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[[quoteright:236:http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/8uvzd_2570.jpg]]
[[caption-width-right:236:[-Neko Kuroha, the one to be blamed for everything.-] ]]
For ten years, Ryouta Murakami has been tormented by the death of his close childhood friend Kuroneko. The guilt he feels because of her death motivated him to fulfill [[ThePromise a childhood promise he made with with her to show aliens do exist]]. At 16, he's already third-ranked in school and is on fast track to become a NASA researcher, thanks to his PhotographicMemory. But her death left him with a deep inability to communicate with and understand the opposite sex.
One day, Neko Kuroha, a lookalike of Kuroneko appears. This begins a story of horror, experiments, human communication, and despair.
''Kiwaguro no Brynhildr'' (or ''Gokukoku no Brynhildr'' going by the furigana spelling and [[https://twitter.com/Gokukoku_anime the Twitter account for the anime]]; officially translated as ''Brynhildr in the Darkness'') is a manga by Creator/LynnOkamoto. It shares the science-fiction horror tone and '{{Gorn}} of ''Manga/ElfenLied''. A 13 episode {{anime}} adaptation aired [[Spring2014Anime as part of the Spring 2014 season]]. The animation studio behind it is Arms, already responsible for the ''Manga/ElfenLied'' anime. The manga began serialization in 2012 in the Weekly Young Jump.
Crunchyroll is streaming the anime, which can be [[http://www.crunchyroll.com/brynhildr-in-the-darkness viewed here]] for people living in the following areas: U.S.A, Canada, United Kingdom, Ireland, South Africa, Australia, New Zealand, Finland, Norway, Sweden, Denmark, Iceland, Netherlands, Turkey, Latin America (Central and South America including Caribbean), Spain, Portugal.
The [[Characters/GokukokuNoBrynhildr character sheet]] is currently under construction. Character tropes should be listed there.
''[[YouHaveBeenWarned Cautious editing/viewer warning]]'': While the manga is {{Seinen}} and has a public run, it is ''very graphic''.
----
!!This manga provides examples of:
[floatboxright:
Other manga by Creator/LynnOkamoto:
* Manga/ElfenLied
* Manga/{{Nononono}}
]
* AdaptationExplanationExtrication[=/=]AdaptationInducedPlotHole: There are so many instances in the last few episodes of the anime that it would take a separate page to list them all. Squishing a 40-chapter arc in 3-4 episodes can do this.
* AnyoneCanDie: Zigzagged. [[spoiler:Kotori, unfortunately, ends up with a MercyKill in order to keep her from eradicating the world, which is the first time a main character gets a perma-death. Except there's a key phrase: ''perma''-death. Many other characters end up BackFromTheDead via Time Reversal (Ryouta and Neko), NotQuiteDead (Nanami transfers her consciousness to Ryouta), or get subjected to Hatsuna's HealingFactor abilities. Hatsuna even survives ''her own hatching''.]]
* BeachEpisode: The very end of episode 10/chapters 55-57 has them go to a beach.
* BilingualBonus: The ''Harnessed'' is the button-like thing on the nape of magic users. Due to how things are transliterated to Katakana, it's easily possible to miss that the real transliteration is ''her nest'' (which gets written in the same way), an obvious reference to where resides the Drasil inside the magic users' bodies. Interestingly, according to the translators, "Harnessed" [[GratuitousEnglish in English]] was the original name.
* BittersweetEnding: The anime's GeckoEnding. The BigBad and TheDragon have been stopped, the apocalypse has been cancelled, [[spoiler:and Kogorou has managed to synthesise the death suppressants, meaning the remaining witches with Ryouta will live. However, Kotori sacrificed herself to do said cancelling, Kuroha has lost all her memories again, and the OmniscientCouncilOfVagueness is still out there presumably creating and hunting down more witches.]]
* BlandNameProduct: Episode 9 has "Rich(m)ond Hotel".
* BlessedWithSuck: Witches in general. Their powers come at an extreme cost, and they're all ultimately fated to either die due to lack of death suppressants, be killed by The Organization, or hatch and be devoured by the Drasil in their Harnessed and then proceed to go on a killing spree.
* BloodFromTheMouth: This happens to the Magic Users when they do not take their "death suppressant" pills. If they don't take the pills every 30 hours or so, they'll start to bleed. And after 35 hours, their internal organs start to melt and they die.
* BloodyHorror: Quite a few witches in the story are shown to be on the run from the organisation responsible for creating them. Even eluding the more direct methods of disposal, they are not exempt from having to regularly take the now unprocurable death suppressant capsules to push back the certain gory melting to death. Your skin ruptures a bit or nose starts bleeding? Congratulations, that's an indication of entering the 5-hours final countdown stage. And if the drug supply you had is used up by now...
* BodyHorror:
** Magic Users [[ItMakesSenseInContext melt]] when they go too long without taking the medication. And that is only the final stage. Before that, they start to [[{{Gorn}} bleed all over]], [[{{Squick}} their bodies break down, and even their internal organs shut down before that happens]].
** A magic user who hatches turns into a perpetually hungry and ''very'' tough monster, who eats their own empty shell.
* BreakTheCutie: All the magic users come pre-broken for your convenience. You could think that further breaking is on the menu and we wouldn't blame you for it, anyways.
* BreatherEpisode:
** Episode 4, or at least the second half. While episode 3 had a lot of intense action, episode 4 is mostly filled with high school hijinks and FanService scenes.
** The first half of episode 5 spends time with the girls and Ryouta bonding a little while watching the stars at night on a mountaintop. [[spoiler:Then Shino, one of the witches that escaped with the girls, shows up being chased by another witch.]]
** Most of the later half of episode 7, where Ryouta and Kazumi go to Akihabara. [[spoiler: Until Ryouta looks at the device Kuroha gave him.]]
* CensorSteam: Used a lot in episode 4, both to hide gruesome stuff in the first half, and to hide the usual female nudity in the second half. Used again in episode 6 when the girls are outside with a garden hose due to it being really hot that day.
* ChekhovsGun: The device that Kuroha gives to Ryouta. He's GenreSavvy enough to not turn it on while they're at the observatory, and instead activates it in Akihabara while shopping there with Kazumi. He later uses it again in episode 12, this time with the hopes of attracting whoever owned the device. Fortunately for him and the other girls, Hexenjagd agents show up and save them from Ichijiku and Valkyria, though they still manage to kidnap Kotori and make their escape.
* ChildhoodFriendRomance: Ryouta and Kuroha/Kuroneko. They were close friends as kids, but they were separated after an accident in which Ryouta thought she died. Years later, they meet again, but Kuroha doesn't remember him because of the memory loss caused by her powers. However, they still have feelings for each other.
* CliffHanger: Happens a couple of times:
** The first is in episode 3, after Ryouta finds Kuroha fighting Saori, [[spoiler:and watching the latter turn his friend into LudicrousGibs.]]
** Another happens at the end of episode 5. Kuroha heads to a lake to help Shino. Then they find out the witch chasing her is Kikako, a AA+. [[spoiler:Kikako shoots a beam from her mouth, which vaporizes the right side of Shino's body. Kuroha just watches in horror as she's unable to do anything.]]
** Valkyrie shows up in the observatory right at the end of episode 11.
* CompressedAdaptation: Somewhat expected to the very long nature of the series. Due to only having thirteen episodes to work with, the anime is forced to cut out large chunks of story and even [[AdaptedOut some characters]], such as Yuki Tsuchiya and the ''Skadi'' arc (it is trying to go through around ''100'' chapters, anyway). During the first 9 episodes though, it manages to stay remarkably close to the source material. However, the compression gets really egregious in the last 3 episodes. For example, episode 10 skips some content from chapter 40 to 58, and episode 11 includes content from chapter 59 to 70.
* CosmicHorrorStory: Ichijiku explains humanity actually has its ''original form'' as the weird EldritchAbomination (see entry). Each person has it innately, since humanity ''is'' aliens, but the race has evolved far enough that they use their "human" forms. This otherwise means the powers come from an ''innate'' human trait and the research facility was simply unlocking it [[ForScience for their own use]].
* DangerousForbiddenTechnique: The third button on the witches' harnests. They don't know what it does, because nobody's ever been brave enough to press it, considering [[{{Squick}} what the other]] [[PowerNullifier two buttons do]]. [[spoiler:According to Nanami, Kuroha's will unleash her true power if pressed, but has a 99.9% chance of ejecting her. Even Ichijiku himself says it'll eject her... but when she presses it, sure enough, her true power is unleashed]].
** [[spoiler:Kana also gets hers pressed, and while it removes her forecasting ability, it cures her paralysis, allowing her to run in and protect Kuroha from Valkyria]].
* DoItYourSelfThemeTune: The ending theme is performed by the {{Seiyuu}}s of the first four main characters: Creator/RisaTaneda (Neko), Creator/AyaSuzaki (Kana), [[Creator/MaoIchimichi M.A.O]] (Kazumi), and Azusa Tadokoro (Kotori).
* DoesThisRemindYouOfAnything: In order to get inducted to the Vingulf research facility, you must possess high knowledge and have low contacts. They can prove the former with agreeing with the college of graduation, but the latter is done with incredible levels of spying (for example, they know [[TheInternetIsForPorn if you've gone to porn sites]]). Yuki believed that this was [[StalkerWithoutACrush one thing]], but the reader knows that it is [[CloakAndDagger the other]].
* EldritchAbomination: The horrendous Drasil that remains when a magic user is destroyed with her Harnessed's down-left button gives all vibes of this. Might be an alien life form that parasites the magic users' bodies and gives them their powers, but this is unconfirmed. That ''thing'' that resides in a Magic User has multiple eyes, a jelly mass, is apparently ''sentient'', and most likely alien. If this is not Eldritch, then what is?
** [[spoiler:The Initial Sorcerian is something not from this world, but has been tested for the past 20 years. Its DNA and overall composition supports this, but the exact details of what it can do are left ambiguous.]]
* EverythingTryingToKillYou: Between the TheMenInBlack using Magic Users trying to capture and remove others, rogue Magic Users attempting to kill anyone just for the sake it, and several times the ''environment'' trying to kill the main characters, nobody is safe.
* EvolvingCredits: In episode 10, Nanami joins the main cast at the end of the credits as they look at the night sky. Hatsuna joins them in episode 12 (episode 11 in the Blu-ray). The Blu-ray version of episode 13 has also [[spoiler:Kana standing on her own feet, but Kotori is missing]].
* FanDisservice: The ''first two pages'' is Ryouta stabbing Kuroha with lots of blood flowing in full color. By this, you know that FanService will not be plentiful. In chapter 3, we learn that Kanade, another escaped magic user, has been captured. She's shown strapped face-down on a table, naked.
* {{Fanservice}}: ImprobablyFemaleCast with a guy who is not comfortable around women; of course there is going to be fanservice.
* FateWorseThanDeath: What the Magic Users are told about the third button on their harness. Note that this is ''implied''. [[spoiler: Kana's disables her foresight to let her walk. Neko's causes her to regain her full memories and powers.]]
* {{Foreshadowing}}:
** This manga doesn't even try to hide the idea that Neko Kuroha might be Ryouta's childhood friend Kuroneko.
** A much more subtle and literal example in the first chapter is of [[spoiler:Valkyria's shadow being present in the page when Ryouta tries to pull out the knife in Kuroha's chest]].
* ForScience: Every scientist so far (with the exception of Yuki) has only the desire to continue their work just because they think it is interesting.
* GagSub: A German fansub group made a Misheard karaoke sub for the second opening. See [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N651U1XPcBQ&index=2&list=FLMDJtw8vlnxWlgaRVzDTCww here]].
* GeckoEnding: Due to the CompressedAdaptation issue, the anime changes some things around. Some of the more notable examples:
** Kogorou and his team unlock the secrets behind the pills the girls need on their own. In the manga Hexenjagd gives them the recipe for Ryouta and the other witches helping them stop Ichijiku and Valkyria.
** Kuroha's fight with Valkyria is drastically shortened. In the manga it goes on for several chapters, while in the anime it lasts a couple of minutes, and nearly borders on TheUnfought. [[spoiler:Much of the city is also SparedByTheAdaptation, since Kuroneko stops Valkyria before she can cast her antimatter spell, whereas in the manga Valkyria destroys a significant portion of it before being stopped.]]
** Kana's role in the final battle is downplayed. [[spoiler:In the manga she shows up to slash Valyria's throat, though that doesn't stop the latter. In the anime she arrives to momentarily stop Valkyria's attack on Kuroha long enough for the latter to press the harnest and unlock her powers to deal with Valkyria. Additionally, she is seen in a wheelchair again, implying she's crippled again, while in the manga she can still move around and transfers to Kitsuka's school.]]
** Kotori's fate is the same in both adaptations, but it differs slightly in each version. [[spoiler:In the manga, she convinces Ryouta to eject her. In the anime she does it on her own, though she still manages to tell him to let Ichijiku know his little sister doesn't approve of what he's doing.]]
** Hexenjagd plays a smaller role in the anime than in the manga. [[spoiler:As with the example with Kogorou above, they only serve to stop Ichijiku and Valkyria. Their interactions with Ryouta and the witches is largely downplayed after they save them from Ichijiku and Valkyria.]]
* GodzillaThreshold:
** Ryouta attempts one in episode 12 of the anime, when he activates the transponder that Kuroha gave him in an earlier episode, not knowing what would happen when the device was tracked down. Hexenjagd agents show up to save them from Valkyria and Chisato. [[spoiler:Unfortunately they fatally wound him, along with kidnapping Kotori. Fortunately Hatsuna is able to heal him back up.]]
** In chapter 127, Hexenjagd sort of saves the day again after [[spoiler:Hatsuna]] hatches. Ryouta then attempts something never done before after hearing a suggestion from Kazumi. [[spoiler: He helps her drasil back into its harnest, after Kazumi theorizes that it may be enough to bring her BackFromTheDead. It works, and as soon as she's able to, Hatsuna starts to heal up Takaya, whom she had taken a bite out of earlier. Even Hexenjagd is shocked at Hatsuna being able to recover from hatching.]]
* GoodOldFisticuffs: One of the security guards attempts this in chapter 111 on an awakened drasil that just appeared inside the hospital. It seems to work at first, as his attacks seem to be hurting it, [[spoiler:but then the drasil simply bites him in half.]]
* {{Gorn}}: Okamoto indulges in this each time more and more; just compare the post-accident Ryouta in episode 1 to the fight with Saori in chapter 9/episode 3.
* GoryDiscretionShot: Done to Shino at the end of episode 5. [[spoiler:After getting blasted by Kikako's attack. Part of the right side of her body is vaporized, but most of it's blocked from view by the wooden fence.]]
* GovernmentConspiracy: The villains are implied to have powerful contacts in the government because in episode 6 Ryouta is warned that the police will be on the lookout for a Harnessed, meaning they must be in on the whole deal.
* GratuitousEnglish: The [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KX7qnJC873Y lyrics]] of the second opening are entirely in English. And they are very hard to understand.
* GreenEyedMonster: In episode 7 two boys tells Ryouta all of the guys in their class are jealous of his relationship with Kazumi, because she's the only guy she'll talk to for any period of time.
* HalfTheManHeUsedToBe: Several characters get sliced in half at various points during the show.
