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1[[quoteright:300:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/Ryvius_Cast.jpg]]
2
3->''"I don't want to die. I want to live."''
4
5''Infinite Ryvius'' (''Mugen no Rivaiasu'') is an original anime series directed by Goro Taniguchi (who would later become best known as the director of ''Anime/CodeGeass''), which aired for 26 episodes from 1999 to 2000. Set in the year 2225 AD, a NegativeSpaceWedgie called the "Geduld Phenomenon" has created a sea of plasma stretching across the solar system in-line with the orbital plane of the planets, and the catatrophe on Earth it caused lead to a rise in space travel and the colonization of many planets. The space station Liebe Delta is a training center for children who wish to become astronauts. However, the station harbors a dark secret, which leads terrorists to sabotage it and send it plunging into the Geduld. All of the instructors on board sacrifice their lives to save the students. In the aftermath, 486 children of varying ages find themselves aboard the Ryvius, a mysterious spaceship which was concealed within the core of Liebe Delta. With limited supplies, no adult supervision, and hostile forces still after them, they struggle to escape their pursuers and form a stable society. All they want is to be rescued - but a GovernmentConspiracy has convinced the media that the Ryvius has actually been commandeered by the same terrorists who destroyed Liebe Delta, so finding safe harbor will be no easy task.
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7While the series has a huge cast, with at least 33 named recurring characters, most episodes focus on a few core cast members. There's Kouji Aiba, an OrdinaryHighSchoolStudent (or astronaut-training equivalent thereof) and main protagonist; his younger and far more violent brother Yuki Aiba; their childhood friend Aoi Housen; the charming but fervent Ikumi Oze; and the mysterious girl in a strange pink outfit who nobody recognizes and who seems to appear and disappear like a ghost (Neya). Other significant characters include the arrogant Zwei (elite cadet) leader Lucson Houjou, the popular and talented Zwei member Juli Bahana, the vicious gang leader Airs Blue, and the religious girl Faina Shinozaki.
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9The show has been described as a cross between ''Series/LostInSpace'' and ''Literature/LordOfTheFlies'', by way of ''Literature/TheHuntForRedOctober''. It won the 2000 award for Best TV Animation at the fifth animation Kobe.
10----
11!!Tropes:
12* AbsurdlyPowerfulStudentCouncil: After all the adults die, the Zwei elite class decide that they're in charge.
13* AccidentalKiss: Happens between [[spoiler:Kouji and Aoi]] in Episode 13. [[spoiler:Aoi]] spends most of the next episode angsting about it.
14* AccidentalMisnaming: In Episode 4, Team Blue nicknames Good Turtleland III "Charlie." Despite his insistence on being called by his real name, it is [[OnlyKnownByTheirNickname all but forgotten by the others]] within a few episodes despite his occasional reminder. Viscuess also, puzzlingly, refers to the ''Ryvius'' as the ''Brattica''
15* AllGirlsWantBadBoys:
16** Played straight from Episodes 16-25 with [[spoiler:Juli and Blue]]; averted with [[NonActionGuy Kouji]], whom both Aoi and Faina are in love with.
17** Gender-flipped with Charlie and Criff. While Charlie is an easily manipulated, but good at heart, boy, Criff is a manipulative juvenile delinquent, until [[spoiler:she realizes that Charlie genuinely loves her in Episode 16.]]
18* AloofBigBrother: Inverted, Yuki is Kouji's ''younger'' brother and is cooler, stronger, taller, and better looking than the nebbish, goodie-two-shoes Kouji.
19* ApocalypseHow: [[spoiler: A single Vaia Ship can destroy an entire inhabited moon in an instant. A second Geduld Phenomenon would destroy the entire solar system.]]
20* ArtificialGravity: The ''Ryvius'' has artificial gravity [[spoiler:thanks to Neya's powers.]]
21* AscendedExtra:
22** Cullen starts the series as a background character collecting music; she evolves into an ActionGirl mecha "pilot" and Yuki's girlfriend.
23** Natalie Sheen, a girl with prominent glasses who sometimes appears in the background but has no spoken lines, gets development in the manga and drama [=CDs=].
