History WebComic / RedString

* ConflictBall -

It was created as a entry in [=TokyoPop=]'s ''Rising Stars Of Manga'' contest. It didn't make it, Biggs posted it online and continued the story. It developed far beyond the basic concept, running from 2003 to its conclusion in August 2013. The series was picked up for publishing by Dark Horse Comics, who published the first 3 volumes. Vol. 4 and beyond are published by Biggs' own Creator/StrawberryComics.

Red String is a {{webcomic}} by Gina Biggs. It concerns the life of Japanese teenager Miharu Ogawa, a slightly [[SubculturesInJapan kogal]]-ish teenage girl who comes home one day to find out she's engaged. A spirited girl, she rejects her parents planning her life out for her. While sitting on a park bench, she finds a sympathetic ear in senior Kazuo Fujiwara, a serious but pessimistic and weak-willed man who is taken by Miharu's strength and boldness. After they share a day together on a "pretend date," Miharu realizes that she has fallen in love with him... and that he is her affianced. She chooses to stay with him, but grapples with a very harsh reality about their relationship. She also struggles with genuinely loving someone while fighting against being StrangledByTheRedString.

** In Chapter 51, [[spoiler:Miharu's parents learn about her relationship with Makoto. Instead of being supportive as they've been shown to be in the past, they suddenly inform her that this would be a problem with their finances and insist she break up with him]]. It comes out of nowhere as up until this point in the story, there was no indication that [[spoiler: they were having financial problems.]] After passing the ball to her parents, they [[spoiler:reveal that they're just worried she'll break Makoto's heart if they break up and make things awkward.]]

* AbortedArc - Most of the characters not named Miharu, Reika, and Fuuko had their open story arcs cut short to end the comic early. By the author's own admission, she had intended to continue several of these open arcs in side stories similar to Maya's, but they were cut for time.

* AbusiveParents - Kenta is very much one of these towards Kazuo. He has shown signs of being emotionally abusive towards his wife.
* AccidentalHandHold - Miharu and Makoto [[http://www.redstring.strawberrycomics.com/index.php?id=1269 brush hands while reaching into the same snack bowl]]. They then embark on a hot and heavy make-out session.
* AllThereInTheManual - The Maya subplot is resolved in the short story "Maya's Match," though this isn't that important to the progression of the main story. However, Hanae's backstory, which ''does'' get some cursory nods in the continuity, is in "Hanae's Story". Both stories are sold as premium downloads through the site's store.

* AlmostKiss - Teased a few times between [[EveryoneCanSeeIt Reika and Eiji]]. Luckily, TheyDo later.

* AlphaBitch - Sayuri Morita, although later a FallenPrincess. Sayuri was once [[FormerFriendOfAlphaBitch best friends]] with [[CoolLoser Miharu and Reika]] up until the end of their middle school years, when she became jealous of them after they landed an appearance in the [[FictionalCounterpart ''Kyoto Walker'']], a popular teen magazine.
* AlternateDVDCommentary - The comment feature for each comic can create a Podcast/RiffTrax effect.
* ArrangedMarriage - The title couple, as well as several others.
* BettyAndVeronica - In the quest for Miharu's love, Kazuo is the Veronica, Makoto is the Betty.

* BlondeBrunetteRedhead - Our original trio of female leads (two of them due to dyeing) fit this bill: Miharu the blonde, Fuuko the brunette, and Reika the redhead.
* BookEnds - [[spoiler:The story opens with Miharu's parents telling her "You're getting married!" and Miharu saying "What?!" The last lines of the comic are a reversal--Miharu saying "I'm getting married!" with her parents saying "What?!"]]
* BreakTheHaughty - Morita gets broken very harshly. She goes from the top of the school, wanted by all the boys, envied by all of the girls to an outcast that no one will offer any help or friendship to and suffers constant humiliation from her former friends (including physical abuse). All this because she dared to turn her cruelty on someone more popular than she was and it blew up in her face.
* BrokenAesop - Red String is supposed to be about love and growing up, though the later chapters of the comic show almost everyone (including our heroine) acting like immature, whiny, TooDumbToLive morons who seem to have confused infatuation with true love and not progressing that much in their relationships.
* BroodingBoyGentleGirl - Eiji and Reika.
* CallingTheOldManOut - Kazuo, finally, calls out Kenta in Chapter 44. [[spoiler:After his suicide attempt gave him a new perspective on the situation.]]
* CannotSpitItOut - Reika and Eiji, over and over and over again. [[spoiler:Finally [[LampshadeHanging lampshaded]] in Chapter 35 when even Reika's friends express their bafflement over the obvious hookup. Which came in the same chapter.]]
* CharacterizationMarchesOn - Rereading early chapters can be a bit jarring, as all the characters have developed significantly and who's considered a protagonist and an antagonist can shift over time.
* CharacterShilling - Makoto is the frequent recipient of this to an unreal degree. Almost everyone (even people like Karen and Eiji, who should not be as comfortable with him as they are) has nothing but good things to say about him, despite not really doing anything to earn such praise. When Kazuo doesn't jump on the Makoto bandwagon it's portrayed as him being squarely in the wrong, even though he has every right to call Makoto a "creepy jerk."

* CompassionateCritic - Kenta really seems to think that belittling Kazuo will make him into the man he wants him to be.
* {{Delinquents}} - Miharu is called this but she isn't really one. Actual delinquents ''have'' been shown and Miharu's original high school apparently has a reputation for attracting them.

