History Manga / AoharuXMachinegun

* FirstKiss: [[Hotaru has hers with Midori when she's stuck in the men's bath without a towel; Midori offers to give her his if she kisses him then and there.]]

The [[Characters/AoharuXMachinegun Characters page]] and [[YMMV/AoharuXMachinegun YMMV page]] could use some WikiLove...

The [[Characters/AoharuXMachinegun Characters page]] and [[YMMV/AoharuXMachinegun YMMV page]] could use some work, too...

* BloodKnight: Some of the more aggressive airsoft players come off as this, and Hotaru seems to get a little too excited for combat in Episode 4. Her BattleAura is enough to creep out the airsoft store owner in their mock-battle, and later Midori during the TGC match; in fact, the manga eventually reveals her BloodKnight tendencies to be [[spoiler:Hotaru's innate lust for and skill at combat, present since childhood, which might make her a legitimate danger to even her own teammates.]]

* CastFullOfPrettyBoys: This is a survival game manga so the "boys" are a given. The "pretty" is a little more surprising, except maybe in Masamune's because he's a host.
* CoolGuns: Despite the name, all kinds of guns are showcased, from sniper rifles to handguns to ''miniguns''. They're all BB-shooting replicas, though.

** Masamune forces Hotaru to join the opposing team at the end of episode 4, but the team's leader then mentions a conversation between Masamune and Yukimura that reveals the temporary team-switch to be this. Hotaru also watches as Masamune helps a newbie player on his team, much like he had done for her when she first started, and realizes how foolish and headstrong she had been before.

** Masamune gets a second one, revealed later in the manga, when it's revealed that [[spoiler:a childhood filled with abandonment issues is probably why he's so hung up on Midori's kicking him from the team and still wants to have Midori acknowledge him.]]

** Kanae as well, encouraging Hotaru to return to airsoft because it makes her happy, despite the fact that Kanae would prefer Hotaru not be involved in such a weird/dangerous hobby.

** Hotaru's quest for vengeance for Kanae ends up costing her a lot in damaged property at the HostClub Masamune works at. He makes her pay it off by having her join his team in survival games.

* NobodyCallsMeChicken: Masamune uses this against Tohru in Episode 5 when the latter complains about being tired after a short run, claiming that he'd be useless in combat with such low stamina. Tohru suddenly has the urge to take part in the training.

* SeriousBusiness: The airsoft "survival games," lampshaded a few times when it's pointed out that it's not real combat and features toy guns. This does nothing to change anyone's SeriousBusiness view of things.

** Additionally, many of the characters have the surnames of notable samurai and Japanese warlords, including all of Teams Toy Gun Gun and Hoshishiro (assuming Ichi is a reference to Oichi) and even some of the minor characters like Captain Sagara.

* UnderdogsNeverLose: Heartbreakingly averted during the TGC match. [[spoiler:Despite several [[HopeSpot Hope Spots]] moments, takes out Toy Gun Gun almost single-handedly, finding time to inflict physical and mental torture along the way and afterward gloating about the years of hopelessness that Masamune and Yukimura have endured. We're then matter-of-factly informed Team Hoshishiro won the tournament for the fifth year in a row.]]

* WhatTheHellHero: Yukimura does this to Masamune after their yakiniku party [[spoiler:for kicking Hotaru off the team. While Yukimura initially says that he understands why Masamune did it, he follows it up by punching him, chewing him out, declaring that he won't go along with Masamune's decision, and storms out.]]

** Additionally, many of the characters have the surnames of notable samurai and Japanese warlords, including all of Teams Toy Gun Gun and Hoshishiro, assuming Ichi is a reference to Oichi, and even some of the minor characters like Captain Sagara.

''Aoharu x Kikanjuu'' got a Summer2015Anime by Creator/BrainsBase, its official Japanese website can be found [[http://www.tbs.co.jp/anime/aoharu/ here]]. It's streaming on [[http://www.crunchyroll.com/aoharu-x-machinegun Crunchyroll]] [[note]]for America and Canada[[/note]] and [[https://www.animelab.com/shows/aoharu-x-kikanjuu Anime Lab]] [[note]]for Australia and New Zealand[[/note]].

& IWantMyBelovedToBeHappy: A platonic version in Yukimura, who has apparently dedicated his life to supporting Masamune, even taking up airsoft in the first place to help Masamune [[spoiler:get back at Midori]].

