Follow TV Tropes

Following

Context VisualNovel / Happiness

Go To

1[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/happiness.png]]
2[[caption-width-right:350:Clockwise from top: Sumomo, Anri, Haruhi, Koyuki. Not shown: [[https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/c3ec147b281129a44708626ffed65ea21_9469.PNG Jun]].]]
3
4A VisualNovel from 2005, [[TheAnimeOfTheGame adapted into an anime]] for the fall 2006 season.
5
6When she was a young girl, Kamisaka Haruhi was saved from some bullies by a young boy who used magic to chase them away. Even though she never learned the boy's name, she was inspired to learn magic herself, so that she could help others just like she had been helped.
7
8Flash forward to the present day, where Haruhi is now the top student in her grade at Mizuhosaka Academy, a school which teaches both magical and normal students, although the two groups use separate facilities and rarely interact. On Valentine's Day, Haruhi buys chocolate in hopes that she may encounter the boy who helped her out many years ago, but fails to find him, and thus decides to just give the chocolate to Kohinata Yuuma, a random student from the normal section of the academy. That night, there is a gas explosion in the facilities used by the mages, and so the mage students are transferred into the normal section of the school while repairs are being completed. Haruhi and her friend, Anri, find themselves in a class with Yuuma.
9
10Rounding out the cast are Jun, a trans girl, Hachisuke, who is Yuuma and Jun's friend, Sumomo, Yuuma's sister who Haruhi used to play with when the two of them were younger, Koyuki, the fortune-telling daughter of the school administrator, and mysterious transfer students Ibuki, Saya, and Shinya.
11
12The visual novel would later get a fandisc titled ''Happiness! Re:Lucks'' in 2006. 2019 would then give it a sequel-of-sorts in ''Happiness! 2 Sakura Celebration'', which would get its own fandisc, ''Happiness! 2 Re:Lucks'', the year after.
13
14Not to be confused with the Creator/ToddSolondz [[Film/Happiness1998 film]] and/or the [[Manga/{{Happiness}} manga]] of the same name. Or the emotion (see HappinessTropes for that).
15----
16! This series provides examples of:
17
18* ActionBomb: When everybody attempts to create their own Tama-chan, Anri's attempts to blow everybody up. According to Koyuki, this is an ability that all Tamas have (thus she was able to realize what was going on in time to send it far away), but had never had one that actually tried to do it before. [[spoiler:Later, the result of the failed attempt to recreate the Ancestor Sphere-tom does the same thing.]]
19* ACupAngst: During the beach episode, Sumomo mentions that she wishes she were as developed as Haruhi and Anri. When her mother assures her that she's still growing, Sumomo claims that hearing that from her mother (who is still wearing her SchoolSwimsuit) managed to make her ''less'' confident.
20* AmazinglyEmbarrassingParents: Yuuma avoids the cafeteria because his mother works there, and is prone to greeting him rather enthusiastically.
21* TheAnimeOfTheGame: ''Happiness!'' was originally a visual novel.
22* AttractiveBentGender: Even Hachisuke and Yuuma sometimes forget that that Jun is biologically male, resulting in the two of them imagining her in various fetish outfits until Jun tells them to cut it out. Lampshaded in the [=OVA=], where the boys are drooling over the ([[GenderBender now biologically female]]) Jun, and Yuuma points out that she doesn't actually look any different.
23* BeachEpisode: The eighth episode of the anime takes place during summer so there's a fun day at the beach with swimsuits, sandcastles, fireworks etc.
24* BigBadFriend: [[spoiler:Ibuki attacks Haruhi in an attempt to get her to remove the barrier around the Shikimori treasure.]]
25* BigBrotherInstinct: Shinya, who is even capable of overcoming his [[NoSenseOfDirection terrible sense of direction]] when he senses that Saya is in danger.
26* {{Brainwashed}}: [[spoiler:Ibuki tries to do this on Haruhi, but is interrupted by Anri. She then decides that [[HostageSituation taking a hostage]] would work better.]]
27* CallingYourAttacks: ''[[GratuitousEnglish Patriot Missile Kick!]]''
28* CameBackWrong: [[spoiler:Saya and Shinya's father tried to resurrect their mother. He accidentally released a horde of demons.]]
29* CherryBlossoms: The 2nd episode of the anime revolves around the cast going cherry-blossom viewing
30* ClothingDamage: [[spoiler:When Natsume is killed by demons, their attacks shred her clothing.]]
31* ClubStub: At the beginning of the series, Koyuki is the Fortunetelling club. The ''entire'' fortunetelling club.
32* CoolShades: During the BeachEpisode, Tama sports a pair of Kamina-esque sunglasses. How they stay up on what is essentially a floating sphere shall forever remain a mystery.
