Isuca Anime and Manga

After searching several times, I couldn't find a thread directed exclusively to Isuca this anime season, I figured it was time to start one.

Even with the massive Adaptation Decay, I find it rather enjoyable, and to be honest, I've endured worse. *cough*Tenchi Muyo,*cough*Tenchi Muyo Universe,*Cough*,Tenchi in Tokyo,*cough*Tenchi in Love movies.*

That being said, the characters have PLENTY of tropes to them.

Asano, Shinchiorou.

Above the Influence: Seriously. This guy could give Ghandi lessons on restraint. Suseri coming on to him like something out of Soapland (at Nadeshiko's urging mind you) and him NOT taking advantage is truly noteworthy. There are other examples, but that's the most obvious one.

Accidental Pervert: When you've been forced by circumstances beyond your control or understanding into a cohabitation with four very attractive women, three of whom have absolutely No Nudity Taboo, and there's plenty of improbable clothing damage, this is pretty much unavoidable.

Adorkable: Awkward, clumsy, and a bit socially inept, all the girls at house Shizumu like him because he's a genuinely nice guy who seeks their well being above his own.

Badass: Let's count the ways. Badass Adorable. (See adorkable above and The Dulcinea Effect below) Badass Bookworm. The few times he doesn't have a broom/mop, ladle, or sword in his hand, he has a book. He's also very adept at using the internet for researching things, like cooking recipes. Badass Normal: He has no combat oriented super powers or abilities, yet can keep up with Tamako, Saykua, and Suseri when dealing with rogue spirits. Empowered Badass Normal: He later wields a spiritually enhanced katana, Yashino which boosts his combat strength immensely. Submissive Badass. Despite literally owning the four girls of his harem, he not only defers to their expertise, he obeys their orders (particularly Sakuya's) without objection. In fact, when Sakuya says "jump," he only stops to ask "how high?"

Balanced Harem: While he does favor Sakuya, he doesn't play favorites in any dispute and responds to all the girls with equal regard.

Battle Harem: Tactically speaking, he's got a powerful team. Tamako and Yashino for dealing with close threats, Sakuya for dealing with long range opponents, and Suseri for dealing with magic. Unfortunately, the girls spend as much, if not more, time and energy fighting each other than they do dealing with the Monster of the Week, or the Big Bad.

Crash into Hello: Does this with Sakuya near the beginning of the story. She's the one not paying attention to where she was going, however.

Crouching Moron, Hidden badass: While he's not exactly stupid, there's plenty about the supernatural aspect of the series that he just does not understand due to him having no actual training or experience. Still, to date, he has gotten Sakuya to back down, not through violence, threat of violence, or even a death glare, but by appealing to her sense of justice, when she was a complete stranger, mind you, in order to protect Tamako. He got Suseri to back down while protecting Sakuya, again purely through his unwavering sense of justice and duty. He stopped a blow from a cursed katana WITH HIS TEETH to protect the others, and went toe to toe with a Thunder Beast, listed in universe as one of the top five spiritual powers, without even taking any serious injury. (Protecting Sakuya in the anime, protecting Suseri in the manga.) In the manga, he even manages to land a blow on the Big Bad (or the Dragon) which none of the others could touch!

Cursed with Awesome: Due to his "Eye of Truth" ability, that he wasn't even aware he had, he now lives in a fancy house with four very attractive women, all of whom have various levels of Undying Loyalty, and three of whom have absolutely No Nudity Taboo. Unfortunately, the outstanding girl is a Shana Clone, and everything that goes with it. In addition, there's also the fact that his special ability has made him a magnet for deadly dangerous spiritual beasts. Lastly, those four women, they don't hesitate to fight each other over him with tools, weapons, and abilities that in any other world setting could easily be construed as deadly force.

Giver of Lame Names: Lampshaded by Sakuya then subverted by Tamako, who actually likes the name.

House Husband: He cooks, he cleans, he does laundry, and all without objection or hesitation, and he's very good at it.

I Know Your True Name: It's the reason he has the undying loyalty of his harem.

