Manga / Maken-ki!

Maken-ki! is a manga series by famed hentai artist Hiromitsu Takeda, which ran from April 20, 2007 to March 9, 2020 (starting out in Dragon Age Pure and later moving to Monthly Dragon Age after the former ceased publication) and was compiled into 24 volumes. The story takes place at Tenbi Academy, a school for the gifted as it were, where the students are taught how to use "Element". Those who can harness its power are commonly referred to as, "ability users". However, only the strongest and most proficient among them are granted the use of Maken, and only the elite become members of Maken-ki.

As the student council, they're charged with maintaining discipline at the academy. But that isn't what our pervy protagonist, Takeru Oyama, is interested in. Until a year ago, the academy was girls only. So now that it's gone Co-Ed, the student body is predominantly female and he wants to see as much of the "student body" as possible.

At least, he would, if his childhood friend Haruko, wasn't there to keep his wandering eye in check, since she's part of the disciplinary committee. But as luck would have it, he's a babe magnet. On his first day at the academy, the resident twin-tailed Tsundere (Himegami) literally falls into his lap and, at the introduction ceremony, he meets a strange girl named Inaho, who says she's his fiancee.

Harem related antics provide humor to balance out the underlying narrative, as the Kamigari group has their sights set on one student in particular, who's the key to releasing the seal atop Amanohara. So it's up to Tenbi's student council and the Venus Unit to keep it from happening.

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Maken-ki! provides examples of the following tropes:

• A-Cup Angst: Kodama, justified when she sees that Haruko wore pads in her bikini.
  • Hilariously invoked again in episode 9 during the pool battle. Her two spirits inadvertently insult her bust size as well, causing her to chuck them away along with Kengo later.
  • And in episode 1 of season 2, she and Kimi go into a corner of woe after hearing the bust sizes for Haruko, Chacha, Minori, and Ms. Aki.
• Accidental Kiss: It only happens twice in the manga, but the anime loves using it, mainly for comedy:
  • The first one happened between Himegami and Takeru, in chapter 1^note covered in the Suggestive Collision entry. And during the fight in chapter 5, he attempts to pull a diving save, but ends up on top of her in another liplock.
  • In the 2nd OVA, Haruko shoves him away from Inaho in a fit of jealousy, which causes him accidentally plant one on Takaki's cheek. Resulting in Takeru being decked by her and Yuuka at the same time.
  • And in episode 9 (season 2), Azuki gets stuck on a date with Takaki and ends up posing for mock wedding photos. Azuki trips on the train of Takaki's wedding dress, tries to regain her balance, and accidentally lays one on her right as the photographer snaps the shot. Takaki swoons and passes out, since it was her first kiss.
• Accidental Pervert: Takeru and Usui... sometimes.
  • Like the time they ran into the girls' side of the hot spring to escape a rampaging bear and wound up glomping onto Himegami and Haruko, who sent them flying moments later.
  • Takeru also has a knack for falling in such a way that Haruko's skirt, or her pants, are always the only thing to grab onto, which he ends up pulling down, along with her underwear. It happens with such regularity that she can hardly be blamed for thinking he's doing it on purpose.
• Adaptation Deviation: The anime only adapted parts of the manga in its first season (covered on the analysis page). Season 2 deviates from the manga entirely, in favor of dialing up the fanservice.
• Adaptation Dye-Job: Colored manga scans show Takeru's hair is supposed to be brown, the anime changed it to being red. Likewise, Minerva goes from being a Whitehaired Pretty Girl, to having blue hair.
• All Anime Is Naughty Tentacles: Haruko and the other girls get captured by a giant octopus, during their summer vacation on Okino Island (manga/chapter 29 - anime/episode 13).
• All Men Are Perverts: Takeru and Usui are the main offenders, with chapter 33 in particular showing the lengths they'll go to for a chance to see the girls naked. But they're not the only ones, as the series' main antagonist is a Dirty Old Man.
• All Women Are Lustful: At least Uruchi, Celia, and Love Espada are.
  • Celia isn't shy about her affections toward Takeru and what she wants from him. So she's more than willing to dress provocatively and let him grope her to his heart's content. Except she's the one girl he tries to avoid.
  • Love Espada goes even further. She's openly bisexual, though she's mainly built a reputation for seducing other women, due to such incidents like what happened at the previous Himekagura Festival^note see the Double Standard: Rape, Female on Female entry.
• Almost Kiss:
  • Inaho and Takeru nearly have one in the 2nd OVA. A jealous Haruko breaks it up before they manage to do it however. And by doing so, she inadvertently stopped Takeru from changing back to a guy, as Celia turned him into a girl earlier, and a kiss from a girl was required to change him back. He then accidentally gets kissed by several other girls after Haruko's forceful breaking up the two threw him into Himegami.
  • Aki and Takeru in episode 5 of season 2 while they are alone on an island. At the end, Aki and Takeru are about to kiss, but are interrupted by Haruko and Kodama who start to question what they were doing.
• Amazon Chaser: Applies to anyone brave (or foolish) enough to try hooking up with any of the girls at Tenbi Academy (see the Best Her to Bed Her entry).
• Amazonian Beauty: Azuki is the main example, being that she's one of the tallest girls at the school and has a naturally toned physique. Likewise, Demitra is the tallest among the Venus students and also shown to have toned thighs and calves. And both have the racks to show for it.
• Ambiguously Gay:
  • The manga subtly implies that Kimi may be either lesbian, or perhaps bisexual, given her preference for boys love and yuri manga. Along with the fact that she admitted to secretly practicing bondage techniques to use on other girls (chapter 33).
  • Yuuka's case borders on Hide Your Lesbians, due to the implications that she and Takaki may be 'more than friends'. Such as the flashback in chapter 48 where she referred to Takaki by her first name and said she was her "important person". There's also implications that Everyone Can See It, though no one says for certain whether they're actually an item.
• Amusing Injuries: In episode 2, Himegami catches Takeru and Usui in the act of trying to peek at the girls during their physical examinations. So she leaps down from an overhead branch and stomps both their faces into the ground. In the next scene, they're shown taking their examinations, each with a matching shoeprint on their faces.
• Author Appeal: It's clear that Takeda Hiromitsu has a thing for big busted women, as the majority of the female cast ranges from D-cup and above. Which is further reflected in his other works.
• Badass Creed: Recited by the students at Tenbi, before every duel:
  "To follow your path, you must first expose your soul to the blazing sun."
  "The Children of the Sun's path is carved into The Heavens!"
• Battle Aura: The girls often form one when fighting, or when they're mad at the guys.
• Battle Harem: Takeru has Haruko, Inaho, and Celia vying for his affections, though Haruko adamantly denies having feelings for him. All three are high-level ability users, two of whom, each wield one of the original 8 Maken.
