They Are My Noble Masters

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Being a butler sure is tough!

Ren and his older sister Mihato run away from their abusive father, setting foot in the big city and determined to make it through together. Finding a job isn't easy though, but things look up when Ren helps a girl who faints from the summer heat. She appears to be a member of a very rich family and they just happen to be looking for a new butler and a maid.

So before they fully realize it, Ren and Mihato are hired by the Kuonji family, consisting of the three quirky sisters Shinra (a classical conductor), Miyu (a genius inventor) and Yume (a school girl and the youngest). The staff they employ are perhaps even crazier than the bosses, if that is in any way possible, and Ren finds his days filled with dealing with the hijinks of his demanding masters, his zany colleagues and his jealous sister - not to mention all the people that walk in and out of the mansion to stir things up even more.

They Are My Noble Masters (Kimi ga Aruji de Shitsuji ga Ore de in Japan) is typical ecchi fare, with a hapless teenage boy surrounded by beautiful women who all want a share of his attention. Unlike most other shows in the same vein, Ren is not quite the innocent or stupid protagonist, although he still gets beaten up on a regular basis when unwillingly (or willingly) seeing one of the female characters in various states of undress.

The makers of the show don't leave out the emotional material either, which in this case actually works pretty nicely and gives this show a bit more depth than you'd first expect despite the fact that it is filled to the brim with all kinds of otaku fetishes.

Not to be confused with He Is My Master (although you could be forgiven if you did).

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Tropes:

