History Manga / FullmoonOSagashite

[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/fullmoon021.jpg]]
->''"Some day you'll understand...why the song that lingers...binds us together..."''

''Full Moon o Sagashite'' (a.k.a. ''Full Moon'', ''Full Moon wo Sagashite''; trans: "Looking for the Full Moon") is a seven-volume {{shojo}} {{manga}} series by Creator/ArinaTanemura (later adapted into an {{anime}}, which enjoyed high ratings in Japan).

Mitsuki Koyama is a 12-year-old girl who dreams of one day becoming a famous IdolSinger so that she can be reunited with her childhood love, Eichi. Unfortunately, she has a [[IllGirl malignant tumour in her throat]] and without surgery, which would cause her to lose her voice forever, she only has one year left to live.

Late one night, she is visited by two [[{{Shinigami}} friendly Grim Reapers]] from the Paediatrics Division of Heaven. In exchange for Mitsuki going quietly when her time is up, they take pity on her and give her the power to transform into "Full Moon", [[OlderAlterEgo a beautiful sixteen-year-old version of Mitsuki]] with no throat tumour.

Against all odds, "Full Moon" manages to pass the audition Mitsuki desperately wished to attend, setting her on the road to achieving her dream. Now she has to work hard to manage her newfound double-life while keeping it a secret from the discerning eyes of her strict grandmother, ''and'' dealing with the lingering presence of the Grim Reapers.

The manga and anime are available in North America via Viz Media. The DVD releases were halted due to poor sales, only going as far as episode 28. However, all 52 episodes are available on Hulu[[note]]However, they are based on Viz Media's DVD masters. Additionally, the episodes are subtitled only[[/note]].

For tropes specifically related to the anime, [[Anime/FullMoonOSagashite please refer to its page.]]

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!!This work provides examples of:

* ACupAngst: Mitsuki gets insulted when Meroko calls her flat-chested. Granted, she ''is'' only twelve years old, though as Full Moon, insists "in this body I have breasts well enough!". Amusingly, WordOfGod admits that Mitsuki is the most difficult character to draw "because she has no breasts so the balance is all off".
* AbusiveParents: Izumi's mother became abusive to him after his father passed away. It got bad enough that [[DrivenToSuicide he ended up committing suicide at the age of six, both to get away from her and to free her from having to deal with him.]]
* AffectionateNickname: Izumi calls Mitsuki "Mi-ki", Takuto "Ta-kun", and Meroko "Me-chan." In the English manga he only does this to Mitsuki, calling her "Mickey".
* TheAlcoholic: Oshige.
* AliceAllusion: An artwork features Mitsuki as Alice, Takuto as the Cheshire Cat, Meroko as the White Rabbit, and Izumi as the Mad Hatter.
* AllLoveIsUnrequited: Izumi loves Meroko loves Takuto loves Mitsuki loves Eichi, who also loved her [[spoiler:but can't act on it, because he's dead]]. In ''Full Moon'', love appears to be a long, lonely one-way street. And then it gets ''more'' confusing. [[spoiler:Meroko in fact loves Izumi back but he rejected her a long time ago by breaking her heart (but they work it out). Mitsuki reciprocates Takuto's love...only to leave Eichi locked out of it.]]
* AnguishedDeclarationOfLove:
** In the backstory, Eichi gives one to Mitsuki when he finds out that he will soon be leaving for America. Mitsuki is too confused by her own feelings to give Eichi an answer before he leaves, [[spoiler: but she never gets the chance to respond, because Eichi's plane to America crashes, leaving no survivors.]]
** [[spoiler: Izumi to Meroko]] in Chapter 17.
* AnimalMotif: In a manga side-story, Mitsuki is boiling water for tea and Takuto tells her not to make it too hot because he has a sensitive tongue. This is presumably a reference to the Japanese idiom "cat's tongue," meaning a person who can't eat hot things, which fits in with Takuto's cat theme.
* ArrangedMarriage: [[spoiler: As a teenager, Fuzuki was betrothed to a man named Kimiharu. When the boy that both she and Moe (the human Meroko) liked expressed an interest in marrying her, Fuzuki's fiance was passed off to Moe.]]
** [[spoiler: Madoka also has one in her backstory; she abandoned it to pursue her dreams of becoming a singer. The guy she was betrothed to later turns out to have been Nachi, who got plastic surgery and became a singer in order to be closer to Madoka.]]
* AttemptedRape: [[spoiler: Meroko when she was a human; her fiance sexually assaulting her was what pushed her over the edge into committing suicide. You know, [[WhatDoYouMeanItsForKids a manga for little girls!]]]]
* BadBoss: Sheldon gives this vibe. He's actually not that bad when Mitsuki got to know him even when she found out [[spoiler: he's Jonathan]].
* BalefulPolymorph: The Shinigami can get stuck in their animal forms if they use up too much power at once.
* BareYourMidriff: Hoo boy, Meroko's outfit. Takuto's too. Arina even calls them the "midriff-bearing duo".
* BerserkButton: Do ''not'' let Takuto catch you messing with, flirting with and/or hugging Mitsuki. [[IllKillYou He. Will. Kill. You]].
* BitchInSheepsClothing: When Mitsuki, in her twelve-year-old form, meets Madoka, she is caught off-guard by Madoka treating her so nicely and thinks that Madoka must be a lot nicer than she seems. However, Madoka's internal monologue immediately afterward shows that she was only nice to Mitsuki on the off-chance that doing so would end up benefiting her down the line, and she's also not very nice to her pet pig, Gucchan.
* BittersweetEnding: [[spoiler: Takuto and Mitsuki are reunited and everyone else is happily paired off...except for Eichi, who is forever separated from Mitsuki after seeing her reunion with Takuto. Another layer of bitter comes when you remember that Mitsuki was only able to see the Shinigamiiz because Eichi's ghost was with her, and that now that he is gone, she will probably never see Meroko and Izumi again.]]
* BodyHorror: In the manga, [[spoiler: Jonathan ensnares and strangles Izumi by stretching his body]].
* BoyBand: Mitsuki's dad, [[spoiler: her doctor, and Takuto]] made up one in the past.
* BreakTheCutie: [[spoiler:Takuto, Meroko, AND Izumi]] all have major breakdowns while remembering their (manga-only) suicidal pasts. [[spoiler: Mitsuki's backstory]] as well.
* BunnyEarsLawyer [[spoiler: Sheldon]]. Who else would be serious enough to call a Shinigamiiz pair after ''food''?
* CelestialBureaucracy: Downplayed. There are established lists of who is meant to die when, and one chapter shows a number of Shinigami panicking when they find a whole bunch of deaths scheduled for the next day that had gotten lost somehow; it's enough of a crisis that the main Shinigamis are required to help out despite them normally only dealing with children. Other than that, it isn't brought up much.
* CheerfulChild: Mitsuki. How can you not want to squeeze her to death? [[spoiler: And then subverted; she's shown to be a major StepfordSmiler and nowhere near as happy as she acts.]]
* ChildhoodFriendRomance: Eichi and Mitsuki. [[spoiler: Eichi's death cuts it tragically short.]]
** Also, [[spoiler: Nachi and Madoka.]]
* ClingyJealousGirl: Oh God, Meroko for Takuto. Very extremely. [[spoiler: After getting with Izumi in the end, she becomes this for him instead.]]
* ContinuityNod: The lyrics to "New Future" and "Smile," two songs from the anime, appear in the final chapter of the manga.
