Franchise / A3!

"Director, please help us bloom!"

Act, Addict, Actors!, or commonly referred and shortened as A3!, is a mobile game created by Liber Entertainment, the creator of the rhythm game I-Chu.

In A3, you play as Izumi, a young woman who is visiting a theater for a troupe that is said to be her father's theater company. But when you arrive at the theater, not only is the theater itself in shambles, the troupe is also buried in debt. As the daughter of the previous director of said troupe, your job is to gather members as actors to bring the troupe back to its former glory.

The troupes you manage are as follows:

• Spring Troupe, which specializes in storybooks or fairy tale plays, led by Sakuya Sakuma.

Spring Troupe plays

• Romeo and Julius
• Alex in Wonderland (Alice as a Boy)
• A Clockwork Heart (The Clockwork Heartbeat)
• The Wonderful Charlatan of Oz
• Knights of the Round IV On Stage
• Harugaoka Quartet
• Magicians' Pure Love
• SSR Family
• Literary Impasse
• Moon Traveler

• Summer Troupe, which specializes in comedies, led by Tenma Sumeragi.

Summer Troupe plays

• Water Me!
• The Great Sardine Search (Adventure for the Niboshi)
• Captain Sky's Pirates (Captain Sky Pirates)
• Love Out of Left Field (First Crush Baseball)
• Shinobi Adventures!
• The Floral Prince
• +3Ghosts!
• WONDER RUSH
• Sky Gallery
• Journey of Colors

• Autumn Troupe, which specializes in action plays, led by Banri Settsu.

Autumn Troupe plays

• The Roman Episode (Le Roman Picaresque)
• The Stranger (STRANGER ON THE WAY TO PARADISE)
• Ginji the Wanderer (Like a lead Bullet)
• DEAD/UNDEAD
• Fiery Mantou Fist!
• Fallen Blood
• Welcome to Akebono-so!
• South. Hill. Prison
• the Rad Red
• MY WORST WEDDING

• Winter Troupe, which specializes in drama and mystery, led by Tsumugi Tsukioka

Winter Troupe plays

• Sympathy for the Angel
• My Master's Mesmerized by Mystery (Butler and the Silver Spoon)
• Nocturnality
• Le Fantome de l'Opera
• Die by the Sword
• Risky Game
• HOTEL COMPASS
• Dance with Butterfly
• Sunshine Blanc
• Nomadic Bartender

A second part to the main story was announced in 2018, adding four new characters to the lineup. Part 3, with another additional four actors, was announced in 2020. An English port of the game was announced in 2018 and released by Cybird on 23 October 2019. A Chinese port was released late August 2018 under Komoe Game.

As time passed and the company's experience grows, the performances branched out to include mixed troupe plays (featuring different members from each troupe) and collaborations with other troupes.

Mixed Troupe plays

• A Two-Faced Teacher (I Come with the Night.) - all troupes
• Run around the field. - Spring, Autumn, Winter
• The Luminous Circus - Spring, Summer, Winter
• The Last Runway - Spring, Summer, Autumn
• Yin Yang Midnight - Spring, Autumn, Winter
• Scarlet Mirror - all troupes
• Stray Devil Blues - Autumn, Winter
• IMMORTAL CROW - Spring, Summer
• Tale of the Winter Daphne - Spring, Winter
• Trump the phantom thief - Summer, Autumn

As the company aims to win the esteemed Fleur Award to clear their debt and raise their reputation, they also embark on an ambitious project which involves all the members of the theater troupes: the MANKAI performances.

MANKAI plays

• Last Planet -ep01.Origin- - Autumn, Winter
• Last Planet -ep02.Home- - Spring, Summer

Amusingly enough, A3! also received its own stage adaptation starting in 2018, titled MANKAI STAGE. The Spring and Summer Troupes were the focus of the first production that ran from July to October 2018, while the Autumn and Winter troupes got the second production in December 2018 to March 2019. The stage play adaptations cover Acts 1-4 of the game's Main Story Part 1, event stories, and Acts 6-8 of Main Story Part 2.

The stage play adaptations would themselves be adapted to film, with the Spring/Summer and Fall/Winter plays having separate movies released in 2022 and 2023. The movie adaptations cover Acts 1-4 of the game's Main Story Part 1.

In 2019, the franchise announced an animated adaptation produced by P. A. Works and Studio 3Hz, and began airing in the Winter 2020 season. Much like the stage play series, the first half focuses on the Spring and Summer troupes, while the second half of the show focuses on the Autumn and Winter troupes. The first half was later delayed until Spring 2020 due to production issues and the COVID19 outbreak. The anime adaptation covers Acts 1-4 of the game's Main Story Part 1.

The series has its own discography as well, consisting of the theme songs for their various plays and Image Songs for all of the characters. This gets expanded with the music from the stage play series, the anime series, and the movie series.

This page is for the tropes common to all media in the franchise and for the plays staged by the fictional MANKAI Company. The page for the character sheet is here. The tropes found in the games are here, while the tropes found in the stage play and movies are here.