* HopeSpot: One occurs in episode 7, when Ryouta attempts to have his uncle Kogorou analyze the pills the girls take to see if they can make more for them. He warns Ryouta that at best, it might take half a year, or several years to analyze the drug. He then mentions it might be possible to make it within a month if the structure is a crystalline. [[spoiler:Ryouta later gets a call from him, and he tells him that it's not crystalline.]]
* HowWeGotHere: The opening pages show [[spoiler:Ryouta over Neko with a knife in her chest, devastation abound and him wishing that if someone, presumably Neko, would have just died none of the damage would have happened]]. Come Chapter 95 [[spoiler:Ryouta is trying save Neko by pulling out the knife and talking to Neko's murderer Valkyria]].
* IKnowYoureInthereSomewhereFight: Witches who have hatched become EldritchAbominations. They usually start out by eating the body of their host, whichever girl that they popped out of. Despite that, they still have some vague memories of their former life, and some characters attempt to stop them from killing others. [[spoiler:Kana witnesses this when Rurumi hatches, and ends up eating her friend Rin. Takaya also manages to hold off a hatched Hatsuna long enough to ask her out on a date as he lay dying after being bitten nearly in half by her hatched form.]]
* ImMelting: What happens when the harness of a magic user is removed and is first seen in chapter 3/episode 2 with Kanade.
* ImmuneToBullets: A security guard fires some bullets at a drasil that's awakened inside the hospital in chapter 111. Said bullets don't even seem to faze it at all, and the monster simply eats the guard.
* ImprobablyFemaleCast: Almost all of the magic users shown until now are teenage girls. There hasn't been any explanation for that so far. The one exception is Initializer, a PowerNullifier who appears to be a boy, [[AmbiguouslyHuman although it's not clear whether he's actually human]] or [[UnequalRites the same type of magic user as the girls]] at all.
* InsistentTerminology: The girls with the magic powers are called both magic users/magicians/mages ("mahoutsukai") and witches ("majou"). The girls themselves use the former, the people from Vingulf and Hexenjagd use the latter. Which one is the correct term is unknown.
* LighterAndSofter: Compared to ''Manga/ElfenLied'', the tone and themes are certainly this; the violence is somewhat less extreme (though still graphical), the nudity tamer, and there are more light-hearted moments overall. Not that the series doesn't have its dark or sad moments though, far from it.
* LoveHurts: Both Ryouta and Kuroha experience this in chapter 130 and 131 after he inadvertently leads her into a love hotel. [[spoiler:Kuroha then suspects that Kazumi wanted to bring him here to have sex with him, and he says that you can only make babies with someone you love. Suspecting that he likes Kazumi, Kuroha then leaves dejectedly, and he follows shortly afterwards.]]
* LudicrousGibs:
** Used in episode 3, [[spoiler:when Saori seemingly does this to Kuroha at the end of the episode.]]
** Used again in chapter 83, [[spoiler:this time by Valkyrie against Hatsuna in an attempt to get around her HealingFactor.]]
* LyricalDissonance: The [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KX7qnJC873Y second opening]] sound very crazy and weird. But if you read the lyrics, you will notice immediately that it's an anti-war song.
* MadeOfPlasticine: Just like in ''Manga/ElfenLied'', an offensive power hitting a human is not a pretty sight.
* MagicFromTechnology: The organization creates the Magic Users with operations and medicines.
--> '''Ryouta''': "[[LampshadeHanging That has nothing to do with magic!]]"
* MaleGaze: Used a couple of times in the anime, such as the focus on Kuroha's legs when she's running towards the scene of a predicted accident in episode 2.
* TheMenInBlack: The common dispatch the science facilities use to capture and/or kill Magical Girls.
* MercyKill: The hatched drasil [[spoiler:of Hatsuna]] in chapter 125 begs to be killed while she's still somewhat sane. Unfortunately Hexenjagd states she can't be easily killed in that form, hence why they warned Ryouta to kill the girls while still in human form.
* MythologyGag: Many to Okamoto's previous works.
** At the end of Chapter 10/Episode 4, the island visible from the beach Neko and Ryouta are standing on will look awfully familiar to fans of ''Manga/ElfenLied''[[note]]The island is Enoshima, which was significant to the plot of both the anime and manga[[/note]]. It helps that they are visiting Kamakura itself, where ''Manga/ElfenLied'' took place.
** The Harness look ''very'' similar to the MindControlDevice from ''Manga/ElfenLied''.
** Speaking of the Harness, if they are taken out from the Magic Users, their bodies will melt. In ''Manga/ElfenLied'', [[spoiler:Lucy's body melts in the end of the manga]].
** The setting is in Nagano. ''Manga/{{Nononono}}'' has also a setting in Nagano.
* MoodWhiplash: Well crazier than ''Elfen Lied''. In the anime opening, the girls are shown bloodied around a normal background, but then the background is swept away to a more desolate looking scene, while the girl then gets cleaned up and looks normal. The show also switches back and forth from going to school, to more action-oriented things.
* NippleAndDimed: Despite the fact it's a ''Creator/LynnOkamoto'' manga, he averts this trope. The uncensored anime plays it straight, however.
* NoNameGiven: The man and woman [[spoiler:(apparently Kana's sister)]] who investigate Vingulf in the post-Valkyria arc are still unnamed after more than twenty chapters of regular presence. Chances are this is deliberate (remember ''Manga/ElfenLied'').
* NothingIsScarier: The Magic Users are told that on their harness the first button cancels their magic for 1 hour, the second button kills them, but are not told what the third button does. They are only told it is a FateWorseThanDeath.
* OmniscientCouncilOfVagueness: The BigBad owner of Vingulf is working for some spooky old men in a foggy holographic room who make vague doomy proclamations.
* PersonOfMassDestruction: Several of the witches are capable of doing this.
* PowerGlows: Several examples: Kazumi glows yellow whenever she's hooked in to her computer. Shino has the ability to understand animals and her ears glow when this happens. Kuroha also glows blue when she uses her powers.
* PowerLimiter: The harnest on the back of the witch's necks will partially eject, causing them to become "hung up" if they attempt to use their powers too much. Further usage before it resets itself after a day or so will cause the harnest to eject completely, causing them to literally meltdown and die. It can also be manually set, either to control them, or if the girls don't want to be found by a witch with the ability to track down other witches. Some of the unluckier ones have a harnest that can be remotely ejected should they attempt to escape custody as other witches have done in the past. [[spoiler:The third button has a different effect depending on the witch. Kana can walk but loses her foresight. Neko could regain her memories and access to her incredible power but has a 99% chance of dying instead]].
* ProphecyTwist: Kana's forecasts show what will happen, but not why. For example, in episode 5 she sees [[spoiler:Kotori smiling while standing over Kuroha's body and thinks Kotori killed Kuroha.]] In episode 6 we learn that it's actually [[spoiler:Kotori being a StepfordSmiler to hide her sadness.]]
* RandomPowerRanking: The Magic Uses are ranked by how many powers they have and how skilled or powerful it is. If they are not strong enough, they are disposed of. It is because of that that this series started, as the Magic Users escaped a disposal transport.
* RankInflation: To begin with, ranks are described as ranging from B to AAA (with A being a step up from BBB,) but in chapter 26 the existence of a rank S Magic User is alluded to but what sort of power involved is unclear.[[note]] The overall vagueness of what power this magic user can have makes this go either way between BeyondTheImpossible and RankInflation. For background, a high-ranking Magic user was able to eviscerate anything withing a six-meter radius, as well as turn back time by one minute, and was demonstrated in the manga very clearly, but this user is not even close to Rank S.[[/note]]
* ReadingsAreOffTheScale: Ryouta has a memory so good, he averages in the ''top 2 percentile''. This is apparently known by many of his classmates. [[spoiler:When Kuroha ends up beating him in the midterms, ''everyone'' gives a FlatWhat at the results as if it was something impossible, and gave Ryouta ColorFailure. The implication is that Kuroha's intelligent enough that, if she wasn't losing her memories all the time, she can effectively beat ''photographic memory''.]]
* RealityEnsues: Sure, let's just wait for [[EldritchAbomination Hatsuna's Drasil]] to hatch instead of ejecting her straight away, because when it does we'd just have to work her willpower back with that good ol' IKnowYoureInThereSomewhereFight. [[TemptingFate No way she'd stay a monster, right?]] [[spoiler: She does. She regains her will for a couple seconds, bring the Drasil to a pause, but that's all she could ever manage. ThePowerOfLove just doesn't work on EldritchAbomination.]]
** Making matters worse, thanks to Kana's foresight, Ryouta and the Astronomy Club have more or less already known when Hatsuna is going to hatch. Yet they consciously chose not to act upon that foresight despite Hexenjagd's warning that they wouldn't be able to intervene in the event of her hatching due to their inconveniently-timed loss of magic.
--> '''Miki (when Ryouta asks her if they can stop hatching from happening)'''': If you want to prevent the hatching, you'll have to eject the witch. The only thing we can do is to kill the Drasil as it hatches.\\
'''Miki (when Hatsuna's Drasil is about to devour Ryouta):''' You brought it upon yourself...Serves you right...It's all because you didn't eject her when you had the chance.
* TheReveal:
** [[spoiler:In chapter 69, after Kotori accidentally spills some water on Kuroha, Ryouta sees the three moles on her breast.]]
** During chapter 73, Hexenjagd explains more about the nature of the witches. [[spoiler:Specifically, the aliens that Ryouta saw are actually the "brain" of the girls, and any memories of early life they have are imprinted on them. Additionally, those organisms grow inside of them and use the "death suppressant pills" to do so. After some time, maybe a few years at best, the organism will consume the body of the girl, and they will emerge as something not-human and seek to kill humans. The only reason they let the girls live was because Ryouta told them they only had about a week's supply of pills, so one of the Hexenjagd members says it's not likely they would emerge in such a short time, and their priority was to capture Kotori, who was kidnapped by Ichijiku just moments earlier.]]
* RuleOfSymbolism: NorseMythology gets thrown around by the researchers. The closest to any sort of explicit information is "Skadi", a AAA magic user with the ability to see, predict, and ''[[UpToEleven interfere]]'' with the future, at the cost of her life. Another one is "Drasill", which is briefly mentioned twice, never explained entirely, and said to have some kind of horrendous power. One head researcher states that if 1107 [[spoiler:(i.e. Kotori)]] is not captured, it would initiate [[TheEndOfTheWorldAsWeKnowIt via Drasill.]] Also, [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brynhildr the title of the series]] (Brynhildr is the name of a famous Valkyrie).
* RunningGag:
** Anytime Kazumi tries to show off her body, especially her breasts, and Ryouta making a snarky comment about it. Then getting hit by her as a result.
** Neko smashes something when something happens to Ryouta [[spoiler:since it's her old self taking over and remembering that she loves Ryouta.]]
-->*something remotely sexual happens to Ryouta*\\
'''BOOM'''\\
([[{{Beat}} everyone looks at Kuroha]])\\
'''Kuroha''': ''"I-I didn't mean for that to happen!"''
* SacrificedBasicSkillForAwesomeTraining: From what Kuroha has mentioned, the girls who are turned into witches seem to have almost superhuman powers, but are also horribly experimented on and not allowed to learn basic things like reading and math. She also says they usually die young, which may also explain why they're only teens, and she feels she doesn't need to know stuff like that anyway, never mind that she's attending a high school with an education equivalent of an early grade schooler.
* ScryVsScry: Kana vs Skadi (a.k.a. Mizuka).
* ShoutOut:
** The very first episode/chapter has Neko's "[[LightNovel/ShakuganNoShana Urusai! Urusai! Urusai!]]" This reappears later again.
** "What's [[StreetFighter Tetsuzanko]]?"
** In episode 11 Kazumi explains that Hatsuna's power is that [[VisualNovel/FateStayNight she doesn't die even if she gets killed.]]
** Nanami meets two children, one of them is angry at his friend because the latter drop his rare trading card in the water. The card looks suspiciously like a ''TableTopGame/YuGiOh'' card. The anime puts a star on the black circle of the backside, but you can even see the frontside of the card there. It's a Pendulum Monster Card, a new introduced type of Monster Cards; the only difference is that they turned the green color part into pink like a Trap Card.
** In chapter 116, Hatsuna does "[[Manga/KOn Moe Moe Kyun]]" twice.
* ShutUpHannibal: In chapter 126, Machina saves Ryouta and the others from [[spoiler:Hatsuna's]] hatched form. However, Hexenjagd seems terrified of him, and even Ryouta senses an evil aura emanating from the guy. However, once he kisses Kuroha because she looks like Valkyria, she slaps him and tells him not to touch her. Despite Hexenjagd warning them not to make him angry, Ryouta delivers a dropkick to him, which forces him to retreat since his body is still really weak, and Ryouta's attack was enough to disfigure his face.
* SickEpisode: Kazumi catches a cold in chapter 130 on the day she was supposed to go see a movie with Ryouta. Though she asks Kana to tell him, Kana instead sends Kuroha. She then ends up going on the date with Ryouta instead.
* SoundtrackDissonance: The anime's ending theme is jarringly light and happy, so pretty much any time an episode ends with a DownerEnding (which is a fair few of them), the viewer is subjected to this.
* SpellMyNameWithAnS:
** Grane or Grani? It's apparently the former, considering how the characters pronounce that name. Also, it's written like that in the second opening.
** Harness, Harnessed or Harnest?
** Valkyria or Valkyrie?
* SpiritualSuccessor: Should be [[Manga/ElfenLied pretty obvious]] by now.
* SpoilerOpening:
** The first opening shows all main heroines, including even Hatsuna, who is not even introduced before the switch to the second opening. Other characters, whose appearances are spoiled there before their introduction and the switch to the second opening, are Valkyia and Hexenjagd. It also spoilers that Kotori is either a good girl or has a HeelFaceTurn, since she's introduced as a possible assassin, and the silhouettes of Saori and Kikako including their powers. Not to mention the final battle between Neko and Valkyria.
** The second opening spoilers that Hatsuna is definitely going to be a main character. There are also a few subtle possible spoilers: [[spoiler:Kotori is shown switching places with Hatsuna, probably a {{Foreshadowing}} that Hatsuna will replace her in the manga; Kana is seen moving her right hand, despite she can only move her left, {{Foreshadowing}} that she will move again]].
* SquishyWizard: All witches we've seen so far don't seem to be any tougher than normal humans. Made most obvious when [[spoiler:Ichijiku goes TakingTheBullet for Valkyria, suggesting that even she who is the WorldsStrongestMan still doesn't have the SuperToughness to be ImmuneToBullets.]]
* SurrealThemeTune:
** The first opening is a bizarre mash-up of angry violins, ominous wails and chants, and ''dubstep''.
** The second anime opening is a heavy rock tune full of {{Metal Scream}}s à la [[Manga/DeathNote What's Up]] [[Music/MaximumTheHormone People]]… but the movie that accompanies it consists mostly of mundane, semi-static images, which gives a rather weird effect.
* SustainedMisunderstanding: One occurs in chapter 131, after Kuroha and Ryouta end up in a love hotel together following their date. [[spoiler:They actually don't do anything, but Takaya and Hatsuna end up seeing Kuroha leaving the hotel, followed shortly by Ryouta later, and she tells Kazumi about it. As a result, Kazumi thinks Ryouta and Kuroha had sex, while Kuroha thinks that Ryouta is in love with Kazumi. Ryouta fails to clear up the misunderstanding and his feelings towards her. But even if he did, she likely wouldn't believe him anyway due to her recent memory loss after the fight with Valkyria and is still cold towards him.]]
