Follow TV Tropes

Following

Context Manga / Amakusa1637

Go To

1[[quoteright:230:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/230px-Amakusa_vol1_2068.jpg]]
2
3''Amakusa 1637'' is a 12-volume {{josei}} manga by Creator/MichiyoAkaishi, serialized from 2000 to 2006 in Shogakukan's ''Flowers'' magazine. It follows the adventures of six Japanese teenagers: Natsuki Hayami, Masaki Miyamoto, Naozumi Yatsuka, Eri Kasugano, Seika Akishima and Eiji Horie. They're classmates from a Catholic school in Kobe, and they barely survive the [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_Hanshin_Earthquake Great Hanshin Earthquake]] of 1995; five years later, during a school trip to Nagasaki, they get [[TimeTravel mysteriously transported]]... to the Amakusa region in the year 1637, [[OhCrap shortly before]] [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shimabara_Rebellion the historical massacre of the Christian population.]]
4
5Having been transported to different years within the same timeframe, the six youngsters first must reunite with each other and assess their current situation, as well as what has changed between them. And when they're done with it and gather their common knowledge of the future, they set out to exorcise their own inner demons as well as to [[SetRightWhatOnceWentWrong prevent the carnage]]...
6
7Has no relation to the ''[[Literature/SixteenThirtyTwo 1632 (Ring of Fire)]]'' series.
8
9----
10!!This manga contains examples of the following tropes:
11
12* ActionGirl: Natsuki is a Kendo expert and the sister of a HeirToTheDojo. Said abilities come off VERY handy when she's mistaken by a local swordsman.
13* AllLovingHero: Natsuki's greatest strength is her ability to unite others behind her through sheer kindness.
14* AmbiguouslyBi: Naozumi. He has felings for Natsuki ([[spoiler: which she rejects when he gives her an AnguishedDeclarationOfLove]]), but is also said to yearn for [[spoiler: Shirou.]]. Considering that [[spoiler: he pretty much raped a prisioner Shirou and the ValuesDissonance]], he could toe into [[spoiler: DepravedBisexual]] or [[spoiler: a practitioner of SituationalSexuality]] for some.
15* BattleCouple: [[spoiler: Natsuki and Miyamoto, sorta.]]
16* {{Bifauxnen}}: Natsuki is very pretty in a boyish way. Considering she's the BodyDouble to a DudeLooksLikeALady...
17* BodyDouble: Basically, what Natsuki is to Shirou. She's at first mistaken as him, then she must keep up the charade to protect the people ''and'' avert the Shimabara Rebellion [[spoiler: because the real Shirou is DeadAllAlong.]]
18* ChronicHeroSyndrome: Natsuki, full stop. It also rubs on [[spoiler: Miyamoto]].
19* CrapsackOnlyByComparison: Inverted. Modern-day Japan sounds heavenly when described to 17th century persecuted serfs.
20* DownerBeginning: The manga starts in 1995, with the junior-high-aged Natsuki and Masaki barely surviving the Great Hanshin Earthquake that decimated their city, Kobe. [[spoiler: In-story, said 'quake actually was caused by the same phenomenon that would throw the kids in the past six years later.]]
21* DrowningPit: Matsudaira, the lord of Shimabara, has one in the grounds of his castle. [[spoiler: At some point, both Kichou and a local girl named Yone are locked in it.]]
22* TheDulcineaEffect: Jahn saved Seika's life when she arrived to the past and fell for her. She doesn't necessarily reciprocate, though.
23* DudeLooksLikeALady: Shirou Masuda aka UsefulNotes/AmakusaShiro (Somewhat TruthInTelevision, as he was described as a very handsome young {{samurai}}).
24%%* GadgeteerGenius: Eiji
25* GirlishPigtails: Eri braids her hair
26* HeelFaceTurn: Occur frequently among those exposed to Natsuki.