• Abusive Parents
• Accidental Pervert: Ren, obviously, though it's not that bad nor that often as with most average Ecchi series. Luckily for us, the time he walks in on the colonel about to take a bath, his mind unconsciously censors the image.
  • It also usually gets subverted as the girls don't seem to really mind him seeing them naked (in fact, Shinra and Miyu aren't above forcing an Accidental Pervert situation just to watch his embarrassment), and he learns to accept his masters nakedness when they ask for his help while changing clothes or in the bath (he can still blush and may even try to catch a few glimpses, but he can control himself well). The only times this is played straight is with Benis (who's a Tsundere) and Ageha (for whom everything is Serious Business).
  • And the one time he gets to see Natose naked, she instead apologies to him for showing him something obscene.
• Actor Allusion: Used as a source of many jokes, shout outs, and gags, within the visual novel and anime series, but mostly applies to the show.
  • Notable is the "Shining Finger" meets "Hikari ni nare!" guest starring Master Asia scene.
  • Shinra talking about "that other butler anime" where she's the Student Council President. Also, in episode 6, she does "108 styles: Iron Claw". The former part of the move is not an Actor Allusion, but the second one is, as the Iron Claw is a forehead grip specialized in by Kousaka Tamaki.
  • "Cutter Shower" in Episode 6 for Miyu and the ensuing "Mirakuru Beamu".
  • Episode 9's "On the Next..." has Natose saying "I can ride it! They used to call be stuff like "Rider" back home!"
• Adaptation Distillation: The original Visual Novel is quite serious and dramatic compared to the anime, reserving the comedy for a few key events, while the focus is Ren developing romance with the girls and uncovering their past or traumas to reach the desired Relationship Upgrade and the numerous sex scenes that comes with it. The anime however, couldn't focus on all the girls and animate the heavy smut, so they went for a comedy aproach, filled with references a la Hayate the Combat Butler.
• Battle Aura: Various characters.
• Battle Butler: Taijiri, but Ren gets training for that as well. Natose, who usually wears masculine, butler clothes, probably counts as well.
• Beach Episode
• Better On DVD
• Beware the Nice Ones: don't get on Mihato's bad side. Despite her receiving no Training From Hell, she can be as deadly as Natose or the Colonel, and about twice as scary.
• Big Eater: Natose.
• Bi the Way: Possibly Benis. Shinra, however, is a different story altogether.
• Big Sister Instinct: Mihato. Protective of her little brother Ren to frightening levels.
• Black Comedy Rape:
  • The fact that Shinra is constantly raping and sexually harassing of Miyu is supposedly funny.
  • In Episode 11, the Colonel does... "something" to a pretty boy thief. We're not sure what the Colonel did but all we hear is "grunting" from both of them.
• Bleached Underpants: Do you know that Kimi Aru began as an adult visual novel?
• Bodyguard Crush
• Boy Band: Miyu gets one as a present, to her utmost delight.
• Brother-Sister Incest: Mihato is a bit more than sisterly interested in her brother, unsurprisingly they can "step further" in the original Visual Novel; but of special mention is Shinra's obsession with her sister Miyu, which she openly acts upon on a regular basis.
• Capture the Flag: The entire premise of Episode 3.
• Censor Steam: Or in the case of this show, censor sunbeams.
• Cosplay
• Chick Magnet: Obviously, Ren.
• Cross-Popping Veins
• Cuteness Proximity: Shinra turns from a Kuudere into a total Squeeing ditz at the mere sight of baby pandas.
• Dark and Troubled Past: not played for as much angst as most examples of the troupe and they all turned out into quite decent people despite of it, but still, most of the main cast has one.
  • Ren and Mihato have a Missing Mom (she died when giving him birth) and lived (up to the beginning of the series) with their drunken dad who regularly beat them up.
  • Benis' parents also died when she was little, so she was raised by her uncles, who also treated her like crap and forced her to work on their restaurant since she was small, until they eventually just fired her and kicked her to the streets.
  • Natose's backstory is probably the saddest one, as she used to live on a tropical island, till a Tsunami came and gave her a Doomed Hometown and a Dead Little Sister, and being the only survivor, she's left with Survivors Guilt and her nice Eyepatch of Power. It's no wonder she quickly becomes a Failure Knight for Yume once they met.
  • Shinra was forced at a young age to take over the familial responsibilities on top of her other musical responsibilities, causing her to suppress her normal emotions and causing a rift between her and Yume that is not resolved until late in the series
• Depraved Bisexual: Shinra. In her spare time, if she's not teasing Ren, then she's teasing her maid Benisu, or molesting her younger sister, Miyu.
• Desperately Looking for A Purpose In Life: Yume, related to her I Just Want to Be Special.
• Dude Looks Like a Lady: Chiharu, one of the other butlers in the house, looks extremely feminine to the point that Ren has to have his gender confirmed the first time the meet.
• Dreadful Musician: De Niro. His sound system is actually meant for offensive combat.
• Ecchi
• Embarrassing Name: Benisu. See Punny Name for more details.
• Eyepatch of Power: Natose, who really is immensely powerful to an absurd degree.
• Fan Service
• Fetish Fuel: Boy, is it ever.
• First Kiss: forcefully stolen from Ren by Ageha, after she deemed him being allowed to kiss her hand to be too demure as a way of thanking him. Cue Ren's and his sister, Mihato's (who happens to be watching said scene from a window) complete and utter shock, followed by Ren bawling about his firts kiss on the floor. Ageha then blushes and reveals it was her first too, before running away.
• Furo Scene
• Gag Series
• Gainaxing
• Harem Genre
• Honor Before Reason: To the point where you have to wonder whether the butlers aren't being plain suicidal.
• Indirect Kiss: Shinra offers Ren a canned beverage she'd been drinking, and tells him he can finish it. When he does, she forces him to admit that he enjoyed it because it was an Indirect Kiss.
• Informed Ability: Shinra is supposedly a great conductor, but she is usually just shown waving her baton arhythmically, though this may be due to the the animators not knowing what music was going to be played at the time of animation.
• I Just Want to Be Special: Yume.
• Instant Runes: Natose has them along with her Battle Aura while guarding the house at night, just to show how awesome she is.
• Joshikousei: Yume.
• Kamehame Hadoken
• Ki Attacks: The colonel and later on Ren and Kojuurou, though they're usually used for the Rule of Funny. Natose can use them too.
• Kuudere: Shinra
• Legal Jailbait: Miyu
• Les Yay: All of the maids seem quite happy to "serve" their personal masters and bond with them (Benis to Shinra, Mihato to Miyu and Natose to Yume), declaring their desire to forever be at their sides.
  • Benis seems to have a crush on Shinra, and can actually be quite Tsundere (Usually all deredere over Shinra and completely tsuntsun with Ren and occasionally Mihato).
