Akira Shiraishi, a feminine-looking boy, is the "princess" of his all-boys school. Mizuki Sakurazaka, an androgynous-looking girl, is the "prince" at her all-girls school. When Akira joins Mizuki's all-girls band, a series of events causes them to come together, despite prejudice due to their looks and their peers' reactions.
Ai Ore! Love Me! (Ai o Utau Yori Ore ni Oborero!, or "Drown Me Then Sing Of Love") is a shoujo manga by Mayu Shinjo. It originally ran in Shoujo Comic from 2006 to 2009. A sequel series called Ai-Ore! Danshikō no Hime to Joshikō no Ōji ran in Monthly Asuka from 2008 to 2010. Both manga are licensed in English by Viz Media.
This manga provides examples of:
- A-Cup Angst: Mizuki worries that Akira won't like her anymore if he finds out she has a small chest and broad shoulders. He does find out, but he's okay with it.
- Absurdly Powerful Student Council: St. Nobara has one. It was implied early on that Ran's a Student Council President, though we never see him actually on the job.
- All Men Are Perverts: Big time. Most of the male cast, including Akira. Somewhat Justified, as according to him it's just because he loves Mizuki. Since her other works feature similar themes, this may or may not say anything about the author. Of course, the magazine that published the first half of Ai Ore as well as many of Shinjo's other works is well-known for such types, it may also have something to do with
Executive Meddling. - Ambiguously Bi: Ai enjoys fanservice of every variety.
- Art Evolution: The girls eventually start becoming somewhat more feminine-looking.
- Attempted Rape: Attempts and threats to rape our two protagonists happen so often that only about four of them were plot-relevant.
- Attractive Bent-Gender: Both Akira and Mizuki. (Not that it takes much for either to accomplish.)
- Bifauxnen: Mizuki and her all-girls band all look very handsome in an androgynous way. Akira in particular is considered the "prince" of her all-girls school for her good looks.
- Bifauxnen and Lad-ette: Considering that almost all of the members of the band Blaue Rosen are girls that fit either the Bifauxnen or Ladette aesthetic or both, this trope is a given.
- Bodyguarding a Badass: Akira can beat down any boy who tries to assault him. His bodyguards' only use is that their size discourages his would-be-assaulters from ever trying.
- Cannot Spit It Out: Mizuki. It takes her until the end of volume 3 before she's able to say it out loud. Lampshaded by Akira when he takes her to a Lucifer concert:Akira: She said a sentence she couldn't say for 3 whole volumes so easily...."
- Can't Hold His Liquor: Akira pretends to be this, but as it turns out it was a ruse to get Ran and Rui to go away. Mizuki, on the other hand, passed out within a few seconds after taking one gulp.
- Covert Pervert:
- Mizuki. She's completely submissive and reserved until she sees Akira in those cat ears.
- Ran doesn't attempt to hide his pervertedness, but what we see is apparently only the tip of the iceberg.
- Crazy Jealous Guy: Akira doesn't like not knowing what Mizuki is doing.
- Disproportionate Retribution: For associating herself with the middle-lower class boys' high school and dressing up in their uniform, the student body president locks Mizuki up in a jail cell with nothing but a loose shirt to wear.
- Does Not Like Men:
- Mizuki doesn't like men, particularly towards the beginning.
- Akira doesn't like men as well (understandably), before he met Banbi.
- Dude Looks Like a Lady: Akira. He looks either like a typical Yaoi Uke, or like a somewhat tomboyish girl, most of the time. Though once he gets shirtless he's much easier to identify as male.
- Elegant Gothic Lolita:
- All the girls in the crowd during a Blaue Rosen concert are dressed like this.
- Every single girl who was not a member of Blaue Rosen (except Momoko) dressed like this in The Movie.
- Erotic Dream: Mizuki's had a couple of erotic dreams.
- Face of an Angel, Mind of a Demon: How Mizuki thought of Akira when she was first trying to sort out her feelings for him.
- Feather Motif: Black feathers show up whenever Akira switches from sweet and
moe to dangerous and/or seductive. - Friendless Background: Akira was either shunned or lusted over by the guys, while being envied by all the girls. Besides Mizuki, his only other friend seems to be Banbi.
- Gentle Giant: Banbi's a really nice guy when you don't piss him off.
- Huge Schoolgirl: Several girls but mainly Mizuki. Just put them near Akira for a bigger effect.
- Hypocritical Humor: Akira's older brothers frequently refer to the other students of his school as "beasts," and are very against him going to live in the dorm because they won't be able to protect him. They also brawled with him when he was sick, chiding him for being weak.
- I'm a Man; I Can't Help It: Akira uses this excuse a couple times to try to guilt Mizuki into sleeping with him.
- Jerk with a Heart of Gold: Akira. Mizuki tends to bring out the heart of gold in him.
