Line #116 Manga/GaRei


1	[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/ga_rei_vol1.png]]
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3	''Ga-Rei'' is a manga series by Hajime Segawa, which was serialized in ''Shonen Ace'' from 2005 to 2010. The story focuses on mostly-OrdinaryHighSchoolStudent Kensuke Nimura and ''definitely'' not ordinary high school girl named Kagura Tsuchimiya. After an incident involving a giant monster ghost baby Kensuke follows Kagura into her world of supernatural peril.
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5	''Anime/GaReiZero'' is a {{Prequel}} anime series that acts as Yomi (the first BigBad)'s StartOfDarkness. It is also much DarkerAndEdgier; ''Ga-Rei'' is quite {{light\|erAndSofter}} in comparison.
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7	Kagura and Yomi -- in their ''Ga-Rei -Zero-'' designs -- cameo in the ''Manga/TokyoESP'' anime, and a crossover titled ''Tokyo ESP × Ga-rei -SHADOW WALKER-'' was released alongside the limited edition of the ''Tokyo ESP'' anime.
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9	----
10	!!''Ga-Rei'' provides examples of the following tropes:
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12	* AccidentalKiss: During their CrashIntoHello at the beginning of the series, Kagura steals Kensuke's SacredFirstKiss. It's quite painful for the latter, as the former runs into him on a ''motor scooter''.
13	* ActionGirl: Many, with Kagura, Kyouko and later [[spoiler:Isoyama Izumi]] being the primary examples.
14	* AfterlifeExpress: Michael's training session with Kensuke involves them boarding a ghost train, and they are nearly sucked into the afterlife with it.
15	%%* AllMythsAreTrue
16	* AloofBigBrother: Souzaemon, Kyouko's older brother, is both cold and extremely competent. Naturally, he rubs Kensuke the wrong way.
17	* ApocalypseMaiden: [[spoiler:Yomi goes from being an onryo corrupted by the Death/Bane Stones to being resurrected, only to discover she's been chosen to bring about the end of the world. She just can't catch a break.]]
18	* ArtEvolution: In leaps and bounds. Just compare the cover of Volume 1 to Volume 7.
19	* AsLongAsThereIsEvil: The source of the Bane Stone's power.
20	* AsianFoxSpirit: The Nine-Tailed Demon-Fox is a fox-shaped AnimalisticAbomination formed when the ten Bane Stones are gathered together. [[spoiler:It's initially stated to be a spirit-beast controlled by an Exorcist named Lady Tamamo, but is later revealed to be part of a cycle of creation and destruction.]]
21	* BackFromTheDead: Yomi. [[spoiler: More than once.]]
22	* BeachEpisode: One episode has them go to the beach only to be attacked by a jellyfish demon made from the souls of drowned people. They go to a water park, too.
23	* BigDamnHeroes: A big one [[spoiler:in Chapter 44]] with [[spoiler:Kensuke, Tsuina, Noriyuki, ''and'' Shizuru]], i.e., everyone you've been expecting to show up for the past few chapters.
24	* {{BFS}}: As the Black Priestess, Yomi can conjure a massive nine-branched sword from miasma.
25	* BlackEyesOfCrazy: Anyone taken over by a Bane Stone has black sclera, and either HellishPupils or no pupils at all.
26	* BlandNameProduct: "Poeky". Similarly, the fake clothing brand [[BrandX Productive Emotion]].
27	* BlankWhiteEyes: Used extensively when the characters are super-deformed.
28	* BodyHorror: Tons and tons. They fight evil spirits, after all.
29	* BrainwashedAndCrazy: [[spoiler:Kagura, under the influence of the Kyuubi.]]
30	%%* ButtMonkey: Yomi.
31	* CainAndAbel: Yomi and Kagura, in that order.
32	* CatFight: During Kagura's and Shizuru's festival fight, Noriyuki starts taking bets for who's going to win. Fanservice is mostly absent, though, since they're pretty beat up by the end.
33	* ChainedByFashion: Byakuei is chained to Kagura as an indication that it's sealed into her.
34	* ChivalrousPervert: Noriyuki. Especially when it concerns Shizuru, interestingly enough.