* TalkingIsAFreeAction: Occurs a couple of times in episode 13, such as when Kuroha talks to Ryouta while Valkyria is nearby and attempting to break through the former's barrier.
* ThemeMusicPowerup: In episode 13 the first opening plays when [[spoiler:Kuroha reawakens her memories and powers as Kuroneko.]]
* TruthInTelevision: In chapter 6, it's revealed that Kazumi's magic is her capability to factor very large integers with ease, and that makes her capable of breaking the security of many systems. Then again, the [[TechnoBabble explanation and theory exposed]] in the chapter would make mathematicians and cryptographers cringe.
** ShownTheirWork: On the other hand, a similar situation in which Ryouta asks Kougorou, a head chemist at a research facility, on the process how the "anti-death pills" are made (this field is known as "organic chemistry") is done using ''extremely basic'' terms, which is TechnoBabble at best for those who may or may not know the topic itself. It's useless to explain a concept that would take several pages when the audience only needs to know the basic idea to understand. Plus, [[{{Justified}} we're talking about a kid who's listening to a topic very outside of his field of research and he only heard about it briefly, if barely at all]]. [[GeniusBonus You may need to know some of it already in order to understand the entire concept]].
* VillainousRescue: The hatched drasil [[spoiler:of Hatsuna]] is stopped by Machina in chapter 125/126. Hexenjagd seems to [[TheDreaded fear him]], and Ryouta says he feels an evil presence emanating from the man.
* WhamEpisode:
** In episode 3, Kuroha is seemingly turned into LudicrousGibs right in front of Ryouta by Saori, another witch. [[spoiler:However, Ryouta stabs Saori in the heart, forcing her to utilize her time magic to go back one minute into the past, before she killed Kuroha and him. And because it caused her to hang up, she couldn't fight back or even run away.]]
** In chapter 69/episode 11, Ryouta finds out that Kuroha is his childhood friend Kuroneko after Kotori spills some juice on her by accident. [[spoiler:Valkyria also finds them at the very end of the episode when she warps into the observatory right in front of them.]]
** Episode 12. [[spoiler:The Grane in Kotori's Harness awakens, beginning the apocalypse.]]
** In chapter 138, Kuroha, having lost her memories again after fighting Valkyria, states coldly that she hates Ryouta after Hatsuna warns him about brushing off their feelings for him. She then rediscovers her journal her past self wrote with various details on them. [[spoiler:She then finds Ryouta's article, and it's filled with various love symbols and words describing that she likes him a lot. Shortly afterward, Ryouta sees Kazumi alone in the woods, and thinking Kuroha doesn't care about him any longer, kisses her.]]
* WhamLine: This manga just loves these. For more, see the character entries.
** A particularly interesting one occurs in chapter 114, when Onodera, Ichijiku's replacement at Vingulf, says that a drasil hatching from one of the witches was entirely unpredictable and amounted to bad luck. [[spoiler:After she hangs up the phone however, she gives off an EvilLaughter and strongly hints that drasil hatching is not random, and is instead triggered by something, or someone else.]]
** Kuroha says she wants to start liking Ryouta in chapter 139, having lost her memories again after fighting Valkyria a while back. [[spoiler:The previous night, Ryouta kissed Kazumi after she gives him another AnguishedDeclarationOfLove, and thinking Kuroha wasn't interested in him anymore, felt she didn't have any other significant rivals to compete with. So Kuroha mentioning this comes as a shock to him and Kazumi.]]
* YouAreNumberSix: The organisation refers to escaped witches by numbers − in the manga at least. It's downplayed quite a bit in the anime.
* YouHaveOutlivedYourUsefulness: How the research facility deals with scientists who leave the facility. They give a GPS tracker, a set list of guidelines, and a ride out. [[spoiler:Then they kill the scientist.]]
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%%Please add character related tropes to the character page. Tropes like RunningGag do not count.
%%
[[quoteright:236:http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/8uvzd_2570.jpg]]
[[caption-width-right:236:[-Neko Kuroha, the one to be blamed for everything.-] ]]
For ten years, Ryouta Murakami has been tormented by the death of his close childhood friend Kuroneko. The guilt he feels because of her death motivated him to fulfill [[ThePromise a childhood promise he made with with her to show aliens do exist]]. At 16, he's already third-ranked in school and is on fast track to become a NASA researcher, thanks to his PhotographicMemory. But her death left him with a deep inability to communicate with and understand the opposite sex.
One day, Neko Kuroha, a lookalike of Kuroneko appears. This begins a story of horror, experiments, human communication, and despair.
''Kiwaguro no Brynhildr'' (or ''Gokukoku no Brynhildr'' going by the furigana spelling and [[https://twitter.com/Gokukoku_anime the Twitter account for the anime]]; officially translated as ''Brynhildr in the Darkness'') is a manga by Creator/LynnOkamoto. It shares the science-fiction horror tone and '{{Gorn}} of ''Manga/ElfenLied''. A 13 episode {{anime}} adaptation aired [[Spring2014Anime as part of the Spring 2014 season]]. The animation studio behind it is Arms, already responsible for the ''Manga/ElfenLied'' anime. The manga began serialization in 2012 in the Weekly Young Jump.
Crunchyroll is streaming the anime, which can be [[http://www.crunchyroll.com/brynhildr-in-the-darkness viewed here]] for people living in the following areas: U.S.A, Canada, United Kingdom, Ireland, South Africa, Australia, New Zealand, Finland, Norway, Sweden, Denmark, Iceland, Netherlands, Turkey, Latin America (Central and South America including Caribbean), Spain, Portugal.
The [[Characters/GokukokuNoBrynhildr character sheet]] is currently under construction. Character tropes should be listed there.
''[[YouHaveBeenWarned Cautious editing/viewer warning]]'': While the manga is {{Seinen}} and has a public run, it is ''very graphic''.
----
!!This manga provides examples of:
[floatboxright:
Other manga by Creator/LynnOkamoto:
* Manga/ElfenLied
* Manga/{{Nononono}}
]
* AdaptationExplanationExtrication[=/=]AdaptationInducedPlotHole: There are so many instances in the last few episodes of the anime that it would take a separate page to list them all. Squishing a 40-chapter arc in 3-4 episodes can do this.
* AnyoneCanDie: Zigzagged. [[spoiler:Kotori, unfortunately, ends up with a MercyKill in order to keep her from eradicating the world, which is the first time a main character gets a perma-death. Except there's a key phrase: ''perma''-death. Many other characters end up BackFromTheDead via Time Reversal (Ryouta and Neko), NotQuiteDead (Nanami transfers her consciousness to Ryouta), or get subjected to Hatsuna's HealingFactor abilities. Hatsuna even survives ''her own hatching''.]]
* BeachEpisode: The very end of episode 10/chapters 55-57 has them go to a beach.
* BilingualBonus: The ''Harnessed'' is the button-like thing on the nape of magic users. Due to how things are transliterated to Katakana, it's easily possible to miss that the real transliteration is ''her nest'' (which gets written in the same way), an obvious reference to where resides the Drasil inside the magic users' bodies. Interestingly, according to the translators, "Harnessed" [[GratuitousEnglish in English]] was the original name.
* BittersweetEnding: The anime's GeckoEnding. The BigBad and TheDragon have been stopped, the apocalypse has been cancelled, [[spoiler:and Kogorou has managed to synthesise the death suppressants, meaning the remaining witches with Ryouta will live. However, Kotori sacrificed herself to do said cancelling, Kuroha has lost all her memories again, and the OmniscientCouncilOfVagueness is still out there presumably creating and hunting down more witches.]]
* BlandNameProduct: Episode 9 has "Rich(m)ond Hotel".
* BlessedWithSuck: Witches in general. Their powers come at an extreme cost, and they're all ultimately fated to either die due to lack of death suppressants, be killed by The Organization, or hatch and be devoured by the Drasil in their Harnessed and then proceed to go on a killing spree.
* BloodFromTheMouth: This happens to the Magic Users when they do not take their "death suppressant" pills. If they don't take the pills every 30 hours or so, they'll start to bleed. And after 35 hours, their internal organs start to melt and they die.
* BloodyHorror: Quite a few witches in the story are shown to be on the run from the organisation responsible for creating them. Even eluding the more direct methods of disposal, they are not exempt from having to regularly take the now unprocurable death suppressant capsules to push back the certain gory melting to death. Your skin ruptures a bit or nose starts bleeding? Congratulations, that's an indication of entering the 5-hours final countdown stage. And if the drug supply you had is used up by now...
* BodyHorror:
** Magic Users [[ItMakesSenseInContext melt]] when they go too long without taking the medication. And that is only the final stage. Before that, they start to [[{{Gorn}} bleed all over]], [[{{Squick}} their bodies break down, and even their internal organs shut down before that happens]].
** A magic user who hatches turns into a perpetually hungry and ''very'' tough monster, who eats their own empty shell.
* BreakTheCutie: All the magic users come pre-broken for your convenience. You could think that further breaking is on the menu and we wouldn't blame you for it, anyways.
* BreatherEpisode:
** Episode 4, or at least the second half. While episode 3 had a lot of intense action, episode 4 is mostly filled with high school hijinks and FanService scenes.
** The first half of episode 5 spends time with the girls and Ryouta bonding a little while watching the stars at night on a mountaintop. [[spoiler:Then Shino, one of the witches that escaped with the girls, shows up being chased by another witch.]]
** Most of the later half of episode 7, where Ryouta and Kazumi go to Akihabara. [[spoiler: Until Ryouta looks at the device Kuroha gave him.]]
* CensorSteam: Used a lot in episode 4, both to hide gruesome stuff in the first half, and to hide the usual female nudity in the second half. Used again in episode 6 when the girls are outside with a garden hose due to it being really hot that day.
* ChekhovsGun: The device that Kuroha gives to Ryouta. He's GenreSavvy enough to not turn it on while they're at the observatory, and instead activates it in Akihabara while shopping there with Kazumi. He later uses it again in episode 12, this time with the hopes of attracting whoever owned the device. Fortunately for him and the other girls, Hexenjagd agents show up and save them from Ichijiku and Valkyria, though they still manage to kidnap Kotori and make their escape.
* ChildhoodFriendRomance: Ryouta and Kuroha/Kuroneko. They were close friends as kids, but they were separated after an accident in which Ryouta thought she died. Years later, they meet again, but Kuroha doesn't remember him because of the memory loss caused by her powers. However, they still have feelings for each other.
* CliffHanger: Happens a couple of times:
** The first is in episode 3, after Ryouta finds Kuroha fighting Saori, [[spoiler:and watching the latter turn his friend into LudicrousGibs.]]
** Another happens at the end of episode 5. Kuroha heads to a lake to help Shino. Then they find out the witch chasing her is Kikako, a AA+. [[spoiler:Kikako shoots a beam from her mouth, which vaporizes the right side of Shino's body. Kuroha just watches in horror as she's unable to do anything.]]
** Valkyrie shows up in the observatory right at the end of episode 11.
* CompressedAdaptation: Somewhat expected to the very long nature of the series. Due to only having thirteen episodes to work with, the anime is forced to cut out large chunks of story and even [[AdaptedOut some characters]], such as Yuki Tsuchiya and the ''Skadi'' arc (it is trying to go through around ''100'' chapters, anyway). During the first 9 episodes though, it manages to stay remarkably close to the source material. However, the compression gets really egregious in the last 3 episodes. For example, episode 10 skips some content from chapter 40 to 58, and episode 11 includes content from chapter 59 to 70.
* CosmicHorrorStory: Ichijiku explains humanity actually has its ''original form'' as the weird EldritchAbomination (see entry). Each person has it innately, since humanity ''is'' aliens, but the race has evolved far enough that they use their "human" forms. This otherwise means the powers come from an ''innate'' human trait and the research facility was simply unlocking it [[ForScience for their own use]].
* DangerousForbiddenTechnique: The third button on the witches' harnests. They don't know what it does, because nobody's ever been brave enough to press it, considering [[{{Squick}} what the other]] [[PowerNullifier two buttons do]]. [[spoiler:According to Nanami, Kuroha's will unleash her true power if pressed, but has a 99.9% chance of ejecting her. Even Ichijiku himself says it'll eject her... but when she presses it, sure enough, her true power is unleashed]].
** [[spoiler:Kana also gets hers pressed, and while it removes her forecasting ability, it cures her paralysis, allowing her to run in and protect Kuroha from Valkyria]].
* DoItYourSelfThemeTune: The ending theme is performed by the {{Seiyuu}}s of the first four main characters: Creator/RisaTaneda (Neko), Creator/AyaSuzaki (Kana), [[Creator/MaoIchimichi M.A.O]] (Kazumi), and Azusa Tadokoro (Kotori).
* DoesThisRemindYouOfAnything: In order to get inducted to the Vingulf research facility, you must possess high knowledge and have low contacts. They can prove the former with agreeing with the college of graduation, but the latter is done with incredible levels of spying (for example, they know [[TheInternetIsForPorn if you've gone to porn sites]]). Yuki believed that this was [[StalkerWithoutACrush one thing]], but the reader knows that it is [[CloakAndDagger the other]].
* EldritchAbomination: The horrendous Drasil that remains when a magic user is destroyed with her Harnessed's down-left button gives all vibes of this. Might be an alien life form that parasites the magic users' bodies and gives them their powers, but this is unconfirmed. That ''thing'' that resides in a Magic User has multiple eyes, a jelly mass, is apparently ''sentient'', and most likely alien. If this is not Eldritch, then what is?
** [[spoiler:The Initial Sorcerian is something not from this world, but has been tested for the past 20 years. Its DNA and overall composition supports this, but the exact details of what it can do are left ambiguous.]]
* EverythingTryingToKillYou: Between the TheMenInBlack using Magic Users trying to capture and remove others, rogue Magic Users attempting to kill anyone just for the sake it, and several times the ''environment'' trying to kill the main characters, nobody is safe.
* EvolvingCredits: In episode 10, Nanami joins the main cast at the end of the credits as they look at the night sky. Hatsuna joins them in episode 12 (episode 11 in the Blu-ray). The Blu-ray version of episode 13 has also [[spoiler:Kana standing on her own feet, but Kotori is missing]].
* FanDisservice: The ''first two pages'' is Ryouta stabbing Kuroha with lots of blood flowing in full color. By this, you know that FanService will not be plentiful. In chapter 3, we learn that Kanade, another escaped magic user, has been captured. She's shown strapped face-down on a table, naked.
* {{Fanservice}}: ImprobablyFemaleCast with a guy who is not comfortable around women; of course there is going to be fanservice.
* FateWorseThanDeath: What the Magic Users are told about the third button on their harness. Note that this is ''implied''. [[spoiler: Kana's disables her foresight to let her walk. Neko's causes her to regain her full memories and powers.]]
* {{Foreshadowing}}:
** This manga doesn't even try to hide the idea that Neko Kuroha might be Ryouta's childhood friend Kuroneko.
** A much more subtle and literal example in the first chapter is of [[spoiler:Valkyria's shadow being present in the page when Ryouta tries to pull out the knife in Kuroha's chest]].