Now That is Using Your Teeth: Blocks a blow from a cursed katana with his teeth. (That's considered close enough to a "kiss" so he learns its true name.)

Parental Abandonment: His parents left for Europe "for training," leaving him home alone. When they cut off his funds/allowance, he was forced to get a job, working as Sakuya's housekeeper. (See Cursed with Awesome above.)

Supreme Chef: His cooking skill is legendary in universe. He even manages to excel at dishes he's not familiar with, like Irish Stew, after a bit of research concerning the recipe. He still doesn't get it "right," but otherwise, Sakuya has no complaints.

The Dulcinea Effect: He just can NOT ignore a damsel in distress. It's the primary reason why he's in the situation he's in.

Unlucky Everydude: YMMV on whether having four women constantly fighting over you is "unlucky" but monsters constantly ambushing you, trying to kill and eat you for things you have no control over certainly counts. (In the anime, a woman/centipede hybrid tries to rape and eat him in episode 1.)

Would Not Hit a Girl: Lampshaded in the manga as a theory on why he didn't strike down the Big Bad.

edited 27th Feb '15 10:37:52 PM by Harem-author

Shizumu, Sakuya.

A-cup Angst: Goes with being a Shana Clone.

Badass In Distress: Happens a few times. More often in the anime than the manga, however.

Big Messed up Family: On both sides of her family tree no less. Her father's side wants to kill her, and her mother's side wants to remove her as the heir, BY ANY MEANS NECESSARY.

Bitch in Sheep's Clothing: She has a very good school reputation, and appears to be a warm, smiling person. Don't let that fool you. She's very bitter and abrasive, and is popular based on looks alone. She still has a strong sense of justice, however, and is actually very protective of people, in general.

But Not Too Foreign: She's half-Japanese on her mother's side.

Clingy Jealous Girl: Goes with being a Shana Clone.

Dark and Troubled Past: Her father's "western" magic and her mother's "Shinto" magic existing at the same time in her body made her an Ill Girl until the two could be balanced properly. This made the rest of her family see her as "unworthy" to be the family head, and they began to plot to unseat her by any means necessary, even if that involved her death. There's also the fact that her parents disappeared years ago, and are presumed dead. Now there's someone controlling The Big Bad who wears her father's trademark ring...

First Girl Wins: In the manga, at least, it seems to be going this way.

Hypocritical Humor: She's terrified of rats, yet her house was a trash infested sty prior to Shinchirou becoming her housekeeper.

Improbable Aiming Skills:

Now You Must Marry Me: Revealing your True Name to anyone gets you expelled from the Shimizu family home. The only exception is spouses sharing their true names with each other. Ergo, since Shinchirou now knows her True Name, he has to marry her. The only reason why they haven't done so, yet, is that they're too young.

Properly Paranoid: When everyone in your family tree wants you dead or gone, you tend to have trouble trusting people.

Sacred Bow and Arrows

Sacrificed Basic Skill For Awesome Training: The reason why her house was a sty? She didn't know how to clean, and was too properly paranoid to ask for help.

Shana Clone:

The Archer: Her primary weapon is a bow and arrow.

The Ojou: She's the heir to the Shimizu family.

Tsundere: A strong type-A. Goes with being a Shana clone. A mix of Dark And Troubled Past and Wolf-girl, although Shinchirou, for his part, sees through the wolf-girl part, mostly.

Why Did It Have To Be Snakes: She's terrified of rats.

edited 28th Feb '15 6:41:12 AM by Harem-author

Shizimu, Suseri:

Abusive parents: Her mother continuously tells her that if she doesn't usurp Sakuya as the next head of the Shizimu family, she has no worth as a human being. It goes even further in the manga, as Suseri is forced to face a Thunder Beast, alone, gravely injured, without the proper tools, to prove her worth by "exorcising" the spirit (ie beating it into submission). If Shinchirou had not come to her aid, she would most surely have died.

Because You Were Nice to Me: Her primary motivation for loving Shinchirou. He's the first to truly treat her as a person, and actually care about her well being, for her sake.