- Knight Templar Big Brother: Akira's older brothers. Ran, Rui, and Banbi can also act like this in regard to Akira.
- Lady Looks Like a Dude: All the girls of Blaue Rosen look androgynous.
- Manipulative Bastard: Akira definitely has shades of this, but Ran takes it to new, creepy levels.
- Masculine Girl, Feminine Boy: Akira and Mizuki look the role, however Akira is quite dominant and masculine and Mizuki isn't really all that boyish.
- Mistaken for Cheating: Mizuki accuses Akira of cheating several times, mostly involving him and guys.
- Mistaken for Gay: Mizuki and Akira several times, especially when they're with each other. Akira looks like a girl at first glance, however he uses "ore", so people think he and Mizuki are male lovers. Akira's classmates initially refused to believe him when he told them Mizuki was a girl.
- Moment Killer: The source of Akira's ever-growing frustration. Ran and Rui or the other members of Blaeu Rosen are usually the culprits.
- Mr. Fanservice: Banbi as well. His Face of a Thug is only scary because of his stoic expression and eyebrow scar, but disregarding that, he's a hunk.
- One-Gender School: Akira goes to an all-boys' school, while Mizuki goes to an all-girls' school. Both of them are extremely popular at their respective schools.
- Only Six Faces: All the male (and male looking) characters look alike, as do the female (and female looking) characters. Interestingly, all the background characters have very different faces, though this may not be intentional.
- Puppy-Dog Eyes: Akira's not above utilizing his cuteness to get what he wants. He's even drawn with puppy ears and tail once in a while. But when he gets serious while being intimate with Mizuki, however, those ears and tail mean he went from puppy to wolf.
- Raging Stiffie: Probably happens more often than mentioned, but Akira explicitly stated he had one on two occasions. He was mortified both times, the first time because he was in a girl's bath, the second because he was at the beach, surrounded by people he knew.
- Say My Name: "Akira!!" and "Mizuki-chan!!" basically makes up 1/4 of the dialogue.
- Sex as Rite-of-Passage: The majority of the series after Mizuki and Akira start dating is basically Akira trying to get into Mizuki's pants as a way of "deepening their love."
- Something Else Also Rises: When Mizuki gets turned on by Akira's cat outfit and starts advancing on him, his fake cat tail shoots straight up into the air.
- Suspiciously Specific Denial: "N-never mind! It's not like it's your Christmas present or anything!"
- Sweet on Polly Oliver: Hilariously invoked during the Tsubasa arc in volume 3. Probably the only guy at Dankaisan who isn't attracted to Akira mocks his friends for getting excited over Akira showing some skin. Then Mizuki brushes past him, wearing the Dankaisan uniform.Guy 2: I thought you said you weren't attracted to guys?Guy 1: *blushing* I'm not . . .
- Those Two Girls: Megumi (the other guitar player) and Momoko (the bass player) do not influence the plot very much. Ai could also be part of this, having very little character background, but since her personality is more obvious to the readers and she shows up and talks a lot more, she just barely averts it.
- Tiny Guy, Huge Girl: Akira's pretty short, but he almost resembles a little kid when standing next to Mizuki.
- Tsundere: Mizuki. Often results in her holding the Idiot Ball whenever Akira tries to make a move on her. Although admittedly sometimes he's more forceful than necessary.
- Two-Teacher School: A Dankaisan teacher made an appearance to introduce Tsubasa to the class and was never seen again. The first St. Nobara teacher to be seen was actually introduced before anyone knew he was a teacher. The chairman of the school is also seen, but only in scenes involving the previously mentioned teacher.
- Unsettling Gender-Reveal: A few times, mostly involving Mizuki since people don't believe she's a girl. Akira dropped this on Mizuki and her friends within the first few pages of the series, the page after which Mizuki drops one about the whole band on viewers who didn't bother reading anything about this series beforehand.
- Virgin-Shaming: Seems to be a prevalent theme. Ran started calling Rui a virgin as an insult at one point, and Akira quite often says that he wants to prove that he's a man to Mizuki.
- What Happened to the Mouse?: Why did Misaki refer to herself with "boku"? And wasn't she last seen thinking about how to out Akira as a boy so she could have Mizuki to herself? She hasn't shown up since.
- What the Hell, Hero?:
- After Akira uncovers a St. Nobara third year's plot to rape Mizuki, he asks Rui to pay her back in kind.
- On two occasions, Akira has almost raped Mizuki. He stopped the first time because she started crying and the second time because she got angry and broke off the relationship.
- Wholesome Crossdresser: Akira doesn't specifically like wearing girls clothing, however he'll wear them if it will benefit him in some way. Also, when he revealed his actual gender to the whole of Mizuki's school, they opposed the relationship because of the reputation of his school. Mizuki then dressed as a boy to enroll at Akira's school. It was all for nothing, as Akira is popular enough at his school everyone knew who she was.