• Beach Episode: Minori arranges for a group vacation to Okino Island for herself, Ms. Aki, and the student council, between chapters 28 and 30, which partly includes chapter 37. The anime loosely follows the same story in episode 13 and the OVA.
• The Beautiful Elite: The girls of Venus Academy are introduced in episode 7 ("The Goddesses who Came Down to Tenbi") and portrayed as stunningly beautiful; particularly Demitra and Yan-Min.
• Berserk Button: Everyone has one, but the most notable are:
  • Haruko gets jealous if it looks like Takeru's getting too close to any girl besides her, which usually results in her taking it out on him. Yet, she'll vehemently deny having feelings for him if anyone asks.
  • Himegami tends to be indifferent to most things, but she can't stand perverts, which Takeru and Kengo learned the hard way when she caught them trying to peep into the girls' locker-room. And if you value your life at all, do not call her flat-chested. Even her shikagami aren't exempt if they make THAT mistake.
  • If Takeru thinks someone's picking on a girl, he's likely to go into rage mode; especially if the girl is either Haruko, or Himegami. Which is why he keeps butting into duels, when more than half the time, his help isn't needed.
  • Miyabi has two and ticking either one can literally get the offender killed: 1.) don't call her old 2.) DO NOT interfere with Takeru Yamato's ambitions. The latter nearly got Takeru and Leo decapitated, if Himegami hadn't saved them.
• Best Her to Bed Her: It's the rule at Tenbi Academy, mainly enforced as a way of trying to discourage the guys from harassing the girls - the majority of whom have vastly superior strength and combat capability. Still, despite the overwhelming odds, it hasn't stopped a brave few, like Kai, from trying.
• Big Bad: Ouken Yamato is the driving force behind Kamigari's actions, using his power and influence in Tenbi's government to investigate the Ama no Iwato seal atop Amanohara. While also plotting to capture Himegami, whose Orochi blood is the key to breaking it.
• Big Damn Heroes:
  • In chapter 6, Haruko got an assist from Kimi, who used her "Comic Star" ability to enhance her speed. Which enabled her to get across campus in time to save Takeru and Uruchi from Kumi, just as she'd been about to finish them off.
  • Near the end of chapter 24, Minori shattered Kagezuchi's fireball with her fist, only moments before Usui and Akaya would've been incinerated.
  • In chapter 56, Takeru Yamato's plan to bait Takeru backfired, since he survived the attack and still prevented him from raping Himegami.
  • Yan-Min heralds her return appearance in chapter 75 with a flying kick, just as Idaten and Serin were about to double team Haruko.
  • The Venus unit pulls one of their own during episode 12, by rescuing Haruko from Otohime and her twin brother, Gouken. Then provided her with a portal leading directly back to Tenbi, so she could save it from Takeru, who's "Blood Pointer" had taken him over.
  • Downplayed near the end of episode 7 (season 2), since Rudolf lampshades the fact that Himegami's would-be assailant failed to realize he was outmatched. She only needed help because she had exhausted her power trying to fry Rudolf for annoying her, earlier.
• Big Good: Minori feels her time has passed and believes that it's the newer generation's responsibility to safeguard the academy. So she defers to Takaki's judgement, making her the de facto leader at Tenbi and its protector.
• Boring, but Practical: Takeru's "Overblow" ability overloads his opponent's Maken, to the point that it effectively shorts out^note much like overloading a circuit. But Gen warned him that it can potentially backfire, depending on the enemy's capacity and whether their Maken is able to sustain the excess power.
• Breaking the Fourth Wall: Done several times in the anime:
  • Minerva is the first one to do it in episode 7, where she's shown to have the first three volumes of the manga itself.
  • Yuuka does it while providing commentary during the pool battle in episode 9, when Ms. Aki takes out one of the nameless extras on the boys' team:
  Yuuka: (over the mic) "Ms. Aki just took out some random guy. But he's not a main character, so who cares?"
  • Rudolf does it twice back-to-back, in episode 7 of season 2. The first is when he confronts the thief, in order to save Himegami. Then delivers the second after defeating him:
  Rudolf: (at thief) "I got a quick look at you. You don't even know your limits, and you want to be in the standard cast?"
  Rudolf: (afterward) "You wanted to be a regular, despite not having your character name in the end credits? Don't make laugh."
• Brainwashed: Ouken can use his "Soul Collector" ability to control anyone he pleases; including altering their memories, or planting false ones. Therefore, everyone is terrified of him.
• Can't Get Away with Nuthin': Zigzagged between the main chapters and the omake shorts.
  • In the main chapters, none of Usui and Takeru's attempts to perv on the girls ever works. Mainly because their motive is pitifully transparent which is why the girls are always able to foil their plans.
  • The trend continues in the first three omake chapters, in which Usui dreams of different ways that he'd try to get Himegami involved in sexually provocative situations. Though each of them ends with Usui's dream "self" being punished by her instead. But he's had increasingly better luck in the subsequent omakes, which feature Love Espada and Ms. Aki instead. In 113.5, he gets to have a threeway makeout session with them, followed by performing oral sex on Espada before he wakes up.
• Cassandra Truth: In episode 5 of season 2, Takeru gets kidnapped by Ms. Aki's parents who then strand them alone on an island. When Haruko and Himegami find them, Takeru tries to explain what happened. But they don't believe him, since Aki stays silent. At the end of the episode, she admits that it was wrong to let him suffer, but seeing the other girls' jealousy of her made Aki feel young again.
• Cat Girl: Several of the main girls become one in episode 3 of season 2, thanks to Monji, Inaho's cat.
• Chekhov's Gun:
  • Back in chapter 11, Otohime offhandedly tells Akaya that she'd heard rumors about Tenbi Academy, including one that said "even the dead can come back to life" there. It seems trivial, until chapter 58, when Yuuka uses Makaru's ability to revive Himegami.
  • In chapter 12, Minerva has a conversation with Himegami, in which, Himegami's irises briefly become slitted like a dragon's. There's a reason for that: it's because she's Yamato no Orochi's daughter.
  • Minerva mentioned she can see Element itself, which is how Himegami realized Minerva could see her 'true form'. And in chapter 53, it was how Ouken knew that the real Himegami had died long ago. Because he could also see that her Element had simply taken metaphysical form in her likeness.
  • Minori made Takeru train with wrist and ankle bands weighted with Kugatama stones. Then explained that Kugatama absorbs Element from its surrounding environment until it becomes Magatama (chapter 28). Which happened thirty chapters later, after the stones had absorbed enough of Takeru's Element; making it possible for Yuuka to bring Himegami back to life.