24* AxCrazy: [[spoiler: Most notably the captain of the ''Blue Impulse'', though all of the captains of the Vaia Ships go insane in combat. It's later revealed that the Vaia is detrimental to their mental health along with the crew's.]]
25* BettyAndVeronica: Aoi and Faina are this for Kouji. Aoi is his childhood friend and a fairly typical teenager, while Faina is mysterious and follows a strange religion.
26* BewareTheNiceOnes: [[spoiler: When Kozue is beaten, Ikumi snaps ''hard'']].
27* {{BFG}}: The ''Ryvius'''s Barge Cannons can detach to be used as guns by the Vital Guarder.
28* BookEnds: The first and last episodes [[spoiler:begin with Kouji reassuring his mom that she can contact him at any time and then meeting Aoi at the train station.]]
29* BottomlessMagazines: Averted: due to wasteful firing, the ''Ryvius'' eventually runs out of ammo for its Barge Cannons.
30* BrotherSisterIncest: [[spoiler:Ikumi was in an incestuous relatinship with his sister and she killed herself over it.]]
31%% * BreakTheCutie: [[DysfunctionJunction Too many examples to name.]]
32* BridgeBunnies: The girls of Zwei take this role, [[spoiler:although Juli has a brief stint as the captain.]]
33* ButtMonkey:
34** Lucson Houjou, the self-proclaimed leader of the Zwei and captain of the ''Ryvius''. After being deposed, he is forced to work as the ship's janitor, frequently has his clothes stolen, and is constantly ridiculed by his fellow students. Even eight-year-old Pat thinks Lucson is "uncool." However he's redeemed in the end, [[spoiler:when his fellow students offer him the position of Captain and seem to treat him in a more friendly way; even Heigar seems to be more mellow towards him]].
35** Kouji gets beat up repeatedly, often by his younger brother.
36** Charlie gets bullied for Team Blue and the rest of Zwei starts looking down on him once they realize that he's betrayed them to the former.
37* CainAndAbel: Kouji and Yuki [[spoiler:wind up on opposite sides during Ikumi's regime. It's ultimately subverted when Yuki realizes that he can't bring himself to let Ikumi kill his own brother.]]
38* CameBackWrong: A rather loose case: [[spoiler:Neya based her humanoid form off the body of a dead soldier floating out in space near the ''Ryvius'' at the time of some [[NoodleIncident that only brief flashbacks are seen of]], seemingly some sort of military operation or experiment involving the Vaia. That soldier was Anjay Viscuess, Conrad Viscuess's daughter. This leads to Conrad momentarily thinking his daughter had come back from the dead when Neya confronts him on the bridge of the ''Geshpenst'']].
39* CassandraTruth: When the children on the ''Ryvius'' send out the distress call, the military assumes that the signal is a trick by terrorists who have seized control of the ship.
40* CataclysmBackstory: The birth of the Geduld, which resulted in the Earth’s atmosphere being altered, 1.7 Billion People dying, and Humanity accelerating its expansion into space.
41%% * CharacterDevelopment: Everyone goes through it, with the biggest examples being Kouji, Charlie, and Lucson.
42* ChekhovsGun: There is exactly one gun aboard the ''Ryvius'', stolen from one of the terrorists. It naturally plays an important role when Blue uses it to take over the ship. [[spoiler:Blue later give it to Kouji, who tries use it to overthrow Ikumi only for Ikumi to grab it and shoot him instead.]]
43* ChildhoodFriendRomance: Kouji and Aoi are childhood friends, with the former being oblivious to the latter starting to realize that she likes him as more than a friend. [[spoiler:They get together after [[SexForSolace comforting one another]] during the ''Ryvius'''s darkest hour.]]
44* ChildrenAreInnocent: Played surprisingly straight with cute little boy Pat, who maintains his innocent personality throughout the series.
45%% * ComingOfAgeStory
46* ConverseWithTheUnconscious: In Episode 24, after [[spoiler:Kouji is shot and wounded by Ikumi, then treated by Criff]], [[spoiler:a heartbroken Aoi]] spends a good amount of her remaining screentime in the episode begging for him to regain consciousness.