* ForScience: Every scientist so far (with the exception of Yuki) has only the desire to continue their work just because they think it is interesting.
* GagSub: A German fansub group made a Misheard karaoke sub for the second opening. See [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N651U1XPcBQ&index=2&list=FLMDJtw8vlnxWlgaRVzDTCww here]].
* GeckoEnding: Due to the CompressedAdaptation issue, the anime changes some things around. Some of the more notable examples:
** Kogorou and his team unlock the secrets behind the pills the girls need on their own. In the manga Hexenjagd gives them the recipe for Ryouta and the other witches helping them stop Ichijiku and Valkyria.
** Kuroha's fight with Valkyria is drastically shortened. In the manga it goes on for several chapters, while in the anime it lasts a couple of minutes, and nearly borders on TheUnfought. [[spoiler:Much of the city is also SparedByTheAdaptation, since Kuroneko stops Valkyria before she can cast her antimatter spell, whereas in the manga Valkyria destroys a significant portion of it before being stopped.]]
** Kana's role in the final battle is downplayed. [[spoiler:In the manga she shows up to slash Valyria's throat, though that doesn't stop the latter. In the anime she arrives to momentarily stop Valkyria's attack on Kuroha long enough for the latter to press the harnest and unlock her powers to deal with Valkyria. Additionally, she is seen in a wheelchair again, implying she's crippled again, while in the manga she can still move around and transfers to Kitsuka's school.]]
** Kotori's fate is the same in both adaptations, but it differs slightly in each version. [[spoiler:In the manga, she convinces Ryouta to eject her. In the anime she does it on her own, though she still manages to tell him to let Ichijiku know his little sister doesn't approve of what he's doing.]]
** Hexenjagd plays a smaller role in the anime than in the manga. [[spoiler:As with the example with Kogorou above, they only serve to stop Ichijiku and Valkyria. Their interactions with Ryouta and the witches is largely downplayed after they save them from Ichijiku and Valkyria.]]
* GodzillaThreshold:
** Ryouta attempts one in episode 12 of the anime, when he activates the transponder that Kuroha gave him in an earlier episode, not knowing what would happen when the device was tracked down. Hexenjagd agents show up to save them from Valkyria and Chisato. [[spoiler:Unfortunately they fatally wound him, along with kidnapping Kotori. Fortunately Hatsuna is able to heal him back up.]]
** In chapter 127, Hexenjagd sort of saves the day again after [[spoiler:Hatsuna]] hatches. Ryouta then attempts something never done before after hearing a suggestion from Kazumi. [[spoiler: He helps her drasil back into its harnest, after Kazumi theorizes that it may be enough to bring her BackFromTheDead. It works, and as soon as she's able to, Hatsuna starts to heal up Takaya, whom she had taken a bite out of earlier. Even Hexenjagd is shocked at Hatsuna being able to recover from hatching.]]
* GoodOldFisticuffs: One of the security guards attempts this in chapter 111 on an awakened drasil that just appeared inside the hospital. It seems to work at first, as his attacks seem to be hurting it, [[spoiler:but then the drasil simply bites him in half.]]
* {{Gorn}}: Okamoto indulges in this each time more and more; just compare the post-accident Ryouta in episode 1 to the fight with Saori in chapter 9/episode 3.
* GoryDiscretionShot: Done to Shino at the end of episode 5. [[spoiler:After getting blasted by Kikako's attack. Part of the right side of her body is vaporized, but most of it's blocked from view by the wooden fence.]]
* GovernmentConspiracy: The villains are implied to have powerful contacts in the government because in episode 6 Ryouta is warned that the police will be on the lookout for a Harnessed, meaning they must be in on the whole deal.
* GratuitousEnglish: The [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KX7qnJC873Y lyrics]] of the second opening are entirely in English. And they are very hard to understand.
* GreenEyedMonster: In episode 7 two boys tells Ryouta all of the guys in their class are jealous of his relationship with Kazumi, because she's the only guy she'll talk to for any period of time.
* HalfTheManHeUsedToBe: Several characters get sliced in half at various points during the show.
* HopeSpot: One occurs in episode 7, when Ryouta attempts to have his uncle Kogorou analyze the pills the girls take to see if they can make more for them. He warns Ryouta that at best, it might take half a year, or several years to analyze the drug. He then mentions it might be possible to make it within a month if the structure is a crystalline. [[spoiler:Ryouta later gets a call from him, and he tells him that it's not crystalline.]]
* HowWeGotHere: The opening pages show [[spoiler:Ryouta over Neko with a knife in her chest, devastation abound and him wishing that if someone, presumably Neko, would have just died none of the damage would have happened]]. Come Chapter 95 [[spoiler:Ryouta is trying save Neko by pulling out the knife and talking to Neko's murderer Valkyria]].
* IKnowYoureInthereSomewhereFight: Witches who have hatched become EldritchAbominations. They usually start out by eating the body of their host, whichever girl that they popped out of. Despite that, they still have some vague memories of their former life, and some characters attempt to stop them from killing others. [[spoiler:Kana witnesses this when Rurumi hatches, and ends up eating her friend Rin. Takaya also manages to hold off a hatched Hatsuna long enough to ask her out on a date as he lay dying after being bitten nearly in half by her hatched form.]]
* ImMelting: What happens when the harness of a magic user is removed and is first seen in chapter 3/episode 2 with Kanade.
* ImmuneToBullets: A security guard fires some bullets at a drasil that's awakened inside the hospital in chapter 111. Said bullets don't even seem to faze it at all, and the monster simply eats the guard.
* ImprobablyFemaleCast: Almost all of the magic users shown until now are teenage girls. There hasn't been any explanation for that so far. The one exception is Initializer, a PowerNullifier who appears to be a boy, [[AmbiguouslyHuman although it's not clear whether he's actually human]] or [[UnequalRites the same type of magic user as the girls]] at all.
* InsistentTerminology: The girls with the magic powers are called both magic users/magicians/mages ("mahoutsukai") and witches ("majou"). The girls themselves use the former, the people from Vingulf and Hexenjagd use the latter. Which one is the correct term is unknown.
* LighterAndSofter: Compared to ''Manga/ElfenLied'', the tone and themes are certainly this; the violence is somewhat less extreme (though still graphical), the nudity tamer, and there are more light-hearted moments overall. Not that the series doesn't have its dark or sad moments though, far from it.
* LoveHurts: Both Ryouta and Kuroha experience this in chapter 130 and 131 after he inadvertently leads her into a love hotel. [[spoiler:Kuroha then suspects that Kazumi wanted to bring him here to have sex with him, and he says that you can only make babies with someone you love. Suspecting that he likes Kazumi, Kuroha then leaves dejectedly, and he follows shortly afterwards.]]
* LudicrousGibs:
** Used in episode 3, [[spoiler:when Saori seemingly does this to Kuroha at the end of the episode.]]
** Used again in chapter 83, [[spoiler:this time by Valkyrie against Hatsuna in an attempt to get around her HealingFactor.]]
* LyricalDissonance: The [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KX7qnJC873Y second opening]] sound very crazy and weird. But if you read the lyrics, you will notice immediately that it's an anti-war song.
* MadeOfPlasticine: Just like in ''Manga/ElfenLied'', an offensive power hitting a human is not a pretty sight.
* MagicFromTechnology: The organization creates the Magic Users with operations and medicines.
--> '''Ryouta''': "[[LampshadeHanging That has nothing to do with magic!]]"
* MaleGaze: Used a couple of times in the anime, such as the focus on Kuroha's legs when she's running towards the scene of a predicted accident in episode 2.
* TheMenInBlack: The common dispatch the science facilities use to capture and/or kill Magical Girls.
* MercyKill: The hatched drasil [[spoiler:of Hatsuna]] in chapter 125 begs to be killed while she's still somewhat sane. Unfortunately Hexenjagd states she can't be easily killed in that form, hence why they warned Ryouta to kill the girls while still in human form.
* MythologyGag: Many to Okamoto's previous works.
** At the end of Chapter 10/Episode 4, the island visible from the beach Neko and Ryouta are standing on will look awfully familiar to fans of ''Manga/ElfenLied''[[note]]The island is Enoshima, which was significant to the plot of both the anime and manga[[/note]]. It helps that they are visiting Kamakura itself, where ''Manga/ElfenLied'' took place.
** The Harness look ''very'' similar to the MindControlDevice from ''Manga/ElfenLied''.
** Speaking of the Harness, if they are taken out from the Magic Users, their bodies will melt. In ''Manga/ElfenLied'', [[spoiler:Lucy's body melts in the end of the manga]].
** The setting is in Nagano. ''Manga/{{Nononono}}'' has also a setting in Nagano.
* MoodWhiplash: Well crazier than ''Elfen Lied''. In the anime opening, the girls are shown bloodied around a normal background, but then the background is swept away to a more desolate looking scene, while the girl then gets cleaned up and looks normal. The show also switches back and forth from going to school, to more action-oriented things.
* NippleAndDimed: Despite the fact it's a ''Creator/LynnOkamoto'' manga, he averts this trope. The uncensored anime plays it straight, however.
* NoNameGiven: The man and woman [[spoiler:(apparently Kana's sister)]] who investigate Vingulf in the post-Valkyria arc are still unnamed after more than twenty chapters of regular presence. Chances are this is deliberate (remember ''Manga/ElfenLied'').
* NothingIsScarier: The Magic Users are told that on their harness the first button cancels their magic for 1 hour, the second button kills them, but are not told what the third button does. They are only told it is a FateWorseThanDeath.
* OmniscientCouncilOfVagueness: The BigBad owner of Vingulf is working for some spooky old men in a foggy holographic room who make vague doomy proclamations.
* PersonOfMassDestruction: Several of the witches are capable of doing this.
* PowerGlows: Several examples: Kazumi glows yellow whenever she's hooked in to her computer. Shino has the ability to understand animals and her ears glow when this happens. Kuroha also glows blue when she uses her powers.
* PowerLimiter: The harnest on the back of the witch's necks will partially eject, causing them to become "hung up" if they attempt to use their powers too much. Further usage before it resets itself after a day or so will cause the harnest to eject completely, causing them to literally meltdown and die. It can also be manually set, either to control them, or if the girls don't want to be found by a witch with the ability to track down other witches. Some of the unluckier ones have a harnest that can be remotely ejected should they attempt to escape custody as other witches have done in the past. [[spoiler:The third button has a different effect depending on the witch. Kana can walk but loses her foresight. Neko could regain her memories and access to her incredible power but has a 99% chance of dying instead]].
* ProphecyTwist: Kana's forecasts show what will happen, but not why. For example, in episode 5 she sees [[spoiler:Kotori smiling while standing over Kuroha's body and thinks Kotori killed Kuroha.]] In episode 6 we learn that it's actually [[spoiler:Kotori being a StepfordSmiler to hide her sadness.]]
* RandomPowerRanking: The Magic Uses are ranked by how many powers they have and how skilled or powerful it is. If they are not strong enough, they are disposed of. It is because of that that this series started, as the Magic Users escaped a disposal transport.
* RankInflation: To begin with, ranks are described as ranging from B to AAA (with A being a step up from BBB,) but in chapter 26 the existence of a rank S Magic User is alluded to but what sort of power involved is unclear.[[note]] The overall vagueness of what power this magic user can have makes this go either way between BeyondTheImpossible and RankInflation. For background, a high-ranking Magic user was able to eviscerate anything withing a six-meter radius, as well as turn back time by one minute, and was demonstrated in the manga very clearly, but this user is not even close to Rank S.[[/note]]
* ReadingsAreOffTheScale: Ryouta has a memory so good, he averages in the ''top 2 percentile''. This is apparently known by many of his classmates. [[spoiler:When Kuroha ends up beating him in the midterms, ''everyone'' gives a FlatWhat at the results as if it was something impossible, and gave Ryouta ColorFailure. The implication is that Kuroha's intelligent enough that, if she wasn't losing her memories all the time, she can effectively beat ''photographic memory''.]]
* RealityEnsues: Sure, let's just wait for [[EldritchAbomination Hatsuna's Drasil]] to hatch instead of ejecting her straight away, because when it does we'd just have to work her willpower back with that good ol' IKnowYoureInThereSomewhereFight. [[TemptingFate No way she'd stay a monster, right?]] [[spoiler: She does. She regains her will for a couple seconds, bring the Drasil to a pause, but that's all she could ever manage. ThePowerOfLove just doesn't work on EldritchAbomination.]]
** Making matters worse, thanks to Kana's foresight, Ryouta and the Astronomy Club have more or less already known when Hatsuna is going to hatch. Yet they consciously chose not to act upon that foresight despite Hexenjagd's warning that they wouldn't be able to intervene in the event of her hatching due to their inconveniently-timed loss of magic.
--> '''Miki (when Ryouta asks her if they can stop hatching from happening)'''': If you want to prevent the hatching, you'll have to eject the witch. The only thing we can do is to kill the Drasil as it hatches.\\
'''Miki (when Hatsuna's Drasil is about to devour Ryouta):''' You brought it upon yourself...Serves you right...It's all because you didn't eject her when you had the chance.
* TheReveal:
** [[spoiler:In chapter 69, after Kotori accidentally spills some water on Kuroha, Ryouta sees the three moles on her breast.]]
** During chapter 73, Hexenjagd explains more about the nature of the witches. [[spoiler:Specifically, the aliens that Ryouta saw are actually the "brain" of the girls, and any memories of early life they have are imprinted on them. Additionally, those organisms grow inside of them and use the "death suppressant pills" to do so. After some time, maybe a few years at best, the organism will consume the body of the girl, and they will emerge as something not-human and seek to kill humans. The only reason they let the girls live was because Ryouta told them they only had about a week's supply of pills, so one of the Hexenjagd members says it's not likely they would emerge in such a short time, and their priority was to capture Kotori, who was kidnapped by Ichijiku just moments earlier.]]
* RuleOfSymbolism: NorseMythology gets thrown around by the researchers. The closest to any sort of explicit information is "Skadi", a AAA magic user with the ability to see, predict, and ''[[UpToEleven interfere]]'' with the future, at the cost of her life. Another one is "Drasill", which is briefly mentioned twice, never explained entirely, and said to have some kind of horrendous power. One head researcher states that if 1107 [[spoiler:(i.e. Kotori)]] is not captured, it would initiate [[TheEndOfTheWorldAsWeKnowIt via Drasill.]] Also, [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brynhildr the title of the series]] (Brynhildr is the name of a famous Valkyrie).
* RunningGag:
** Anytime Kazumi tries to show off her body, especially her breasts, and Ryouta making a snarky comment about it. Then getting hit by her as a result.
** Neko smashes something when something happens to Ryouta [[spoiler:since it's her old self taking over and remembering that she loves Ryouta.]]
-->*something remotely sexual happens to Ryouta*\\
'''BOOM'''\\
([[{{Beat}} everyone looks at Kuroha]])\\
'''Kuroha''': ''"I-I didn't mean for that to happen!"''
* SacrificedBasicSkillForAwesomeTraining: From what Kuroha has mentioned, the girls who are turned into witches seem to have almost superhuman powers, but are also horribly experimented on and not allowed to learn basic things like reading and math. She also says they usually die young, which may also explain why they're only teens, and she feels she doesn't need to know stuff like that anyway, never mind that she's attending a high school with an education equivalent of an early grade schooler.
