Line #73 Manga/InTheHeartOfKunoichiTsubaki


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6	->''"Men are horrible. Things to be feared. But, why is it? Why is my heart beating so fast?!"''
7	-->-- '''Tsubaki'''
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9	''In the Heart of Kunoichi Tsubaki'' (''Kunoichi Tsubaki no Mune no Uchi'') is a {{comed\|y}}ic SliceOfLife {{manga}} series written by Creator/SoichiroYamamoto (creator of ''Manga/TeasingMasterTakagiSan'' and ''Manga/WhenWillAyumuMakeHisMove''). It was serialized in Shogakukan's ''[[Magazine/ShonenSunday Monthly Shonen Sunday]]'' from January 2018 to May 2023 for 61 chapters.
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11	The story revolves around [[LadyLand a secluded clan of]] {{kunoichi}}, known as the Akane Class, who have isolated themselves from civilization. Day after day, the young students of the clan train amongst themselves to become full-fledged kunoichi, while also living by a single ruling principle enforced by the clan leaders: Men are dangerous, and contact with them should be forbidden.
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13	However, one of these students, Tsubaki — the leader of Team Dog and [[TheAce the Akane Class' top student]] — harbors a deep secret unbeknownst to anyone else: She's curious about men! Will she uphold the rules of her clan, or will her curiosities get the better of her?
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15	An anime adaptation directed by Takudai Kakuchi was announced on November 8, 2021 with production being handled by [[Creator/A1Pictures [=CloverWorks=]]]. The series was licensed by {{Website/Crunchyroll}}, and aired from April 10 to July 3, 2022. The series can be watched [[https://www.crunchyroll.com/in-the-heart-of-kunoichi-tsubaki here.]]
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17	'''Beware of spoilers.'''
18	----
19	!!''In The Heart of Kunoichi Tsubaki'' contains examples of:
20	* AbortedArc: {{Subverted\|trope}}. Chapter 13 deals with Benisumomo growing suspicious of Tsubaki after a game of tag in Chapters 7 and 8 have the latter easily beating Hana while she couldn't, despite their equal skill. These events make her suspect the two of them are hiding something, which ends up going unresolved until Chapter 56, where Benisumomo is proven correct, though she doesn't learn ''what'' Tsubaki and Hana are hiding [[spoiler:until Chapter 59 after discovering Tsubaki had been in contact with a man from the Aoi Class and had planned to meet him]].
21	* TheAce: Tsubaki is the top student amongst the other students. What few students can rival her usually have some flaw that gives Tsubaki the edge. For example, Benisumomo is at least on par with Tsubaki. However, she's BrilliantButLazy and is unwilling to put in the work, whereas Tsubaki is much more studious.
22	* AdaptationalEarlyAppearance:
23	** Rindou starts going maskless a bit earlier in the anime than in the manga, due to the shuffling of chapters being adapted. In the manga, she wears her mask from Chapters 11-17. In the anime, Chapter 17 is adapted before Chapters 14-16, which the anime modifies to show her maskless.
24	** A few of the teams were introduced earlier in the anime than they were in the manga:
25	*** Team Ox - introduced in Chapter 23[[note]]After Rindou's debut[[/note]] - is introduced in Episode 5[[note]]Before Rindou's debut[[/note]]
26	*** Team Rooster - the last team to be introduced in the manga in Chapter 41 - is introduced in Episode 9, making them the eighth team to be introduced.
27	* AdaptationExpansion: While the anime does follow the source material closely for the most part, at times it has deviated in favor of anime-original content:
28	** The post-credits scenes for Episodes 2, 4, 5, 6, 9, and 12 were all anime-original.
29	** Episode 13 was mostly anime-exclusive, with only snippets of various chapters being adapted.
30	* AmbiguousTimePeriod: Unlike its two [[Manga/TeasingMasterTakagiSan sister]] [[Manga/WhenWillAyumuMakeHisMove series]], which both establish themselves in the modern-day, ''In The Heart of Kunoichi Tsubaki'' does not hint at nor give any indication as to when the series takes place. The characters' style of dress could place them in the Edo or Meiji periods, but their speech and behavior could place them in the Taisho period or even modern-day.
