History Manga / Aphorism

* TheAce: Subversion. Inner!Rokudou is faster and stronger than the real Momiji, not to mention [[MrFanservice the hottest guy in the story]]. He also likes to kill his opponents ''very'' messily (he spends most of his screen time covered in blood. It usually isn't his), is coming off a little obsessive in his devotion to Momiji, and then there's the little issue of nobody knowing who the hell he is. Generally, he's been just a bit creepy.

* DissonantSerenity: Inner!Rokudou hardly ever drops his peaceful smile, even when covered in blood. Also, Kuga and [[spoiler: Hinata]].

* FromASingleCell: For Hakamada and [[spoiler: possibly Inner!Rokudou when transformed]]. After it's revealed that Hakamada has this, it becomes a SugarWiki/{{Funny Moment|s}} every time he uses it or someone mentions it. Examples include [[spoiler: Hinata using him in his strategies to find out the ability of other students - by sending Hakamada out to anger people, baiting them into killing him - or nonchalantly throwing him off the building and making sure he's dead so Hakamada can recover from his grievous injuries.]]

* KnightTemplar: Inner!Rokudou/[[spoiler:Krishna]] will do anything to protect Momiji. [[spoiler: or Director Yama, whom he served a long time ago. But it turns out the one at the school is a fake.]]

* ArcherArchetype: Noa. She's fairly sociable, though.

* {{Bishonen}}: Inner!Rokudou and Tomonaga are obvious examples.
** [[spoiler: Hirosue actually looks like this]].
** So does [[spoiler: Fake!Yama]].

'''''Aphorism''''' is a survival-horror manga by Kujou Karuna.

-->"''From here on out, you will bet your life and fight.''"

* OneHundredAndEight: The number of "true" students, the survivors of the first day.

* IntangibleTheft: The character Izuru Tomonaga [[spoiler: steals the main characters heart, while he's still using it]] with his power.

* ArcherArchetype: Noa

* AxesAtSchool: Most of the cast has some kind of physical weapon.

** [[spoiler: Hirosue actually looks like this. ]]

* CloudCuckooLander: Eco. Oh so much.

* DudeLooksLikeALady: [[http://www.dm5.com/m80646/ Rokudou when the mangaka draws him in the old Chinese costumes.]] [[spoiler: Also when he's sleeping on a bed presumably somewhere in his inner world, waited upon by Krishna.]]

* FreudianExcuse: [[spoiler: Tomonaga's older brother was killed in Naraka High, after which he spent eight years digging through thousands of bodies at the dump site in order to find his brother's remains. ]]

* HeartIsAnAwesomePower: The way in which the "character" manifests itself depends on the interpretation of the word by the user. [[spoiler:Momiji's "change" doesn't just change his appearance, it can transform other objects too.]]In addition, a single kanji can mean a few things in Japanese, which can also be exploited by the user. Similarities between two different kanji also provides new possibilities.[[spoiler:This is how Miko-chan finds a use for her character, "righteous": in Japanese, the kanji for "righteous" and "subjugate" look similar.]]
* HeirToTheDojo: Aira, which makes her character (katana) very useful.

* JerkAss: [[spoiler: Hirosue/Uruma. Yes, they are the same person. Yes, he ''really'' is that Jerkassy.]]

* RevengeBeforeReason: Aira going up against Tomonaga [[spoiler: after he stole Rokudou's heart, effectively killing him.]]
* TheRival: [[spoiler: Hinata and Uruma, to each other. Not that either of them will admit it.]]
* SmugSnake: Hirosue [[spoiler:at first. Then it gets a little more complicated. Still way too smug, though.]]

* FromASingleCell: For Hakamada and [[spoiler: possibly Inner!Rokudou when transformed]]. After it's revealed that Hakamada has this, it becomes a CrowningMomentOfFunny every time he uses it or someone mentions it. Examples include [[spoiler: Hinata using him in his strategies to find out the ability of other students - by sending Hakamada out to anger people, baiting them into killing him - or nonchalantly throwing him off the building and making sure he's dead so Hakamada can recover from his grievous injuries.]]

Monsters start oozing up from the ground, and the students are forced to fight for their lives. [[WordsCanBreakMyBones The characters they have chosen will be their weapons]]: Momiji's "change", allows him to transform his appearance at will, and in times of danger, become a tall, [[{{Bishonen}} beautiful]] superhuman. Other students with characters like "katana" or "spear" can literally turn their characters into weapons.

Welcome to Naraka High School, where every graduate is ''guaranteed'' a bright future. Graduates experience a huge improvement in social status and find that prestigious, coveted civil service jobs are within reach without ever needing to attend college. Entry requirements? ''If you can see the floating island, you’re accepted.''

Welcome to Naraka High School, where every graduate is guaranteed a bright future. Seriously. Just by graduating, your status will be greatly raised, and can even become a bureaucrat without ever needing to go to college. Entry requirements? ''If you can see the floating island, you’re accepted.''

Rokudou Momiji is a kid who does not matter, an absolute nobody. He has never been smart enough, or fast enough, or even tall enough, and he wants to change that, since he’s going to high school, and especially since he’s met a girl he wants to impress. So on the first day of high school, when the students are tasked with writing down “a character (kanji) that they will need for the future”, he writes down the kanji for “change”.

