History Manga / AkuNoHana

* CharacterDevelopment: Kasuga starts out as a pathetic boy, at first afraid to admit his sins...then embracing them too much. He even becomes bold enough to talk back to the police, with [[FailureIsTheOnlyOption predictable results]]. [[spoiler:After the time skip, he continues on this path, even managing to confess his love to his new crush, Tokiwa, and putting his life back together.]]

* DysfunctionJunction: Especially before the time skip. All the main characters seem to have serious psychological problems and are fairly broken inside. [[spoiler: After the time skip, Kinoshita seems to have been impacted too. And one has to wonder about all the people who witnessed the kids' suicide attempt.]]

* ForTheEvulz: The stuff Nakamura forces Kasuga to do. [[spoiler:Or so it seems.]] Later, Nakamura and Kasuga [[spoiler: embark on a campaign of misdeeds to become the "Ultimate Pervert."]]

* MisunderstoodLonerWithAHeartOfGold: Kasuga [[spoiler: after the TimeSkip]]. Before that, his personality ranged from spineless wimp to a truly evil child who fully embraced Nakamura's life philosophy, but afterwards, he's finally matured into a generally good person and that is trying his hardest to do the right thing and put his past [[spoiler: and Nakamura]] behind him.

* ReplacementGoldfish: [[spoiler:Saeki accuses Kasuga of using Tokiwa as a replacement for Nakamura during her TheReasonYouSuckSpeech. Whether or not this is true remains to be seen, but after the events of Chapter 45, it's surprisingly leaning towards a "no".]]

* TheDragon: [[spoiler: Kasuga]]. Included within this example are several variations.
%% ** DragonAscendant: After the [[spoiler: TimeSkip]].
%% ^ Doesn't really apply? Kasuga stops seeking depravity after the time skip

** While at first Nakamura seems like evil incarnate, we learn that she feels just as trapped by the town as Kasuga, if not more so, and just wanted a friend who understood her.

* CharacterShilling: Saeki gets a boatload, though subverted. In some cases, the praise is genuine. She's top of her class, is the most popular girl, and the apple of her parent's eyes. In reality, however, [[spoiler: she can be as desperate, if not more, than Kasuga. She has similar problems and deals with them in pitiful fashions. The only reason she is perceived as a better person is because she is compared to two very unlikeable people. And, after she rapes Kasuga, she proves that she is, in many ways, worse than ''both of them''.]]

* CharacterDevelopment: Kasuga starts out as a pathetic boy, at first afraid to admit his sins...then embracing them too much. He even becomes bold enough to talk back to the police, with [[FailureIsTheOnlyOption predictable results]]. [[spoiler:After the time skip, he continues on this path, even managing to confess his love to his new crush, Tokiwa.]]
** Nakamura opens up more to Kasuga and even begins to accept his feedback. So much so that she begins to see him as an equal. This fluctuates wildly throughout the series, however. She also [[spoiler: shows hints of falling in love with Kasuga, making this the first time she's seen another human as more than a "shit-eater" who doesn't understand her.]]

* CharacterDevelopment: Kasuga eventually starts to grow a pair and stops being so spineless. He even tries to openly defy Nakamura, [[FailureIsTheOnlyOption with predictable results.]] [[spoiler:After the time skip, he continues on this path, even managing to confess his love to his new crush, Tokiwa.]]

* BrokenBird: Nakamura is a rather dark version of this trope.
** Kasuga becomes this [[spoiler:post-TimeSkip.]]

* AmbiguousDisorder: Nakamura is implied to have an extremely debilitating emotional disorder.

* BitchInSheepsClothing: [[spoiler:Saeki turns out to be one, though it's due to her desire to be loved running into Kasuga rejecting her for Nakamura. Before that she was a genuinely nice girl.]]

* [[spoiler: BigDamnKiss: Kasuga and Tokiwa in Chapter 51, proving that she is indeed the one he loves.]]