31	* AnachronicOrder: With the exception of a few, most of the chapters in ''In The Heart of Kunoichi Tsubaki'' are stand-alone and self-contained stories, as is common in most SliceOfLife anime and manga titles, though they are still easy to follow and understand.
32	* ArtEvolution: The art progressively improves as the chapters go on, particularly with the extended cast, as the first few chapters only have rough designs of them that either vaguely resemble their final designs or not at all. As more and more characters are introduced, the art becomes more refined to give each of them a stylized and distinct silhouette unique to one another.
33	* BitCharacter: Due to the sheer volume of characters featured in the series, most of them are shown as this, being presented with at least one defining character trait and not much else, such as Higuruma's optimism, Hagi's pessimism, Uikyou and Kikyou's [[SingleMindedTwins twin personalities]], Azami and Tanpopo's {{Gyaru\|Girl}}-like whimsicalness, etc. However, some characters do get the chance to be fleshed out further in their [[ADayInTheLimelight spotlight chapters]].
34	* CastHerd: The students are split into twelve teams, normally in [[PowerTrio teams of three]]. Each team is named after an animal on the [[EasternZodiac Chinese Zodiac]]:
35	** '''Rat:''' Tachiaoi, Higuruma, Hagi
36	** '''Ox:''' Shion, Suzuran, Ajisai
37	** '''Tiger:''' Fuki, Itadori, Ume
38	** '''Rabbit:''' Kagetsu, Mukuge, Hototogisu
39	** '''Dragon:''' Higiri, Suzushiro, Hasu
40	** '''Snake:''' Uikyou and Kikyou
41	** '''Horse:''' Hinagiku, Kibushi, Oniyuri
42	** '''Sheep:''' Benisumomo, Mizubashou, Touwata
43	** '''Monkey:''' Mokuren, Housenka, Tsuwabuki
44	** '''Rooster:''' Sumire, Azami, Tanpopo
45	** '''Dog:''' Tsubaki, Sazanka, Asagao, Rindou
46	** '''Boar:''' Dokudami, Aogiri, Shakuyaku
47	* CastOfSnowflakes: Despite having a cast of a whopping ''thirty-eight'' characters right off the bat, each and every one of them has their own unique design, ensuring no two characters are the same. Even Uikyou and Kikyou, who are twins, do this with their [[ColorCodedCharacters color-scheme]] and legwear.
48	* ContinuityNod:
49	** Chapter 10 shows that Asagao marks wild fruit with her initial to stake a claim on them for later. When she discovers Hinagiku stole her fruit, Oniyuri disputes that it's just the letter 'A' with no further indication of what it stands for. In Episode 6 of the anime, this is followed up in a FunnyBackgroundEvent, showing that Asagao learned her lesson and has taken to writing out her full name rather than just her initial to avoid a repeat.
50	** Chapter 21 has Tsubaki falling ill, and her owing Benisumomo a favor for looking after Sazanka and Asagao. Chapter 33 has Benisumomo cashing in on said favor after Touwata falls ill.
51	** Chapters 25 and 26 introduce the Attractiveness Jutsu and Tsubaki's inability to perform it. It makes its return in Chapter 48 with Tsubaki finally managing to pull it off.
52	* {{Demonization}}: {{Justified\|Trope}}. The Akane and Aoi Classes teach their students that the opposite gender is dangerous and forbid interaction between them. [[spoiler:This is actually a lie enforced by the two classes when they used to live together, after [[{{Elopement}} an alarming number of students began coupling off and leaving the village]], risking the waning and possible disappearance of the lifestyle and customs of the shinobi discipline, resulting in their present-day isolationism]]. [[spoiler:In the manga's finale chapter, both classes agree to abolish this rule and begin to gradually allow their students to intermingle with each other]].
53	* DoItYourselfThemeTune: With the exception being the opening, each song in the anime was sung by members of the cast:
54	** Coupled with EvolvingCredits and ImageSong. The ED, "Akane-gumi Katsudou Nisshi",[[note]]"Akane Class Activity Log"[[/note]] is a series of ending songs, with each episode concluding with a different rendition of the song being performed by each team, while the final episode's ending was sung by the entire cast sans Hana and Konoha.
55	** The Episode 11 insert song, "Itsumo Tonari de",[[note]]"Because We're Together"[[/note]] was sung by Creator/SayaAizawa (Kagetsu), Creator/KonomiKohara (Rindou), and Creator/YukoNatsuyoshi (Tsubaki).