  • And during chapter 55, Yan-Min briefly alludes to combining Elements when she explains that each type falls under one of the five primary colors^note since "Black" Element has the properties of all five. Which she uses in chapter 86, to combine her "Blue" Element with Azuki's "Green" and Celia's "Red", to create "White" Element, as a counter to Takeru Yamato's "Black".
• Childhood Marriage Promise: Subverted, since Inaho eventually admits that she never actually said she'd marry him. It was an idea she simply latched onto, since Takeru promised her they'd always be together. The anime version plays it straight.
• Chivalrous Pervert: Takeru, especially in the anime. In episode 5 (season 2), he gets stranded alone on an island with Ms. Aki, yet never tried to take advantage of the situation, while fighting his hormones half the time.
• Clingy Jealous Girl: Haruko. She often beats up Takeru even if he's innocent, and even goes so far as to move into the 3-bed dorm room that Takeru is staying in with 2 other girls, of course to ensure that nothing indecent is being done.
  • Surprisingly subverted with Inaho. She gets jealous, but not clingy the way Haruko does, nor does she beat him up over other girls trying to take him. However, she does get a little upset at him when Himegami and Haruko tell her about him being all alone on an island with Aki-sensei.
• Clones Are People, Too: Yamato Takeru has made an army of clones to prolong his existence. Aside from him and his most fanatical followers, most others treat his clones as if they're real people in their own right. It's also shown that the more advanced ones have wills of their own, with several of them even resenting their creator for using them as disposable pawns, which is why they eventually turn against him.
• Clothing Damage: In virtually every fighting scene involving the girls and a few of Takeru's as well.
• Crash-Into Hello: Which is how Himegami first met Takeru: by landing on top of him after she fell from a tree branch.
• Cross-Popping Veins: A few characters display these. Haruko seems to develop them anytime a girl is too close to Takeru.
• Cuteness Proximity: Happens to both Azuki and Himegami whenever they lay eyes on a stuffed animal, or Inaho's pet cat, Monji.
• Damsel in Distress: Happens to several of the girls in the first OVA when a giant octopus grabs them. Celia then arrives in an apparent Big Damn Heroes moment, only to then subvert it and invoke this trope and purposely get herself captured as well when she sees several of the girls calling for Takeru to help rescue them.
• Date Peepers: In episode 4, Himegami drags Takeru along with her to go shopping for lingerie^note In truth, she wanted time alone with him, in order to assess whether her suspicion about him being the reincarnation of her brother was correct. Haruko's jealousy kicks in, prompting her to follow them, aided by Inaho and Kengo.
• Declaration of Protection:
  • Takeru is wholly committed to the idea that girls shouldn't fight and are to be protected instead. But in many cases, they end up saving him.
  • The flashback in chapter 48 reveals that Yuuka took Takaki's place as one of Ouken's mistresses in order to protect her. Which gives Takaki the impetus to briefly overcome her phobia, so she could protect her friends.
• Defeat by Modesty:
  • At the climax of chapter 9, just as Yan-Min was about to score the winning shot for Venus, Azuki uses her foot to pull Yan-Min's bloomers off along with her panties! She's forced to cover herself, while Azuki steals the puck and takes the winning shot for Tenbi. Yan-Min is later seen blushing in embarrassment, with a towel draped across her lap.
  • The thief in episode 2 of season 2 uses several of the girls' modesty against them, to cover her escape. Takeru thought he'd be exempt since he was a guy, until the thief points out his "elephant", causing him to freeze in his tracks. Which allowed her to escape with Haruko's power, and her memories.
  • It fails to work on Azuki a second time, which allows her to catch said thief.
• Demoted to Extra:
  • The anime adaptation strips Himegami and Otohime of their plot relevancy, as deuteragonist and Dragon respectively, and reduces both of them to bit parts (see the character sheet).
  • In the manga, the Venus Unit play a major supporting role, complete with their own arc from chapters 15-25 and were integral to defending Tenbi during Kamagari's surprise assault in the final volume. You won't see any of it in the anime. They're only featured in episodes 7-9 and only get a cameo in episode 12. Season 2 omits them entirely.
• Denser and Wackier: The Yonkoma Spin-Off: Maken-Ki - Inaho and Friends, aside from original jokes it contains some events from the main series retold, with humor undertones.
• Depending on the Artist: The first season was animated by AIC, while the second was by Xebec. The character designs and animation style changed as a result.
• Deserted Island: In episode 5 of season 2, Takeru and Aki-sensei are put on the island where they were at during the OVA in the first season. However, they're entirely alone this time, and Aki-sensei's mother says they'll be picked up after two days, so they are to "make memories together", and pop some kids out while they're on the island.
• Deus Sex Machina: Takeru Yamato is said to have ravished his concubines in order to further his bloodline and had his soul placed in a jar, which only those of his lineage could open. Thereby ensuring he'd have new host bodies to take over, in order to sustain his own existence.
• Did Not Get the Girl: By the final chapter, Kai is no closer to hooking up with Azuki and Himegami still only regards Usui as one of her friends.
• Distant Finale: Played for Laughs at the end of episode 8 (season 2). Usui spends his final moments as an old man on his deathbed, when an angel resembling Himegami descends on him. Then proceeds to grind her foot in his face, with him smiling as she does so. The narrator says he appeared to have died happily.
• Distracted by the Sexy:
  • Himegami's such a hottie that, in chapter 49, Takeru actually paused in the middle of a battle with Ouken Yamato to stare at her ass, when he noticed the back of her skirt was torn. She promptly fried him for it.
  • It happens again, 20 chapters later, when Takeru loses his train of thought while staring at Love Espada's ass, as she's walking away.
  Takeru: (thinking) "But... if she was able to do that much while facing Haru-nee and the Principal, then... how..."
  (looks down and realizes she's openly wearing a thong at school)
  Takeru: (now with nosebleed) "How HOT. Why isn't she changing?"
  • Uruchi usually only has eyes for Haruko, but the sight of Love Espada bending over onstage in a Playboy Bunny costume was too provocative even for her to ignore. It caused her to get a nosebleed as well, and had to be snapped out of it by Takaki ordering her and the others to take Espada off the stage.
  • In chapter 63, Takeru asks Aki to cosplay for him to give him encouragement to study for an upcoming exam. She goes along with it, despite her reservations, but he couldn't concentrate due to fantasizing about Aki. Finally, after two mishaps^note the first incident involved Takeru accidentally yanking her top up along with her bra, fully exposing her breasts. Later, she falls asleep on the couch and forgets that she isn't wearing a skirt. So when she woke up, Takeru got a clear shot of her panties. Aki used casting to make him forget what he saw both times, she decides it would be best for Takeru to study on his own.
