History Anime / StarDriver

* OnceAnEpisode: One of the Maidens will sing her song, which means it's fightin' time. Everyone will enter Zero Time, where Takuto meets his opponent and will apprivoise, causing Tauburn to [[StockFootage break through the fabric of Zero Time to answer the summons; once inside Tauburn, Takuto will transform into his Galactic Pretty Boy outfit]]. After this, we're shown a HumongousMecha duel; upon Takuto's victory, the opponent's Cybody will explode at least once on the ground and then, for some reason, in the air. YourMileageMayVary on whether all of this is awesome or repetitive.

* ActorAllusion: Katashiro smokes, has an eyepatch and brown hair... sounds like a fusion of [[MobileSuitGundam00 two roles]] ShinichiroMiki played a while ago. In fact, when we see his younger self in episode 20, even accounting for art style differences, he looked ''exactly'' like Lockon.

* ArtShift: A bit during the battle in episode 13. The mechs look a lot more sketchy while fighting, almost like a storyboard. [[spoiler: Done again in the final episode, when Tauburn has to face all the previous mechs he fought.]]
** Also, in episode 25, the art becomes black and white when Takuto [[spoiler:Falcon Punches Head for the second time, OnePiece style]].

* [[BigBadDuumvirate Big Bad Quintumvirate]]: The leaders of Glittering Crux Brigade all form one, though they've made a deal that whoever defeats Takuto will become the leader.

* ByThePowerOfGreyskull: "Apprivoise" seems to be the general phrase used to active the Cybody [[TransformationSequence transformation sequence]].

* [[ChekhovsGun Chekhov's Gun]]: [[spoiler:Takuto bringing out Sugata's knife in episode 19 as Sugata's birthday present to Wako began as a symbolic gift representing Sugata's care for Wako, but then shows up again later in the episode helping Wako.]]
** Also, Kanako's CoolShip.

** Kind of subverted, as some members have at least an idea of who is who.

* DeusSexMachina: Episode 12/13 reveals that the formula for repairing Cybodies involves harnessing the Star Driver's ''libido.''
** Justified, in a way. Libido is also Freudian term, and refers to a number of things--not just the desire to have sex. {{All psychology is Freudian}}?

* DoesThisRemindYouOfAnything: Boy, there sure are a lot of guys queuing up to break Wako's 'seal', aren't there?
** As well as the maidens having to be nude to be the power source of the [[AsuraCryin mech...]]

*** ''Especially'' if you consider that it's after they finished [[spoiler: (bro)[[IncrediblyLamePun fisting]].]]

*** It gets worse if you think that in that moment Head [[spoiler: is standing over Takuto, who is naked, lying on the ground.]] And don't forget that people suspect him of [[spoiler: being his father!]]
*** [[spoiler: Episode 20 says yes, Head is Takuto's father. BrainBleach, anyone?]]
* DontTryThisAtHome: "Please do not attempt this if you are not a Southern Cross Isle resident". Episode 18 gives us "Don't play with fireworks like these people.", "Please do not imitate people using First Phase", and courtesy of [[GagSub a popular fansub]], [[spoiler: [[BreadEggsMilkSquick "Please do not imitate rapists."]]]]

* DownerEnding: Not to the show itself (at least, not yet), but [[spoiler:the fish girl's story ends with Sam killing his girlfriend in order to achieve his dream of flying out into the galaxy, and once he gets there he finds it not as amazing as he'd hoped]].
** Or rather, that his planet was already part of the brilliance he was searching for, making his [[spoiler: killing his girlfriend]] more of a ShootTheShaggyDogStory
** Made all the more tragic if you believe that [[spoiler: Sam from the story is the boy in the play, given that Columner is confirmed as the King. so betrayed by two lovers, the second of which killed her... rough time.]]
** Mizuno's arc ends with [[spoiler:Mizuno's seal broken, the Crux in the third phase, Mizuno's realization that Marino is a TomatoInTheMirror (created by her, no less), and Mizuno leaving the island. All of these events are very depressing to fans of the two characters]]. However, {{YMMV}}: some choose to see it more as a BittersweetEnding.

* DudeShesLikeInAComa:
** This didn't stop [[spoiler:Keito]] from getting a little of the King's Pillar.
** Sugata ''appears'' to [[spoiler:kiss Wako in her sleep in Episode 20]], but it's still very much ambiguous.

* EatingTheEyeCandy: Tiger and Jaguar take entirely to much enjoyment out of Takuto showing the DramaClub his "mark" (which, of course, is [[ShirtlessScene on his chest...]]).

