History Anime / CrossAnge

* NoFlowInCGI: The game zig-zags this a bit. While most of the cast, namely Ange, Vivian, Naomi, Chris, Momoka and Maggy, have visible bounce or swing to their hair during and after body motions. Salia and Hilda's pigtails remain stiff as a board. Ange also gains a bit of [[{{Gainaxing}} chest physics]] during her turning animations.

* SpellMyNameWithAnS: The subtitles spell out "Salia" but the SurprisinglyGoodEnglish text on the apology letter that was typed up by Momoka in "Salia's Gloom" refer to her as "Thalia". The official spelling in the website is Salia regardless. It could also be inferred that Momoka has no idea Salia is supposed to be "S" rather than "Th", though out-of-universe, it could be inferred that Mitsuo Fukuda, who wrote the letter, didn't know what the spelling of her name was.

* KickTheSonOfABitch: Since the humans revel in copious amounts of bigotry, prejudice, and racism towards Norma and none except a few like Momoka even makes effort to get past that, it's kind of hard to feel sorry for them [[spoiler:when Ange states that she doesn't give a damn and leaves them to fend off for themselves... or even Embryo when he decided that the Mana society has become decadent and should be wiped out.]] And beforehand, there's also Embryo's direct murder on Julio. Embryo is no saint himself, but no one's going to pity Julio being killed by him after the atrocities that he has done.

* LostAesop: Anti-bigotry was one of the themes this series is going for, considering that it decries the horrible treatment of the [[{{Muggles}} Norma]] by the Mana people, and the story is about the Norma fighting against their oppression and gaining freedom. Part of [[TheHeroine Ange]]'s CharacterDevelopment is about learning not to judge others, and that Norma are people too. But on the other hand, the majority of the Mana people were designed as HateSink unless they managed to rise above their prejudice and bigotry (it is possible, as it happened to Momoka and Emma, [[CharacterDevelopment later on]]), making the event where Embryo [[spoiler:[[TheMagicGoesAway destroys Mana]] and leaves the Mana people to fend for themselves and Ange refusing to help them since they still clung to the old prejudice and bigotry]] looks more like a [[KickTheSonOfABitch well-deserved]] LaserGuidedKarma. The show did convey that bigotry is bad; in a way that if you either rise above it or fight against it, you're good, but if you cling onto it, you deserve some karmic hammer drop onto you, but the sight of the oppressed delivering those to the Mana users [[PayEvilUntoEvil might cause some cracks on the Aesop]].

[[caption-width-right:350: Definitely '''not''' your typical mecha ''or'' harem anime. [[labelnote: Clockwise from right:]] Chris, Rosalie, Hilda, Ange, Salia, Vivian, Ersha, and Momoka.[[/labelnote]]]]

* MarryThemAll: Though not in the traditional sense, the end of the series does have [[spoiler:Ange, Tusk, and the rest of the Normas living in the parallel world with the [=DRAGONs=]. Considering that Tusk is the only human male around, Ange and the rest of the Normas have shown themselves to be bisexual, and Hilda has made it clear that polyamory is perfectly fine with her, on top of the fact that all of the female [=DRAGONs=] have all shown themselves to be ''very'' interested in having a human male around, it can only be assumed that a rather significantly sized orgy took place at some point after the finale.]]

* ArchaicWeaponForAnAdvancedAge: While set in the far future [[spoiler:after World War Seven]], the soldiers still use guns and Para-mails still have swords and guns equipped. Justified because the world of Mana is more peaceful, and because it's heavily dependent on {{Magitek}} that the fighting force we mostly follow can't actually use.

* SuckOutThePoison: In "Ange Loss", Ange gets bitten by the snake while trying to find a shelter from the rain. She finds Tusk [[BrickJoke on the same spot where she left him tied up earlier]] and he sucks out the snake's poison to rescue her.

* ArchaicWeaponForAnAdvancedAge: While set in the far future [[spoiler:after World War Seven]], the soldiers still use guns and Para-mails still have swords and guns equipped. Justified because the world of Mana is more peaceful, and because it’s heavily dependent on {{Magitek}} that the fighting force we mostly follow can't actually use.

* SelfFulfillingProphecy: Mana believe that Norma are violent and antisocial. They send the Norma to a hellhole prison (most of them from a young age) where their only purpose is to fight, and generally treat them like dirt. Surprise, surprise, most of them are violent and antisocial. [[spoiler:There’s a bit more to it than that, though - Mana-users are right about Norma inherently being unusually antisocial, but only because they themselves are abnormally hypersocial.]]

%%* AbsenteeActor: Most of the main cast are absent in "Traitorous Homeland", as its focus is on Ange and Hilda's time in the mainlands.

Since obtaining the information technology known as "Mana," humanity has used its near-magical power to eliminate global crises such as war, food shortages, and pollution, creating an age of peace and freedom.

** Reversed in the game, where it's the CGI that's normal and the odd bit of 2D is what stands out[[note]]In fact, Zola, Coco, Miranda, Julio and several background characters are static cutouts with only very simple facial animation. Making the few times they interact with one of the others (rendered in CGI) even more obvious[[/note]].
%%* AbsenteeActor: Most of the main cast are absent in "Traitorous Homeland," as its focus is on Ange and Hilda's time in the mainlands.
* AccidentalPervert: Tusk in "Ange Loss," complete with all the fanservice clichés and PervertRevengeMode. Him [[DiggingYourselfDeeper digging himself deeper]] wasn't helping his case.

