Many years ago the Monster Race attacked Earth, only to be stopped by two girls with the power to wield the mysterious power known as Buster Force. Even with many monsters creating a peaceful coexistence with humans following it, this event would be the catalyst for many more villainous powers to rise. The two teamed up with several others able to use the same powers and over time formed the international hero organization, Buster Force.
Today mysterious energies keep cropping up in Delta City, turning normal citizens into Heartless, corrupted beings with dangerous abilities. A special task force is formed out of the local Buster Girls, Ingrid Astra “Buster Red”, Eri Kawaguchi “Buster Blue”, Makoto Maeda “Buster Green”, Raine Albion “Buster Violet” and Monica Ambrose “Buster Yellow”, to combat this new threat and its source, the Blackhearts.
Buster Girls is a web original story heavily based on magical girl- and tokusatsu-stories that incorporates TF/MC-themes. Aside from the mainline set of chapters it also includes several side chapters, both canon and non-canon, to flesh out its world and characters. It’s being written by ChaosbladeEX and can be found on DeviantArt here
or on their Patreon.
This work contains examples of:
- Action Girl: The Buster Force members, obviously.
- A Day in the Limelight: The author has written a high amount of side stories and gaiden chapters that focus on other characters existing in the world of Buster Girls.
- “Gaiden: Villain’s Day Off” focuses entirely on Valentina, as she continues taking over Delta City from the shadows.
- “Gaiden: The Strongest Busters” is about the current top ten strongest ranked Busters coming together for a party.
- “Gaiden: Vermilion” tells the backstory of Vermilion Buster.
- “Gaiden: Angel” focuses on Angel Buster teaming up with other members to fight a Lich Lord.
- “Movie: Eternal Wonderland” is this for Megumi, Aoi, Yuu, Eclair, Irma and Kuroi, who in the first half of the second part have to use the power of the Eternal Blossoms to free the Buster Girls from the villain’s control.
- Anachronic Order: While the mainline content is told chronologically, side chapters can be set at any point in the timeline up to the most recent mainline chapter at its release.
- And Now for Someone Completely Different: Side Stories and Gaiden chapters are prone to shift the focus to various figures that often don't even have anything to do with the ongoing story simply to flesh out the world. There's also the “Buster Duo” chapters, which revolve around the adventures of the original two Buster Girls.
- The Bad Guy Wins: The aptly named “Bad End” chapters are either alternate versions of canon stories or non-canon bonus scenarios of a villain miraculously returning and end with said villains beating the heroines and turning them into their minions.
- Badass Bystander: Beginning with the "Black Ice" arc and the introduction of Buster Gold Akira can use the Buster Spark to temporarily grant non-members their own Buster transformation. Strength and powers are determined by their own respective aptitude to the Buster Force.
- Bad Moon Rising: In Chapter 18 the Heartless Milla D'Arc creates a blood moon to enhance her own vampiric powers.
- Body Horror: “Bad End: Sinnurse” ends with Makoto being surgically turned into a heartless-like creature called Rapture, featuring talons, wings and surgical scars all over.
- Brainwashed and Crazy: The Heartless and everyone they turn into their minions.
- The Casino: In Chapter 26 the Heartless of the Week, Lady Luck, turns with her powers a whole block into the Lady Luck Casino in which the majority of the confrontation happens.
- Character Shill: The effects of Miss Management's Heartless Inc products are demonstrated by Akane and Mika as under its influence they immediately advertise the great Heartless Inc brand to the attentive readers. Heartless Incorporated has the newest and most informative tropes around. With those you can trope all day!
- Color-Coded Characters: The main girls, if you couldn't tell already by their hero names. Especially interesting because it’s also immediately established thatBusters don't have to be named after colors. Ingrid is red, Eri is blue, Makoto is green, Raine is violet, Monica is yellow and Akira is gold. While not having a color name, Saya is usually associated with gray and silver.
- Crossover Alternate Universe: The “Bustaider” chapters are a crossover with ForbiddenArchive’s Jotaider-series and is set in its own continuity that's mostly the same as the main story, with the addition of Jotaider characters stranding in Delta City through random portals.
- Dark Action Girl: The Heartbreakers, evil counterparts to the Buster Girls.
- Drama-Preserving Handicap:
- A villainous example, creating a heartless heavily drains the powers of a Blackheart, which also affects their combat abilities. Those who mastered the Buster Force, as well as people, who already had been turned into one once, also can't be turned into heartless, barring special circumstances.
- Everytime the girls activate Hyper Buster they have to actively fight its corrupting influence, not allowing them to use its full potential unless they embrace the darkness. Because of this they also can't use Hyper Buster while in an emotionally vulnerable state.
- Dream Episode: Chapter 10 features a Heartless that can travel through dreams and that's where the Buster Girls have to take her on.