Tropes common to the franchise

• The Ace:
  • Masumi, who at the start is Spring Troupe's best actor. He is a fast-learner, but needs practice. And then there's Banri, who doesn't need practice. But because he's an Instant Expert, he's highly unmotivated to do things, which limits his growth and leads him to become a rebellious teenager.
  • Tsumugi and Tasuku. Because the Winter Troupe has two members with years of stage experience and its members overall consist entirely of mature adults, they are able to work out the kinks in their acting much faster than the other groups.
  • The Winter Troupe in general, at least when compared to the previous troupes who had troubles with acting. Mostly because The Winter Troupe has two members with stage experience, as opposed to none (Spring), one with another type of acting experience (Summer), and one with amateur level of experience (Autumn), and also overall higher maturity of the group. Even Azuma, Hisoka, and Homare, who had no experience of acting before, are able to adapt and learn faster than the previous troupes.
• Adaptation Distillation: Due to both the first and second season of the anime having only 12 episodes total, several scenes didn't get adapted into the anime proper. Some examples include Izumi telling Masumi's high school classmates that she scouted Masumi for his talent rather than appearances as they accused her of doing. The Unopening Door Mystery for both Azuma and Hisoka also didn't make it to the anime.
• All There in the Manual: The magazines contain a good chunk of in-depth information of the story and characters, and even short stories. The game sometimes makes a reference to them. An example is Azuma's Glitter backstage, which refers to the sledding short story found in Girl's Berry 2017 magazine.
• Animal Motifs:
  • Taichi is frequently likened to a puppy due to his energetic nature, his desire for affection, and his tendency to follow members that he admires. Azuma even calls him a puppy.
  • Omi and wolves. His old gang was known as "The Wolves", with his nickname being the "Crazy Wolf". For STRANGER ON THE WAY TO PARADISE, he asks for the main character's name in STRANGER ON THE WAY TO PARADISE to be changed to Wolf in honor of his former gang.
• Arc Words: "The Show Must Go On!"
• Archnemesis: The GOD Troupe is this for the MANKAI COMPANY.
• Arranged Marriage: In The Luminous Circus, Homare said that his grandfather Sakae had this, but Sakae was in love with Miyako, so much that he ended up marrying her instead of going through the arranged marriage.
• The Atoner:
  • Chikage almost ran from the troupe after he realized shame of his actions and his subpar performance during rehearsals, but the encouragement from Sakuya convinced him to stay.
  • Taichi still feels guilt from almost destroying the Autumn Troupe's first performance, which leads to his overexertion during "Fiery Mantou Fist!".
• The Baby of the Bunch: Summer Troupe's members are younger than the other troupes', with the group having an average age of 16.
  • In Year 2, 14-year old Azami becomes this to the rest of Autumn Troupe; the second-youngest member of the group is Taichi, who is in his last year of high school.
• Bad "Bad Acting": A few of the characters who have MANKAI COMPANY as their first acting experience (such as Sakuya, Muku, Juza) start out as daikon actors.
• Be Yourself: The crux of Tsumugi's Character Development is tied to his self-esteem which is marred by his constant self-comparisons to Tasuku. Tsumugi once was confident in his own skills as an actor, but after a harsh rejection by Reni, Tsumugi gauged his lack of success by harmful comparisons with Tasuku's career. Tsumugi envied Tasuku's strong stage presence, but only learns to carry on his own strength after his failed attempt at mimicking Tasuku's acting style and Tasuku's admittance that he always envied Tsumugi's subtle style.
• Because You Were Nice to Me: Why Taichi couldn't bring himself to follow through in his role as The Mole. Kamikizaka, Haruto, and many of the other members of God Troupe treat him dismissively at best, more like a hanger-on than a talented actor. Meanwhile, despite the early friction within the Autumn Troupe, Izumi and the rest of MANKAI Company welcome him as a valued member and encourage him to grow, leading him quickly into a crisis of conscience.
• Beware the Quiet Ones: Hisoka is a Sleepy Head who doesn't speak a lot, but is extremely fast and powerful when he is up. Later stories reveals that he used to be a spy.
• Bland-Name Product: Kazu often uses Instablam.
  • In The Stranger event SSR card, Omi holds a Canno camera.
  • In High Spirits at the Hot Spring event SSR, Banri wears Galvin Klein.
  • In the JP version and the anime, everyone sends messages via LIME.
  • Banri walks past WcDonald's in the anime.
• Big Brother Instinct:
  • Omi and Tsumugi tend to look after the younger members of the troupe. Omi even tried to cover for Taichi when it was revealed that he was a spy from GOD Troupe.
  • Juza takes care of his younger cousin Muku, and by extension, the Summer Troupe. His younger brother Kumon gets added to Summer Troupe.
• Big Brother Worship: Sakoda to his aniki Sakyo, so much that he follows him around almost everywhere, even in the troupe. Taichi looks up to Sakyo and even calls him "Sakyo-nii" (big brother).
  • In "AUTUMN 2020", Ryo becomes somewhat of a second Sakoda towards Omi.
  • Kumon is loud and proud when it comes to his love for Juza. He even created a Juza fan club (with five members) during Juza's first performance in the lead role. In MANKAI STAGE, Kumon has at least two songs which showcase his love for his older brother.
• Bitch in Sheep's Clothing: Itaru, who zigzags between living up to the Princely Young Man image he projects and being among the ruder members of the MANKAI COMPANY. Chikage, who is generally friendly towards everyone but is outright ruthless towards the director and Hisoka. Both are co-workers and part of the Spring Troupe.
• Break the Cutie: Either as part of their backstories or their main storylines, pretty much everybody in the Mankai cast undergoes this.
• Break the Haughty: The first Autumn Troupe story is about Banri realizing that he can't skate by on his natural talent, and that Juza will ultimately surpass him not just in theater, but in character as someone who's willing to work through his shortcomings.
• Brilliant, but Lazy:
  • Banri, who picks skills up on the first try and knows how to adapt to any situation, but is arrogant and lacks motivation. Sakyo believes that if he puts his mind to it and does things seriously, then Banri would be unbeatable.
  • Hisoka is an extremely skilled actor, but is prone to sleeping and is often only motivated by marshmallows.
• Broken Ace:
  • Compared to the previous troupes, whose main stories revolved around the characters' struggles with acting, Winter Troupe's conflict arises more from their personal hangups. Due to everyone being adults with overall Darker and Edgier Dark and Troubled Past, most of them respect each other's boundaries and try to not pry too much. It causes most of their more personal conflicts harder to be resolved.
  • Kumon is actually very skilled at sports. But because he gets really tense and this evolves into fevers, he doesn't have any opportunities to show this and it lowers his self-esteem.
• Bunny-Ears Lawyer: Misumi, though ditzy and slow-witted, is an acting genius as well as one of the quickest and most nimble members of the whole MANKAI COMPANY.
• Casanova Wannabe: Downplayed. Taichi joined MANKAI COMPANY because he wants to be popular with girls. Even after The Reveal that he is a spy, it's still his primary motivation for acting. But he is never disrespectful and pushy.
  • This is brought up again in Troupe LIVE～AUTUMN 2021～, where he is dismayed at attracting a male fanbase (thanks to his role as Zero) and wants to gain female fans.
• Call-Back: Some things in events are mentioned and often become the Chekhov's Gun in the main scenario starting from Act 5, such as the mention of Masumi's grandmother.
