History WesternAnimation / HighGuardianSpice

''High Guardian Spice'' is a Website/{{Crunchyroll}} original animated series by Raye Rodriguez. The series follows four teenage girls (Rosemary, Sage, Parsley, and Thyme) as they begin training to be Guardians at High Guardian Academy.

The series was teased in August 22, 2021, and premiered October 26, 2021 with all twelve episodes being released on the same day.

* ScrewThisImOuttaHere: In "The Cave of Vinca", Zinnia (the girl with the long blonde ponytail) decides to call it quits after the teachers emphasize the danger of going into the titular cave. Considering [[EarlyBirdCameo she's the same girl]] who gets her face nearly devoured by a carnivorous plant in Episode 5, this is hardly surprising.

* GenderIncompetence: While the female leads are shown to be not perfect, make mistakes, and struggle in their fights, the named male characters are pitiful. Excluding Snapdragon and the teachers, they are either evil, homophobic jerkasses, or stupid and generally not up to the intelligence of the main heroes.

* TransTribulations: A sideplot in "The Scypith" has Snapdragon being taken aside by Caraway where the former reveals how she wants to be beautiful and strong like a mermaid and how she consistently struggles with masculinity. Caraway then mentions "transition magic" which makes Snapdragon think if it would solve her problem, but Caraway makes a point that Snapdragon has a lot of time to think about it because she may go down a different path compared to his.

* SubtitlesAreSuperfluous: While the show ''does'' contain subtitles for various other languages, it currently does not have English closed captions despite the option for them being there and [[https://youtu.be/EBYxkf_2CcI a promotional clip of the show]] posted on Crunchyroll's [=YouTube=] channel having English hardsubs.

* LimitedAnimation: Some 2D elements that require straightforward movement use basic tweening in lieu of frame by frame animation. Background characters in certain shots can be seen just as static as the space they occupy, so much so that they don't even blink.

* GoodIsNotNice: Zigzagged. While many of the protagonists are... well, protagonists, they're not afraid to bloodily take down any wrong-doing monsters. Humans, on the other hand, are usually spared from death, with Rosemary even being shocked she ended up having to [[spoiler:[[MyGodWhatHaveIDone wound Olive in order to save the townsfolk from being petrified.]]]]

* GoshDangItToHeck: In a childhood flashback, Thyme switches from "damn" to "dang" when she complains to her father about wasting her time, most likely out of politeness. Yet just seconds later, her father scolds her impatience by saying she'll "fall on [her] ass with that attitude".

* GoshDangItToHeck: In a childhood flashback, Thyme switches from "damn" to "dang" when she complains to her father about wasting her time, most likely out of politeness. Yet just seconds later, her father scolds her impatience by saying "fall on [her] ass with that attitude".

* AvoidTheDreadedGRating: According to WordOfGod, the show was initially scripted as very family friendly, only for Crunchyroll to demand edits to make it for "mature" audiences, resulting in rather gratuitous blood, swearing, and inappropriate jokes.

* CuteClumsyGirl: Rosemary's grace leaves something to be desired when one of the first scenes has her tripping on ''her own foot.''

* MixAndMatchCritters: Hybrids and regular animals coexist in this world, with grogs (a mixture of goat and frog) being the most ubiquitous to the point that terms have been derived from them. For example, Anise says to Slime Boy that she hasn't seen him in a "grog's age."

* ScrewThisImOuttaHere: In "The Cave of Vinca," Zinnia (the girl with the long blonde ponytail) decides to call it quits after the teachers emphasize the danger of going into the titular cave. Considering [[EarlyBirdCameo she's the same girl]] who gets her face nearly devoured by a carnivorous plant in Episode 5, this is hardly surprising.

* ArtisticLicenseBiology: The show is called High Guardian Spice, and the show's title is referenced with Rosemary coming up with a cool name for their group when she takes notice of their EdibleThemeNaming. However, rosemary, sage, parsley, and thyme are actually herbs, not spices.

* SchizoTech: Despite its medieval-inspired setting, the students are shown to be fighting a mechanical octopus monster being controlled by one of the professors which is later revealed as such.

