The Kamichama Karin series consists of a manga, a sequel manga, and an anime that covers the former with added connections to the latter despite the latter never being animated. This project is to invent a story for an adaptation of the second to act as a sequel to the third, tying up some loose ends with the anime and with the series as a whole.
Essentially, Kamichama Karin Chu Project is a sequel and Mind Screwdriver for the anime of Kamichama Karin. Mainly it's an exercise in picking up the threads left hanging from the anime adaptation, because boy did that thing have some strange threads. The problem to deal with is the time-travel-related antics of the original work, with Project starting in a fresh timeline to shake off some parts of the original that would be awkward to work with directly.
As I doubt anyone cares about this nearly as much as I do this project will likely stay largely theoretical and a work-in-progress. That being said, if it ever does enter any stage of production it will almost certainly not be animated (obviously) and will more likely be released in some sort of manga/comic form. (Recursive Adaptation, or something more sinister? You decide!) Actually, the way the story is written might allow it to stand on its own for new fans without being to As You Know-ish to the old... Alternatively, a wiki will be created to document the work as though it actually existed. Or maybe a Kinetic Novel?
Page is a work in progress. This is just a listing of the tropes (likely) involved, not a full overview of the work. Also also, unmarked spoilers for all works involved.
Tropes listed are those used significantly differently in the Project than in any of the canon materials, or that're reinterpretations of canon material, or what have you.
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Meta tropes
- Alternate Continuity: Continued from the anime's. Sort of. It's more like an alternate continuity to the anime that includes the anime's continuity.
- Bait-and-Switch Credits: Would be played with. To help sell the apparent discontinuity with the original anime, the first opening theme would be a more typical one with just a hint of darkness (something like Madoka's op), while the first ending would be more ominous. About halfway though the series, likely soon after the hot springs ep, the opening would change to something more in line with the original's Ankoku Tengoku. The ending would probably change as well, perhaps to something incongruously peppy. For bonus points, have the first OP be done by Ali Project in "white Alice" mode.
- Additionally, the animation of the first opening and ending would contain no elements the anime introduced, even if those show up within the episodes using them, though it may contain oblique references to anime-only events and details...
- Continuation/Fan Sequel
- Filler?: I'd like to aim for about 24-26 episodes worth of content, but the chapters of Chu will likely fall a bit short of that mark by about three or four. The original anime made up for this by pulling in pretty much all of the bonus chapters at the time, including one that was printed with Chu. I'd like to use canon material as much as possible to keep the Original Flavor going, but there's little to go on- the anime snatched up all of the full-length bonus chapters, and the extra edition chapters (which I actually have most of- anyone wanna translate them for me sometime?) are too short to fill out an episode on their own, though they could be used for material to pad out episodes based on a single chapter. What do?
- There's also the question of where original episodes would be added... additions to the string of chaos seed of the week chapters would work, but I'd rather keep those sorts of episodes to a minimum.
- Original Flavor
- Retcon/Canon Discontinuity: The joke is that any sane adaptation of Chu would probably just pretend the first anime never happened (see: the newer Rozen Maiden anime, Hayate no Gotoku's various anime seasons, probably the upcoming Black Butler anime...)
- Start with changing the "are you crying?" scene back to the way it was in the manga. From there, as mentioned above, the first half of this timeline is closer to the manga and missing most of the anime's bigger changes, which is reflected in the main story, and in flashbacks and whatever little bits and pieces get recounted to Jin. (Some things from the manga the anime dropped or glossed over remain gone, such as Yuuki's unexplained involvement and maybe Ami.)
- ... But then Karin starts having flashbacks to things that couldn't have happened and it turns out there've been multiple timelines, including what happened in the anime.
- Stealth Sequel
- Ultimate Universe: Possibly applies if it were to be released in manga format.
- Virtual Soundtrack: In theory, this would be mostly new music to apparently set it apart from the original anime, but in practice there's no way I'll be able to do that and it'll probably mostly consist of the original OST. Though some new songs will have to be made/found for special cases (Jin and Rika need leitmotifs, for example).
- Bootstrapped Leitmotif: There's a theme in the show that's often been used in Micchi's scenes and which wasn't included on the OST despite being used fairly prominently (heard here
, for example). Regardless of whether it's meant to be Micchi's leitmotif, I'll be treating it as such.
- Bootstrapped Leitmotif: There's a theme in the show that's often been used in Micchi's scenes and which wasn't included on the OST despite being used fairly prominently (heard here
Time travel-related tropes
For the record, I came up with most of this long before Madoka was a thing. (Though some inspiration points are owed to Higurashi.)
- Alternate Timeline
- Flashback Echo: Like the Suzuka flashbacks in the anime, Karin's flashbacks/sidewayses/whatever to previous timelines are typically triggered by something related to them. Often they're direct equivalents of whatever event is happening at the time.
- Future Me Scares Me: Himeka Karasuma is unsettled by Rika. Played with in that this would be before anyone knows they're the same person.
- "Groundhog Day" Loop: See Set Right What Once Went Wrong below
- Groundhog Peggy Sue: Rika.