* BloodKnight: Hotaru seems to get a little too excited for combat in Episode 4. Her BattleAura is even enough to creep out the airsoft store owner in their mock battle, and later Midori during the TGC match; in fact, her BattleAura and BloodKnight tendencies are particularly pronounced in the manga, where it's eventually revealed that [[spoiler:Hotaru's innate lust for and skill at combat might make her a legitimate danger to even her own teammates.]]

* PlotBasedVoiceCancelation: Occurs in a FlashBack during Episode 9, with Hotaru giving her teammates encouragement during a dodgeball match they were losing. Though it's not initially heard what she says, it seems to give her teammates some hope. [[spoiler:The end of the episode reveals her saying that it would be worse for them to give up before even trying, which Kanae uses to get Hotaru out of her HeroicBSOD.]]

''Aoharu x Machinegun'' ("Aoharu x Kikanjuu" [[note]]It's ''not'' called "Youth x Machinegun" because "aoharu" is in katakana in the title furigana, which means "[[AlternateCharacterReading Seishun]] x Kikanjuu" ("seishun" = "youth") would be incorrect[[/note]]) is a shonen manga by NAOE, with a pair of oneshots starting it off in Gangan Online in 2011. Its official Japanese website is [[http://www.square-enix.co.jp/magazine/gfantasy/story/aoharu/ here]], but don't fret, it will be released in English by Yen Press.

* AintTooProudToBeg: Hotaru gets on her hands and knees in episode 5, after realizing that Masamune and Tohru are really BadAss in airsoft battles, and how pathetic she was acting in the previous episode's battles. She thinks he's going to slap her, only for him to apologize instead.
* AlternateCharacterReading: The title, as explained in a note above, could mean "Youth x Machinegun" but doesn't due to this trope. It also doesn't mean "blue spring" ("spring" being the season) but if "aoharu" weren't katakana in the title furigana (furigana is typically hiragana), it would.
* ArtisticLicenseGunSafety: This is a show that can afford to get away with the license but it's conscious of it nonetheless. Example: episode 1 where Masamune shoots at Hotaru's torso, along with a warning on screen saying you should never point guns or shoot them at people promptly following the shot.

* BloodKnight: Hotaru seems to get a little too excited to jump into combat in episode 4. Her BattleAura is even enough to creep out the airsoft store owner in their mock battle, and later Midori during the TGC match.

** Done in episode 8 during the TGC tournament [[spoiler:to Hotaru while fighting Midori.]]
** Used again in the target range match during episode 11 between Hotaru and Midori with a paper target. [[spoiler:Not only does Hotaru manages to land the head shot on the target, she also hit the tiny circle target on the forehead dead center.]]
* CastFullOfPrettyBoys: This is a survival game manga so the "boys" are a given. The "pretty"? Not so much, except maybe Masamune because he's a host.
* CoolGuns: Despite the name, all kinds of guns are showcased from sniper rifles to handguns. They're all BB-shooting replicas though.
* CreditsRunningSequence: Hotaru starts running alone in the ending, but is joined by Masamune and Tohru shortly after.

** Masamune forces Hotaru to join the opposing team at the end of episode 4, but she doesn't seem very happy about it. In episode 5, the red team leader talks to her a bit, and mentions overhearing a conversation they had regarding her prior to the team switch. Hotaru also watches as Masamune helps a newbie player on his team, much like he had done for her when she first started. She starts to realize how foolish and headstrong she had been acting before, and apologizes to them in front of a crowd of people in the next scene.
** Masamune uses it again in episode 10, after he asks Hotaru if he likes survival games or not. [[spoiler:After she says she does, he immediately tells her to quit the team, the pushes her out of Yukimura's apartment. Yukimura initially claims to agree with Masamune, not wanting Hotaru to get bogged down with the emotional baggage both of them have regarding survival games and end up suffering like their last member did. However, he immediately punches Masamune, and does a WhatTheHellHero moment on him as well, being rather pissed off at Masamune's decision as well.]] Yukimura explains to Hotaru some more in episode 11 about what happened between Masamune and Midori. [[spoiler:They had another third member between the first woman, and Hotaru. Unfortunately Masamune's obsession with Midori dragged down that member, who ended up quitting survival games altogether because of it. Masamune was simply trying to protect Hotaru the best way he thought he could from his obsession with Midori.]]

