Line #78 Manga/SilverDiamond


1	[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/Silver_Diamond_cast_9541.jpg]]
2	[[caption-width-right:350:The main cast (from left: Touji, [[TeamMom Narushige]], [[AllLovingHero Rakan]], [[BodyguardCrush Chigusa]])]]
3
4	->'''Rakan''': What is that branch? It looks kind of like a gun.\
5	'''Chigusa''': It's a gun.\
6	'''Rakan''': But... it's a tree.\
7	'''Chigusa''': It's a tree.\
8	'''Rakan''': It's a tree, right?\
9	'''Chigusa''': But it's also a gun.
10
11	A tale of an alternate world, magical plants and stones, and [[NoSenseOfPersonalSpace group hugs]].
12
13	Written by Sugiura Shiho, this {{shoujo}} {{manga}} stars a 17-year-old boy named Rakan, who enjoys "cooking, cleaning, and studying", and caring for his little jungle in the backyard. He's lived alone ever since his mother and grandfather passed away a year ago.
14
15	As he comes home from school one day, a strange man appears in his backyard, just as he and his mother did 15 years ago. When Rakan and the man, Chigusa, witness Chigusa's wooden gun grow into a full-grown tree after Rakan touches it, Chigusa sticks himself to the boy like a leech, insisting on protecting him because he's a Sanome, which is a person that can grow plants just by touching them and is extremely rare in his world, where just about everything is desert.
16
17	As the story continues, the two find themselves bound together, as if by Fate, as they gain friends and, most importantly, learn to understand each other.
18
19	The manga was serialized in ''Ichiraci'' from 2003 to 2012, and compiled into 27 volumes. It was formerly licensed in English by Creator/{{Tokyopop}}, who released the first nine volumes into English, but they lost the rights to the series after they closed in 2009.
20
21	----
22	!!"Silver Diamond" gives examples of:
23
24	* ABoyAndHisX: The story starts right off with Rakan gaining his own self-proclaimed bodyguard, Chigusa.
25	* AbusiveParents: Shigeyuki Shigeka, of the neglectful kind.
26	* AllLovingHero: Rakan is really, really nice. And sweet, kind, helpful and forgiving. And everybody loves him because of it (except the villains). Even the animals.
27	** Eventually this starts to spread throughout his whole group, leaving most villagers wondering how feared criminals can be so pleasant.
28	* AristocratsAreEvil: Kinrei and the Prince fit this trope, [[spoiler: as does Shigeyuki.]] Although the prince is more a religious figure than an aristocrat as such.
29	* BackToBackBadasses: Whenever the group is outnumbered and/or separated, this happens.
30	* BadassLongcoat: One of Chigusa's trademarks. No matter how many clothes he ruins, he always manages to find another long coat.
31	* BadBoss: The Prince is an Ayame that feeds off everything, from the plants to the people, without hardly any of them knowing. Then, you have him and Kinrei just getting rid of anyone they have no use for. [[spoiler: What's worse is that those whom know that the Prince is an Ayame and are still willing to serve him are STILL tossed to the side as soon as they outlive their usefulness.]]
32	** [[spoiler:Hoshinomikoto has some traits of this.]]
33	* BadPowersBadPeople: The Ayame prince is a WalkingWasteland and wants to destroy all humans so the ayame can take over the world. Rakan has growth-and-fertility powers and wants to make the desert bloom again. Take a ''wild'' guess which is the hero and which is the villain.
34	* BigBrotherIsWatching: The Ayame Prince and Kinrei were usually on par with the details of Rakan's progress even when there was no way they should be able to. [[spoiler:It turned out the Prince was using Touji's eyes to do it.]]
35	* BigBrotherInstinct: Kazuhi towards [[spoiler:Touji]]. It's so bad he ends up TakingTheBullet for him... in a pillow-fighting contest.
36	** The other members of the Sanome Prince guard often say he's got a "brocon".
37	* BlueAndOrangeMorality: [[spoiler:Hoshinomikoto only thinks in terms of the Amato Empire's salvation. The will of the people he's manipulating simply does not register in his mind.]]
38	* BodyguardCrush: Chigusa again takes it up to eleven.
39	* BrainwashedAndCrazy: The crystal snakes that are transformed into black serpents under Kinrei's orders.
40	** [[spoiler:Chigusa in [[TheGrimReaper god of death]] mode.]]
41	** [[spoiler:Narushige and several other capital members who are controlled by the Ayame Prince's blood.]]
42	* CuteGhostGirl: Rinrai, once she gets past the StringyHairedGhostGirl phase.