33* CuteGhostGirl: One is encountered by Hachisuke one night when he went to school to retrieve his porn magazine from his desk. [[spoiler:It's not really a ghost, just Saya.]]
34%% * {{Expy}}: Yuuma is a dead ringer in appearance of Makoto Itou of School Days fame, though their personality is the direct opposite.
35* {{Fanservice}}: The BeachEpisode features the female cast in their swimwear.
36* FanserviceWithASmile: Anri dresses up as a [[{{Meido}} maid]] while working at Oasis.
37* ForeignLanguageTitle: The visual novel's original Japanese title is "はぴねす!", which is pronounced "Hapinesu!" and meant to evoke the English word "Happiness!".
38* FortuneTeller: Koyuki does this to get more of the school's female population to go to the Oasis cafe, by telling them that they have bad luck, but eating various menu items from Oasis will negate it.
39* GenderBender: The plot of the [=OVA=] is that several people's spells accidentally combine and turn Jun into a biological girl. [[spoiler:The end reveals that Yuuma also got hit by the spell.]]
40* GenkiGirl: Anri and Sumomo are energetic.
41* GiveHimANormalLife: [[spoiler:This was Miinagi's reasoning when she erased Yuuma's memories and sent him to live with Otoha, because she knew that she had to remain at school at all times to protect the Shikimori treasure and couldn't make enough time to properly raise him.]]
42* GoneHorriblyWrong: The attempt to create the ancestor Sphere Tom results in a "bad" tom, which almost destroys the city
43* GratuitousEnglish: Both the title of the work, and Jun's ''Patriot Missile Kick''.
44* GreenThumb: Attempted by Anri to help catch the "intruder". One of the few times her magic works as directed, although telling the plants to "catch the intruder" when she herself was trespassing at the time was not the best command.
45* HadakaApron: Suggested by Hachisuke when Anri gets a job as a waitress working at the school cafeteria because the school uniform underneath would ruin the mood. The others are angered by his idea.
46* HeroicSacrifice:
47** [[spoiler:The 984th Tama pushes a giant exploding tama out of the city before it goes and he goes with it.]]
48** [[spoiler:Shikimori Natsume gave her life to seal the Shikimori treasure in the backstory because it was summoning an endless horde of demons.]]
49* HostageSituation: [[spoiler:Ibuki tries to take Yuuma hostage in order to force Haruhi to retrieve the Shikimori treasure, but Yuumo manages to free himself.]]
50* HotWitch: Koyuki's fortune teller outfit shows a bit of cleavage.
51* IconicItem: Mages are ''never'' seen without their wands.
52* InstantCosplaySurprise: Justified, as Haruhi uses magic to change everybody's clothes.
53* InstantRunes: A common feature of magic spells is a runic circle made of light appearing where they are cast.
54* ItsAllMyFault: [[spoiler:Happens twice to Yuuma: once in his backstory, where he could have (but didn't) hurt the boys he used magic on to save Haruhi, and once towards the end of the series, where his magic almost kills Sumomo.]]
55* LetsMeetTheMeat: Anri's LivingWeapon is edible (it regenerates).
56* LiteralGenie: Anri commands a bunch of plants to catch the people trespassing on school grounds. This includes herself and the rest of her friends.
57* LivingWeapon: A mage's wand is an ordinary object that they put part of their soul into.
58* {{Kawaiiko}}: O' sweet, adorable Jun!
59* MagicalIncantation: Spells are usually accompanied by latin-sounding words.
60* MagicWand: Standard equipment for mages, implied that this is required for them to cast magic (although they are never seen without their wands, so this can't be confirmed). Despite being called "wands", they're really more like staves.
61* MagicMisfire: Done for laughs several times with Anri. [[spoiler:Used more seriously when Yuuma's inability to control his magic almost results in Sumomo's death.]]
62* {{Meido}}: Anri's (self-made) uniform while she works at Oasis is styled like a maid's for the atmosphere.
63* MesACrowd: Anri's solution to there being too many customers at the café for her to handle. This being Anri, they went haywire.
64* MumLooksLikeASister: Otoha, who looks to be in her early twenties and still wears her SchoolSwimsuit.
65* MundaneUtility: Anri attempts this, but usually screws up, such as trying to set up all of the chairs for the assembly, but accidentally putting them on the ceiling (at which point gravity kicks in), or turning the rain into sake rather than creating a barrier to stop it from falling on them.
66* MusicalAssassin: Shikimori Natsune has a flute which channels her magic while she plays it. [[spoiler: This flute is later given to Yuuma for the final battle, before he returns it to Ibuki]]. In addition, Saya and Haruhi's wands were musical instruments (a violin and trumpet, respectively), but seem to have no actual connection to music, aside from Saya's attacks having music-themed names.
