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This is the smallest primary cast lineup we're able to find
When Ordinary High School Student Kazuto Hongo chases after a thief, who steals and breaks an ancient mirror at his school campus, he's transported back to ancient China. Are we good so far? Now, take the Romance Of The Three Kingdoms story and Gender Flip nearly all male characters from the original epic into action girls of varying degrees of affection for Kazuto, you get the perfect harem Visual Novel called Koihime Musou, developed by BaseSon. All principal heroines in the game are expies of the (male) generals from the original epic and the former's names are derived from the latter's by reading the original Chinese characters in their names as kanji. Additionally, all of them have a true, "private" name usually reserved for close friends, and several sport a courtesy name . See the full character list.
The animated adaptation turns it into Yuri Fanboy bait by removing Kazuto altogether: there are actually very few notable men in any of the episodes. The anime's plot is secondary to gratuitous but surprisingly classy fanservice and keeps very little from the original novel. It basically consists of the expies of the "Five Tiger Generals" (google it already) coming together from across China to band against the anarchical rule of generic bandits.
A remake of the visual novel Shin Koihime Musou was released with more characters added in from Romance Of The Three Kingdoms and following suit by genderflipping them. Not only does it pay more attention to the original epic but it also allows players to choose which faction to ally with, rather than the preset one in the original Koihime Musou. An animated follow-up OVA was released with the last DVD volume, set in the protagonist's high school in modern Japan (but without The One Guy again). The anime based on the first game aired in the summer of 2008, and a second season drawing new characters from Shin Koihime Musou is currently airing.
Compare Ikki Tousen and Ryofuko-chan.
Tropes found in the series:
- Action Mom — Kouchuu, and it's not a pretty story behind her "action"
- Amazon Brigade — The Five Tiger Generals, but by Shin Koihime, all factions have their little own brigade, even if they're not named
- Kakouton's "Black Knight" brigade in the final episode probably also counts
- Babies Ever After — The ending of the Go faction campaign in the Shin Koihime game, where all the girls (except Sonshoukou, who's too young, and Sonsaku and Shuuyu, who are both dead) become mothers to a daughter each, with Kazuto as the common father
- Back To Back Badasses — Kannu and Chouun, Chouhi and Bachou
- Barehanded Blade Block — Kannu pulls one off in episode 11
- Berserk Button — Do not call Kyocho "small"
- Bifauxnen — What's up with Kannu wearing a tie?
- Big Ball Of Violence — Used in the first season and OVA endings, when Bachou tries to steal Chouhi's food
- Big Damn Heroes — Chouun's re-entry in episode 7, everyone's in episode 12
- Big Eater — Chouhi and Bachou, but Kyocho outperforms both because she's a freaking pro at eating contests
- Big Screwed Up Family — Sonsaku's
- Bishonen — Saji (Zuo Ci), False Ryuubi
- Kata Genka (Hua Tuo) in Shin Koihime
- Blade On A Stick — Most of the girls wield them
- Bloodless Carnage
- Blood Knight — Chouryou tends to really enjoy a prolonged fight and gets pissed if she can't finish it properly
- Boobs Of Steel — Subverted and played straight: 80% of the female cast have huge breasts and are generals in their respective factions, but some characters, like Rikuson, never participates in battles
- Broke Episode — Episode three
- Censor Steam — Lampshaded a lot in the Hot Springs Episode, partially subverted in the collective DVD volumes, where it's "semi-censored"
- Episode two of Shin Koihime manages to enable censorship...through use of rays of sunlight
- Chaste Hero — Kannu
- Chivalrous Pervert — Chouun: "What's wrong with my knees?"; not that any of the fanboys mind...