* AchillesInHisTent: Jill lost the ability to pilot the Villkiss after her first “Libertas” rebellion failed thanks to [[spoiler:Embryo's machinations]]. By the end of the series, [[spoiler:Jill gets back into action after Ange tells her about what happened to Salia]].

* AdaptationDistillation: The game removes several characters (including Tania, Irma, Liza, Misty and outside of one screenshot, Sylvia)[[note]]Naomi, the player character, replaces the first two should you follow Ange to the kingdom[[/note]] and condenses or extensively alters several plot points, such as [[spoiler:how and where Chris, and later Embryo, are killed]].

* AfterTheEnd: "Ange and Tusk" reveals that Ange, Tusk and Vivian, following their emergency teleportation in the previous fight against Embryo, [[spoiler:landed on Earth, which had suffered World War Seven more than 500 years ago, and humanity had all but gone extinct. Conveniently enough, it's also become the homeworld of the [=DRAGONs=]]].

* AnyoneCanDie: The impression the first three episodes give, with four named characters (Ange's mother, her newest two groupies, and the [[BlackComedyRape sexually-abusive]] TeamMom Zola) dying right after being introduced. The party gets a breather for the remaining first half, and then names get crossed off. King Jurai is also executed, and confirmed dead in "Goodbye From the Gallows". [[spoiler:Julio took a Wave Motion Gun to the face in "Arzenal Burns," and the final act throws the kid gloves off: "The Survivors" where Marika, one of Rosalie's pupils, is executed by Chris in an ace maneuver, and 10 Norma children were killed in the crossfire during a battle between the [=DRAGONs=] and the Diamond Rose Knights. Then, of course, the last two episodes adds Tanya, Irma, Jill, and Embryo into the death count as well.]]

* AssShove: [[DoubleStandardRapeFemaleOnFemale Jill subjects Ange to a cavity search]] during the latter's recruitment at the end of "[[Recap/CrossAngeEp1TheFallenImperialPrincess The Fallen Imperial Princess]]."

** In "Goodbye From the Gallows," Ange gets into firefights with policemen and guards, but nobody gets visibly hit. Justified because policemen and guards are ordered to capture Ange and use mana shields to protect themselves from her counter-fire.
** In "The Tuner of Time", [[spoiler:Ragna-mails piloted by Ersha and Chris don't even hit ''a stationary submarine'']].

* BatmanGambit: In "Goodbye from the Gallows", Julio claims that [[spoiler:he intentionally let Momoka leave the empire and sneak to Arzenal knowing that she would help Ange to return and give him a reason to execute her]].

* BedmateReveal: At the end of "[[Recap/CrossAngeEp4LonelyMutiny Lonely Mutiny]]", [[spoiler:Ange wakes up tied and naked and Tusk is beside her, sleeping]].
* BigBad: Embryo, an ex-scientist who is [[TheManBehindTheMan Julio's superior]], Earth's [[EvilOverlord ruler]], and TheCreator and {{God|IsEvil}} of humans, is the one who oversees the oppression of [[{{Muggles}} Norma]] by the humans, making him the main enemy of [[TheHeroine Ange]]. He is also responsible for transforming [[spoiler:the humans fighting against him]] into [=DRAGONs=], and [[spoiler:not only steals Aura but uses the humans in general as pawns so he can [[OmnicidalManiac annihilate all life on Earth]] to make it anew]].
* TheBigBoard: Embryo uses one when planning out his next moves in "[[Recap/CrossAngeEp23DistortedWorld Distorted World]]."
* TheBigDamnKiss: Appropriately enough in "Ange and Tusk", [[spoiler:Ange kisses Tusk complete with epic music from one of Creator/NanaMizuki's {{award bait|Song}} {{insert song}}s. It's even a two-for-one that starts off with a light hesitant peck that quickly escalates into something much more passionate]]
** Ange surprisingly does the same [[spoiler:to Hilda in episode 23, cementing them both as girlfriends right when Hilda started believing she lost her shot at becoming Ange's girlfriend. Hilda is absolutely delighted at Ange reciprocating]].
* BigScrewedUpFamily: The Misurugis. The father and mother lavished attention at the middle child making the oldest child a bit inferior and jealous. Then said older brother found out that her younger sister was a Norma and decided to get rid of her alongside their father who kept it a secret on the biggest day of her year. Meanwhile, the youngest child is devastated at finding out her older sister is a Norma and decides to kill her for making her a cripple and in her own words, "[[MistakenForMurderer killing their parents because she's a Norma]]". [[SarcasmMode Family of the year,]] ''indeed''.
* BittersweetEnding: The Norma and [=DRAGONs=] manage to repel Embryo's space-time convergence, and Embryo himself is no more. However, [[spoiler:Misurugi and the other Kingdoms are destroyed and hundreds have perished thanks to the space-time convergence; Ange and Sylvia are estranged; many [=DRAGONs=] and Norma, including Tania and Irma, are killed during the final battle; the citizens in the other world can no longer use Mana and must survive on their own and at least Ange has inspired Sylvia a bit to change the way of thinking of these people they can survive without being addicted to Mana; and Zola, Sophia, Jurai, Marika and Jill are dead]].