* {{Fanservice}}: Moderate to begin with, although the potential for a lot more is there. And it's coming true! This is literally the reason why the Drama Club practices outside: so they can be checked out by the adoring school. See also: the special vision mode of [[spoiler:Okamoto-sensei's]] Cybody.
** Takuto lying naked on the floor on the cockpit of his HumongousMecha after his power withers due to Head's immense libido is the standout example in the show so far.
*** Though once you watch episode 20, the above mentioned scene becomes less fanservicey and more [[spoiler: squicky]].
* FaceHeelTurn: [[spoiler:Sugata. Oh, god. He did have good reason though.]]
* FanNickname: Lady Sugaga for Sugata, [[spoiler:due to how ridiculously FAAABULOUS his Crux outfit is.]]

* HartmanHips: The Taurburn. [[http://img814.imageshack.us/img814/3515/tauburn.jpg Just look at it.]]
** When Peshent channels Samekh's power, the hips get larger to fit this trope more.

* {{Homage}}: The [[GunBuster eyecatch]]. (Star Drivaaaaaaaa!)
** Episode 4 has one, too, [[OuranHighSchoolHostClub Ouran Host Club]] during [[spoiler: Wako's ImagineSpot of Takuto and Sugata]].

** It is the only reason that the Glitterring Crux have yet to beat him. From the beginning, he intentionally held himself back and then started revealing more of his true potential everytime they came close to beating him or had an edge on him.

** ImagineSpotting: They can be seen by everyone else, or at least the girls.

* ImpossiblyGracefulGiant: Taubarn's corkscrew flips would earn him a gold medal in any Olympics.

* KillSat: King's Pillar ([[spoiler: Sugata's First Phase]]) has effect similar to this. [[spoiler: However, it appears to only function on Cybodies below Third Phase.]] [[spoiler: Then, when apprivoised into Samekh, He pulls off the king of [[KillSat Kill Sats.]] ]]

* LoveTriangle: Takuto, Wako, and Sugata... although the latter of the triangle [[IWantMyBelovedToBeHappy doesn't seem to be fighting his corner too strenuously]].
** And Wako [[YaoiFangirl doesn't seem to mind]] if Takuto and Sugata end up together.
*** [[spoiler: As of Episode 19, this seems to be going into OT3 territory.]]

* MayDecemberRomance: Mr. Watanabe is 65. Mrs. Watanabe is 15. It is also shown that Okamoto and [[spoiler:Tsubasa]] are in a relationship.
* MeaningfulName: [[NeonGenesisEvangelion Eva]] uses Christianity, RahXephon uses Mayan...Star Driver uses Phoenician. Pretty much every Star Driver's name has a connection to the Phoenician letter their Cybody is named after. ''Tsunashi'' can be written as 十 (he wears a Tau, hence Tauburn, which means "mark"), ''Sugata'' can be written as 丰, and ''Agemaki'' can be written as 丫. Sakana-chan is so named because her mark, "Nun", means "fish." [[spoiler: Yet another clue before the reveal of Keito as the East Maiden was that ''Nichi'' is written as 日, which looks just like the Phoenician letter ''heth'' (meaning "wall" in Phoenician).]]

* LivingWithTheVillain: The dorm RA is one of the leaders of Glittering Cross. Two of the other leaders are Takuto's classmates and ''actually sit next to him in class''. Actually, with the exception of the drama club members, every fellow student that Takuto seen talking to was a member of Glittering Cross.
** [[spoiler:Another is the school's nurse.]]

* LivingWithTheVillain: The dorm RA is one of the leaders of Glittering Cross. Two of the other leaders are Takuto's classmates and ''actually sit next to him in class''.

* ForbiddenFruit: Lampshaded by Takuto in regards to the "abandoned" gold mine.
** Not to mention the "forbidden fruit" of eating squid in Sakana's story.
* FridgeBrilliance: Takuto's constant winning and powering up seems to make him a BoringInvincibleHero but then you realize that Takuto's been getting more and more Cybody battle experience with each battle while most of the Glittering Crux are just starting out with theirs.
** So, Kanako is living on a humongous ship all by herself (not counting her two servants). You think this is only because she's rich? [[spoiler:In Episode 24 it turns out that the cruiser is big enough to fit in all the islanders, in case the volcanoes that are connected with Zero Time would erupt.]]

* GiantRobotHandsSaveLives: [[spoiler:Takuto uses Tauburn to catch a falling Sugata in episode 7. And Sugata wakes up possibly because of that, adding fuel to the HoYay]].