• Cast Full of Pretty Boys: The majority of the main cast are Bishounen.
• Cast Herd: All of the troupes have their own interpersonal politics going on, and plenty of group members knew each other beforehand. Also, for each group, they have 3 ensemble members, bringing the herd to a total of 8 each. Now 9 with the addition of Chikage, Kumon, Azami and Guy respectively in Part 2 of the main story.
• Characterization Marches On: The events all take place after Part 1 ends and there is a lot of Character Development involved in them. Part 2 of the main story also had the cast retain the Character Development they had in the events.
• Chekhov's Gag:
  • In Act 1, in order to get Itaru to stay in the Spring Troupe, Sakuya, Masumi, Tsuzuru and Citron devised an improvised play of a family with Sakuya, Masumi and Tsuzuru as the children, Itaru as the father, and Citron as the mother. In act 5, after accidentally making Chikage mad by adding much more spice than necessary on his food, they bring this act back as a form of apology... with Chikage as the grandpa to Sakuya, Masumi and Tsuzuru's role, father to Itaru, and Father-in-law to Citron.
  • Early in Act 7, the Autumn Troupe had to perform to a group of kindergarten students at Taichi's request because the original group that is supposed to perform are unable to make it in time and the troupe accepts... while wearing animal costumes throughout the performance. When Azami is kidnapped by a vengeful high school student with a grown ego because his father is in the Yakuza hours before the final performance, the rest of the Autumn troupe rescues him... using the head of the animal costumes to cover their faces.
• Chekhov's Gun:
  • The Seven Mysteries. One ends up being Misumi, and three of them play a role in keeping the Winter Troupe together in the main scenario.
  • In "Tales Of Chivalry: Ginji The Wanderer", Sakyo originally had some money saved up to get a house for his mother, stepfather, and stepsister but saved it up for Mankai Company to use since his mother decided to not buy the house. In Act 8, Those savings are used to get both the spring troupe and winter troupe a group flight to Zahra to get Citron back.
• Chekhov's Gunman:
  • Masumi's grandmother was mentioned off-hand in the Midsummer Sparkle Memory event. She makes an appearance in Act 5.
  • At the end of Act 4, Hisoka received a fan letter that is signed by a person named April. April is later revealed to be Chikage, the eventual sixth member of the Spring Troupe. It's his code name in the agency Hisoka used to be a part of.
  • Near the end of Act 3, Juza mentions he has a little brother. Said brother would become the sixth member of the Summer Troupe in Part 2.
  • Sakyo mentions his boss has a son during the events of the Autumn Troupe's third play. Said son would start hiding out at MANKAI Company during act 6 before becoming the Autumn Troupe's sixth member.
• Childhood Friends:
  • Tsumugi and Tasuku. Tsumugi giving up on acting put their friendship to an end until Tasuku joined the MANKAI COMPANY, where they had a chance to fix it.
  • Sakyo and the director hung out in the past when Sakyo was still hanging out with the MANKAI COMPANY. The director doesn't remember, while Sakyo only recognizes her after she's introduced as Tachibana Yukio's daughter.
  • There's Tsuzuru and Mizuno.
  • Also Taichi and his neighbor who was his First Love, none other than Yuki. Even though the both of them don't recognize each other. They eventually find out on different occasions: Taichi during Fiery Mantou Fist and Yuki during The Last Runway, but it doesn't really change their relationship.
• Cleavage Window: Citron's regular outfit; Tenma's Water Me! costume (which is later worn by Banri for Four Seasons LIVE 2020).
• Closet Geek: Itaru starts out as one, but stops hiding it after the Spring Troupe members find out about it. However, he still keeps it secret from his co-workers, which is why Chikage was surprised when he first found out.
• Color-Coded Characters: Each troupe has its own representative color (pink for Spring, yellow for Summer, orange for Autumn, and light blue for Winter). Each individual character also has their own image color, though it's only noticeable in promotional material and in anniversary card costumes.
• Continuity Snarl: The series has a lot of contents and multiple writers, and thus inevitably suffers from this.
  • The game has hinted the existence Citron's and Kazunari's manzai team Amakyan, which is only introduced in the stage version of the series, implying that the stage and the game are one Shared Universe. However, this leads to numerous snarls related to Homare's physical prowess.
    • Whenever Homare recites a poem in the stage version, he dances, twirls, and strikes poses effortlessly. Meanwhile, Sunny Blanc has Hisoka saying that he is being a "right angle" during stretches. Granted, it may be a case of Unreliable Narrator considering how the two get along daily, but still. Even then, it is still a snarl against the game itself: Homare is capable of striking a pose while figure skating on Kiss&Cry in the Holy Night. In addition, according to Elegant Vacation minichat, Homare is capable of artistic swimming! It really makes you wonder if this comes from a case of Depending on the Writer.
    • Hisoka's [Mankai Feature] backstage has a more blatant example due to the timing. Previously in the King of Gang Homare backstage, Homare displays physical prowess by mastering action scenes in a short time under Banri's and Juza's tutelage. Next we have a blog picture of Homare ice skating, and Tsuzuru even notes that Homare is skating with great grace. In-between the display of athleticism, Hisoka's backstage has Homare struggling to balance himself on the roof and getting accused of having muscle degeneration. Oh, and back in Dance with Butterfly, Homare can even dodge balls thrown at him while crossing a balance beam... And he has no problem balancing on a skateboard.
    • In Tasuku's [Banquet of Blooming] backstage, Homare expresses his interest in swordfight scenes in acting and at the same time his unwillingness to practice because of Yuzo's spartan coaching. However, in one of the Act 2 Spring 2022 etudes, Homare eagerly borrows several shinai from Yuzo and drags Tsumugi and Azuma into doing some swordfight practice with him. Notably, in Homare's Last Planet minichats, Homare has no problem learning swordfighting and is instead eager to do so because Varg carries a sword everywhere, even if Varg has no actual swordfight scenes in the play. He asks Sakyo to teach him, and Sakyo himself is a strict coach. In Nomadic Bartender, Homare even asks Yuzo to give him acting tips!
    • Another snarl comes from the Leader Conference 2.5 audio drama rather than the stage version. Tsumugi says Winter Troupe lacks physical strength. While he does not specify who and only proceeds to note how strong Guy is despite his age, it contradicts the fact that Homare catches a thief with a hug in hAve A greAt trip, which happens because said thief cannot escape simply because his hug is too strong. Before that, in Homare's [The ABC of A Man Who Can] backstage, Izumi is exhausted by a waltz session and even astounded by how much physical strength it actually takes, while Homare does not appear to be tired and is instead eager for more session. Depending on how you interpret the snarls, that Homare manages to carry Muku on his back through a blizzard in Special Edition: Snowfall Street is either another snarl or a case of Characterization Marches On or Character Development.
  • The timeline of backstage is often questioned because major event stories have made references to them every now and then, such as Homare's dancing lesson in his [Mankai Birthday] backstage is mentioned in The Floral Prince. However, this causes yet another snarl on Homare's story. In Homare's [A Tent of Dreams and Light], Homare is on the park looking for inspiration and Azami even wonders how can one still think in such summer heat. And then during Of Unfading Memories, Homare wishes to avoid going out in summer again. The hilarious part? Azami remains consistent with his complaints regarding the summer heat.