* CosmicDeadline - In the midst of the final chapter, the author announced a firm end-date to the comic. Many story elements, including entire unresolved character arcs, were dropped and relegated to [[TheResolutionWillNotBeTelevised epilogues found elsewhere]] in favor of a controversial settling of the OfficialCouple.
* DramaticNecklaceRemoval - Kazuo breaks his red string to signal the finality of his breakup with Miharu. Later, Miharu does it to symbolize her starting to get over him.
* DudeShesLikeInAComa - Morita moves to kiss Igarashi when she finds him dozing in the teacher's lounge. She realizes what she's doing at the last second and runs off.

* EntitledToHaveYou - Makoto does this to Miharu in his first appearence. As many readers pointed out, he never stopped either - and people enable him left and right. [[spoiler:Then again, since even the ''author'' felt he was entitled to Miharu, it's hard to argue with his logic.]] Kazuo is the only person that ever calls him out directly on this behavior. [[spoiler:The story does this, not to highlight that Makoto still acts entitled to Miharu by virtue of never leaving her alone, but to make the reader feel bad for Makoto for being insulted.]] Not shockingly, this creates a BrokenAesop in which the narrative is 100% endorsing terrible behavior.
* EveryoneCanSeeIt - People who don't even know Reika or Eiji can see it!
* FallenPrincess - After Morita tries to bring down Maya but is foiled by Yuuki, she's constantly teased by the very same girls who used to be her witch posse.
* FalseDichotomy - The end of the comic acts as if Makoto must choose [[spoiler:between continuing his relationship with Miharu or breaking it off for the sake of her family.]] The problem? The comic doesn't actually present any reason why Makoto needs to choose between them, as he can easily have ''both.'' [[spoiler:Miharu's parents only tell her they're worried she isn't serious about her relationship and she'll break Makoto's heart and chase him away from the restaurant.]] The obvious resolution is simply [[spoiler:Miharu and Makoto telling them they're serious about the relationship. Something Makoto clearly already knows since he decided to propose to Miharu, thus marrying into the family which would immediately soothe any concerns about him leaving her family in the lurch. Instead, he phrases it as Miharu having to choose between him and her family.]]
* FlowerMotifs - Used frequently on chapter title pages and color art. Nearly every character has a particular flower associated with them. Standouts include forget-me-nots for Fuuko & Maya, lilies for Miharu, daisies for Reika, daffodils for Karen, and red tulips for Makoto. Red roses, as symbol of love, crop up all over the place.
* FourLinesAllWaiting - As the series progresses and characters continue to move away or split up and find new romantic interests, the simultaneous story lines have increased exponentially.
* GoodGirlsAvoidAbortion - This was played completely straight - Aiko is openly promiscuous and irresponsible, so naturally she hits up her boyfriend's family for money for the abortion. Because she's bad, she even laughs off the idea that getting an abortion is serious. In contrast, Reika's mother refused to have one despite Reika's father trying to pressure her into it - to the point that she entered a loveless marriage just to make the pregnancy work. [[spoiler:And just to further highlight what a good girl Reika is, she naturally never even considers abortion when she thinks she's pregnant. She just assumes she and Eiji will raise the potential child.]]
* HairColors - Averted - everyone has normal hair colors. Abnormal hair colors are clearly stated to be through dying and bleaching. Miharu's own hair color becomes extremely significant to her character development - being forced to have black hair again became a symbol of Miharu's loss of identity and a victory of the establishment against her. Then her freedom for the summer is heralded by bringing back the blond.
* HappilyMarried - Miharu and Karen's parents, Fuuko's parents as well. [[spoiler:Until her mother dies.]]
* HollywoodPudgy - InUniverse Hanae thinks she is, and she is drawn as heavier than most other characters. Fuuko doesn't have a problem with her weight, though, and the only people we actually see calling her fat were being jerks, so all in all it's something of an aversion.

* HookedUpAfterwards - [[spoiler:Kazuo hooks up with a girl he meets in France that isn't even named on panel, but is clearly his true love now.]]
* IdiotBall - More and more characters progressively laid hands on this ball towards the conclusion of the comic. Special mentions go out to Reika during her [[spoiler:pregnancy scare]] and Makoto during the final story arc.

* InformedAttribute - Despite many people in the story and even the author herself declaring that Makoto possesses the noble trait of "self-sacrifice", he is ''never'' shown actually doing this. He relentlessly pursues Miharu while she is engaged and even when trying to make things with Karen work is clearly still using Karen as a pretense to keep spending time with Miharu. [[spoiler:Even the presentation of him quitting his job at the restaurant at the end is not a sacrifice since it just frees him up to date Miharu full time. Plus his parents have already ensured he will have no actual repercussions and in the original script, were even paying for him to travel the world with the girl his quit his job for.]]

* ImportantHaircut - This comic comes back to that trope a lot.

* IndirectKiss - Reika cutely wonders about indirect kisses when Eiji shares a juice box with her. She then chastises herself for thinking such a childish thing.
* ItsASmallWorldAfterAll - With how big a city Kyoto is, the characters run into each other randomly a ''lot''.
* JerkAss - Kazuo's father Kenta, a rude, abusive asshole who mistreats virtually everyone in his family and whose sole motivation in life seems to be getting richer and more successful by any means necessary, including forcing his son to break up with Miharu so he could marry into a richer family. The fact that he ''fails'' at these objectives and still abuses his family only rubs in his general unlikeable nature. He's [[http://www.redstring.strawberrycomics.com/?p=3205 outright stated]] that he doesn't care much about Kazuo because he views him as useless.