• Likes Older Women: Ren, in regards to his attraction to Shinra, who's at least in her early adulthood.
• Loveable Sex Maniac: Mistina, one of Yume's classmates and part of her Those Two Girls, is such a masochist that anything even slightly resembling aggression turns her on, including the "harsh sunlight" on her skin -- at which point she will melt onto the floor, clutching herself and squealing for more.
  • The nurses taking care of Kojuurou during his stay at the hospital during episodes 7 and 8 definitely count. Sadly for them, he's Ageha-sexual
  • And finally, Shinra's obsession with her sister Miyu, or her constant use of her servants (mainly Benis and Ren) for her own "personal" satisfaction or amusement (Benis simply enjoys it, Ren has conflicting feelings about it). That, as well as Miyu's obsession with little boys is all played for laughs.
• Missing Mom: Ren and Mihato's mother died when Ren was born.
• Meido: Mihato, Venis
• Non-Human Sidekick: De Niro, Miyu's pet robot.
• Not So Different : Ren's father tries using this on him, telling him all he's good for is breaking things, something Ren had thought many times before.
• Oblivious Guilt Slinging: In episode 8
• Ojou: Shinra.
• Ordinary High School Student: Yume, who really, truly, is a completely ordinary student, which actually causes her quite a bit of angst as she develops an inferiority complex when she compares herself to her two older sisters, so of course, she's Desperately Looking for A Purpose In Life and usually declares I Just Want to Be Special.
• Older Than They Look: Shinra calls Miyu a 'loli' since she is so short and looks much younger than she is.
• Panty Shot
• Parental Abandonment: The sisters' parents are dead. Luckily they left quite a bit of money.
• Punny Name: Benisu the maid has a name that unfortunately rhymes with the signature male reproductive organ in phonetic Japanese. Ren calls her Beniko, another gramatically proper way to pronounce her Kanji name, to avoid future awkwardness and embarrassment.
• Serious Business: Whoever thought that butlers should simply be good personal attendants is wrong.
• Shotacon: Miyu's obsession with young boys.
• Shout-Out: Numerous, usually by the Colonel, although especially noteworthy is Miyu's "I'm in despair" bit.
  • The very first episode's "On the Next..." has Shinra (voiced by Shizuka Ito) giving a nod to "that other butler anime", which was entering into its last cour at the time.
  • Ren and Colonel ooze G Gundam references, due to being voiced by the same voice actors as Domon and Master Asia, as well as being somewhat Expys of them. They enjoy useing their techniques, like Sekiha Tenkouken and Shining Finger.
    • Ren's nightmare at the beginning of the second episode features the Colonel as Devil Gundam and is strikingly similar to the finale of the Nehellenia arc of Sailormoon.
    • There's also a yellow ferret that looks like Pikachu
  • Episode 3 has the Colonel driving with Ren to pick up Shinra, when another car quickly passes by them. Cue the art shift of the cars onto Conspicuous CG and the colonel showing Ren just how a real man drifts. On a fucking Limousine.
  • In Episode 4, Shinra pulls Misato's Best Beer Ever scene
  • Episode 6 is completely dedicated to shout outs, its first moments feature Yume taking a potato chip... AND EATING IT!!!
    • We later on see that she had been writing on the Yume Note, just in case someone missed the reference.
    • Which is followed by a completely over the top bear who wears Kamina's Cool Shades
    • And Shinra attacking said bear with the 108 styles: iron claw, managing to shout out two series at once. (For those not familiar, the 108 Hadokyuu styles come from Gin Ishida and the iron claw is from Tamaki Kousaka). Moments after this, she calls for the power of Ambrosia to active her Valkyrie Boots and attack the bear once again, all of which looks nothing at all like Lenalee Lee's Innocence, the Dark Boots
    • After this scene, Miyu drops a boxcutter onto the bear, Kaede style. The bear's response? He uses a Mikuru beam
    • And then we get Yume doing Kamen Rider Black's henshin pose. If you really need to compare...
      • Ren channeling Tendou Souji
    • The result of said henshin pose? a Transformation Sequence directly from Sailor Moon. Her name? Yume Dream (This may become Fridge Brilliance once you realize that, indeed, all these sequences are occurring on Yume's fantasies.)
    • Yume Dream using her magical wand to produce a giant, pink, magical beam of destruction to finally defeat the bear, while being utterly cheerful about it, seems a little bit too similar to certain other magical girl.
    • Hato Chop brings to mind a certain Death God's comic relief attack.
    • Mihato pulls a Hokuto Hyakuretsu Ken, the Rapid-Fire Fisticuffs from Kenshiro onto Venis, which is so awesome it deletes all her lines from the script, effectively vanishing her from most of the episode after five seconds.
    • And finally, Ren uses Phoenix Wright's trademark gesture.
  • Episode's 7 "On the Next..." has Ren and Kojuurou using moves from the Tales Series.
  • Episode 9 has Miyu chasing after Ren and De Niro with a leek. Miyu also has twintails and sports a Zettai Ryouiki. Miku parody? Hell yeah.
    • And then she delivers a Doronjo shout out, with Ren and Mihato acting like Boyakki and Tonzura (Doronjo's underlings) from the same show. As of this writing, you can see those three at the Terrible Trio page, being the Trope Codifier.
    • Miyu shouting "twin" ten times in a second during her death metal concert.
  • On Episode 11, Yume comments how a protagonist should be able to date as many girls as he wants, without things getting ugly… while a nice boat appears on her imagination.
    • And then, Shinra cosplays as Saber and Miyu as Rin
  • In one of the post episode trailers Ren delivers a few lines in a way disturbingly similar to another competent conductor.
• Single Women Seeking A Good Man: The reason why Ren appeals to both Shinra & Miyu is the fact that he's honest, hardworking and maintains an air of innocence... somewhat.
• Spit Trail Kiss: Ren & Shinra's Big Damn Kiss in the finale, which results in Ren smashing face-first into a flight of stairs.
• Tear Jerker: Episode 10 is largely dedicated to detailing the sisters' and Natose's Dark and Troubled Past it also hints at more issues with Ren and Mihato.
• Tears of Blood : Played for comedy. During De Niro's attempt at singing during the cherry blossom viewing, Kojuuro is seen bleeding from the eyes and ears. And it doesn't appear to bother him in the slightest!
• Teen Genius: Miyu, although she is not quite a teen anymore.
• The Tease: Shinra, full-stop.
• The Thing That Would Not Leave: Ageha.
• Tomboy and Girly Girl: Natose and Yume.
• Training From Hell: Ren gets put trough this constantly, due to the aforementioned Serious Business.
• Tsundere Benis is constantly going tsuntsun on Ren and occasionally on Miharu, but is completely deredere for Shinra.
  • She goes deredere on Ren on occasion, though usually when he's not looking/there. Episode 11 has a perfect example.
• Victoria's Secret Compartment: Mihato carries 49 secret tools around her body, several appear from Hammerspace in her clevage.
• Yandere: Don't mess with Mihato!