47* CoolStarship: [[spoiler: The Vaia ships.]]
48* CorruptChurch: Faina's religion inspires Kouji at first, but grows more malignant as time passes. [[spoiler:This turns out to be the PathOfInspiration, as Faina was deliberately twisting the teachings of her actual religion.]]
49* CreepyMonotone: Neya speaks like this, except when the collective emotions of the crew reach a high point.
50* DeclarationOfProtection: [[spoiler:Ikumi]]'s overriding motivation for the later half of the series, after [[spoiler:Kozue]] is assaulted in his absence. This leads to several murders and a few more attempted. But hey, UtopiaJustifiesTheMeans, right?
51* {{Delinquents}}: Airs Blue and his gang are a bunch of lower class students who don't abide by the rules set by Zwei.
52%%% * {{Determinator}}: Conrad Viscuess.
53* DidTheyOrDidntThey: [[spoiler:Kouji and Aoi at the end of Episode 21. Nothing explicit is shown, but the two are seen embracing, then falling onto a bed. The manga makes this scene much more obvious that they had sex. [[LampshadeHanging Lampshaded]] in an episode of Ryvius Illusion, where Kozue sends "fanmail" asking whether they "did it." Needless to say, Aoi is not pleased...]]
54* DistantFinale: The very end of the final episode takes place thousands of years after the events of the series.
55* DrivenToSuicide: Airs Blue, at one point. But he doesn't go through with it. [[spoiler:Viscuess on the other hand does, once he realizes he's thrown the entire weight of Earth's naval forces behind destroying a ship crewed by ''children'']]
56* EasilyForgiven: A lot of people do a lot of bad things over the course of series and every one of them, even [[spoiler:Faina, Heigar, Ikumi and Blue]] are forgiven for their crimes.
57* EarnYourHappyEnding: [[spoiler:Despite the many hardships the children go through, the entire main cast survives, as do most of the recurring extras. Most of the kids return to the Ryvius to help in the development of Vaia ships and a thousand years later their efforts lead to humanity being able to evacuate the solar system before it is destroyed by the Geduld.]]
58* EarthShatteringKaboom: [[spoiler:The ''Blue Impulse'' uses its gravity weapon to destroy the inhabited moon of ''Hyperion''.]]
59* EmpathicWeapon: [[spoiler: Neya and the other Sphixes of the Vaia ships feel the emotions of the crews and also make them act more irrational, of ten to the point of insanity.]]
60* EmotionlessGirl: Neya begins the series as a blank slate; by episode 22 she's capable of talking and acting like a normal human, as being around the kids has helped her learn by osmosis what it's like to be human.
61* EngineeredPublicConfession: [[spoiler:Heigar]] records [[spoiler:Airs Blue]] talking about stealing the Vital Guarder and abandoning the crew of the ''Ryvius''. He later plays the recording via intercom. Break out the TorchesAndPitchforks.
62* EvenEvilHasStandards: Even Blue, who took over the ship at gunpoint in the earlier episodes, is disgusted by [[spoiler:the tyrant Ikumi]] degenerates into by the end of the series.
63* EverybodyLives: Sort of; [[spoiler:All but two named children who survive the initial disaster survive to the end. However, *large* numbers of unknown nameless people are killed in the process, as well as some of the antagonists.]]).
64* EverythingTryingToKillYou: For a time it looks like if the government didn't get them, they'd have killed themselves eventually anyway.
65* EvilChancellor: Stein turns down the position of captain, preferring to be an advisor instead. [[spoiler:He even goes so far as to engineer a coup to set himself up in this position. Naturally, he dreams of being TheManBehindTheMan.]]
66* EvolvingCredits: The Ryvius isn't shown in the opening until it is properly introduced a few episodes in. As the show gets darker, shots of the kids being happy are replaced by more shots of the Ryvius and Lift Ship. Whenever the crew is about to fight another Vaia ship, that ship is shown in the credits. [[spoiler:In the finale, the happy scenes are restored to the opening to reflect the unexpectedly happy ending.]]
67* ExpositoryHairstyleChange: Kozue stops putting her hair up into pigtails, representing her loss of innocence after [[spoiler:being attacked by the other girls and likely sexually assaulted.]]