27* HistoricalDomainCharacter: Shiro Amakusa, Tokugawa Iemitsu, UsefulNotes/YagyuJubei, the Nabeshima clan, etc. Even more so: [[spoiler: Masaki became none other than ''UsefulNotes/MiyamotoMusashi''.]]
28* HookerWithAHeartOfGold: Kichou is the mistress to [[spoiler: Matsudaira]], but other than that she's a very kind girl. [[spoiler: So kind that she catches Eiji's attention and romantic interest, and they ultimately get married.]]
29* IdenticalStranger: The {{Bifauxnen}} Natsuki looks so much like Shirou that she could be his OppositeSexClone, and this is a BIG plot point since the people believe her to be either Shirou or an angel that took Shirou's form to help them.
30* UsefulNotes/JapaneseChristian: Both the peasants and the students.
31* {{Jidaigeki}}: More exactly, the Edo Period (1603-1868)
32%%* {{Josei}}
33* LovableJock: Miyamoto ''and'' Natsuki. Both are very skilled and famous kendokas, but also are lovable persons.
34* LoveDodecahedron: Natsuki loves Miyamoto. Miyamoto loves her [[spoiler: but later is amnesiac — and then he falls again for her when he gradually recovers his memories.]] Naozumi loves Natsuki [[spoiler: and also Shirou, though he also saw him as a ReplacementGoldfish for Natsuki since he was her IdenticalStranger, [[KillTheOnesYouLove and killed him]] in the end.]] Otsu saved Miyamoto [[spoiler: whom she knows as UsefulNotes/MiyamotoMusashi]] and loves him too. Kinji ''may'' have had feelings for [[EvenTheGuysWantHim Shirou]] [[UnluckychildhoodFriend coming from their shared childhood]] [[spoiler: but later redirects them to Eri]]. Eri [[spoiler: kinda reciprocates Kinji's feelings]] but she also has a PseudoRomanticFriendship with Natsuki and says that, had Natsuki been a male, she would be fully in love with "him".
35* MaybeMagicMaybeMundane: The locals believe the time-travelers to be messengers from [[{{God}} "Deus"]]. The time-travelers are a lot less certain, and know that their "miracles" have mundane explanations, but some of the coincidences are ''troubling''...
36* MeaningfulRename: Seika is also known as "Mariana", her Christian name. Natsuki is first referred to as "Francisco-sama" and later as Shirou. [[spoiler: Naozumi is renamed as Kotada... and Masaki, as ''UsefulNotes/MiyamotoMusashi''.]]
37* MissionFromGod : Seika is confident the group is on one. Her confidence isn't necessarily shared.
38* MundaneAfterlife: ''Inverted''. At one point, the locals ask the protagonists to describe the "Heaven" they believe they come from. When the protagonists comply, they are themselves shocked and moved when they realize the modern society they describe - one of electric light and heating, religious tolerance, rule of law, and ample food - ''is'', in fact, Heaven for the [[CrapsackWorld medieval peasants]]. A paradise that they'd been taking for granted.
39* SaintlyChurch : The protagonists seem to be forming a proto-example of this.
40* SetRightWhatOnceWentWrong : The protagonists' goal throughout the series. [[spoiler: They succeed, resulting in a modified, apparently ''better'' timeline.]]
41* TheStrategist: Eri is the brains to Natsuki's ActionGirl-like brawns.
42* StudentCouncilPresident: Natsuki, with Masashi as her vice-president. That is, before they get thrown back in time.
43* TimeTravel: The bread and jam of the story.
44* TrappedInThePast: [[spoiler: In the end, all but one protagonist remain in the 17th century. Only Eri returns to our era, finding it changed for the better by the group's actions.]]
45* [[TheWebAlwaysExisted Cell Phones Always Existed]]: Justified; the cell phones only work when the phenomena that caused the time travel is active (allowing communication to pass through modern-day satellite infrastructure).
46* WriteBackToTheFuture: [[spoiler: Well, more like leave sealed cell phones to be found in the future.]]

Top