* BookEnds: In the very first episode, Ange sings The Endless Song as she fights off a group of dragons. In the final episode, Ange sings this song [[spoiler:to summon Villkiss when Embryo is about to rape her]].
* BoomHeadshot: In "Arzenal Burns," right after Ange blows away the rubble blocking the hangar, the Para-Mail squadron takes off [[spoiler:and then a Misurugi soldier still barely alive from the explosion blindfires his rifle and headshots Chris, followed by her Para-Mail crashing and exploding. However, Embryo then appears on the scene and revives her.]]
* BothSidesHaveAPoint: Jill and Ange's views on freeing the Norma. On Jill's side, [[spoiler:while she's correct that they must kill Embryo to free the Norma, her methods of using the [=DRAGONs=] as a sacrifice so she can exact revenge on Embryo for what she did to her was taking it to an extreme]]. On Ange's side, she's correct that [[spoiler:the Norma's forces have become unreliable since Embryo took Salia and Chris under his wing, Jill must take responsibility for all the damage she has done, and the Norma must help the [=DRAGONs=] stop Embryo]].

%%* BrickJoke: At the end of "[[Recap/CrossAngeEp25BeyondTime Beyond Time]]," [[spoiler:Cafe Ange is now opened for business.]]

* ClosedCircle: Arzenal is isolated from the rest of the world, and nearly inescapable. That is, until, Ange and Hilda do it first at the end of episode 8, and the surviving Norma do it by the end of episode 13.

* CrapsaccharineWorld: The World of Mana is (supposedly) a magic utopia, but for Normas (who can't use magic) it is a living hell. Normas have no basic human rights, and generally the population is conditioned to hate and fear them and treat them as sub-humans, having no qualms about gleefully beating them to a pulp and feeling justified in it, and have zero sympathy for Normas. To add insult to injury, Normas are forced into service as Para-mail pilots to fight and die against dragons for their magic oppressors. And not just for the Normas: humans who can use magic (actually information materialization) are [[spoiler:the result of genetic engineering in the aftermath of World War VII, when humanity nearly wiped itself out]]. Humans who use magic [[spoiler:were engineered to be more submissive, thus the use of those humans who are actually normal (normas) as an institutionalized scapegoat]].

* DeathByIrony: Jill spent years planning to free the Norma from their oppressors, [[spoiler:but ends up fatally wounded when she tries killing Embryo during Last Libertas]].

** Jill physically dragged Ange out of orientation, early, despite the fact that Ange was taking notes, thrust her into the squad completely unprepared, [[RapeAsDrama and then gave Zola permission to take her into "the room".]] Although the ending of episode 3 implies that she ''wanted the sortie to go badly''. Which has a whole different level of idiocy to it.

* EarthThatUsedToBeBetter: When Ange, Tusk and Vivian enter a different Earth, it turns out that [[spoiler:this world was where the the [=DRAGONs=] come from after Embryo wrecked havoc on it]].
* EasilyCondemned: By the end of "Distorted World", Ange refuses to help the [[spoiler:Mana users]] because they tried [[spoiler:executing her when she first returned to Misurugi]].
* EasilyForgiven: Towards the end of the series, Ange forgives [[spoiler:Liza]] for [[spoiler:helping Julio cause the events of the series to happen in the first place]].

** In "The Tuner of Time" and "God's Soul-Searching", we are treated to very gratuitous shots of Ange stripping and masturbating, though it's because [[spoiler:Embryo is subjecting her to mind control and artificially heightened senses]]. Suddenly, the scene loses its titillation factor.

* FantasticRacism: The humans do not like the Norma and frequently use them as weapons of war. The level of anti-Norma bigotry in this world has to be seen to be believed. Essentially, when someone is revealed to be a Norma, every man, woman, and child (regardless of if its a family member or a best friend they've known for years), will suddenly turn on them and hatefully treat them like animals that deserve to die for simply ''existing''. They all gleefully spout their belief that all Normas are "violent, vicious, anti-social monsters," both because their AntiMagic breaks down the {{Magitek}} Mana society is built on and because [[spoiler:Mana-users were genetically engineered to be more submissive to authority, making normal human rebelliousness seem strange and monstrous]].

* FemalesAreMoreInnocent: The series, being an {{Ecchi}} show, has mostly female characters (including TheHeroine Ange), all of whom are portrayed either heroically or sympathetically. Meanwhile, there are a grand total of ''three'' recurring male characters, and only one -- Tusk, the LoveInterest -- is good. The other two, [[BigBadWannabe Julio]] and [[BigBad Embryo]], are [[HateSink solely meant to be hated]], and every female antagonist is shown to be a victim of their machinations. [[AlphaBitch Hilda]] merely wants to reunite with her mother after Julio's men separated them, and her two flunkies follow her out of love; [[spoiler:Ersha]], [[spoiler:Chris]] and [[spoiler:Salia]] make a FaceHeelTurn only because Embryo charms them; Zola and Jill, the former of whom rapes Ange and the latter of whom tries to sacrifice allies to win the war, are both simply "doing what they need" to get revenge on Embryo; [[spoiler:the [=DRAGONs=] were only fighting to rescue their ancestor from Embryo]]; [[TheDragon Liza]] is a WellIntentionedExtremist [[spoiler:trying to accomplish the mission of her fellow [=DRAGONs=]]]; and [[spoiler:Sylvia, the DecoyDamsel who betrays Ange, tries to have her executed, tortures Liza in her spare time, and is hateful towards Norma, does so only because Julio and Embryo have convinced her that it is the right thing]]. By the end, [[spoiler:with the exception of Zola who was killed]], all of them have made a HeelFaceTurn, while Julio and Embryo die unmourned.