68* FailureKnight: Ikumi is motivated primarily by [[spoiler:the death of his sister and later his failure to prevent Kozue from being assaulted]].
69* GeneralRipper: Conrad Viscuess, captain of the Grey ''Geshpenst'' is obsessed with sinking the ''Ryvius'' [[spoiler as revenge for the death off his daughter.]]
70* TheGhost: The fifth and sixth Vaia ships are alluded to, but never seen on screen, partly because the ''Geshpenst'' (Vaia ship #4) is rushed out of drydock as a last-ditch effort to capture the ''Ryvius'' before its real situation is discovered.
71* GovernmentConspiracy: There are two competing government conspiracies. [[spoiler:The first is trying to cover up the Vaia experiments to avoid further casualties. The second sought to capture the ''Ryvius'' from the first to resume said experiments.]]
72* GratuitousForeignLanguage: The names of the Vaia ships. "Impulse" is obviously English, "Dicastia" comes from the Greek word, "dikastis," meaning judge, and "Geshpenst" comes from the German for ghost. "Ryvius," on the other hand, seems to come from a variety of English words and phrases, including "Leviathan" and "Reawake us."
73* GratuitousGerman: Quite a few of the characters have German names, some of which sound as though they were pulled from a "Beginning German" textbook. For example, three of the Zwei are named Stein, Eins, and Kreis. While "Stein" is used as a given name in some countries, it seems a bit silly that two of the characters would have the German words for "one" and "circle" as their given names.
74* HeroicSacrifice: The instructors on Liebe Delta, who sacrifice themselves to save the children. Particularly notable is Pat's father, who begs for the plan to work while being crushed and incinerated by the Geduld
75* AHouseDivided: The leadership of ''Ryvius'' is contested between the aristocratic Zwei class and the lower class Team Blue, all the while the ship faces constant threats from government conspiracies.
76%% * HumansAreFlawed
77* HumongousMecha: The Vital Guarder. The crew laugh at it when it's first discovered, as they don't see the merit in having a legged weapon operate in space, but it proves to be their greatest weapon.
78* ImmuneToBullets: Airs Blue shoots Neya. The bullets harmlessly pass through her.
79* ImpossiblyCoolClothes: Neya, who wears a turban and a strange form-fitting costume. Everyone who sees her thinks that she's just trying to be fashionable.
80* InfiniteSupplies: Averted: the limited supplies on the ''Ryvius'' are a major source of tension amongst the crew and their attempts to ration their supplies through a points system are what starts the decline of civility on the ship.
81* JerkAss: Yuki, who is constantly picking fights with people
82%%* JerkWithAHeartOfGold: Arguably Yuki and Ran.
83* JumpingOffTheSlipperySlope: Ikumi's [[spoiler:desire to protect Kozue drives him to turn the ''Ryvius'' into a police state.]]
84* JustInTime: Subverted. When Liebe Delta is falling into the Geduld, the Zwei activate the engines JustInTime... except that the engines don't actually activate. Oops.
85%%* KidsAreCruel: Numerous examples throughout the series.
86* KnightTemplar: [[spoiler: Ikumi, who places the ''Ryvius'' into a permanent security lockdown in the name of safety.]]
87* LargeHam: Lucson is always loudly declaring his greatness, much to the annoyance of everyone else.
88%%* LittleMissBadass: Michelle, especially after her imprisonment.
89* LivingShip: [[spoiler: All of the Vaia Ships are powered by aliens.]]
90* LoveMakesYouCrazy: Both [[spoiler:Ikumi and Faina's]] [[FaceHeelTurn face heel turns]] are partially driven by this, though the latter was possibly insane to begin with.
91* LoveRedeems: Criff Kei and "Charlie" both become better people through their love for one another.
92* LoveTriangle: Aoi likes Kouji and Yuki; Kouji likes Aoi and Faina.
93* TheMutiny: [[spoiler:Blue leads a successful one against Zwei. Several episodes later, he is deposed once Stein riles the crew against him.]]