35	%%* TheChosenOne: [[spoiler:Kagura.]]
36	* ClingyJealousGirl:
37	** Izumi definitely fits this. [[spoiler:Though that's mainly the dormant Yomi.]]
38	** Yomi actually shows a few glimpses of these when it comes to Kagura or Noriyuki. While it may not be clingy, it's definitely a fit of scary jealousy.
39	* CoolBigSis: Yomi, in flashbacks.
40	* CoolSword: Kagura's appears to be a {{laser\|Blade}}; one of Yomi's is made out of several smaller blades attached to a [[{{BFS}} single one in the center]]. Kensuke's Michael Revolution is capable of channeling ThePowerOfLove to cut through dimensions.
41	* TheCorruption:
42	** The Bane Stones are said to be the spiritual power of a malevolent nine-tailed fox that was the spirit-beast of an evil onmyoji/exorcist named Lady Tamamo. This is later revealed to be untrue, but the ten stones corrupt whoever uses them into living onryō/phantoms.
43	** Due to first being corrupted by a Bane Stone and later by her status as the Black Priestess, Yomi struggles with it whenever she has screen time.
44	* CreatureHunterOrganization: The Supernatural Disaster Countermeasures Department -- also translated as the Supernatural Disaster Task Force -- is a government organization that uses the [[UsefulNotes/{{Onmyodo}} Way of the Yin-Yang]] and mystically-augmented weapons to hunt down malevolent yōkai, onryō, and other supernatural creatures -- referred to by the English localization as Phantoms.
45	* CreepyCrossdresser: Okama Zankurou. [[MeaningfulName Okama]] is slang for "drag queen" in Japan.
46	* CulturalTranslation: While some Japanese terms are left untranslated, many are localized into English:
47	** ''UsefulNotes/{{Onmyodo}}'' is called the Way of the Yin-Yang, and ''onmyōji'' are called exorcists.
48	** ''Onryō'' such as Yomi are called Phantoms.
49	** The ''Sesshōseki'' is translated as the Bane Stones in the ''Anime/GaReiZero'' anime and Death Stones in the manga's English translation.
50	** The Kyūbi is translated as the Nine-Tailed Demon-Fox.
51	* CynicismCatalyst: [[KillTheOnesYouLove Kagura killed Yomi]] while Yomi was being controlled by the Bane Stone, as shown in ''Anime/GaReiZero''. It doesn't seem to bother her at first, but it eventually takes its toll.
52	%%* DarkActionGirl: Yomi, Shizuru.
53	* DemonicPossession: Izumi [[spoiler:turns into a giant demon spider before Yomi takes over her body.]]
54	* DisneyDeath: [[spoiler:Kensuke is killed, but Kagura resurrects him with the power of the Kyuubi. She resurrects Yomi, too, though subconsciously and in a roundabout manner.]]
55	* DistressedDude: Lampshaded with Kensuke. While he's lamenting about having to be rescued, a picture of an actual DamselInDistress even shows up in the panel.
56	* DoesThisRemindYouOfAnything: Replace "black/white priestess" with "lunar/solar priestess", and you start getting ''Manga/DestinyOfTheShrineMaiden'' vibes.
57	* EarnYourHappyEnding: [[spoiler: It look a lot of {{heroic sacrifice}}s, but they earned it!]]
58	* EasyAmnesia: [[spoiler:Happens to Kagura. Her memory is restored over time, though in the meanwhile it leads to AmnesiaDanger.]]
59	* TheEndOfTheWorldAsWeKnowIt: [[spoiler:[[InherentInTheSystem Planned from the start.]] There's a reincarnation planned, but everyone on the planet has to die first.]]
60	* TheEndOrIsIt: The manga ends with TheUnmasquedWorld, spirits and humans living together in an uneasy peace. However, the Bane Stones still exist and -- as the Land God points out -- the cycle of destruction could easily be restarted should humanity's tendency towards hatred resurface.
61	* EyeScream: Kensuke's eye gets slashed open when he tries to protect Izumi from the Kirin. Since he no longer has a Sesshouseki inside him, he never fully recovers, and it leaves him with a huge scar across his face.