43	* TheDeterminator: Chigusa is out to kill the Ayame prince, and he's survived some normally quite fatal damage but still going. [[GoodThingYouCanHeal Good thing he can heal.]]
44	* DisappearedDad: Even after he's realized that [[spoiler: he and his mother are from the other world]], it doesn't even occur to Rakan for several chapters that he might have a father in the other world.
45	** All the numbered children have a case of this.
46	* DragonWithAnAgenda: Kinrei full stop.[[spoiler: He later pulls [[TheStarscream a Starscream]] when the Ayame Prince gets a little too willful for his plans.]]
47	** [[spoiler:[[SubvertedTrope Subverted]] when it turns out his plans are a result of Hoshinomikoto's manipulation.]]
48	* DrivenToSuicide: [[spoiler:Chigusa, several times during his lifetime of a thousand years. That's the reason why Hoshinomikoto keeps [[LaserGuidedAmnesia erasing his memories.]]]]
49	* DudeLooksLikeALady: Just don't [[BerserkButton say it to Narushige's face]].
50	* EasilyForgiven: Touji is sent to kill Chigusa, Narushige, and Rakan and also manages to put some holes in Chigusa while attempting to do just that. Doesn't stop Rakan from saving him from getting shot by Chigusa, giving him dinner, and telling the others to be nicer to him - all in the span of a day. [[DefeatMeansFriendship Then he gets added to the team.]]
51	** [[AllLovingHero Rakan]] is the king of this trope. He later forgives another hitman sent by Kinrei, who almost brought a house down on him; a girl who tried to kill all of his comrades so her village would get to keep him forever; and a group of guards who stubbornly refuse to even consider that someone of the Kingen family might not be telling the truth. They all wind up becoming [[DefeatMeansFriendship valuable allies]] [[spoiler:and the first two have already undergone a HeelFaceTurn.]]
52	** The great [[AvertedTrope Aversion]] happens with [[spoiler:Hoshinomikoto]]. Rakan simply cannot forgive the [[spoiler:pain he put Chigusa through.]]
53	* EquippableAlly: Narushige has a pet talking snake, Koh, who can turn into a sword. Or possibly a pet sword which can turn into a talking snake. All of the other main cast use guns/bow and arrows that grow just as they are from trees.
54	* EvilTwin / CriminalDoppelganger: It's not yet clear which of these is in play, but Rakan looks ''exactly'' like the Ayame prince.
55	* EyeScream: [[spoiler:Touji [[HeroicSacrifice cuts his own eyes when he finds out the Ayame Prince has been keeping tabs on the group through them.]]]]
56	* FamilyOfChoice: The four main characters. Later, all the Sanome Prince guards feel like this about each other.
57	* FightingFromTheInside: [[spoiler:Narushige]] when he is possessed by [[spoiler:the Ayame Prince's blood.]]
58	* FiveManBand:
59	** TheHero: Chigusa, interestingly enough.
60	** TheLancer: Narushige, when he's not being a "bossy mother-in-law," as Chigusa calls him.
61	** TheSmartGuy: Kou, usually when the others are trying to figure out what Rakan means when he uses slang or pop culture references. Actually, all of the main cast seem to take turns as this one, depending on the situation.
62	** TheBigGuy: Touji, although has some elements of SixthRanger.
63	** TheHeart: A male - and quite useful- version in the form of Rakan.
64	* FriendToAllLivingThings: Rakan.
65	* GodIsFlawed: [[spoiler:Hoshinomikoto is either this or [[GodIsEvil evil]]. No one's figured out which of them yet.]]
66	* GodsNeedPrayerBadly: [[spoiler:It appears Hoshinomikoto gets stronger the more the people pray for him.]]
67	* GreenThumb: Rakan is a pretty good gardener in the normal world, but once he gets to the other world he realizes he can make seeds sprout in barren sand and solid rock. Even brushing against a plant will make it grow out of control. He also seems to be the catalyst for the resurgence of the "water snakes" and their conversion into rivers. Due to his efforts, the group leaves a trail of green behind them as they cross the desert.
68	* GrowsOnTrees: The alternate world seems to have a specialized plant for ''everything''. So far: guns, bows, ladders, walls, wells, {{invisibility cloak}}s, light sources, and plain-old food crops.
69	* HalfHumanHybrid: Chigusa is one, being part human and part plant. His entire family, the Senroh clan, is famous for being immortal monsters.
70	* HealingFactor: Chigusa can recover from almost any injury.
71	** [[spoiler:Actually, he can recover from virtually everything. Except he often loses [[LaserGuidedAmnesia things in the process.]]]]