* JustEatGilligan - [[spoiler:Reika thinks that she is pregnant after having sex with her boyfriend for the first time and with protection. Instead of going out to get a pregnancy test she gets herself, Miharu and Eiji worked up over the prospect without anyone considering that Reika just ''might'' not be. It isn't after we spend a whole chapter worrying that we find out that no, she isn't pregnant. Did she take a test? Not even that. We assume she got her period.]]

* LoadsAndLoadsOfCharacters - To the point where the vast majority of them suddenly and inexplicably dropped out of the strip in the final two years, several of them with their plot lines unresolved at all.
* LoveDodecahedron - Between numerous unrequited emotions and marriage arrangements, there's a lot of still unresolved love issues. Even the title couple has complications that pop up throughout the series, at points leaving them up in the air and the readers guessing.
* LoveHurts - Alternately played straight and averted. Love is a pretty neutral force in the comic overall, though pain is a given at some point.
* MeaningfulName - Not in all cases, but sometimes the characters names reflect on their personalities. (e.g. Genki who is very cheerful guy, Seiko Hoshikawa (star, star-river) the head of the astronomy club etc.).
* MistakenForCheating - A large amount of the relationship tension in the comic is introduced this way.
* NoBisexuals - Subverted. The story appears play this straight when Maya hooks up with Yuuki instead of Fuuko... but completely reverses it when Maya's lingering feelings for Fuuko continued to wreak havoc on her relationship with Yuuki. The short story, "Maya's Match", eventually resolved this plot arc. [[spoiler:Maya ends up with her male gym teacher after graduating, but only after seriously dating several men and women during college.]]
* NoblewomansLaugh - Morita does this in a [[http://www.redstring.strawberrycomics.com/?p=769 flashback strip]]. Fits her personality.
* TheNotLoveInterest - Ayu has been Makoto's best friend since they were little. She's easily the closest person to him since his beloved grandmother's death. There are absolutely no romantic feelings between them, despite what the fandom who wants him out of the way for Kazuo and Miharu might suggest.
* NumericalThemeNaming - The Hayashihara brothers fall into this, not too uncommon in Japan: Ken'''ichi'' (Strict, One), Ei''ji'' (Honor, Two), and Saburou's name just means third son.
* NotWhatItLooksLike - Ken'ichi's skanky fiancee Aiko comes on to Eiji to make Ken jealous. Eiji is freaked, but Reika takes it the wrong way when she and Ken'ichi walk in on them. Then she slaps Eiji when he tries to explain. Pretty par for the trope, actually.

* ObnoxiousInLaws - Reika's paternal grandmother treated her mom like utter crap while her parents were married. It's implied that she played a big role in their divorce.
* OnlySixFaces - This was a problem even early in the comic, but when the art completely went to pot as the comic barrelled towards its conclusion, it became a running joke on the forums that everyone was impossible to tell apart because they even had the same hair style.
* OrwellianRetcon - The author made multiple quiet changes to the final pages of the story to try and cover up the problems with the plot line. Since they were unannounced, most of her readership didn't even know they were happening, leading to confusion over the actual state of the storyline.

* ParentsAsPeople - Early in the series, the adult cast is well fleshed out and have their own problems, quirks, and character flaws. By the end of the series, however, this largely vanishes--Miharu's parents are treated as merely obstacles to her relationship with Makoto and the final scene of the comic [[spoiler:is Miharu mocking them.]]
* ParentExMachina - Makoto's parents seem to exist solely to remove any potential obstacles to his one goal in life--dating Miharu. [[spoiler:Pushed to its ultimate extreme in the finale when they, off-camera, arrange for Makoto to quit his job, have another chef take his place, buy the restaurant, and pay for him to date Miharu full time and travel restaurants around the world with him. Without him even needing to hold down a day job.]]
* ParentsWalkInAtTheWorstTime - Hanae's mother finds out her daughter is a lesbian this way. She doesn't take it well.
* PerfectlyArrangedMarriage - Initially played straight... until Kazuo is forced by his father to break up with Miharu. He initially resists, but one punch later and he breaks up with Miharu. They have yet to get back together and suddenly Makoto and Miharu are ''significantly'' closer than before.
* PornStash - {{Subverted}}. Reika notices a stack of magazines under Eiji's bed. When she pulls one out, he turns red and begs her not to look at it... [[{{Shoujo}} and it turns out he subscribes to girly romance manga]].
* PunctuatedForEmphasis - Get. Her. Out of here. [[spoiler:Spoken by Kenta in response to Miharu's TheReasonYouSuckSpeech.]]
* RedStringOfFate - An important symbolic image in the strip--Miharu and Kazuo wear them to symbolize their love for each other, and Kazuo breaking his in front of Miharu made the fanbase want to flay him alive. Multiple covers use red strings to show how two characters are tied together or foreshadow where their relationships will go. Several chapter titles also reference this, e.g. "Hanging By A Thread."
* SatelliteLoveInterest - Yosue Makoto is a controversial character due to lacking a well-defined personality aside from cooking, jewelry making, and obsessively pursuing Miharu [[spoiler:to the point of unexpectedly quitting a stable job with good prospects in order to one-up a rival for Miharu's affections.]]

