http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/Tears-to-Tiara_Low2.jpg
''"Cutting off your own head won't solve anything."''

From the creators of ''{{Utawarerumono}}'' comes a somewhat similar story. In a fantasy world somewhat resembling Arthurian legend, the "[[TheEmpire Holy Empire]]" has taken it upon itself to crush resistance. Against them is a Demon Lord (in human form) who [[AccidentalHero inadvertently becomes the leader of a tribe]]. As such, this is a tale of war, sacrifice and {{bishoujo}}.

Based off the PC VisualNovel by Leaf. Later re-released for the [=PlayStation=] 3 with art and technical upgrades. Anime now airing.
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This series provides examples of:
*AccidentalMarriage: To everyone on Earth, apparently. At least Hakuoro was just a chick magnet...
*AllMythsAreTrue
*{{Back to Back Badasses}}: Arawn and Arthur in the opening ''while eating an apple''. Also the 2nd episode.
**Octavia and Morgan
*BadassArmy The Rubrum. Also doubling as EliteMooks
*BeautyEqualsGoodness Subverted by Gaius and Lidia.
*BerserkButton: Arawn's usually a DeadpanSnarker. However, he really seems to hate it when people are willing to die for immaterial concepts like chivalry and honor and willingly enslave themselves because of those things. This is likely due to his Backstory (assuming it matches the one from the game): [[spoiler: his creator/father Angel sacrificed himself to give humans the chance for freedom that the previous races of the world never had thanks to the other Angels]].
*BigBad: [[spoiler: The Angel Lector in the game. And in the anime]].
*BigBrotherMentor: A rare case where the mentor is [[spoiler: the ''main character'']]. Crosses over with StealthMentor since [[spoiler: Arthur]] seems unaware of [[spoiler: Arawn's]] plans to [[spoiler: raise Arthur as a worthy king]].
*{{Bokukko}} [[spoiler:[[SamusIsAGirl Rathty]]]]
*CherubicChoir: The [[BrownNote Song of Creation]] [[spoiler:which Myrrdin uses to change the Ice Age into spring. Taliesin later uses it to stop a blizzard]].
*[[spoiler:ColonyDrop - The Dragons' gotterdammerung was the Angels dropping the Earth's second ''moon'' on their city.]]
*CrowningMomentofAwesome: Riannon gets one in [[spoiler: episode 24 when instead of blocking a drill that has the size of a [[TengenToppaGurrenLagann Giga Drill Break]], she INSTEAD uses a spatial manipulation magic to REDIRECT that attack to the CompleteMonster Drwc. So who's TheChick now?]]
*CompleteMonster: The High Priest Drwc. He convinces Riannon to become Arawn's sacrifice by threatening to ''chop off a little girl's fingers''. There's also that whole "I want to summon a demon king to destroy the world so I can rule what's left" thing. [[spoiler: Arawn's first CrowningMomentOfAwesome is to shank the evil bastard. Riannon gets one when she kicks his undead ass. See above entry]].
*CoolOldGuy - Ogam, hands down. [[spoiler: He gets even cooler when he's revealed to be the [[LastOfHisKind last Dragon]].]]
*CouncilOfAngels - The 12 Angels [[spoiler:who are of the KnightTemplar variety]].
*CuteBruiser - Rathty: Little elf. [[DropTheHammer BIG hammer]].
*DefeatMeansFriendship [[spoiler: Some extent to Octavia]]
*DarkIsNotEvil - Arawn
*DepletedPhlebotinumShells - The holy element Electrum burns Arawn on contact ([[spoiler:getting shot full of it by a tank was what killed him the first time]]). In-game, any equipment made of this stuff doesn't enhance the stats of any elves, dragons, or demons it is given to. In human hands, however, they're the most powerful things available at the store.
*{{Depower}} - Happens to Arawn after High Priest Drwc resurrects him too early. As a result, the legendary Demon King is only slightly stronger than a normal human and actually hurts himself a little when he ''punches a skeleton so hard it shatters''.
*DidNotDoTheResearch - SpoonyBard Taliesin uses a sword made of Damascus steel. However, the first of these didn't show up until at least 900AD, several hundred years after the game's implied timeline.
*{{Expy}}: Where to begin? The game is very similar to ''Utawarerumono''; let's leave it at that.
*TheFairFolk - Subverted. When the boat first lands on Albion, Ogam mentions that they best be careful because of "[[GratuitousEnglish the Good Folk]]". The actual Fair Folk turn out to be very friendly.
** It helps that most of them worship the party leader Arawn.
*FastballSpecial - RATHTY MISSILE!