* TheDayTheMusicLied: [[spoiler: In the TGC match Hotaru, enraged over her friends' defeat, channels her inner bloodlust on Midori with her theme song playing... but she ends up in Midori's trap and is shot by Ichi.]]

** Hotaru has a BloodKnight moment against Fujimoto, rushing him to deny his range advantage and completely overwhelming him at short-range. [[spoiler:When he asks why she didn't shoot, Hotaru admits she left the safety on. Fortunately for her, Fujimoto is a good sport and allows her to win, since he would've gotten shot with that maneuver. That and she damaged his mini-gun.]]
** Kanae's race against Hotaru turns out this way. She seems extremely pumped up, and seems as if she'll give the latter a challenge. Hotaru proceeds to win every race and Kanae's performance is so horrible that the other students start feeling bad for her. [[spoiler:It's hilariously subverted after Hotaru thanks her for getting her out of her slump. Kanae, incredibly embarrassed by her friend's speech, then quickly dashes off into the distance, with one boy mentioning that she did a 50 meter dash in about 6 seconds.]]
* FreudianExcuse: Masamune jokingly tells a lady that he doesn't allow girls on his team, which is later repeated by Captain Sagara. Tohru then explains : [[spoiler:They used to have a girl on their team, but in one match the opposing team stalked and brutally "killed" her while Masamune was forced to watch.]] She quit immediately afterwards. [[spoiler:Tohru later clarifies that Masamune actually made up the "no women allowed" rule because he didn't want to seem so weak and helpless again. Additionally, he was breaking the tournament rules by taking part in the action after being hit.]]
** Masamune gets a second one, revealed later in the manga, when it's revealed that [[spoiler:a childhood filled with abandonment issues is probably why he's so hung up on Midori's kicking him from the team, yet still wants to have Midori acknowledge him.]]
* ForcedToWatch: [[spoiler: Masaume was held down and forced to watch his teammate get "tormented" and "executed" in front of him.]]
* GenreShift: The series starts off as a comedy with quirky characters and airsoft-based action-scenes. It eventually starts to turn into a sports drama with increasingly dramatic elements, focusing on the airsoft aspects and character dynamics.

** Hotaru suffers a minor one, mostly played for laughs, after being forced to switch teams by Masamune during their match against Captain Sagara's team. She recovers pretty quickly but then immediately suffers another one after hearing that Toy Gun Gun doesn't allow girls on their team. This one sticks a little longer, as a huge competition was just days away and she had yet to tell them she was a girl. Then Tohru tells her ''why'' Masamune won't allow girls on his team and she's caught off guard during their water gun fight.
** She suffers another one [[spoiler:after Toy Gun Gun loses to Hoshishiro, during which Midori rubs salt into the wound by humiliating them and gloating to Hotaru that he knew she was a girl and her own teammates didn't.]]

* KillingIntent: Some of the TGC opponents and [[spoiler: Haru-Haru to Hotaru]] before matches. Hotaru notably has one when fighting for a particular goal (referred to as "blood-lust mode") .

** In some competitions, like TGC, you are allowed to physically touch opponents to score a hit. In all games, once the person calls 'hit', their match ends and they leave the field. Since survival games generally don't have judges, they're dependent on the honesty of both teams. In the first match of the TGC, [[spoiler:Midori pins Masamune down away from the others and covers his mouth before shooting him directly in the stomach. Since Masamune can't yell 'hit', Midori is "technically allowed" to continue shooting him.]]

* MistakenForGay: Hotaru asks Tohru if Masamune doesn't like girls for some reason. While she was talking specifically about girls not being able to join Toy Gun Gun, he immediately assumes Masamune was lying when he talks about how attractive women are.

** Early on, Hotaru's constant LeeroyJenkins antics ends up getting her hit almost immediately in almost every fight. Eventually Masamune gets tired of the antics and throws her on the other team.

* NotCheatingUnlessYouGetCaught: The group that Toy Gun Gun fights against in episode 2 are notorious cheaters with a habit of not calling out when they get hit.

* SlasherSmile: Often a result of 'blood-lust' mode for Hotaru.

** Yukimura to Mattsun, to the point where it's basically his defining trait, and later Hotaru to the former two in chapter 15.

** When facing off with Masamune and Yukimura in the TGC match, [[spoiler: Midori takes his sweet time destroying both them both, physically and mentally destroying Masamune and physically overwhelming Yukimura. When Tachibana finally shows up and gets the upper hand, Midori reveals that he knows her secret - her actual gender - and freezes her long enough for Ichi to snipe her, the tells Hotaru that lying to stay on the team makes her "evil" despite her claims of justice.]]