- Covert Pervert — Koumei
- Cute Bruiser — Chouhi
- Death Glare — Chouun will give one to anyone who dares to look at her Trademark Favorite Food
- Defeat Means Friendship — And, apparently, sisterhood, since this is how Kannu and Chouhi meet
- Delinquents — Chouryou; Chouhi's like this initially, but calms down a bit
- Distracted By The Sexy — OVA: Enshou attempts to do this on Sousou. It works
- Distressed Damsel — Happens to the female Ryuubi in the Shin Koihime TV series, twice, in fact. On both occassions, she's attacked by the same group of bandits (see Only Six Faces below), both cases being rescued by Kannu and company. The second nearly enters Attempted Rape territory
- Determinator — Koumei; even Chouhi's impressed
- Dojikko — Chouhi immediately invokes this when told to perform some basic manual tasks
- Drunken Master — Although she doesn't really rely on alcohol, Chouryou certainly invokes the image in her first appearance
- Emotionless Girl — Ryoufu's the exact polar opposite of her loud-mouthed, antagonistic character she's based on... which may be a side effect of the Gender Flip
- Ensemble Darkhorse — According to the polls on BaseSon's website, Chouun ranks first by a large margin, while Ryoufu stands at a distant second and Kannu even further behind at 3. Everyone else is left in the dust
- Every Girl Is Cuter With Hair Decs — Several of the girls have these, and given it's the Three Kingdoms era, expect elaborate hair styling
- Excited Episode Title — Well, not that exciting but in a possible Shout Out to Mazinger Z, the title of episode 2 in the first series is "Kan'u is going to die with Chouun." Guess what DOESN'T HAPPEN in that episode
- Extreme Doormat — Keifa
- Expressive Shirt — Chouhi's tiger hairpin always mimics her facial expression. Teiiku Chuutoku in Shin Koihime also has an egg shaped ornament that does something similar.
- Eyepatch Of Power — Kakouton, only in the visual novel, as expected from the expy of Xiahou Dun
- Fake Defector — Kougai, being an expy of Huang Gai, the general who "defected" to Cao Cao and later set the latter's ships on fire in the Battle of Red Cliff
- Fallen Princess — The female Ryuubi in epsiode 2 of Shin Koihime, as she reveals in a flashback her name and sword were stolen by the fake Ryuubi
- Fan Service — Everywhere. You can't go 30 seconds without encountering a moment.
- Fan Service With A Smile — See Meido entry
- Fetish Fuel Station Attendant — Need this be explained?
- First Name Basis — Somehow, Shin Koihime's first episode is dedicated just to this trope...
- Foe Tossing Charge — Chouun gets to pull one off in the first season finale
- Gender Flip
- Genki Girl — Kyocho, though she isn't the only one
- Girl With Psycho Weapon — Sousou: her huge (as in taller than she is!) battle axe with somewhat serrated blade and dark themed colors looks formidable on its own, but in episode 5 of Shin Koihime, it gets combined with a fierce dark Battle Aura and a really pissed off Sousou, making it all that more frightening.
- Guilty Pleasures — And how!
- Hidden Eyes — Part of Kyocho's "battle transformation"
- High School AU — The OVA included on the seventh DVD
- Hot Amazon — Kannu is infamous as the beautiful legendary "Black-Haired Bandit Killer", but as a Running Gag, anyone who meets her in person ends up thinking she's not as stunningly beautiful as the "legendary warrior" she's rumored to be
- In Shin Koihime Musou, the gag's taken further when only her long black hair gets complimented
- Hot Blooded — Bachou, but to a lesser extent, Chouhi, who can cure colds by going berserk
- Librarians & Nerds Are Sexy — Rikuson has a...special relationship with books
- Hot Shounen Mom — God damn it, Kouchuu, your daughter will never have to worry about running out of milk with those melons of yours!
