History Anime / SoRaNoWoTo

* ScavengerWorld: Some of the ancient technologies can be operated, while others serve unknown functions

* EverybodysDeadDave: In the episode seven flashback, [[spoiler:all of Filica's squadmates are killed after their tank is hit. Being the sole survivor, she considers suicide out of grief]].

* DangerRoomColdOpen: Episode five opens with the 1121st platoon engaging in combat with an unseen enemy. When their rounds hit, Rio leaves the cabin of the Takemikazuchi to signal for an advance, but it turns out that they are inside the hanger and participating in a combat exercise.

* ScrewTheRulesImDoingWhatsRight: Filicia does this when they bring a wounded Aisha, a Roman soldier, to their fortress. Kureha suggests they report having captured a spy, but Filicia won't allow it, at least not right away, since it would mean Aisha taken to the capitol and likely tortured for information. She even goes so far as to hold a superior officer hostage to prevent them from taking Aisha away later.

* CriticalResearchFailure: The author [[ShownTheirWork went to great lengths to correctly represent]] some German WWII equipment such as the Karabiner 98k rifle or the Zündapp [=KS750=] motorcycle and sidecar, only to come a cropper with the VW Kübelwagen Type 82 - the steering wheel is [[CreatorProvincialism on the right (as in, the wrong) side]] and the trunk is on the rear (RL engine) compartment.

* CriticalResearchFailure: The author [[ShownTheirWork went to great lengths to correctly represent]] some German WWII equipment such as the Karbiner 98k rifle or the Zundapp [=KS750=] motorcycle and sidecar, only to come a cropper with the VW Kübelwagen Type 82 - the steering wheel is [[CreatorProvincialism on the right (as in, the wrong) side]] and the trunk is on the rear (RL engine) compartment.

* CriticalResearchFailure: The author [[ShownTheirWork went to great lengths to correctly represent]] some German WWII equipment such as the Karbiner 98k rifle or the Zundapp [=KS750=] motorcycle and sidecar, only to grievously come a cropper with the VW Kübelwagen Type 82 - the steering wheel is [[CreatorProvincialism on the wrong side]] and the trunk is on the ''rear'' compartment. In the two latter examples, the tires are also [[NotDrawnToScale too big]].

* RecklessGunUsage: In the finale, the soldiers toss helmets into the air upon learning that they didn’t have to fight. The celebration seems well, or at least until loaded rifles begin appearing up in the air with those helmets.

* ComingOfAgeStory: Kanata leaving her home to join the military and looking for her own way in life, Rio's coming to terms with her duty and family for the greater good, Kureha's finding out that the right thing might not be the proper thing and finding her own calling are some of the growing up the girls do over the course of the year. Other typical elements of these kind of stories present in this work include a DeathByNewberyMedal [[spoiler:Madam Jacquotte for Kanata, Filicia's old crew for her]], fighting over what you believe is right and Kanata's first hangover.

* EverybodysDeadDave: In the episode seven flashback, [[spoiler: the entirity of Filica's squadmates are killed after their tank is hit. Being the sole survivor, she considers suicide out of grief]].
* {{Expy}}: The crew is often compared to ''{{K-ON}}'''s cast, despite the lack of similarities in some of the characters (such as Ritsu and Noël).

* EverybodysDeadDave: In the episode seven flashback, [[spoiler: the entirity of Filica's squadmates are killed after their tank is hit. Being the sole survivor, she considers suicide out of grief.]]

* AmazingFreakingGrace: The central musical theme, which drives Kanata's desire to play the trumpet and ultimately embodies harmony and forgiveness when [[spoiler: Kanata plays the song during the confrontation between the Helvetian and Roman forces]].

** A’isha, a Roman soldier introduced in the anime.

* ApocalypseHow: Class I: several relics from the past civilization remain, but much of the world is uninhabitable save small regions. However, the consequences of the war might lead to a [[spoiler: Class IV; with the ocean receding and the surface succumbing to desertification, despite the war with "Them" having ended centuries ago]].

* AsideGlance: Kureha does this twice in the first OVA.

* BinocularShot: This is adverted in episode nine, when the point of view is from the scope of Kureha's rifle rather than Kanata's binoculars when the two are out on patrol.

* BringNewsBack: Someone has to tell the Roman and Helvetian forces that the peace treaty has been signed since the EpicHail range is fairly short for people without SuperSenses.

