Line #31 YMMV/SamuraiDeeperKyo


1	* SugarWiki/AwesomeArt: The manga. Kamijyo's compelling style, [[SceneryPorn stunning scenery]], and visually attractive characters are among its main selling points.
2	* CreepyAwesome:
3	** Kyo himself, at times. He's vicious, rarely shows anything resembling empathy (especially near the beginning), and his kills can be brutal. But he's also a badass among badasses, and his ImplausibleFencingPowers and [[DeadpanSnarker impressive snark]] make him highly entertaining.
4	** Hishigi. Being an EeriePaleSkinnedBrunette AntiVillain who remains [[TheStoic expressionless]] and [[BewareTheQuietOnes soft-spoken]] in nearly all situations, is [[EyesDoNotBelongThere covered in Devil Eyes]], and harbors a ''terrifying'' [[NotSoStoic vicious]] [[TranquilFury streak]] when [[BerserkButton provoked]], he's walking NightmareFuel. Add his [[DarkAndTroubledPast tragic backstory]], {{Determinator}} nature, [[spoiler:RasputinianDeath]], and swordsmanship so impressive that he can one-shot the main character despite [[HandicappedBadass severe deterioration of his body from the Death Disease]], and he's also a walking CMOA.
5	* CryForTheDevil:
6	** Hishigi's entire character arc, revealed mostly in flashbacks. Akari cries for him in-universe.
7	** Shockingly, ''Chinmei's'' story is sad enough to make some SDK fans who hated his guts find him sympathetic, and he was arguably in Complete Monster territory beforehand.
8	** This happens a lot. Even the Former Crimson King gets a few moments.
9	* DracoInLeatherPants:
10	** Kyo is a fine example, both InUniverse and in the fandom.
11	** Hishigi in the fandom category. He's an EnsembleDarkhorse because he's [[StoicWoobie tragic]], [[{{Bishonen}} attractive]], CreepyAwesome, and [[HoYay devoted to Fubuki]], but some of his actions are horrifying no matter how sympathetic you find him.
12	** [[BigBad The Former Crimson King]] is a MagnificentBastard [[LackOfEmpathy without a shred of empathy]] for the dying people under his command, is extremely creepy with his creepy dissonance between appearance and personality, is a prime provider of NightmareFuel, and crosses the MoralEventHorizon several times in the story. He's referred to as Aka-chan by much of the fandom.
13	* EnsembleDarkhorse:
14	** Hishigi. He isn't a main character and doesn't get much spotlight in canon, but he's a badass [[{{Bishonen}} Biseinen]] AntiVillain complete with a DarkAndTroubledPast and StoicWoobie qualities, so naturally he's one of these. Being voiced by Creator/ShigeruNakahara in the audio dramas doesn't hurt either.
15	** Shirogarasu was surprisingly popular and stayed in the top 10 in character polls for a long time, despite his short tenure as a character and very minor role in the overarching story. He was still 18th in the ''final'' poll... when he'd been dead and unmentioned for over 30 volumes.
16	** Akari is beloved by the fandom, partially because she's one of the best-handled UsefulNotes/{{Transgender}} characters in manga history (even over a decade later!). She's incredibly badass, always portrayed as a ''woman'', not a crossdressing man, and when there are jokes centering around the fact that she is trans, they are ''always'' at the expense of the {{Jerkass}} mocking her.
17	* FanonDiscontinuity: Most fans of the manga try their best to forget about the AnimatedAdaptation due to it changing way too many of the elements from the source material and for only covering a small amount of the manga.
18	* HarsherInHindsight: Yuan refers to Hishigi as "an incredibly efficient executioner" when explaining why getting any information out of him is going to be difficult. [[spoiler:We find out later that Hishigi has quite literally acted as the Former Crimson King's executioner, and he killed Yuan's mother on the king's orders]].
19	* HoYay: Now has [[HoYay/SamuraiDeeperKyo its own page]].
20	* {{Moe}}:
21	** Shinrei was ''ridiculously'' adorable as a child. Sweet, idealistic, fluffy little prodigy. Knowing that he was [[BreakTheCutie abused and manipulated]] into believing the Mibu's AGodAmI and MightMakesRight philosophies is heartbreaking and has triggered many protective instincts.