  • And in episode 4, Takeru and Usui couldn't take their eyes off Aki's cleavage while she was giving them their physical exam. But she fails to realize what they were staring at.
• Double Standard: Abuse, Female on Male: Par for the course, Haruko never gets called out for any of the times she beats up on Takeru, regardless whether he's actually at fault. Like the time Minerva swiped Haruko and Inaho's panties and forgot to give 'em back. Haruko took it out on him, instead of her.
• Double Standard: Rape, Female on Female: There's two instances of attempted rape, which are treated as heinous since it was guys doing it. Yet, the incident where Love Espada did the same thing to Takaki, Haruko, Minori, and Aki, is brushed off as fanservice. Takeru and Usui were only upset that they weren't there to see it.
• Drunk with Power: In episode 8 of season 2, Kengo is made the principal after the real principal quits due to overhearing some girls claim how easy she must have it. He immediately takes advantage of it, by forcing the girls to do various sexually comprimising things such as limbo under a bar at the entrance, and anyone who knocked the bar over would be considered late. Measure their breats for math, jump rope in gym so their breasts would bounce or wrestle in bikini's and read sexual lines in english.
• Easy Amnesia: Haruko's powers and memories are stolen during episode 2 of season 2, although both are recovered by the end of the episode.
• Ecchi: You'll be seeing frequent close-ups of boobs, camel toe, and half-naked chicks, especially in the anime which nearly doubles the amount of T&A. Season 2 deviates from the manga altogether and goes full-on Hotter and Sexier.
• Erotic Eating: Several of the girls do this in episode 8 of season 2, after the cafeteria menu changes.
• Explaining Your Power to the Enemy
• Expy/Cast of Expies: Judging from some of his character designs, Takeda seems to be a fan of BlazBlue and The King of Fighters.
  • Inaho is the spitting image of Makoto Nanaya (minus the tail), right down to her perpetual cat smile.
  • Himegami shares a lot in common with Rachel Alucard. They're both pigtailed blondes, both are childlike in appearance yet centuries old, each dresses in gothic lolita fashion, and have familiars who travel with them.
  • Demitra could pass for Leona Heidern's twin sister. She looks just like her minus the ponytail, both have been emotionally repressed since childhood, and eventually became mercenaries.
  • Otohime and her twin brother, Gouken, are much like Rose and Adelheid Bernstein. Otohime has the same hairstyle as Rose. Plus, they're both short-tempered, yet smug and manipulative. And each think the world of their brothers. Whereas Gouken and Adelheid are both calm and reserved, exceptional hand-to-hand combatants who favor kicks, and both are white-haired pretty boys.
• Fanservice: You'll be seeing so many upskirt panty shots, camel toe, and cleavage, that it becomes easy to forget that there's actually a story. Make that double for the anime, which hardly bothers with the plot at all before ditching it completely, in favor of ramping up the T&A.
• Fantastic Racism: Much like the anti-mutant hysteria in the X-Men comics, the human populace in Maken-ki! fear and are distrustful of ability users. There's even a government sanctioned branch of Japan's military trained specifically to oppose ability users.
• Fantastic Terrorists: The secret organization Kamigari, led by Yamato Ouken, is an organization with a purpose of killing ancient gods in the past. However, as the time went by, they control Japan in the shadows. Its members wield immense supernatural powers and Maken in order to fight those who stand in their way.
• Fictional Country: The series is set in Tenbi, which Himegami explains is a small autonomous region of Japan, with its own geography and government. Tenbi Academy was named after it.
• Fighting Series: Everything, and we mean everything, at Tenbi is decided through battle, or some sort of contest that includes use of their powers. That includes a friggin' quiz game. We're not kidding.
• Forced Orgasm:
  • Seen during the flashback in chapter 69, when Haruko and Takaki recount what Love Espada did to them at the previous Himekagura Festival. During which, she's shown with her back arched and her hand cupped over her mouth, as Espada was fingering her.
  • Espada herself suffers this during chapter 79 due to taking an attack from Azuki's newly evolved Maken which was strong enough to draw blood from her. The next scene is a full-page spread of Espada smiling with a full faced blush, as she squirts - complete with a sound effect hiragana and a ?.
• Foreign Exchange Student: Chacha and the members of the Venus unit all come from different countries, but the only ones whose nationalities are known are: Yan-Min (China) and Celia (America).
• Forgotten First Meeting: In the anime version, Inaho and Takeru made a childhood promise, except he's forgotten about it and it's never explained why. The details of their promise differs in the manga and it's eventually revealed why Takeru's doesn't remember it^note which is covered in the Easy Amnesia entry in Takeru's section of the character sheet.
• Full-Contact Magic: While the majority of the cast rely on weapon-type Maken, Azuki, Minori, and Yan-Min all specialize in direct combat, so their Maken accommodates their proficiency in hand-to-hand. 'Hawk' allows Azuki to channel wind, Minori's "Dragon Ace" controls thermal energy, and Yan-Min's "Reilii" form enables her to literally move and strike like lightning.
• Gender Bender: During chapter 19, Takeru used "Overblow" to briefly short out Celia's Maken, which is how he and the others first learned Celia is transgender and uses her Maken to transition.
• Genki Girl: Inaho and Celia. Especially when the topic of Takeru is involved.
• Genre Savvy: Minerva mentions how Takeru is living in a Harem series when she visits his room with 3 of the main girls.
• Girls Love Stuffed Animals: Azuki and Himegami both have a weakness for teddy bears:
  • When Azuki gets ratted out by Kinua in front of the school, she's briefly shown drooling happily in her sleep◊, while snuggling in bed with hers.
  • Himegami spent a portion of the school's budget on stuffed animal catalogs and, in season 2, she buys a teddy bear that's alive and obsessed with groping girls' boobs.
• Girlish Pigtails: Himegami always keeps her hair fashioned in a long pair of wavy-looking pigtails. Whereas Demitra's are braided and extend down her back.
• Girly Bruiser: The majority of the female cast, while feminine, wield immense amounts of Elemental power. Most notably, Haruko and Inaho who each possesses one of the original 8 Maken, which are said to be the strongest of them all.
• Girly Run: Both Haruko and Inaho run daintily whenever they're late for school. Yet, they're still faster than Takeru and Kengo, who can barely keep up with them.
• Going Commando: Haruko, Inaho, and Azuki wound up spending the entirety of chapters 22-24 without their underwear, after Minerva used her dimensional powers to steal them, because she forgot to give 'em back.
• Greater-Scope Paragon: Takaki answers directly to the faculty of Tenbi Academy, who were the founders of the original Maken-ki. Since they've retired, with Minori now serving as the academy's principal/PE teacher, they've placed Takaki in charge of maintaining discipline at the school and protecting its students from outside threats such as Kamigari.
