History Anime / PumpkinScissors

* TheMostDangerousGame: A noble in the second episode does this. ''With a [[TankGoodness tank]].'' Against unarmed peasants who are chained together at the wrists.

* SmugSnake: The viscount who amuses himself by hunting TheMostDangerousGame is most certainly one. Along with his little hobby, he also treats his household staff like crap and is supremely confident in his own [[ScrewTheRulesIHaveConnections untouchable status]] (and possession of a tank) when the Pumpkin Scissors confront him. He tries his little hunting schtick on [[MuggingTheMonster Randel]]. [[spoiler:It's rather satisfying to see how badly this goes for him; his overconfidence rapidly disintegrates into weeping, begging for his life, and wetting himself.]]

* SmugSnake: The viscount who amuses himself by hunting TheMostDangerousGame is most certainly one. Along with his little hobby, he also treats his household staff like crap and is supremely confident in his own [[ScrewTheRulesIHaveConnections untouchable status]] (and possession of a tank) when the Pumpkin Scissors confront him. He tries his little hunting schtick on [[MuggingTheMonster Randel]]. It's rather satisfying to see how badly this goes for him.

* SmugSnake: The viscount who amuses himself by hunting TheMostDangerousGame is most certainly one. Along with his little hobby, he also {{Jerkass treats his household staff like crap}} and is supremely confident in his own [[ScrewTheRulesIHaveConnections untouchable status]] (and possession of a tank) when the Pumpkin Scissors confront him. He tries his little hunting schtick on [[MuggingTheMonster Randel]]. It's rather satisfying to see how badly this goes for him.

* SmugSnake: The viscount who amuses himself by hunting TheMostDangerousGame is most certainly one. Along with his little hobby, he also [[Jerkass treats his household staff like crap]] and is supremely confident in his own [[ScrewTheRulesIHaveConnections untouchable status]] (and possession of a tank) when the Pumpkin Scissors confront him. He tries his little hunting schtick on [[MuggingTheMonster Randel]]. It's rather satisfying to see how badly this goes for him.

* TheMostDangerousGame: is hunted by a noble in the second episode.

* DoorstopBaby: Shows up in one of the earlier episodes, which leads to the {{AccidentalPervert}} moment above.

-->'''2nd episode mook:''' "They will be heralded by the blue light of the Will of the Wisp! Reload, you can't afford to play around this time! Reload! For the love of God, reload! You can burn out their eyes, even tear out their arms, but they'll never stop advancing! They will disregard their own lives, and attack at point blank range! They have marched away from life itself to pull the trigger that brings death! They are the legend of the battlefield, they are the phantom warriors of the 901st anti-tank troop! Guided by the Will of the Wisp! Bringers of Death! TÖTEN SIE!"

When War Relief Section III, "Pumpkin Scissors", crosses his path, Randel finds himself drawn back into the army in the wake of the energetic Lieutenant Alice Malvin. Besides the usual trouble of hunting down war aggravators, the Pumpkin Scissors crew is soon swept up in events from Randel's [[DarkAndTroubledPast dark past.]]

With initial character and storyline debts to both ''FullmetalAlchemist'' and ''{{Trigun}}'', ''PumpkinScissors'' nevertheless persists in pursuing a different take on themes of war and humanity. [[NeedsMoreLove Needs more love]] seriously.

!!''PumpkinScissors'' provides examples of:

* AbsurdlySpaciousSewer: One in which a number of families live in, being too poor and demoralized to live above ground. It's a European FantasyCounterpartCulture, so it makes some sense.
** And they share it with what can only be described a [[PunkPunk protopunk]] [[KillItWithFire flamethrower]] [[{{Bioshock}} Big Daddy]].

* AwesomeButImpractical: Anything and everything having to do with the Invisible Nine.
** It seems the Empire's entire SuperSoldier program was a response to horrifically bad engineering. The show makes a point to point out just how impractical their equipment is.
*** [[spoiler:901ATT, the Anti Tank Troopers unit. Instead of developing an antitank fieldpiece, or a antitank rocket, they make... a SuperSoldier with a 13mm pistol to take the tank close-quarter.]]
** Well, they were ''meant'' to be as terrifying as possible.
*** Martis actually lampshades this at one point, raising the possibility that the Invisible Nine may have been created for purposes other than winning the war.