- Also at the end of the Go faction campaign in the Shin Koihime game, at least the "hot" ones, after Kazuto gives them daughters
- Hot Springs Episode — Episode nine
- Hyperspace Flail — Kyocho; lampshaded in the anime when, ever time she brings it out, people facing her stare in shock and verbally wonder where the heck she was hiding the darn thing
- Hypocritical Humor — After getting ambushed by bandits, Ryuubi states she's smart enough not to be a Distressed Damsel again. Seconds after she's gone, she's back into the role
- I Knew It — Ryuubi may be The One Guy in the anime, but in Shin Koihime we finally get a female Ryuubi. The conclusion's too obvious
- The Idiot From Osaka — Less of an idiot, but Chouryou does enjoy drinking, fighting and speaking with a Kansai Regional Accent
- Idiot Hair — Ryoufu has two ahoges, which is further exaggerated in her Super Deformed appearance
- Idol Singer — Choukaku, Chouhou, and Chouryou from Shin Koihime (AKA the leaders of the Yellow Turban Rebellion), complete with makeshift microphones, though we don't actually get to hear them singing during their "live performances" in the game. The anime, however, sports them with magical ones and play this trope straight
- Kannu and Chouhi become such in a promotional video before the airing of Shin Koihime
- Isnt It Sad — Played on: Kakouen's left behind during the Hot Springs Episode and feels left out; she even strikes the Isnt It Sad sitting position in the commercial break picture. Then, in the picnic scene of the final episode, it's her sister Kakouton's turn to get left behind
- Jerk Ass — Chouun acts this way toward Kannu and Chouhi sometimes. The fake Ryuubi, most definitely
- Jerkass Facade — Sousou pretends to be the Rich Bitch to hide her nice side, especially evident in the story with Bachou and her father; by the final episode, she even fulfills the tsundere requirements
- Large Ham — When it comes to beating up bandits, Kannu loves announcing it with hams. Chouun's pretty good at making up fabulous stories and entrance speeches, too.
- Played hilariously in Shin Koihime: when Chouun introduces Kannu to the bandits by "hamming her up" with embarrassing stuff, she gets a lump on the head from Kannu in response, the bopping hidden by a Relax O Vision)
- The Law Of Conservation Of Detail — You have to be colorblind not to be able to tell who is or will be important
- Les Yay — All over the place. For one, two of the main characters are openly interested in other women
- In the OVA it's explicitly stated that Kannu and Chouhi are going out
- Also in the OVA, Sousou upholds her reputation by going at it with Keifa on-screen
- Letting Her Hair Down — Kannu normally keeps her hair in a side-ponytail, but she lets her hair down on a few occassions, and not just during bathing or sleeping.
- In Shin Koihime episode 5, apparently she forgot to tie her hair up after getting dressed after the hot springs scene, perhaps due to the mayhem caused by the attempted assassination on Sousou.
- Bachou also lets her usually tied up hair down in episode 3 of the first series when she wears a girly dress in one of Enshou's silly competitions.
- Loads And Loads Of Characters — If there's one thing Koihime Musou inherits from the original novel, it's pretty much every episode introduces a new character right from the start
- Look Behind You — Played totally straight with an appearing bear
- Lucky Charms Title — Actually, the show's title is "Koihime†Musou"
- Luminescent Blush — Most evident on Kannu
-
Manipulative Bastard Bastard — There's nothing great about the fake Ryuubi, other than cowardice
- Meganekko — Shuyu and Rikuson, but Koumei also sports a pair in some Super Deformed sequences. Shin Koihime introduces Kakuka, as well as Ryomou, who's unique in that she wears a monocle
- Meido — Meido cafes in Ancient China = win...or not, especially when Ryoufu attempts to work in one
- Mooks — The bandits exist solely for the purpose of having their asses handed to them by the heroines in every damn engagement
- Mushroom Samba — Bachou gets a trip from eating a psychedelic mushroom in the mountains. She's got an interesting way of eating them, too
- My Name Is Not Durwood — Ryuubi can't remember
Paipai Pairen's name
- Mysterious Protector — Played with by Chouun; unfortunately, it doesn't work out too well
- Names To Know In Anime — While the girls are voiced by new, perhaps unheard-of seiyuus, the guys, with the exception of Kazuto, has veterans to speak of, which includes:
- Nice Hat - Worn by some of the girls, most prominently Sonken. The majority of the girls get one in the visual novel's harem ending
- Nightmare Fuel — You may be at least a bit squeamish at Bachou's appearance in episode eleven...
- Or anything Chousen and Himiko...really...