* ScryVsScry: Kana vs Skadi (a.k.a. Mizuka).
* ShoutOut:
** The very first episode/chapter has Neko's "[[LightNovel/ShakuganNoShana Urusai! Urusai! Urusai!]]" This reappears later again.
** "What's [[StreetFighter Tetsuzanko]]?"
** In episode 11 Kazumi explains that Hatsuna's power is that [[VisualNovel/FateStayNight she doesn't die even if she gets killed.]]
** Nanami meets two children, one of them is angry at his friend because the latter drop his rare trading card in the water. The card looks suspiciously like a ''TableTopGame/YuGiOh'' card. The anime puts a star on the black circle of the backside, but you can even see the frontside of the card there. It's a Pendulum Monster Card, a new introduced type of Monster Cards; the only difference is that they turned the green color part into pink like a Trap Card.
** In chapter 116, Hatsuna does "[[Manga/KOn Moe Moe Kyun]]" twice.
* ShutUpHannibal: In chapter 126, Machina saves Ryouta and the others from [[spoiler:Hatsuna's]] hatched form. However, Hexenjagd seems terrified of him, and even Ryouta senses an evil aura emanating from the guy. However, once he kisses Kuroha because she looks like Valkyria, she slaps him and tells him not to touch her. Despite Hexenjagd warning them not to make him angry, Ryouta delivers a dropkick to him, which forces him to retreat since his body is still really weak, and Ryouta's attack was enough to disfigure his face.
* SickEpisode: Kazumi catches a cold in chapter 130 on the day she was supposed to go see a movie with Ryouta. Though she asks Kana to tell him, Kana instead sends Kuroha. She then ends up going on the date with Ryouta instead.
* SoundtrackDissonance: The anime's ending theme is jarringly light and happy, so pretty much any time an episode ends with a DownerEnding (which is a fair few of them), the viewer is subjected to this.
* SpellMyNameWithAnS:
** Grane or Grani? It's apparently the former, considering how the characters pronounce that name. Also, it's written like that in the second opening.
** Harness, Harnessed or Harnest?
** Valkyria or Valkyrie?
* SpiritualSuccessor: Should be [[Manga/ElfenLied pretty obvious]] by now.
* SpoilerOpening:
** The first opening shows all main heroines, including even Hatsuna, who is not even introduced before the switch to the second opening. Other characters, whose appearances are spoiled there before their introduction and the switch to the second opening, are Valkyia and Hexenjagd. It also spoilers that Kotori is either a good girl or has a HeelFaceTurn, since she's introduced as a possible assassin, and the silhouettes of Saori and Kikako including their powers. Not to mention the final battle between Neko and Valkyria.
** The second opening spoilers that Hatsuna is definitely going to be a main character. There are also a few subtle possible spoilers: [[spoiler:Kotori is shown switching places with Hatsuna, probably a {{Foreshadowing}} that Hatsuna will replace her in the manga; Kana is seen moving her right hand, despite she can only move her left, {{Foreshadowing}} that she will move again]].
* SquishyWizard: All witches we've seen so far don't seem to be any tougher than normal humans. Made most obvious when [[spoiler:Ichijiku goes TakingTheBullet for Valkyria, suggesting that even she who is the WorldsStrongestMan still doesn't have the SuperToughness to be ImmuneToBullets.]]
* SurrealThemeTune:
** The first opening is a bizarre mash-up of angry violins, ominous wails and chants, and ''dubstep''.
** The second anime opening is a heavy rock tune full of {{Metal Scream}}s à la [[Manga/DeathNote What's Up]] [[Music/MaximumTheHormone People]]… but the movie that accompanies it consists mostly of mundane, semi-static images, which gives a rather weird effect.
* SustainedMisunderstanding: One occurs in chapter 131, after Kuroha and Ryouta end up in a love hotel together following their date. [[spoiler:They actually don't do anything, but Takaya and Hatsuna end up seeing Kuroha leaving the hotel, followed shortly by Ryouta later, and she tells Kazumi about it. As a result, Kazumi thinks Ryouta and Kuroha had sex, while Kuroha thinks that Ryouta is in love with Kazumi. Ryouta fails to clear up the misunderstanding and his feelings towards her. But even if he did, she likely wouldn't believe him anyway due to her recent memory loss after the fight with Valkyria and is still cold towards him.]]
* TalkingIsAFreeAction: Occurs a couple of times in episode 13, such as when Kuroha talks to Ryouta while Valkyria is nearby and attempting to break through the former's barrier.
* ThemeMusicPowerup: In episode 13 the first opening plays when [[spoiler:Kuroha reawakens her memories and powers as Kuroneko.]]
* TruthInTelevision: In chapter 6, it's revealed that Kazumi's magic is her capability to factor very large integers with ease, and that makes her capable of breaking the security of many systems. Then again, the [[TechnoBabble explanation and theory exposed]] in the chapter would make mathematicians and cryptographers cringe.
** ShownTheirWork: On the other hand, a similar situation in which Ryouta asks Kougorou, a head chemist at a research facility, on the process how the "anti-death pills" are made (this field is known as "organic chemistry") is done using ''extremely basic'' terms, which is TechnoBabble at best for those who may or may not know the topic itself. It's useless to explain a concept that would take several pages when the audience only needs to know the basic idea to understand. Plus, [[{{Justified}} we're talking about a kid who's listening to a topic very outside of his field of research and he only heard about it briefly, if barely at all]]. [[GeniusBonus You may need to know some of it already in order to understand the entire concept]].
* VillainousRescue: The hatched drasil [[spoiler:of Hatsuna]] is stopped by Machina in chapter 125/126. Hexenjagd seems to [[TheDreaded fear him]], and Ryouta says he feels an evil presence emanating from the man.
* WhamEpisode:
** In episode 3, Kuroha is seemingly turned into LudicrousGibs right in front of Ryouta by Saori, another witch. [[spoiler:However, Ryouta stabs Saori in the heart, forcing her to utilize her time magic to go back one minute into the past, before she killed Kuroha and him. And because it caused her to hang up, she couldn't fight back or even run away.]]
** In chapter 69/episode 11, Ryouta finds out that Kuroha is his childhood friend Kuroneko after Kotori spills some juice on her by accident. [[spoiler:Valkyria also finds them at the very end of the episode when she warps into the observatory right in front of them.]]
** Episode 12. [[spoiler:The Grane in Kotori's Harness awakens, beginning the apocalypse.]]
** In chapter 138, Kuroha, having lost her memories again after fighting Valkyria, states coldly that she hates Ryouta after Hatsuna warns him about brushing off their feelings for him. She then rediscovers her journal her past self wrote with various details on them. [[spoiler:She then finds Ryouta's article, and it's filled with various love symbols and words describing that she likes him a lot. Shortly afterward, Ryouta sees Kazumi alone in the woods, and thinking Kuroha doesn't care about him any longer, kisses her.]]
* WhamLine: This manga just loves these. For more, see the character entries.
** A particularly interesting one occurs in chapter 114, when Onodera, Ichijiku's replacement at Vingulf, says that a drasil hatching from one of the witches was entirely unpredictable and amounted to bad luck. [[spoiler:After she hangs up the phone however, she gives off an EvilLaughter and strongly hints that drasil hatching is not random, and is instead triggered by something, or someone else.]]
** Kuroha says she wants to start liking Ryouta in chapter 139, having lost her memories again after fighting Valkyria a while back. [[spoiler:The previous night, Ryouta kissed Kazumi after she gives him another AnguishedDeclarationOfLove, and thinking Kuroha wasn't interested in him anymore, felt she didn't have any other significant rivals to compete with. So Kuroha mentioning this comes as a shock to him and Kazumi.]]
* YouAreNumberSix: The organisation refers to escaped witches by numbers − in the manga at least. It's downplayed quite a bit in the anime.
* YouHaveOutlivedYourUsefulness: How the research facility deals with scientists who leave the facility. They give a GPS tracker, a set list of guidelines, and a ride out. [[spoiler:Then they kill the scientist.]]
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to:
%%Please add character related tropes to the character page. Tropes like RunningGag do not count.
%%
[[quoteright:236:http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/8uvzd_2570.jpg]]
[[caption-width-right:236:[-Neko Kuroha, the one to be blamed for everything.-] ]]
For ten years, Ryouta Murakami has been tormented by the death of his close childhood friend Kuroneko. The guilt he feels because of her death motivated him to fulfill [[ThePromise a childhood promise he made with with her to show aliens do exist]]. At 16, he's already third-ranked in school and is on fast track to become a NASA researcher, thanks to his PhotographicMemory. But her death left him with a deep inability to communicate with and understand the opposite sex.
One day, Neko Kuroha, a lookalike of Kuroneko appears. This begins a story of horror, experiments, human communication, and despair.
''Kiwaguro no Brynhildr'' (or ''Gokukoku no Brynhildr'' going by the furigana spelling and [[https://twitter.com/Gokukoku_anime the Twitter account for the anime]]; officially translated as ''Brynhildr in the Darkness'') is a manga by Creator/LynnOkamoto. It shares the science-fiction horror tone and '{{Gorn}} of ''Manga/ElfenLied''. A 13 episode {{anime}} adaptation aired [[Spring2014Anime as part of the Spring 2014 season]]. The animation studio behind it is Arms, already responsible for the ''Manga/ElfenLied'' anime. The manga began serialization in 2012 in the Weekly Young Jump.
Crunchyroll is streaming the anime, which can be [[http://www.crunchyroll.com/brynhildr-in-the-darkness viewed here]] for people living in the following areas: U.S.A, Canada, United Kingdom, Ireland, South Africa, Australia, New Zealand, Finland, Norway, Sweden, Denmark, Iceland, Netherlands, Turkey, Latin America (Central and South America including Caribbean), Spain, Portugal.
The [[Characters/GokukokuNoBrynhildr character sheet]] is currently under construction. Character tropes should be listed there.
''[[YouHaveBeenWarned Cautious editing/viewer warning]]'': While the manga is {{Seinen}} and has a public run, it is ''very graphic''.
----
!!This manga provides examples of:
[floatboxright:
Other manga by Creator/LynnOkamoto:
* Manga/ElfenLied
* Manga/{{Nononono}}
]
* AdaptationExplanationExtrication[=/=]AdaptationInducedPlotHole: There are so many instances in the last few episodes of the anime that it would take a separate page to list them all. Squishing a 40-chapter arc in 3-4 episodes can do this.
* AnyoneCanDie: Zigzagged. [[spoiler:Kotori, unfortunately, ends up with a MercyKill in order to keep her from eradicating the world, which is the first time a main character gets a perma-death. Except there's a key phrase: ''perma''-death. Many other characters end up BackFromTheDead via Time Reversal (Ryouta and Neko), NotQuiteDead (Nanami transfers her consciousness to Ryouta), or get subjected to Hatsuna's HealingFactor abilities. Hatsuna even survives ''her own hatching''.]]
* BeachEpisode: The very end of episode 10/chapters 55-57 has them go to a beach.
* BilingualBonus: The ''Harnessed'' is the button-like thing on the nape of magic users. Due to how things are transliterated to Katakana, it's easily possible to miss that the real transliteration is ''her nest'' (which gets written in the same way), an obvious reference to where resides the Drasil inside the magic users' bodies. Interestingly, according to the translators, "Harnessed" [[GratuitousEnglish in English]] was the original name.
* BittersweetEnding: The anime's GeckoEnding. The BigBad and TheDragon have been stopped, the apocalypse has been cancelled, [[spoiler:and Kogorou has managed to synthesise the death suppressants, meaning the remaining witches with Ryouta will live. However, Kotori sacrificed herself to do said cancelling, Kuroha has lost all her memories again, and the OmniscientCouncilOfVagueness is still out there presumably creating and hunting down more witches.]]
* BlandNameProduct: Episode 9 has "Rich(m)ond Hotel".
* BlessedWithSuck: Witches in general. Their powers come at an extreme cost, and they're all ultimately fated to either die due to lack of death suppressants, be killed by The Organization, or hatch and be devoured by the Drasil in their Harnessed and then proceed to go on a killing spree.
* BloodFromTheMouth: This happens to the Magic Users when they do not take their "death suppressant" pills. If they don't take the pills every 30 hours or so, they'll start to bleed. And after 35 hours, their internal organs start to melt and they die.
* BloodyHorror: Quite a few witches in the story are shown to be on the run from the organisation responsible for creating them. Even eluding the more direct methods of disposal, they are not exempt from having to regularly take the now unprocurable death suppressant capsules to push back the certain gory melting to death. Your skin ruptures a bit or nose starts bleeding? Congratulations, that's an indication of entering the 5-hours final countdown stage. And if the drug supply you had is used up by now...
* BodyHorror:
** Magic Users [[ItMakesSenseInContext melt]] when they go too long without taking the medication. And that is only the final stage. Before that, they start to [[{{Gorn}} bleed all over]], [[{{Squick}} their bodies break down, and even their internal organs shut down before that happens]].
** A magic user who hatches turns into a perpetually hungry and ''very'' tough monster, who eats their own empty shell.
* BreakTheCutie: All the magic users come pre-broken for your convenience. You could think that further breaking is on the menu and we wouldn't blame you for it, anyways.
* BreatherEpisode:
** Episode 4, or at least the second half. While episode 3 had a lot of intense action, episode 4 is mostly filled with high school hijinks and FanService scenes.
** The first half of episode 5 spends time with the girls and Ryouta bonding a little while watching the stars at night on a mountaintop. [[spoiler:Then Shino, one of the witches that escaped with the girls, shows up being chased by another witch.]]
** Most of the later half of episode 7, where Ryouta and Kazumi go to Akihabara. [[spoiler: Until Ryouta looks at the device Kuroha gave him.]]
* CensorSteam: Used a lot in episode 4, both to hide gruesome stuff in the first half, and to hide the usual female nudity in the second half. Used again in episode 6 when the girls are outside with a garden hose due to it being really hot that day.
* ChekhovsGun: The device that Kuroha gives to Ryouta. He's GenreSavvy enough to not turn it on while they're at the observatory, and instead activates it in Akihabara while shopping there with Kazumi. He later uses it again in episode 12, this time with the hopes of attracting whoever owned the device. Fortunately for him and the other girls, Hexenjagd agents show up and save them from Ichijiku and Valkyria, though they still manage to kidnap Kotori and make their escape.
* ChildhoodFriendRomance: Ryouta and Kuroha/Kuroneko. They were close friends as kids, but they were separated after an accident in which Ryouta thought she died. Years later, they meet again, but Kuroha doesn't remember him because of the memory loss caused by her powers. However, they still have feelings for each other.
* CliffHanger: Happens a couple of times:
** The first is in episode 3, after Ryouta finds Kuroha fighting Saori, [[spoiler:and watching the latter turn his friend into LudicrousGibs.]]
** Another happens at the end of episode 5. Kuroha heads to a lake to help Shino. Then they find out the witch chasing her is Kikako, a AA+. [[spoiler:Kikako shoots a beam from her mouth, which vaporizes the right side of Shino's body. Kuroha just watches in horror as she's unable to do anything.]]