* BulletHolesAndRevelations: Besides the first OVA hammy Rio overacting at the end of the watergun battle, there's the {{cliffhanger}} in Episode eleven.
* BuxomIsBetter: Aisha. And Rio also running around with a shirt giving a view on her "assets". Felicia's are nothing to sneeze at, too.
* CallToAgriculture: Klaus has shown an inclination for moving into an agricultural occupation.

* CrypticBackgroundReference: A large number of references are made to background details about the setting with no attempt to explain them, In the case of facts about the war with Them, no one alive knows what happened anymore.
* CrystalDragonJesus: The Helvetian Orthodox Church is an exercise in syncretism, integrating elements from Liturgical Christianity and Shinto. This is demonstrated when the church hands out Shinto/Buddhist-style charms written in kanji.
* CueTheSun: The sun is seemingly on Kanata's speed dial whenever she needs a striking background for her trumpet performances.

* {{Dissimile}}: This series is just like that other comedy series about a [[{{Keion}} high-school music band]], except it is not a comedy, there is no music band and they are in the military.
** Might be considered also an inversion of the anime ''LightNovel/FullMetalPanic'' and its first two seasons, with typically peppy schoolgirl dramatics occurring during a war, while Fumoffu transplanted the war to the classroom [[RefugeInAudacity with hilarious results]].
* DreamMelody: AmazingFreakingGrace is immediately recognizable by Rio, Kanata, and even A’isha. It is part of the Takemikazuchi's OS and carries symbolic importance for all of them.
* DrivesLikeCrazy: Klaus's reckless sidecar driving leaves Kanata in tears in the first episode.

* DysfunctionJunction: The girls suffer the gamut of hang-ups from minor confidence issues [[spoiler:(Kanata)]] to really ugly stuff [[spoiler:(Filicia's post-traumatic stress disorder, Noël's guilt over her part in the Invisible Reaper plague)]].
* EarthAllAlong: In episode 13, Rio receives a map of the world and points out to Kanata that Helvetia is [[spoiler: not in Europe but in Japan all along.]]

* EverybodysDeadDave: In the episode 7 flashback. [[spoiler:All of Filica's squadmates are killed suddenly and horrifically when their tank is blown up. She nearly kills herself out of grief; it's implied that she was the only survivor of the battle. Even the person who rescues her turns out to have died some time later.]]
* [[spoiler:EverybodyLives: Sort of. The flashback in episode 7 pulls an EverybodysDeadDave on Filica, and Noel indirectly killed a lot of people in the past, but the only person who dies in the present day is the old woman who wanders off into a snowstorm, and they NeverFoundTheBody.]]
* {{Expy}}: The crew is often compared to ''{{K-ON}}'''s cast, even with such puzzling matches as [[ReiAyanamiExpy Noël]] = bleached [[GenkiGirl Ritsu]].
* {{Eyecatch}}: Consisting of [[{{Chibi}} simplified drawings of the main cast]], along with a happy little tune. The music is absent in [[WhamEpisode Episode 7]] though, and the eyecatches are dropped altogether in episode twelve.

* FantasyCounterpartCulture: Seize, an animated copycat of Cuenca, Spain, is in the country of Helvetia, a Switzerland stand-in where Helvetian (French) is the main language. Elements of several other cultures are present, especially those of Japan. Furthermore, in Rome, people are AmbiguouslyBrown and speak German.
* FestivalEpisode: The festival in the first episode has many distinctly Asian traits despite being set in an Ersatz Switzerland. Episode 7 also features Toro Nagashi/[[YouMeanXmas Fiesta des Lumiéres]].

* {{Forgiveness}}: Seen in [[spoiler: Aisha ]] and [[FridgeBrilliance less obviously]] in Filicia.

* GilliganCut: In the second episode Kanata and Noel think that they saw a ghost in the barracks of their base. Kureha disagrees, suggesting that they're seeing things. Rio agrees with Kureha... cut to Kureha and Kanata standing at the entrance to the barracks, with Rio ordering them to investigate before turning around and running herself (and shouting those orders from a safe distance, no less).

* GoryDiscretionShot: In episode seven, that arm wasn't attached to a body anymore.

* GratuitousGerman: Subverted for the Roman soldier A’isha, who speaks more or less decent German with an REALLY thick accent (most likely the Seiyu is just reading off lines a German speaker has prepared for them) and has a Middle Eastern name.

