Line #1 Anime/KujibikiUnbalance


1	%% Administrivia/ZeroContextExample entries are not allowed on wiki pages. All such entries have been commented out. Add context to the entries before uncommenting them.
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3	[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/kujibiki_unbalance.png]]
4	[[caption-width-right:350:TV anime promotional art.]]
5
6	->'''Kasumi Kisaragi:''' The kujibiki is fact. The kujibiki is fate.\
7	'''Ritsuko Kettenkrad:''' And the kujibiki is final.
8
9	''Kujibiki Unbalance'' originally started out as a [[ShowWithinAShow fictional manga/anime]] within ''Manga/{{Genshiken}}'', which the main characters frequently obsess over. It is an [[ClicheStorm intentional conglomeration]] of every {{anime genre\|s}} and [[JapaneseMediaTropes trope]] that the producers could cram in. Clips of it were animated for the ''Genshiken'' anime adaptation, and three complete episodes -- the first episode, a ClipShow, and the second-to-last episode -- were produced as an {{Omake}} on the ''Genshiken'' [=DVDs=]. They proved to be so wildly popular that the series was produced as its own standalone {{anime}} series, which aired in the Fall 2006 season.
10
11	The series follows a slate of four candidates for the AbsurdlyPowerfulStudentCouncil at an ElaborateUniversityHigh. The school where the action is set has an unusual tradition: both the admissions test and the student council elections are chosen by lottery ("''kujibiki''" in Japanese). At the beginning of each year, the entire student body is divided into slates of candidates, who compete with each other through an enormous TournamentArc of wacky CookingDuel competitions. Naturally, there's a LoveDodecahedron at work, including a ChildhoodMarriagePromise between the protagonist and the current StudentCouncilPresident.
12
13	The remade series, ''Kujibiki♥Unbalance'' (with the heart), this time a complete one, is similar, but with a different art style, different group of candidates and a different setup for them to succeed. Rather than many groups competing, the next student council has already been decided, but in order to prove themselves worthy they must complete tasks put to them by the current council. These range from finding the last missing member in the first episode, to things like protecting the president from a ''bomb threat'' (and that's just the ''second'' episode). The [=DVDs=] of the remade series, in a role reversal, contain 3 OVA episodes of ''Genshiken''.
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15	It has now been released as a manga too, with a bonus section... where the remaining ''Genshiken'' members discuss the new manga.
16
17	Compare with ''Anime/GetsumenToHeikiMina'', another {{defictionalized}} ShowWithinAShow.
18
19	----
20	!!Tropes present in both versions:
21
22	* AbsurdlyPowerfulStudentCouncil: Taken to an extreme and [[LampshadeHanging lampshaded]]. The group chosen by the Kujibiki have powers and prestige comparable to a national government.
23	%% AgainstTheSettingSun
24	* AlphaBitch: Renko. Less so in the TV series in which she only really has one flunky and is part of the main team rather than a rival.
25	* AncientTradition: Drawing lots from the ''Kujibiki'' determines your fate, and there are no do-overs.
26	* ButNotTooForeign: Ritsuko Kubel Kettenkrad: half-German, half-Japanese.
27	* CherryBlossoms: Seen in the first episodes of both the OAV and TV series.
28	%% ChopSockey
29	* ClicheStorm: An [[InvokedTrope intentional]], tongue-in-cheek example, as the series is deliberately packed with tropes that were common in anime and manga around the time its parent series ''Genshiken'' was first published, particularly those that capitalized on the {{Moe}} boom of the early-to-mid 2000s.
30	* CliffHanger: Episode 25 ends just before the final round of the Kujibiki is announced; since it's not a real series, this ends up as a NoEnding.
31	* {{Cloudcuckoolander}}: Tokino in both versions is quirky in ways other characters comment on, but she's more grounded in the TV adaptation.
32	* CreatorsShowWithinAShow: A rare case where it appeared as a ShowWithinAShow before it became an independent work.
33	%% CrashIntoHello
34	%% TheDitz: Tokino
35	* ElaborateUniversityHigh: Rikkyoin Academy in both versions. It's mostly a high school, but has a very expansive campus. The TV series establishes that it [[ElevatorSchool also houses middle and elementary school sections]] (which is how Koyuki ends up a student council candidate despite being much younger than the rest of the cast)
36	* EmotionlessGirl: Ritsuko at first, and to a lesser extent her assistants.