56	** The character song, "Akane-gumi Katsudou Nisshi ~Sensei~" was sung by Creator/YumiUchiyama (Hana) and Creator/MaoIchimichi (Konoha).
57	* EnsembleCast: While Tsubaki and Team Dog are the main focus, the manga takes the effort to give every team [[ADayInTheLimelight a chapter or two in the spotlight]], focusing on their team dynamic or interactions with the main cast and/or other characters.
58	* EvolvingCredits: After her introduction in Episode 6, every episode afterward includes Rindou [[https://i.imgur.com/r2oNw2E.jpg to the title card in the opening]].
59	* ForeheadOfDoom: Both literally and figuratively. A prominent aspect of Yamamoto's art style consists of drawing his characters with this. This is also PlayedStraight with Tsubaki in particular, as her role as TheLeader of Team Dog, combined with her TeachersPet tendencies as the [[TheAce Akane Class's top student]] makes her a bit hard-headed at times, even though it sometimes goes against her own wishes.
60	* FreudianTrio: Most of the teams of three have a mischievous take-charge Id, a coolheaded and unabated Superego, and an Ego who leads the other two.
61	* LadyLand: The Akane Class is an all-female clan of kunoichi. This is enforced by the women of the village, who tell the girls that men are dangerous beasts to be avoided at all costs.
62	* NeverTrustATrailer: Despite the marketing for the anime - plus the opening and its first episode - giving off the impression that romance would be a considerable factor, the genre is more or less placed on the back burner to promote more SliceOfLife and {{Comed\|y}}ic moments. In the manga, this aspect is just as circumstantial, if not borderline negligible.
63	* NewTransferStudent: Rindou transfers from another village to the Akane Class in Episode 6.
64	* NinjaSchool: The village the Akane Class resides in also serves as a school for the young ninja-in-training.
65	* OnlyOneName: Everyone in the series is known only by their given name and honorific if applicable.
66	* OriginsEpisode: Episode 8 establishes how Team Dog and the other teams formed, as well as establishes the moment Tsubaki and Sazanka became friends.
67	* PrefersGoingBarefoot: Both PlayedStraight and {{inverted\|Trope}}. In the character art, nine of the thirty-eight characters are wearing sandals while the rest wear stirrups, bandages, or go barefoot. However, in the anime proper, twenty-six of the thirty-eight are wearing sandals, while the remaining twelve[[note]]Sazanka, Shion, Itadori, Higiri, Hasu, Uikyou, Hinagiku, Kibushi, Oniyuri, Benisumomo, Touwata and Shakuyaku[[/note]] continue to play this straight.
68	* ShowWithinAShow: In the ''[[Manga/TeasingMasterTakagiSan Karakai Jōzu no (Moto) Takagi-san]]'' spinoff, ''In The Heart of Kunoichi Tsubaki'' is a TV series that Takagi's daughter, Chi, becomes all too obsessed with. This is touched upon in the Volume 6 omake of ''Kunoichi Tsubaki'' and in Chapter 206 of ''Moto'' when Nishikata and Takagi have to intervene after Chi starts mimicking the show.
69	* StoryArc: Despite the stand-alone nature of the manga's chapters, there have been brief moments in which multiple consecutive chapters have contributed to a larger story:
70	** Chapters 7-9 deal with Tsubaki learning the truth of the Akane and Aoi Classes during a game of tag.
71	** Chapters 11-13, and 15-19 revolve around Rindou transferring to the Akane Class and seeing her acclimating to her new environment and classmates.
72	** Chapters 25-27 introduce the Attractiveness Jutsu and it quickly becoming widespread amongst the Akane Class.
73	** Chapters 56-61 involve [[spoiler:Tsubaki and a student from the Aoi Class making contact with each other and becoming [[UnseenPenPal Unseen Pen Pals]], while Benisumomo and Sazanka become suspicious as to what Tsubaki is hiding from everyone]].
74	* WhamLine: Hana unwittingly delivers a ''major'' one to Tsubaki (disguised as Konoha) in Episode 3:
75	-->'''Hana:''' [[spoiler:There's no other choice. We can't have things go back to how they were then. We must keep lying about men being scary]].

Context Manga / InTheHeartOfKunoichiTsubaki