62	* EvenBadMenLoveTheirMamas: [[spoiler:Kazuhiro's entire motivation is the resurrection of his mother. He succeeds, too, and she comes back right. Of course, she takes the chance to kill him for all of the awful things he did.]]
63	* EvilCounterpart: Kirin is one to Byakuei, [[spoiler:and Yomi is meant to be one to Kagura]].
64	* TheFaceless: Lord Tamamo, whose face is a void that shows the cosmos.
65	* FaceHeelRevolvingDoor: Yomi starts out heroic in the beginning of ''Zero'', turns evil after being implanted with a Sesshouseki fragment, turns good after being brought back to life, and in the final arc [[spoiler:decides to destroy the world out of despair and anger. Girl can't catch a break.]]
66	* FaceHeelTurn: When it's revealed that Yomi is the Black Priestess and could bring about the end of the world, the SDCD decide to kill her and anyone helping her escape. Director Fujiko, Koyoko, and Koji Iwahata remain the only SDCD members on the protagonists' side, and are powerless to stop the rest of the organization from trying to kill Yomi, Kagura, Kensuke, and Shizuru, and Izuna.
67	* FuroScene: Several. They're equally as generous with fanservice as they are with character development.
68	%%* FireForgedFriends
69	* GottaCatchThemAll: The [[PowerCrystal Bane Stone]], in order to summon the Nine-Tailed Demon-Fox.
70	* GroinAttack: Kagura to Kensuke. It's so painful Kensuke even [[ArtShift art shifts]], and is left lying there for quite a while.
71	* GoKartingWithBowser: Chapter 45 has the supporters of both sides meeting together and fighting... in a SnowballFight.
72	* HealingFactor: One of the benefits of having a Bane Stone embedded within you.
73	* HeirToTheDojo: Played straight with Kensuke. His parents are kendo masters, which is the reason he can handle Michael XII.
74	* HeroicSacrifice: Who else but [[spoiler:Yomi? At least she gets her break.]]
75	* HumongousMecha: The spirit armor used by Tsuina. They're basically mechs that run on spirit energy.
76	* IceQueen: After [[spoiler:her resurrection]], Yomi is like this to pretty much everyone save Kagura.
77	* IncestSubtext: While not blood-related, there is A LOT of subtext between Yomi and Kagura, two people who see each other as sisters. May also count as NotBloodSiblings. Izumi even notes that some of her attraction to Kagura comes from Yomi.
78	* IncompatibleOrientation: In Chapter 36 and 37, Izumi realizes she's developing feelings for Kaugra, who despite her amnesia retains feelings for Kensuke.
79	%%* InterruptedSuicide:
80	%%** [[spoiler:Yomi, whose suicide is interrupted by Okama.]]
81	%%** In the same chapter, Izumi's dad, now undead, shapeshifts into his own monster of sorts.
82	* KarmicDeath: [[spoiler: Kazuhiro Mitogawa is killed by his own ''mother'', whom he had been aiming to [[EvenBadMenLoveTheirMamas resurrect]].]]
83	* KissingDiscretionShot: Everytime [[spoiler:Kensuke and Kagura are about to kiss]] the manga takes some other angles or just skips some seconds.
84	* LaserGuidedKarma: [[spoiler:Kazuhiro, who is responsible for driving Yomi insane and much of the horrible things that happen in the story, did everything he did to resurrect his dead mother. He gets his wish, and his mom comes back the same way she was when she was alive. This also means that she's ''sane'', and kills her maniac of a son before he can do any more damage.]]
85	* LastSecondWordSwap: Kagura is about to confess her feelings for Kensuke...and then tells him it was [[HardGay Iwahata]] who said he liked him. Nice going there...
86	* TheLifestream: The Reimyaku.
87	* LoveTriangle: Quite a few for a relatively short series, all of which with Kagura in them (although not necessarily in the middle every time). There's Kensuke/Kagura/Shizuru, Kensuke/Kagura/Izumi, Kensuke/Kagura/Yomi, and Kagura/Yomi/Noriyuki.
88	* MadeOfPlasticine: The evil spirits, who regularly get shredded into pieces by Kagura and company. Justified since they're no longer human.