37	%% EroticEating
38	%% FaceFault
39	%% FanService
40	%% FlexibleTourneyRules: This is pretty much how Chihiro and crew are able to win their challenges.
41	* GenkiGirl: Both Tokinos, but particularly the 2nd one.
42	%% TheGlomp
43	%%* GraveMarkingScene: For both Chihiro and Ritsuko.
44	%% HardDrinkingPartyGirl
45	* HiddenEyes: Ritsuko some of the time.
46	%% HotForStudent
47	%% TheIdiotFromOsaka
48	%%* IdiotHair: Nearly everyone in the OVA.
49	%% InnocentInnuendo
50	%% {{Kawaiiko}}
51	%% KidSamurai
52	* LimitedWardrobe: Of course, since most of the series takes place at school, the characters spend most of the time wearing school uniforms.
53	%% LittleMissSnarker: Renko
54	* LoveTriangle: It's primarily a choice for Chihiro between Tokino and Ritsuko.
55	%% MagicalGirl
56	%% MangaEffects
57	%% MedievalEuropeanFantasy
58	%% MiracleRally
59	%% MouthCam
60	%% TheNeidermeyer
61	%% NoblewomansLaugh: Renko, oh so much.
62	%% NoTimeToThink
63	%% TheOjou
64	%% TheOnlyOneAllowedToDefeatYou
65	%% OrdinaryHighSchoolStudent: Chihiro
66	* ParentalAbandonment: We never see anyone's parents, and it's pretty clear that Chihiro just lives with his older sister.
67	* PostEpisodeTrailer: In the OVA, they only bothered animating any scenes for the trailer at the end of episode 1 - the other episodes have a generic animation of the characters and a live-action scene of Ritsuko's helmet on the beach. The 2006 series has full trailers, but with the twist that they're narrated by the cast of ''Genshiken'' instead of the anime itself.
68	%% QuiveringEyes
69	%% SadTimesMontage
70	* SeriousBusiness: "The ''kujibiki'' [[BecauseDestinySaysSo is absolute]]."
71	%% {{Shorttank}}: Renko.
72	%% SingleStrokeBattle
73	%% SnowMeansLove
74	* StudentCouncilPresident: Ritsuko (departing) and Chihiro (incoming).
75	%% TheSweatDrop
76	%% TeamSpirit
77	%% ThunderingHerd
78	* TransformationSequence: Yamada gets these, especially in the TV series.
79	* TrueCompanions: The Rikkyoin student Council is expected to be this.
80	%% TwoTeacherSchool
81	* UnwantedHarem: Chihiro is the only boy in the incoming council, and the outgoing council he has to deal with is all girls. Plus there's his sister.
82	%% WhoopiEpiphanySpeech
83
84	!!Tropes from the OVA episodes:
85	[[quoteright:225:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/kujibiki_unbalance_omake.jpg]]
86	[[caption-width-right:225:Cast of the original shorts.]]
87	* AspectMontage: The series starts off with one of the day beginning in Chihiro's house.
88	* BrownNote: Tokino's [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dVUtAgnU7dI singing voice]] causes pain, vomiting, abject fear, distress in infants, vehicular accidents, agitation in cats, heart failure, plagues of rats, birds falling, plants dying, plane crashes, and glass to explode.
89	* ChildhoodMarriagePromise: Chihiro and Ritsuko, though Ritsuko pretends not to remember.
90	* CookingDuel: An ''entire series'' of Cooking Duels, if the RecapEpisode is any indication.
91	* CuteWitch: One of the rounds pits the team against a group of Cute Witches. They appear, riding on broomsticks, in the opening.
92	* DreadfulMusician: When Tokino sings, her voice drops several octaves compared to when she's speaking, it causes cars to crash, birds and planes to fall out of the sky, mass nausea, [[ArsonMurderAndJaywalking and underflows the karaoke machine to give her a max score]].
93	* GrandFinale: Episode 25 at least sets up for one.
94	* {{OVA}}: What the series is in real life (though it presents itself as three episodes of a 26-episode TV anime).
95	* PlotMandatedFriendshipFailure: Episode 25 has the main characters giving up on the Kujibiki and going their separate ways, before reuniting by the end.
96	* RecapEpisode: Most of the second OVA episode.
97	* RPGMechanicsVerse: Including explicitly "HP" and "MP".
98	* TheRival: In the OVA, Renko is this to the main team.