* CastFullOfPrettyBoys: This is a survival game manga, so the "boys" are a given. The "pretty"? Not so much, except maybe Masamune because he's a host.
* CoolGuns: Despite the name of the work, all kinds of guns are showcased from sniper rifles to handguns. They're all BB-shooting replicas though.

* TheDayTheMusicLied: [[spoiler: In Episode 8, Hotaru, enraged over her friends losing, channels her inner bloodlust on Midori, with her theme song playing... But she ends up wandering into Midori's trap and is shot by Ichi.]]

** Hotaru has a habit of flying into Masamune and especially Tohru feet first, whenever she sees or suspects that they're doing something naughty, such as looking at adult books in public.
** In episode 5, while shooting at her with a water gun, he says that she wet herself, as in a PottyFailure. In the next scene, a loud hit is heard, and Masamune is buried into the ground, with his legs sticking up and Tohru trying to calm Hotaru down.

** Hotaru has a BloodKnight moment against Fujimoto during their fight in episode 7. She rushes him to deny his long range advantage, and then proceeds to completely overwhelm him. [[spoiler:When he asks why she didn't shoot, Hotaru then explains she left the safety on. Fortunately for her, Fujimoto is a good sport, and allows her to win, since he technically would've gotten shot with that maneuver. That, and she damaged his mini-gun when she jumped on it in the heat of the moment, so he probably didn't want to continue anyway.]]
** Kanae's racing match against Hotaru turns out this way. She seems extremely pumped up, and seems as if she'll give the latter a challenge. Hotaru then proceeds to win every race, and Kanae's performance is so horrible that the other students actually start feeling bad for her. [[spoiler:It's hilariously subverted after Hotaru thanks her for getting her out of her slump. Kanae, incredibly embarrassed by her friend's speech, then quickly dashes off into the distance, with one boy mentioning that she did a 50 meter dash in about 6 seconds.]]
* FreudianExcuse: Masamune jokingly tells a lady that he doesn't allow girls on his team. Captain Sagara in episode 5 (the leader of the team opposing Masamune's) tells Hotaru this as well. Tohru then explains to her why that rule was put into place. [[spoiler:They used to have a girl on their team, but in one particularly cruel game, the opposing team tormented and stalked her, then brutally "killed" her, which in the anime appears as if they were pulling her hair, and then "shot" her in the stomach. All in front of Masamune who was being held down and forced to watch this "execution".]] She understandably quit the team afterwards, but he says that her leaving without saying a word was much crueler to Masamune than simply blaming him for what happened in the game. [[spoiler:But in episode 11, Tohru further clarifies what happened. It turned out that Masamune actually made up that "no women allowed" rule because he didn't want to seem so weak and helpless in front of them like that again. Additionally, Masamune was breaking the tournament rules, by taking part in the action even after having been hit.]]
* ForcedToWatch: [[spoiler: Masaume was held down and forced to watch his teammate get "tormented" and later "executed" right in front of him.]]
* GenreShift: The series starts off as comedy with quirky characters and uses Airsoft as a source for action. The series starts to transition away from this and become more like a sports drama, focusing on Airsoft game-play / tournaments and character dynamics. While there is still comedy, it becomes more toned down.
* GoKartingWithBowser: Midori takes Hotaru to a MaidCafe which later doubled as a shooting range.

** Hotaru suffers a minor one at the beginning of episode 5 after being forced to switch teams by Masamune. She recovers, but then suffers another one after hearing that Toy Gun Gun doesn't allow girls on their team. This one sticks with her a little longer, particularly as a huge national competition was just days away and she had yet to tell them she was a girl. Then Tohru tells her in the FreudianExcuse entry as to why Masamune won't allow girls on his team, and she's caught off guard by him during their water gun fight.
** She suffers another one in episode 9, [[spoiler:after Toy Gun Gun loses to Midori's team. He rubs salt into the wound even further by humiliating all of them, and then gloating over the fact that he knew Hotaru was a girl, but never revealed it to Masamune or Tohru yet.]]
* HopeSpot: Used a few times during the TGC tournament in episodes 7 and 8. [[spoiler:Several moments appear as though Toy Gun Gun could in fact defeat Hoshishiro, such as Hotaru defeating Fujimoto. In the end though, Midori ends up winning, partly because Tohru didn't finish off Ichi before going to help Masamune. It then left Hotaru open to her sniper shot when she had Midori pinned down.]]
* HostClub: Masamune works in one.