Buxom is Better: She strongly believes this, and expects Shinchirou to agree.

Heroic Seductress:

No Nudity Taboo:

Now You Must Marry Me: Same family, same rules as Sakuya.

Parental Abandonment: Her father is never even mentioned. Not even in flashbacks to when she was a small child.

Sacrificed Basic Skill For Awesome Training: The latest chapter of the manga describes, in detail, how mundane things completely baffle her. In fact, she did not even know how to use a mop, let alone how to tell the difference between fresh and spoiled food! All because her mother found it "unnecessary" in becoming head of the Shizimu household.

Shameless Fanservice Girl: See the "Above the influence" entry for Shinchirou. She does the same thing for SAKUYA, and doesn't understand the implications.

The Summoner: Summons a ferret, then a Thunder Beast for battle.

Yamato Nadeshiko: Played straight, INCLUDING the Shameless Fanservice, as that is prompted by others.

edited 28th Feb '15 6:40:16 AM by Harem-author

A quick skim over your posts seems to indicate that nothing's amiss with regards to the troping.

Episode 6 is the least terrible so far, but that's not saying much.

It's so bad, It's good comes to mind. At worst, it seems "So Ok, it's average" but YMMV on that.

Tamako "Tama."

A Little Bit Beastly: Even in her human form, she's got cat ears, claws, fangs, and a cat tail.

Bare Your Midrif: Her maid outfit does this.

Cute Little Fangs: Comes with being a nekomata

Does not like shoes: Has yet to wear shoes in the series

Genki Girl:

Happiness In Slavery: Played as straight as possible. It helps that her master, Shinchirou, truly treasures her, provides food, shelter, clothing, and even shares his life energy. Also, since she needs to feed on human energy just to continue existing, being in Shinchirou's service is actually her best option, and she knows it.

I Owe You My Life: Even though she can't be "killed," she can still be sealed away. Since Shinchirou prevented that, and continues to protect and care for her, she will happily do anything for him.

Meaningful Name: There's quite a bit of Fridge Brilliance involved in why she likes the name "Tamako." "Ko." is a suffix usually used to differentiate a male from a female for the same name. So "Tamako" has the connotation of coming across as "a girl named Tama." Furthermore, Tamako could also be interpreted as "Tama-neko" or "a cat named Tama." Being a Nekomata, either interpretation fits. In addition, there's quite a bit of "hiding in plain sight" and "refuge in audacity" involved as people as suspicious and paranoid (properly or otherwise) as the magicians in this series aren't likely to think her True Name would be displayed so easily. Furthermore, since she's not exactly bright, it's much less confusing for her to go with such a simple name change.

Meido: She wears a maid outfit, and has no problems cleaning. Otherwise, she subverts the trope.

My Master, Right or Wrong: She always takes Shinchirou's side in any dispute, especially against Sakuya.

No Nudity Taboo: Truth be told, she'd rather NOT be wearing clothes. Some of that makes sense, as panties don't easily accommodate a tail.

Please Put Some Clothes On: Is told this constantly. It's the one thing she always rebels against with Shinchirou.

Violently Protective Girlfriend: Key word being "violent." She will quickly, and without hesitation lash out at any apparent threat to Shinchirou, preemptively.

edited 28th Feb '15 6:39:25 AM by Harem-author

Yashino:

A Form You Are Comfortable With: Implied. She's supposedly the spirit of a powerful samurai warrior from ancient Japan, yet she manifests as a voluptuous, ambiguously brown, dark-skinned blonde femme fatalle.

Ambigously Brown: Her ethnicity is unclear, but she's very dark-skinned.

Boobs of Steel: She's second only to Suseri, but she's, by far, the most powerful fighter in the harem. As a katana, she's also made of steel, literally.

Cultured Badass: Her speech is exceedingly polite and graceful, yet she can single-highhandedly defeat Sakuya, Suseri, and an empowered Tamako simultaneously with a single blow.

Dark Skinned Blonde:

Femme Fatalle: Played as straight as they come. She plays up her sexuality to extreme levels, but considering her nature as a spirit beast, this could prove literally fatal if Shinchirou accepts.