    • Considering Homare has once criticized Hisoka for not getting enough sunlight in Hisoka's [Superb ☆ Winter Fruit] backstage and telling Yuki that artists should get out there to gain inspiration in Yuki's [Sewing Chronicle] backstage... Is Homare a Hypocrite or is it just another Continuity Snarl?
    • On top of that, magazine contents are sometimes referred in the story and only add to the snarlfest. The A3! 2nd Anniversary Book: Sunshine (Blooming Special Interview) has made it clear that Homare prefers outdoor over indoor dates.
• Crazy Jealous Guy: Masumi towards other guys that the director interacts with, which sometimes happens as a Funny Background Event.
• Crosscast Role: Female characters in the plays (such as Scheherazade, Francoise, and Zero) are played by male actors.
  • Taichi, in particular, has his own arc where he's worrying about how to play a convincing female role. Not that he needed to know much, though, as Zero was far from feminine.
• Curtains Match the Windows: Sakuya and Tsumugi.
• Cutting Corners: Thanks to Sakyo, the MANKAI COMPANY needs to live a very frugal lifestyle to save on money, even after clearing the debt. The slogan he comes up for this is "Simplicity, Frugality, Temperance Lifestyle."
• Darker and Edgier:
  • Autumn Troupe plays are all about the action, such as the mafia, yakuza, an apocalyptic world setting, zombies, the list goes on.
  • Winter Troupe plays are tragic and dramatic, and usually end with a Downer Ending.
  • A CLOCKWORK HEART is this to the Spring Troupe, with their previous plays being "Romeo and Julius and Alice in Wonderland'.
• Deadpan Snarker: Itaru and Yuki.
• Defector from Decadence: Tasuku left GOD Troupe because he couldn't tolerate their attempt of sabotaging MANKAI COMPANY, and ended up joining MANKAI because GOD Troupe pressured other theater companies in the town.
• Designated Parents:
  • The Spring Troupe sticks with Itaru as the father and Citron as the mother, based on their small skit to convince Itaru into staying with the MANKAI COMPANY.
  • The Autumn Troupe has Team Mom Omi and Team Dad Sakyo, with both of them also extending the role towards the whole MANKAI COMPANY. There's Omi cooking for and taking care of the members and Sakyo managing the company and its finances).
    • In AUTUMN 2022, everyone notices that Azami is cordial with everyone but only lashes out at the two of them. Omi and Sakyo lament about how he's in his rebellious phase. Azami later admits he views Sakyo as a father figure and feels like Omi is a mother because of his caring tendencies.
  • The Winter Troupe has Team Mom Tsumugi and Team Dad Tasuku, with Tsumugi taking a gentler approach towards his handling of Hisoka and Homare.
• Disappeared Dad: Izumi's father is missing for eight years before the start of the story.
• Ditzy Genius: Homare is a man of many talents and can offer sound advice to his troupemates, but his head is in the clouds most of the time.
• Dude Looks Like a Lady: Yuki, who is proud of it and even uses it to his advantage when playing female roles.
• Dysfunction Junction: Most of the Mankai Company cast members aren't even trained actors, but total amateurs who either needed a place to stay or wanted to see if they could discover something about themselves through theater. Whether it's difficult family situations or past traumas and misdeeds, everyone has baggage to work through.
• Early-Bird Cameo: Several characters who are part of other troupes appear before they are officially introduced to be joining as part of a troupe in the main scenario. Mostly concerning characters who are part of the troupe after the Spring troupe.
  • All sixth members of the troupes also appeared in events before officially joining during the events of Part 2.
• Earn Your Happy Ending: MANKAI COMPANY wins the act-off against the GOD Troupe and is able to pay the debt they owe to the Yakuza. Tsumugi is able to patch up things with Tasuku and was able to prove himself in front of Reni.
• Eccentric Artist: Homare. He baffles people with his poems more often than not, and when people don't understand them, he will simply say that they don't understand art.
• Everyone Calls Him "Barkeep": Izumi is always referred to as "Director" by the characters.
• Everyone Has Standards: What drove Tasuku out of the GOD-ZA company is seeing how much Reni wants the Tachibanas out of the picture to the point of sending Taichi with the purpose of sabotaging their performance. Deciding that he's not going to follow someone who is willing to use sabotage against another company, he strikes out.
• Evolving Credits:
  • The title screen changes to the page's image above once you cleared all the main scenarios of act 1.
  • The Anime adaptation switches verses according to the troupe featured. Starting episode 7, Tenma sings the opening verses of the opening theme instead of Sakuya. In the Autumn & Winter season, Banri and Tsumugi sing, respectively.
• Face of a Thug: Juza is a Gentle Giant in personality (unless its towards Banri), but everyone around him is always scared of his rough appearance.
• Face Your Fears:
  • Film actor Sumeragi Tenma joins MANKAI COMPANY in hopes of overcoming his fear of standing on stage due to a traumatic stage play as a child in school. He overcomes it by the end of the first summer arc, with the help of the Summer Troupe.
  • Hyodo Kumon, previously an ace baseball player, joins MANKAI COMPANY (and in the same troupe as Tenma). He would always have a fever before extremely special events, which had him sitting out on an important baseball game and led to him quitting baseball for good. Similarly, he got a fever prior to the first performance of his debut play, but was able to overcome it with the help of the Summer Troupe and his older brother Juza.
• Family of Choice: The Mankai Company to Sakuya. Having lost his parents at a young age and shuffled from one family to another who just handled the necessities of his living and no nurturing, the actors and staff in Mankai Company are the closest thing that he has to an actual family. The company eventually becomes one big family over time in the course of the story to at least some of the troupe members. Azuma comes to find the company as a place to call home after years of living a lonely life after the death of his family. Both Chikage and Hisoka both came to see the company as a home with people to call a family as well.
• Family Theme Naming: Several of them.
  • The Ikaruga family names are shapes: Hakkaku (octagon), Kusumi (nonagon), Misumi (can be read as triangle), Madoka (can be read as circle).
  • The Zahran royal family names are various citrus fruits: Citron, Tangerine, Navel, and Orange.
  • The Arisugawa family names revolve around honor and splendor: Sakae uses the kanji for "glory," Homare uses the kanji for "honor;" both kanji can be combined into 栄誉 (eiyo) which means "honor." Miyako uses the kanji for "capital;" when combined with Sakae's, it becomes 栄都 (Sakae-to) which means "imperial capital."
• Fashionable Asymmetry: Homare's right bang is way longer than his left, which adds to his eccentric nature.
• Fiery Redhead: Tenma, who's arrogant and competitive, and starts arguments within the Summer Troupe. There's also Homare, who's loud, lively, and passionate.
• Flower Motifs: Everything gets a flower motif in this story. Each actor has a flower linked to them (for example, Sakuya is linked to the Japanese cherry blossoms), but places also get floral theme naming (e.g. Hanasaki and Ouka (bulb) High School, St. Flora, etc.).
  • The director's last name, Tachibana, contains the kanji for flower.
  • Also, the most prestigious award for plays, which is the company's next goal after paying off the debt, is named Fleur Award. Fleur means flower.