89	* MafiaPrincess: Shizuru is the daughter of a branch of a clan of onmyōji that relocated overseas and became involved in organized crime, and have returned to Japan to take over the criminal underworld.
90	* MagneticPlotDevice: [[spoiler:Yomi and Izumi]] gives off miasma, which attracts evil spirits.
91	* MaybeEverAfter: [[spoiler:Kensuke and Kagura, after tons of ShipTease and the culmination of Kagura actively using ThePowerOfLove near the finale, with their relationship... doing something.]]
92	* MeaningfulBackgroundEvent: In the last page of the final chapter, [[spoiler: the whole group is reflected by a puddle on the ground. Look at it close enough, and you can see Noriyuki in the reflection, even though he isn't physically with the group. This signifies his status as a ghost before the epilogue.]]
93	* MeaningfulName: The kanji in Yomi's name mean "underworld". [[spoiler:It should be no surprise she was picked by Naraku.]]
94	* MentalWorld: [[spoiler:Izumi goes into one and refuses to come out while Yomi has control over her body.]]
95	* {{Mentors}}: Yomi to Kagura; Noriyuki to Tsuina...and possibly to Shizuru.
96	* MergerOfSouls:
97	** Izumi's circumstances are revealed to be this. [[spoiler:It's revealed that Yomi's soul was placed inside Izumi's body when the latter was killed during the Kyubi incident, and the two have become conjoined to the point where separating them could prove fatal.]]
98	** In the final chapter, [[spoiler:Yomi merges her soul with Kagura to take the place of Byakuei, separating safely from Izumi.]]
99	* MindProbe: Setsuna has the Eye of Satori, which allows her to read minds.
100	* MrExposition: Kensuke fills this role from time to time, usually at the beginning of each chapter.
101	* MundaneMadeAwesome: [[BunnyEarsLawyer Master Michael's]] Hepburn, a snowball ''machine gun''.
102	* ReligiousAndMythologicalThemeNaming: [[StringyHairedGhostGirl Yomi]] is named after the Shinto underworld. The Nine-Tailed Demon-Fox, the Bane Stones (Sesshoseki in the original Japanese), and Lady Tamamo are references to the legend of Tamamo-no-Mae.
103	%%* OnlySaneMan: Kensuke
104	* ParentalAbandonment: Kagura, Yomi, Shizuru, Kensuke to some extent... Parents are pretty much never talked about.
105	* ThePowerOfLove: Used to cross dimensions, believe it or not.
106	* ThePowersThatBe: They're possibly the ones [[spoiler:attempting to end the world.]]
107	* PutOnABus: [[spoiler:Kyouko, Shizuru, and Noriyuki all leave at the end of the Nine-Tailed Demon-Fox arc. Fujiko retires, and the entire Countermeasures Department dissolves. It's not long before the action gets going again.]]
108	* RetCanon: A few of the manga's later flashbacks borrow either characters or scenes from the ''Zero'' anime. At this point, the anime could be considered manga canon.
109	* RichBitch: Shizuru. She gets better, though.
110	* RomanticFalseLead: Shizuru to Kensuke. Later, [[spoiler:Yomi to Kagura, at least until Kagura regains her memories.]]
111	* RunningGag: Kensuke gets hit by vehicles really often. It's a wonder he hasn't died.
112	* SealedEvilInACan: The demon king from the first arc is sealed beneath the city.
113	* SealedInsideAPersonShapedCan: Byakuei within the Tsuchimiya heirs.
114	* ShipperOnDeck: The nameless tanuki.
115	* ShoutOut:
116	** One of the undead members of the Juugondō is a man with nails sticking out of his head, a reference to Pinhead from ''Franchise/{{Hellraiser}}''.
117	** Another Juugondō member is the Count a vampire-themed shikigami user from Europe with a tall M-shaped hairdo inspired by Dracula from Film/BramStokersDracula.
118	** The evil spirit in Chapter 37 is a crew of undead bikers led by a flaming skeleton who wields demonic chains. Their name? The ComicBook/{{Ghost Rider}}s.
119	** In Chapter 38, the group [[Film/DawnOfTheDead1978 takes shelter from a horde of undead in a mall]].