* CrazyJealousGuy: Takuto for Mitsuki, moreso in the manga. But he usually ends up [[CornerOfWoe sulking in the corner about it]] instead of plotting how to ruin the competition, unlike Izumi and Meroko who [[LoveMakesYouCrazy sometimes take their jealousy waaay too far...]]
* DarkAndTroubledPast: All the major characters (Oshige aside, but including [[spoiler: Mitsuki]]) have one.
* DeadAllAlong: [[spoiler: Eichi died when his plane to America crashed. It's revealed to the reader in Chapter 12, and then in the next chapter we learn that Mitsuki knew the whole time.]]
* DeathByChildbirth: Hazuki. It's mentioned that she had health problems that made it dangerous for her to carry a child, but the details aren't specified.
* DeathSeeker: [[spoiler: Mitsuki, believe it or not! She's not actively trying to kill herself, but she wouldn't mind dying since she knows she'll be reunited with Eichi then. Subverted as the story proceeds and she decides that she'll try to endure heartbreak and illness, because she wants to be there for the people who love her.]]
* DecemberDecemberRomance: [[spoiler: At the end of chapter 19, Seijuro comes to see Fuzuki. The next time we see the two together is at Mitsuki's concert in the final chapter, holding hands.]]
* DefrostingIceQueen: Both Meroko and Takuto become kinder to Mitsuki as she pursues her idol career. Takuto gives her pep talks, while Meroko focuses on getting Full Moon out there.
* DespairEventHorizon: Reaching this and then being DrivenToSuicide is how one becomes a Shinigami.
* DidTheyOrDidntThey: Unlike Oshige and the president, whose sexual encounters are explicitly implied, there's a scene where an emotionally distressed Meroko rushes home [[spoiler:after discovering [[TheReveal her past]] and attacking Mitsuki]]. She lets Izumi [[IntimateHealing "comfort" her with a kiss]]. What follows that is really a mystery.
* TheDogWasTheMastermind: [[spoiler:Jonathan turns out to be Sheldon, who wants Mitsuki dead]].
* DontFearTheReaper: Enforced in-universe: Takuto, Meroko, and Izumi's cute outfits and silly animal ears and transformations are because they work in the death pediatrics ward, and therefore would want to appear as non-threatening as possible.
* DramaBomb: Starting with chapter 11 and onwards, things really started to get serious. Volume 4 is one big drama from beginning to end. Volume 5 however slowly moves things back with minimal drama. Until [[spoiler: Oshige had a cake bomb explode on her]].
* DrivenToSuicide: How people become Shinigami. Takuto explains this early on, paving the way for [[{{Woobie}} tragic]] {{backstory}} later on. There's also some debate as to whether this is a a punishment or [[OurAngelsAreDifferent not]].
* DullEyesOfUnhappiness: Everybody in the series while they're [[BreakTheCutie being broken]] or remembering something unpleasant.
* EarnYourHappyEnding: ''Everyone did''.
* ExactEavesdropping: [[spoiler: In Chapter 24, Meroko, who has been out, comes back at the exact moment that Takuto says that she's only declaring her love for him to get Izumi's attention. She promptly leaves.]]
** In a much earlier chapter, Mitsuki and Meroko are having a discussion about the state of the relationship between Takuto and Mitsuki. To reassure Meroko that she isn't a threat, Mitsuki tells her that Eichi is the only one she loves. Of course, Takuto chooses this moment to walk up to them.
* {{Fangirl}}: Oshige was this for Wakaoji [[spoiler: when he was in Route L.]]
* FingerlessGloves: Takuto has these in his Shinigami form.
* FluffyFashionFeathers: One of Mitsuki's idol outfits is trimmed with feathers.
* ForcefulKiss:
** Played straight in the manga when [[spoiler: ''teenaged'' Eichi does this to a ''ten-year-old'' Mitsuki who hadn't even hit puberty yet.]] Also with [[spoiler: Izumi and Meroko]] in Chapter 17.
** Subverted in the manga when [[spoiler: Takuto is struggling to control his emotions around Mitsuki's [[StepfordSmiler Stepford Smile]] and tries to kiss her out of grief but his heart is not in it and she is able to push him away in time.]]
** Subverted in the anime and manga when [[spoiler: Izumi tries to take Mitsuki's soul through a KissOfDeath, [[BigDamnHeroes Takuto grabs him with the words: "Get your hands OFF her."]]]]
* {{Foreshadowing}}: Several instances foreshadow [[spoiler: Eichi's presence around Mitsuki]]: When Wakaoji meets Full Moon and accuses her of being Mitsuki, the conversation is interrupted by a sudden violent wind. Later, in an arc during which Mitsuki is being stalked by a rabid fan, someone throws a bottle onto the stage at one of her concerts. It's aiming for her, but then in the next panel we see it swerve away from her, and it hits Wakaoji instead. [[spoiler: Both of these instances turn out to have been Eichi's ghost protecting Mitsuki.]]
* ForgottenFirstMeeting: [[spoiler: As Takuto begins regaining his memories, he recalls meeting Mitsuki when she was a young child. He doesn't mention it to her and it's not confirmed if she remembers the meeting.]]
** Also, [[spoiler: Meroko initially doesn't realize that she and Fuzuki knew each other when they were teenagers despite interacting with her closely multiple times. She remembers it fully once Fuzuki mentions going to visit the grave of her friend...coincidentally on the anniversary of Meroko's own death.]]
* FreudianExcuse: Fuzuki's backstory explains why she hates music: [[spoiler: Moe, Meroko when she was human, fell in love with the violinist Seijyuro Koga. Unfortunately for Moe, he was in love with Fuzuki instead. When Seijurou kisses Fuzuki, Moe catches them in the act and committed suicide later on. This caused Fuzuki to cancel her arranged marriage to Seijyuro. When Hazuki was seeing Seijyuro's son, Aoi, Fuzuki found out about her pregnancy, and Hazuki runs away from home, only to die in an accident with Aoi. The loss of her best friend and her only daughter took a bitter toll on her and her view on music]]. She got better after [[spoiler: Meroko disguising as her human self]] resolved the conflict that plagued her.