- Mental Time Travel: What happened in episode 1 seemed to be this on one end (Karin landed back in her body with the memories she had at that point in time) and normal time travel at the other (she vanished from the future she traveled back from). Rika did this deliberately as an attempt to get rid of her, so this seems to be something that can be done deliberately instead of normal travel?
- The Project version of that bit where Karin became amnesiac and reverted to Suzuka's personality currently involves her being sent back to the events of ep 21-22 and having a physical body there seperate from her "present" self at that point (she meets with the "future" Kazune who visited then, seperately from her "present" selfs encounter with him), while possibly leaving an amnesiac Suzuka-Karin behind... so this works in reverse too??
- Alternatively, Karin's arrival in the previous past takes a Pensieve Flashback-like form, with only previous-previous-future (...) Kazune and Suzune able to see and interact with her.
- Also, Rika's normal method of trying to change time again could be this, after the initial physical travel that left both her and Himeka 2 around.
- The Project version of that bit where Karin became amnesiac and reverted to Suzuka's personality currently involves her being sent back to the events of ep 21-22 and having a physical body there seperate from her "present" self at that point (she meets with the "future" Kazune who visited then, seperately from her "present" selfs encounter with him), while possibly leaving an amnesiac Suzuka-Karin behind... so this works in reverse too??
- Save Scumming: Terminator Twosome edition.
- Set Right What Once Went Wrong: The only way I can think of to deal with the anime's weird ending is to introduce a chain of these. The "future" seen in the anime is actually a previous attempt at changing the future, though instead of someone rewinding time to try again, Rika sent Karin back to get rid of her. After Karin returns to the future (as seen at the very end of the anime), the events of that timeline continue for a while before things go pear-shaped, at which point time is rewound again, producing Project's timeline and giving a better starting point for this story. There may even have been multiple attempts at changing the future before the anime one. Still working the kinks out...
- Rika goes back in time herself each time, using her Chronos Clock to keep her apparent age constant. She may well be much older than she appears by now.
- Not sure about Karin's side, as they wouldn't always make it far enough for Suzune to be born... either their methods vary depending on the events of the timeline, or there's some sort of alpha future that Suzune always comes from. It's also possible Suzune is an Artificial Human of some sort, but I can't really see Karin and Kazune being willing to do that.
- Timey-Wimey Ball: Apparently, new timelines don't overwrite old ones, and they can interact to some degree (possibly as long as no major changes are made to the past).
- Visions of Another Self:
General tropes
- Audience Surrogate (???): Jin's unfamiliarity with the group is used as an opportunity to recap events from the time period of the anime and such. Would be used sparingly, mostly focusing on what's (apparently) different from canon.
- Played with with Yuuki and Shingen; originally the former told the latter about Kamika, recapping a few things for the audience in the process, but since Yuuki was never involved with Kamika in this continuity (any part of it), instead Shingen gives him what little tidbits Rika told him followed by his own imaginings. It sort of moves from exposition/recap to a parody...
- Big Brother Instinct: Kirio notably does not extend this to Rika, and may not even believe she's the same person as his beloved little sister.
- Clone by Conversion: In this canon, Jin actually is Kirihiko's nephew or some similar relation, but the mad doc turned him into a pseudo-clone so he could revive himself if his attempts at immortality failed. The conversion is only completed when Kirihiko tries to take over, though. Kirihiko also set things up for Jin to live a similar life to him, which is how Jin ended up in a shack outside his father's mansion (Kirihiko lived in similar conditions while in college).
- Dark World: The Realm of the Gods (see Place Beyond Time, below) mirrors reality in some places, most notably the Clock Tower, which seems to mirror Big Ben.
- Dreaming of Things to Come: Or things that have previously been to come. Multiple characters see events of previous time loops in their dreams, mainly Karin. They're actually direct flashbacks(/forwards/sidewayses) rather than vague portends, but still vague and missing significant dialogue where appropriate. Mistaken by Karin first to be more of Suzuka's memories and then to be events of the one previous timeline before she finds out there were multiple of those; mistaken by Kazune to be Kazuto's memories, even though he has no reason to be seeing those. This wouldn't have happened in previous timelines and is a direct result of Karin and co messing with the timeline in the previous timeline/the anime.
- Dreaming of Times Gone By: In addition to the occasional future-flashback dream, Jin sees Kirihiko's memories this way. Some events become Flashback Nightmares.
- Family Theme Naming: Kirihiko's sister/Jin's mother needs a name that ties her to both of them. For now I call her Chiri.
- Foil: Shingen is developed as a foil to Jin. Some of it was already there: Jin's a "bad" guy (related to the Karasumas, draws his powers from Hades) who falls in love with the heroine and fights for the good guys; Shingen is potentially a "good" guy (commonly theorised to be related to Micchi, back in the day; appears to have a "good" color scheme, or at the very least doesn't have black hair like most of the villains) who falls in love with the villain and ends up working for the bad guys.