** Valkyrie shows up in the observatory right at the end of episode 11.
* CompressedAdaptation: Somewhat expected to the very long nature of the series. Due to only having thirteen episodes to work with, the anime is forced to cut out large chunks of story and even [[AdaptedOut some characters]], such as Yuki Tsuchiya and the ''Skadi'' arc (it is trying to go through around ''100'' chapters, anyway). During the first 9 episodes though, it manages to stay remarkably close to the source material. However, the compression gets really egregious in the last 3 episodes. For example, episode 10 skips some content from chapter 40 to 58, and episode 11 includes content from chapter 59 to 70.
* CosmicHorrorStory: Ichijiku explains humanity actually has its ''original form'' as the weird EldritchAbomination (see entry). Each person has it innately, since humanity ''is'' aliens, but the race has evolved far enough that they use their "human" forms. This otherwise means the powers come from an ''innate'' human trait and the research facility was simply unlocking it [[ForScience for their own use]].
* DangerousForbiddenTechnique: The third button on the witches' harnests. They don't know what it does, because nobody's ever been brave enough to press it, considering [[{{Squick}} what the other]] [[PowerNullifier two buttons do]]. [[spoiler:According to Nanami, Kuroha's will unleash her true power if pressed, but has a 99.9% chance of ejecting her. Even Ichijiku himself says it'll eject her... but when she presses it, sure enough, her true power is unleashed]].
** [[spoiler:Kana also gets hers pressed, and while it removes her forecasting ability, it cures her paralysis, allowing her to run in and protect Kuroha from Valkyria]].
* DoItYourSelfThemeTune: The ending theme is performed by the {{Seiyuu}}s of the first four main characters: Creator/RisaTaneda (Neko), Creator/AyaSuzaki (Kana), [[Creator/MaoIchimichi M.A.O]] (Kazumi), and Azusa Tadokoro (Kotori).
* DoesThisRemindYouOfAnything: In order to get inducted to the Vingulf research facility, you must possess high knowledge and have low contacts. They can prove the former with agreeing with the college of graduation, but the latter is done with incredible levels of spying (for example, they know [[TheInternetIsForPorn if you've gone to porn sites]]). Yuki believed that this was [[StalkerWithoutACrush one thing]], but the reader knows that it is [[CloakAndDagger the other]].
* EldritchAbomination: The horrendous Drasil that remains when a magic user is destroyed with her Harnessed's down-left button gives all vibes of this. Might be an alien life form that parasites the magic users' bodies and gives them their powers, but this is unconfirmed. That ''thing'' that resides in a Magic User has multiple eyes, a jelly mass, is apparently ''sentient'', and most likely alien. If this is not Eldritch, then what is?
** [[spoiler:The Initial Sorcerian is something not from this world, but has been tested for the past 20 years. Its DNA and overall composition supports this, but the exact details of what it can do are left ambiguous.]]
* EverythingTryingToKillYou: Between the TheMenInBlack using Magic Users trying to capture and remove others, rogue Magic Users attempting to kill anyone just for the sake it, and several times the ''environment'' trying to kill the main characters, nobody is safe.
* EvolvingCredits: In episode 10, Nanami joins the main cast at the end of the credits as they look at the night sky. Hatsuna joins them in episode 12 (episode 11 in the Blu-ray). The Blu-ray version of episode 13 has also [[spoiler:Kana standing on her own feet, but Kotori is missing]].
* FanDisservice: The ''first two pages'' is Ryouta stabbing Kuroha with lots of blood flowing in full color. By this, you know that FanService will not be plentiful. In chapter 3, we learn that Kanade, another escaped magic user, has been captured. She's shown strapped face-down on a table, naked.
* {{Fanservice}}: ImprobablyFemaleCast with a guy who is not comfortable around women; of course there is going to be fanservice.
* FateWorseThanDeath: What the Magic Users are told about the third button on their harness. Note that this is ''implied''. [[spoiler: Kana's disables her foresight to let her walk. Neko's causes her to regain her full memories and powers.]]
* {{Foreshadowing}}:
** This manga doesn't even try to hide the idea that Neko Kuroha might be Ryouta's childhood friend Kuroneko.
** A much more subtle and literal example in the first chapter is of [[spoiler:Valkyria's shadow being present in the page when Ryouta tries to pull out the knife in Kuroha's chest]].
* ForScience: Every scientist so far (with the exception of Yuki) has only the desire to continue their work just because they think it is interesting.
* GagSub: A German fansub group made a Misheard karaoke sub for the second opening. See [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N651U1XPcBQ&index=2&list=FLMDJtw8vlnxWlgaRVzDTCww here]].
* GeckoEnding: Due to the CompressedAdaptation issue, the anime changes some things around. Some of the more notable examples:
** Kogorou and his team unlock the secrets behind the pills the girls need on their own. In the manga Hexenjagd gives them the recipe for Ryouta and the other witches helping them stop Ichijiku and Valkyria.
** Kuroha's fight with Valkyria is drastically shortened. In the manga it goes on for several chapters, while in the anime it lasts a couple of minutes, and nearly borders on TheUnfought. [[spoiler:Much of the city is also SparedByTheAdaptation, since Kuroneko stops Valkyria before she can cast her antimatter spell, whereas in the manga Valkyria destroys a significant portion of it before being stopped.]]
** Kana's role in the final battle is downplayed. [[spoiler:In the manga she shows up to slash Valyria's throat, though that doesn't stop the latter. In the anime she arrives to momentarily stop Valkyria's attack on Kuroha long enough for the latter to press the harnest and unlock her powers to deal with Valkyria. Additionally, she is seen in a wheelchair again, implying she's crippled again, while in the manga she can still move around and transfers to Kitsuka's school.]]
** Kotori's fate is the same in both adaptations, but it differs slightly in each version. [[spoiler:In the manga, she convinces Ryouta to eject her. In the anime she does it on her own, though she still manages to tell him to let Ichijiku know his little sister doesn't approve of what he's doing.]]
** Hexenjagd plays a smaller role in the anime than in the manga. [[spoiler:As with the example with Kogorou above, they only serve to stop Ichijiku and Valkyria. Their interactions with Ryouta and the witches is largely downplayed after they save them from Ichijiku and Valkyria.]]
* GodzillaThreshold:
** Ryouta attempts one in episode 12 of the anime, when he activates the transponder that Kuroha gave him in an earlier episode, not knowing what would happen when the device was tracked down. Hexenjagd agents show up to save them from Valkyria and Chisato. [[spoiler:Unfortunately they fatally wound him, along with kidnapping Kotori. Fortunately Hatsuna is able to heal him back up.]]
** In chapter 127, Hexenjagd sort of saves the day again after [[spoiler:Hatsuna]] hatches. Ryouta then attempts something never done before after hearing a suggestion from Kazumi. [[spoiler: He helps her drasil back into its harnest, after Kazumi theorizes that it may be enough to bring her BackFromTheDead. It works, and as soon as she's able to, Hatsuna starts to heal up Takaya, whom she had taken a bite out of earlier. Even Hexenjagd is shocked at Hatsuna being able to recover from hatching.]]
* GoodOldFisticuffs: One of the security guards attempts this in chapter 111 on an awakened drasil that just appeared inside the hospital. It seems to work at first, as his attacks seem to be hurting it, [[spoiler:but then the drasil simply bites him in half.]]
* {{Gorn}}: Okamoto indulges in this each time more and more; just compare the post-accident Ryouta in episode 1 to the fight with Saori in chapter 9/episode 3.
* GoryDiscretionShot: Done to Shino at the end of episode 5. [[spoiler:After getting blasted by Kikako's attack. Part of the right side of her body is vaporized, but most of it's blocked from view by the wooden fence.]]
* GovernmentConspiracy: The villains are implied to have powerful contacts in the government because in episode 6 Ryouta is warned that the police will be on the lookout for a Harnessed, meaning they must be in on the whole deal.
* GratuitousEnglish: The [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KX7qnJC873Y lyrics]] of the second opening are entirely in English. And they are very hard to understand.
* GreenEyedMonster: In episode 7 two boys tells Ryouta all of the guys in their class are jealous of his relationship with Kazumi, because she's the only guy she'll talk to for any period of time.
* HalfTheManHeUsedToBe: Several characters get sliced in half at various points during the show.
* HopeSpot: One occurs in episode 7, when Ryouta attempts to have his uncle Kogorou analyze the pills the girls take to see if they can make more for them. He warns Ryouta that at best, it might take half a year, or several years to analyze the drug. He then mentions it might be possible to make it within a month if the structure is a crystalline. [[spoiler:Ryouta later gets a call from him, and he tells him that it's not crystalline.]]
* HowWeGotHere: The opening pages show [[spoiler:Ryouta over Neko with a knife in her chest, devastation abound and him wishing that if someone, presumably Neko, would have just died none of the damage would have happened]]. Come Chapter 95 [[spoiler:Ryouta is trying save Neko by pulling out the knife and talking to Neko's murderer Valkyria]].
* IKnowYoureInthereSomewhereFight: Witches who have hatched become EldritchAbominations. They usually start out by eating the body of their host, whichever girl that they popped out of. Despite that, they still have some vague memories of their former life, and some characters attempt to stop them from killing others. [[spoiler:Kana witnesses this when Rurumi hatches, and ends up eating her friend Rin. Takaya also manages to hold off a hatched Hatsuna long enough to ask her out on a date as he lay dying after being bitten nearly in half by her hatched form.]]
* ImMelting: What happens when the harness of a magic user is removed and is first seen in chapter 3/episode 2 with Kanade.
* ImmuneToBullets: A security guard fires some bullets at a drasil that's awakened inside the hospital in chapter 111. Said bullets don't even seem to faze it at all, and the monster simply eats the guard.
* ImprobablyFemaleCast: Almost all of the magic users shown until now are teenage girls. There hasn't been any explanation for that so far. The one exception is Initializer, a PowerNullifier who appears to be a boy, [[AmbiguouslyHuman although it's not clear whether he's actually human]] or [[UnequalRites the same type of magic user as the girls]] at all.
* InsistentTerminology: The girls with the magic powers are called both magic users/magicians/mages ("mahoutsukai") and witches ("majou"). The girls themselves use the former, the people from Vingulf and Hexenjagd use the latter. Which one is the correct term is unknown.
* LighterAndSofter: Compared to ''Manga/ElfenLied'', the tone and themes are certainly this; the violence is somewhat less extreme (though still graphical), the nudity tamer, and there are more light-hearted moments overall. Not that the series doesn't have its dark or sad moments though, far from it.
* LoveHurts: Both Ryouta and Kuroha experience this in chapter 130 and 131 after he inadvertently leads her into a love hotel. [[spoiler:Kuroha then suspects that Kazumi wanted to bring him here to have sex with him, and he says that you can only make babies with someone you love. Suspecting that he likes Kazumi, Kuroha then leaves dejectedly, and he follows shortly afterwards.]]
* LudicrousGibs:
** Used in episode 3, [[spoiler:when Saori seemingly does this to Kuroha at the end of the episode.]]
** Used again in chapter 83, [[spoiler:this time by Valkyrie against Hatsuna in an attempt to get around her HealingFactor.]]
* LyricalDissonance: The [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KX7qnJC873Y second opening]] sound very crazy and weird. But if you read the lyrics, you will notice immediately that it's an anti-war song.
* MadeOfPlasticine: Just like in ''Manga/ElfenLied'', an offensive power hitting a human is not a pretty sight.
* MagicFromTechnology: The organization creates the Magic Users with operations and medicines.
--> '''Ryouta''': "[[LampshadeHanging That has nothing to do with magic!]]"
* MaleGaze: Used a couple of times in the anime, such as the focus on Kuroha's legs when she's running towards the scene of a predicted accident in episode 2.
* TheMenInBlack: The common dispatch the science facilities use to capture and/or kill Magical Girls.
* MercyKill: The hatched drasil [[spoiler:of Hatsuna]] in chapter 125 begs to be killed while she's still somewhat sane. Unfortunately Hexenjagd states she can't be easily killed in that form, hence why they warned Ryouta to kill the girls while still in human form.
* MythologyGag: Many to Okamoto's previous works.
** At the end of Chapter 10/Episode 4, the island visible from the beach Neko and Ryouta are standing on will look awfully familiar to fans of ''Manga/ElfenLied''[[note]]The island is Enoshima, which was significant to the plot of both the anime and manga[[/note]]. It helps that they are visiting Kamakura itself, where ''Manga/ElfenLied'' took place.
** The Harness look ''very'' similar to the MindControlDevice from ''Manga/ElfenLied''.
** Speaking of the Harness, if they are taken out from the Magic Users, their bodies will melt. In ''Manga/ElfenLied'', [[spoiler:Lucy's body melts in the end of the manga]].
** The setting is in Nagano. ''Manga/{{Nononono}}'' has also a setting in Nagano.
* MoodWhiplash: Well crazier than ''Elfen Lied''. In the anime opening, the girls are shown bloodied around a normal background, but then the background is swept away to a more desolate looking scene, while the girl then gets cleaned up and looks normal. The show also switches back and forth from going to school, to more action-oriented things.
* NippleAndDimed: Despite the fact it's a ''Creator/LynnOkamoto'' manga, he averts this trope. The uncensored anime plays it straight, however.
* NoNameGiven: The man and woman [[spoiler:(apparently Kana's sister)]] who investigate Vingulf in the post-Valkyria arc are still unnamed after more than twenty chapters of regular presence. Chances are this is deliberate (remember ''Manga/ElfenLied'').
* NothingIsScarier: The Magic Users are told that on their harness the first button cancels their magic for 1 hour, the second button kills them, but are not told what the third button does. They are only told it is a FateWorseThanDeath.
* OmniscientCouncilOfVagueness: The BigBad owner of Vingulf is working for some spooky old men in a foggy holographic room who make vague doomy proclamations.
* PersonOfMassDestruction: Several of the witches are capable of doing this.
* PowerGlows: Several examples: Kazumi glows yellow whenever she's hooked in to her computer. Shino has the ability to understand animals and her ears glow when this happens. Kuroha also glows blue when she uses her powers.
* PowerLimiter: The harnest on the back of the witch's necks will partially eject, causing them to become "hung up" if they attempt to use their powers too much. Further usage before it resets itself after a day or so will cause the harnest to eject completely, causing them to literally meltdown and die. It can also be manually set, either to control them, or if the girls don't want to be found by a witch with the ability to track down other witches. Some of the unluckier ones have a harnest that can be remotely ejected should they attempt to escape custody as other witches have done in the past. [[spoiler:The third button has a different effect depending on the witch. Kana can walk but loses her foresight. Neko could regain her memories and access to her incredible power but has a 99% chance of dying instead]].
* ProphecyTwist: Kana's forecasts show what will happen, but not why. For example, in episode 5 she sees [[spoiler:Kotori smiling while standing over Kuroha's body and thinks Kotori killed Kuroha.]] In episode 6 we learn that it's actually [[spoiler:Kotori being a StepfordSmiler to hide her sadness.]]
* RandomPowerRanking: The Magic Uses are ranked by how many powers they have and how skilled or powerful it is. If they are not strong enough, they are disposed of. It is because of that that this series started, as the Magic Users escaped a disposal transport.