* FriendlyRivalry: Subverted with Mitsuki and Madoka. Mitsuki is as friendly as can be, but the competitive and jealous Madoka pretty much stonewalls her. They do eventually become closer.
* GhostAmnesia: Shinigami generally don't remember their lives as humans; if they remember them before becoming full Shinigami, they end up turning into ghosts. Izumi is an exception; for some reason, he retained most of his memories after becoming a Shinigami.
* HeroicBSOD: Mitsuki goes through a brief one in the manga after [[spoiler: the Shinigami find out that Eichi has been dead for two years]]. Then she outright ''explodes'' during it. Creator/ArinaTanemura lampshaded this on the chapter's commentary.
* HeroicSacrifice: [[spoiler: Sheldan and the Death Master, who use up all their energy to revive Takuto and restore his voice.]]
* HiddenDepths: ''Everyone''. From the humans to the Shinigamiiz.
* HotterAndSexier: In 2015, Creator/ArinaTanemura released an adult doujinshi featuring Izumi and Meroko under the pseudonym Arina Meguro.
* IdolSinger: Mitsuki aka Full Moon, Wakamatsu Madoka, Nachi, [[spoiler:Takuto used to be one]], Oshige was an unsuccessful one.
* IllGirl / LittlestCancerPatient: This seems to run in the Koyama family. Mitsuki is one, of course. Fuzuki was one in her youth, and Hazuki was possibly one as well; a flashback shows Fuzuki mentioning that Hazuki isn't healthy enough to give birth.
* InvisibleToNormals: The Shinigami. They can make themselves visible to humans, but it uses up a lot of their power.
* IShallTauntYou: Izumi with both Meroko and Takuto. Even more with Takuto because [[HairTriggerTemper he snaps so easily]] which Izumi gets [[SoftSpokenSadist pure enjoyment out of.]]
* ItWasWithYouAllAlong: [[spoiler:Mitsuki's wish is to be with Eichi again, to the point where around the middle of the manga she resolves to commit suicide until Takuto and Meroko snap her out of it. Near the end of the manga, the question is raised that since Takuto and Meroko have changed Mitsuki's fate, how come she can still see shinigami if she's not about to die? The answer: It is possible to see shinigami if a spirit acts as a "filter" to see them through - that is, Eichi's spirit has been with Mitsuki all along, refusing to leave her.]] This was in fact foreshadowed in an earlier chapter, when Takuto notes that [[spoiler:the dying Eichi refused to surrender his soul to Takuto, implying that it went somewhere else, thus "robbing" Takuto of his soul until Eichi accepts Mitsuki's happiness at the epilogue of the manga and finally ascends to heaven.]]
* IWantMyBelovedToBeHappy: In the manga this trope applies to Eichi, who is forced to see [[spoiler:Mitsuki and Takuto hook up but eventually accepts it in the matter of two pages.]]
** This trope also applies to [[spoiler:Takuto for Mitsuki until he learns Eichi is dead.]]
** Izumi averts it; he takes a consistently active role in trying to win Meroko back because he can tell that she still loves him.
* JerkWithAHeartOfGold: Takuto and Izumi.
* {{Jerkass}} Seijuro Koga turned out to be this during the Showa flasbacks. The reason for the ExactEavesdropping is because he kissed Fuzuki. He seems to have loosen up and remarried Fukuzi after his first wife passes.
* JustEatGilligan: If what Takuto and Meroko are doing with Mitsuki is such a big deal, one wonders why their boss doesn't just put a stop to it. Subverted when it's revealed that Meroko has been using her power to put up a barrier around Mitsuki that prevents other Shinigami from coming near her, and further subverted when [[spoiler: Jonathan is revealed to be Sheldan, the boss, and it's shown that he'd been keeping an eye on the situation himself the entire time.]]
* KickTheDog: Madoka, but replace "the dog" with "Madoka's cute little pet pig".
** PetTheDog: And Madoka is pretty {{Tsundere}} for the pig too.
* KissOfDeath: How Izumi prefers obtaining souls of dying young girls, because it's "more pleasant" than a scythe.
* KissingUnderTheInfluence: [[spoiler: Oshige and Wakaoji]] share a drunken kiss one night after a night at a bar.
* LaserGuidedAmnesia: All the Shinigami experience this after the death of their human selves after suicide and rebirth. If a Shinigami starts to remember their human life before they've become a full Shinigami (basically gone through a type of training), they transform into a ghost. The only exceptions are Izumi, who remembers almost all of his life as a human, and [[spoiler: Takuto, who was never actually dead.]]
* TheLastDance: On learning she's going to die within a year, Mitsuki as a last request asks for the Negi Ramen to let her try out for the audition. Takuto goes a step ahead by aging her up and healing her body so that she can sing. Later on, when Mitsuki runs away [[spoiler:after Takuto and Meroko learn that Eichi is dead, Mitsuki wonders how she's going to spend the last nine months of her life.]]
* LikesOlderWomen: Hilariously averted when Meroko thinks Takuto likes Fuzuki, who is Mitsuki's grandmother. He doesn't. The subtitle when Meroko panics says "She's a fool".
* LittleBitBeastly: All the pediatric Shinigami have kemonomimi and turn into their designated animal when in plushie form — Meroko's a bunny, Takuto's a cat, Izumi's a dog, and an omake has Meroko inviting Mitsuki to be her new partner and suggesting bear ears for her animal theme. The odd one out seems to be Jonathan. [[spoiler: Turns out there's a reason for that.]]