*GeniusBonus - Barring the obvious [[KingArthur Arthur, Morgan]], and [[JuliusCaesar Gaius]], a lot of names and characters [[ThemeNaming harken back to Welsh Mythology]] like Arawn, Rhiannon, Epona, Annwn, Pwyll, etc. ''Especially'' clever is the SwordInTheStone being named 'Danwyn' rather than the [[PublicDomainArtifact generic Excalibur]].
** Taliesin is named after a poet who supposedly lived during the time of KingArthur, and wrote a bunch of poems about him.
*GenkiGirl - Morgann. Original game shows this abit. Anime increases it tenfold.
** She also has a bit of BottleFairy in her.
*GetAHoldOfYourselfMan Arawn does this to Arthur when [[spoiler: they lost against the [[BadassArmy Rubrum]]]]
*GiantEnemyCrab: A bunch of them appear in episode four. Reduced off screen into ''crab hotpot''.
*GirlInABox: [[spoiler:Octavia]]
*GratuitousEnglish - "Apple Pie." When your city's name is a throwback to the fact that its orchard is full of apple trees, it only makes sense that this gets made... [[{{understatement}} often]].
*HeroicAlbino
*HeroicSacrifice: [[spoiler:Taliesin, who was in turn inspired by Myrrdin's own sacrifice. He [[NotQuiteDead gets better]], though.]]
*HonestJohn - Epona, and Rusty's SplitPersonality Thraty.
*[[IdenticalGrandson Identical Descendant]] - Arthur is basically Pwyll with a different outfit and hairstyle. Justified, as Arthur is a [[{{reincarnation}} reincarnated]] Pwyll.
*IdiotHero - Arthur to some extent. Comes to a head when he leads a reckless charge against the [[EliteMooks Rublum]] against Arawn's warning and nearly gets all his men killed. This is frequently lampshaded in the game.
*LadyOfWar - Octavia. Her self proclaimed rival Lidia is a more AxCrazy KnightTemplar example.
*LesYay - Though merely [[HeterosexualLifePartners really good friends]] in the game, that friendship [[strike:bracelet]] necklace Octavia gives Morgan in the anime makes you think otherwise, doesn't it?
*LethalChef - Subverted in the game. While Octavia and Morgan's cooking looks something like slop (they just ground all the ingredients and threw them into a boiling pot), it actually tastes pretty good.
*LightIsNotGood - the [[SoYeah name Holy Empire]]....
** [[spoiler: Not to mention the other Angels.]]
*LimitedWardrobe - Lampshaded the hell out of in one scene in the VisualNovel.
*LoadBearingBoss - [[spoiler:Merkadis]]
*MeaningfulName - [[KingArthur Arthur]]. Really, given the setting and host of other meaningful names, what else could he have become?
*{{Meido}} - Lymwris and Ermin
*MightyGlacier - Rathty*
*MillionMookMarch - [[spoiler:The [[BlackKnight Golmes]], to the extent that Taliesin at first mistakes the army for terrain where the snow has receded, describing it as "70% black, 30% snow".]]
*MinorInjuryOverreaction - [[spoiler: The White Angel Lector]] in episode 25 goes completely off his rocker after getting a cut on his cheek.
*MistakenForPregnant - Apparently for Arawm the idea Llyr successfully milked a cow is more unlikely to come to mind than that he got her pregnant.
*NaughtyTentacles - The uh... magical elf cookbook from Epona's shop. It supposedly tenderizes elf meat by arousing them.
*Narm - The ENGLISH version of the original game's theme plays at certain points in the story....usually those where you would NOT want to be distracted at how BAD THE DAMN ENGLISH IS.
*NobleDemon Arawn plays this straight.
*NotQuiteDead - [[spoiler:Taliesin]]
*NothingCanSaveUsNow - Taken to absurd levels [[spoiler:after the defeat of Merkadis, where the gang is trapped inside the crumbling tower. After they give up on getting out, the ladies start asking Arawn to marry them when they get reincarnated. Cue the [[BigDamnHeroes Big Damn Spoony Bard]].]]
*OminousPipeOrgan - Plays during every scene featuring TheEmperor and [[spoiler:White Angel]].
*TheOnlyOneAllowedToDefeatYou Lidia's relation toward Octavia. Taken to ....[[FoeYay interesting levels of implication]]
*[[spoiler: OurAngelsAreDifferent - They are the ones responsible for the various Ages; when the dominant race of the Age fails to meet their incredibly high standards, they wipe them out (they used a ''meteor'' to almost wipe out the Dragons). Yeah, they're pretty much complete assholes. Except for Myrrdin and his son Arawn/Lucifer.]]
*TheOtherDarrin - There was a MASSIVE re-casting effort for the PS3 version of the game and anime adaptations. Only four main characters and a few important minor ones kept their voice talents.