* BerserkButton: Randel has a physical one, in form of the lamp-thingy on his hip. If you tick him off enough for him to turn it on, you're done for.
** And it's implied that if his physical and mental states get worse, he will not even need the lamp to go on a rampage.

* BiggusDickus: Clearly, Randel Oland suffers from this.
** He shatters an extra-large urine collector. The fandom has expressed some concern over what would happen if/when Alice and Oland [[DragonAge tap the midnight still.]]
* BigNo: Randel's reaction to the nurses attempts at getting a urine sample.

* BodyHorror: The flamethrower suits feature faulty cooling systems. Instead of fixing them, the suits were filled with painkillers. As a result, the soldiers inside keep going ''until their muscles burn off''.
** The more horrifying part is that the substance in the fluid is not just an anesthetic, but a preservative: the wearer's body doesn't start coming apart until a few minutes after the suit is removed. By which point, it's already to late to get the suit back on, since it's a horribly complex affair that takes a long time to put on or take off. [[spoiler: Which is what saves Hans, since he was still having trouble getting his suit off when his friends started falling apart.]]
* BrokenFaceplate: Alice is buying time for Randel by taking on an entire division of Claymores. The captain mocks her because she's getting tired; her response is to hack right through the metal faceplate of the captain with her [[{{BFS}} double-bladed cavalry sword]], then slash through his body armour.

* CutLexLuthorACheck: Lampshaded in one of the interludes, where the MadScientist's assistant talks about reading a six-year-old report about the "protective fluid" used in the flamethrower troopers' suits, and mentions the wonderful possibilities for treating burn victims. Said scientist replies, "Throw it away, I don't need it any more."

* DeepCoverAgent : one of the tasks of the 2nd section.

* {{Epic Flail}}: One of the Loterian Royal Guard's weapon of choice.

* FreezeFrameBonus When Oland reloads in Season 1 Episode 7, the DoorKnocker's bullets seem to have garbled letters that read like "DoorKnocker" imprinted on them. "B M (blocked by thumb) OP KNOCKTR" Which makes sense because there is little chance that any other handgun would take that caliber.

* GenkiGirl: Alice Malvin could be considered a Genki Girl in the tradition of ''SuzumiyaHaruhi'', dragging her hapless subordinates along in her energetic wake. (She's also something of an IdiotHero.)

* GentleGiant: Randel

* GratuitousEnglish: "Anti-Tank Trooper", "Door Knocker", and "Invisible Nine".
* GratuitousGerman: "Töten Sie."
** We also have the sobriquets of the Invisible Nine; 901-ATT, "Gespenst Jäger," 903-CTT, "Krankheit Jäger," and 908-HTT "Aldschmied Jäger."
* HandCannon: Randel's anti-tank handgun, the "Door Knocker."
** It's also 13 mm. (.51 Cal) Randel wields it with one hand.

* HappilyMarried: Both of Alice's older sister.

* HeroicRROD: Randel, again. As he uses his lantern more often, he starts bleeding due to too much stress.
* HollywoodHealing: Fans suspect Oland's use of this is a result of being [[SuperSoldier Invisible 9]].
* HollywoodTactics: Actively encouraged by Alice, unless she's convinced to go about attacking smartly. Oland does this whenever the blue lantern is on, as he's in no state to reason with while in that hypnotic trance that really was meant to make the Imperial Anti-Tank Troopers ZergRush tanks.
** Randel is a rather unnerving take on this trope. Several times, when he is in said state, he HAS used tactics and quick thinking to win a fight (examples: using his gun to take out roof supports above a nest of snipers, whipping his coat in front of him to absorb an acid splash, holding a man down in front of a runaway carriage) instead of just blindly advancing. Not only does this show that he is NOT mindless in that state, it also shows that he KNOWS the full extent of what he and his equipment can do. The implications of that are scary as hell.
* HonorBeforeReason: Alice will take on ''anyone'' she sees perpetrating or enabling injustice, from common criminals all the way up to the Emperor himself.
** Highlighted within the first five minutes of the first episode, when she, two soldiers, and a dog are scouting a dam-turned-merc fortress.

* HugeGuyTinyGirl: Alice is of average height, and shorter than most of her subordinates. Randel, who already towers over the entire cast, makes her look like a child.
** Frankly, he fulfills the 'Huge Guy' role for ''anyone''. He's tall enough that he has to ''Duck'' in order to get through most door frames.
*** He also is huge [[BiggusDickus down there]].
* IdiotHero: Alice. {{CharacterDevelopment}} helps her avoid this as time goes on but she never loses her idealism.

