A "love comedy battle hero" tokusatsu show with original story by Keita Amemiya of GARO fame and written by Toshiki Inoue.
In another dimension, there exists a place called the World of Absolute Truth, or Chou Shinkai. In this world live (mostly) virtuous super beings called Hikaribito (People of Light). However, some of them fall from virtue and commit crimes. They are known as Kageribito (People of Shadow).
There are monsters in Chou Shinkai called Magii (マギー). When Magii appear in the human world, they can be seen by people with strong spiritual senses. Since ancient times, Magii have been called mononoke or youkai.
The hot-blooded Hikaribito Gou and his assistant Navi travel across Chou Shinkai in the prison transport ship Bunba to deliver a group of Kageribito to the land of exile. But when the transport mission goes wrong and the exceptionally powerful and wicked Kageribito Jin escapes to the world of humans, Gou must gather a team of five brave warriors before an army of 1000 Magii arrives in 100 days to siege the Earth.
Tropes:
- Actor Allusion: Is it really such a surprise that Black Condor Gai can talk a woman out of her clothes?
- Shou turns into Mitsuki Kaoru, and waves a brush around for a few seconds.
- Always Chaotic Evil: The Kageribito, although some can be turned with trial by combat.
- My Species Doth Protest Too Much: Some of the Magii are actually this.
- Attack of the 50-Foot Whatever: A huge Magii nearly sinks the Prison Ship in the first ep. In the second last episode, we learn that the freaking FORWARD SCOUT for the army of 1000 is one.
- Baritone of Strength: Gan's voice is quite deep and he's even stronger than Gou.
- Be Careful What You Wish For: Wakabayashi Shinji, the man Jin killed in the first episode.
- Blessed with Suck: Hitomi is born with the rare gift of being able to see... things. Which are everywhere.
- Boisterous Bruiser: Gou and Rai.
- Breaking the Fourth Wall: The very first sentences Hitomi says are that she is the heroine "of this program".
- Akiko Tachibana realising she's really an Advertised Extra.
- Hitomi learns to her horror that she's really a Decoy Protagonist when Rin appears on Earth.
- Catchphrase: Gan has Zettai Seigi, sanjou!note
- Chaste Hero: Gou really doesn't get Shou's attempt at a High-Heel–Face Turn. Actually it's because of The Lost Lenore.
- Chekhov's Gunman: In #4, Shou takes her face actor from a standee that's been in the show since #1.
- Defeat Means Friendship: How Gou planned on gathering the four Kageribito into his side, the rules of the Hikaribito dictate that the loser of a fight between them would become the winner's underling. Subverted with Gan though, Gou actually loses against him, but he's impressed nonetheless with his fighting spirit and decide to join him.
- Design Student's Orgasm: Hikaribito duels involve hitting each other over the head with the backdrops as much as their weapons.
- "Do It Yourself" Theme Tune: ED in this case, Yua Shinkawa (Hitomi) sings 'de-light'.
- Evil Former Friend: Jin used to be Gou's best friend.
- Evolving Credits: New character are added to the ending each episode with the cast doing something mundane.
- Fanservice: It's from the creator of GARO, folks...
- Fanservice Extra: Exaggerated as even the Hikaribito backdrops have naked women in them.
- Fastball Special: Gou can ride a cannon blast to reach the enemy.
- Fish out of Water: Gou and the other Hikaribito are pretty much unfamiliar with Earth's way of living, this is used as a source of comedy.
- Five-Man Band: Invoked and enforced with the five Hikaribito.
- The Hero: Gou covers Law of Chromatic Superiority and Heroes Prefer Swords from the get-go.
- The Lancer: Rai, by way of being the first to join, but his aggressive approach is closer to The Big Guy.
- The Big Guy: Gan, although his stand on honor and acknowledging Gou's strength makes him more of The Lancer.
- The Smart Guy: Geki, avid gamer and Gadgeteer Genius. As the Dance Battler, he's far more useful in a pinch than the usual Smart Guy.
- Token Female: Shou.
- Forced Transformation: Shou can turn people into butterflies and back.
- Gadgeteer Genius: Geki.
- Go-Karting with Bowser: Jin visits the same onsen as the Hikaribito in #7.
- Go Through Me: Episode 12 has Rin taking a fatal blow meant for Jin by Gou at the last second. The blow is fatal enough for Rin to utter both of their names before dying.
- Guys Smash, Girls Shoot: Shou is The Token Female and the Friendly Sniper in one package.
- Heroic Sacrifice / Redemption Equals Death: Jin in the finale. He uses his life force to power Gou's ball of light.