* HateSink: Both Cal and Aster fit this bill. Cal is disgusted by Snapdragon's desire to crossdress and most of his appearances have him mocking Snapdragon until the latter reaches his breaking point. Aster, meanwhile, initially catches the eye of Rosemary due to his good looks, but she chills on him when he shows just how sexist he truly is, culminating in a final scene where Aster essentially tells Rosemary to StayInTheKitchen.

* TransTribulations: A sideplot in "The Scypith" has Snapdragon being taken aside by Caraway where the former reveals how he wants to be beautiful and strong like a mermaid and how he consistently struggles with masculinity. Caraway then mentions "transition magic" which makes Snapdragon think if it would solve his problem, but Caraway makes a point that Snapdragon has a lot of time to think about it because he may go down a different path compared to his.

* TheUnfairSex: When Snapdragon tries to confide with Sage about her friendship with Rosemary, Sage bluntly tells Snap he would never understand because girls have a deeper connection with each other than boys do. Snapdragon [[SubvertedTrope calls her out on this]] later in the episode, and Sage apologizes.

* FunctionalMagic: Magic in this series is divided into "old" and "new" magic. The former is more labor intensive and requires more complex rituals, while the latter relies on terraspheres which allow for faster and more versatile use. [[spoiler:It's also heavily implied by the end that the latter is draining magic from the world since it doesn't have a "cost" to replenish it, and this is the cause of the Rot and similar issues.]]

* FunctionalMagic: Magic in this series is divided into "old" and "new" magic. The former is more labor intensive and requires more complex rituals, while the latter relies on terraspheres which allow for faster and more versatile use. [[spoilers:It's also heavily implied by the end that the latter is draining magic from the world since it doesn't have a "cost" to replenish it, and this is the cause of the Rot and similar issues.]]

* OutnumberedSibling: Parsley has ''twelve'' brothers and no sisters, until she gets a baby sister in Episode 4.

* BrokenAesop: Sage's entire rant about how male friendships are shallow compared to female friendships as well as saying guys being incapable of expressing their feelings is obviously framed as wrong, but only because she's telling this to a pre-transition Snapdragon, which is unbeknownst to her, and she apologizes accordingly.[[note]]It's implied that Sage's PseudoRomanticFriendship with Rosemary skewed her perception of what female friendships are supposed to be like, with the equally close but platonic friendship of Snapdragon and Amarylis being used to compare.[[/note]] She also never recants these statements which are never proven wrong since the only time when two male characters interact is when one bullies the other (i.e. Cal expressing disgust for Snapdragon's feminine qualities), and the latter point is rendered moot due to Snapdragon implicitly considering transitioning (still up in the air).

* FunctionalMagic: Magic in this series is divided into "old" and "new" magic. The former is more labor intensive and requires more complex rituals, while the latter relies on terraspheres which allow for faster and more versatile use.

* HealItWithWater: The aptly described "healing waters" introduced in Episode 7 that can be found in the cave of Vinca. Not only was it used to heal a nasty cut on Rosemary's side, but it can also heal afflicted plants and trees. [[spoiler:This prompts Olive to alert the Triumvirate when she worries that the girls have found a solution to the rot, which is apparently related to the Triumvirate's plan.]]

* BrokenAesop: Sage's entire rant about how male friendships are shallow compared to female friendships as well as saying guys being incapable of expressing their feelings is obviously framed as wrong, but only because she's telling this to a pre-transition Snapdragon, which is unbeknownst to her, and she apologizes accordingly.[[note]]It's implied that Sage's PseudoRomanticFriendship with Rosemary skewed her perception of what female friendships are supposed to be like, with the equally close but platonic friendship of Snapdragon and Amarylis being used to compare.[[/note]] She also never recants these statements which are never proven wrong since the only time when two male characters interact is when one bullies the other (i.e. Cal expressing disgust for Snapdragon's feminine qualities), and the latter point is rendered moot due to Snapdragon implicitly considering transitioning (which is all but confirmed via WordOfGay).