* SavvyGuyEnergeticGirl - Kazuo and Miharu.
* SchoolgirlLesbians - Fuuko felt this way towards Maya, leading to massive drama as Maya tried to work through her own feelings towards Fuuko. Fuuko later moved on to an actual intimate relationship with Hanae when she changed schools.
* SempaiKohai - While Biggs by and large forgoes most Japanese {{Honorifics}} she retains this one. The other one used is Reika's nickname for Miharu, Mi-chan.
* ShaggyDogStory - The first eight years of the comic centered around the question of "Will Miharu and Kazuo make their relationship work?" [[spoiler:No. No they won't. The incredible odds against them won out and we're supposed to be happy we wasted ten years of a story about the RedStringOfFate declaring the RedStringOfFate is utterly meaningless in the literal last moment.]]
* ShipSinking - While the author tends to like keeping loose ends loose, there have been some definite direct hits.

* ShipperOnDeck - EVERYONE for Reika and Eiji.
* ShyFingerTwiddling - Reika often does this.
* StockShoujoBullyingTactics - Having shoujo influences and being set in a high school, a number of these cliches are used.

* StraightGay - The one shot of Igarashi's home life is the only time the readers ever know he's gay. The rest of the gay cast members fall into this category, in which the only way the readers learn of their sexuality is when it's genuinely relevant.
* StripBuffer - The only reason Gina kept her work from falling prey to ScheduleSlip for so long was her open policy of writing at least three weeks of pages in advance. Notably, in the final year of the comic and her sprint to the finish line, this completely vanished and Gina switched to rushing the pages out mere hours before they were scheduled to update, leading to many criticisms of the sudden plunge in what had once been a consistently good art style. By the end, Gina literally never knew how much she'd be able to write, and Kazuo's epilogue was literally an afterthought thrown together at the literal last minute.
* StupidSacrifice - Non-lethal version. Makoto is put into a position at the end of the comic where we are told he must choose between [[spoiler:continuing his relationship with Miharu or keeping his job at her family's restaurant.]] Now, keep in mind that the choice is already a FalseDichotomy, as documented above. [[spoiler:Makoto chooses to sacrifice his chance of owning Ogawa-Ya so he can date and marry Miharu.]] The problem? [[spoiler:He proposes marriage ''after'' quitting. Miharu accepts. Meaning ''these people are his future in-laws.'' He didn't have to quit his job at all, and he's honestly made things worse because now Miharu's family is going to have to take him in as a son-in-law despite knowing that he's completely wasted their time and money on him... AND he has put them into this situation entirely because he wanted to sleep with their daughter.]]
* TheirFirstTime - Constantly teased with Miharu and Kazuo, after numerous distractions prevented them from it. They finally did, spurred on at least partially by Kazuo secretly being upset about his father wanting him to break up with her. He still did, the next day. This storyline later received even more attention from the author with the publication of Bound XOXO, an adult short comic showing the scene in greater detail.

* TheReasonYouSuckSpeech - Miharu finally gives the one all the readers were waiting for to Kenta in the hospital [[spoiler:after Kazuo's ''suicide attempt'']].
* TheResolutionWillNotBeTelevised - The early end to the comic's run resulted in many [[AbortedArc Aborted Arcs]] being relegated to other mediums.
* TheyDo - Reika and Eiji eventually get together. Also, Kazuo and Miharu finally have sex after several misses [[spoiler:and break up the next day.]]
* TitleDrop - Aside from the numerous mentions of red strings in the comic, the chapter "Crash and Burn" had one of the characters say this near the end of the storyline.

* UmbrellaOfTogetherness - Karen and Kazuo share an umbrella, but Kazuo was just being a gentleman. No love affair is implied.
* UptightLovesWild - Miharu and Kazuo's relationship.
* VisitByDivorcedDad - Inverted, as Reika eventually goes to meet hers in Tokyo.
* WebcomicTime - The comic started in 2003 with the Miharu and her friends as 10th graders. They never graduated high school - Miharu was only starting her senior year by the end of the comic, and at one point spent several years on "summer break." Keep in mind that as Japanese students, their summer break is only a month long. At least some of this is due to the author's pregnancy in 2011 which forced the strip down to two page updates for much of the year and a short maternity leave in the summer that stopped updates entirely. This is also compounded by the greater focus on the supporting cast that led to several concurrent storylines taking place in the same window of time and naturally slowed forward progression.

->''The nail that sticks up must be hammered down.''
-->--'''Japanese proverb'''

* SatelliteLoveInterest - Yosue Makoto is a [[BaseBreaker controversial character]] due to lacking a well-defined personality aside from cooking, jewelry making, and obsessively pursuing Miharu [[spoiler:to the point of unexpectedly quitting a stable job with good prospects in order to one-up a rival for Miharu's affections.]]

* ValuesDissonance - While Miharu is (initially) freaked out by the idea of being set up for an arranged marriage, and the whole story is rife with arranged marriages, not even she seems to think of it as anything more troubling than an old fashioned superstition as the story goes on.
** Just the general portrayal of Kazuo as being weak because of Kenta's abuse. It essentially blames Kazuo for the effects of Kenta's treatment of him. And while this might not have been the case had Kenta's family not been implied to forgive and take him back at the end of the story...they did. Without even an apology from the abuser, not that that would have meant much anyway.

* WebcomicTime - The comic started in 2003 with the Miharu and her friends as 10th graders. They've yet to graduate high school. Miharu and her friends have been on "summer break" since mid-2009. Keep in mind that as Japanese students, their summer break is only a month long. At least some of this is due to the author's pregnancy in 2011 which forced the strip down to two page updates for much of the year and a short maternity leave in the summer that stopped updates entirely. This is also compounded by the greater focus on the supporting cast that led to several concurrent storylines taking place in the same window of time and naturally slowed forward progression.

