History Anime / Simoun

In the world of Daikuuriku, everyone is born female, and [[GenderBender chooses which sex they wish to become]] at age 17 with a trip to a magical spring. In this world, the peaceful theocracy of Simulacrum is guarded by magical flying machines called "Simoun," which [[GirlPowered can only be piloted by young girls]] who haven't chosen a sex yet. The Simoun can activate a [[FunctionalMagic magical power]] known as "Ri Maajon" (by inscribing enormous magical glyphs in the sky) that can [[WaveMotionGun destroy large numbers of enemy aircraft at once]].

* GirlPowered: The two female pilots must kiss each other and then the Simoun in order to [[{{Pun}} turn it on]].

* IntergenerationalFriendship: Possibly the ultimate example (and possibly [[GirlsLove more than a friendship]]): Yun is sixteen. [[spoiler:Onasia]] is a TimeAbyss.

* TenMinuteRetirement: Subversion. Three characters actually stay retired, and one is shell shocked into inactivity for several episodes after coming back.
* TheAce: While Neviril is renowned as the "Pride of all Sibyllae"...until she becomes a BrokenAce. The Sibyllae as a whole is renowned as being the elite of the elite, [[spoiler: until they’re decimated by combined power of the Highlands and their arch rivals.]] In reality, Aer plays this much more straight, being a highly skilled, if not well known pilot, and someone who almost never loses her cool.

* AlphaBitch: Mamina is a subversion. She acts like this at first (before her following CharacterDevelopment) despite the fact she's not rich, but ''poor''.
* AnyoneCanDie: [[spoiler: As poor Mamina finds out...]].

* AscendToAHigherPlaneOfExistence: [[spoiler:Aer, Neviril, Dominura, and Rimone in one sense; Onasia and possibly (eventually) Yun in another; Mamina and possibly Anglas in a third]].

** Mamina goes from the TokenEvilTeammate to a MessianicArchetype.

* FacelessMooks: The enemies of Simulacrum attack in [[ZergRush swarms]] and wear full-body pilot suits and helmets that obscure even the tiniest bit of flesh. This de-personalizes them not just to the audience, but to the Sibyllae as well. When Neveril looks into the eyes of an enemy pilot just before he is pulled into the Emerald Ri Majon, Amuria herself says that she will no longer be able to kill them once she has looked into their eyes.

* HamAndCheese: Mamina is this ''in-universe'', even after her CharacterDevelopment away from being the TokenEvilTeammate.

%%** Mamina.

* HeroicSacrifice: [[spoiler:Mamina]].
* HeroOfAnotherStory: Vura.

** Mamina.

* ItGetsEasier: Though the Sibyllae are originally very clear that they are priestesses, not soldiers, and that they are praying, not fighting, (See InsistentTerminology above), as the series progresses they stop "Offering prayers to Tempus Spatium" and begin "patrolling," and they stop "inscribing Ri Maajon" and begin "fighting." No one notices the transition as it happens, until one day it is pointed out that even the Sibyllae have begun to "fight." Needless to say, they do not take this realization well.

* KilledOffForReal: [[spoiler:Mamina]], among others.

* MercyKill: [[spoiler: The Plumbum priestesses to Mamina]] and [[spoiler:Yun to Onasia.]]

* MoralityKitchenSink: This is the show that gives us [[GoodShepherd Yun]], [[JerkWithAHeartOfGold Mamina]], [[AntiHero Paraietta]], [[TragicVillain the nations of Argentum]] [[AntiVillain and Plumbum]], and the Defence Minister of Simulacrum.
* TheMourningAfter: Neviril with regards to Amuria; [[spoiler:Roatreamon with regards to Mamina]].

* RummageSaleReject: The flight suits that the sibyllae wear.
%%* SayMyName: AA! E! RU!

* TokenEvilTeammate: Mamina pre-CharacterDevelopment.

* TwistedKneeCollapse: Mamina, at the end of episode 7.

* AchillesInHisTent: Early on, after losing the love of her life, Neviril refuses to participate in duty, and later Dominura, after suffering SanitySlippage.
%%* AirborneAircraftCarrier: Lots of 'em.

* AnyoneCanDie: [[spoiler: As poor Mamita finds out...]].

* AxCrazy: Aer is a minor example, she clearly enjoys the thrill of combat, and she can be seen grinning when she's exterminating enemy pilots.

* BloodKnight: Aer to borderline SociopathicHero levels, at several points ''she's laughing'' when she's engaging an enemy recon patrol, and filling them with bullet holes. The most terrifying aspect is unlike all the others, ''she fully understands that's she's killing people, and she still loves it''. PlayedForDrama, as she's so enthralled by war, it's practically the only thing she understands, which causes major friction between her and Nerevil.
* BrokenAce: Neviril was once considered the AcePilot of ''Ace Pilots'', and she was considerably skilled. After losing her girlfriend, she becomes extremely withdrawn, cynical, and almost lifeless. It takes considerable encouragement for Aer to get her groove back, and even then, the show heavily implies she'll never truly be over losing Amuria.

%%* TheComicallySerious: Yun.

%%* FatBastard: The Defense Minister.

%% * GenkiGirl: Aer.

%%* HeroicBSOD: Neviril after the events of the first episode.
%%* HeroicSacrifice: [[spoiler:Mamina]].
%%* HeroOfAnotherStory: Vura.
%%* HesBack: Neviril.

%%* ImmigrantPatriotism: [[spoiler:Dominura.]]

%%* ImportantHaircut:
%%** Roatreamon.
%%** Mamina.

%%* KilledOffForReal: [[spoiler:Mamina]], among others.

%%* {{Miko}}: Most of the cast.

%%* TheMole: More than one of them.

%%* MrFixit: Wapourif.