* LoveHurts: Poor poor Meroko.
* LoveMartyr:
** Takuto loves Mitsuki, but she's performing her music career in the hopes of seeing Eichi again. He still does his best to help her succeed.
** On the flip side, in the manga [[spoiler:Eichi refuses to let Takuto reap his soul, and he starts haunting Mitsuki as a ghost to protect her..]]
* LoveRedeems: At a platonic level, Mitsuki for Izumi.
** Also on the more traditional level: [[spoiler: Meroko's love for Izumi does eventually draw out his softer side.]]
* LuminescentBlush: Takuto does this constantly around Mitsuki.
* MagicalGirl: Downplayed; one of the only real MagicalGirl elements is Mitsuki's transformation itself, which is a bit more played up in the anime with an actual transformation sequence.
* MagicIdolSinger
* MeaningfulName: Mitsuki's name translates to "Full Moon," which is what she picks for her stage name. Also, the moon has a lot of significance for both Mitsuki and Eichi, particularly in regards to their friendship.
* MegaTwintails: Mitsuki in normal form.
* MentorMascot: Takuto and Meroko, when in plushie form.
* MindRape: In the manga, after [[spoiler: Jonathan is revealed to be Sheldan, he does this to Izumi by torturing him with memories of his mother assaulting him.]]
* MoodWhiplash: The amount of {{Tear Jerker}}s mixed with the ridiculously upbeat ending creates this trope in High-Octane fuel.
** The upbeat first volume of the manga contrasts heavily with later ones.
** Then there's Chapter 12. [[spoiler: Takuto decides to try and reunite Mitsuki and Eichi [[IWantMyBelovedToBeHappy so that Mitsuki can be happy]]. The Shinigamiiz go through Mitsuki's stuff trying to find something that will give a clue as to Eichi's location, and come across a picture of Eichi...''and Takuto recognizes him''.]]
* NoAntagonist: The manga doesn't have a villain. Izumi seems like he's going to be one when he's introduced, but ThePowerOfFriendship prevails pretty quickly. [[spoiler: Sheldon/Jonathan]] is the closest thing to a villain, but even he is just doing his job and relents.
* NonstandardCharacterDesign: Jonathan, who looks like how the artist thought Peeves from Literature/HarryPotter looked like: a non-humanoid smiling ghost in a top hat. He's also this in-universe, as he looks absolutely nothing like other Shinigami. [[spoiler: For a reason.]]
* ObliviousToLove:
** Mitsuki just can't get that Takuto loves her. [[spoiler: Although they eventually get together]]. She was the same with Eichi; when he confessed to her, she was completely stunned that he would think of her that way.
** Also Takuto and Meroko [[spoiler:but subverted.]]
* OfficialCouple: Mitsuki and Takuto, [[spoiler:Meroko and Izumi]], Sheldon and Mystere [[spoiler:The Death Master]], Hazuki and Aoi, Madoka and Nachi (manga only), and Wakaoji and Oshige.
* OlderAlterEgo: Full Moon for Mitsuki.
* OneDegreeOfSeparation: Most of the major characters eventually turn out to be connected to Mitsuki and her past in some way. [[spoiler: Takuto and Wakaoji were in a BoyBand with Mitsuki's father; Meroko and Fuzuki, Mitsuki's grandmother, were ChildhoodFriends; Oshige knew Mitsuki's father, as well as Takuto and Wakaoji, when they were a band.]]
* OrpheanRescue: The final volumes of the manga have [[spoiler: Takuto and Meroko rescuing Mitsuki's soul]].
* {{Paparazzi}}
* ParentalAbandonment: A good deal of the cast. Mitsuki and Eichi lost their parents in car accidents (and Eichi subsequently lost his grandfather as well), Izumi's father died when he was very young (leading to an abusive mother), and WordOfGod informs us that Takuto's mother died from a long-term illness when he was nine, and his father isn't mentioned. Madoka's parents disowned her when she informed them she was planning to have plastic surgery in order to further her singing career.
* ParentalSubstitute: Wakaoji is Mitsuki's doctor and her father's friend, but he's mistaken at least once as her father, and serves as a ReasonableAuthorityFigure. In the anime she lists him as her guardian on the audition tape.
* PartingWordsRegret:
** Mitsuki was unable to tell Eichi that she loved him before he left. [[spoiler: And then the plane he got on crashed, and she never got the chance.]]
** The last time Fuzuki and Hazuki saw each other, they were fighting; Hazuki revealed that she was pregnant with Aoi's child and resolved to leave if her mother refused to give her blessing. Her subsequent DeathByChildbirth ensured that she and her mother never got to patch things up.
** Fuzuki has another one in her backstory: [[spoiler: the last time she and Moe saw each other, Moe mistakenly thought that Fuzuki had stolen Seijuro from her and ran away heartbroken, and ended up committing suicide that night.]]
* PsychoExGirlfriend: Hikari, although she's more immature and overly attached than insane. [[spoiler: She was Takuto's girlfriend at the time of his suicide, and comes across him while he is visible to humans for a date with Mitsuki. Recognizing him as Takuto, she pressures him into spending time with her, partly to make her boyfriend jealous and partly because she has yet to really let go of Takuto.]]
* TheRival: Madoka Wakamatsu, who is friendly with Mitsuki, but highly dislikes her Full Moon alter ego.
* RuleOfSymbolism: Meroko used to wear white as Izumi's partner, but switched to black once he rejected her. Rubbing salt in the wound was that the black outfit was his color.