* AlternateDVDCommentary - The comment feature for each comic can create a {{Rifftrax}} effect.

[[quoteright:220:http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/RedString_8603.jpg]]
[[caption-width-right:220:[[LoadsAndLoadsOfCharacters This isn't even half the main cast.]]]]

Red String is a {{Webcomic}} by Gina Biggs. It concerns the life of Japanese teenager Miharu Ogawa, a slightly [[SubculturesInJapan kogal]]-ish teenage girl who comes home one day to find out she's engaged. A spirited girl, she rejects her parents planning her life out for her. While sitting on a park bench, she finds a sympathetic ear in senior Kazuo Fujiwara, a serious but pessimistic and weak-willed man who is taken by Miharu's strength and boldness. After they share a day together on a "pretend date," Miharu realizes that she has fallen in love with him... and that he is her affianced. She chooses to stay with him, but grapples with a very harsh reality about their relationship. She also struggles with genuinely loving someone while fighting against being StrangledByTheRedString.

** Ironically, Kazuo's flaw is described as him being too willing to let others control him. In other words, Kazuo actually ''does'' practice the concept of self-sacrifice to the point where he actually sacrifices the things he loves most in pursuit of a magical solution that will keep everyone around him happy even if he is not. And unlike Makoto, he has nothing to show for it at the end of the comic...which seems to suggest that [[BrokenAesop giving up things for other people is a terrible trait to have and being completely selfish is the more noble trait to have.]]

* NoBisexuals - Subverted. The story appears play this straight when Maya hooks up with Yuuki instead of Fuuko...but completely reverses it when Maya's lingering feelings for Fuuko continued to wreak havoc on her relationship with Yuuki. The short story, "Maya's Match", eventually resolved this plot arc. [[spoiler:Maya ends up with her male gym teacher after graduating, but only after seriously dating several men and women during college.]]

* PerfectlyArrangedMarriage - Initially played straight...until Kazuo is forced by his father to break up with Miharu. He initially resists, but one punch later and he breaks up with Miharu. They have yet to get back together and suddenly Makoto and Miharu are ''significantly'' closer than before.

** Morita x Igarashi - Sunk when it was blatantly revealed to the readers that Igarashi ''is'' gay...and in a serious relationship.

* StupidSacrifice - Non-lethal version. Makoto is put into a position at the end of the comic where we are told he must choose between [[spoiler:continuing his relationship with Miharu or keeping his job at her family's restaurant.]] Now, keep in mind that the choice is already a FalseDichotomy, as documented above. [[spoiler:Makoto chooses to sacrifice his chance of owning Ogawa-Ya so he can date and marry Miharu.]] The problem? [[spoiler:He proposes marriage ''after'' quitting. Miharu accepts. Meaning ''these people are his future in-laws.'' He didn't have to quit his job at all, and he's honestly made things worse because now Miharu's family is going to have to take him in as a son-in-law despite knowing that he's completely wasted their time and money on him...AND he has put them into this situation entirely because he wanted to sleep with their daughter.]]

* AllThereInTheManual: The Maya subplot is resolved in the short story "Maya's Match," though this isn't that important to the progression of the main story. However, Hanae's backstory, which ''does'' get some cursory nods in the continuity, is in "Hanae's Story". Both stories are sold as premium downloads through the site's store.

* AlternateDVDCommentary: The comment feature for each comic can create a {{Rifftrax}} effect.

* BookEnds: [[spoiler: The story opens with Miharu's parents telling her "You're getting married!" and Miharu saying "What?!" The last lines of the comic are a reversal - Miharu saying "I'm getting married!" with her parents saying "What?!"]]

* BrokenAesop: Red String is supposed to be about love and growing up, though the later chapters of the comic show almost everyone (including our heroine) acting like immature, whiny, TooDumbToLive morons who seem to have confused infatuation with true love and not progressing that much in their relationships.
* BroodingBoyGentleGirl: Eiji and Reika.
* CallingTheOldManOut - Kazuo, finally, calls out Kenta in Chapter 44. [[spoiler: After his suicide attempt gave him a new perspective on the situation.]]

* CharacterShilling: Makoto is the frequent recipient of this to an unreal degree. Almost everyone (even people like Karen and Eiji, who should not be as comfortable with him as they are) has nothing but good things to say about him, despite not really doing anything to earn such praise. When Kazuo doesn't jump on the Makoto bandwagon it's portrayed as him being squarely in the wrong, even though he has every right to call Makoto a "creepy jerk."
* ConflictBall:
** In Chapter 51, [[spoiler: Miharu's parents learn about her relationship with Makoto. Instead of being supportive as they've been shown to be in the past, they suddenly inform her that this would be a problem with their finances and insist she break up with him]]. It comes out of nowhere as up until this point in the story, there was no indication that [[spoiler: they were having financial problems.]] After passing the ball to her parents, they [[spoiler: reveal that they're just worried she'll break Makoto's heart if they break up and make things awkward.]]
** In Chapter 51, [[spoiler: Reika breaks up with Eiji out of the blue because of a pregnancy scare, and later claims she assumes he'll resent her should she ''ever'' get pregnant. By this point in the story, their relationship and Eiji's dedication to her had already been solidified and the entire storyline where he thought he might have gotten her pregnant, he was nothing but supportive of her.]]