** Julio orders the genocide of the Norma in "Arzenal Burns". His allies launch an invasion of Arzenal, killing nearly all of the Norma save for those on the Aurora and Ange. Unfortunately for Julio, [[spoiler:Embryo kills him for failing to follow orders]].
** Towards the end of the series, Embryo [[spoiler:cuts off the Mana network and launches the space-time convergence to kill off all lifeforms save for a new humanity he's creating]], but he doesn't get that far thanks to [[spoiler:Ange and Tusk]].
* FirstKiss: Ange and Tusk share one [[spoiler:to signify their growing love for each other]] in, appropriately enough, "Ange and Tusk,"

* AGodAmI: This is zig-zagged with Embryo, the immortal scientist who [[spoiler:re-engineered humanity to be able to use magic after World War VII virtually wiped the human race off of the planet. Now he plans to completely wipe them out and "reset" everything]]. Embryo is called "God" by others, but while he does not call himself that, he doesn't think that this label is really that wrong, either.

** Chris is shocked out of her mind to the point that she goes on a murderous rampage during [[spoiler:the finale of "Eve of Destruction" when Embryo abandons her]].

** In a desperate attempt to avenge her comrades' death at the hands of [[spoiler:Embryo]], Jill uses her subordinates as {{Unwitting Pawn}}s to advance her plans to kill Embryo, [[spoiler:to the point of using the Dragons as a decoy]]. It backfires when [[spoiler:Ange]] kicks her after [[spoiler:Jill attempts to force her into a mission that would involve killing the Dragons to help liberate the Norma]] and later when [[spoiler:Hilda learns that Jill has lost her sanity thanks to Embryo]]. After being cornered by Hilda and her allies, [[spoiler:she willingly relinquishes command to Hilda]].
** Embryo's EvilPlan is foiled when the [=DRAGONs=] form an alliance with the Norma to [[spoiler:stop Embryo's TimeCrash]]. Embryo also sows the seeds for his demise when he showed a complete disregard for the Diamond Rose Knights, which leads [[spoiler:Chris, Ersha, and Salia]] to rejoin TheAlliance and kill him once and for all.

%%* IdiotHair: ''Everyone'' in this show has one hairstyle: have an idiot hair sticking out like a sore thumb. About the only primary characters who don't are Salia, Hilda, Rosalie, Sala, Naga, Kaname and Jill.

** After years, if not centuries, of getting away with genocide, manipulation and rape, [[spoiler:Embryo]] finally gets what's coming to him at the end of the series, courtesy of [[spoiler:Ange and Tusk]].

** Jill's ruthless efforts to free the Norma from Embryo's control (such as using her subordinates as pawns) and avenge her fallen comrades eventually cause her to [[spoiler:willingly step down as commander when her subordinates learn the truth, and ultimately get gunned down by Embryo during the FinalBattle.]].
** Sylvia whips Ange after attempting to rescue her and not only blames her for causing her paralysis, but for causing the death of her family (or so she thinks). Then, during the final episodes, [[spoiler:Ange forces her to walk and leaves her sister behind. This actually causes her to feel remorse and become a better person (it helps that much of her evil is a result of Julio and Embryo manipulating her)]].
** Liza was complicit in helping Julio kill his parents, expose Ange as a Norma and open a portal over Arzenal, resulting in half the island getting destroyed along with serious casualties. At this point it should have been clear enough that the Arzenal residents, of which former Misurugi Ange was now one of, had been used as dragon-killing tools, and she could have came as an envoy and clarified her role. Finally, when an already distraught Sylvia stumbles on her in the act, Liza puts her under her draconic thrall, leading Sylvia to whipping her later as payback ([[DisproportionateRetribution albeit for various petty reasons included]]). However, by the end of the series, [[spoiler:Liza's eventually spared, joins forces with the surviving Norma and [=DRAGONs=] and never appears to suffer any further consequences for her earlier actions]].

** The episodes themselves, to some extent as well, until the Blu-ray and DVD releases. Partially because this ''is'' an anime, and partially due to Sunrise's uneven production schedule during the 2014 Fall Anime season.[[labelnote:Note]]It was the same season where Sunrise had ''two'' ''Franchise/{{Gundam}}'' series - ''[[Anime/GundamBuildFightersTry Build Fighters Try]]'' and ''[[Anime/GundamReconguistaInG Reconguista in G]]'' (splitting this with the latter, mostly with the StockFootage abuse and constant [[OffModel model sheet deviations]]) - airing nearly within the same week.[[/labelnote]].

* LittleMissBadass: About a quarter of the staff at Arzenal are pre-pubescent, as most have been identified as Norma and sent to Arzenal when they were born. Nonetheless, a good portion of these kids are combat engineers and most can use artillery cannons. Special mention goes to Vivian [[spoiler:for being a [=DRAGON=] with [=DRAGON=]-hunting combat experience]].

* {{Lust}}: Embryo's misstep in "Beyond Time" is completely in line with a [[FatalFlaw lustful character]]. He hand-selected Ange to be his wife and give birth to a new generation of humanity, but his undoing came when [[spoiler:Ange rejects his advances and Hilda, Salia and Sala help her destroy Hysterica, while Tusk cuts him down]].