- Noblewomans Laugh — Enshou
- Nosebleed — Happens to Kakuka in Shin Koihime at the slightest perverted thought. So frequently in fact that she's often found passed out on the ground in a pool of blood and mistaken for dead
- Oh Crap — OVA: when Enshou wins the student council president election, she realizes she has to be kissed by Chousen after that
- Only One Name — Simultaneously played straight and subverted: all characters have their family names mashed together with their given ones, but each has at least two more given ones
- Only Sane Girl — Koumei
- Only Six Faces — The recurring bandit gangs parody this: the same three bandits — a short guy, a fat guy and a skinny guy seem to be in charge of every bandit gang, but they never recognize the main characters
- One Steve Limit — Subverted somewhat in the anime: the false Ryuubi stole the real Ryuubi's sword and name to try to become famous. The real Ryuubi appears in Shin trying to find said stolen blade to regain her lineage (and to stop her mother from throwing her into a river). Cue Kouchuu and Bacho barging in weapons ablazing at Ryuubi, thinking it's the fake
- Paper Thin Disguise — After being separated from the group, Chouun reappears during a Big Damn Heroes moment in episode seven wearing a Papillion Mask; it only fools Chouhi
- In the game, however, she manages to fools everyone, sans Koumei and Kazuto, while in the second, it becomes a fad when Chouun gets Koumei and Ryoufu to wear similar masks. Even Chousen joins in the fun
- The mask returns in the Shin Koihime TV series, but heads into Les Yay territory when Ryuubi is so fooled that she becomes enamoured with "Butterfly Mask" and blatantly tells the later undisguised Chouun of such
- Parental Abandonment — Sonsaku's mom dies early on, so she has some...issues
- Pink Bishoujo Ghetto — ...Until Ryuubi shows up...and then it goes back to being one after he leaves
- Princess Curls — Enshou and Sousou
- Promotion To Parent — Kannu actually tries to avoid this at all costs, but everyone she meets keeps thinking she's Chouhi's mother
- When she convinces others she isn't, people usually start seeing their relationship in a totally different light, which she finds even worse
- Psycho Lesbian — Sousou doesn't take no for an answer, although later on she gets presented somewhat more positively.
- Puppy Dog Eyes — Seems to be Toutaku's special technique...it's unbeatable by normal means
- Especially amusing since her expy is Dong Zhuo, a cruel, tyrannical ruler. Admittedly, her "special technique" is still quite evil
- Put On A Bus — Chouun during the mid-season, but subverted once the bus pulls into the station for the finale
- Rant Inducing Slight — Kouchuu, in her rant on how she's going to torture the fake Ryuubi, complete with demonic Facial Markings
- Rape As Comedy — Sousou has the habit of coercing girls into sex with her, which is mostly played for laughs and titillation.
- Rapunzel Hair — Many of the cast have hair ranging from waist length to reaching the ground even from full standing height, though some, particularly the longest, are kept in ponytails. In the Shin Koihime game, Sonken's hair reaches ground level, but she shears it off after Sonsaku dies
- Relax O Vision — Used humorously for concealment of certain "stuff".
- Once in the OVA when the announcers tried to explain why "Butterfly Mask" was in Chouun's place in one of the contests in that they are in fact the same persion; the trope cuts the conversation short (implying it was supposed to be a secret) and the show proceeds to a much later scene
- Used again in the Shin Koihime anime when Chouun is introducing Kannu to the bandits and starts saying something really embarrassing about her. ROV cuts the talk short; moments later, the scene returns with Chouun now sporting a lump on her head
- The Rival — Chouhi positions herself as one to Koumei, with all due subtext
- Sarashi — Chouryou comes with them included, even when she's dressed as a Meido, and even in the OVA worn under her jacket (or it even serves as her only upper garment when she carries her jacket slung over her shoulder).
- See You In Hell — Chouun says it to Kannu before facing off against an overwhelming force of bandits on a very narrow cliff
- Seinen
- Seme — Chouun asks Chouhi and Kannu which of them is the "seme" and "uke", clearly having her own ideas of their sisterhood, which doesn't help Kannu when Chouhi states she'd rather be the seme of the two
- Then, in the episode nine preview, Kouchuu "teaches" other girls that blond curls — Sousou are for the seme, while a side ponytail — Kannu is for the uke. Man, they really aren't subtle about this, are they?