* EasilyForgiven:
** In Chapter 50, [[spoiler: Reika unilaterally breaks up with Eiji due to her own insecurities over a [[TeenPregnancy pregnancy scare]] combined with [[FreudianExcuse her fear of Eiji becoming like her father]]. After receiving no explanation and a very cold shoulder for a length of time, Eiji speaks with Reika once in the following chapter and all is peachy again.]]
** In Kazuo's epilogue, [[spoiler: Kenta of all people, after his wife divorces him and moves out. He feels really sad about it, shows up at their house unannounced when Kazuo is there, and apologizes for hurting them. The resolution is not played out, but Kazuo's reaction is to give his dad another chance and it is heavily implied that both Emi and Kazuo are going to forgive him.]]
* EntitledToHaveYou: Makoto does this to Miharu in his first appearence. As many readers pointed out, he never stopped either - and people enable him left and right. [[spoiler: Then again, since even the ''author'' felt he was entitled to Miharu, it's hard to argue with his logic.]] Kazuo is the only person that ever calls him out directly on this behavior. [[spoiler: The story does this, not to highlight that Makoto still acts entitled to Miharu by virtue of never leaving her alone, but to make the reader feel bad for Makoto for being insulted.]] Not shockingly, this creates a BrokenAesop in which the narrative is 100% endorsing terrible behavior.

* FalseDichotomy - The end of the comic acts as if Makoto must choose [[spoiler: between continuing his relationship with Miharu or breaking it off for the sake of her family.]] The problem? The comic doesn't actually present any reason why Makoto needs to choose between them, as he can easily have ''both.'' [[spoiler: Miharu's parents only tell her they're worried she isn't serious about her relationship and she'll break Makoto's heart and chase him away from the restaurant.]] The obvious resolution is simply [[spoiler:Miharu and Makoto telling them they're serious about the relationship. Something Makoto clearly already knows since he decided to propose to Miharu, thus marrying into the family which would immediately soothe any concerns about him leaving her family in the lurch. Instead, he phrases it as Miharu having to choose between him and her family.]]

* GoodGirlsAvoidAbortion - This was played completely straight - Aiko is openly promiscuous and irresponsible, so naturally she hits up her boyfriend's family for money for the abortion. Because she's bad, she even laughs off the idea that getting an abortion is serious. In contrast, Reika's mother refused to have one despite Reika's father trying to pressure her into it - to the point that she entered a loveless marriage just to make the pregnancy work. [[spoiler: And just to further highlight what a good girl Reika is, she naturally never even considers abortion when she thinks she's pregnant. She just assumes she and Eiji will raise the potential child.]]

* HookedUpAfterwards: [[spoiler: Kazuo hooks up with a girl he meets in France that isn't even named on panel, but is clearly his true love now.]]
* IdiotBall: More and more characters progressively laid hands on this ball towards the conclusion of the comic. Special mentions go out to Reika during her [[spoiler: pregnancy scare]] and Makoto during the final story arc.
** During her [[spoiler: pregnancy scare]], Reika never [[spoiler: takes a pregnancy test to determine if there is something to worry about in the first place]]. No reason is given for this fairly significant oversight that would have saved a lot of grief and drama; it simply never comes up and no one suggests it.
** In the final chapter, [[spoiler: Makoto and Miharu's secret relationship is strained because neither of them is willing to speak candidly or conduct business. Either a simple, forthright business conversation with her parents or a public commitment to one another would have immediately resolved the conflict without undue grief or drama]].
* InformedAttribute: Despite many people in the story and even the author herself declaring that Makoto possesses the noble trait of "self-sacrifice", he is ''never'' shown actually doing this. He relentlessly pursues Miharu while she is engaged and even when trying to make things with Karen work is clearly still using Karen as a pretense to keep spending time with Miharu. [[spoiler: Even the presentation of him quitting his job at the restaurant at the end is not a sacrifice since it just frees him up to date Miharu full time. Plus his parents have already ensured he will have no actual repercussions and in the original script, were even paying for him to travel the world with the girl his quit his job for.]]

** The most recent entry in the Hair Cut 500 is Kazuo, who showed up with a buzz cut in chapter 47 after [[spoiler: cutting ties with his father.]]

* JustEatGilligan: [[spoiler: Reika thinks that she is pregnant after having sex with her boyfriend for the first time and with protection. Instead of going out to get a pregnancy test she gets herself, Miharu and Eiji worked up over the prospect without anyone considering that Reika just ''might'' not be. It isn't after we spend a whole chapter worrying that we find out that no, she isn't pregnant. Did she take a test? Not even that. We assume she got her period.]]

* KarmaHoudini:
** There is a notable pattern of [[spoiler: Reika acting mean or unfair towards Eiji, ''Eiji'']] apologizing, and [[BetaCouple the couple returning to normalcy almost immediately]].
** Yosue Makoto has a pattern of never, ever getting called out on any of his actions in the story or suffering any kind of repurcussions for them. He stalks Miharu? They become friends. He repeatedly cheats on Karen? She laughs him off as being a "flirty goofball." He [[spoiler: quits his job to date Miharu full time?]] His parents bail him out no questions asked. He [[spoiler: confronts and insults Kazuo to the point of throwing his suicide attempt and abusive home in his face?]] He doesn't even have to apologize and nobody ever finds out. [[spoiler: And of course, he gets the girl anyway.]]

* NoBisexuals - Subverted. The story appears play this straight when Maya hooks up with Yuuki instead of Fuuko...but completely reverses it when Maya's lingering feelings for Fuuko continued to wreak havoc on her relationship with Yuuki. The short story, "Maya's Match", eventually resolved this plot arc. [[spoiler: Maya ends up with her male gym teacher after graduating, but only after seriously dating several men and women during college.]]