* MakeWayForTheNewVillains: In the first half of the series, Julio is touted as the enemy Ange has to face since he exposed her as a Norma and kickstarted the entire plot. By the time of "Arzenal Burns", however, it turns out that Julio is working for Embryo, the real Big Bad of the series, [[spoiler:who eventually kills Julio]].

** Just when Ange and Tusk almost kiss in "Ange Loss", the DRAGON that Ange failed to kill in the previous episode arrives [[spoiler:and causes a friendly fire towards the helicopters that were transporting the Brig-class DRAGON in the previous episode]].
** In "Ange and Tusk", [[spoiler:they finally get the kiss and was about to go all the way, till a Brig-class DRAGON showed up with two new characters from the opening show up to see what was going on]].

* MotiveDecay: Embryo had a plan to [[spoiler:restart the world because the Mana users he created has truly become decadent beyond saving]]. Somewhere in the middle, he decided that being a villainous, creepy harem seeker is much more profitable.
* MouthtoMouthForceFeeding: Ange is tricked into drinking water that is [[LaxativePrank laced with a laxative]]. One kiss later, and Rosalie, who placed the laxative in Ange’s water, is stuck on the toilet for quite a while.

** The [[spoiler:Embryo ending]] of the game has [[spoiler: Embryo successfully resetting the world with the help of Naomi]]. The resulting new world is almost exactly like the one from ''Cross Ange Academy''.

** Jill unwittingly causes Salia to abandon her and join Embryo. [[WhatTheHellHero Jasmine and Ange call her out on this]].
** Tusk earns one himself in "Conclusive Ocean". [[spoiler: Despite having the best intentions for Ange, knocking everyone out from gas, (when just the briefing room where Jill was in would have sufficed), and rising the Aurora was too extreme. For one, Salia happened to be scouting in the area at the time, and caught them on sonar due to the Aurora rising. Also, with everyone else, including the ones that check the monitors for enemies, knocked out, no one is aware Salia and the other Ragna-mail pilots are on the way until it's too late. The Norma remnants are left helpless with mostly everyone asleep, and Ange is captured by Salia and at the mercy of Embryo.]]

* OurDragonsAreDifferent: From what we know, they are no different from alien invaders in terms of the plot. As it turns out, [[spoiler:they're descendants of humans left behind in the old Earth who altered their DNA to survive and clean up the planet]].

** And then, later on, you find out that [[spoiler: the very ''source'' of the Mana is Aura, the ancient, benevolent progenitor/goddess of the Dragons, held prisoner beneath the Dawn Pillar and force-fed the hearts of her slain children in order to serve as a living power-generator]]. The utopian, post-scarcity society has a ''lot'' of skeletons buried under the porch.

* PrepareToDie: [[spoiler:Once Ange resists Embryo's temptations for the last time in "Beyond Time", Embryo decides to kill her instead]].

* RebelliousSpirit: The heart of Normas’ reputation as antisocial monsters - they don’t have Mana-users’ [[spoiler:genetically-ingrained]] respect for authority and tradition, and are more likely to act out and ask inconvenient questions. [[spoiler:Of course, this is only relatively speaking - they’re not abnormally rebellious by our standards, they’re just throwbacks to ordinary humanity before Embryo started messing with the genome.]]

** In "[[Recap/CrossAngeEp23DistortedWorld Distorted World]]", Ange refuses to rescue the Mana users and Sylvia from their world's destruction, [[spoiler:having been already betrayed by the former when Ange was exposed as a norma and the latter when Ange returned to her homeland a previous time]]. Only makes sense to ditch someone if they're clearly not gonna change for the better.

* RunningGag: [[AccidentalPervert Tusk's face is constantly gravitating towards Ange's crotch]].

* SacrificialLion: [[spoiler: Jill perishes from injuries sustained in her fight with Embryo at the beginning of "Beyond Time"]].
* SanitySlippage: Jill's failure of her first Libertus has taken a severe toll on her well-being [[spoiler:thanks to Embryo's machinations]].

** In the finale of "Conclusive Ocean", Ange finally beats [[spoiler:Jill]] and flees the Aurora to meet up with [[spoiler:Sala]].
** When things go to hell for the World of Mana with the Dragons and Arzenal residents at their doorstep, they step back from Embryo's plan and beg him to save their world. [[spoiler:Embryo just leaves them to their fate]].

* SealedWithAKiss: Ange and Tusk seal their love with a kiss [[spoiler:in, appropriately enough, "Ange and Tusk"]].

** Jill's life becomes this by the end of the series. She starts off as a FallenPrincess and a respected leader of Libertus to free the Norma, only for her to [[spoiler:be mind-raped at Embryo's hands and cause the first Libertus to fail, and by the time she recruits Ange for the second Libertus, she is already using her subordinates as pawns to exact revenge on Embryo]]. When all is said and done, [[spoiler:she's failed to get her revenge on Embryo ''again'' and is killed off during the final battle]]. Even the one silver lining -- [[spoiler:having her dream of freeing the Norma by killing Embryo]] -- is bittersweet because [[spoiler:Jill died before even witnessing its resolution]].

