Snow Means Death: Difference between revisions

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* In ''[[07-Ghost]]'', the first scene involves two hands (we are to assume they're Teito's) holding snow. Just as the line ''The snow was so beautiful...and so merciless'' appears, the snow immediately turns into blood. We later learn that this was foreshadowing to {{spoiler|Teito's [[Big Brother Mentor|foster father's]] death}}.

* In the 2006 version of ''[[Kanon]]'', this trope is so prevalent that it's hard to pick out which examples fit it the best. The lyrics of the [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mym-FZ6DCQI#t=32s opening theme] ("Last Regrets") practically announce it. Yuuichi's repressed memories are first hinted at in how much he hates snow. When {{spoiler|Makoto}} dies, the illusion of a green field fades to show that the surroundings were covered in snow. Snow is practically a central theme for Yuuichi's meetings and conversations with Shiori, {{spoiler|who is terminally ill.}} Snow is arguably the ''cause'' of the [[Your Mileage May Vary|subverted]] [[Look Both Ways]] incident {{spoiler|when Akiko's hit by a car that appears to be skidding out of control}}, and the imagery of the red strawberries thrown into the snow where it happened is painfully evocative. The same symbolism is made brutally real shortly after, when Yuuichi finally remembers {{spoiler|what happened to Ayu years ago: she fell off a tree and was left comatose}}: unable to take any more, Yuuichi runs out into a snowstorm {{spoiler|calling for Ayu; he runs past the place where they used to play without recognizing it because it's covered in snow. With the snow now falling furiously all around him (just as the deaths seem to be), he lays down and waits to die}}. The upbeat [http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x3olm7_kanon-ed-2_shortfilms ending theme] about someone trying to find their way home seems to contradict the trope, showing Ayu happily running through the snow - until {{spoiler|you find out where she's been all along}}.

* ''[[Clannad]]'', another [[Anime]] by [[Key Visual Arts]], makes use of this trope on several occasions. As a young child, {{spoiler|Nagisa}} nearly dies in the snow, thus [[Foreshadowing]] events years later in ''[[After Story]]''. {{spoiler|She dies soon after giving birth to Ushio; not only is it snowing at the time, but the snow-clogged streets bring about her death in that they made it impossible to get her to the hospital or to get a doctor to her in time.}} A few episodes later, when {{spoiler|Ushio}} dies, it is not ''because'' of the snow (most likely) -- she's been ill for a long time—but the scene ''does'' take place in the snow, and immediately afterwards {{spoiler|her stricken father Tomoya}} dies of grief. In addition, in the Illusionary World, {{spoiler|the little girl (who is Ushio after her death, minus all her memories of the real world) essentially freezes herself to death in the snow}}.

* ''[[Clannad (visual novel)|Clannad]]'', another [[Anime]] by [[Key Visual Arts]], makes use of this trope on several occasions. As a young child, {{spoiler|Nagisa}} nearly dies in the snow, thus [[Foreshadowing]] events years later in ''[[After Story]]''. {{spoiler|She dies soon after giving birth to Ushio; not only is it snowing at the time, but the snow-clogged streets bring about her death in that they made it impossible to get her to the hospital or to get a doctor to her in time.}} A few episodes later, when {{spoiler|Ushio}} dies, it is not ''because'' of the snow (most likely) -- she's been ill for a long time—but the scene ''does'' take place in the snow, and immediately afterwards {{spoiler|her stricken father Tomoya}} dies of grief. In addition, in the Illusionary World, {{spoiler|the little girl (who is Ushio after her death, minus all her memories of the real world) essentially freezes herself to death in the snow}}.

* Pulled a [[Rule of Three|third time]] by Key with ''[[Angel Beats!]]'' but on a smaller scale. {{spoiler|Yuzuru Otonashi's sister Hatsune expires after her battle with an unknown illness on Christmas Eve}}.

* In ''[[Ghost in the Shell]]:[[Stand Alone Complex]]'', the flashback origin story of Kuze takes place in the Korean winter. Let's just say it sufficiently explains how he became the [[White-Haired Pretty Boy]] terrorist leader.

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* In ''[[Full Moon o Sagashite]]'', it's snowing once Mitsuki has learned of {{spoiler|Eichi}}'s death.