67* NewTransferStudent:
68** Haruhi and Anri, due to the collapse of the facilities of the magic section of the school.
69** Saya and Shinya also transfer in later as part of their mission.
70* NoSenseOfDirection: Shinya can get so lost going to school that he will end up in the ''ocean'' and have no idea how that happened.
71* NotBloodSiblings: [[spoiler:Yuuma is adopted and so he's not Sumomo's biological elder brother.]]
72* OneDegreeOfSeparation: Only to a certain extent, but Anri accidentally hits Yuuma with a spell, who just happens to be the boy Haruhi met recently, the brother of Haruhi's childhood friend, and the son of one of the cafeteria workers. [[spoiler:The truth is he's actually adopted, his real mother is a teacher at the school. Yuuma is also the boy who saved Haruhi when she was young and inspired her to be a mage.]] In addition, Yuuma's mother, Koyuki's mother, Ibuki's sister, and Saya and Shinya's father were all acquainted with each other.
73* ParasolParachute: Shikimori has used her wand (an umbrella) to fly in a manner similar to Film/MaryPoppins on at least one occasion.
74* ParentalAbandonment:
75** Haruhi lives far from her parents (but they are still around).
76** [[spoiler:Yuuma's mother put him up for adoption because she was too busy to raise him.]]
77* PlayfulCatSmile: Koyuki's magical device Tama, while the former is tricking students into visiting the cafe to increase their luck.
78* PowerIncontinence: [[spoiler:Yuuma has incredibly powerful magic, but it goes out of control whenever he uses it.]]
79* ProperTightsWithASkirt: Part of Jun's regular wardrobe includes these two items because she is a trans girl and it's a feminine outfit.
80* RobeAndWizardHat: Koyuki's mage outfit is designed along these lines. She wears it when fortunetelling.
81* SchoolFestival: The ninth episode of the anime stars one of these and a cosplay cafe is prominently displayed. There is also a dance around a bon fire at night.
82* SchoolSwimsuit: Yuuma and Sumomo's mother wears one of these on the BeachEpisode, which fills Sumomo with despair on how she will (not) fill out.
83* SelfCensoredRelease: The original PC game is an HGame; the Platform/PlayStation port and the manga/anime are cleaned up for the general public.
84* SelfFulfillingProphecy: A fortune teller tells Haruhi as a child that she would someday give chocolates on Valentine's Day to the boy who inspired her to become a mage. She ends up buying chocolates every year, so she'll be prepared for that day. On Valentine's Day, she watches Yuuma try to protect a young girl against bullies, but is unsure he is the same boy because he didn't use magic. Still, as she has amassed so many chocolates over the years, which have gone to waste, she gives this year's chocolates to Yuuma, [[spoiler:unknowingly fulfilling the prophecy]].
85* ShowerOfAngst: [[spoiler:After he almost kills Sumomo, Yuuma broods in a shower.]]
86* SmashingWatermelons: Done during the BeachEpisode, Hachisuke and a Tama get placed next to the watermelon.
87* SugarAndIcePersonality: Shikimori Ibuki is a frigidly focused young lady but she's a NiceGirl underneath.
88* ToBeAMaster: Anri's goal is to become the best mage in Japan (and eventually, the entire world). At the start of the series, she's already the second best in her school.
89* TransferStudentUniforms: Shinya wears his old uniform, despite the fact that Saya apparently had her new uniform at least two days ''before'' transferring.
90* ThoseTwoGuys: This is the role fulfilled by Jun and Hachisuke, two of Yuuma's muggle friends, although Jun is hardly what is usually encountered for this role.
91* UnknownRival: When they started high school, Anri attempted this to Haruhi (since Haruhi had the highest test scores out of the incoming class), but Haruhi simply acts friendly towards her, noting that everybody else so far had been rather polite and distant to her until that point.
92* WhatMeasureIsANonUnique: The 984th Tama becomes depressed because it thinks that all Tamas are the same and that it can be easily replaced. [[spoiler:This turns out to be not true; every Tama has its own unique personality and Koyuki remembers the things that make each one unique, and can identify them on sight.]]
93* WhoYouGonnaCall: The fifth episode revolves around hunting the mysterious ghost girl that Hachisuke encountered in the school one night. [[spoiler:It's really Saya, who is not really a ghost.]]
94* WizardingSchool: The school has two sections; a muggle section and a magical section.
95* WoodenKatanasAreEvenBetter: Shinya uses a wooden katana, which draws raised eyebrows from the main character until Haruhi points out that it's also his wand, and thus the material that his sword is made out of is mostly irrelevant.
96* YamatoNadeshiko: Saya is explicitly referred to as such by Hachisuke.

Top