Monsters start oozing out from the ground, and all the students are forced to start fighting for their lives. [[WordsCanBreakMyBones The “character” they have chosen will be their weapons]]: Momiji’s character, “change”, allows him to transform his appearance at will, and in times of danger, he becomes a tall, ridiculously powerful {{Bishonen}}, capable of superhuman feats. Other students with characters like “katana” or “spear” can literally turn their character into weapons.

When it’s over, more than half of the student population has been killed, and there's more: every time the floating island aligns with the sun, something like this will happen, and every time it happens, students will be expected to fight for their survival. There is no way of knowing when it will happen (well, there is, but it’s subject to weather conditions), or what will turn up (every “occurrence” (known officially as “God’s Blight”)will be based on yet another character. It was monsters the first time, but the next time could just as likely be [[StormOfBlades falling knives]], [[KillItWithFire balls of fire]], or [[ArsonMurderAndJaywalking dancing pink elephants]].) In the meantime nobody can leave the school grounds, [[SuicideIsPainless although the other option is always available]]. Those who survive a year in this hellhole graduate, and will be able to leave.

The Blight isn’t the only thing these students have to worry about. There are people who’ll do [[CrazySurvivalist anything to survive]], not to mention there are those who are just AxCrazy. To top it off, that tall, ridiculously powerful bishonen Rokudou can turn into? He’s connected to the history of the school, though no one is really sure just how.

* [[spoiler: UnsettlingGenderReveal: Poor, poor Hinata. To be fair, [[AttractiveBentGender Mino does make a ridiculously pretty girl]].]]

http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/aphorism_2900.jpg
''From here on out, you will bet your life and fight.''

'''This series provides examples of:'''

* FanNickname: Inner!Rokudou. [[spoiler: Still stands even after his real name's been revealed. ]]

Aphorism is a little like a more shonen-friendly version of ''Manga/BattleRoyale'' (note: just because it’s ''more'' kid-friendly doesn’t mean it’s actually kid-friendly; there are still plenty of bloody scenes) meets Slice-Of-Life and WordsCanBreakMyBones. Its premise is pretty cliche, but the element of using words as weapons does give it a refreshing twist. It’s pretty entertaining, not too hard on the brain (no overly-convoluted plots here) and has the right amount of bloodshed. The characters are well-drawn, and though their personalities are not really fleshed out, they are all quite likable.

* TheAce: Subversion. Inner!Rokudou is faster and stronger than the real Momiji, not to mention [[MrFanservice the hottest guy in the story]]. He also likes to kill his opponents ''very'' messily (he spends most of his screen time covered in blood. It usually isn't his), is coming off a little obsessive in his devotion to Momiji, and then there's the little issue of nobody knowing who the hell he is. Generally, he's been just a bit creepy.
* TheRival: [[spoiler: Hinata and Uruma, to each other. Not that either of them will admit it.]]
* TheSpeechless: [[spoiler:Tatsumi]] becomes this after [[spoiler:Tomonaga steals his vocal cords]].

* DualWielding: [[spoiler:Chisato with [[WhipSword]]s, Tatsumi with halberds, and Rokudō with longsword-like objects.]]

** The other leg has white stocking/overknee-to-thigh-socks. It's still fashionably assymmetric.

* HeartIsAnAwesomePower: The way in which the "character" manifests itself depends on the interpretation of the word by the user. [[spoiler:Momiji's "change" doesn't just change his appearance, it can tranform other objects too.]]In addition, a single kanji can mean a few things in Japanese, which can also be exploited by the user. Similarities between two different kanji also provides new possibilities.[[spoiler:This is how Miko-chan finds a use for her character, "righteous": in Japanese, the kanji for "righteous" and "subjugate" look similar.]]

* MrExposition: Hinata's specialty - his character, "Wisdom", allows him to know about all the different Blights that have occured in the school's history, as well as how to get out of them alive.

* NextSundayAD: Believe it or not, the series is set almost thirty years into the future. This is not at all obvious, since there's almost no technology seen, and those that do turn up seem no different from present day. The first hint is that Tomonaga's birthdate is stated to be in Heisei 33 (or 2022), thus implying that the main storyline takes place sixteen years later, in Heisei 49, or 2038. This is more or less comfirmed by Chapter 12.5, which explicitly states that Tomonaga was six years old in Heisei 39 (2028).

* TheAce: Subversion. Inner!Rokudou is faster and stronger than the real Momiji, not to mention [[MrFanservice the hottest guy in the story]]. He also likes to kill his opponents ''very'' messily, is coming off a little obsessive in his devotion to Momiji, and then there's the little issue of nobody knowing who the hell he is. Generally, he's been just a bit creepy.

* DissonantSerenity: Inner!Rokudou hardly ever drops his peaceful smile, even when covered in blood. Also, Kuga and [[spoiler: Hinata]]

Aphorism is a survival-horror manga by Kujou Karuna.

--> '''Author''': Ah, right now? I'm on the school part... How should I put this... All the students have a "Ji".[[hottip:*:Ji is the pronunciation of "Character" as well as "Hemorrhoids". You know where this is going.]]

--> '''Author''': No. They can't go to hospital.[[hottip:*:Referring to the fact that the students are excluded from society]]

* [[MyNameIsNotDurwood My Name Is Not San-chan or Miso]]: This means you, [[TheNicknamer Mino]].

* WhiteHairedPrettyBoy: Aversion. Momiji has white hair but he's more of a TheCutie than anything. [[spoiler: unless he's really Yama.]]