** And also, Izumi was the one who gave her the outfit that she changed to.
* SacredFirstKiss: Takuto takes Mitsuki's in an early chapter in order to resuscitate her after she'd passed out. Later [[spoiler: subverted: Mitsuki and Eichi had actually kissed in the past.]]
* SadistTeacher: It's mentioned that Mitsuki was moved to the orphanage where she met Eichi because of abuse at the hands of a teacher at her old orphanage. The only example we see of this is said teacher telling Mitsuki, who is at most three years old at this point, that ''it was her fault her father died''. Jesus.
** The teacher is strongly implied to have been a Route L fangirl with a huge crush on Aoi, [[spoiler:taking her jealousy on Hazuki out on poor Mitsuki.]]
* ScrewDestiny: Part of Meroko's and Takuto's job is to stop the person or people who would prevent Mitsuki's death in the coming spring. [[spoiler:In the end, they save her life themselves.]]
* ScrewTheRulesImDoingWhatsRight: ''EVERYONE'' now that they have gotten to known Mitsuki.
** Meroko did this herself to reconcile with Fuzuki, even though it's forbidden for a Shinigami to show their human forms to people they knew when they were alive.
* SecondLove: Mitsuki's first love was Eichi. She [[spoiler: ends up with her second love, Takuto]].
** Subverted with [[spoiler: Meroko. Her love for Takuto was more out of gratefulness that he understood her feelings, and she ends up with her first love, Izumi.]]
* SexForServices: It isn't mentioned much, but [[spoiler: part of the reason Oshige is sleeping with the company president is to help further Mitsuki's career.]]
* SheIsAllGrownUp: Mitsuki after her transformation.
** Then [[spoiler: she becomes 16 for real in the TimeSkip after she was cured of her illness.]]
* {{Shinigami}}: Two exceedingly cute Shinigami give Mitsuki a new lease on life. There are a few other mischievous Shinigami that get tied up with Mitsuki.
* ShoutOut: An exasperated Madoka plays ''VideoGame/{{Pikmin}}'' in one of the chapters.
** Mitsuki uses ''Literature/TheLittleMermaid'' as inspiration for her first commercial song.
* ShutUpKiss: In the manga, Izumi pulls this on Takuto because he's annoyed at Takuto talking too much. Takuto just makes even ''more'' noise in response.
* SignificantAnagram: "Meroko Yui" is "Moe Rikyou" scrambled.
* SleepingWithTheBoss: [[spoiler: Oshige carries on an affair with Mitsuru, the company's president, in order to help further Mitsuki's career. It ends when she and Wakaoji get together.]]
* SnowMeansDeath
* StepfordSmiler:
** Mitsuki is ''much'' less happy and cheerful than she appears to be. Takuto calls her out for it.
** Meroko is also one.
* SurvivorGuilt: [[spoiler: Later in the story, after Oshige takes a bomb explosion that was meant for Mitsuki and Nachi is stabbed and sent to the hospital, Mitsuki nearly gives up singing because she's scared that whoever did it will keep hurting people unless she stops.]]
* ThemeNaming: Shinigami pairs are named after food (except Yami Nabe). And it's because ''Sheldan'' did the naming.
* TheTopicOfCancer: Mitsuki Koyama has a tumor in her throat played for full terror-tragedy value. In her particular case, her dream is to become an idol singer, but the only way to remove the cancer by the point the story begins involves a surgery that would potentially render her unable to sing. By the time the story nears the end, Wakaoji suspects that the tumor has likely grown to the point where it'd be impossible to remove it without rendering Mitsuki completely mute. [[spoiler: In the end she decides to have the surgery anyway, and keeps her voice; it turns out that her tumor didn't grow any larger during the time she spent as Full Moon.]]
* TragicKeepsake: [[spoiler:Mitsuki keeps a copy of the newspaper article about the plane crash that killed Eichi, and once you find out that Eichi is dead, her picture of him counts as this too.]]
* {{Tsundere}}: Takuto is one of the few male examples, type A. Meroko herself, being Type A towards Izumi and B to Takuto (in both the anime and manga). In the manga, this is subverted when Takuto says to Mitsuki that Meroko tells him she loves him to get Izumi's attention. Eventually, Meroko becomes Type B towards Izumi in the final chapter and they become an OfficialCouple.
** [[{{Tsundere}} Oranyan]]
** Then there's Madoka who's not only Tsundere towards Gutchan, but towards her love interest Nachi after she found out about his injury by an unknown attacker (who is Jonathan in disguise).
* UncannyFamilyResemblance: Mitsuki looks so much like Hazuki, her late mother, that it's painful for her grandmother to even look at her. When Mitsuki sees a picture of her mother as a child, even she mistakes it for herself at first. Mitsuki's transformed self also looks a lot like Hazuki, enough that Fuzuki briefly mistakes her for Hazuki upon first seeing her.
* UnusualEars: All Shinigami have these. It's justified with Takuto and Meroko since they're explicitly mentioned to primarily handle children's deaths. Takuto's ears and tail are revealed to be fake, since he isn't a full Shinigami yet.
* VictoriousChildhoodFriend: In the manga [[spoiler:Nachi]] is actually [[spoiler:Madoka's [[ChildhoodMarriagePromise fiance]]]] from their childhood. Unlike most of these kinds of relationships it took a good long time, a major rejection, and two plastic surgeries to get them together.
* WhamEpisode: [[spoiler: The end of Chapter 12 reveals Eichi's death. Chapter 13 is mostly comprised of Eichi and Mitsuki's past, and then at the end you learn that Mitsuki knew he was dead all along.]]
* WhipItGood: Meroko carries a whip to hunt souls.
* YamatoNadeshiko: Fuzuki.
* YouGottaHaveBlueHair: Meroko's is pink. Madoka's is purple, and Nachi and Aoi both have green. Sheldan's is silver.
----