* Episode 13 of ''[[Cowboy Bebop]]'', as Gren's ship crashes in a snowy field. He doesn't die there, but he starts coughing up blood and is clearly a goner.

* At the end of the Galaxian Wars arc of ''[[Saint Seiya]]'', it starts to snow in the mountains where Phoenix Ikki has just been defeated by the other Bronze Saints. While Seiya and the others hold off Docrates' forces, preventing them from stealing the Sagittarius Gold Cloth, a dying Ikki regards the snow as a symbol of his purification... and then gets up and [[Redemption Equals Death|brings down the mountain on himself and Docrates]] to save the Saints' lives, burying everything and everyone in rock and snow. Then again, he IS the ''[[Back ~~From~~ the Dead|Phoenix]]'' Saint.

* At the end of the Galaxian Wars arc of ''[[Saint Seiya]]'', it starts to snow in the mountains where Phoenix Ikki has just been defeated by the other Bronze Saints. While Seiya and the others hold off Docrates' forces, preventing them from stealing the Sagittarius Gold Cloth, a dying Ikki regards the snow as a symbol of his purification... and then gets up and [[Redemption Equals Death|brings down the mountain on himself and Docrates]] to save the Saints' lives, burying everything and everyone in rock and snow. Then again, he IS the ''[[Back from the Dead|Phoenix]]'' Saint.

* The winter scenes in ''[[Millennium Actress]]'' portend doom: when she first meets and falls in love with the artist he's bleeding; later during WWII she's imprisoned for helping him {{spoiler|and he gets captured and executed}}; during the 50s she tries to find him in the snow fields of Hokkaido and nearly dies. {{spoiler|During her ''actual'' death it's raining - close enough.}}

* In ''[[Mahou Sensei Negima]]'', [[Doomed Hometown|the destruction of Negi's hometown]] occurred over the course of one snowy night.

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* It snows in ''[[Bokurano]]'' during the deaths of {{spoiler|Youko Machi}} and {{spoiler|Kanji Yoshikawa}}

* In ''[[Sailor Moon]]'', the final confrontation with the Dark Kingdom takes place at "D Point" near the North Pole, and the penultimate episode in which {{spoiler|the Senshi all die facing the Doom and Gloom Girls}} is appropriately snow-covered. To fit with the theme, {{spoiler|each one of them also happens to die on a mountain-like structure of spiked ice}}

* ''[[~~Sora~~ no ~~Woto~~]]'''s last three episodes happen in the middle of Winter. A minor secondary character commits suicide by walking out into a snowstorm, and the truce going on since the first episode is suddenly broken and war finally comes to the small town our heroines are deployed.

* ''[[So Ra No Wo To]]'''s last three episodes happen in the middle of Winter. A minor secondary character commits suicide by walking out into a snowstorm, and the truce going on since the first episode is suddenly broken and war finally comes to the small town our heroines are deployed.

* In ''[[Sakura Gari]]'', {{spoiler|Sakurako dies this way, slitting her wrists open with a katana and then drowning self in a pond as the snow falls...}}

* ''[[~~Mai~~-HiME]]'': Immediately following Alyssa Searrs' defeat, the Searrs corporation ordered the "termination" of the project Alyssa had been created for due to her failure. This involves firing missiles at most of the main characters. No one actually dies from this, but it begins snowing immediately after. What happens next, you ask? Miyu, the robot girl, flees with a weakened Alyssa, who gets shot while Miyu is fetching water for her. So Miyu takes Alyssa's body, walks into a nearby pond with it, and freezes the two of them at the bottom.

* ''[[My-HiME]]'': Immediately following Alyssa Searrs' defeat, the Searrs corporation ordered the "termination" of the project Alyssa had been created for due to her failure. This involves firing missiles at most of the main characters. No one actually dies from this, but it begins snowing immediately after. What happens next, you ask? Miyu, the robot girl, flees with a weakened Alyssa, who gets shot while Miyu is fetching water for her. So Miyu takes Alyssa's body, walks into a nearby pond with it, and freezes the two of them at the bottom.

* Shows up in episode 10 of [[Figure 17]] {{spoiler|which deals with Sho's sudden death.}} Shot of falling snowflakes against night sky is used repeatedly.

* {{spoiler|The Going Merry}} in ''[[One Piece]]''.