• Head Pet: Monji, the cat Inaho finds in episode 6, does this to her a lot. She doesn't seem to mind it.
• Heroic Sacrifice:
  • The flashback in chapter 48 revealed Takaki would've been raped as punishment for declining to join Kamigari, if Yuuka hadn't saved her by taking her place as Ouken's mistress.
  • Near the end of chapter 56, Himegami sacrifices her life to shield Takeru from what would've been a fatal attack from Takeru Yamato. She has time enough for a farewell kiss and a few parting words. It's subverted two chapters later.
  • Also subverted with Rudolf (a living teddy bear), who reverts to normal after expenlding his power to save Himegami from a random thug. Afterward, he's still "alive", but no longer able to move.
• Hopeless Suitor:
  • Kai nurses an unrequited crush on Azuki, going so far as to challenge her just for a date. She only accepted, because she thought he didn't have a chance against her.
  • In the manga, Usui soon falls for Himegami, who ranges from being indifferent, to sociable towards him at best. Which finally changes at the end of chapter 65, when she tells him he just might have a chance with her after all.
  • Also applies to the majority of the male students because they have almost no chance of getting with any of the girls - between several of them flocking to Takeru, and the rest being too strong for them to defeat.
• Hospital Hottie:
  • Aki is the school nurse at Tenbi Academy and is a such a babe, that the guys can't stop staring.
  • Usui dreamt of Himegami as his secretary, during the 66.5 omake chapter; complete with a fetish style nurse's uniform.
• Hot Springs Episode: Done in chapters 4 and 33 respectively:
  • Yuuka arranges for a group trip to Tenbi's private hot spring, to welcome Takeru and Usui as Maken-ki's newest members. Which also gave them the chance to become acquainted with the girls.
  • And during their stay on Okino Island, the girls decided to bathe an outdoor hot spring... without the guys. Takeru and Usui escape, moments later, and try to make it there in time to see some skin, but Yuuka stalls them by rigging the area with traps. By the time they reach the spring, the girls had already finished and were nowhere to be seen.
• Hot Teacher: Akaya's easy on the eyes, with a physique to match. So the female students at Tenbi vy for his attention whenever he's around. Subverted where the student council are concerned, as they're indifferent towards him and his own students diss him.
• Hotter and Sexier: The manga is almost tame compared to the anime, which is so borderline, that it had to be censored for its broadcast run.
  • As of chapter 74, the manga no longer censors toplessness. Ms. Aki's nipples are shown during a brief flashback near the beginning, and we're given a close-up of Yuuka's on the opening page of the next chapter.
• The Immodest Orgasm:
  • Takeru fingers herself to one in the second OVA episode (noted in the Sexy Discretion Shot entry).
  • Rudolf the teddy bear subjects many girls to this in episode 7 of season 2 by fondling their breasts. He also saves Himegami this way, but utilizing this against the thug as he knocks him out.
• Innocent Fanservice Girl:
  • In the anime, Inaho doesn't mind if Takeru sees her naked, such as in episode 2 (season 2). She saw Haruko enter the bath with Takeru to wash his back^note Haruko's memory had been stolen at the time, which made her openly express her feelings toward Takeru, so Inaho stripped down and joined them.
  • The same is true of Aki, as the anime makes her naively oblivious of the stares she draws from the male students. Which contradicts the manga's portrayal of her character, where she's perfectly aware of it and is self-conscious because of it.
• Intimate Lotion Application:
  • During the "Summer Training Camp Arc", Aki asks Takeru if he can rub oil on her back, and since she's his Lust Object he almost literally jumps at the chance but doesn't get to do it since a jealous Haruko kicks him into submission for his perverted intentions.
  • In chapter 39, Takeru and Usui learn that Aki is a virgin, something that she's deeply embarrassed about, so she promises she'll do "anything" if they'll keep it a secret, and Takeru picks "rubbing oil on her body" since he never got to do it, and she reluctantly agrees. While he actually gets to touch her this time, he still ends up interrupted by a jealous Celia, who puts a stop to the whole thing and drags him off.
• I Want Grandkids: After being told by her daughter that she was dating Takeru, Aki's mother has him abducted, cuffs him to Aki, and strands him on an island with her. Then leaves a note saying she wanted them to, "make memories together".
• I Want My Beloved to Be Happy: Inaho seems okay if Takeru doesn't choose her, so long as the other girl he chooses is Haruko. She still gets jealous if any other girl shows interest in him however.
• Jizzed in My Pants:
  • It happens to the unnamed waitress featured in the 70.5 omake chapter, after she drops her serving tray and spills tea on herself. Then has an orgasm while still in uniform, when Espada sucks some of it of her fingers.
  • Espada has the same thing happen during chapter 79. Except, in her case, it was due to taking an attack from Azuki's newly evolved Maken which was strong enough to draw blood from her. The next scene is a full-page spread of Espada smiling with a full faced blush, as she squirts - complete with a sound effect hiragana and a ♥.
• Lens Flare Censor: Used, in the television edition, to cover the girls' naughty bits during upskirt scenes, or when they're getting changed, and when they're in the shower. If you want to see it uncensored, you'll have to buy the DVD/Blu-Ray boxset.
• Let's Fight Like Gentlemen: At Tenbi, fighting outside of duels is strictly prohibited and punished by members of Maken-ki. Challenges are issued and conducted formally, including an official to see that the match is fought fairly, and begins once the duelists have agreed upon the terms^note each states what they're competing for, with the loser having to comply with the winner's demands. However, challenges can be declined.
• Lingerie Scene: There's several scenes of the girls in lingerie, with Himegami being the main one. She's often seen trying on new lingerie sets and posing in front of the mirror, or slipping into and out of her clothes, back at the dorm. So you'll get to see plenty of leg as she's pulling on her stockings, and close-ups of her hips and buttocks when trying on her new panties.
• Lovable Sex Maniac: Usui. The manga has him comically go out of his way to try to prove his love for Himegami. At one point, he was perfectly willing to be incinerated by her and said he preferred to think of it as her love for him. And in chapter 56, he willingly walked into a punch from Takeru Yamato just so he could cover her with his shirt.
• Love Confession: Haruko delivers one to Takeru during episode 2 of season 2. However, she was suffering from Easy Amnesia at the time, and claims to not have remembered anything she did during that episode after her memories return. Takeru takes it a sign that things are back to normal. Shortly after, however, Haruko seems mad at her amnesia self for having declared her feelings for him, indicating she fully remembers everything she did during that time, such as telling Takeru that losing her memories allowed her to fall in love with him twice.