120	* SlasherSmile: While controlled by the Sesshouseki, Yomi sports these now and again.
121	* ShownTheirWork: Chapter 48 features scenes taking place in Washington, The Vatican, and London. All of the scenes actually look like the cities they're representing.
122	* SlidingScaleOfIdealismVsCynicism: Waaay over to the idealistic side. It's quite pointed when compared to its DarkerAndEdgier anime.
123	* SleepModeSize: Byakuei, after the end of the Kyuubi arc, is reduced to a small puppy. He can return to his full size for brief periods.
124	%%* SpiritWorld: Lady Tamamo's Garden.
125	* SplitPersonality: [[spoiler:Izumi and Yomi share the former's body, alternating control over it. {{Lampshade\|Hanging}}d by Yomi herself when Kagura isn't sure who she's talking to.]]
126	* StringyHairedGhostGirl: Anyone using an unsealed Bane Stone will ultimately turn into an Phantom, even in their human body.
127	** As a Phantom and when fulfilling her ApocalypseMaiden role, Yomi has lank black hair and HellishPupils, and gains BlackEyesOfCrazy when she taps into her Bane Stone fragment.
128	** When Kensuke is killed by Setsuna, Kagura taps into her Sesshoseki earring out of rage and temporarily becomes one, gaining pupil-less BlackEyesOfCrazy and barely avoiding succumbing to corruption as Yomi had.
129	* TeamPet: Despite not having a name, the baketanuki frequently saves the lives of the heroes by [[VoluntaryShapeshifting turning]] into a giant wall. It's even used as a sled at one point.
130	* TraumaCongaLine: The entire Ga-Rei (including the [[Anime/GaReiZero prequel anime]]) is just one long series of one tragedy after another befalling Kagura. When you read it in one sit, Kagura begin to look like [[Anime/NeonGenesisEvangelion Shinji Ikari]], minus the whininess.
131	* ThePowerOfLove: Apparently this is how Kagura gets the powers of the White Priestess. Not revealed to cornily... until suddenly Michael goes, "Kagura! It's time to use the power of love!"
132	* TookALevelInBadass:
133	** Shizuru, after her training with Noriyuki.
134	** Kensuke takes a few over the course of the manga as well.
135	* UnwittingInstigatorOfDoom: In the final arc, [[spoiler:the Agency orders that the resurrected Yomi be killed to prevent the apocalypse, and all those responsible for aiding her be executed as traitors. Yomi just wanted to be left alone and live in isolation with Kagura, and watching her friends and loved ones be hurt and killed by the Agency causes her to snap and willingly trigger the apocalypse.]]
136	* TheVirus: Naraku seems to be some form of this.
137	* WhamEpisode: Chapter 33, [[spoiler:when it's revealed that Kagura lost her memories, and to a certain extent that Yomi's come back from the dead.]]
138	%%* WorthyOpponent: Shizuru, to Kagura.
139	* YouHaveOutlivedYourUsefulness: [[spoiler: Mitogawa rips Yomi's Sesshouseki out of her head once she is defeated by Kensuke and Kagura, and she fades away, presumably to arrive at TheLifestream a cleansed soul. Really, though, he just wanted the Sesshouseki for himself.]]
140	* {{Youkai}}: While AllMythsAreTrue, given that the series is set in Japan, the most commonly encountered supernatural beings are youkai, called Spirit Beasts.
141	** Yomi and several other ghost characters are ''onryō'', translated as Phantoms in the English localization.
142	** The Nine-Tailed Demon-Fox is ostensibly a nine-tailed kitsune.
143	** Byakuei is mistaken for a dragon, but is actually an ''inugami'' corrupted by the Bane Stone. This becomes more apparent when the Bane Stone inside him is removed, returning him to his true form.
144	** Noriyuki uses ''kudagitsune'' to spy on people.
145	** A ''jorogumo'' is fought as one of the evil monsters.
146	** A ''tanuki'' who can shapeshift into a ''nurikabe'' joins the Kensuke's team.
147	** Kirin, Byakuei's EvilCounterpart, is named after the ''kirin'' but is actually an incomplete manifestation of the Nine-Tailed Demon-Fox.

Context Manga / GaRei