** {{Oranyan}}

* AgeGapRomance: [[spoiler: Takuto]] is about fourteen years older than Mitsuki. Also, Eichi declared his love for Mitsuki when he was a teenager and she was ten.

* AllLoveIsUnrequited: Izumi loves Meroko loves Takuto loves Mitsuki loves Eichi, who also loved her [[spoiler:but can't act on it, because he's dead]]. In ''Full Moon'', love appears to be a [[{{Starboarding}} long, lonely one-way street]].
** And then it gets ''more'' confusing. [[spoiler:Meroko in fact loves Izumi back but he rejected her a long time ago by breaking her heart (but they work it out). Mitsuki reciprocates Takuto's love...only to leave Eichi locked out of it.]]
* AnguishedDeclarationOfLove: In the backstory, Eichi gives one to Mitsuki when he finds out that he will soon be leaving for America. Mitsuki is too confused by her own feelings to give Eichi an answer before he leaves - no kidding, [[{{Squick}} because she's only ten]] - [[spoiler: but she never gets the chance to respond, because Eichi's plane to America crashes, leaving no survivors.]]

* ForcefulKiss: Played straight in the manga when [[spoiler: ''teenaged'' Eichi does this to a ''ten-year-old'' Mitsuki who hadn't even hit puberty yet. Cue the Squick!]] Also with [[spoiler: Izumi and Meroko]] in Chapter 17.

** Subverted in the anime AND manga when [[spoiler: Izumi tries to take Mitsuki's soul through a KissOfDeath, [[BigDamnHeroes Takuto grabs him with the words: "Get your hands OFF her."]]]]

* NoAntagonist: The manga doesn't have a villain in any shape or form. Izumi seems like he's going to be one when he's introduced, but ThePowerOfFriendship prevails pretty quickly. Double goes with [[spoiler: Sheldon/Jonathan]].

* ObliviousToLove: Mitsuki, WHY can't you realize that Takuto loves you? [[spoiler: Although they eventually get together.]]. She was pretty much the same with Eichi; when he confessed to her, she was completely stunned that he would think of her that way.

* OfficialCouple: ''LOTS''. Mitsuki and Takuto, [[spoiler:Meroko and Izumi]], Sheldan ([[spoiler:Jonathan]]) and Mystere ([[spoiler:The Death Master]]), Hazuki and Aoi, Madoka and Nachi (manga only), and Wakaoji and Oshige.

** More of a [[spoiler:SelfFulfillingProphecy mainly because the people who save Mitsuki from death...''are'' Meroko and Takuto.]]
** The ScrewDestiny trope is played ''very'' straight when [[spoiler: Takuto mutters "What's so great about fate? Stupid crap! If she can't change it, [[CrowningMomentOfAwesome I'M going to change it ''for'' her!"]] ]]

* ShutUpKiss: In the manga, [[HoYay Izumi pulls this on Takuto]] because he's annoyed at Takuto talking too much. Takuto just makes even ''more'' noise in response.

* StepfordSmiler: Mitsuki. Takuto calls her out for it, leading to a CrowningMomentOfHeartwarming.
** Meroko can pretty much qualify as one too.

* UncannyFamilyResemblance: Mitsuki looks so much like Hazuki, her late mother, that it's [[TearJerker painful for her grandmother to even look at her]]. When Mitsuki sees a picture of her mother as a child, even she mistakes it for herself at first.
** Coincidentally (or not?), Mitsuki's transformed self also looks a lot like Hazuki, enough that Fuzuki briefly mistakes her for Hazuki upon first seeing her.

* AgeGapRomance: [[spoiler: Takuto]] is twelve years older than Mitsuki. Also, Eichi declared his love for Mitsuki when he was a teenager and she was ten.

* AbusiveParents: Izumi's mother.
* AffectionateNickname: Izumi calls Mitsuki "Mi-ki", Takuto "Ta-kun", and Meroko "Me-chan." Takuto calls Izumi "Zumi-yan."

* BitchInSheepsClothing: When Mitsuki (as Full Moon) met Madoka, she wasn't so nice. When she meets her (as her 12 year old self), she was nice to her. However, Takuto was able to see her abusing her pet pig Gut-chan.