- Family Theme Naming: All members of the Kawaguchi family have three-letter names.
- Forced Transformation: How Blackhearts turn humans into Heartless and those Heartless turn other humans into their minions usually.
- Irony: Each of the holiday-themed Blackhearts suffers a major loss in a chapter released on their respective holiday.
- Laser-Guided Amnesia: After being turned back people usually don't remember their time as a heartless or the lead up to it. This also applies to the Heartbreakers. Though later it's revealed that the longer someone stayed a heartless, the more memories they keep from that time, slightly averting this trope.
- Magical Girl Warrior: All the members of the Buster Force apply. Confrontations in Buster Girls are very action-focused due to the main way to combat corruption being hitting the opponent hard enough.
- Maid Corps: With the power to transform others into devoted maids, it's no wonder the Heartless Head Maid Victoria turns the students of Tendou High into one very fast.
- Mind Control: Pretty much every villain in this world has some way to use mind control and turn ordinary people into their followers.
- The Mind Is a Plaything of the Body: Being transformed into a Heartless or one of their minions usually includes a full personality shift to fit their new form more (assuming there's even a personality left).
- Monster of the Week: The main format of the story. Almost every chapter features a unique heartless for the girls to beat.
- Multiple Endings: There are many “Bad End” chapters that revolve around the heroines losing against specific villains.
- Nightmare Weaver: The main plot of Chapter 10 has the Heartless Insomnia infect the heroines' dreams, forcing each of them through a dream sequence in which they have become Heartless themselves and cause havoc.
- Not Quite Back to Normal: It's noted in Chapter 5 that the victims of Kakerusagi's bunny girl transformation retained an urge to make out with other girls after being reverted.
- Parody Product Placement: Chapter 38 features the HEARTLESS INCORPORATED brand taking over the city and anyone using their wonderful products feels the urge to advertise the great Heartless Inc brand at all times. Buy one now to see even more!
- The Psycho Rangers: The Heartbreakers are this to the Buster Girls. A team of evil counterparts specifically created by Valentina to counter the heroines.
- Reforged into a Minion: Almost every villain has some method to brainwash others into their loyal minions.
- Secret-Keeper:
- Despite the Buster Force members hiding their real identities to protect their loved ones, in an ironic subversion the villains are the first ones to learn their real identities, but (with the exception of Black Ice) rarely act on it.
- At the end of the “Hollow Eve” arc Eclair figures out the real identities of the Buster Girls. Seems like Monica forgot to inform the others of this, as Ingrid doesn't learn about her knowing till Chapter 36.
- At the end of the “Heartbreaker” arc Yuu, Catherine and Akira are told the truth.
- Throughout the “Black Ice” arc most of the heroes’ friends formally learn of their secret. Over its course Ayashi, Megumi, Yoko, Aika, Iris and Elizabeth are added to the list of individuals in the loop.
- Secret Secret-Keeper: Eclair, Elizabeth and Yoko all either knew or highly suspected the secret identities of their friends. “Movie: Eternal Wonderland” reveals that Aoi also knows Monica’s secret and following the “Black Ice” arc she’s the only known character left that still applies to.
- Story Arc: The author divides the the chapters into arcs based on the respective Arc Villain:
- The “Hollow Eve” arc (Prologue - Chapter 13)
- The second arc (Chapter 14 - current) consists of several smaller arcs:
- The “Heartbreaker” arc (Chapters 14 - 25)
- The “Black Ice” arc (Chapters 26 - 40)
- Super Mode: The main Buster Girls have Hyper Mode, while Fenraizer has Ragnarok and later Trinity.
- Transformation Sequence: Comes with the genre. Usually they're fully written the first time and then skipped to save words.
- Trapped in TV Land: Chapter 15 forces Eri and Raine to fight their way through several arcade games with their teammates turned into their respective bosses to challenge the Heartless Arcadia.
- Top Ten List: The Buster Force regularly ranks its top ten strongest members.
- Turning Back Human: After a Heartless is beaten, it and all its minions revert back to human.
- Unwilling Roboticisation: If there's a robot themed villain (and sometimes not even that) expect at least one of the girls to end up as a robot.
- Whole Episode Flashback: A few actually.
- Framed as a dream sequence, Chapter 12.5 gives us a glimpse of Riry's time as a general of the Monster army.
- All of the Buster Duo chapters are flashbacks to the time of the original two Busters, Buster Black and Buster White.
- Gaiden: Vermilion focuses entirely on Llayn Artesia and shows through multiple flashbacks how she became the woman now known as Vermilion Buster.
- World of Technicolor Hair: Expect every color from across the rainbow to appear as hair color, to the point Makoto with her brown hair is the one standing out.