• Lust Object:
  • Despite being semi-flatchested, Himegami is still considered one of the hottest girls at the academy. Her fanclub repeatedly goes on about how much they love her body, including her "itty-bitty titties". Takeru paused during a battle with Ouken Yamato, just to stare at her ass, when he noticed the back of her skirt was torn. And between omake chapters 61.5 and 66.5, Usui has two separate wet dreams about her that each end with him dry humping his mattress, afterward.
  • Aki is the school nurse, who's popular with the vast majority of the male students, because of her K-Cup breasts. They'll even fake sickness and injury just for the chance to ogle her.
  • Both Takeru and Uruchi have the hots for Haruko. The latter openly fangasms over her, to the point that Uruchi is canonically gay for her.
  • Love Espada counts as one for nearly the student body at Tenbi - both male and female. And she's just as eager to please, because she's openly bisexual, perpetually horny, and has seduced over 100 female students. Dozens more are eager to be next in line.
• Male Gaze: You'll be seeing so much camel toe (especially from Himegami), along with lots, and LOTS of zoomed-in shots of boobs, that it actually outdoes Highschool of the Dead.
• Man, I Feel Like a Woman: The premise of the chapter 37 bonus story, which was made in celebration of the upcoming anime adaptation at that time. Celia uses her Inversion ability to change Takeru and Usui into girls, for fun, after they drunkenly barge in on the girls' private get-together at the beach house. The same story was later loosely adapted into the OVA^note For differences between the two, see the analysis page.
• Megaton Punch: The male characters are often on the receiving end of these, for both justified, as well as unjustified reasons.
• Meido:
  • Azuki secretly works at the Macaroon maid cafe, after school hours. She didn't tell any of her friends, because she assumed they'd be too embarrassed to set foot there. She was wrong.
  • Haruko and the other girls join up during chapters 26 and 27, to try to help Azuki raise money so she could come with them to Okino Island. For anime viewers, that's episode 11.
• Moe Couplet: Kimi and Chacha are so close, that they have a 'cute kid sis'/cool big sis dynamic and are virtually inseparable. It was thanks to Chacha that Kimi broke out of her shell, due to their mutual interest in manga and cosplay. Which is best seen during the Manga Convention in chapter 60 where they cosplay as Alena and Manya from Dragon Quest IV.
• Mood Whiplash: A particularly horrifying case of it during chapter 58: seeing Takeru joke around with Himegami and Yuuka only moments after he had beaten Gouken Yamamto to death.
• Ms. Fanservice:
  • For all the jokes about how small Himegami's breasts are, she's the series' front-runner for fanservice. Want camel toe? You'll be seeing more of it from her, than anyone else. She's also got a hot pair of legs, a nice ass, constantly wears thigh-high stockings, and, if you're a foot fetishist, there's official art of her barefeet and multiple scenes of her grinding her foot in Takeru's face.◊
  • Aki is the school nurse, who's popular around campus for being a K-Cup. Plus, she typically wears a revealing blouse with a skin-tight skirt, and her chest bounces in nearly all of her scenes. There's also plenty of official art of her in fetish wear (NSFW link) and pinup poses.
  • Celia's introduction in episode 8 has her posing in different bikinis to the cheers of her fans. But despite being stacked, most of her scenes place emphasis on her hips and buttocks instead. And, unlike the other girls, she doesn't mind Takeru ogling her or feeling her up. She encourages it.
  • But Love Espada repeatedly upstages her, due to being openly bisexual and utterly shameless. Chapter 65 had her enter the boys locker-room in nothing but a thong string bikini and high-heels, in an attempt to seduce Takeru. And the 70.5 omake chapter has her recount how the featured unnamed girl willingly became her Sex Slave.
• Mundane Utility:
  • Celia's "Inversion" ability allows her to invert anything. She first uses it to reverse velocities (throwing someone running towards her backwards), but also shows she's capable of using it on more abstract things^note at one point, she inverts Takeru's determination, causing him to spontaneously lose the will to fight. But she mainly uses it to maintain her girl form.
  • Still, that's nothing compared to Minerva who's power exceeds even SS class ability, granting her unlimited dimensional powers. But she's such a ditz and a pervert, that she only uses it to steal other girls' underwear.
• Naked People Are Funny: Invoked by Himegami in chapter 7, where she and Haruko greet Takeru in their underwear to make him laugh.
• Navel-Deep Neckline: Minori's boobs are so big that she can only pull the zipper of her sweatshirt halfway up, and the neckline of Aki's blouse is almost as low because of the gargantuan size of HER breasts.
• No Animals Were Harmed: In episode 3, a bear wanders into the pool area where the Kenkeibu are meeting up. They're forced to deal with it, and they use their various abilities to launch the bear away via a giant wooden plank, but then make a magical cushion appear to avoid making the bear go splat against the mountain. A few scenes later the bear, a bit dizzy but no worse for the wear, wanders off after recovering.
• Nosebleed: Takeru and Usui have them frequently, whenever they're perving on any of the girls. Uruchi gets 'em too, at times when she's lusting after Haruko.
• Oblivious to Love:
  • Takeru knows how Inaho and Ceila feel about him, since they constantly tell him. But when it comes to Haruko, he has no clue. Mainly because she repeatedly denies having any feelings for him, yet beats him up whenever she catches him with another girl.
  • As for Haruko, she doesn't realize Uruchi has the hots for her, when it's blatantly obvious to everyone else since Uruchi isn't subtle about it.
• One-Man Army:
  • Applies to Gouken Yamato and Tesshin Kushiya, who are both so proficient in Element usage and unarmed combat, that each is capable of facing multiple A and S-rank Maken users at once and emerge victorious.
  • So can Love Espada, whose overwhelming power and swordsmanship enabled her to effortlessly defeat Haruko, Takaki, and Minori at once.
  • In chapter 86, Yan-Min gains the ability to use White Element, which causes her "Rei-Lei" to evolve into "Bai-Lei"^note lit. "White Thunder". Then uses it to soundly defeat Jigoku, Idaten, and Serin, on her own in quick succession.
  • And as the series two main antagonists, both Ouken Yamato and Takeru Yamato have utterly curbstomped multiple high-level Maken users single-handedly; including the likes of Minori and Yan-Min.
• One of the Boys: Azuki is the token tomboy character of the series, from her short hair and straightforward attitude. Their principal, Minori, is just like her except Hot-Blooded and far stronger.
• Overdramatic Dating Commotion: Happens twice:
  • Upon meeting Takeru for the first time, Celia takes an immediate liking to him. Then she tells him he should be her "steady boyfriend," to which his male classmates start acting like zombies due to envy and start fighting him physically.
  • After Kodama kisses Takeru to thank him, the boys are jealous of him for stealing "Kodama-san's purity", vowing to kill him one day.