  • Mankai itself means full bloom.
• Food as Bribe: Give Hisoka some marshmallows, and he'll get his job done ASAP. In the past, August got Hisoka to join the organization with gingerbread.
• Forgotten First Meeting: Later chapters in the main scenario reveals that Sakyo, the Yakuza whom the acting company was indebted to earlier had met Izumi before as a child, but Izumi doesn't recognize him.
• Forgotten Childhood Friend: Taichi and Yuki don't recognize each other as teenagers.
• Former Delinquent: Omi used to be involved with gangs until he decided to reform when his best friend Nachi died.
• Friendless Background: A few of the MANKAI COMPANY members prior to joining the troupe, such as Masumi, Tenma (both Lonely Rich Kids), Banri and Juza (both delinquents).
• Funny Foreigner: Citron. Oddly enough, when it comes to gaming terms, he gets surprisingly fluent.
• Furo Scene: Taichi suggests that Autumn Troupe take a bath together after Banri comes back after leaving the troupe, as a way of making the troupe "an open relationship". As everyone in Autumn Troupe (except for Taichi) is giant, the bathtub gets cramped pretty quickly.
• The Gadfly: Azuma gets a kick out of teasing the other members of MANKAI COMPANY, even Sakyo.
• Gentle Giant: Team Mom Omi, who's the tallest in the company and a Former Delinquent. There's also Face of a Thug Juza.
• Gentleman and a Scholar: Homare is intelligent and one of, if not the most gentlemanly member of MANKAI COMPANY. It is only that his gentlemanly nature is often buried underneath a hefty dose of Cloudcuckoolander.
• "Groundhog Day" Loop: The Torment Doll caused Tsumugi and Tasuku constantly to rewind the 12th, the day before the decision whether they accept Reni's challenge or not. Misumi was caught in the loop as well, losing his triangles each time a new day started, and pleaded the two to reconcile so that they could get out of the loop.
• Hates Being Alone: Azuma's family died in an accident when he was young, which is what prompted him to take a counselor-like job so he won't feel alone. He experienced discomfort and nightmares upon joining MANKAI COMPANY, as the only member of the Winter Troupe with a single room. But after being reassured that he has the Winter Troupe and the MANKAI COMPANY that will never leave him, he comes to stay in the company. He finds the company's boisterous nature endearing, as it assures him that there is someone by his side.
• Hello, [Insert Name Here]: The last name Tachibana is fixed. The heroine's default name is Izumi, but like many mobile games, you can name her however you please. This name is not mentioned in the stage plays, but is used in the anime.
• Homoerotic Subtext: Tsumugi and Tasuku have a lot of it.
  • In the title screen after clearing the first part of the main story, whereas everybody looks at the audience/camera, Tsumugi and Tasuku don't. They are looking at each other while holding hands at the back.
  • In the play Sympathy for the Angel, where Tsumugi and Tasuku are Michael and Raphael respectively, Michael pulls off a Heroic Sacrifice for the woman he loves. Michael dies, and Raphael cradles his body and mourns.
  Raphael: "Now I've lost not only my love, but my dearest friend."
  • Tsumugi [Sympathy for the Angel]: Tasuku admitted that he was caught off-guard when Kazu and Izumi announced that they think Tsumugi has a high-schooler for a girlfriend, so he decided to keep Tsumugi's job as a Private Tutor secret from everybody to cause a bit of a fuss instead of clearing things up. His reason? Because he was afraid this "girlfriend" would take away time Tsumugi would otherwise have for acting with Tasuku, and wanted to get back at Tsumugi for the surprise.
  • When Tsumugi tells Tasuku that he's getting married as an April Fool's joke, Tasuku goes into a state of shock and disbelief rather than anything congratulatory.
  • Tsumugi [Sunny Garden]: When Tsumugi fell sick, Tasuku gave Tsumugi a Bridal Carry and said that he's used to it.
  • Homare [Poetic Afternoon]: Kazu asks if Tsumugi and Tasuku are Winter Troupe's mom and dad. Neither Tsumugi nor Tasuku refutes it; instead, Tasuku just goes on to say that he doesn't recall having a son like Homare.
  • Masumi's birthday line for Tsumugi. He doesn't even say happy birthday, he just immediately says that Tsumugi has Tasuku, while he only has Izumi.
  • In Tsumugi's [Mankai Encore] backstage, Tsumugi and Tasuku are trapped in the island because the low tide is over, covering the entire Angel Road in water. They try to walk back despite the high tide, but Tsumugi slips, so Tasuku tells Tsumugi to hold onto him. Angel Road is a popular spot for couples in real life.
  • Act 9 has Azuma saying that both Tsumugi and Tasuku seem to have an intense unrequited love and that they are cute when they show it. Azuma means acting but it takes some time for Tsumugi to figure it out.
  • In the anime, Tsumugi ran off after changing up his acting style and hurting their show quality. Tasuku tried to find him so that they could talk, but Tsumugi wasn't in the dorm. Tasuku picked up an umbrella and went out to find him in the snowy night. When he finally found Tsumugi, who was partially covered in snow, he held the umbrella over his head and began saying about how much he loved his acting, something Tasuku wanted but never managed to say after Tsumugi failed the God Troupe audition.
• I Just Want to Be Special:
  • Juza wants to be more than just a delinquent. He wants to change himself and the stigma of the Face of a Thug image that follows him.
  • Taichi wants to be more popular and noticed by others. Reni exploits this by promising to add him to the main cast of GOD Troupe's next play if he successfully sabotages MANKAI COMPANY's next play.
• I Know A Guy: Azuma has a lot of connections and gets a lot of gifts and favors due to his job as a professional cuddler.
• Informed Attribute: In a company of around 20 men, Tsuzuru is so ordinary that Yuki gives him the nickname Villager C. Tsumugi is also considered plain in appearance and personality. But both of them are no less attractive than any other member, and have amazing stage presence during the plays within a play.
• In-Universe Nickname: A lot, thanks to resident nicknamers Yuki and Kazunari. Most of them are Affectionate Nicknames, though, as opposed to Yuki's meaner ones.
• Jack of All Trades:
  • There's Banri who easily can do anything, and Tsumugi who can take on any role. When Chikage goes missing, Tsumugi (and Tasuku) is immediately considered as an understudy. When presented with the issue that Kumon might not make it for his debut play, Banri offers himself to be on standby.
  • Kazunari is skilled not just at his major, traditional Japanese painting, but also at sketching and graphic design. This becomes a problem for him later on as he wonders if these are truly things that he wants to do because he can't keep focus on one field at a time. He ends up doing them all.
• Jerkass Has a Point: Sakyo's desire to enforce the rules, cut corners on budget, and keep the order of MANKAI COMPANY puts him in conflict with the others more often than not. But it's all for the company's best interests, as it couldn't even stay afloat when Matsukawa was the one managing everything.
• Jerk with a Heart of Gold: Lots: Itaru, Yuki, Banri, Sakyo, Tasuku, Hisoka...
• Keet: Kazunari and Taichi.
• Kindhearted Cat Lover: The Summer Troupe, especially Misumi and Tenma, are fond of cats. There's also Hisoka.
• Lack of Empathy: An issue present in the first few Winter Troupe stories. Homare's trouble with empathy is never portrayed in a negative light, but it is presented as a hurdle in his interpersonal relationships that he has to recognize and confront. More importantly, he has to realize that even with his difficulties, he's a person who's fully deserving of love.
• Large Ham: Homare loves making up poems and reciting them as dramatically as possible.
• Last-Name Basis:
  • Sakyo and Tasuku call the members by their last names, in contrast to almost everyone else who calls each other by first names or nicknames.
  • Everyone calls Sakoda by his last name, and he does too, with the exception of Sakoda (aniki) and Azami (first name with each other). Notably, he calls Omi something around the lines of "Master Fushimi".
  • Mizuno Kaya is always referred with his last name Mizuno, even by his Childhood Friend Tsuzuru.
• Legacy Character: The current director's father, Yukio, was the former director of the MANKAI COMPANY. She invokes this when attempting to get Sakyo to back off on seizing the theatre.
• Long-Haired Pretty Boy:
  • It isn't really visible in front view, but Citron's hair is in a low ponytail.
  • Azuma has long hair also in a low ponytail, which he contemplates cutting during Nocturnality.
• Loon with a Heart of Gold: As eccentric as Homare is, despite his tendency to be Innocently Insensitive, he is overall a Nice Guy. Even at the very start, he volunteers to take care of Hisoka.
• Lovable Coward: Tenma and Muku are easily terrified of the occult. Tenma is even afraid of fireworks; but this doesn't stop the Summer Troupe from doing it together every year.
• Lovable Jock: Tasuku is good at sports, loves working out, and is friendly to others (though sometimes he may come off as a bit of a jerk).
  • There's also Muku, who used to be in the track team, and Kumon who used to be a baseball player. Both are as bright as sunshine.
• Love Confession: Masumi does this on the daily towards the director, to the point that everyone in the company views it as normal behavior.
• Maybe Magic, Maybe Mundane: The Seven Mysteries of MANKAI COMPANY definitely exist, but even the Winter Troupe, who's experienced a few of them aren't really sure what exactly happened.
• Mellow Fellow: Tsumugi and Azuma. But while Tsumugi gets fired up whenever it's related to acting, Azuma is very relaxed and hardly loses his cool.
• The Mole: Taichi was originally an actor who worked for the God Troupe. Reni, the God Troupe's director, had a vendetta against Izumi's father and hired Taichi to sabotage the Autumn Troupe's play by joining as one of their members. But in the end, Taichi couldn't bring himself to destroy the company as he had grown to like the members.
  • There's Mogi in Like a lead Bullet, though he only did it because he believed it would be the best for the current Tatsuta group. This is Lampshaded by Taichi's stage actor in a series of Instagram posts captioned "betrayal bastards".
  • Later on, Tasuku is suspected to be this after he's seen taking to Haruto on the street, but he's not.
• Motor Mouth: Muku, when he gets into his self-deprecating mode, and Kazunari, who talks a whole lot. And then there's Kumon. That's half of the Summer Troupe.
• My Greatest Second Chance: Tsumugi gave up on acting in the past after getting rejected in the GOD Troupe audition, but joining the MANKAI COMPANY gave him another shot at pursuing acting and reconciliation with his estranged childhood friend.
• My Nayme Is: Fallen Blood has Luecke.
• Nice Job Fixing It, Villain: Reni, the director of the God Troupe, attempted several times in Act 1 to sabotage the Mankai Company's revival, which all failed and ended up ultimately benefiting the company:
  • His plan to sabotage the Autumn Troupe's debut play by sending in Taichi, a two-bit actor from the God Troupe, to be The Mole backfired massively when Taichi grew to genuinely like working for the Mankai Company and switch allegiances to them and Tasuku, the God Troupe's biggest star, left the God Troupe in disgust after learning about Reni's plan and ended up working for the Mankai Company too due to it being the only local acting company that was willing to take him after the God Troupe got him blacklisted everywhere else. Basically, Reni's scheme to destroy the Autumn Troupe only caused his God Troupe to lose two of its best actors to the Mankai Company.
  • His act-off challenge to the Winter Troupe. To get the Winter Troupe to agree to the challenge's (clearly unfair) terms that the Mankai Company must disband if they lose the act-off against the God Troupe, he promised to give the Mankai Company all the revenue from the God Troupe's last show if they won instead. Thing is, if Reni had just stayed put and done nothing, the Mankai Company would almost certainly have been forced to disband at the end of the year no matter how well the Winter Troupe's play performed due to the company having a nigh-impossible-to-pay-off ten-million yen debt. His challenge essentially handed them a golden opportunity to get all that debt paid off in one fell swoop and avoid disbanding.
• Not Allowed to Grow Up: Surprisingly Averted. Part 2 of the Main Story had some of the cast in their last year of high school graduate, within it mentioned that Banri and Juza are university students.
• Only Sane Man: Bound to be at least one in each troupe. There's Tsuzuru (and later Chikage) for the Spring Troupe, Yuki and Tenma for the Summer Troupe.
• One Degree of Separation: A whole lot of this trope.
  • Sakuya, Masumi and Banri go to Hanasaki Academy, which explains how Sakuya knew Masumi once they entered the company.
  • Juza, Tenma, and Taichi go to Ouka High School. During the Autumn Troupe audition, Tenma notes that Taichi is familiar, which Taichi attributes to being from the same school. But they actually met in a shoot, which Tenma doesn't remember clearly. Taichi is also frightened upon recognizing Juza as the top delinquent of his high school.
  • Muku, Yuki, and Miki go to St. Flora Middle School, where at first, Yuki doesn't want Muku associating with him, but over the course of the first play, they become close friends. Homare is also an alumnus to St. Flora Academy.
  • Tsuzuru and Omi attend Yosei University along with ensemble cast members Takuya, Arata, and Kengo. Juza joins them in year 2. Tsuzuru is acquaintances with Kazunari who is from Veludo Arts University, which Banri later attends.
  • Juza and Kumon are cousins with Muku, who was the reason why Juza auditioned for MANKAI COMPANY.
• Phoneaholic Teenager: Among the members of MANKAI COMPANY, Kazunari is the most avid Instablam and LIME user.
• Punny Name: The kanji for Misumi's name can be read as "sankaku," the Japanese for "triangle." His brother Madoka can be read as "round" or "circle."
  • The kanji for Veludo of Veludo Way is read as Biroudo. Veludo Way sounds like Broadway.
  • "Tsuzuru" means to spell or write, and considering that he's a playwright...
• Princely Young Man:
  • There's Itaru who acts like one, and Muku, who idolizes him because he wants to become one himself.
  • Tasuku, during his time with GOD Troupe, used to get type-casted into these roles.
• Proud Beauty:
  • Itaru, whose shared Character Song with Citron even has him say himself that he is a handsome man. In Troupe LIVE～SPRING 2021～, Matsukawa says he'd never get the self-confidence to call himself an ikemen like Itaru would do.
  • Yuki, who is very confident in his looks and doesn't deny compliments when given.
• Ragtag Bunch of Misfits: As of part 2 of the main story, the main cast in Mankai company includes some normal students, a Yakuza member and his boss' son, a runaway prince, some former delinquents, and ex-spy agents amongst them.
  • The entire Spring Troupe cast deserves special mention for being hastily cobbled together in less than a day with the first people Izumi could find on the street who were willing to join the company for free board. Unlike the other troupes which all have at least one member who was already experienced in acting before joining, none of the Spring members had any real acting experience starting out and had to work the hardest out of all the troupes at getting their acting skills up to par.
• Real Men Wear Pink:
  • Yuki is good at sewing and likes wearing girly clothes.
