Ellipsis is an action-horror Animesque Web Serial Novel created by NAITO.
Sada “Vermillion” Shuiro, a high-school girl with no recollection of her past, awakens alongside ninety-nine other unfortunate souls within the Olam Tzalmavet: purgatory where the dead await final judgement. They have been gathered by the dominion’s sadistic god Samvara to compete in various challenges meant to test their morality, strength and mind. The last man standing will win back their life and return to Earth. Those who fail, however, are granted eternal damnation. Using every fiber of her being, Sada must face her other combatants in a gauntlet of increasingly brutal and savage games. Faced with tentative allies and cutthroat enemies, she struggles to uncover both the secrets of her previous life and the plot of the woeful realm’s ruler.
The series is currently scheduled for publication in October 2020.
Ellipsis contains examples of:
- Can't Take Anything with You: All of the souls wake up in the Swamp of Blood, entirely naked.
- Deadly Game: The Rings of Rebirth serve as this, along with the entire genre of the story. Their purpose is to force the Reprobates to confront their weaknesses and overcome them; thus becoming a soul worthy of reincarnation by the end. However, Samvara twisted the trials into a murderous fight-to-the-death for his own personal amusement.
- Deal with the Devil: The Reprobates are forced into this due to the sins they committed during their lives. They have to fight and kill each other, as they have no other choice.
- Devil, but No God: Both Heaven and Hell exist, but God is never seen or heard throughout the series. That doesn't stop Samvara from hating his guts, however.
- Downer Beginning: The story literally begins with the Reprobates waking up in a swamp of coagulated blood. It only gets worse when Gozu and Mezu wake up...
- Dragged Off to Hell: The ultimate fate for any of the Reprobates that lose a game. Their soul is dragged into Hell where they're endlessly tormented for eternity.
- Dwindling Party: As the characters progress through each deadly Ring, the remaining characters are roughly reduced by half every time. By the end, Samvara guarantees only one will be left alive.
- Enemies with Death: Nullifuge Samvara, the story's embodiment of Death, serves as the main antagonist of the series.
- Fire-Forged Friends: All of the Divisions, especially Sada's, fall into this. They were forced into cooperation by Samvara, but most came to become friends or at the very least, honored to have said individuals by their side.
- Gratuitous Hebrew: The series' otherworldly locations are all named in Hebrew, mostly after concepts from Jewish mysticism. Averted ironically with the names of the Qliphah, instead being examples of Gratuitous Indian.
- Horned Humanoid: Every one of the Reprobates throughout the series have Horns of Sin piercing their body for every evil act they committed during their lifetime. Some are located on the person's head, while others have them elsewhere on their body.
- Hot as Hell: Asrava, albeit Played for Laughs. Then there's the matter of the demonic Fiends in the series, which is Played for Horror. The more mindless ones stalk their human prey entirely naked, leading to an added level of powerlessness. There's even an moment where a character is dragged away by one of these demons, with the others later discovering their mutilated corpse split down the middle.
- Jerkass Gods: Samvara, Nullifuge of Olam Tzalmavet. He's the guy you go to if you're not pure enough for Heaven, but not wicked enough for Hell. He forces condemned souls to fight for the right to return to the land of the living every four-hundred years. Samvara borders the line of becoming a God of Evil, with his sadism being reflected during the various Rings of Rebirth.
- The Law of Conservation of Detail: Sada invokes this at one point, pointing out the bizarre and seemingly unnecessary fact that despite everyone being dead, they still have working digestive tracts and genitalia. As Asrava later explains, it's to make them feel as human as they once were while also tacking on all the problems of having a full bladder/colon during a battle for your life.
- Military Rank Names: Invoked with the Qliphah, as "Hant" isn't their first name but rather a title of power.
- Naked on Revival: All of the Reprobates awaken in the Court of Null entirely naked. They later dress themselves with whatever they can find or salvage.
- No Historical Figures Were Harmed: A majority of the Reprobates have their names derived from real-life criminals and murderers. Makes sense, considering where they are.
- Non-Humans Lack Attributes: Horrifyingly averted. All of the Fiends are Monstrous Humanoids with little-to-no clothing. Add in the fact that they all have disturbing demonic genitals and are clearly aroused by their human prey in several circumstances.
- Ragtag Bunch of Misfits: A majority of the Reprobates fall under this trope, all gathering together despite their differences and backgrounds.
- Religious and Mythological Theme Naming: All of the supernatural elements in the series are either named after Jainist or Jewish concepts.
- Religious Horror: The story has aspects of this at its core, playing off the fear of where humans go when they die.
- There Can Be Only One: One hundred souls are forced to compete for their lives, with only one coming out as the winner.
- The Thunderdome: To an extent, all ten Rings of Rebirth.
- Tone Shift: Compared to NAITO's other series Canticle, which is defined by its fun shonen-inspired action, Ellipsis is purely a horrific and gory survival game.
- Vapor Wear: Deconstructed, as the Reprobates are dressed with literal scraps of clothing they've scavenged from past competitors who died in the games. As such, especially since past Reprobates came from an era where undergarments weren't even conceived yet, there's naturally none to be found.