** In some competitions like TGC, you are allowed to physically touch and that may be used to score a hit. However, in all games, once the person hit calls 'hit', the match with the shot individual ends there and they leave the field. Since survival games generally don't have judges, they are dependent on the integral honesty of both teams. In the first match of the TGC, [[spoiler: Midori pins down Masamune and covers his mouth with one hand before shooting directly on his stomach. Since Masamune can't yell 'hit', Midori uses as an excuse to continue to repeatedly shoot him.]]
** In episode 12, Hotaru enters a one on one deathmatch against Masamune. Though Hotaru loses the first match, she asks for another game. When he complains that he won, Hotaru then mentions she never said there was a limit to the number of matches. Masamune obliges, if nothing else just to let her get it out of her system.
* MaidCafe: Midori takes Hotaru to one when she was feeling down. Turns out it doubles as a shooting range.

* MyGreatestFailure: Hotaru finds out why Masamune says he doesn't allow girls on his team in episode 5, as described in the FreudianExcuse entry. [[spoiler:As a result of a girl getting tormented in the game while he was forced to helplessly watch, he doesn't like the idea of letting a girl on his team again, lest this happens again.]]

** Hotaru's quest for vengeance for Kanae ends up costing her a lot of damaged stuff at the HostClub Masamune works at. He makes her pay it off by having her join in his survival games.
** In episode 4, Hotaru's constant use of LeeroyJenkins ends up getting her hit almost immediately by the opposing team in almost every fight. Eventually Masamune gets tired of the antics, and throws her on the other team.
* NobodyCallsMeChicken: Masamune uses this against Tohru in episode 5 when the latter complains about being tired after a short run. He tells his friend with such low stamina he'd be useless in combat. Tohru suddenly has the urge to take part in the training Masamune set up.
* NotCheatingUnlessYouGetCaught: The group that Toy Gun Gun fights against in episode 2 are notorious cheaters, who have a habit of not calling out when they get hit.

* PlotBasedVoiceCancelation: One occurs in a FlashBack during episode 9, with Hotaru giving her teammates some encouragement during a dodgeball match they were losing repeatedly on. Though it's not initially heard what she says, it seems to give her teammates some hope. [[spoiler:The end of the episode reveals her saying that it would be worse for them to give up before even trying, which Kanae then uses to get Hotaru out of her HeroicBSOD.]]

* ThemeNaming: Outside of team Toy Gun Gun and Team Hoshishiro, many of the named TGC constestants follow a particular name pattern of '[Number] [Animal/Creature]. For example, team Nine Tails and team Eleven Dogs.

** [[spoiler: Midori]] drops the title of Episode 8 (What Controls Your Mind Now) to Hotaru [[spoiler: upon defeating her]]. Also doubles as a WhamLine.
** Kanae drops the title of Episode 9 (That's What Makes Me Cool) to Hotaru when she kept on challenging her to a drag race.
** Hotaru drops the title of Episode 10 to Masamune (I Want to Fight With These People) when explaining about her love for survival games.
** At the end of Episode 11, Hotaru drops the title of the episode to Masamune (Let's Do Something Fun) when she [[spoiler: challenges him to a one-on-one duel at the end of the episode.]]
* UnderdogsNeverLose: Heartbreakingly averted example during the TGC match. [[spoiler:Several HopeSpot moments show up, but Midori's team not only defeats Toy Gun Gun. He then takes his time tormenting each member, physically, and/or mentally. After said match, Midori takes the time to gloat over Hotaru about the sense of hopelessness her teammates have endured over the years. Hotaru then nonchalantly states that Midori's team then goes on to win the latest tournament.]]

** Yukimura to Mattsun, and later Hotaru to the former two in chapter 15.
** Kanae to Hotaru, who helps her friend out of a HeroicBSOD she seemed to be going through [[spoiler:after losing in the TGC tournament.]]

** In chapter/episode 9/8, [[spoiler: Midori takes his sweet time destroying both Mattsun and Yukki. The match is very brutal with Midori hurting Mattsun both physically and mentally, then later Yukki physically, killing all hope spots and making it a completely a one-sided match. Tachibana does show up but even though she manages to get the upper hand, Midori freezes her up by revealing her secret and effectively giving Ichi an opening. Midori then tells her that her deception to get on the team makes her unqualified to be giving him her so-called justice]].