72	* HomoeroticSubtext: Have we mentioned that Chigusa really ''liiikes'' hugging Rakan? Also carrying Rakan, holding Rakan, getting Rakan to sleep on his chest, looking at Rakan, smiling at Rakan... It's not clear whether Rakan has noticed his attention, but everybody else has. Subtext becomes more like text later, as Rakan is shown to seemingly indeed reciprocate Chigusa's feelings. [[spoiler:They even move in together in Rakan's world at the end of the story.]]
73	* ICannotSelfTerminate: A black meadow flower in chapter 40: whenever someone approaches, its branches close on them on instinct, but it does not want to kill and has [[WhoWantsToLiveForever been suffering for a long time.]] [[spoiler:{{Foreshadowing}} Chigusa's true role in the world later on.]]
74	* IWasJustPassingThrough: Hakubi's ''modus operandi'', [[spoiler:before his HeelFaceTurn is cemented.]]
75	* IdentityAmnesia: Chigusa. [[spoiler:[[JustifiedTrope Justified]] in that the one who erased his memories is ''GOD.'']]
76	* IfItsYouItsOkay: The second part of the manga implies this is how Rakan feels about Chigusa. [[spoiler:[[OfficialCouple The ending pretty much confirms it.]]]]
77	* ImmortalityHurts: [[spoiler:Chigusa, in spades.]] He is often overwhelmed by the terrible memories of [[spoiler:his one-thousand year lifetime]] and [[spoiler:his role as [[TheGrimReaper the death god]]]], and has been DrivenToSuicide more than once.
78	* ImmortalitySeeker: Kinrei and several people under his command. [[spoiler:[[SubvertedTrope Subverted]] in that it's implied they didn't really come up with the idea on their own.]]
79	* InSeriesNickname: "The Ill Omen" for Narushige, and, eventually, "The Sanome Prince" for Rakan.
80	%%* LaserGuidedAmnesia
81	* LonghairedPrettyboy: Narushige.
82	* MistakenForGay: A RunningGag with Hakubi, who watches the people of Sanome Prince giving out group hugs and just generally caring for each other, and keeps [[HomoeroticSubtext getting the wrong idea. (Or the right one.)]]
83	** Sae continues this tradition.
84	* MuggleFosterParents / RaisedByGrandparents / ObliviousAdoption: [[spoiler:Rakan and his mother are actually from the other world. They simply landed in his "grandfather's" garden one day, and the old man, being lonely, kept them. Rakan knows nothing about this until the rest of the cast falls into ''his'' garden.]]
85	* MysteriousBacker: Hoshinomikoto.
86	* NoOneCouldSurviveThat: Just before the start of the series, Chigusa was sentenced to death for attacking the Ayame prince, and duly crucified and shot full of arrows. Eyewitnesses swore he was dead. He wasn't, obviously.
87	* NoSenseOfPersonalSpace: Chigusa to Rakan. See HomoeroticSubtext.
88	** [[RunningGag Chigusa to everyone, actually.]]
89	* NoSocialSkills: Chigusa, due to his childhood circumstances.
90	* OfficialCouple: [[spoiler:Rakan and Chigusa]] are implied to have finally tied the knot at the end of the story.
91	* OffingTheOffspring: [[AvertedTrope Averted]] with Shigeyuki, but not for lack of trying.
92	* OrdinaryHighSchoolStudent: Rakan, at the start of the story.
93	* OrganicTechnology: The alternate world has little metal and makes almost everything from wood, conveniently aided by a very broad range of improbable plant specialization. See GrowsOnTrees.
94	* TheReasonYouSuckSpeech: Rakan is not afraid of delivering one of those when the moment calls for it.
95	* RedRightHand: The Ayame prince (who is otherwise quite {{Bishonen}}) keeps his hands hidden when in public. That's because they're [[spoiler: black, scaly and taloned.]]
96	* RelaxOVision: When Chigusa first touches his forehead to Rakan's to show him what he's seeing. [[AvertedTrope Averted]] in the end because all Narushige did was to draw his sword to threaten Chigusa.
97	* ScrewDestiny / YouCantFightFate: The latter half of the series wages war between these two concepts [[spoiler:and, in the end, never really settles on one answer. Souls tend to be [[SpannerInTheWorks Spanners in the Works]] though.]]
98	* SelfFulfillingProphecy: When the Ayame Prince tries to counter [[spoiler:Hoshinomikoto's]] prophecies by [[spoiler:destroying the world]] with stone dinosaurs - which are promply thought to be the "ancient monsters" the prophecy was talking about. [[spoiler:[[SubvertedTrope Subverted]] when it turns out they [[FromBadToWorse weren't.]]]]