- Homeless Hero: All five Hikaribito are basically freeloading at Hitomi's grandma's place.
- Hot Springs Episode: #7.
- Henshin Hero: Subverted - the face actors for Hikaribito merely act as a glamour, and can be swapped out at will. Thanks to Rule of Perception, viewers see them as they really are. Hitomi doesn't have that luxury...
- Finally invoked in the Finale when the five unleash their ultimate power.
- Hot-Blooded: Gou, so very very much.
- Humongous Mecha: The ship's final transformation in the Finale. It reaches its true form when the five incant their names in this order: Shou Geki Gou Rai Gan.
- Idiosyncratic Wipes: Played with anytime we switch between the "mundane" world of Hitomi to the Chou Shinkai world.
- Invincible Hero: Subverted, Gou actually loses against Gan in #5, but Gan still joins him because he's impressed with his spirit.
- Kill and Replace: Jin takes the identity of the man he killed from granting his wish.
- Shou doesn't kill the people she copies and replace but turn them into butterflies.
- Leg Cling: Sho does this to Gou when she became his "mistress".
- Lightning Bruiser: Gou, Geki and Gan. Between Geki and Gou, Gou is stronger but not as fast. Gan on the other hand, is stronger and faster (he's capable of using Flash Step) than Gou.
- The Lost Lenore: Hikaribito Rin, who somehow disappeared from Gou's (and presumably Jin's) life long before he got on that ship.
- Love Triangle: Rin, Gou & Jin.
- Luminescent Blush: Shou gets this when Gou protected her from her own arrows.
- Monkey King Lite: Rai is primate-based, and wields a staff like Sun Wukong to boot.
-
Otaku O'Clock - Pet the Dog: Instead of turning Hitomi into a butterfly, Shou puts a flower in her hair and tells her not to be gloomy.
- The Pornomancer: #9. Jin gets a MacGuffin that gives him this power over women... right before consuming their souls.
- Pretty Freeloaders: The human guise of the five Hikaribito pretty much make them this, though unlike most examples, they actually help around the house to earn their living there.
- Prison Ship: The Bunba is a prison transport which Gou was in charge of. It was attacked in the first episode which released Jin and the other four onto Earth.
- Rage Quit: While traveling on the Bunba, Gou keeps loosing to Navi a lot and breaks the games.
- Rain of Arrows/Spam Attack: Shou can do this at close and long range with her bow.
- Scarf of Asskicking: Gan wears one in his human disguise.
- Scenery Porn: The battlefield that the Hikaribito uses whenever they fight are exquisitely designed.
- Self-Duplication/Doppelgänger Attack: One of Geki's power.
- Self-Serving Memory: Gou and Jin's flashbacks to their time with Rin never show any sign of the other guy.
- Shipper on Deck: Gai and Geki for "Shou/Gou", thought it's for their own amusement more than anything.
- Shout-Out:
- The show starts with some girl coming out of nowhere and nearly running over Hitomi on a moped.
- The Prison Ship has anti-air batteries and a Wave-Motion Gun.
- One of the underground gamers goes by the handle Dr Kuroiro Jack, which can be translated as Black Jack.
- The 99-second countdown needed for Gan to activate his Wave-Motion Gun may look familiar for other reasons.
- At the end of #5, a wedding photo shows the five Hikaribito as they really are, in a nod to a famous scene from Kamen Rider Double.
- Stringy-Haired Ghost Girl: #8. Like all the other things that go bump in the night, it's really a Magii.
- Stylistic Suck: CGI space battleships and monsters are one thing, but the butterflies Shou keeps turning people into is apparently too much for the CGI people.
- Two Guys and a Girl: Gou, Jin and Rin back in the day.
- Unusually Uninteresting Sight: Hikaribito Rin shows up on Earth in her full fantasy garb, spends some time here, and even makes friends without anyone noticing the fancy feathers and stuff.
- Walking Shirtless Scene: Navi is practically naked except for some accessories.
- Weapon-Based Characterization: Each Hikaribito has their own personal weapon
- BFG: Gan's gun, the Kazankou, it also has blades attached to it and can be used as a melee weapon.
- BFS: Gou's sword, Fukashigi.
- Energy Bow: Shou's bow, Bakyuu, which she can use as a melee weapon.
- Magic Staff: Rai's thunder staff, Biraiden.
- Pinball Projectile: Geki's iron ball, Bakugeki.
- Worthless Yellow Rocks: The Hikaribito don't understand the value of paper money.
- Wouldn't Hit a Girl: Gou hits this snag in his duel with Shou. She's won over eventually.