* OnlySixFaces: This was a problem even early in the comic, but when the art completely went to pot as the comic barreled towards its conclusion, it became a running joke on the forums that everyone was impossible to tell apart because they even had the same hair style.
* OrwellianRetcon: The author made multiple quiet changes to the final pages of the story to try and cover up the problems with the plot line. Since they were unannounced, most of her readership didn't even know they were happening, leading to confusion over the actual state of the storyline.
** [[spoiler: Makoto originally made no mention of how he was going to afford to quit his job and fly all over the world and wine and dine with Miharu. This led to the obvious conclusion that his parents were basically letting him quit a job they'd invested a lot of money and time into and were on top of that paying for him to screw off with the owner's daughter. This was changed to Makoto saying he had "savings".]]
** [[spoiler: Makoto's entire marriage proposal at the end of the comic? Him tugging a random ring off his finger and saying "Well?" After the readership pointed out how lazy this was, Gina rewrote it to something longer and at least implying that he wasn't planning on getting married ''right now''.]]
** She also openly announced the redraw of a page at the end where [[spoiler: Kazuo forced a kiss on Miharu.]] The original drawing made it appear akin to a rape attempt, complete with [[spoiler: Miharu wiping the kiss from her lips]] and the author explaining to the readership that this was intended to have consequences for [[spoiler: Kazuo]]. After a solid evening of angry tweets, e-mails, and pleas from genuinely upset rape victims who expressed the forcefulness of the scene had triggered flashbacks, Gina admitted she'd failed as an artist and redrew the page to a tamer scene that showed [[spoiler: the kiss was mutual.]]
* ParentsAsPeople - Early in the series, the adult cast is well fleshed out and have their own problems, quirks, and character flaws. By the end of the series, however, this largely vanishes - Miharu's parents are treated as merely obstacles to her relationship with Makoto and the final scene of the comic [[spoiler: is Miharu mocking them.]]
* ParentExMachina: Makoto's parents seem to exist solely to remove any potential obstacles to his one goal in life - dating Miharu. [[spoiler: Pushed to its ultimate extreme in the finale when they, off-camera, arrange for Makoto to quit his job, have another chef take his place, buy the restaurant, and pay for him to date Miharu full time and travel restaurants around the world with him. Without him even needing to hold down a day job.]]

* PunctuatedForEmphasis - Get. Her. Out of here. [[spoiler: Spoken by Kenta in response to Miharu's TheReasonYouSuckSpeech.]]
* RedStringOfFate - An important symbolic image in the strip - Miharu and Kazuo wear them to symbolize their love for each other, and Kazuo breaking his in front of Miharu made the fanbase want to flay him alive. Multiple covers use red strings to show how two characters are tied together or foreshadow where their relationships will go. Several chapter titles also reference this, e.g. "Hanging By A Thread."
* SatelliteLoveInterest: Yosue Makoto is a [[BaseBreaker controversial character]] due to lacking a well-defined personality aside from cooking, jewelry making, and obsessively pursuing Miharu [[spoiler: to the point of unexpectedly quitting a stable job with good prospects in order to one-up a rival for Miharu's affections.]]

* SavvyGuyEnergeticGirl: Kazuo and Miharu.

* ShaggyDogStory - The first eight years of the comic centered around the question of "Will Miharu and Kazuo make their relationship work?" [[spoiler: No. No they won't. The incredible odds against them won out and we're supposed to be happy we wasted ten years of a story about the RedStringOfFate declaring the RedStringOfFate is utterly meaningless in the literal last moment.]]

** [[spoiler: Kazuo x Miharu - Sunk a long time ago, but the hull finally drifted into the abyss in the final chapter when Makoto proposed to Miharu. She accepted.]]

* StockShoujoBullyingTactics: Having shoujo influences and being set in a high school, a number of these cliches are used.

* StupidSacrifice - Non-lethal version. Makoto is put into a position at the end of the comic where we are told he must choose between [[spoiler: continuing his relationship with Miharu or keeping his job at her family's restaurant.]] Now, keep in mind that the choice is already a FalseDichotomy, as documented above. [[spoiler: Makoto chooses to sacrifice his chance of owning Ogawa-Ya so he can date and marry Miharu.]] The problem? [[spoiler: He proposes marriage ''after'' quitting. Miharu accepts. Meaning ''these people are his future in-laws.'' He didn't have to quit his job at all, and he's honestly made things worse because now Miharu's family is going to have to take him in as a son-in-law despite knowing that he's completely wasted their time and money on him...AND he has put them into this situation entirely because he wanted to sleep with their daughter.]]

* TheReasonYouSuckSpeech - Miharu finally gives the one all the readers were waiting for to Kenta in the hospital [[spoiler: after Kazuo's ''suicide attempt'']].

* TheyDo - Reika and Eiji eventually get together. Also, Kazuo and Miharu finally have sex after several misses [[spoiler: and break up the next day.]]

* TomboyAndGirlyGirl:

* UptightLovesWild: Miharu and Kazuo's relationship.

See also ''Webcomic/DemonAid'', the author's subsequent project, as well as ''Webcomic/LoveNotFound'', which saw her return to romance comics but in a sci-fi setting instead of modern day earth.

!!This comic provides examples of:

It was created as a entry in [=TokyoPop=]'s ''Rising Stars Of Manga'' contest. It didn't make it, Biggs posted it online and continued the story. It developed far beyond the basic concept, running from 2003 to its conclusion in August 2013. The series was picked up for publishing by Dark Horse Comics, who published the first 3 volumes. Vol. 4 and beyond are published by Biggs' own StrawberryComics.