*[[spoiler:OurDragonsAreDifferent - Ogam. Just... Ogam.]]
* OurElvesAreBetter - More like different. [[{{Meido}} House Elves]], [[MakingASplash Seal Elves]], [[MightyGlacier Miner]] [[DishingOutDirt Elves]], [[IntrepidMerchant Merchant Elves]], and others, each with their own (literal, except for Ermin) [[PlanetOfHats Hat]].
* PaletteSwap
* {{Pettanko}} - Epona, especially conscious about her size [[spoiler:to the point of being so embarrassed as to having to resort to a LovePotion just to bed Arawn. Yes, she even rambles about it during her H scene. See RedStringOfFate below]].
* {{Precursors}} - [[spoiler: The elves came before the humans (age of bronze), giants before the elves (silver), and dragons before the giants (gold). Each of them met a {{gotterdammerung}} brought about by the angels.]]
* PrestigeClass - Musician, Paladin, Sage, Hunter, Seer, etc.
* RedOniBlueOni - Morgan (Red) and Octavia (Blue)
* RedStringOfFate - One of these is for sale at Epona's shop for 99999. [[spoiler:It has a LovePotion effect that she uses to get Arawn to "[[IfYouKnowWhatIMean marry]]" her.]]
** [[spoiler:Said red string becomes a MagicFeather, however, as Epona tied it to the wrong finger. The magic only kicks in when you tie it to your pinky.]]
* {{Reincarnation}} - Pwyll -> Arthur. [[spoiler:Primula -> Rhiannon]]
* SamusIsAGirl: [[spoiler:Rathty]]
*[[spoiler: SatanIsGood - Arawn's True Name turns out to be Lucifer.]]
* ShoutOut: Epona sells [[{{Memes/Anime}} red shoes at her shop, which she claims makes you three times faster]]. It bestows a FragileSpeedster effect on whoever wears them. As far as ThisTroper knows, in the PC version, the AI takes, from the player, control of whoever is wearing those pair of shoes.
** Those are the Cockroach Shoes, which are different from the [[strike:Char Custom]] Red Shoes.
* SixthRanger: Taliesin
* TheSlowWalk
* SpoonyBard: Taliesin. [[LampshadeHanging It's even the name of his class]]. The prestige classes like Hunter, Seer, and Druid also qualify.
* StraightArrow: Morgan, though Arawn's a pretty good shot himself.
* SuperMovePortraitAttack: Prevalent in the [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ER48RHhnXhw&feature=related&fmt=18 PS3 Game]]
* SurroundedByIdiots Arawn feels this way. He later extends [[spoiler: this by saying [[HumansAreBastards Humans Are Idiots]] because they are obsessed with chivalry and honor and can't live freely]]
* {{Talking the Monster to Death}}: [[spoiler:Arthur in episode two. More like ''Shouting the Monster to Death'']].
* TheUnfavourite: [[spoiler: Arawn to the other Angels. To the point where his face in the mural is rubbed out.]]
* {{Unwanted Harem}} Arawn. It's actually downplayed a bit in the anime, [[strike: at least for now]].
* VideoWill - [[spoiler: Arawn]] leaves one of these in a prison located inside Mt. Corus. A thousand years later, Taliesin is led to activating it by a baby dragon. Somewhat subverted, seeing as the maker of the message [[spoiler:is BackFromTheDead]].
* WarriorMonk - The Holy Empire employs [[MagicKnight Church Knights]], [[SquishyWizard Bishops]], and [[TheMedic Priests]] in combat, amongst others.
* WorthyOpponent - Gaius, if episode 12 is anything to go by.
* YouCantFightFate - [[spoiler:Taliesin spends his life running away from the prophecy that he will befall him as Brigantes' chief. In the end, he decides to embrace it in a HeroicSacrifice.]] Subverted [[spoiler:when he survives the avalanche]]. However, it's implied be a double subversion, since [[spoiler:his savior is a dragon who is [[{{squick}} quite]] [[AFateWorseThanDeath attached]] to him.]]
* YouKilledMyFather - In episode 15, [[spoiler: Seeing Arawn use Holy power reminds Arthur of the Angel that killed his own father. He also remembers that the Angel called himself "Arawn". In a blind rage he accuses Arawn of killing his father and tries to run him through ''even when Rhiannon gets in the way''. This forces Arawn to protect Rhiannon and take a sword to the gut. Only then does Arthur calm down and [[MyGodWhatHaveIDone realize what he's done]]. He apparently forgot that Arawn was asleep for the past 1000 years and couldn't possibly have killed his father. See IdiotHero above.]]
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