- Serious Business — Eel sandwiches, apparently the main source of strife in the OVA
- Shout Out — Chouun explains she became "Kachou Kamen" by dying, meeting with Ultraman and getting resurrected. It's a lie, of course
- Show Some Leg — Chouun plays this straight in episode two
- Repeated in episode eight with Enshou, except she strips completely down to her underwear
- Sleep Cute — Chouhi effectively blackmails Kannu into this, at first
- Smug Snake — fake Ryuubi
- Spikes Of Villainy — Chouryou's hairband, though she isn't entirely evil...
- The Strategist — Koumei, unsurprisingly considering she's an expy of Zhuge Liang
- Super Deformed — Usually happens during light-hearted scenes, such as the ending video
- Straight Arrow — Kouchuu, who later has the ability to take out multiple bandits in volleys
- Take My Hand — Kannu and Chouun pull this off in episode two
- Tall Dark And Bishoujo — Kannu, though Chouun matches the personality, too
- Team Mom — Kannu, especially towards Chouhi and Koumei, but Kouchuu in the visual novel
- The Tease — Chouun
- This Trope Is Bleep — In Shin Koihime episode 5, Kata starts diagnosing Sousou's illness which turns out to be constipation. He initially recommends surgery which Sousou absolutely refuses. When he then describers an alternative treatment though (use of acupuncture needles), it had some rather gratuitous connotations, and thus a great number of words in his speech are blocked out by sounds of clashing metal (whatever they were, Sousou was definitely not amused).
- This Is SPARTA — Kata Genka insists that the name of the guild he's affiliated with be called out in the loudest and most dramatic fashion every time.
Koumei: Kata? Of The Way of the Five Grains?
Kata: NO!
Girls: Eh?
Girls: Oh.
Kata: It's very important to give it appropriate emphasis.
Koumei: I-I'll remember that...
- Token Loli — Chouhi and later, Koumei
- Trademark Favorite Food — Just makes sure you don't steal Chouun's leftover menma; she loves that stuff
- Tsundere — There's at least one in every faction in the visual novel, but Bachou, Sousou and Sonken stand out the most. In the anime, Sousou tailors to this trope's requirements by the final episode
- Unwanted Harem — Subverted: the series should enter the history of anime as
the first one of the few harems without a male lead to speak of. Hells yeah!!!
- But depending on your point of view, the visual novel plays this trope straight.
- Verbal Tic — Chouhi's "Nano da!"
- Volleying Insults — Enshou's team loves to engage Sousou's in such confrontations
- What Happened To The Mouse — In the OVA, Kouchuu goes away as a commentator and gets replaced by her daughter... and it takes a Brick Joke after the credits to reveal where she is: locked and tied up inside a gym by god knows who
- Wise Beyond Their Years — Toutaku, and apparently, Koumei
- Witty Banter — Chouun's just too good at it
- Worthy Opponent — As much as she enjoys fights, Chouryou's only interested in fair ones
- Wrench Wench — Riten from Shin Koihime, at least by appearance (it's not known exactly what she works on); made even hotter by her Most Common Superpower (which is HUGE for her build) and her Stripperiffic outfit.
- Xanatos Gambit — Shuuyu pulls one off to expose the traitor in Sonsaku's family
- You Killed My Father — Bachou tries to kill Sousou at one point for this
- You Should Know This Already — In a next episode preview within episode five, Kayuu claims the right to announce the episode title because she's going to "die early". In case you didn't know, Hua Xiong, whom she's based upon, did die early in the original epic
- Yum Yum — A particularly gratuitous scene in the Shin Koihime anime involving candy
- Yuri Fanboy — If you ain't one yet, this series will make you one
- Not to mention Chouun seems to think Kannu and Chouhi get along rather, er, well
- Zettai Ryouiki — It's easier to say who doesn't wear it, namely, Chouhi and Keifa
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