* [[spoiler: HotDad:]] [[spoiler: Head for Takuto.]]
* HoYay: See [[HoYay/StarDriver here]]. There are a good number of moments, a (perhaps) surprising number out of those NOT merely found with ShippingGoggles. Particularly saturated around [[EvenTheGuysWantHim a]] [[TheCasanova certain]] [[DepravedBisexual Head]], as well as a [[spoiler:chaotic]] TomboyAndGirlyGirl [[ButchLesbian pa]][[LipstickLesbian ir]]--not to mention the moments between [[BettyAndVeronica the]] [[RedOniBlueOni guys]] in the PowerTrio containing ''a YaoiFangirl''. Though, considering the [[OuranHighSchoolHostClub director/writer combo]]...

* LaserBlade: The Star Swords. Since they're wielded by HumongousMecha, they also count as [[{{BFS}} BFSes]].
** AllThereInTheManual reveals that they were [[PowerGivesYouWings Samekh's wings]].
* LesYay: Where to begin... Kanako and Simone have so many bittersweet vibes going on between them (though one could consider them squicky, due to Simone being [[spoiler: Watanabe's step daughter, servant and classmate. All at once.]]. Then it gets rather blantant with Kou and Madoka - and Kanako talking about something happened between her and Madoka? And Madoka havong played with her and always considered her as a toy? Yeah... let's say, not only the [[HoYay Yaoi Fangirl Contingent]] get's what it wants.

* RescueRomance: Between Takuto and Wako. Wako saves Takuto's life when she finds him washed ashore and performs [=CPR=] on him. Takuto returns the favor by saving Wako when she is captured by the Glittering Crux Brigade. [[spoiler: Then, for the HoYay, Takuto rescues Sugata twice in the last episode.]]

** Madoka and Kou. Let's see, one is blonde, the other turquoise-haired, LesYay... [[SailorMoon Hmmm...]]

* BarbieDollAnatomy: Both played straight and subverted. During Takuto's TransformationSequence, if you pause the video you can actually see... [[http://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b299/_Shun_/ginga.png something]]. But with the maidens it is always in full effect.

* BeamSpam: Used by a few Cybodies. [[spoiler: Samekh combines this with WaveMotionGun, due to its sheer size - what would be a WaveMotionGun for any other Cybody is used as part of BeamSpam for Samekh. Then plays it straight in the final episode to bring out a real barrage of beams.]]

** No one said they were stuck, knowing Takuto, there are plenty of ways to go down. Also Tauburn/Takuto have demonstrated extremely quick and non-risking regeneration proccesses both in the battle against Reshbal and against Samekh.

** It's also been described as [(''CodeGeass'' + ''RevolutionaryGirlUtena'') - ''DeathNote'') x ''LuckyStar'')]. Make of that what you will.

* ThreeYay: Sugata and Wako are engaged, but he [[IJustWantMyBelovedToBeHappy just wants her to be happy]]. Takuto is clearly in love with Wako. Wako flat-out says she's in love with both of them, and for bonus points is a YaoiFangirl. Oh, and Sugata is AmbiguouslyGay. Although WordOfGod implied they hooked up after the series ended, [[TeasingCreator keep in mind who we're dealing with]].

* BettyAndVeronica: Sugata and Takuto for Wako. [[spoiler:She ends up choosing no one, having realized she's painfully in love with both of them.]]
** More like [[spoiler: choosing both of them, according to Word of God.]]
* BewareTheNiceOnes: Sugata's maids, [[ThemeNaming Tiger and Jaguar]], are well-versed in taijutsu, according to their bios and the fight in episode 6, not to mention their ''real'' jobs: [[spoiler:killing Sugata should he try to leave the island]]. Takuto himself could also count as this. Also, Sugata himself.

* JigsawPuzzlePlot: And HOW.

* [=~Hey, It's That Voice!~=]: [[MamoruMiyano Takuto]] sounds rather like [[{{Durarara}} Kida Masaomi]] at times. And he ventures dangerously into [[OuranHighSchoolHostClub Tamaki]] mode during the campy moments.
** He also shares his voice actor with [[{{Gundam00}} another mech-piloting protagonist.]]
** Also can't forget that [[JunFukuyama Sugata]] is [[{{CodeGeass}} Lelouch]]. Funny, because Takuto is also declared Internet rival [[DeathNote Light]].
** Just as Sugata is Lelouch, [[AmiKoshimizu Nichi]] is [[{{CodeGeass}} Kallen]], in turn. MaayaSakamoto also voices Sarina Endou, head of the drama club, in a marked change from her [[RebuildOfEvangelion last major role in a mecha show]]...
** And [[AkiraIshida Head]] is [[NeonGenesisEvangelion Kaworu Nagisa]].
** The North and South maidens were once [[SoranoManimani Sayo Yarai and Hime Makita]].
** [[ShinichiroMiki Ryousuke Katashiro]] is also [[MobileSuitGundam00 Lockon Stratos]]. See the ActorAllusion entry.