99	* TournamentArc: The entire point of the OAV episodes.
100
101	!!Tropes from the 2006 series:
102
103	* AbsurdlySharpBlade: Koyuki's brother has one, which he uses to slice off Izumi's goggles in episode 10 with.
104	* ActionGirl: Izumi Tachibana, and [[spoiler: Komaki, Koyuki's sister who's the chef at the restaurant they regularly visit.]]
105	* AdaptationPersonalityChange: Tokino gets the biggest change to her character as well as [[YouDontLookLikeYou her design]], being a sweet, grounded girl who's BornLucky rather than the ditzy, mushroom-obsessed girl she was originally.
106	* AdaptationSpeciesChange: In the OVA, Alex is a human character. In the TV series, he's a dog (and also the current student council secretary).
107	* AloofDarkHairedGirl: Kasumi, the vice-president. While Ritsuko is aloof by duty, she seems to be so by nature.
108	* AscendedExtra: Renko was originally a rival to Chihiro's group, and Koyuki was the sister of one of his teammate's. In this series, they both become council members, instead.
109	* BigBrotherAttraction: Inverted with Chihiro's older sister Shinobu, who makes it all too clear that she wants a less-than-familial relationship with him, often giving him TheGlomp, and even sneaking into his bed while he's asleep and attempting to molest him. And although she's supposed to be older, her small size makes her seem like his younger sister.
110	* BornLucky: Tokino's quirk in this version. Chihiro, in contrast, is known for his terrible luck.
111	%%* BrainwashedAndCrazy: Koyuki.
112	%%* ButtMonkey: Yamada towards Renko.
113	* CannotSpitItOut: Tokino believes this is one of the problems between Chihiro and Ritsuko. [[spoiler:Tokino herself finally confesses to Chihiro at the end of episode 8.]]
114	* ClingyJealousGirl: Chihiro's sister Shinobu. She hates seeing other girls around him, especially Tokina.
115	** Yamada acts this way towards Renko in episode 9 when the latter creates some more robots. Ironically, said robots were intended to help Yamada, but she takes it the wrong way, and feels Renko is trying to replace her.
116	* ContrivedCoincidence: When Koyuki was trying to get a scoop for the newspaper club, she wanted him to cover her having psychic abilities as the story. And just as she does that, a UFO lands, and a giant robot attacks them, conveniently giving her a chance to show her powers to him, as well as provide an even more awesome story to cover.
117	* CursedWithAwesome: Koyuki's [[spoiler: ESP, which allows her to teleport, as well as move objects without touching them.]] She feels alienated because of said power, until Chihiro tells her otherwise.
118	* {{Cyborg}}: Yamada. It's never made explicit exactly what modifications Renko made to her, and it's treated as something of an UnusuallyUninterestingSight, with nobody finding it especially strange that Yamada can be rebuilt into various vehicles.
119	%%* {{Deconstruction}}: Of the original OVA.
120	%%* DefusingTheTykeBomb: Chihiro does this for Koyuki.
121	* DemotedToExtra: Komaki Asagiri was the future treasurer on Chihiro's team in the OVA and Manga/{{Genshiken}} series, but she is instead swapped out for her little sister. She does appear at the restaurant the team frequently eat at as the chef, hidden behind thick glasses.
122	* TheDeterminator: Chihiro manages to make his way through the attack being used on him in episode 10 [[spoiler: by a mind controlled Koyuki, who's being manipulated by her brother to attack them.]]
123	* DoubleStandardAbuseFemaleOnMale: After the love potion fails to have the desired effect for Shinobu, she stomps on back of the other teacher who made the potion. He doesn't seem to mind it.
124	* DrivesLikeCrazy: Chihiro's sister, who manages to avoid an incoming car by going on two wheels while driving alongside the bus he's riding on.
125	* DrowningMySorrows: Yamada does this after thinking that Renko's going to replace her.
126	* DrunkOnMilk: Although Yamada ends up drinking milk instead. She even [[AlcoholHic hiccups]] after drinking around 17 bottles.
127	%%* DullEyesOfUnhappiness: Koyuki displays them in episode 10.
128	* ElevatorSchool: Played straight with Koyuki. But the name is played with when Chihiro and Tokino are wandering around and taking an elevator to various floors at the school, such as an aquarium and a bowling alley.