** In "Lonely Mutiny", Jasmine's market is shown to be selling various equipment from various Creator/{{Sunrise}} mecha anime. These are [[Anime/MobileSuitGundamSEED Freedom Gundam's beam rifle, HiMat wing and beam cannon]], [[Manga/MobileSuitGundamSEEDAstray Astray Red Frame's shield]], [[Anime/MobileSuitGundam RX-78-2's beam rifle]], [[Anime/HeavyMetalLGaim L-Gaim's buster launcher]] and [[Anime/VoltesV Voltes V's Tenkuuken]]/[[DubNameChange Laser Sword]]. In the same episode, Vivian's notebook has a drawing of [[Anime/MobileSuitGundamCharsCounterattack Sazabi's Beam Shotrifle]] inside, and a poster in the background has a mech that's a weird combination of ''Anime/KotetsuJeeg'' and the [[Anime/MobileSuitGundam RX-78]] in black and pink.

** Even much of the sexual tones can be chalked down as a study of an environment where gender segregation has led the majority of the cast to have never seen a boy before, and the said military hazing being led by an AlphaBitch mentality of asserting dominance. Of course, it does not help that it is all played for {{Fanservice}}.
** The use of a hated minority as cannon fodder during war time while the popular majority lives in comfort is rife in real world history. Greece used the Spartans. Rome used the Gauls. Both Rome and Israel used the Philistines against each other. (As an added insult, Rome renamed Israel Palestine when Israel lost.) And the most recent example is in the US civil war where both the North and South used slaves or former slaves against each other. Of course, there were typically members of the privileged class who were nevertheless sympathetic to the oppressed class, something that [[AlwaysChaoticEvil none of the Mana people display]] with the sole exception of Momoka, Ange’s maid.

** When [[spoiler:the Misurugi citizens and Sylvia demand her to rescue them]] in the finale of "Distorted World", she [[spoiler:gives a Boom, Headshot! to one of the citizens and forces Sylvia to walk]].
** During the finale of "Beyond Time", Ange [[spoiler:cuts off Embryo's "If I Can't Have You..." speech and uses Villkiss to destroy Hysterica]].

** [[spoiler:There is a reason why Zola, Coco and Miranda are absent in the opening- they die early on.]]

** It doesn't even have to be mecha. Here's [[http://i.imgur.com/bTX3Ufm.gif Sylvia's whipping animation.]] The left is from "Goodbye From the Gallows," and the right from "God's Soul-Searching".
** It got so bad that a fan made a comparison video of ''Anime/MobileSuitGundamSEEDDestiny'''s opening with this anime's opening and ''[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uK0uWdT4VH4 it almost looks exactly the same.]]''

* AStormIsComing: In "Necessary", a thunderstorm brews when [[spoiler:Tusk and Ange decide to return to the Aurora]] and when [[spoiler:Ersha bails out of the Diamond Rose Knights]].

** Jill learns the hard way that [[spoiler:when your superiors find out that you're planning to use your subordinates as unwitting pawns in their plans to kill Embryo, they will no longer trust you. Just ask Ange and Hilda]].
** While well-intentioned, Jill's attempt to personally kill Embryo behind Hilda's back and not telling anyone about the aftermath of the first Libertas both end up making things worse for their fellow comrades, [[spoiler:which leads to Jill relinquishing command to Hilda]].
** The Mana users never experienced war and discrimination despite calling themselves a kind without them, which turns them into a {{Hypocrite}} as a species. It doesn't help that their creator and resident BigBad Embryo is also a ControlFreak who never taught them about why war and oppression are bad things. [[spoiler:Sure enough, the users find this out the hard way when Embryo starts merging the two worlds at the end of the series]].
** In the second half of "Distorted World", [[spoiler:when Sylvia begs Ange to save her, Ange understandably refuses, saying that she can't stand on her own two feet. Ange may be a heroine, but Sylvia hasn't given Ange any reason to rescue her again if the first time didn't stick]].
** Once Embryo has had enough of [[spoiler:Tusk and Ange]] getting in his way at the end of the series, he resorts to just [[spoiler:killing them in cold blood]].

* TragicMistake: Jill causes the first Libertus to fail when [[spoiler:her unrequited crush, Istvan, marries Vanessa. It gave time for Embryo to do a MindRape on her and kill her comrades]].

** Momoka and Ange also forgive [[spoiler:Liza]] for what she did, indirectly or otherwise, to the latter of the two, while [[spoiler:acting as TheMole under Julio]].

* UngratefulBastard: Ultimately how Ange, Hilda and the Arzenal girls view the Mana-using citizens for how harsh they treat the Norma.

* VillainHasAPoint: Embryo wanted to [[spoiler:[[RestartTheWorld restart this whole world]] by [[OmnicidalManiac destroying it]]]]. His reasoning is that humanity has become decadent, and the viewer ''was'' directly shown how much humanity has degenerated with racism and prejudice towards the Norma. Embryo might have a point in thinking that his mankind-building attempt was a failure (even including his suggestion to do the racism thing to keep order) this time and he could only think of [[spoiler:restarting the world]] as a solution. [[MotiveDecay A point he could have kept if he didn't suddenly decide he'd rather be a creepy harem lord with Ange on top.]]
* VisualPun: When [[spoiler: Ange and Tusk finally consummate their relationship]], the [[SexyDiscretionShot camera switches to]] a view of the ocean - i.e. "wet."