94* MyGodWhatHaveIDone: [[spoiler:Faina is last seen looking horrified after realizing that she killed two people and no matter how hard she tries to forget it, she's going to have to live with it.]]
95* NonActionGuy: So very much Kouji, who gets his ass kicked whenever he tries to fight. He's also very poor at controlling the Vital Guarder.
96* NoNameGiven: [[spoiler: Neya is a major character who is introduced in the first episode, but we don't learn her name until near the end of the series. The other two Vaia ships aren't named either, though in fairness they don't even make it out of drydock by the time the ''Ryvius'' is cornered.]]
97* OneWingedAngel: [[spoiler:When the ''Ryvius'' gets the upper hand against the ''Grey Geshpenst'', the ''Geshpenst'' merges with several Vaia to assume a monstrous form that is far more powerful than both the ''Ryvius'' and Vital Guarder.]]
98* OnlyAFleshWound: Averted when [[spoiler:Kouji]] gets shot in the shoulder: he only survives because he is immediately taken to the medical center and undergoes surgery, and the [[AllThereInTheManual official timeline]] notes that he underwent three months of physical therapy and recuperation afterwards. In the final episode, he says that he can no longer raise his right arm above his shoulder.
99* ParentalAbandonment: Justified; all of the adults on Liebe Delta die while saving the children.
100%%%* POVSequel: The manga
101* PrisonRape: Implied when Criff and Michelle are imprisoned after the coup in episode 16. While nothing explicit is shown, there are a few lines of suggestive dialogue and it is seen that Michelle is shackled up with her legs spread.
102* PromotionToParent: Juli, and to some extent, Lucson, after [[spoiler:Pat Campbell's father, who was also one of their teachers, dies trying to save the children aboard the Liebe Delta.]].
103* PunnyName: Yuki's lonely ex-girlfriend's name is Elina Rigby, a pun on the Beatles song "Eleanor Rigby." In additon, Stein Heigar seems to be named after a German variety of gin called Steinhager.
104* PuttingTheBandBackTogether: In the final episode, [[spoiler:most of the ''Ryvius'''s crew reunite for a second voyage to help humanity master Vaia technology.]]
105* ReplacementGoldfish:
106** [[spoiler:After she is assaulted, Kozue becomes a replacement for Ikumi's beloved older sister.]]
107** [[spoiler:Neya becomes this, unintentionally, for Conrad Viscuess's daughter, Anjay, and when he sees her for the first time, he realizes that evil has has committed in trying to kill hundreds of children to avenge his own daughter.]].
108* SapientShip: [[spoiler: The Vaia Ships are mostly technological, but each has a living [[SpaceWhale Vaia]] at its core. The Vaia are sentient, though only one is a full-fledged SpaceshipGirl.]]
109* ScholarshipStudent: While most of Zwei are scions of nobility, Juli Bahana is an orphan made it into the program via a scholarship.
110* ShadowDiscretionShot: Used when [[spoiler:Faina]] murders [[spoiler:Sandy and [=McBane=]]].
111* SheIsNotMyGirlfriend: Lots of characters assume that Kouji and Aoi are dating, leading to some flustered denials by both of them.
112* ShutUpKiss: [[spoiler:Faina does this to Kouji to keep him from breaking up with her. It doesn't work.]]
113* SomeKindOfForceField: [[spoiler: The Vaia Ships can control gravity and deflect attacks by bending space.]]
114* SpaceCadetAcademy: Liebe Delta, where the cast are training to work in space at the start of the show.
115* SpaceIsAnOcean: Literally; the "Geduld Phenomenon" has produced an ocean of plasma in the solar system.
116* SpaceMadness: [[spoiler: A Vaia will unintentionally inflict SanitySlippage on their crew and potentially exaggerate what were once smaller character flaws, this combined with deteriorating conditions and personality clashes further worsens things. By the end of the series a way around this is discovered.]]
117* SpaceWhale: [[spoiler: The Vaia are squid like aliens living in the star ocean that is the Geduld.]]
118* SpaceshipGirl: [[spoiler: Neya, who is more or less the avatar of the ''Ryvius'' itself.]]