* AnimeAnatomy: Both played straight and subverted. During Takuto's TransformationSequence, if you pause the video you can actually see... [[http://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b299/_Shun_/ginga.png something]]. But with the maidens it is always in full effect.

* HypocriticalHumor: While under the effects of her first phase, Midori goes around offering kisses through the glass. Kanako considers this slutty, apparently because Midori is offering kisses as opposed to accepting propositions from boys.

* WindowLove: It big trend for the boy to go outside to a different class and ask a girl to kiss against the window them to show affection without being too serious. Kanako love doing this as way to show affection without cheating her husband.

* LikesOlderWomen: Tsubasa is the only guy who isn't infatuated with Hina, [[spoiler:but he has a crush on Okamoto-sensei]].

* GratuitousFrench: "Apprivoise", the activation phrase for any Cybody, is French for "tame".

* CakeEater: Tsubasa is the only guy who isn't infatuated with Hina, [[spoiler:but he has a crush on Okamoto-sensei]].

* AllMenArePerverts: Averted with Takuto, who has ''very'' strong morals about this sort of thing.
** Interestingly, the series appears to be a rare example of an ''inversion'' of this trope. Most of the men aren't all that perverted, but the ''women'' are constantly fawning over attractive males and attempting to seduce them. A few of them (including Wako, the female lead) are even [[YaoiFangirl Yaoi Fangirls]].

** Surprisingly, no female Crux member's outfit sports this trope to the degree that [[spoiler: Sugata's outfit]] does. Though that doesn't diminish their {{Fanservice}} appeals.
*** To be fair, all of the outfits of Crux's members, both male and female, could very well be FetishFuelStationAttendant uniforms, to the point of StupidSexyFlanders with Katashiro's.
* ActorAllusion: Katashiro smokes, has an eyepatch and brown hair... sounds like a fusion of [[MobileSuitGundam00 two roles]] ShinichiroMiki played a while ago.
** In fact, when we see his younger self in episode 20, even accounting for art style differences, he looked ''exactly'' like Lockon.

** Subjective, but [[spoiler: Emperor Sugata might be an allusion to a certain CodeGeass Emperor.]]
* AllMenArePerverts: Sharply averted with Takuto, who has ''very'' strong morals about this sort of thing.

** He's also [[MemeticMutation FAAAABULOUS!]]

** [[spoiler: BUFFALO CRASH!]]

* FreudWasRight: Episode 9. Sugata tells Takuto to be careful because his [[spoiler:kendo sword]] is a bit longer, while holding it out in front of Takuto. Generally, much of the show could qualify, as it's about a group of teenagers trying to "break the seals" of "pure maidens" to unleash their hidden powers.

* [[DudeShesLikeInAComa Lady, He's, Like, In A Coma]]: This didn't stop [[spoiler: Keito]] from getting a little of [[IfYouKnowWhatIMean the King's Pillar.]]
** Sugata ''appears'' to [[spoiler:kiss Wako in her sleep in Episode 20]], but it's still very much ambiguous.

''Star Driver: Kagayaki no Takuto'' (translated as ''Radiant Takuto'' or ''Takuto of the Radiance'') is a HumongousMecha {{anime}} series created and animated by [[StudioBones BONES]] and produced by Aniplex, which ran as part of the Fall 2010 lineup and has been licensed for the USA by Bandai Entertainment.

* HypocriticalHumor: While under the effects of her first phase, Midori goes around offering kisses through the glass. Kanako apparently considers this slutty, apparently because Midori is offering kisses as opposed to accepting propositions from boys.

* BareYourMidriff: A fair-sized chunk of the cast. More specifically, the ''[[EstrogenBrigadeBait male]]'' cast.

* PaperThinDisguise: Averted, the characters readily recognize people with whom they're already familiar. (The audience seems to have more trouble with this than the characters do.)

* IAmHeroHearMeRoar: "Dazzling the stage! Galactic Pretty Boy, Taubarn!"

* BreatherEpisode: Episode 17. Going from the rather down Mizuno arc to a BeachEpisode.