  • In contrast to their Rated M for Manly plays, the Autumn Troupe also has the largest amount of members who enjoy traditionally feminine hobbies and traits. Banri has long hair and is The Fashionista. Juza loves sweets too much. Taichi helps Yuki with sewing costumes for the troupe. Omi is by far the best cook in the company. Sakyo reads Shoujo manga in his free time. Azami is a passionate makeup artist.
• Reasonable Authority Figure: Despite everyone being afraid of him or talking about him behind his back, the members still respect Sakyo and follow his methods to keep MANKAI COMPANY up and running.
• Recruited from the Gutter: Twice for Hisoka. He was an amnesiac man who slept in front of MANKAI dorm, then invited to join the MANKAI COMPANY. He also used to be a lonely guy struggling to survive on his own on the street. Then August stumbled upon him and invited him to the organization.
• Ripple-Effect-Proof Memory: Tsumugi, Tasuku, and Misumi retain their memories of the time loops caused by the Torment Doll.
• Rule of Three: In the game's title. There are three words, all starting with A and shortened as A3. Act! Addict! Actors! is three words, and A3! itself has the number 3 in it. MANKAI STAGE A3! also has three words.
  • Misumi, who loves triangles. It's revealed that his grandfather told him that life's greatest treasures would come in a set of three. For Misumi, his special triangle is drawn with: his friends, acting, and triangles.
• The Seven Mysteries: Matsukawa has revealed four of Mankai's Seven Mysteries, one of which ended up being a future member of Summer Troupe and the other three appear in the Winter Troupe's main scenario.
  • A mysterious voice can be heard from room 203 of the Mankai dorms when no one's in it. It turns out Misumi has been living in room 203 for weeks.
  • The Torment Doll is said to appear before two people who fell out and subjects them to eternal torment until they fix their relationship. Tsumugi finds the doll, and for three chapters of the Winter story, Tsumugi, Tasuku, and Misumi are trapped in a time-loop until Tsumugi and Tasuku reconcile. In Act 3 of the main story, it was revealed that Reni and Yukio were once trapped in the loop.
  • The Unopening Door is a... door that won't open. This mystery shows up twice in the Winter story. The first time, Azuma and Izumi get trapped inside together. The second time, Hisoka gets trapped inside alone, and Izumi ends up also getting locked in when she goes searching for him. The director covers up Chikage's kidnapping of her by saying they got trapped in the room with the Unopening Door.
  • The Loupe^note A small magnifier used especially by jewelers and watchmakers of Sincerity allows the user to see exactly what others are thinking. Homare finds the Loupe and uses it to patch things up with the troupe after his mistake.
• Sensitive Guy and Manly Man: Tsumugi is the Sensitive Guy to Tasuku's Manly Man.
• Shrinking Violet: Muku. Overcoming this side of him to be able to play his role on stage is what spurs Juza on to try auditioning for the Autumn Troupe.
• Show Within a Show: Knights Of Round, which served as the basis of the Spring Troupe's 5th play, is an in-universe serial video game. With it getting to MANKAI STAGE, it is a 2.5D adaptation of a 2.5D adaptation of a video game within a video game.
  • And there's a couple of the games that Itaru played such as Brawo and Ultimate Weapon 4.
• Sleepy Head:
  • Hisoka, who sleeps anywhere and anytime, even in the middle of plays.
  • Masumi, who is a heavy sleeper, can't be talked to straight in the morning as he either sleeps through the conversation or in the middle of it.
• Stalker with a Crush: Masumi, big time. Though in a downplayed case, he isn't much of a stalker to start with, just very attracted to the player.
• Stepford Smiler: Several, such as Sakuya, Kazunari, and Azuma.
• Stepford Snarker: Yuki's sharp-tongued personality is largely a defense mechanism against people who used to make fun of him for his interests.
• The Stoic: Tasuku, especially towards acting, which is often commented upon by the other members.
• Sweet Tooth:
  • Muku and Juza, the latter big time. In MANKAI MOVIE「A3!」～AUTUMN & WINTER～'s opening sequence, Juza is adding a mountain of frosting to Omi's scones.
  • Hisoka, who eats marshmallows regularly.
• Technician Versus Performer: Happens between Banri and Juza. Banri has a natural gift for acting but is initially indifferent to it and half-asses his practices because he's so used to coasting by on his talent alone, whereas Juza starts out with virtually no acting ability but is incredibly passionate about acting and works hard to improve his skills. When Banri realizes that Juza's hard work and dedication to the craft is causing him to improve faster than him, it's a wake-up call to him about how raw talent alone isn't good enough on its own.
• Theme Naming: The characters are divided into four groups each with five members (six after Part 2 of the Main story). All named after the four seasons and the characters too correspond with the flower leitmotifs they have.
• Thinks Like a Romance Novel: Muku, who often says similar things to "this happened in one of the manga I read!"
• Trademark Favorite Food: Each character has it, but notable Hisoka loves marshmallows, and this is often exploited to make him act and practice, among other things.
• Tragic Dream: Not his, but Omi wishes to honor the dream of Nachi and Nachi's parents. Nachi died before he could become an actor and his parents wished they could have seen his acting before his untimely passing.
• Tsundere: Tenma.
• Verbal Tic:
  • Itaru speaks in gamer slang, such as "kitakore" and "otsuotsu". Citron, while not as often as Itaru, also tends to use the same slang. Kazunari speaks in internet and milennial slang.
  • Taichi adds "-ssu" to the end of his sentences and verbs. Tsuzuru also does this, though it's not as evident.
  • Adventure for the Niboshi has the characters talk with the ending "~nya" and have these mixed with regular words.
• Work Off the Debt: The premise of Part 1 starts as Izumi sees how her father's acting company is left in shambles and in so much debt. To keep her father's work and legacy alive, she gathers actors for the four troupes to pay off the debt and return the theater to its former glory. The debt is all paid by the end of part 1, but they still have a long way to go to bring back Mankai theater to its former glory.
• Write What You Know: Tsuzuru's first three scripts for the Spring Troupe all center on the development of an Odd Friendship between two young men, which turns out to be the result of him subconsciously drawing on his memories of his friendship with Mizuno for inspiration.
• Well-Intentioned Extremist: Most of Sakyo's strict rules revolve around not wasting resources (as MANKAI's budget is very tight) and simply trying to keep a semblance of order in a building filled with some rather wacky people.
• Wholesome Crossdresser: Yuki, who likes wearing girls' clothes as he finds these cute.
  • During the second Summer Troupe main story, the Summer Troupe dress up as women to help Kumon get over his nervousness during his audition for MANKAI COMPANY. They later do it again after Kumon comes down with a fever nearing the opening night.
• Yes-Man: Sakoda to Sakyo.
• Yakuza: Sakyo is part of the Ginsenkai family, along with Sakoda and Ichiro. And this is also a theme for the Autumn troupe's third play, "Tales Of Chivalry: Ginji The Wanderer".
  • Azami is the song of the Ginsenkai family head.
• Your Size May Vary: Izumi's height in the anime. In one shot, Izumi may not show a huge height difference with Citron, whose official height is 177 cm. In another shot, Izumi may be a head shorter than Sakuya, whose official height is 167 cm.
  • When it comes to the illustrations, especially the cards, a character's muscle mass and bulk are often inconsistent and not as described in the narrative. R cards are especially prone to this when compared to higher rarity cards. For example, [Emotional Orange] Homare shows a decent amount of muscle mass. Then in his card from King of Gang set, he looks skinny.