119* StrawVulcan: Stein Heigar, the most logical and emotionless member of Zwei - [[spoiler: which makes it even more creepy when he cracks and tries to get everyone he considers a burden to the ship killed.]]
120* TalkingTheMonsterToDeath: When Neya confronts the Sphix of the Geshpenst, she doesn't attack it, instead pleading for it to see reason even as it pummels her. [[spoiler:She finally succeeds in convincing it to let her speak to Captain Viscuess.]]
121* TeamPet: Rafra, the ferret mascot of the ''Ryvius''.
122* TechnoBabble: Most of the conversation occurring in the Vital Guarder control room is unexplaned technical sounding words.
123%% * TeenageWasteland
124%% * ThematicThemeTune
125* ThemeNaming: The Vaia ships are all named for their colors: ''Blue Impulse'', ''Crimson Dicastia'', ''Grey Geshpenst'', ''Black Ryvius''.
126* TheCaptain: [[spoiler:At first it's the incompetent Lucson, then the ruthless Blue, followed by the well-intentioned but ineffectual Juli as a puppet for StrawVulcan Stein, and then finally KnightTemplar Ikumi as another of Stein's puppets.]]
127* TheVamp: Michelle Kei tries to seduce her way into others's graces, with mixed success.
128* ThisIsADrill: ''The Blue Impulse'''s Vital Guarder, the Vorticular Drill.
129* ThoseTwoGuys: Kikki and Radan, the "Dinosaur Girl" and "Pillow Boy". These two are usually spotted once per episode, sometimes just in the background. They're notable because of their strange attire, a big blue dinosaur costume and a modesty-preserving pillowcase. Interestingly, they only appear together for one scene over the course of their entire series.
130* ThrownOutTheAirlock: Nonlethal variant: two crewman are dragged behind the ship on lines (in spacesuits) as a punishment [[spoiler:for attempting to steal the Lift Ship.]]
131* TookALevelInBadass: Kouji finallly becomes more assertive towards the end.
132* TronLines: Appear when the ''Ryvius'' first activates in episode 3, and again when the gravity control system powers up in episode 5.
133* UtopiaJustifiesTheMeans: [[spoiler:Ikumi and Heigar's philosophy as captain and true power of the ''Ryvius'' is that perfect safety trumps morality.]]
134* VillainousBreakdown: [[spoiler:Viscuess, after seeing that Neya has his daughter's face and realizing that he's been trying to commit the same tragedy that he's been trying to avenge.]]
135* WeaselMascot: Rafra, Faina's pet, who quickly endears himself to her roommates.
136* AWildRapperAppears: The full version of the opening theme features a rather jarring Engrish rap verse which ruins a fairly good song. One AnalysisChannel video about the show's soundtrack claims that the bilingual rap in several tracks symbolizes Blue and the other {{Delinquents}} who play a significant role in driving the show's plot and atmosphere (contrasted with the orchestral music for the elite Zwei {{Space Cadet}}s and jazz for the ordinary kids like Kouji and Yuki caught in between).
137* WildTeenParty: After the fight at Mars, the crew throws a party to raise morale and release tension. It features, among other things, a contest to program the Vital Guarder to dance. Unfortunately, it gets cut short by the announcement that the crew of the ''Ryvius'' have been declared terrorists. Also, as later shown in a flashback, [[spoiler:one person gets murdered]]. All in all, not a success.
138* {{Yandere}}: Actually more than it seems at first sight. Obvious one being a weird guy obsessed with a certain girl who often is seen stalking her, giving her points he earned or even [[spoiler:assaulting her boyfriend ]]. [[spoiler:Faina]], who was trying to kill her ex-boyfriend and the girl he left her for, and even [[spoiler:killed her previous ex and her friend who called his name]], is quite less obvious at the beginning. [[spoiler:Ikumi]] showed some traits when he [[spoiler:took over entire ship]] to make sure his girlfriend will be safe.
139* YoungerThanTheyLook: Blue, Criff, and Lucson all look like adults, but are all children, with Blue actually being one of the younger students at age 15.
140* YuppieCouple: A girl in a mascot costume (Kikki Kibure) and a boy in a towel (Radan) appear in the background of at least one scene in every episode.

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