* CelestialBureaucracy: Downplayed. There are established lists of who is meant to die when, and one chapter shows a number of Shinigami (the main cast among them) panicking when they find a whole bunch of deaths scheduled for the next day that had gotten lost somehow. Other than that, it isn't brought up much.

* DarkAndTroubledPast: All the major characters (Oshige aside, but including [[spoiler: Mitsuki]]) has one. They are usually connected with someone Mitsuki knows. Izumi's past is the only one whose past isn't connected to her at all.

* DeathByChildbirth: Hazuki. Although the car accident on the way to the hospital was a big factor as well.
* DeathSeeker: [[spoiler: Mitsuki, believe it or not! She's not actively trying to kill herself, but she wouldn't mind dying since she knows she'll be reunited with Eichi then. Subverted as the story proceeds and she decides that, since there are people who love her, she'll try to endure heartbreak and illness, because she wants to be there for the people who love her.]]

* OlderAlterEgo

* MayDecemberRomance: [[spoiler: Takuto is twelve years older]] than Mitsuki. Also, Eichi declared his love for Mitsuki when he was a teenager and she was ten.

** Coincidentally (or not?), Mitsuki's transformed self also looks a lot like Hazuki.

* CheerfulChild: Mitsuki. How can you not want to squeeze her to death? [[spoiler: And then subverted; she's shown to be a major StepfordSmiler and nowhere near as happy as she acts.]] Volume 5 puts her back her cheerful self after everyone resolved their differences.

* ForgottenFirstMeeting: [[spoiler: As Takuto begins regaining his memories, he recalls meeting Mitsuki when she was a young child. He doesn't mention it to her and it's not confirmed if she remembers.]]
** Also, [[spoiler: Meroko initially doesn't realize that she and Fuzuki knew each other when they were teenagers. She remembers it fully once Fuzuki mentions going to visit the grave of her friend...coincidentally on the anniversary of Meroko's own death.]]

* FriendlyRivalry: Mitsuki tries to do this with Madoka. She deconstructs it hard. She got better in later volumes.
* FriendsWithBenefits: [[spoiler: Oshige and

* SurvivorGuilt: [[spoiler: Later in the story, after Oshige takes a bomb explosion that was meant for Mitsuki and Nachi is stabbed and sent to the hospital, Mitsuki nearly gives up singing because she's scared that whoever did it will keep hurting people close to her.]]

* SurvivorGuilt: [[spoiler: Oshige takes a bomb explosion that was meant for Mitsuki later in the story, and Mitsuki nearly gives up singing because she's scared that whoever did it will keep hurting people close to her.]]

* BadBoss: Sheldon gives this vibe. He's actually not that bad when Mitsuki got to know him even when she found out [[spoiler: He's Jonathan]].

* DespairEventHorizon: This is how one becomes a Shinigami. Being emotionally driven first before DrivenToSuicide.

* FreudianExcuse: Fuzuki's backstory explains why she hates music: [[spoiler: Moe, Meroko when she was human, fell in love with the violinist Seijyuro Koga. Unfortunately for Moe, he was in love with Fuzuki instead. When Seijurou kisses Fuzuki, Moe catches them in the act and committed suicide later on. This caused Fuzuki to cancel her arranged marriage to Seijyuro. When Hazuki was seeing Seijyuro's son, Aoi, Fuzuki found out about her pregnancy, and Hazuki runs away from home, only to die in an accident with Aoi. The loss of her best friend and her only daughter took a bitter toll on her and her view on music]]. She got better after [[spoiler: Meroko disguising as her human self]] resolved the conflict that plagued her.

* GhostAmnesia

* HiddenDepths: ''Every one''. From the humans to the Shinigamiiz.
* HopeSpot: The last manga arc. Mitsuki decides to have the operation because she's regained her will to live. Takuto and Meroko love her, and her grandmother has mellowed. [[spoiler:Then Izumi and Jonathan rear their heads . . .]

* JerkWithAHeartOfGold: Takuto and Izumi.

** On the flip side, in the manga [[spoiler:Eichi after he dies refuses to let Takuto reap his soul, and he starts haunting Mitsuki as a ghost to protect her. She doesn't even knows that he's there while living in denial of her death.]]
* LoveRedeems: At a platonic level. Mitsuki's presence helped Izumi mellowed out in volume 4.

* MagicalGirl

* NoAntagonist: The manga doesn't have a villain in any shape or form. When Izumi was introduced, he seemingly acts like it. However Mitsuki's influence help him become a better person. Double goes with [[spoiler: Sheldon]].

* NotSoHarmlessVillain: [[spoiler: Jonathan.]]

* UncannyFamilyResemblance: Mitsuki looks so much like Hazuki, her late mother that it's [[TearJerker painful for her grandmother to even look at her]] When Mitsuki sees a picture of her mother as a child, even she mistakes it for herself at first.
* UnusualEars: All Shinigami have these.
** Takuto's ears and tail are revealed to be fake however.