** After thanking the red team leader for helping her to realize how good Masamune and Tohru were at airsoft games in episode 5, she tells Hotaru that she knows why they chose her. But then she mentions that Toy Gun Gun doesn't allow girls on their team. Something Hotaru, being a {{Bifauxnen}}, hadn't quite yet revealed to her teammates...
** Masamune delivers one to Hotaru in episode 11, after asking if she likes survival games. [[spoiler:After she replies enthusiastically, he immediately tells her to quit the team, and pushes her out of Yukimura's apartment.]]
* WhatTheHellHero: Yukimura does this to Masamune in episode 11 shortly after their yakiniku party. [[spoiler:He's pissed at Masamune for suddenly kicking Hotaru off the team after she says she loves survival games. He initially claims that he understood why his friend did it. But then he also immediately punches him, chews him out, angrily stating that he wouldn't follow him down this path, and storms out the apartment. After he calms down, Yukimura is shocked at how he just acted, and immediately realizes he just locked himself out of his own apartment.]]
* YouAreBetterThanYouThinkYouAre: When Kanae sees how horribly depressed Hotaru seems in episode 9, she recalls an earlier event where she encouraged her teammates to continue playing against another class in a dodgeball game, despite them losing every single match. [[spoiler:She ends up racing her, and bringing up said event from earlier about not giving up right away despite bad things happening, which seems to help Hotaru out of her HeroicBSOD.]]
* YouAreTooLate: [[spoiler: Hotaru arrives after the aftermath of Midori vs Yukki and Mattsun. Midori states this line]].

* BlandNameProduct: Kanae uses [[{{Main/Google}} "Doosle"]] to search up survival game information in episode 9.

[[quoteright:350:http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/aoharustuff.jpg]]

Aoharu x Kikanjuu got a Summer2015Anime by Creator/BrainsBase, its official Japanese website can be found [[http://www.tbs.co.jp/anime/aoharu/ here]]. It's streaming on [[http://www.crunchyroll.com/aoharu-x-machinegun Crunchyroll]] [[note]]for America and Canada[[/note]] and [[https://www.animelab.com/shows/aoharu-x-kikanjuu Anime Lab]] [[note]]for Australia and New Zealand[[/note]].

* LoopholeAbuse: In some competitions like TGC, you are allowed to physically touch and that may be used to score a hit. However, in all games, once the person hit calls 'hit', the match with the shot individual ends there and they leave the field. Since survival games generally don't have judges, they are dependent on the integral honesty of both teams. In the first match of the TGC, [[spoiler: Midori pins down Masamune and covers his mouth with one hand before shooting directly on his stomach. Since Masamune can't yell 'hit', Midori uses as an excuse to continue to repeatedly shoot him ]]

** Masamune uses it again in episode 10, after he asks Hotaru if he likes survival games or not. [[spoiler:After she says she does, he immediately tells her to quit the team, the pushes her out of Yukimura's apartment. Yukimura initially claims to agree with Masamune, not wanting Hotaru to get bogged down with the emotional baggage both of them have regarding survival games and end up suffering like their last member did. However, he immediately punches Masamune, and does a WhatTheHellHero moment on him as well, being rather pissed off at Masamune's decision as well.]]

* CruelToBeKind: Masamune forces Hotaru to join the opposing team at the end of episode 4, but she doesn't seem very happy about it. In episode 5, the red team leader talks to her a bit, and mentions overhearing a conversation they had regarding her prior to the team switch. Hotaru also watches as Masamune helps a newbie player on his team, much like he had done for her when she first started. She starts to realize how foolish and headstrong she had been acting before, and apologizes to them in front of a crowd of people in the next scene.

* FreudianExcuse: Masamune jokingly tells a lady that he doesn't allow girls on his team. Captain Sagara in episode 5 (the leader of the team opposing Masamune's) tells Hotaru this as well. Tohru then explains to her why that rule was put into place. [[spoiler:They used to have a girl on their team, but in one particularly cruel game, the opposing team tormented and stalked her, then brutally "killed" her, which in the anime appears as if they were pulling her hair, and then "shot" her in the stomach. All in front of Masamune who was being held down and forced to watch this "execution".]] She understandably quit the team afterwards, but he says that her leaving without saying a word was much crueler to Masamune than simply blaming him for what happened in the game.