• Overshadowed by Awesome: Pretty much all the guys in the series. Goes so far as to put them in the background in their own Corner of Woe at the opening title, while the girls are prominently displayed up front.
  • The entire Maken-Ki feels this way after witnessing Minori's power punch in the OVA.
  • Minori compared to Ms. Aki, who all the male students have boners for, because her gargantuan rack. So Minori can't help wondering why no one has the hots for her, when she and Aki are only a cup size apart.
  • Takeru Yamato and his Shishigami, to some extent, make practically everyone look weak and pitiful.
• Panty Fighter: As noted in the summary, plenty of the girls' undies are shown during fight scenes.
• Plot Hole: A minor one occurs in chapter 26: Haruko says she never knew Azuki had a part-time job, despite having seen her at work in chapter 5.
• Power Levels: Subverted. In Maken-ki!, the characters' fighting ability is separated into two categories: their Maken's rank and their ability usage (i.e. the user's ability to properly utilize Element and to what extent). However, Minori explained that an ability user's rank is not an absolute measure of their fighting ability. Meaning, it's entirely possible for someone at a lower rank to defeat an opponent ranked above themselves. Such as when Azuki^note B rank Maken/A rank ability user, so her ability usage exceeds her Maken's level. was able to fight evenly with Yan-Min^note S rank Maken/S rank ability user.
• Potty Dance: In Episode 5 of Two!, Aki does a one-handed version of this.
• Red Eyes, Take Warning:
  • In Himegami's case, her pupils become slitted, like a dragon's; usually as a sign of extreme anger.
  • Also seen right before Love Espada struck Takeru with her "Split S" special attack. All that can be seen is a single glowing eye, while the upper half of her face is cast in shadow.
  • Yuuka mimicked Love Espada (albeit with a slasher smile) during the OVA, right as she and Takaki deck Takeru at the same time, when Haruko shoved him onto her.
• Rescue Reversal:
  • In chapter 14, Akaya abducted Himegami to coerce Haruko, Azuki, Inaho, and Takeru into a 4-on-4 duel against the Venus Unit to assess Maken-ki's level of ability. But when it seemed he had fatally shot Takeru, Himegami became so enraged that she freed herself and was prepared to reduce Akaya to ashes. Which sparked a clash between her and Minerva, for coming to his defense.
  • Near the end of episode 10 (season 2), Takaki gets captured by a group of delinquents and used as leverage against her new "boyfriend"^note Azuki was disguised as a boy, having been pressured into going on a pretend date with Takaki, by Yuuka and the others, who thought it'd help Takaki get over her fear of men, by making it so he couldn't fight back. Takaki is forced to watch as he takes a beating for her, until one of their Maken attacks shreds his shirt, revealing a pair of breasts. At that point, she realized it was Azuki, shook off her binds, and unleashed Habaya to punish them for assaulting a Tenbi student.
• The Rival: It didn't take long for sparks to fly between Azuki and Yan-Min, when they first met, due to the latter's insulting the Maken-ki by calling them weak. Yuuka proposed that they settle it with a game of volleyball, to prevent them from fighting. The match ended in a draw, with both girls gaining respect for each other.
• Scenery Censor:
  • Used near the beginning of chapter 31, when Takeru accidentally pulls down Haruko's shorts while trying to climb out of the lagoon. A lock of his hair fits perfectly over the spot where her vagina would be, preventing the reader from seeing what he was seeing.
  • Also used liberally in the broadcast version of the anime; particularly during bath scenes, where carefully placed shampoo bottles, spigots, and wash buckets are used to obscure the girls' naughty bits.
• School Idol: Celia is an idol from America. Turns out she's a wrestling idol. Should have done a little more research before you tried to tackle her, Inaho.
• Sexy Discretion Shot:
  • Chapter 32 opens with a veiled set of panels of Ouken Yamato banging one of his concubines, causing the guardian statue outside the bedchamber to shake from the force of his thrusts. It topples over right as she achieves orgasm.
  • Seen about halfway into OVA episode 2. After Takeru shoves her hands down her pants and props her leg up on the bathroom counter, the scene shifts so her back is turned toward the viewer. You get to see a bit of hip motion, before the scene cuts to the hallway, allowing the audience to hear the rest 'til she finally hits the big "O".
  • In episode 7 of season 2, Himegami makes the mistake of leaving Nozuchi alone with Rudulf, while she took a shower. By the time she returns, minutes later, she finds Nozuchi passed out next to Rudolf, with hearts in her eyes, while he's smugly having a cigar.
• Sex God: Ouken and Love Espada are near equally matched in that regard (refer to the related entry in their respective sections of the character sheet).
• Sexiness Score: In the second chapter/episode, Takeru and Usui bolt from class to peep on the girls stripping down for a school health check, scoring their bodies as they become visible.
• Shout-Out: Maken-ki! has plenty:
  • Kai's Maken ability is called "Fullmetal," which allows him to cast any part of his body in steel, though he mainly uses it on his right arm. Sound familiar?
  • When a bear shows up at the Maken-Ki's meet and great, Chacha jokes that if they get it wet, it will turn human. It is then speculated that there is likely a little black pig and wet pretty girl nearby.
  • When Haruko and Kimi go to visit the Anime Club at the school, you can see figures and boxes that look suspiciously like Kamina, Madoka, and FLCL.
  • During the manga convention in chapter 60, Kimmi and Chacha cosplay as Alena and Manya from Dragon Quest IV.
  • The title of episode 5 of season 2 is a shout out to Onegai Teacher.
  • Episode 8 of Season 2 has a shout out to Downfall where Kengo flips out much like Adolph did.
  • The Manga convention in Season 2 has Cosplayers dressed as, among others, Mio Sakamoto and Perrine Cloistermann from Strike Witches
• Skinship Grope:
  • Other people sleepwalk. Haruko sleep-gropes (episode 13). As in, going from one girl's bed to the next and spooning with them, while fondling them from behind. Though she may have gone all the way with Takaki.
  • Ironically, Takeru did the same thing to her in OVA episode 2, while he was in girl form. Haruko wakes up to the feeling of something rubbing against her and finds it's Takeru sleeping facedown between her thighs. But when Takeru awakes and sees where she is, she figures 'why not?' and licks her way up Haruko's body; including her breasts.
• The Spartan Way: At Tenbi Academy, everything is decided through battle. You want a date? Be prepared to fight for it. Literally. Grudges get settled with superpowered volleyball matches and the guys even had to challenge the girls to a water polo free-for-all, just for the sake of Co-Ed swimming classes.
• Spell My Name With An S: Is it Syria or Celia? The subs can't seem to agree on the spelling of Kimi/Kimmy's name either.