* VoodooShark: After Momoka [[spoiler: apparently sacrificed herself to buy enough time for Ange to escape]], she returns no worse for wear, apparently thanks to [[spoiler: a hidden frying pan that blocked a bullet from Embryo]]. It is unexplained how she survived [[spoiler: getting hit by a car, falling down a cliff, and then having the car '''explode on top of her''']].

** Throughout "Salia's Gloom," the episode is how Salia makes the crew finally work together with the exception of Hilda. At the end, it is revealed that [[spoiler:Sylvia contacts Momoka and is begging for Ange to help her]].

** "The Survivors." [[spoiler: Villkiss gets sniped in one hit even in its Michael Mode by Chris, sinks at the bottom of the river, and at the end of the episode, Marika, Momoka, Tusk, and Ersha's kids die. And this is '''''before''''' getting into the reason why Chris sided with Embryo in the first place, as she got little respect from either Hilda or Rosalie.]]

** In "Dragon Song", the moment when [[spoiler:three Para-Mails emerge out of the singularity point fighting for the [=DRAGONs=] [[HumanAllAlong completely turns the premise of the plot upside-down]]]].
** In "The Tuner of Time", [[spoiler:Salia ''shoots Ange.'' Not Villkiss, ''Ange''. She got better though, although she pointed out that she was hit with a tranquilizer]].

** Ange usually receives this from her other teammates. She also fires one back to Salia for not telling the other members of the squad to stop firing at her countering Salia's accusation towards Ange not being a team player, as Salia is trying to shank her no less, and Momoka for leaving her out of the loop about being a Norma. She later compares Salia rather unflatteringly to Jill for underprioritizing the safety of the rest of the squad when ordered to the Aurora in "Arzenal Burns". In "Another Earth" she angrily questions Sala about why she had to kill all of the people in Arzenal if her goal was to just protect her kin and rescue Aura. Then "Dark Angel of Destruction" has her calling out on Salia on [[spoiler:why she sided with Embryo]], though Salia fired one back when [[spoiler:she asked why Ange sided with the [=DRAGONs=]]]. In "Conclusive Ocean" and "Distorted World", she calls out Jill for [[spoiler:her irrational behavior towards everyone, such as Salia]].

* YouHaveOutlivedYourUsefulness: Embryo to everyone: [[spoiler:Julio]], the humans, the Norma, the Diamond Rose Knights, [[spoiler:the World of Mana itself]] and eventually [[spoiler:Ange, though that last one [[TheDogBitesBack bites him back big time]]]].

%%Please don't Pothole inside spoiler tags, since hovering over the tags reveals what you're linking to, ruining the whole point of a spoiler tag.

%% Administrivia/ZeroContextExamples are not allowed on wiki pages. All such entries have been commented out. Please add context to the entries before uncommenting them.

%% Please don't Pothole inside spoiler tags, since hovering over the tags reveals what you're linking to, ruining the whole point of a spoiler tag.

--> '''Jill:''' I failed. It's ''my'' fault Ange didn't turn out to be more submissive.

** Somewhat expected considering it's Sunrise[[note]]and this series airing at the same time as '''''two''''' [[Anime/GundamReconguistaInG Gundam]] [[Anime/GundamBuildFightersTry series]], as well as ''VideoGame/{{Aikatsu}}'''s third season and ''Anime/TribeCoolCrew'' didn't help[[/note]], but special note goes to Embryo in the end of "Arzenal Burns", where ''he has no face''. While in his introductory scene in "The Right Arm's Past", he has longer than normal fingers.

** "Resonating Front Lines": The bowling balls are [[{{Franchise/Gundam}} Haros]], and the dots on the Twister Mat are Zeon Mobile Suits. The racing cars are [[Anime/FutureGPXCyberFormula Cyber Formula cars]]. Not to mention, appearances of Janbu, kamigu[[note]]from ''[[http://letsanime.blogspot.ca/2010/11/welcome-to-galatt.html Choriki Robo Galatt]]''[[/note]], [[Anime/FangOfTheSunDougram Crab Gunner]], [[Anime/MetalArmorDragonar Falguen/Falcon]] [[Anime/MobileSuitGundamSEED Kira Yamato, Athrun Zala and Lacus Clyne]] figures during the crane scene (another Haro also pops up here).

** In the finale of "Conclusive Ocean", when Jill tries to invoke her shared circumstances with Ange, Ange cuts her off for [[HeWhoFightsMonsters being as manipulative as the ones she's fighting]].

** Attempting to disguise murder as friendly fire has been common throughout history, though typically it was directed upwards by soldiers to disliked or incompetent officers.

* BittersweetEnding: The Norma and [=DRAGONs=] manage to repel Embryo's space-time convergence, and Embryo himself is no more. However, [[spoiler:Misurugi and the other Kingdoms are destroyed and hundreds have perished thanks to the space-time convergence; many [=DRAGONs=] and Norma, including Tania and Irma, are killed during the final battle; the citizens in the other world can no longer use Mana and must survive on their own and at least Ange has inspired Sylvia a bit to change the way of thinking of these people they can survive without being addicted to Mana; and Zola, Sophia, Jurai, Marika and Jill are dead]].

* RaceAgainstTheClock: Towards the end of the series, the Norma and [=DRAGONs=] race to [[spoiler:free Aura in the Column of Dawn and stop Embryo from using his TimeCrash to kill off all lifeforms]].