** And then we have him unable to confess that he has them, fearing the social isolation he would face. This leads to Nakamura blackmailing him into forming a pact with her, with it being implied later that she also liked him but was unable to say it as well.
** [[spoiler:Post TimeSkip, when he finally DOES spit it out to Tokiwa (the '''''THIRD''' GIRL HE'S BEEN INTERESTED IN, NO LESS'') he does so while she's at work. In front of her boyfriend. The incredible thing? It ''works''. The act signals his growth as a character, finally able to be honest with his feelings, unafraid of whatever consequences there be.]]

** Nakamura opens up more to Kasuga and even begins to accept his feedback. So much so that she begins to see him as an equal. This... fluctuates wildly throughout the series, however. She also [[spoiler: shows hints of falling in love with Kasuga, making this the first time she's seen another human as more than a "shit-eater" who doesn't understand her.]]
** Saeki is drawn to Kasuga for his honesty and eventually [[spoiler: starts dating him]]. When she [[spoiler: finds out about his pact with Nakamura]], she get so desperate that she ''[[spoiler: forcefully]]'' [[spoiler: has sex with Kasuga in order to convince him of her love]].

* ClusterFBomb: The thing about Nakamura that's odd despite her general mannerisms is the fact that she can be rather foul-mouthed while wearing the same emotionless expression on her face.

* DissonantSerenity: It is '''''never''''' a good thing when Nakamura smiles, and Kasuga knows it.

** DragonAscendant: After the [[spoiler: TimeSkip]].

* DysfunctionJunction: Especially before the time skip. All the main characters seem to have serious psychological problems and are fairly broken inside. [[spioler: After the time skip, Kinoshita seems to have been impacted too. And one has to wonder about all the people who witnessed the kids' suicide attempt.]]

* ForTheEvulz: The stuff Nakamura forces Kasuga to do. [[spoiler:Or so it seems.]]

* [[spoiler: HesBack: A very poignant one in Chapter 46.]]

* HeIsNotMyBoyfriend: Tokiwa says this a couple of times regarding [[spoiler:Kasuga.]] [[spoiler:Oh, he will be, Tokiwa. He will be.]]

* HumanityIsInsane[=/=]SexIsGood: Played with. Nakamura lives by the standard that all people are perverts. Simple and flat. She believes that people should learn to just accept their animalistic tendencies, making the world a more interesting place. However, she doesn't outright condone insanity or sexual relations. More often, she wants the highs and emotions that come with these actions.

* IncorruptiblePurePureness: Kasuga views Saeki as this, and at first it seems she plays the trope straight. [[spoiler:Later on, this becomes Subverted. ''Hard''.]]
* IDidWhatIHadToDo: One of the main motivations for all three main characters. Whether they made the right choice or even actually had to do those things in the first place is... debatable. At best.
* IJustWantToHaveFriends: [[spoiler:Believe it or not, this is entirely the reason why Nakamura blackmailed Kasuga into their pact, feeling that they were kindred deviants.]]

* NotSoStoic: Nakamura and '''damn''', is Kasuga finding it out the hard way.

* [[OnlySaneMan Only Sane Woman]]: A fourth character, Ai Kinoshita, often interjects on behalf of Saeki and against Kasuga and Nakamura, as she tries to be the voice of reason.

** [[spoiler: It's implied that Saeki has done this with her live-in boyfriend Koizumi, who looks and acts quite a bit like an older version of Kasuga's middle school self.]]

* [[spoiler: SelfImmolation]]: Kasuga and Nakamura decide to do this at the summer festival: After [[spoiler: jumping on a float, they douse themselves with gasoline and grabs two lighters. At the last second, Nakamura pushes Kasuga off the float. Before she commits the deed, her father tackles her]].

* ThreeAmigos: Saeki says to Kasuga that she wants to be this with [[spoiler: him and ''Nakamura'']].

* HeroicSelfDeprecation: Kasuga can't seem to stop doing this. Nakamura is just making things worse.

* JerkWithAHeartOfGold: Kouji is kind of a brash dick who doesn't understand Tokiwa and attempts to embarrass Kasuga in front of his and Tokiwa's friends, but it's shown repeatedly that he means well.

** Tokiwa fits this so far, especially to Kasuga. She mocks him playfully, but it's clear from the outset that she really likes and cares about him.

* HeIsNotMyBoyfriend: Tokiwa says this a couple of times regarding Kasuga. [[spoiler: Oh, he will be, Tokiwa. He will be.]]

