Line #85 Manga/GameXRush


1	[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/gamexrushcover.png]]
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3	''Game X Rush'' is the story of a young bodyguard named Memori, an enigmatic boy named Yuuki, and their respective mysterious pasts. The manga manages a good blend of comedy and action/drama as stalkers, babysitting and more require their combined talents, but the drama kicks in once the story begins to focus on their complicated backstories.
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5	A two-volume humor/action/drama {{shoujo}} series, ''Game X Rush'' is the work of Mizuho Kusanagi, the mangaka responsible for ''Mugen Spiral'' and ''Manga/NGLife''. It ran in ''Magazine/HanaToYume'' from January to August in 2005. Despite being shoujo, ''Game X Rush'' has no traditional female lead or love-interest: The plot can best be described as [[HoYay tracking the bromance between a bodyguard and the assassin who decides to stalk him]]. Despite that description it's not Yaoi or Shounen-Ai, though it often [[StealthParody plays with the hallmarks of the genre]]. Volume One is heavy on the comedy; the end of Volume One and most of Volume Two are tarred with the brush of drama.
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7	''Game X Rush'' is published in English by Creator/{{TOKYOPOP}}, and both volumes have been released as of November 2009.
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9	----
10	!!This manga provides examples of:
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12	* AbortedArc: The creator notes in the second volume that she had to finish the series much more quickly than planned, which accounts for the dramatic shift in gears and somewhat abrupt conclusion.
13	* AloofBigBrother: Ken. Sort of. He's less aloof and more bossy, but still.
14	%%* AntiVillain: Arguably, Yuuki.
15	* ApologeticAttacker: Yuuki to Memori, after the former gets stabbed.
16	* {{Backstory}}: Hinted at in Volume One, filled out in Volume Two.
17	%%* BerserkButton: That whole stabbing thing in Volume One.
18	* BerserkerTears: After Yuuki gets stabbed, Memori remarks that "... Somehow, it looked like he was... crying."
19	%%* BewareTheSillyOnes: Yuuki's "mask."
20	* BishieSparkle: Memori does this whenever he's on the job; it seems to be standard when he's in Bodyguard Mode.
21	* BodyguardCrush: Memori's clients tend to fall for him, or at least his bodyguard persona.
22	%%* BrokenBird: [[spoiler: Miyuki]], who'd also be TheWoobie if... Well, you know.
23	* ChainedToABed: ''Tied'' to a bed, but still.
24	* ChildrenAreInnocent: True for the kids Memori and Yuuki babysit; apparently true for their child selves, but not really; subverted in Sayako, who's technically a child but has the maturity of an adult.
25	* CoatOverTheShoulder: The main guys have a tendency to wear jackets in the impractical "half falling off" style.
26	* ConflictingLoyalty: Yuuki [[spoiler: can't kill Memori but can't abandon Miyuki]].
27	%%* DarkAndTroubledPast: Yuuki. Miyuki. Arguably Memori.
28	%%* DiedHappilyEverAfter: [[spoiler: Miyuki's end.]]
29	* DistantFinale: Three years later, Memori's still a bodyguard in college, Sayako's a {{Tsundere}} 16-year-old in a school blazer, and [[spoiler: a familiar guy passes them at a crosswalk...]]
30	* DrivenToVillainy: [[spoiler: Yuuki and Mayuki, although the latter is more Driven To Insanity/Homicidal Rage]].
31	* EmbarrassingNickname: "Memori-chan," because... Well, Memori's a guy, plus that whole suffix = familiarity thing.
32	* EmotionalTorque: Because [[spoiler: young Yuuki's acceptance of being "Memori" is heartbreaking... and disturbing.]]
33	* EvenBadMenLoveTheirMamas: Yuuki. Subverted when [[spoiler: we discover that he's not actually a bad guy, and his mom isn't actually his mother]].
34	* FaceFault: Performed multiple times during the 'humor' parts of the series, usually by [[OnlySaneMan Memori]].
35	* FamilyBusiness: Fujieda Security Co.
36	* FemaleGaze: Sayoko to Memori, but this happens even when the gazer is male. To wit: Yuuki does this to Memori because [[spoiler: Memori looks exactly like Miyuki]], and Memori does this repeatedly while wondering if someone like Yuuki could ''really'' be an assassin. The latter is lampshaded when Yuuki complains that Memori's been giving him "come-hither looks" all night.
37	* FlippingTheTable: Memori does this when Yuuki claims to have been given a vast mansion and fortune by a kindly stranger; the table appears out of nowhere and disappears just as fast.
38	* ForgottenChildhoodFriend: Or at least, they would've been. Still, it's odd that [[spoiler: Memori doesn't seem to remember meeting Yuuki]].
39	* FreudianExcuse: Yuuki. But given that his Excuse runs on ''severe'' ParentalAbandonment, [[AbusiveParents Abusive Foster-parents]], and mommy issues, it's pretty justified.
40	* FriendshipMoment: The scene on the rooftop, right before Memori tears up the photo.
41	* TheGlassesComeOff: Somewhat subverted; while Memori usually doesn't wear his glasses for dramatic or action-y moments, that's because he wears his glasses [[ClarkKenting simply to disguise how awesome he is]].
42	* GenderFlip: The "What if X was female?" 4-koma.