22	** [[CuteClumsyGirl Santera]] is an sweet, awkward ten-year-old {{Meganekko}} who has never touched another human being because [[TorturedMonster the corrosive spores that she uncontrollably emits would kill them]]. She's a ShrinkingViolet who doesn't want to hurt anyone, but she's been recruited by the Jyunishinsho because of her abilities and is [[TorturedMonster forced to kill]]. Thankfully, Yuya and Akari manage to save her.
23	* MoralEventHorizon: The Former Crimson King has reached it repeatedly. Every time it seems that he's crossed the horizon, he takes the evil further.
24	** [[spoiler:Before the events of the manga, he manipulated Kyoshiro (through Chinmei) into killing Sakuya's brother, and arranged for Sakuya to watch. Made worse since Nozomu was also Yuya's adoptive brother, and his death was her CynicismCatalyst]].
25	** Muramasa lost all faith and abandoned the king after his WeHaveReserves speech on not bothering to cure the Death Disease.
26	** [[spoiler:Fubuki is near death by the time Tokito finds him after regaining the memory that he is her father. She begs the Former Crimson King to save him, to which the king responds by trying to murder her. [[PapaWolf Fubuki]] (already dying and likely beyond saving) [[RedemptionEqualsDeath takes the fall]], and the King complains that he was just trying to [[ShootTheDog let Tokito die peacefully]] instead of fighting him and suffering]].
27	* NightmareFuel: [[NightmareFuel/SamuraiDeeperKyo Now has its own page]]
28	* SlowPacedBeginning: The first few volumes read a bit like an attempt at cashing in on the popularity of ''Manga/RurouniKenshin''. The beginning is still enjoyable, especially once SDK finds its own uniquely odd voice, but the narrative isn't anything mindblowing. The real plot with the Mibu hits in Volume 10, and from then on, we have something extraordinary on our hands.
29	* TheyChangedItNowItSucks: Ho boy. Simply put, the anime adaptation is SDK InNameOnly. It only shares a very small handful of similarities with the manga, and ended up ''very'' different in everything from art style to characterization (for example, beloved {{Cloudcuckoolander}} Hotaru is totally serious). It would have been difficult to make a ''good'' adaptation, considering the anime is only 26 episodes to the manga's 306 chapters and 38 volumes, but it doesn't change the fact that many people try to forget that the AnimatedAdaptation exists. It also didn't help that the anime was made in 2002, when the manga was less than halfway finished.
30	* TooCoolToLive: Muramasa, Taihaku, [[spoiler:Fubuki and Hishigi]]. One can also make an argument for [[PosthumousCharacter Kyosaburo]], who created the Mumyo Jinpu Ryu before passing it on to Muramasa, and therefore to Kyo by proxy.
31	* ValuesDissonance: One of the reasons Kyo reads so much like a DesignatedHero is that he's presented as incredibly admirable despite being a [[{{Jerkass}} giant dick]]. But in the context, being a badass is an admirable trait in and of itself, so it's a little easier to accept.
32	* TheWoobie: Tons of characters, notably [[MrFanservice Yukimura]]. Pretty much any character who gets any attention from Kamijyo has some Woobie elements.
33	** IronWoobie: Akira. Jaded street urchin, turned TagalongKid to Demon Eyes Kyo, turned ChildSoldier (a willing and enthusiastic one, but ''still''). Intentionally [[EyeScream blinded himself]] to [[DisabilitySuperpower attain greater strength]] after Kyo disappeared. Worked harder than anyone in the entire story to get to his current level, then is told that it's physically impossible for him to get any stronger than he already is because he doesn't have samurai lineage. Finding a way to temporarily power up and defeat Tokito, but [[DentedIron completely and permanently wrecking his body]] in the process. He never seems particularly upset or bitter about any of this, aside from a brief HeroicBSOD after Anthony tells him he can't get stronger.
34	** JerkassWoobie: Kyo, Fubuki, frigging ''everyone''.

Context YMMV / SamuraiDeeperKyo