Tropes in the plays staged by the MANKAI Company

• Brother–Sister Incest: The Master Likes a Mystery has this based on Shizuma's side story in Azuma's Mankai Feature card. Shizuma is in love with his sister, but it is impossible for them to be together.
• The Casanova: Arikawa from Dance with Butterfly is one. He has been chided for his womanizing habits.
• Deal with the Devil: The play Stray Devil Blues revolves around this. Those who have made a contract with a devil is called a contractor, and to break free from the contract, a contractor must hunt the soul of another contractor.
• Downer Ending:
  • Winter Troupe's plays are particularly fond of this, even in their mixed troupe play.
    • Sympathy for the Angel: Michael died saving the woman he loved and faded away. Raphael mourned as he cradled the fading Michael in his arms.
    • Nocturnality: Despite Kota's pleas, Reo left him behind and returned to his life as a solitary vampire. However, the ending also implies that Kota hadn't given up on Reo yet.
    • Le Fantôme de l'Opéra: Erik disappeared into the flames at the end, leaving Chris behind.
    • Die by the Sword: Musashi thought Kojiro would finally be the one who could beat him in a duel and kill him, but Kojiro lost and died. Musashi resumed his journey as a solitary samurai searching for a place to die.
    • Stray Devil Blues (Winter-Autumn): Mark died protecting the injured Lucifer from Satan's attack. Mark's soul retained God's divine protection, and once again, Lucifer failed to get the soul.
  • Discussed for Spring Troupe's The Clockwork Heartbeat; while Tsuzuru first submitted the script draft, the other members said the ending would suit the other troupes more.
  • There's also the Autumn Troupe's Fallen Blood. Framed as a terrorist, Blood runs away with a major wound, meeting his end alone at a dark alley.
• Gender Flip: Several of Tsuzuru's plays that are adaptations of other plays tend to swap the gender of at least one of the main characters.
  • The Spring Troupe likes to do this.
    • Their first play, Romeo and Julius, is played out much like its inspiration with the major change being the titular duo's unbreakable bond since they're both men.
    • Their second play is a retelling of Alice in Wonderland, but with a boy "Alice" they call Alex.
    • Their fourth play acts as a prologue to The Wizard of Oz, with the four witches becoming wizards.
  • The Winter Troupe's fourth play ''Le Fantôme de l'Opéra'' plays out just the same as its inspiration with the story being a tragic friendship between Chris and the phantom.
    • Carl is the Gender Flip version of Carlotta from the original Phantom.
• MacGuffin Super-Person: The baby in The Luminous Circus revives a dying circus troupe with miracles and is sought for such powers. George chooses to gives them up because it feels wrong to utilize such a thing.
• The Mafia: The Autumn Troupe's debut play, The Roman Episode, has this as a theme, with the leads being family members that don't get along and need to work together to get out of their situation.
• Mood Whiplash: As dark as Stray Devil Blues play is, there is once Mark asks Lucifer to help clean his house.
• Pun-Based Title: Kumon and Juza's duet for the Scarlet Mirror mixed-troupe play is titled "Q to Ju" (Qと銃, lit. "Q and Gun"). "Q" in Japanese is pronounced "kyuu": an alternate pronunciation of the 九 kanji in Kumon's name. "Ju" is pronounced the same as the 十 kanji in Juza's name.
• "Ray of Hope" Ending: The play A Clockwork Heart ends with S having to be deactivated, but Luke is hopeful that someday he can reactivate S again.
  • The ending of Nocturnality implies that although Reo left, Kota hadn't given up on Reo yet.
• Red Hot Masculinity: In Invitation to 0, red is the color of the country Unus, which is a warrior faction and also features the muscular Tasuku and Omi.
  • Red is also a predominant color for Autumn Troupe play posters. Autumn Troupe is The Big Guy in the whole Mankai Company, and their plays feature fights, actions, and badass characters.
• Shout-Out:
  • The first play you obtain performed by the Spring Troupe, Romeo And Julius. Except it's a story of friendship instead of romance.
  • Water Me! is an in-universe Affectionate Parody of the Arabian Nights.
  • The Spring Troupe's 2nd play is based on Alice in Wonderland with Alice Gender Flipped.
  • The Spring Troupe's 4th play is called The Wonderful Charlatan Of Oz but takes place before Dorothy arrives in the land of Oz.
  • Winter Troupe's 4th play is ''Le Fantôme de l'Opéra'', but with Christine and Carlotta Gender Flipped as a man.
  • The 6th Mixed Troupe play is based on Sherlock Holmes.
• Suicide as Comedy: Hotel Compass play features Minami trying to kill himself because he can't get any ideas to write. His suicide attempts include trying to drown himself in a bowl of soup, crushing his head between elevator doors, and crushing himself under a couch.
• Temporarily Exaggerated Trait: Play roles, inside or outside major plays, may sometimes feature this as they always have at least some resemblance to the actors themselves.
  • Spider and Ryuga from Midnight Chinatown and SK∞ the Infinity × A3! respectively are Homare's Challenge Seeker and Thrill Seeker nature taken to Blood Knight levels. Both also prefer fighting a Worthy Opponent.
    • Homare also has a philosophy of "never be afraid of failing tough challenges because there is the experience to be gained," which Ryuga twists into "be proud of the scars left by a Worthy Opponent."
• "Well Done, Son" Guy: Deconstructed. Richard from Le Fantôme de l'Opéra is one in Homare's Mankai Feature card. Richard has always longed for his father's approval since he starts his career as an opera singer. Problem is, his father never once applauds Richard. Richard gets desperate and starts resorting to bribery to rise to the top, but it never works. The breaking point is when his father applauds Erik instead of Richard. Fastforward to the future, in his last moments, a delirious Richard thinks he finally earns approval from his father, but it is actually the sound of fire...
• Woobie, Destroyer of Worlds: Richard in the spin-off in Homare's Mankai Feature card. He is a newcomer to the opera and fails to rise no matter how hard he works. He also longs for his father's approval but never manages to earn it. He resorts to bribery because of his constant failure, which does not work either. He finally has enough and resorts to murder when his father applauds Erik instead of him. In the present time of the play, Richard is still hellbent on getting Erik out of the picture, which leads to him burning down the whole opera house, presumably taking Erik down with him in the end.