43	* GrudgingThankYou: Memori tossing the disinfectant to Yuuki after the restaurant scene, 'not wanting to owe' Yuuki anything.
44	* HappilyAdopted: Memori.
45	* HatesBeingTouched: Memori has this reputation when he's not bodyguarding, judo-throwing a classmate who tried to glomp him. Which seems kind of interesting considering all the physical contact in the later half of the manga.
46	* HeterosexualLifePartners: It seems Memori and Yuuki are heading for this, [[spoiler: particularly after the three-year timeskip]].
47	* HiddenHeartOfGold: Both Memori and Yuuki, Sayako, Ken...
48	* HitmanWithAHeart: Yuuki appears to be this at first, until we find out [[spoiler: he's not a hitman]].
49	* HotBlooded: Although he affects a cool personality while working, Memori's Hot Blooded under it all.
50	* ImprobableAge: Sayako, because she's also a ChildProdigy.
51	* LoveBubbles: Of both the sparkly and the floral kind.
52	* LoveMakesYouCrazy: But not romantic love.
53	* LoveRedeems: Or, the way that everyone winds up more-or-less happy.
54	* MajorInjuryUnderreaction: Yuuki doesn't seem to care about the fact that he got stabbed in the stomach and was rushed to the emergency room.
55	* MangaEffects: Most of them.
56	* {{Meido}}: Sayako's mansion has at least one, and Himeko dresses up in one of the uniforms.
57	* MistakenForGay: A couple of times, though you can't really blame anyone for thinking that.
58	* MrFanservice: Well, it ''is'' a bishounen series.
59	* NotDistractedByTheSexy: No-one ever seems to call our leads on the fact that their jackets are falling off.
60	* NotSoStoic: Yuuki and Memori. ManlyTears, dammit!
61	* OppositesAttract: Memori and Yuuki, with some RedOniBlueOni thrown in.
62	* OrphansOrdeal: Yuuki's childhood.
63	* EeriePaleSkinnedBrunette: What Miyuki and Memori apparently are.
64	* ParentalIncest: Rather squicky potential example: While Yuuki said [[spoiler: he didn't really think of Miyuki as his mother (because he was ''in love'' with her is implied), if the snippets in the omake strips had any bearing in truth, then from Miyuki's side...]]
65	* PersonalityBloodTypes: The characters' blood-types are listed in their mini profiles, and a single page post-story references Yuuki's Type (AB) and Starsign (Pisces).
66	* PetTheDog: Miyuki's kindness [[spoiler: to a young Yuuki, which becomes KickTheDog in short order]]; Yuuki and the kids on the playground.
67	* [[PleaseDontLeaveMe Please Don't Leave Me]]: Memori does this in the 'If you try to leave I'll kick your ass!' vein when [[spoiler: Yuuki intends to leave town with Miyuki]]; Miyuki does the begging version to [[spoiler: Yuuki-whom-she-thinks-is-Memori]].
68	* PrecociousCrush: Sayoko crushes on Memori, despite her being 13 when they first met and him being 19. After the timeskip, she's 16 and he's 22.
69	* RaceForYourLove: Race For Your Friendship, anyway, when Memori realized [[spoiler: Yuuki wasn't just going to his room]]. He was right.
70	* ReplacementGoldfish: [[spoiler: Yuuki replaces Memori in Miyuki's addled mind.]]
71	* TheReveal: It's [[TheUnreveal kind of obvious]]. [[spoiler: Memori's mom, Yuuki's past, the fire, the killing.]]
72	* RevealingHug: perhaps less 'revealing' and more 'dramatic.'
73	* SleevesAreForWimps: Happens with Yuuki more often than not.
74	* StalkerWithACrush: At one point Memori accuses Yuuki of being this to him; later, Yuuki unintentionally wanders back to the Fujieda building and wonders if he really ''is'' a stalker. There's also a certifiable stalker-with-a-crush in Ochi, the stalker from the second story-arc.
75	* StepfordSmiler: Yuuki.
76	* StrongFamilyResemblance: Memori looks exactly like [[spoiler: his birth mother]].
77	* SympathyForTheDevil: [[spoiler: Miyuki, when she dies clear-minded for the first time in a long time.]]
78	* TroubledButCute: Yuuki, though at times he's more like a male BrokenBird.
79	* {{Tsundere}}: Non-romantic version with Memori and Yuuki.
80	* TsurimeEyes: Yuuki, particularly noticeable in close-ups. Young Yuuki has eyes that could give [[Manga/LuckyStar Kagami]] a run for her money.
81	* WasItAllALie: A friendship version, after Memori figures out that Yuuki is the assassin.
82	* WhatHappenedToTheMouse: Assuming that [[spoiler: Yuuki's telling the truth, and he really ''hasn't'' killed anyone besides the guy Miyuki'd already half-killed]], where'd he learn the martial arts, marksmanship, hypnotism, ect? It feels like there's going to be a full explanation, but it's just glossed over entirely.
83	* WholesomeCrossdresser: Memori ''does'' wear a nurse's outfit, and is dressed like Cinderella when he wonders if Yuuki is a celebrity/prince...
84	* {{Yandere}}: Miyuki for [[spoiler: Memori, but not the real Memori, Yuuki-as-Memori]].
85	* YouAreNotAlone: Memori actually spends time coming up with a speech to tell Yuuki this. Yuuki laughs, and Memori gets pissed off.
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Context Manga / GameXRush