%%* NeverFoundTheBody: [[spoiler:Amuria]].

%%* ShowerOfAngst: A few times.

%% * SteamPunk: The Argentum army.

%% * SuckingInLines: The Emerald Ri Maajon.

%% * SupportingLeader: Anubituf.
%% * TeamMom: Yun, by the end.
%% * TeamDad: Technically Neviril, but Dominura fills in for her a lot.
%% * TeamSpirit: Kiss-powered airships, and the more powerful Ri Maajon effects require the coordinated action of several Simoun.

%%* ThereIsOnlyOneBed: [[spoiler:Rimone and Dominura in the past]].

%%* TimeAbyss: [[spoiler:Onasia]].

%%* TokenEvilTeammate: Mamina pre-CharacterDevelopment.

%% * TwistedKneeCollapse: Mamina, at the end of episode 7.

%%* UnusualEuphemism: "Let's do a Ri Maajon."

%% * YuriGenre: What other series did to popularise the genre, Simoun did it to ''critical acclaim''.

* {{Bokukko}}:
** Yun, who actually says the much more masculine "ore" instead of "boku".
** Kaim plays this one straight.

* WillTheyOrWontThey: A great part of the series deals with the growing romance between Neviril and Aer. [[spoiler: They do.]]

* {{Bishonen}}: Wapourif, among others.

* OutDamnedSpot: Kaim during her ShowerOfAngst in Episode 12.
-->''"It's not coming off ..."''

* PastelChalkedFreezeFrame: Several per episode.
* PhlebotinumOverload: The Emerald Ri Maajon out of control.

* PollutedWasteland: Argentum.

* PromotionToOpeningTitles: Yun.

* SteamPunk: The Argentum army.

* SuckingInLines: The Emerald Ri Maajon.

* SupportingLeader: Anubituf.
* TeamMom: Yun, by the end.
* TeamDad: Technically Neviril, but Dominura fills in for her a lot.
* TeamSpirit: Kiss-powered airships, and the more powerful Ri Maajon effects require the coordinated action of several Simoun.

* TwistedKneeCollapse: Mamina, at the end of episode 7.

* YuriGenre: What other series did to popularise the genre, Simoun did it to ''critical acclaim''.

* ChristmasCake: Dominura is actually not one, as her [[http://simoun.tv/characters/09.html official profile]] lists her age as 19 years old. Talk about YoungerThanTheyLook. Still, in the context of the Simoun universe, she qualifies, as she still has yet to choose a gender.

* HugeSchoolgirl: Paraietta, despite being around the same age as the rest of the Sybillae (barring [[TokenMiniMoe Rimone]]) can stand almost eye-to-eye with [[ChristmasCake Dominura]].

* MeddlingParents: Halconf.

* {{Gainaxing}}: In one of the commentaries, the character designer admits to having drawn Paraietta as if she wasn't wearing a bra.

%%* AlienLunch: Episode 10.

* UnusualEuphemism: "Let's do a Ri Maajon." IsThatWhatTheyreCallingItNow

* BrokenAce: Neviril was once considered the AcePilot of ''[[UpToEleven Ace Pilots]]'', and she was considerably skilled. After losing her girlfriend, she becomes extremely withdrawn, cynical, and almost lifeless. It takes considerable encouragement for Aer to get her groove back, and even then, the show heavily implies she'll never truly be over losing Amuria.

* TheAce: While Neviril is renowned as the "Pride of all Sibyllae"...until she becomes a BrokenAce. The Sibyllae as a whole is renowned as being the elite of the elite, [[spoiler: until their decimated by combined power of the Highlands and their arch rivals.]] In reality, Aer plays this much more straight, being a highly skilled, if not well known pilot, and someone who almost never loses her cool.

* SnubByOmission: As mentioned under FunnyAneurysmMoment, when Chor Tempest gets asked to show a Plumbum priestess around their ship, they naturally start off with introductions, with the priestess repeating each name as she's told it... except [[SpellMyNameWithAnS Aer's]].

In the world of Daikuuriku, everyone is born female, and [[GenderBender chooses which sex they wish to become]] at age 17 with a trip to a magical spring. In this world, the peaceful theocracy of Simulacrum is guarded by magical flying machines called "Simoun," which can only be piloted by young girls who haven't chosen a sex yet. The Simoun can activate a [[FunctionalMagic magical power]] known as "Ri Maajon" (by inscribing enormous magical glyphs in the sky) that can [[WaveMotionGun destroy large numbers of enemy aircraft at once]].

* {{Meganekko}}: Kaim.

''Simoun'' aired from April to September 2006 on Japanese TV, with an all-star (and all-female) voice acting cast, and two stage actresses portraying the series' romantic leads. The series has recently been licensed, and the (subtitled only) [=DVDs=] are available in North America.

A serial manga of this series has been released in ''Magazine/YuriHime'', with a slightly altered storyline.

* SpellMyNameWithAnS: In spades. Aaeru/Aeru/Aer/Aelle, Rodoreamon/Lodreamon/Roatreamon, Angulas/Anguras/Angurasu, and more... It doesn't help that the fansubs kept most of the names in katakana and didn't bother to romanize them properly.

%%* YaoiGuys: [[spoiler:Guragief and Anubituf.]]

* TheSkyIsAnOcean: And the ships have nautilus motif.

* BrokenBird: A ''majority'' of the cast could qualify, but special mention goes too, Neviril and Dominura.

* HairColors: There's only one reused color among the whole cast.

* AirborneAircraftCarrier: Lots of 'em.

* BeautyMark: Morinas has one under her lip.

* RomanticTwoGirlFriendship: Roatreamon and Mamina are a textbook case. (Of course, as is common with the trope, many fans [[LesYay have their own interpretation]].)