* RankInflation: To begin with, ranks are described as ranging from B to AAA (with A being a step up from BBB,) but in chapter 26 the existence of a rank S Magic User is alluded to but what sort of power involved is unclear.[[note]] The overall vagueness of what power this magic user can have makes this go either way between BeyondTheImpossible and RankInflation. For background, a high-ranking Magic user was able to eviscerate anything withing a six-meter radius, as well as turn back time by one minute, and was demonstrated in the manga very clearly, but this user is not even close to Rank S.[[/note]]
* ReadingsAreOffTheScale: Ryouta has a memory so good, he averages in the ''top 2 percentile''. This is apparently known by many of his classmates. [[spoiler:When Kuroha ends up beating him in the midterms, ''everyone'' gives a FlatWhat at the results as if it was something impossible, and gave Ryouta ColorFailure. The implication is that Kuroha's intelligent enough that, if she wasn't losing her memories all the time, she can effectively beat ''photographic memory''.]]
* RealityEnsues: Sure, let's just wait for [[EldritchAbomination Hatsuna's Drasil]] to hatch instead of ejecting her straight away, because when it does we'd just have to work her willpower back with that good ol' IKnowYoureInThereSomewhereFight. [[TemptingFate No way she'd stay a monster, right?]] [[spoiler: She does. She regains her will for a couple seconds, bring the Drasil to a pause, but that's all she could ever manage. ThePowerOfLove just doesn't work on EldritchAbomination.]]
** Making matters worse, thanks to Kana's foresight, Ryouta and the Astronomy Club have more or less already known when Hatsuna is going to hatch. Yet they consciously chose not to act upon that foresight despite Hexenjagd's warning that they wouldn't be able to intervene in the event of her hatching due to their inconveniently-timed loss of magic.
--> '''Miki (when Ryouta asks her if they can stop hatching from happening)'''': If you want to prevent the hatching, you'll have to eject the witch. The only thing we can do is to kill the Drasil as it hatches.\\
'''Miki (when Hatsuna's Drasil is about to devour Ryouta):''' You brought it upon yourself...Serves you right...It's all because you didn't eject her when you had the chance.
* TheReveal:
** [[spoiler:In chapter 69, after Kotori accidentally spills some water on Kuroha, Ryouta sees the three moles on her breast.]]
** During chapter 73, Hexenjagd explains more about the nature of the witches. [[spoiler:Specifically, the aliens that Ryouta saw are actually the "brain" of the girls, and any memories of early life they have are imprinted on them. Additionally, those organisms grow inside of them and use the "death suppressant pills" to do so. After some time, maybe a few years at best, the organism will consume the body of the girl, and they will emerge as something not-human and seek to kill humans. The only reason they let the girls live was because Ryouta told them they only had about a week's supply of pills, so one of the Hexenjagd members says it's not likely they would emerge in such a short time, and their priority was to capture Kotori, who was kidnapped by Ichijiku just moments earlier.]]
* RuleOfSymbolism: NorseMythology gets thrown around by the researchers. The closest to any sort of explicit information is "Skadi", a AAA magic user with the ability to see, predict, and ''[[UpToEleven interfere]]'' with the future, at the cost of her life. Another one is "Drasill", which is briefly mentioned twice, never explained entirely, and said to have some kind of horrendous power. One head researcher states that if 1107 [[spoiler:(i.e. Kotori)]] is not captured, it would initiate [[TheEndOfTheWorldAsWeKnowIt via Drasill.]] Also, [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brynhildr the title of the series]] (Brynhildr is the name of a famous Valkyrie).
* RunningGag:
** Anytime Kazumi tries to show off her body, especially her breasts, and Ryouta making a snarky comment about it. Then getting hit by her as a result.
** Neko smashes something when something happens to Ryouta [[spoiler:since it's her old self taking over and remembering that she loves Ryouta.]]
-->*something remotely sexual happens to Ryouta*\\
'''BOOM'''\\
([[{{Beat}} everyone looks at Kuroha]])\\
'''Kuroha''': ''"I-I didn't mean for that to happen!"''
* SacrificedBasicSkillForAwesomeTraining: From what Kuroha has mentioned, the girls who are turned into witches seem to have almost superhuman powers, but are also horribly experimented on and not allowed to learn basic things like reading and math. She also says they usually die young, which may also explain why they're only teens, and she feels she doesn't need to know stuff like that anyway, never mind that she's attending a high school with an education equivalent of an early grade schooler.
* ScryVsScry: Kana vs Skadi (a.k.a. Mizuka).
* ShoutOut:
** The very first episode/chapter has Neko's "[[LightNovel/ShakuganNoShana Urusai! Urusai! Urusai!]]" This reappears later again.
** "What's [[StreetFighter Tetsuzanko]]?"
** In episode 11 Kazumi explains that Hatsuna's power is that [[VisualNovel/FateStayNight she doesn't die even if she gets killed.]]
** Nanami meets two children, one of them is angry at his friend because the latter drop his rare trading card in the water. The card looks suspiciously like a ''TableTopGame/YuGiOh'' card. The anime puts a star on the black circle of the backside, but you can even see the frontside of the card there. It's a Pendulum Monster Card, a new introduced type of Monster Cards; the only difference is that they turned the green color part into pink like a Trap Card.
** In chapter 116, Hatsuna does "[[Manga/KOn Moe Moe Kyun]]" twice.
* ShutUpHannibal: In chapter 126, Machina saves Ryouta and the others from [[spoiler:Hatsuna's]] hatched form. However, Hexenjagd seems terrified of him, and even Ryouta senses an evil aura emanating from the guy. However, once he kisses Kuroha because she looks like Valkyria, she slaps him and tells him not to touch her. Despite Hexenjagd warning them not to make him angry, Ryouta delivers a dropkick to him, which forces him to retreat since his body is still really weak, and Ryouta's attack was enough to disfigure his face.
* SickEpisode: Kazumi catches a cold in chapter 130 on the day she was supposed to go see a movie with Ryouta. Though she asks Kana to tell him, Kana instead sends Kuroha. She then ends up going on the date with Ryouta instead.
* SoundtrackDissonance: The anime's ending theme is jarringly light and happy, so pretty much any time an episode ends with a DownerEnding (which is a fair few of them), the viewer is subjected to this.
* SpellMyNameWithAnS:
** Grane or Grani? It's apparently the former, considering how the characters pronounce that name. Also, it's written like that in the second opening.
** Harness, Harnessed or Harnest?
** Valkyria or Valkyrie?
* SpiritualSuccessor: Should be [[Manga/ElfenLied pretty obvious]] by now.
* SpoilerOpening:
** The first opening shows all main heroines, including even Hatsuna, who is not even introduced before the switch to the second opening. Other characters, whose appearances are spoiled there before their introduction and the switch to the second opening, are Valkyia and Hexenjagd. It also spoilers that Kotori is either a good girl or has a HeelFaceTurn, since she's introduced as a possible assassin, and the silhouettes of Saori and Kikako including their powers. Not to mention the final battle between Neko and Valkyria.
** The second opening spoilers that Hatsuna is definitely going to be a main character. There are also a few subtle possible spoilers: [[spoiler:Kotori is shown switching places with Hatsuna, probably a {{Foreshadowing}} that Hatsuna will replace her in the manga; Kana is seen moving her right hand, despite she can only move her left, {{Foreshadowing}} that she will move again]].
* SquishyWizard: All witches we've seen so far don't seem to be any tougher than normal humans. Made most obvious when [[spoiler:Ichijiku goes TakingTheBullet for Valkyria, suggesting that even she who is the WorldsStrongestMan still doesn't have the SuperToughness to be ImmuneToBullets.]]
* SurrealThemeTune:
** The first opening is a bizarre mash-up of angry violins, ominous wails and chants, and ''dubstep''.
** The second anime opening is a heavy rock tune full of {{Metal Scream}}s à la [[Manga/DeathNote What's Up]] [[Music/MaximumTheHormone People]]… but the movie that accompanies it consists mostly of mundane, semi-static images, which gives a rather weird effect.
* SustainedMisunderstanding: One occurs in chapter 131, after Kuroha and Ryouta end up in a love hotel together following their date. [[spoiler:They actually don't do anything, but Takaya and Hatsuna end up seeing Kuroha leaving the hotel, followed shortly by Ryouta later, and she tells Kazumi about it. As a result, Kazumi thinks Ryouta and Kuroha had sex, while Kuroha thinks that Ryouta is in love with Kazumi. Ryouta fails to clear up the misunderstanding and his feelings towards her. But even if he did, she likely wouldn't believe him anyway due to her recent memory loss after the fight with Valkyria and is still cold towards him.]]
* TalkingIsAFreeAction: Occurs a couple of times in episode 13, such as when Kuroha talks to Ryouta while Valkyria is nearby and attempting to break through the former's barrier.
* ThemeMusicPowerup: In episode 13 the first opening plays when [[spoiler:Kuroha reawakens her memories and powers as Kuroneko.]]
* TruthInTelevision: In chapter 6, it's revealed that Kazumi's magic is her capability to factor very large integers with ease, and that makes her capable of breaking the security of many systems. Then again, the [[TechnoBabble explanation and theory exposed]] in the chapter would make mathematicians and cryptographers cringe.
** ShownTheirWork: On the other hand, a similar situation in which Ryouta asks Kougorou, a head chemist at a research facility, on the process how the "anti-death pills" are made (this field is known as "organic chemistry") is done using ''extremely basic'' terms, which is TechnoBabble at best for those who may or may not know the topic itself. It's useless to explain a concept that would take several pages when the audience only needs to know the basic idea to understand. Plus, [[{{Justified}} we're talking about a kid who's listening to a topic very outside of his field of research and he only heard about it briefly, if barely at all]]. [[GeniusBonus You may need to know some of it already in order to understand the entire concept]].
* VillainousRescue: The hatched drasil [[spoiler:of Hatsuna]] is stopped by Machina in chapter 125/126. Hexenjagd seems to [[TheDreaded fear him]], and Ryouta says he feels an evil presence emanating from the man.
* WhamEpisode:
** In episode 3, Kuroha is seemingly turned into LudicrousGibs right in front of Ryouta by Saori, another witch. [[spoiler:However, Ryouta stabs Saori in the heart, forcing her to utilize her time magic to go back one minute into the past, before she killed Kuroha and him. And because it caused her to hang up, she couldn't fight back or even run away.]]
** In chapter 69/episode 11, Ryouta finds out that Kuroha is his childhood friend Kuroneko after Kotori spills some juice on her by accident. [[spoiler:Valkyria also finds them at the very end of the episode when she warps into the observatory right in front of them.]]
** Episode 12. [[spoiler:The Grane in Kotori's Harness awakens, beginning the apocalypse.]]
** In chapter 138, Kuroha, having lost her memories again after fighting Valkyria, states coldly that she hates Ryouta after Hatsuna warns him about brushing off their feelings for him. She then rediscovers her journal her past self wrote with various details on them. [[spoiler:She then finds Ryouta's article, and it's filled with various love symbols and words describing that she likes him a lot. Shortly afterward, Ryouta sees Kazumi alone in the woods, and thinking Kuroha doesn't care about him any longer, kisses her.]]
* WhamLine: This manga just loves these. For more, see the character entries.
** A particularly interesting one occurs in chapter 114, when Onodera, Ichijiku's replacement at Vingulf, says that a drasil hatching from one of the witches was entirely unpredictable and amounted to bad luck. [[spoiler:After she hangs up the phone however, she gives off an EvilLaughter and strongly hints that drasil hatching is not random, and is instead triggered by something, or someone else.]]
** Kuroha says she wants to start liking Ryouta in chapter 139, having lost her memories again after fighting Valkyria a while back. [[spoiler:The previous night, Ryouta kissed Kazumi after she gives him another AnguishedDeclarationOfLove, and thinking Kuroha wasn't interested in him anymore, felt she didn't have any other significant rivals to compete with. So Kuroha mentioning this comes as a shock to him and Kazumi.]]
* YouAreNumberSix: The organisation refers to escaped witches by numbers − in the manga at least. It's downplayed quite a bit in the anime.
* YouHaveOutlivedYourUsefulness: How the research facility deals with scientists who leave the facility. They give a GPS tracker, a set list of guidelines, and a ride out. [[spoiler:Then they kill the scientist.]]
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** Kuroha says she wants to start liking Ryouta in chapter 139, having lost her memories again after fighting Valkyria a while back. [[spoiler:The previous night, Ryouta kissed Kazumi after she gives him another AnguishedDeclarationOfLove, and thinking Kuroha wasn't interested in him anymore, felt she didn't have any other significant rivals to compete with. So Kuroha mentioning this comes as a shock to him and Kazumi.]]
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''Kiwaguro no Brynhildr'' (or ''Gokukoku no Brynhildr'' going by the furigana spelling and [[https://twitter.com/Gokukoku_anime the Twitter account for the anime]]; officially translated as ''Brynhildr in the Darkness'') is a manga by Creator/LynnOkamoto. It shares the science-fiction horror tone and '{{Gorn}} of ''ElfenLied''. A 13 episode {{anime}} adaptation aired [[Spring2014Anime as part of the Spring 2014 season]]. The animation studio behind it is Arms, already responsible for the ''Manga/ElfenLied'' anime. The manga began serialization in 2012 in the Weekly Young Jump.
to:
''Kiwaguro no Brynhildr'' (or ''Gokukoku no Brynhildr'' going by the furigana spelling and [[https://twitter.com/Gokukoku_anime the Twitter account for the anime]]; officially translated as ''Brynhildr in the Darkness'') is a manga by Creator/LynnOkamoto. It shares the science-fiction horror tone and '{{Gorn}} of ''ElfenLied''.''Manga/ElfenLied''. A 13 episode {{anime}} adaptation aired [[Spring2014Anime as part of the Spring 2014 season]]. The animation studio behind it is Arms, already responsible for the ''Manga/ElfenLied'' anime. The manga began serialization in 2012 in the Weekly Young Jump.
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** In chapter 138, Kuroha, having lost her memories again after fighting Valkyria, states coldly that she hates Ryouta after Hatsuna warns him about brushing off their feelings for him. She then rediscovers her journal her past self wrote with various details on them. [[spoiler:She then finds Ryouta's article, and it's filled with various love symbols and words describing that she likes him a lot. Shortly afterward, Ryouta sees Kazumi alone in the woods, and thinking Kuroha doesn't care about him any longer, kisses her.]]
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* ShutUpHannibal: In chapter 126, Makina saves Ryouta and the others from [[spoiler:Hatsuna's]] hatched form. However, Hexenjagd seems terrified of him, and even Ryouta senses an evil aura emanating from the guy. However, once he kisses Kuroha because she looks like Valkyria, she slaps him and tells him not to touch her. Despite Hexenjagd warning them not to make him angry, Ryouta delivers a dropkick to him, which forces him to retreat since his body is still really weak, and Ryouta's attack was enough to disfigure his face.
to:
* ShutUpHannibal: In chapter 126, Makina Machina saves Ryouta and the others from [[spoiler:Hatsuna's]] hatched form. However, Hexenjagd seems terrified of him, and even Ryouta senses an evil aura emanating from the guy. However, once he kisses Kuroha because she looks like Valkyria, she slaps him and tells him not to touch her. Despite Hexenjagd warning them not to make him angry, Ryouta delivers a dropkick to him, which forces him to retreat since his body is still really weak, and Ryouta's attack was enough to disfigure his face.