** Actually, they may have been a fallback weapon, sort of like a bayonet or combat knife for normal soldiers.

* MadeOfIron: Randel, when his lantern is on.
** Even without. Most people can't hurt him without some kind of weapon (A big one; for example a ''sledgehammer''). Understandable, as he's apparently ''95% scar tissue''. Highlighted in episode 4; he wakes up with a cat on his face and sits up. The cat hangs from his cheeks, then ''drags its claws down the side of his face'' when it slides off. He doesn't even flinch.

** PumpkinScissors: As Alice so eloquently puts it, scissors used to cut through the thick pumpkin-like skin of corruption.

** Also, the cheery ending music after many of the more serious episodes.
*** This can also create a rather inappropriate CrossesTheLineTwice effect...

* MoralityPet: Stecchin, many times, can come off as this with her GenkiGirl attitude.

** Alice has some of this to her ("Do commoners drink water?")

* StevenUlyssesPerhero: R. Oland = "Roland", a heroic knight from the Charlemagne saga.

* TanksForNothing: The series has quite a few tanks, [[spoiler:none of which can stand up to Oland and his "Doorknocker".]]

* TeamPet: Mercury, Private First Class, Section III's messenger dog.
** Also an example of a MeaningfulName, since said dog is both a messenger and a trouble-maker.

** Which is [[WhatAnIdiot a bonehead move]] since if any nobles get hurt, the peasants AND their families will be exterminated by the Section I.

* WordSaladTitle: Subverted, surprisingly. "Pumpkin Scissors" isn't a nonsense phrase - it's the nickname of the squad, and thus very significant to the story. It even has a meaning behind it!

* [[TheWhitePrince The White Princess]]: Septieme of [[{{Ruritania}} Loteria]]. She is even a WhiteHairedPrettyGirl.
** Alice has some of this to her ("Do commoners drink water?")

* SonOfAWhore: Randel.
** Huh? Really? What issue of the manga reveals that? (at first, I was certain it was Oreldo)

* SuperpoweredEvilSide: Some consider the blue lantern's effects to be exactly this.
** BrainwashedAndCrazy fits better since Randel under the blue lantern's effects becomes an unemotional killing machine who charges at the enemy tank with no sense of self-preservation.
*** It may be more terrifying than that: Oland demonstrates intelligence, clever tactics, and accurate attacks. [[spoiler: The Blue Lantern]] doesn't remove his sense of self-preservation, it makes him solely focused on destroying his target, regardless of how dangerous the foe, or the cost it takes to defeat him.

** Which is [[WhatAnIdiot a bonehead move]] since if any nobles get hurt, all peasants AND their families will be exterminated by the Section I.

* WordSaladTitle: Subverted, surprisingly. "Pumpkin Scissors" isn't a nonsense phrase - it's the nickname of the squad, and thus very significant to the story. It even has a meaning behind it!.

* GoodScarsEvilScars: Somewhat subverted: Randel has scars all over his body, of which there are just about any type you could think of. The most notable one is the one across his cheeks and the bridge of his nose. [[JustifiedTrope Makes sense that he would have so many, taking into account what his job was back when he was in 901-ATT.]]
* GratuitousEnglish: "Anti-Tank Trooper", "Door Knocker", and "Invisible Nine" (well, at least in the Japanese version of the show).
** This troper does not think "Door Knocker" falls into this trope since 37mm anti-tank guns like M3 and Pak36 were actually nicknamed "Door Knocker" in WWII.

* BigScrewedUpFamily: The Loterian royal family. They seem to invoke [[{{Stardust}} the Stormholt Royal Family]], except it's not funny.

* DetectEvil: Alice gets a chill at the back of her neck when something important is about to happen.

* HappilyMarried: Both of Alice's older sisters.

*** [[spoiler:901, the Anti Tank unit. Instead of developing an antitank fieldpiece, or a antitank rocket, they make... a SuperSoldier.]]

* DeathGlare: Randel has an... interesting version of this whenever he's berserker mode.

** Frankly, he fulfills the 'Huge Guy' role for ''anyone''.

* ArcWords: TÖTEN SIE.

** It's also 13 mm. (.51 Cal)