Heroic Seductress: Lampshaded.

Katanas are Just Better: She's a cursed katana.

Lady of War: No Nudity Taboo aside, she plays every aspect of this trope. Elegant, skilled, and absolutely deadly.

No Nudity Taboo: Her first "human" appearance and she's completely nude. Doesn't bother her a bit.

Submissive Badass: Due to Shinchirou knowing her True Name, she's this, but she'd much rather have the position reversed.

Visual Pun: Her human form is nude, and she's a naked blade.

edited 28th Feb '15 6:11:07 AM by Harem-author

Nadeshiko:

Harem Nanny: Contrary to most in this trope, she actually WANTS romantic progression between Shinchirou and his girls, especially Sakuya and Suseri. Furthermore, it was at her suggestion that Suseri became the Shameless Fanservice Girl and Heroic Seductress we've seen.

Hot Teacher: And she knows it.

Ironic Name: She completely subverts the Yamato Nadeshiko trope.

Manipulative Bitch: Considering the family she serves, this is actually beneficial to our protagonists. If not for this trait, Suseri would most likely been killed by her own mother. (In the manga)

Meganekko:

Ms. Exposition: Justified. Not only does she manage the Shizimu family's recon corps and determines where the Monster of The Week is attacking, she is in charge of the library concerning the supernatural aspects of the setting. It's only in cases involving "western" magic that she takes a back seat to Sakuya.

Now You Must Marry Me: Lampshaded, and Averted. She says this almost word for word when she noticed Shinchirou's talent for being a House Husband. She was only joking, or was she?

The Gadfly: She loves nothing more than teasing Shinchirou concerning his romantic entanglements, and she will go to great lengths to make him even more entangled. She's largely responsible for his innocent cohabitation, and apparently has no objections to losing the "innocent" part.

edited 28th Feb '15 6:35:39 AM by Harem-author

"Isuca"

Artificial Human: The manga reveals she's a homonculus.

Big Bad: She appears to be this for the anime. In the manga, for most of the series. Recent chapters suggest otherwise.

Dark Action Girl:

Fantastic Racism: Hates the Shimazu family with a vengeance, and seeks to slaughter them in the most sadistic and brutal manner possible above all else, without exception. Anyone who associates with them is also fair game.

Freudian Excuse: She has memories of being brutally and sadistically executed by Sakuya's mother and grandmother, and she is forced to relive them whenever she sleeps. It has yet to be revealed if those memories are genuine, however.

Lady of Dark Magic:

Noblewoman's laugh:

Oh Crap: Has this expression when Shinchirou, of all people, manages to land a blow on her.

Smug Snake: Her default expression. She DOES have the power to back it up, however.

Shimazu, Sigure

Abusive Parents: Oh dear gods. Raising your child in isolation. Making her go through grueling everyday training from hell. Consistently telling her if she fails to usurp being the heir of the family, she has no value as a human being. Placing her in a life-threatening situation she is ill-prepared to face just to stroke your own ego. Quoting family rules as justification while subverting them yourself simply because you're jockeying for position. Openly ignoring your child's grievous injuries because her "test" takes priority. Ladies and gentlemen, THIS is her idea of "good" parenting towards her daughter, Suseri.

Fantastic Racism: Anyone outside the Shimazu family is not even "human" as far as she's concerned. This goes double for magicians outside the clan.

General Ripper: People from outside the family, ie "outsiders", especially magicians, MUST be put in their place, no matter the means, or the cost. This is the primary reason she's willing to sacrifice her daughter, Suseri, to ensure Sakuya does not become the family head. Sakuya does have "tainted blood," after all. It usually takes the intervention of the actual family head, or threat of intervention to make her stop, and all that really does is slow her down.

Hypocrite: Scoffs at the matriarch behind her back for being "senile", always bristling against "archaic family rules" yet uses the family rules as a club to force compliance from Suseri.

