Line #24 Manga/GearsMaiden


1	!!Spoilers are [[Administrivia/SpoilersOff all unmarked]] here due to its short length.
2	[[quoteright:550:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/001_58.jpg]]
3	''Gears Maiden'' is a two-chapter manga created by Akihito Tsukushi of ''Manga/MadeInAbyss'' fame in 2008 up to 2010, which was [[{{Doujinshi}} self-published by himself]]. Despite being an incomplete work by the author, ''Gears Maiden'' is often considered as the starting point to ''Made in Abyss'' due to Tsukushi's signature artstyle that would be later present in his smash-hit manga series. Some of the characters in [=MiA=] were heavily inspired from this work, including Nishigaora, whose design borrows heavily from the unnamed physician; as well as Prushka whose design is closely similar to Tino, even attributing her as a GenderFlip version of him.
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5	In Chapter 1: The Saw Monster and the Girl, the story follows Tino, the viewpoint character of the story, befriending Jima, a half-human hybrid who has a horn and a tail, as well as ridiculously powerful regenerative abilities, who would subsequently become his adoptive sister. But after Jima was heavily scolded for her recklessness by her own teacher, she later casts herself away from Tino after finding the Saw Monster and getting involved in an abrupt ogre attack.
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7	In Chapter 2: The Guardian of the Millennium Graveyard, a girl known by just her name as Rokka is firstly encountered by Tino. She has no memories of her past of her own life, but he befriends her easily before recounting about Jima's first encounter with the Saw Monster in the wilderness. But it turned out that Rokka lost her memories one month ago, where her only memory shown was her being in a forest. But just like Jima who encounters the Saw Monster, Rokka later encounters an old village that turns out to be the home of the Warlow, an abandoned machine who is known as the "graves of villages" due to its nature of humans using it as a graveyard.
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9	Despite the story being focused on Tino, he is an OutOfFocus character who is only seen in a few parts, where the principal focus is between Jima in Chapter 1 and Rokka in Chapter 2.
10	!!Tropes for this work:
11	* EleventhHourSuperpower:
12	** After a large group of ogres attacked an unnamed human caravan, Jima awakens the Saw Monster with the Rod of Amber Tree and successfully defeats them single-handedly.
13	** Rokka also does this during the attack of the swamp serpent when she uses the shovel-shaped key to awaken the Warlow. Albeit unlike Jima's case, [[BrokeYourArmPunchingOutCthulhu it came with a heavy cost]], namely her sacrificing the machine to destroy the serpent and breaking her own right arm.
14	* AudienceSurrogate: The story is within Tino's [[PointOfView P.O.V.]] in first-person perspective.
15	* BittersweetEnding: A recurring occurrence in both chapters. Chapter 1 sees a badly-injured Jima leaving after being treated as an outcast by the caravanners whom she saved from a huge attack. In Chapter 2 while Rokka saved the town from the swamp monster's terror, she ultimately had to sacrifice the Warlow to defeat it once and for all, as well as breaking her right arm in the process; before she finally leaves Tino at the end with the parting phrase "until we meet again".
16	* BrokeYourArmPunchingOutCthulhu: Rokka uses the Warlow to put a stop to the [[EldritchAbomination swamp monster]] who is terrorising an entire town by sacrificing it through the monster devouring it. At the cost of her victory, not only the Warlow was destroyed for good which almost killed Rokka in the process, but her right arm was also literally broken at the end of her chapter.
17	* ButNowIMustGo: Both Jima and Rokka in their respective chapters left Tino after fulfilling their own goal.
18	* HumongousMecha: The Warlow towers significantly higher that it is toe-in-toe towards the large swamp serpent.
19	* MeaningfulName:
20	** The Saw Monster's nickname Buzzsaa, which heavily refers to his arms that were buzzsaws.
21	** Rokka's "name" is a farewell phrase in an eastern country, which becomes meaningful at the end when she leaves Tino for the final time.
22	* OutOfFocus: Tino, despite being the viewpoint character, largely has no impact to the plot since they're often focused on Jima and Rokka in their own titular chapters.
23	* WhatHappenedToTheMouse:
24	** After Jima stops a huge ogre attack with Buzzsaa, she is never seen again in the story despite the Doctor's attempts of doing so in the last part of Chapter. Albeit in Chapter 2 she's mentioned a lot by Tino.
25	** Rokka also disappears after stopping the swamp serpent using the Warlow, whose last appearance shows her [[WhenSheSmiles smiling for the first time]] in front of Tino.
26	* WhenSheSmiles: At the end of Chapter 2, the usually quiet and unsmiling Rokka is seen smiling.

Context Manga / GearsMaiden