• Status Quo Is God: Takeru mentions this in episode 2 of season 2 after Haruko claims she doesn't remember anything she did while suffering from Easy Amnesia that episode. However, Haruko's rant to herself at the end suggests she does in fact remember it, such as telling him she fell in love with him again after losing her memories, and being unable to tell him how she really felt about him.
• Suggestive Collision: In episode 1 (chapter 1). Takeru noticed Himegami hanging upside-down from a tree branch, at school, giving him a full view of her panties. Which startled her, causing her to fall directly on top of him. The anime shows it from top-down perspective, but the manga uses an upskirt angle at ground level — showing his erection was pressed against her camel toe.
• Super-Deformed: Inaho in the 4Koma, she's perpetually chibified.
• Suspiciously Specific Denial:
  • Seen during the flashback in episode 13, when Yuuka mentions how 'certain people' have been dipping into the club's treasury, including two expense claims for bear-related books and stuffed animals:
  Azuki: (with blank white eyes) "I-I've never even heard of Ma-chan the Koala!"
  Himegami: (same as Azuki) "Me, neither.. I don't know her little brother, Pu-chan, either!"
  • Haruko usually denies having any romantic interest in Takeru, but the other characters, especially Himegami, see right through her. Mainly because she keeps giving herself away.
• Thanks for the Mammary:
  • Haruko must have magnets in her boobs, 'cuz Takeru can't seem to keep his hands, or his face, of them and it isn't always "accidental".
  • Ironically, Haruko is guilty of it herself, as the flashback in episode 13 shows she has a habit of groping other girls in her sleep!
  Ms. Aki: [amused] "I've heard of a sleepwalker, but never a sleep molester."
  Yuuka: [matter-of-factly] "She paid me a visit too. It was a surprise, to say the least."
  Kimi: [shyly] "You got a handful of my girls too."
• Title Drop: Done during chapter 4 (episode 3 in the anime).
• Too Hot for TV:
  • The anime adaptation cranks up the fanservice to the point of bordering on softcore porn. So frequent lense flare, Censor Steam, and foreground objects are used to cover the girls in the appropriate areas. All of which is removed from the DVD/Blu-ray boxset, which is completely uncensored.
  • Several scenes are also changed between the broadcast version and the boxset, such as the scene where Himegami poses for Rudolf at the end of episode 7 (season 2). The censored version only shows her from the waist up, in a bra and panties. In the boxset, she's naked and the second mini-special shows she also sleeps naked with him.
  • The first mini-special features Haruko, shown naked in bed as she acts out how she imagines it'd be like to have sex with Takeru. All four of the mini-specials are exclusive to the boxset.
• Took a Level in Badass:
  • Takeru got a major bump up, after training with Minori so he could withstand his Blood Pointer ability, along with a boost from Tesshin. Which enabled him to go head-to-head against Ouken Yamato in a brawl.
  • After his loss to Yan-Min, Kai went to the Oyama dojo during his summer break to ask Takeshi to train him. By the start of the following semester, he had become one of the few that're capable of casting without a Maken!
• Too Kinky to Torture: The thief in episode 2 of season 2. She seems to be enjoying the punishment being dealt towards her by Yuuka to force her to release Haruko's memories back.
• Tsundere: Haruko is a Type B (default dere-dere). Himegami is a Type A (default tsun-tsun).
• Unprovoked Pervert Payback: Takeru and Usui are often justifiably punished for perving on the girls, but there are occasion where Takeru is innocent. Such as at the end of the first episode in season 1, when Haruko caught Inaho sleeping next to him. Despite the fact that it was his bunk and Inaho had climbed in after he'd fallen asleep, Haruko slapped Takeru out of jealousy, rather than chastise Inaho.
• Unwanted Rescue: Takeru means well, but the girls hate it when he keeps insisting on interfering, where his help isn't wanted and often not even needed. They'll usually give him an earful afterward, and he'll offer an apology. Except he continues to do it again, whenever any of them seems to be in danger.
• Walking Swimsuit Scene: Justified twice, in chapters 4 and 10 respectively.
  • In the first instance, the members of Maken-ki to took a trip to the hot springs. When the girls stepped out in their bikinis, Takeru and Usui got boners.
  • And when the teams were assembling for the 'guys vs. girls' water polo match, Aki, Akaya, and Minori arrived together along with Celia.
• War Is Hell: Used durng episode 7 (season 2), when Rudolf tells Himegami about what happened to his previous owner and her village, during World War II. They were the unfortunate victims of an Allied bombing run, which killed her.
• Wham Line: Delivered by Ouken near the end of chapter 49, in an attempt to demoralize Takeru:
  Ouken:(at Takeru) "I don't understand-- Why are you helping that girl? She isn't even a human. She's nothing but a doll. That body is made of what's left of the real Kodama Himegami.
• What's He Got That I Ain't Got?!: You'd think most girls wouldn't give Takeru the time of day, considering he's plain looking, book dumb, and a lecher. Yet, it hasn't stopped several of the hottest girls at the school from falling for him. Which gets lampshaded during the water polo match in episode 9, when Celia flirts with him too:
  male student: (shouts from offscreen) "WHY DOES THAT JACKASS GET ALL THE GIRLS??!"
  (the other guys start booing Takeru)
• What the Hell, Hero?: Noted in the Unwanted Rescue entry.
• Won the War, Lost the Peace: Played for laughs in episode 9. The boys want coed swimming classes, while the girls want segregated ones. They decide on it by having a boys vs girls water calvary battle. In the end Takeru is the last person with his headband still on, and the boys win. But the girls asked Usuya to use his Chameleon Maken ability to turn them all invisible, to deny the boys their spoils.
• World of Action Girls: As a result of the cast being predominantly female, most of whom, are students at Tenbi. Tenbi Academy was formerly an all-girls' school for the gifted, where the curriculum includes combat training. The same is true of Venus Academy, which is more like an all-girl military school.
• World of Buxom: Most of the females in the show are huge. Somehow Takeru always seems to find his hand or face in them as well.
• Wouldn't Hit a Girl: Takeru. Justified by the fact that he developed this complex because of the tragic death of his mother. Other characters, however, repeatedly warn him that he has to get over this.
  • Arguably full-out deconstructed when someone asks him what he would do if he saw a girl beating up another girl (a very real possibility in this school), and he can't come up with an answer. "Unless you're saying it's all right for girls to beat up girls?"
• Zombie Apocalypse: Played for Laughs. All of the male students in Takeru's class essentially have that "look" when Celia arrives in their class in episode 8 and proclaims him to be her boyfriend. They even parody bringing him down as if to eat him, only to beat him up. When Inaho gets upset at Celia's declaration, Kengo immediately points out that Takeru doesn't have long to live anyway, right before they take him down.

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