99	* SingleTargetSexuality: While Chigusa is often called a pervert or Rakan-Otaku, the truth is more that he happens to have feelings only for Rakan and just can't be interested in other people.
100	* TheStarscream: Kinrei is the soul of loyalty to the Ayame prince's face, but is trying to manipulate the prince for his own plans.
101	** Subverted in later volumes when the Prince and Kinrei form a [[spoiler:VillainousFriendship]].
102	* SuperSenses: Chigusa has super-sight (bordering on XRayVision), which he puts to use for ImprobableAimingSkills. Some other characters have similar powers.
103	* TeamMom [[TeamDad and Team Dad]]: Narushige acts as both TeamMom AND TeamDad to the core FiveManBand - though Rakan often shares the TeamMom role.
104	** For the Sanome Prince's guard, Goushi often gets the role of TeamDad.
105	* TomatoInTheMirror: [[spoiler:Chigusa,]] twice: first when he realizes [[spoiler:he has Ayame blood in his veins,]] and later when he remembers [[spoiler:he's actually the Amato Empire's version of [[TheGrimReaper a death god.]]]]
106	* TrappedInAnotherWorld: Rakan, although in a slight twist he goes voluntarily.
107	* VillainousBreakdown: [[spoiler: The Ayame prince has a brief one of these when Kinrei traps him in the claws of a rock monster which drains the prince's blood. And since he's been spoiled rotten and never done anything for himself for the last 15 years the prince promptly freaks out because he doesn't know what he should do. Although he snaps out of it after a few chapters and escapes due to the forced character development.]]
108	** [[spoiler:Both the Ayame Prince and Kinrei go through one of these when they realize they have been manipulated by Hoshinomikoto.]]
109	* VillainousFriendship: Somewhere between Type II and Type III. [[spoiler: After attempting to pull [[TheStarscream a Starscream]] and trapping the Ayame Prince with a stone monster that drains the Prince's blood, the Prince uses Kinrei's own animation spell on a T-rex fossil to free himself, destroy Kinrei's stone monsters, and severely wounding Kinrei. The prince then uses his claws to slice his own neck. Kinrei rethinks his plans and his opinion of the Prince, so Kinrei saves the prince, and once the Prince recovers, they make a mutual agreement to use each other to achieve their individual goals - but with the promise to kill each other if either betrays the other.]]
110	* VillainWithGoodPublicity: The Ayame prince is almost universally loved and respected. Only a few people know how cruel he is, especially to those who [[YouHaveOutlivedYourUsefulness have been used and thrown away]]. Very convenient for him, very bad for our heroes.
111	** [[spoiler:Later [[AvertedTrope Averted]] due to Hoshinomikoto and Rakan's work.]]
112	* WaifProphet: The Ayame prince walked in off the desert as a beautiful, strange, glowing child and started making prophecies. He was immediately raised to near-godlike status by the desperate population. Now he's a beautiful, strange, glowing young man (and [[EvilOrphan completely evil]]).
113	** [[spoiler:Except he can't really foresee anything. His prophecies are fed to him by Hoshinomikoto.]]
114	* WalkingDisasterArea: The Senroh family. [[spoiler:That is, Chigusa, in his many reincarnations, due to his job as [[TheGrimReaper a death god.]]]]
115	* WalkingWasteland: The Ayame prince lives by extracting life energy from the planet; it's implied that he's the cause of the desertification.
116	* WhoWantsToLiveForever: [[DiscussedTrope Often discussed by the cast.]] The main antagonists want it to grow beyond the desert world they live in; the main protagonists are of the opinion that it's not worth it to see their friends die. [[spoiler:Terribly PlayedStraight with Chigusa, so much that he uses his experiences to show some of the antagonists what eternal life is really like.]]
117	* WhyDidItHavetoBeSnakes: Rakan really, REALLY doesn't like ghosts. That also applies to scary stories and horror movies.
118	** And he flips his shit when they meet a real ghost.
119	* YouAreBetterThanYouThinkYouAre: Rakan has made several of those speeches towards Chigusa ([[spoiler:created to be a death god]]), Narushige (last man in a lineage that heavily favors women), and Touji (UnwittingPawn of the Ayame Prince), and the entire cast. They usually end up with a YouAreNotAlone moment.
120	* YouAreNotAlone: An ongoing theme in the series. Whenever a main cast character thinks they've gone too far or are unworthy of friendship/love, the rest of cast is quick in reassuring them that they will NEVER be alone. The best example is when [[spoiler:Chigusa]] finds out he's [[spoiler:a death god]]: he tells the members of the group that, only to find out they already knew and don't care - he's first and foremost a part of their TrueCompanions. [[RunningGag Cue hug.]]

Context Manga / SilverDiamond