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* VillainousRescue: The hatched drasil [[spoiler:of Hatsuna]] is stopped by Makina in chapter 125/126. Hexenjagd seems to [[TheDreaded fear him]], and Ryouta says he feels an evil presence emanating from the man.
to:
* VillainousRescue: The hatched drasil [[spoiler:of Hatsuna]] is stopped by Makina Machina in chapter 125/126. Hexenjagd seems to [[TheDreaded fear him]], and Ryouta says he feels an evil presence emanating from the man.
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* ChildhoodFriendRomance: Ryouta and Kuroha/Kuroneko. They were close friends as kids, but they were separated after an accident in which Ryouta thought she died. Years later, they met again, but Kuroha doesn't remember him because of the memory loss caused by her powers.
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* ChildhoodFriendRomance: Ryouta and Kuroha/Kuroneko. They were close friends as kids, but they were separated after an accident in which Ryouta thought she died. Years later, they met meet again, but Kuroha doesn't remember him because of the memory loss caused by her powers.powers. However, they still have feelings for each other.
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* ChildhoodFriendRomance: Ryouta and Kuroha/Kuroneko. They were close friends as kids, but they were separated after an accident in which Ryouta thought she died. Years later, they met again, but Kuroha doesn't remember him because of the memory loss caused by her powers.
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* NoNameGiven: The man and woman [[spoiler:(apparently Kana's sister)]] who investigate Vingulf in the post-Valkyria arc are still unnamed after more than a dozen chapters of regular presence. Chances are this is deliberate (remember ''Manga/ElfenLied'').
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* NoNameGiven: The man and woman [[spoiler:(apparently Kana's sister)]] who investigate Vingulf in the post-Valkyria arc are still unnamed after more than a dozen twenty chapters of regular presence. Chances are this is deliberate (remember ''Manga/ElfenLied'').
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* LoveHurts: Both Ryouta and Kuroha experience this in chapter 130 and 131 after he inadvertently leads her into a love hotel. [[spoiler:Kuroha then suspects that Kazumi wanted to bring him here to have sex with him, and he says that you can only make babies with someone you love. Suspecting that he likes Kazumi, Kuroha then leaves dejectedly, and he follows shortly afterwards.]]
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* SickEpisode: Kazumi catches a cold in chapter 130 on the day she was supposed to go see a movie with Ryouta. Though she asks Kana to tell him, Kana instead sends Kuroha. She then ends up going on the date with Ryouta instead.
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* SustainedMisunderstanding: One occurs in chapter 131, after Kuroha and Ryouta end up in a love hotel together following their date. [[spoiler:They actually don't do anything, but Takaya and Hatsuna end up seeing Kuroha leaving the hotel, followed shortly by Ryouta later, and she tells Kazumi about it. As a result, Kazumi thinks Ryouta and Kuroha had sex, while Kuroha thinks that Ryouta is in love with Kazumi. Ryouta fails to clear up the misunderstanding and his feelings towards her. But even if he did, she likely wouldn't believe him anyway due to her recent memory loss after the fight with Valkyria and is still cold towards him.]]
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* BodyHorror: Magic Users [[ItMakesSenseInContext melt]] when they go too long without taking the medication. And that is only the final stage. Before that, they start to [[{{Gorn}} bleed all over]], [[{{Squick}} their bodies break down, and even their internal organs shut down before that happens]].
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* BodyHorror: BodyHorror:
** Magic Users [[ItMakesSenseInContext melt]] when they go too long without taking the medication. And that is only the final stage. Before that, they start to [[{{Gorn}} bleed all over]], [[{{Squick}} their bodies break down, and even their internal organs shut down before thathappens]].happens]].
** A magic user who hatches turns into a perpetually hungry and ''very'' tough monster, who eats their own empty shell.
** Magic Users [[ItMakesSenseInContext melt]] when they go too long without taking the medication. And that is only the final stage. Before that, they start to [[{{Gorn}} bleed all over]], [[{{Squick}} their bodies break down, and even their internal organs shut down before that
** A magic user who hatches turns into a perpetually hungry and ''very'' tough monster, who eats their own empty shell.
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* AnyoneCanDie: Zigzagged. [[spoiler:Kotori, unfortunately, ends up with a MercyKill in order to keep her from eradicating the world, which is the first time a main character gets a perma-death. Except there's a key phrase: ''perma''-death. Many other characters end up BackFromTheDead via Time Reversal (Ryouta and Neko), NotQuiteDead (Nanami transfers her consciousness to Ryouta), or get subjected to Hatsuna's HealingFactor abilities.]]
** [[spoiler:The second main character to die is Hatsuna. [[DisneyDeath Or not.]]]]
** [[spoiler:The second main character to die is Hatsuna. [[DisneyDeath Or not.]]]]
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* AnyoneCanDie: Zigzagged. [[spoiler:Kotori, unfortunately, ends up with a MercyKill in order to keep her from eradicating the world, which is the first time a main character gets a perma-death. Except there's a key phrase: ''perma''-death. Many other characters end up BackFromTheDead via Time Reversal (Ryouta and Neko), NotQuiteDead (Nanami transfers her consciousness to Ryouta), or get subjected to Hatsuna's HealingFactor abilities.]]
** [[spoiler:The second main character to die is Hatsuna. [[DisneyDeath Or not.]]]] Hatsuna even survives ''her own hatching''.]]
** [[spoiler:The second main character to die is Hatsuna. [[DisneyDeath Or not.]]]]
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* GodzillaThreshold:
** Ryouta attempts one in episode 12 of the anime, when he activates the transponder that Kuroha gave him in an earlier episode, not knowing what would happen when the device was tracked down. Hexenjagd agents show up to save them from Valkyria and Chisato. [[spoiler:Unfortunately they fatally wound him, along with kidnapping Kotori. Fortunately Hatsuna is able to heal him back up.]]
** In chapter 127, Hexenjagd sort of saves the day again after [[spoiler:Hatsuna]] hatches. Ryouta then attempts something never done before after hearing a suggestion from Kazumi. [[spoiler: He helps her drasil back into its harnest, after Kazumi theorizes that it may be enough to bring her BackFromTheDead. It works, and as soon as she's able to, Hatsuna starts to heal up Takaya, whom she had taken a bite out of earlier. Even Hexenjagd is shocked at Hatsuna being able to recover from hatching.]]
** Ryouta attempts one in episode 12 of the anime, when he activates the transponder that Kuroha gave him in an earlier episode, not knowing what would happen when the device was tracked down. Hexenjagd agents show up to save them from Valkyria and Chisato. [[spoiler:Unfortunately they fatally wound him, along with kidnapping Kotori. Fortunately Hatsuna is able to heal him back up.]]
** In chapter 127, Hexenjagd sort of saves the day again after [[spoiler:Hatsuna]] hatches. Ryouta then attempts something never done before after hearing a suggestion from Kazumi. [[spoiler: He helps her drasil back into its harnest, after Kazumi theorizes that it may be enough to bring her BackFromTheDead. It works, and as soon as she's able to, Hatsuna starts to heal up Takaya, whom she had taken a bite out of earlier. Even Hexenjagd is shocked at Hatsuna being able to recover from hatching.]]
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* IKnowYoureInthereSomewhereFight: Witches who have hatched become EldritchAbominations. They usually start out by eating the body of their host, whichever girl that they popped out of. Despite that, they still have some vague memories of their former life, and some characters attempt to stop them from killing others. [[spoiler:Kana witnesses this when Rurumi hatches, and ends up eating her friend Rin. Takaya also manages to hold off a hatched Hatsuna long enough to ask her out on a date as he lay dying after being bitten nearly in half by her hatched form.]]
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* MercyKill: The hatched drasil [[spoiler:of Hatsuna]] in chapter 125 begs to be killed while she's still somewhat sane. Unfortunately Hexenjagd states she can't be easily killed in that form, hence why they warned Ryouta to kill the girls while still in human form.
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* ShutUpHannibal: In chapter 126, Makina saves Ryouta and the others from [[spoiler:Hatsuna's]] hatched form. However, Hexenjagd seems terrified of him, and even Ryouta senses an evil aura emanating from the guy. However, once he kisses Kuroha because she looks like Valkyria, she slaps him and tells him not to touch her. Despite Hexenjagd warning them not to make him angry, Ryouta delivers a dropkick to him, which forces him to retreat since his body is still really weak, and Ryouta's attack was enough to disfigure his face.
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* VillainousRescue: The hatched drasil [[spoiler:of Hatsuna]] is stopped by Makina in chapter 125/126. Hexenjagd seems to [[TheDreaded fear him]], and Ryouta says he feels an evil presence emanating from the man.
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Changed line(s) 28 (click to see context) from:
** [[spoiler:The second main character to die is Hatsuna.]]
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** [[spoiler:The second main character to die is Hatsuna.]] [[DisneyDeath Or not.]]]]
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** [[spoiler:The second main character to die is Hatsuna.]]
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Changed line(s) 56 (click to see context) from:
* EvolvingCredits: In episode 10, Nanami joins the main cast at the end of the credits as they look at the night sky. Hatsuna joins them in episode 12.
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* EvolvingCredits: In episode 10, Nanami joins the main cast at the end of the credits as they look at the night sky. Hatsuna joins them in episode 12.12 (episode 11 in the Blu-ray). The Blu-ray version of episode 13 has also [[spoiler:Kana standing on her own feet, but Kotori is missing]].
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Changed line(s) 111 (click to see context) from:
* RealityEnsues: Sure, let's just wait for [[EldritchAbomination Hatsuna's Drasil]] to hatch instead of ejecting her straight away, because when it does we'd just have to work her willpower back with that good ol' IKnowYoureInThereSomewhereFight. [[TemptingFate No way she'd stay a monster, right?]] [[spoiler: She does. She regains her will for a couple seconds, but that's all she could ever manage.]]
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* RealityEnsues: Sure, let's just wait for [[EldritchAbomination Hatsuna's Drasil]] to hatch instead of ejecting her straight away, because when it does we'd just have to work her willpower back with that good ol' IKnowYoureInThereSomewhereFight. [[TemptingFate No way she'd stay a monster, right?]] [[spoiler: She does. She regains her will for a couple seconds, bring the Drasil to a pause, but that's all she could ever manage.manage. ThePowerOfLove just doesn't work on EldritchAbomination.]]
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'''Miki (when Hatsuna's Drasil is about to devour Ryouta):''' You brought it upon yourself...Serves you right...It's all because you didn't eject her when you had the chance.\\
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'''Miki (when Hatsuna's Drasil is about to devour Ryouta):''' You brought it upon yourself...Serves you right...It's all because you didn't eject her when you had the chance.\\
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Changed line(s) 111,112 (click to see context) from:
* RealityEnsues: Sure, let's just wait for [[EldritchAbomination Hatsuna's Drasil]] to hatch instead of ejecting her straight away, because when it does we'd just have to work her willpower back with that good ol' IKnowYoureInThereSomewhereFight. [[TemptingFate No way would it fail, right?]] [[spoiler: It fails. Miserably.]]
--> '''Miki:''' You brought it upon yourself...Serves you right...It's all because you didn't eject her when you had the chance.\\
--> '''Miki:''' You brought it upon yourself...Serves you right...It's all because you didn't eject her when you had the chance.\\
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* RealityEnsues: Sure, let's just wait for [[EldritchAbomination Hatsuna's Drasil]] to hatch instead of ejecting her straight away, because when it does we'd just have to work her willpower back with that good ol' IKnowYoureInThereSomewhereFight. [[TemptingFate No way would it fail, she'd stay a monster, right?]] [[spoiler: It fails. Miserably.She does. She regains her will for a couple seconds, but that's all she could ever manage.]]
** Making matters worse, thanks to Kana's foresight, Ryouta and the Astronomy Club have more or less already known when Hatsuna is going to hatch. Yet they consciously chose not to act upon that foresight despite Hexenjagd's warning that they wouldn't be able to intervene in the event of her hatching due to their inconveniently-timed loss of magic.
-->'''Miki:''' '''Miki (when Ryouta asks her if they can stop hatching from happening)'''': If you want to prevent the hatching, you'll have to eject the witch. The only thing we can do is to kill the Drasil as it hatches.\\
'''Miki (when Hatsuna's Drasil is about to devour Ryouta):''' You brought it upon yourself...Serves you right...It's all because you didn't eject her when you had the chance.\\
** Making matters worse, thanks to Kana's foresight, Ryouta and the Astronomy Club have more or less already known when Hatsuna is going to hatch. Yet they consciously chose not to act upon that foresight despite Hexenjagd's warning that they wouldn't be able to intervene in the event of her hatching due to their inconveniently-timed loss of magic.
-->
'''Miki (when Hatsuna's Drasil is about to devour Ryouta):''' You brought it upon yourself...Serves you right...It's all because you didn't eject her when you had the chance.\\
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* RealityEnsues: Sure, let's just wait for [[EldritchAbomination Hatsuna's Drasil]] to hatch instead of ejecting her straight away, because when it does we'd just have to work her willpower back with that good ol' IKnowYoureInThereSomewhereFight. [[TemptingFate No way would it fail, right?]] [[spoiler: It fails. Miserably.]]
--> '''Miki:''' You brought it upon yourself...Serves you right...It's all because you didn't eject her when you had the chance.\\
--> '''Miki:''' You brought it upon yourself...Serves you right...It's all because you didn't eject her when you had the chance.\\
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Changed line(s) 139 (click to see context) from:
* SquishyWizard: All witches we've seen so far don't seem to be any tougher than normal humans. Made most obvious when [[spoiler:Chisato goes TakingTheBullet for Valkyria, suggesting that even she who is the WorldsStrongestMan still doesn't have the SuperToughness to be ImmuneToBullets.]]
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* SquishyWizard: All witches we've seen so far don't seem to be any tougher than normal humans. Made most obvious when [[spoiler:Chisato [[spoiler:Ichijiku goes TakingTheBullet for Valkyria, suggesting that even she who is the WorldsStrongestMan still doesn't have the SuperToughness to be ImmuneToBullets.]]
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Deleted line(s) 143 (click to see context) :
* TakeAThirdOption: In episode 9, Ryouta asks the girls what to do about Nanami after she finds out where they're hiding. He tells them they can either fight her, or run away to a new hiding place. But Kuroha doesn't like either option, and he agrees with her. This helps to confirm what he said to her earlier about wanting to befriend her since she didn't attack him out of the blue like other witches such as Kikako and Saori did. [[spoiler:Unfortunately she's remotely ejected shortly after joining them, though she transfers her consciousness into his mind before dying, and wiping out the girl's memory of her to avoid her death being a burden to them.]]
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* SpitTake: Kuroha does one in chapter 122 after drinking the iced coffee Takaya pays for, but leaves before taking a sip of it.
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* NoNameGiven: The man and woman [[spoiler:(apparently Kana's sister)]] who investigate vingulf in the post-Valkyria arc are still unnamed after more than a dozen chapters of regular presence. Chances are this is deliberate.
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* NoNameGiven: The man and woman [[spoiler:(apparently Kana's sister)]] who investigate vingulf Vingulf in the post-Valkyria arc are still unnamed after more than a dozen chapters of regular presence. Chances are this is deliberate.deliberate (remember ''Manga/ElfenLied'').
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* SpitTake: Kuroha does one in chapter 122 after drinking the iced coffee Takaya pays for, but leaves before taking a sip of it.