* WhamLine: After thanking the red team leader for helping her to realize how good Masamune and Tohru were at airsoft games in episode 5, she tells Hotaru that she knows why they chose her. But then she mentions that Toy Gun Gun doesn't allow girls on their team. Something Hotaru, being a {{Bifauxnen}}, hadn't quite yet revealed to her teammates...

* EpicFail: Hotaru has a BloodKnight moment against Fujimoto during their fight in episode 7. She rushes him to deny his long range advantage, and then proceeds to completely overwhelm him. [[spoiler:When he asks why she didn't shoot, Hotaru then explains she left the safety on. Fortunately for her, Fujimoto is a good sport, and allows her to win, since he technically would've gotten shot with that maneuver. That, and she damaged his mini-gun when she jumped on it in the heat of the moment, so he probably didn't want to continue anyway.]]

* UndyingLoyalty: Yukimura to Mattsun, and later Hotaru to the former two in chapter 15.

* BloodKnight: Hotaru seems to get a little too excited to jump into combat in episode 4. Her BattleAura is even enough to creep out the airsoft store owner in their mock battle.

* HeroicBSOD: Hotaru suffers a minor one at the beginning of episode 5 after being forced to switch teams by Masamune. She recovers, but then suffers another one after hearing that Toy Gun Gun doesn't allow girls on their team. This one sticks with her a little longer, particularly as a huge national competition was just days away and she had yet to tell them she was a girl. Then Tohru tells her in the FreudianExcuse entry as to why Masamune won't allow girls on his team, and she's caught off guard by him during their water gun fight.

* TitleDrop: Hotaru drops the episode title at the end of the fifth (I Don't Want to Leave This Team) and the sixth (The Storm is Coming) episode.

* CharacterizationMarchesOn: Team Toy Gun Gun.
** Tachibana initially was very serious who [[KnightTemplar tries pick a fights over what's right]] (but later becomes more cheerful and go between BloodKnight and GoodIsNotSoft).
** Masamune is [[HandsomeLech a suave host with no filter on what he says or acts]] but he becomes a more silly character, with his [[TheLeader leadership]] and [[spoiler: BrokenAce]] qualities more in focus. His {{Casanova}} tendencies are also toned down to just flirting.
* CoolBigSis: Captain Sagara.

* CoolMasks: Team Nine Tails dons kitsune masks
* CosplayOtakuGirl:It was mentioned that it was one of Ichi's hobbies. She even designed team Hoshishiro's outfits.

* DaddysGirl: Ran is this to Usagi-san.

* FauxAffablyEvil: [[spoiler: Midori.]]
* FirstNameBasis: Kanae and Hotaru.

* IdenticalTwins: Haruki and Haruka.
* KillingIntent: Some of the TGC opponents and [[spoiler: Haru-Haru to Hotaru]] before marches. Hotaru notably has one when fighting for a particular goal (referred to as 'Blood-lust' mode) .

* NiceHat: Team 11 Dogs all wear a Ushanka-styled a hat the flaps are longer and it has dog ears

* RetiredBadass: The store owner of Echizen was once a mercenary. Now he runs an Airsoft gun shop wearing an apron with a pink bunny on it.
* SoftSpokenSadist: [[spoiler: Midori]] is implied to be this. Because of this, Fujimon frequently mistakes his intentions as good.

* YouAreTooLate: [[spoiler: Hotaru arrives after the aftermath of Midori Yuuki and Mattsun. Midori states this line]].
* {{Yandere}}: [[spoiler: Ranmaru to Mattsun, though he is genuinely 'dere dere' to Mattsun outside a match]].

** [[spoiler: Midori]] drops the title of Episode 8 (What Controls Your Mind Now) to Hotaru [[spoiler: upon defeating her]].

* GenreShift: The series starts off as comedy drama with quirky characters and uses Airsoft as a source for action. The series starts to transition away from this and become more like a sports anime, focusing on Airsoft game-play / tournaments and character dynamics. While there is still comedy, it becomes more toned down.

* UndyingLoyalty: Yuukimura to Mattsun and later Hotaru to the former two in chapter 15.

* DeathGlare: How some players express their killing intent, such as Haruki.

* NeverBringaGunToAKnifeFight: Toy Gun Gun's match against Team Nine Tails.

* SlasherSmile: Hotaru sports one in episode 4.