* BothSidesHaveAPoint: Jill and Ange's views on freeing the Norma. On Jill's side, [[spoiler:while she's correct that they must kill Embryo to free the Norma, her methods of using the [=DRAGONs=] as a sacrifice so she can exact revenge on Embryo for what she did to her was taking it to an extreme]]. On Ange's side, she's correct that [[spoiler:the Norma's forces have become unreliable since Embryo took Salia and Chris under their wing, Jill must take responsibility for all the damage she has done, and the Norma must help the [=DRAGONs=] stop Embryo]].

* RaceAgainstTheClock: Towards the end of the series, the Norma and [=DRAGONs=] race to [[spoiler:free Aura and stop Embryo's space-time convergence before it can kill off all lifeforms]].

* DeathByIrony: Jill spent years trying to avenge her fallen comrades in her first Libertas, [[spoiler:but is fatally wounded when she tries killing Embryo]].

** Salia cosplays as a MagicalGirl. Her VA, Creator/EriKitamura, previously played a Magical Girl in ''Anime/FreshPrettyCure'', ''Anime/PuellaMagiMadokaMagica'' and ''Anime/IlSolePenetraLeIllusioni''.

* ReasonableAuthorityFigure:
** This is {{zigzagged|Trope}} with Jill. She's not a complete {{Jerkass}} and there are moments that she does the right thing for the right reason in regards to her subordinates. The most notable instance is allowing Ange to [[spoiler:purchase Momoka]]. Further, it is shown that she ultimately does respect and fulfill Ange's initial request to mail a petition to the world governments regarding the loss of her royal title, the incident with Zola notwithstanding.
** Back when she was the commander of Arzenal, Jasime was very reasonable, especially when Alektra failed to accomplish mission Libertas. When Ange brings up a very good strategy, Jill vehemently objects, but Jasmine approves of said strategy, after which Jill relents, and tells Ange to rest for now since she's tired from the trip. When Jill holds Momoka hostage and forces Ange to follow her strategy, [[EveryoneHasStandards Jasmine is justifiably appalled]]. Then, when the Norma learn the truth about the first Libertas, Jasmine willingly allows Jill to step down as commander.
** Hilda has a very calm and reasonable judgment, which comes in handy when Jill steps down as Commander. Ultimately, she realizes she's out of her league with such a responsibility and passes it on to Ange.
** Some of the Mana leaders a minor note.
*** The Secretary-General shows some concern over Julio's mental instability and extreme hostility towards the Norma.
*** The Queen of the Veldan Dynasty is closest to the voice of reason, reminding the vocal members that they must keep the peace between their nations.
*** The King of Rosenblum, if his daughter continuing to live despite knowing the secret of Arzenal is of any indication.
** Subverted in the later episodes when they decided to sacrifice their entire nations just to destroy the world. [[spoiler:It bites them later when Embryo says he had no intent on bringing them with him.]]

* WeHardlyKnewYe: The three newbies of the First Troop get very little screentime before they are offed. This goes double for Tania, Irma and Marika during the second half.

She is exiled to a remote island, where she meets a group of Norma girls who fight using humanoid machines called [[AMechbyAnyOtherName Para-mails]]. They fight against beings called [=DRAGONs=] from another dimension who have come to invade their own as Angelise prepares to get revenge on both [[CainAndAbel her brother]] Julio (Creator/KosukeToriumi), the newly-crowned [[TheEmperor Emperor]], and [[BigBad his master Embryo]], the [[EvilOverlord supreme leader]] and {{god|IsEvil}} of the world and the man who oversees the oppression of Norma, for turning her into an outcast.

Character tropes should go on the ''Cross Ange'' [[Characters/CrossAnge Character page]], and tropes from specific episodes go on the [[Recap/CrossAnge Recap page]].

** Jill's ruthless efforts to free the Norma from Embryo's control (such as using her subordinates as pawns) and avenge her fallen comrades eventually cause her to [[spoiler:willingly step down as commander when her subordinates learn the truth, and eventually lose her life in the FinalBattle. Worst of all, Jill was nothing more than Embryo's UnwittingPawn]].

* BaitAndSwitchLesbians: [[YuriFan Fans hoping for serious lesbian romance]] were sorely disappointed when Tusk quickly turned into Ange's main love interest, on account of being one of the rare guys in the show and TheOneGuy of the heroes. In general, romantic relationships between women seem to be used mostly for titillation, and then even those often turn sour after a while. [[spoiler:This changes by the final few episodes, which put forth two lesbian relationships (Ange and Hilda, then Chris and Rosalie) quite seriously without any fetishization. Ange even throws in a little aesop about changing the world that doesn't accept that kind of love to reassure Hilda that she needs her as much as Tusk. While the writing still favors her with Tusk, Ange ends the series in a canonical polyamory relationship with a boy and another girl.]]

* WhatHappenedToTheMouse:
** The show drops just as many characters and plot lines as it does start them. The worst example regards Misty, who gets used by Ange in her escape, but is last shown being found by her security guards. While any mental scarring she could have received from it, if any, is never mentioned by her father in "The Right Arm's Past" when he brings this up. [[spoiler: She reappears near the end of the series trying to escape with her family, but we don't know what happens to her after Embryo is killed, making it possible that she died.]]
** The rest of the troops are never mentioned, let alone seen, until the tail end of the first half. Only to drop out again after their precious few scenes.