* ImprobablyFemaleCast: Played straight with the 1121 Platoon and [[spoiler:Filicia's old team]], but averted for the rest of the military, who hit the opposite end of the sex balance.

* [[spoiler:LastFertileRegion]]: Helvetia, Rome and the neighbouring countries, apparently.

* TheLostLenore: [[spoiler: Even after death Princess Iliya still motivates Rio until she finds her own goals at the end of the series.]]

* MementoMacguffin: A jingle bell that Rio wears around her neck and belonged to the mysterious trumpeteer seen in the very first sequence of the series.

* MildlyMilitary: The FirstNameBasis is just the beginning of it. [[LampshadeHanging Lampshaded]] by Kureha.
* ModestyTowel: When the group relaxes in the hot springs at the end of the fifth episode, these come into play. They aren't used in the first OVA.

** Episode eleven ends with the cliffhanger with [[spoiler:a gunshot being fired and it's unknown if it's the Roman soldier A’isha or Noël who's been hit]]. The scene fades to black, and the viewer is treated to more '''AIJOU YUUJOU''!!
* MundaneMadeAwesome: The battle with water guns. Granted, it was technically a military exercise, but everyone except Kureha behaved quite over the top, with [[HeroicSacrifice Heroic Sacrifices]] and dramatic last words, a consequence of being drunk at the time.

** Rio used the tank as her personal MP3 player to play [[AmazingFreakingGrace Amazing Grace]] to Kanata, who had heard as a child.

* OffModel: The animation quality of the series fluctuates. It is fairly good across the series, with several {{Animation Bump}}s for key moments (every Takemikazuchi is lovingly animated, for example), but in turn there are a few instances of budget saving tricks and not-so-good art and animation (Kureha's freeze-framed loss of balance in episode 3, to name one).
* OwlBeDamned: Shuko, the crew's mascot.

* PosthumousCharacter: [[spoiler:Princess Iliya is only seen in a few flashbacks, the first one opening the series. She died two years prior to the time the series takes place, having drowned trying to save a child in a river.]]

* ThePowerOfRock: Subverted in that while AmazingFreakingGrace did stall the two armies from fighting for a short time, it takes [[spoiler: Rio and her peace treaty]] to actually stop them.

* ThanksForTheMammaries: Noel does this to the female Roman soldier Aisha in episode 11 after the latter wakes up and attempts to overpower her. Aisha's scream is enough to cause Kanata and Kureha to come to the medical room.

* UsedFuture

** For a less literal example, Rio laments in episode 13 that [[spoiler: the nations of the world are wasting their time with wars while the Earth slowly dies, and mentions Holy Rome turning into a desert as an example]].

* TheKenBurnsEffect: The OP is mostly stills with the camera panning up, down or sideways.

* FakeUltimateHero: [[spoiler: Klaus]] is not really the Desert Wolf, just a really good lookalike. However, this doesn't stop him from becoming a real hero and saving Kureha in the middle of a typhoon.

* WhamEpisode: Episode seven reflects on [[spoiler: Filicia's post-traumatic stress disorder from wartime]].

** Might be considered also an inversion of the anime ''FullMetalPanic'' and its first two seasons, with typically peppy schoolgirl dramatics occurring during a war, while Fumoffu transplanted the war to the classroom [[RefugeInAudacity with hilarious results]].

* [[DeadLittleSister Dead Older Sister]]: [[spoiler: Even after death Princess Iliya still motivates Rio until she finds her own goals at the end of the series.]]

* GratuitousGerman: Subverted for the Roman soldier A’isha, who speaks fluent and has a Middle Eastern name.

* PosthumousCharacter: [[spoiler:Princess Iliya is only seen in a few flashbacks, the first one opening the series]]

* GoodLookingPrivates: Kanata even has her in-series admirer.

!This work provides examples of:

!Tropes in ''So Ra No Wo To'' include:

* NoDubForYou

** The origins of the winged skeleton
* MeaningfulBackgroundEvent: That ghost was in there with Kanata and Kureha [[http://soranowoto.wikia.com/wiki/Ghost_Sightings the whole time]]!

* SyntheticPlague: The Invisible Reaper (In "Roman", it's called "Unsichtbarer Teufel", which means "Insvisible Devil").