Red String is a {{Webcomic}} by Gina Biggs. It concerns the life of Japanese teenager Miharu Ogawa, a slightly [[SubculturesInJapan kogal]]-ish teenage girl who comes home one day to find out she's engaged. A spirited girl, she rejects her parents planning her life out for her. While sitting on a park bench, she finds a sympathetic ear in senior Kazuo Fujiwara, a serious but pessimistic and weak-willed man who is taken by Miharu's strength and boldness. After they share a day together on a "pretend date," Miharu realizes that she has fallen in love with him... and that he is her affianced. She chooses to stay with him, but grapples with a very harsh reality about their relationship. She also struggles with genuinely loving someone while fighting against being StrangledByTheRedString.

Along for the ride is a [[LoadsAndLoadsOfCharacters gigantic cast]] of supporting characters including friends, family, and schoolmates, many of whom have their own complicated relationships and love-lives. The series shows the struggle against the traditionalist Japanese culture, Miharu fights to retain her independent spirit while succeeding in a society that frowns upon change and individuality.

* DeletedScene: The ''full'' version of Miharu and Kazuo's [[TheirFirstTime first time]] can only be seen in the premium title "Bound." Similarly, "My Sweet Girl" was produced for readers who wanted the full version of Fuuko and Hanae's night of passion. Makoto and Miharu fooling around on a couch similarly got a naughtier spinoff. Post-series, Biggs has also announced releases of a full version of Reika and Eiji's night of passion from Chapter 50, and also two more unannounced scenes featuring other cast members.

Red String is a {{Webcomic}} by Gina Biggs. It concerns the life of Japanese teenager Miharu Ogawa, a slightly [[SubculturesInJapan kogal]]-ish teenage girl who comes home one day to find out that she's engaged. Being a spirited girl, she initially rejects the concept of her parents planning her life out for her, and while sitting on a park bench, she finds a sympathetic ear in an utter stranger, senior Kazuo Fujiwara, a serious but pessimistic and weak-willed man who is taken by Miharu's strength and boldness. After they share a day together on a "pretend date," Miharu realizes both that she has fallen in love with him... and that he is her affianced. She chooses to stay with him, but grapples with a very harsh reality about their relationship, as well as her own internal conflict of genuinely loving someone while her principles suggest fighting against being StrangledByTheRedString.

Along for the ride is a [[LoadsAndLoadsOfCharacters gigantic cast]] of supporting characters including friends, family, and schoolmates, many of whom have to deal with their own complicated relationships and love-lives. Contrasted against this is the struggle against the traditionalist Japanese culture, in which Miharu struggles to retain her independent spirit while still succeeding in a society that frowns upon change and individuality.

It started out as a basic short story to be entered into [=TokyoPop=]'s ''Rising Stars Of Manga'' contest. It didn't make it but instead Biggs posted it online and continued the story. It has since developed far beyond the basic concept, running since 2003 to its conclusion in August 2013. The series was picked up for publishing by Dark Horse Comics, who published the first 3 volumes. Vol. 4 and beyond are being published by Biggs' own StrawberryComics.

In June 2014, Biggs announced she would be releasing a new version of the final chapter as a "director's cut" of the ending to expand on criticisms of its resolution and clean up loose ends. In addition, the previously announced "bonus epilogues" will also be running on the site instead of only in the as yet unreleased final collection.

Red String is a {{Webcomic}} by Gina Biggs. It's set in Japan and does a fairly good job of pulling this off because Biggs (unlike some people) [[ShownTheirWork did her research]]. It concerns the life of Japanese teenager Miharu Ogawa, a slightly [[SubculturesInJapan kogal]]-ish teenage girl who comes home one day to find out that she's engaged. Being a spirited girl, she initially rejects the concept of her parents planning her life out for her, and while sitting on a park bench, she finds a sympathetic ear in an utter stranger, senior Kazuo Fujiwara, a serious but pessimistic and weak-willed man who is taken by Miharu's strength and boldness. After they share a day together on a "pretend date," Miharu realizes both that she has fallen in love with him... and that he is her affianced. She chooses to stay with him, but grapples with a very harsh reality about their relationship, as well as her own internal conflict of genuinely loving someone while her principles suggest fighting against being StrangledByTheRedString.

See also ''Webcomic/DemonAid'', the author's subsequent project.

** The entire epilogue to the comic, intended to resolve all the dangling plot threads for characters not related to the main love triangle, will only be released in a paid Red String collection after the end of the free comic's run.

* TogetherUmbrella - Karen and Kazuo, but Kazuo was just being a gentleman.
* TomboyAndGirlyGirl - Miharu is the tomboy, being loud, confident and more willing to try new things. Reika qualifies as the girly girl as she is quieter, sweet and more conventional.

See also, ''Webcomic/DemonAid'', the author's subsequent project.

* StupidSacrifice - Non-lethal version. Makoto is put into a position at the end of the comic where we are told he must choose between [[spoiler: continuing his relationship with Miharu or keeping his job at her family's restaurant.]] Now, keep in mind that the choice is already a FalseDichotomy, as documented above. [[spoiler: Makoto chooses to sacrifice his chance of owning Ogawa-Ya so he can date and marry Miharu.]] The problem? [[spoiler: He proposes marriage ''after'' quitting. Miharu accepts. Meaning ''these people are his future in-laws.'' He didn't have to quit his job at all, and he's honestly made things worse because now Miharu's family is going to have to take him in as a son-in-law despite knowing how much he's screwed them over.]]