Sola
Yorito is down right obsessed with the sky. So much that his room's ceiling is a big collage of the sky, made with photos he has taken; he is willing to ditch classes just to lay on the school's roof, watching the sky (much to the chagrin of his friend Mana); he even forgets his sister Aono's birthday because in his mind there's nothing but sky, sky, sky.
He's even willing to wake up at 4 AM just to take shots of the dawn sky. And that's how he meets Matsuri, a rather intriguing girl. From then on, Yorito is half-dragged to a story that spans centuries. A story filled with sadness, unforgettable sins, and dark secrets that are related to him more than he would like.
Sola is a 13-episode series (+ 2 bonus DVD episodes) aired in 2007. The original work was the collaboration of Naoki Hisaya (main writer of Kanon) and Naru Nanao (designer of Da Capo). Japanese fans chose it as the best anime of 2007, according to Spider Networks.
The sky is a prominent theme, so expect plenty of Scenery Porn. Also, Moe, Immortality and others play a very important part in the story.
Tropes used in Sola include:
- Badass Normal Longcoat: Takeshi
- Barehanded Blade Block: Matsuri manages it, but it draws blood.
- Battle in the Rain[context?]
- Beach Episode[context?]
- Bittersweet Ending: In the anime, After the two make a pact to save Aono, Yorito 'dies' protecting Matsuri from Aono, Matsuri sacrifices her life so that Aono may return to human again. The rest of the normal cast forget Yorito - but Aono and Mana meet and become friends. Two tomato bean soup cans are on the table of the familiar park.... Depressing but not quite a Downer Ending. The manga is even worse, though.
- The manga's ending is much more bittersweet as it shows the how Yorito and Aono lived after Matsuri dies to turn Aono back to human. Yorito keeps up with his photography... and then disppears one day to join Matsuri, complete with ghost Matsuri making an appearance. Aono, in the aftermath of her brother's disappearance, has to cope and copes only after Mayuko tells her Matsuri's last message. It ends with Aono agreeing to attend Koyori's party... And we see the two tomato cans again. Your Mileage May Vary.
- Book Ends: The series begins with Yorito setting up his camerea to take a picture of the sunrise and ends with Aono, Mana and Koyori doing the same thing.
- Brother-Sister Incest: Aono is obsessed with Yorito to the point of creating a copy of him that took enough power to leave her bed-ridden for years.
- Cannot Spit It Out[context?]
- Catch Phrase: Mayuko's "saitei" (rendered in fan translations as "you suck!" since it's often directed at Takeshi).
- Cue the Sun: This is usually a bad thing for the Yaka.
- Cursed with Awesome - The Yaka. In exchange for a weakness to sunlight, they get immortality, heightened strength and speed, and their own Inherent Gift. Matsuri explains that due to the fact that Yaka are the embodiment of human agony, sin and pain, such creatures are meant to always be alone.
- Dead Little Sister[context?]
- Little Miss Snarker: Mayuko.
- Deadpan Snarker: Mayuko, occasionally
- Elegant Gothic Lolita: Mayuko
- Extraordinarily Empowered Girl: Matsuri can cause any object to instantly decay. Aono controls paper.
- Go-Karting with Bowser: Yorito running into Takeshi and Mayuko at the water park.
- Go Out with a Smile: Matsuri.
- Go Through Me[context?]
- Ignore the Fanservice - Though only during the first half of the first DVD special, where Yorito is hilariously impervious to the girls' increasingly unsubtle teasing.
- I Just Want to Be Normal[context?]
- Ill Girl: Aono
- Imagine Spot[context?]
- Improbable Weapon User: Takeshi has a normal (relatively speaking) sword, but also tosses darts that explode into light. Quite handy against yaka.
- Insistent Terminology: Mana lightly karate-chops Koyori on the head whenever she calls her Mana-san instead of Oneechan. There are also a few scenes in which Aono chops Koyori when she refers to Mana in the third person as Mana-san.
- Keigo - Koyori always speaks in keigo, despite being only in elementary school
- Les Yay: Between Matsuri and Aono. It turns into Foe Yay towards the end.
- Mind Control Eyes[context?]
- Ordinary High School Student[context?]
- Our Vampires Are Different - Although never called that, the yaka are basically vampires that don't need to drink blood.
- OVA[context?]
- Paper Master[context?]
- Parental Abandonment[context?]
- Percussive Maintenance: Matsuri's first appearance has her attempting this on a vending machine, and it works (though she hurts herself in the process). Her later attempts on Yorito's household appliances just tend to break them.
- Pool Episode: The first DVD special.
- Really Seven Hundred Years Old[context?]
- Replacement Goldfish: Yorito died over a century ago, the current Yorito is a paper golem with false memories created by Aono
- Scenery Porn: Matsuri wants to see the sky. ;_; Yorito promises to show her it one day.
- Shonen[context?]
- Spell My Name with an "S": Applies to the title, funnily enough. While all Japanese sources insist on spelling it "Sola", given what the greatest symbolic focus of the show is, the title should probably be romanized as "Sora", which is the standard, accepted spelling of the word for "sky" in Japanese. (This all boils down to the R/L thing, naturally.)
- Probably true, but the 'sola' spelling also works thematically as the feminine form of 'alone' in various Romance languages.
- Super Window Jump: Matsuri busts through a stained-glass window early on, but she's immortal, so whatever.
- Throwing Your Sword Always Works: Takeshi tries this on Matsuri. He misses. Later, he tosses his scabbard at her as a decoy.
- Tomato in the Mirror: "Yorigami" Yorito; see Replacement Goldfish, above.
- Trademark Favorite Food: Tomato Shiruko for Matsuri.
- Twelve-Episode Anime[context?]
- Wham! Episode[context?]
- White-Haired Pretty Girl: Aono
- Wistful Amnesia[context?]
- Zettai Ryouiki: Matsuri