/Aer/Aelle, Rodoreamon/Lodreamon/Roatreamon, Angulas/Anguras/Angurasu, and more... It doesn't help that the official spellings, which were insisted upon by the Japanese owners, don't seem to fit how the names are actually pronounced.
Spoiler Opening
Steampunk: The Argentum army.
Stable Time Loop: Two of the pilots find themselves transported back in time and wind up founding the tradition of flying Simoun.
Stripperiffic: Stockings and exposed garter belts... worn by fighter pilots. Luckily their cockpits are heated, during the fight in the blizzard at episode 5 Alti says "It must be pretty cold out there", but still...
Sucking-In Lines: the Emerald Ri Maajon.
Supporting Leader: Anubituf.
Tall, Dark and Bishoujo: A shared trait of Paraietta, Dominura, and Onasia.
Team Mom: Yun, by the end.
Team Dad: Technically Neviril, but Dominura fills in for her a lot.
Team Spirit: Kiss-powered airships, and the more powerful Ri Maajon effects require the coordinated action of several Simoun.
Temporal Paradox: One country intentionally tries to change history to avoid losing a war.
Ten-Minute Retirement: Subversion. Three characters actually stay retired, and one is shell shocked into inactivity for several episodes after coming back.
Thanks for the Mammary: Subverted--it's not played for laughs. After Wapourif deconstructs a Simoun and Dominura sees whatever she does within it and goes nuts , Wapourif has a crisis of faith, leading to this little exchange between him and Morinas. After regretting "touching something so holy", Morinas does this to him and storms off in a huff. They make up later.
There Is Only One Bed: Limone and Dominura in the past.
The Squad
This Is Sparta
Those Two Guys: Anubituf and Guragief, with a healthy bit of UST between them. In the Commentary, the director mentioned that, when they where Sybillae, they both decided to end up together, but when they went to The Spring, they both assumed that the other would be the woman.
Time Abyss: Onashia.
Time Travel
Token Evil Teammate: Mamiina pre-Character Development.
Token Loli: Rimone. She is exempt from fanservice shots, although she still has to kiss her co-pilot. She doesn't mind though, which leads to very heartwarming interaction between her and Dominura
Twincest: Guess who?
Twisted Knee Collapse: Mamiina, at the end of episode 7.
Unlucky Childhood Friend: Paraietta.
Unusual Euphemism: "Let's do a Ri Majon." Is That What They're Calling It Now?
Wave Motion Gun
What Measure Is a Mook?: Amuria herself points out that, once you look an enemy in the eye (And thus recognize them as a person, instead of just "the enemy") it is suddenly a lot harder to kill them.
We Have Reserves: The enemies of Simulacrum have thousands, perhaps millions, more planes than there are Simouns, but even in such lopsided battles they will still suffer massive casualties. Their only viable option in the war is to keep replacing their slaughtered soldiers with fresh fodder as they slowly grind down the Simoun, which exist only in very limited numbers.
Wham! Episode: episode 8, 14, 16, 17, 19, 21, 26.
Where Are They Now? Epilogue
Will They or Won't They?: A great part of the series deals with the growing romance between Neviril and Aaeru.
Wrench Wench: Morinas.
Yaoi Guys: Guragief and Anubituf.
Yuri Genre
Zerg Rush: The predominant tactic of all enemies of Simulacrum. There is simply no way they can match the Simoun on a 1-to-1, or even 100-to-1, basis, so they throw thousands of their own fighters at them in the hopes of downing even one or two. Since they have reserves, this becomes surprisingly (and disturbingly) effective.