- Girl of My Dreams: Jin's "dreams" of Karin are actually memories of Suzuka from Kirihiko's mind, ala the Suzuka flashbacks Karin has in the anime. The threat he percieves to her is actually just Kazuto being the romantic winner and "taking her away". This misunderstanding was likely deliberately intended by Kirihiko to make Jin want to kill Kazune... assuming Kirihiko doidn't completely lose it and actually see things that way himself by the time he set this up.
- Happily Adopted: If Shingen is indeed a clone of Micchi, he's obviously not going to have any real parents... to mirror how he's out of the loop of the plot, he's this, rather than a current orphan like most of the main cast.
- Important Hair Accessory: The most important parts of the timeline can basically be marked off based on what hair decs Karin is wearing. (The anime shows Suzuka with the winged hair decs and the manga shows adult Karin with none, but let's just put that aside...) (maybe Suzuka only switched hair decs after she married Kazuto?)
- Red ribbon: The past (Suzuka). Also seen when Suzuka's personality is brought back due to Karin's amnesia/Mental Time Travel, as in the manga.
- Olives by themselves: The first half (first manga series/anime).
- Olives with wings: The second half (Chu/Project)
- Olives with hearts: The future (possibly only the "final"/good one).
- Alternatively (or additionally), Karin's hairties during the Chu part of the timeline change depending on which timeline it is. Either the winged hairdecs are used in two timelines (pre-anime and Project; the anime's main timeline never made it to the point where Karin picks up a second set of hairties), or Project uses different hairties for that time period (likely the hearts, which would stand out less).
- Rika's hair dec may change based on timeline as well.
- Murder the Hypotenuse: As implied in both the manga and anime, Kirihiko murdered Kazuto, though the timing and circumstances seem to be different in each canon...
- Neuro-Vault: Or whatever the Himekas were. Shingen may now be a clone of Micchi created late in the original Kamika project by Kazuto to hide some information at the last minute. Rika either already knows and just tolerates his presense until she needs to rip the information out of him, or learns during the Project timeline and takes what she needs soon afterwards.
- New Transfer Student: Shingen may be made this to avert Remember the New Guy?, though he could also just be an ordinary student who just wasn't pulled into events before this.
- On the other hand, if Shingen is a clone created in the future and sent to the past, there may really be a point after which he suddenly always existed.
- O.C. Stand-in: A couple of characters in the backstory that're mostly just there in canon, such as Kirihiko's sister/whatever and wife, are given a bit more to work with (though they're still dead). Jin's father will also be given a name.
- Physical God/God in Human Form: Kyuu (the butler) may be Hephaestus, the Greek god of blacksmithery etc who smithed all the other Gods' weapons. He took interest in Kazuto's attempts to revive the powers of the gods to help humanity and helped him create the rings and the weapons and powers that went with them; when things went south, Kazuto entrusted him with the Kujyou kids, and he became their butler. He may have helped Kazune and Micchi create the new God rings used in Chu/Project as well. Unlike Nyake/Shii-chan, he's not a revived dead person.
- Place Beyond Time: The sepia-toned... weird place seen in the anime during time travel and the finale, aka the "Realm of the Gods". It's an alternate dimension that mirrors the real world in some places, that connects to certain times and places and thus can be used as a tunnel through time. It's definitely connected to the power of the gods, and seems attracted to times and places where significant events take place relating to those powers. While there're enough rules in place that what goes on there stays consistent, most of it will be left a mystery to preserve the tone of the original anime to some degree.
- Another name for it, based on some bits from the anime, might be something like "Labyrinth of Time", though it obviously serves as more than just a time travel channel...
- Soul Jar: Kirihiko left part of his soul in the Zeus ring (canon in both anime and manga if I remember correctly), likely left part of himself in Jin (enough to trigger some memory-dreams; see Girl of My Dreams above) and in the Chronos Clock that Rika received (so he can contact her). At this point we might as well go full Voldemort and have him leave a bit of his soul in that pet crow Kirio had in the anime.
- Tangled Family Tree: Tying up some loose ends (branches?) here. Most of this probably won't be directly relevant to the story, but's nice to have it on hand. Timeline's still shaky in some places.
- Karin's aunt and uncle? Either they're relatives of Suzuka and Karin was passed off as her and Kazuto's kid, or Karin was just handed over to some random family...
- Kirio and Kirika's mother? Why did they call their Himeka their "half-sister"?
- Kirihiko's wife divorced him and left him with the twins. She later remarried, and when Himeka Karasuma was created she ended up living with them somehow. The twins stayed with Kirihiko (and ended up a part of his experiments) until he died, then lived with the wife, new husband and "half-sister", until that pair of parents died too. (need factchecking for canon compatability.)
- Micchi's parents? Is how they died relevant, or just a device to get Micchi to Kazuto?
- Jin is Kirihiko's nephew, the son of his sister "Chiri" (or something like that). Kirihiko experimented on him (before or after Chiri died?) to make him into a clone, or close enough.
- Trippy Finale Syndrome: Part of the finale takes place in the Realm of the Gods, but to avoid it being too similar to the anime finale, it also takes place partially in the Bad Future, like in the manga.