Reasonable Authority Figure: Subverted. Normally, being concerned about your daughter's chastity when learning she's in cohabitation with a healthy, heterosexual teenage boy is perfectly understandable. It rings hollow, however, considering all the abuse she heaped on Suseri prior, openly showing no concern for her daughter's safety or well being, trying to drag said daughter away by force, and summoning a powerful spirit to attack the other residents in the process, in addition, deliberately neglecting to teach her daughter while she was growing up what is and is not appropriate behavior for dealing with the opposite sex. (Suseri didn't even know what the terms "chastity" or "deflowering" meant.)

Small Name, Big Ego: Despite being from a very minor branch of the family, she acts as if she's the actual head, and woe be unto anyone who suggests otherwise, except, of course, the actual head, but even THAT doesn't always reign her in.

edited 28th Feb '15 6:37:42 AM by Harem-author

Episode 7: The incompetence is staggering.

I tried to watch this show, but then I realized I don't really like any of the characters.

The protagonists ARE teenagers, specifically 14, maybe 15 year old teens with no military training in tactics or strategy. Further, they were up against a truly intangible opponent this time, without any logistical support. The fact that they were not completely rubbed out is pretty darn impressive.

What's truly staggering is "Isuca's" moral myopia. While she DOES have memories about being struck down by the Shimazu family (which may NOT be genuine), her endangering EVERYONE in the area, affiliated with the Shimazu family or otherwise is truly beyond the pale. Especially when she laughs with sadistic glee at the suffering involved.

edited 7th Mar '15 6:56:48 AM by Harem-author

Welcome to shit harem ville.

Disagreed. There's nothing impressive about it. Sakuya shot three times before someone pointed out the obvious that, no, that won't work against smoke. In the first place, learning the enemy was a smoke spirit and not devising any countermeasures was idiotic. Not to mention Suseri splitting off from the group, and the teacher just letting her go!

Besides, Sakuya, Suseri, her attendant and the teacher should have had training. Especially the teacher. But they've been unable to defeat anything so far without Shinichirou and his hax.

edited 7th Mar '15 7:37:18 AM by fillerdude

From what I remember, everything except the last few minutes in the latest episode was anime original. It may just be me but the best episodes in the adaption are those that stick closest to the original manga, and those have been few and far between.

Welcome to Studio ARMS.

Considering those were MAGICAL arrows, and opponents have shown impressive regeneration before (the doom car and the rat spirit come to mind), "the obvious" may not have been very obvious to them.

Suseri's only tactical error was challenging Isuca ALONE. Granted it was a HUGE and costly error, but still perfectly understandable. Chasing the smoke spirit while the others revived Shinchirou was warranted. If she had stayed with the others, the smoke spirit could easily have returned and killed them all.

We can now add "an arm and a leg" to "Isuca's" trope sheet. Suzuka's final attack severed her arm this episode. The same thing happens in the manga but under different conditions.

edited 7th Mar '15 7:54:52 AM by Harem-author

Why are we even talking about tactical errors? The only "tactic" they used was using the ventilation system. Otherwise they just threw stuff until something stuck.

I know the arrows were magical. I was actually making a jab at how ineffectual Sakuya is. She hasn't beaten anyone on her own IIRC.

What Suseri did was stupid, no two ways about it. Chasing after the smoke spirit while knowing it was a trap? Come on. She'd be sacrificing herself. Not to mention that the smoke spirit could have returned and killed the rest of the team anyway.

Have to admit. The show is better when it's more faithful to the manga.

So they have Suseri actually suggest the exorcism rather than having her mother force her?

Wow. Suseri's mother is still a total bitch though. I personally wouldn't care if she suddenly dropped dead.

Episode 10. The Gecko ending.

Just what kind of inter-clan grudge would warrant spending THAT many resources??

Eesh.

Well, Chapter 41 has come out and we can add a couple new tropes to the main page.

Big Damn Villains and Villainous Rescue.

So Suseri's mom actually has a Freudian excuse leading to a "cycle of abuse." Still, her "memories" and what we know of Sakuya's grandmother don't add up.

Shinchirou is really in trouble now. Don't see how this is going to turn out well for anyone.