* BettyAndVeronica: Classic case. Kasuga must at one point decide between his sweet, wholesome crush Saeki (Betty) and his violent, psychotic contract keeper Nakamura. [[spoiler: Though he later finds out the hard way that maybe they aren't so different after all...]]

** [[spoiler:Kasuga wanted to become this with Nakamura, and in her final chapter they behaved in a way similar to one. Whether Nakamura reciprocated or not has been left open.]]

* SmallTownBoredom: One of the underlying problems the main characters face. Kasuga's monologues state how the isolated nature of the town disturbs him, making it hard to hide away from people, and the old closed-up buildings make it look like a GhostTown. Nakamura herself is bored and frustrated with the town as well, with how she doesn't fit in due to her isolated nature. This leads to them seeking "the other side" as an escape from the monotony.

* WhatTheHellHero: When Saeki asks Kasuga [[spoiler:if he's the culprit behind the classroom trashing as well as stealing her uniform]], he doesn't answer her. He also refuses to see her when she visits his house, and shouts outside his window [[spoiler:that she's more upset that he kept stealing her uniform a secret rather than telling her]]. He also runs away when his mom finds some incriminating evidence against him, [[spoiler:the extremely dirty sweater he was wearing when he trashed the classroom.]]

* YankTheDogsChain: It's like everytime it seems like Kasuga's caught a break, Nakamura makes an extra special effort to ruin it. [[spoiler: Subverted after the TimeSkip.]]

** Saeki is drawn to Kasuga for his honesty and eventually [[spoiler: starts dating him]]. When she [[spoiler: finds out about Nakamura's blackmail]], she get so desperate that she ''[[spoiler: forcefully]]'' [[spoiler: has sex with Kasuga in order to convince him of her love]].

* IJustWantToHaveFriends: Believe it or not, this is entirely the reason why [[spoiler:Nakamura blackmailed Kasuga into their pact, feeling that they were kindred deviants.]]

* {{Jerkass}}: Nakamura seems to enjoy torturing and manipulating Kasuga for no other reason than the fact that it's so damn easy to do so. [[spoiler:And maybe possibly because she can't express her feelings for him any other way.]]

* StatusQuoIsGod: A big theme of the story is about breaking away from this. Kasuga is caught between not wanting to break down the status quo, but at the same time wishes to be different from his peers. It eventually culminates into [[spoiler:his speech about being hollow and empty to Saeki and Nakamura, who represent following society's expectations and breaking away from them respectively.]]

** And then we have him unable to confess that he has them, fearing the social isolation he would face. This leads to Nakamura blackmailing him into forming a pact with her, with it being implied later that she also liked him.

* IdiotBall: The reason why Kasuga's problems snowball into much worse ones is the fact that he tends to do the least sensible thing at the worst possible times.
** Later in the manga, this ball is pretty much fused to his body.
** [[spoiler:After the TimeSkip, it seems like he's finally gotten it surgically removed.]]

* SmallTownBoredom: One of the underlying problems the main characters face. Kasuga's monologues state how the isolated nature of the town disturbs him, making it hard to hide away from people, and the old closed-up buildings make it look like a GhostTown. Nakamura herself is bored and frustrated with the town as well, with how she doesn't fit in due to her isolated nature. This leads to them seeking "the other side" of the town as an escape from the monotony.

* AlwaysSaveTheGirl: [[spoiler:Kasuga's reasoning of why he starts looking for "the other side" in town, to the point of going against his classmates, friends, and even his parents, is because he wants to help make the lonely and isolated Nakamura happy. In the end, he fails and he makes no one happy. This contributes to his angst post-TimeSkip.]]

* AlwaysSaveTheGirl: [[spoiler:Kasuga's reasoning of why he starts looking for "the other side" in town, to the point of going against his classmates, friends, and even his parents, is because he wants to help make the lonely and isolated Nakamura happy. In the end, he fails and he makes no one happy. This contributes a lot to his angst post-TimeSkip.]]

* ForTheEvulz: The stuff Nakamura forces Kasuga to do.

* DatePeepers: Nakamura does this to Kasuga and Saeki in episode 5.