129	* {{Expy}}: Chihiro in the 2006 series bears an uncanny resemblance to [[Manga/NegimaMagisterNegiMagi Negi Springfield]]; considering that the series is said to be created by "Yuu Kuroki" (an obvious dig at Ken Akamatsu), this may not be coincidental.
130	** FridgeBrilliance: This, along with the ContinuityReboot from the original version, are [[ShoutOut shout outs]] to the two ''Negima'' TV series.
131	* IdiosyncraticEpisodeNaming: For the US releases of the [=DVDs=], each volume's title is a reference to a different anime: [[Anime/TenchiMuyo "No Need for Chihiro"]], [[Manga/LoveHina "Love Rikkyoin"]], and [[Literature/HaruhiSuzumiya "The Melancholy of Ritsuko Kettenkrad"]]. Appropriate given the series' origin.
132	** Also, in the show itself, each episode's title is a fortune ("Xth Lot[=/=]Kuji") , with a number of points at the end.
133	* {{Fanservice}}: YMMV on Renko in an unexpected MsFanservice role (with gratuitous {{Panty Shot}}s and all).
134	* {{Foreshadowing}}: In episode 9, Yamada mentions how Renko can cook, clean, shampoo, and condition all by herself after she's been "replaced" by other robots. [[spoiler: Turns out that Renko built said robots to help with shampooing and conditioning.]]
135	* GadgeteerGenius: Renko invents some really weird things, but they usually turn out to be useful for whatever situation they're in at the time.
136	* GenreShift: The show starts off all goofy and silly until episode 5. Where the series then turns into a dramedy with very few funny moments.
137	* HeroicBSOD: The main characters suffer through these at various points in the show. They usually snap out of it shortly afterwards, except in episode 11.
138	* HotBlooded: Renko often seems a bit too overexcited about almost any situation she's in.
139	* IJustWantToBeNormal: Koyuki at first, until Chihiro talks to her about her "abilities".
140	* IWantMyBelovedToBeHappy: Invoked by Tokino [[spoiler: in episode 12, when she tearfully tells Ritsuko that Chihiro loves her, and that she's the only one that can snap him out of his current HeroicBSOD.]] Ritsuko herself does it a few moments later [[spoiler: largely by going overseas to study, partly because she wants to learn more, and partly so she's not in Tokino's way.]]
141	* KiManipulation: Koyuki, in the TV series.
142	* LoopholeAbuse: Koyuki's a candidate for the student council despite being an elementary school student, because ''she'' grabbed the lot. "The ''kujibiki'' is final."
143	** AnimalAthleteLoophole: The dog that hangs around the student council room? The current Secretary.
144	* LoveEpiphany: Tokino realizes this in episode 8, [[spoiler: by Ritsuko's fiance who points out that that's what the funny feeling in her chest is when she sees Chihiro dancing with Ritsuko.]]
145	* LoveHurts: Tokino doesn't seem very happy when she sees [[UmbrellaOfTogetherness Chihiro walking Ritsuko with an umbrella]] to her car in episode 4 in the rain. She later has the same feeling when Ritsuko takes him as her dance partner in episode 8.
146	* LoveIsInTheAir: Chihiro's sister Shinobu creates a LovePotion to win the [[BrotherSisterIncest affections of her brother]]; an accident has the potion cause this effect centering on either Shinobu herself (in the anime) or [[ShipTease Chihiro]] (in the manga).
147	%%* MadScientist: Renko
148	* MobileSuitHuman: A large alien that lands near campus is revealed to be two tiny aliens.
149	* TheMole: This version's Izumi. She doesn't have the goggles, but is still a tough tomboy. [[HeelFaceTurn And still on the side of the good guys]].
150	* MythologyGag: Several elements from the original series reappear in different forms, such as the aliens (who become friendly in their second appearance), Alex (now the Student Council secretary and a ''dog'') and Renko's dumb muscle (now a pair of robots she creates).
151	* TheNapoleon: Renko (in both versions, but this one even has a gag about it).
152	* NiceGuy: Chihiro, and [[spoiler: Ritsuko's fiance, surprisingly enough. Unlike other shows of this type where said fiance's are usually {{JerkAss}}es, he's the one who allows Chihiro and Tokino into Ritsuko's private birthday party, he doesn't get jealous or angry when Ritsuko dances with Chihiro, and he kindly points out that Tokino's unease at seeing her two friends so close is [[LoveEpiphany her own feelings towards]] Chihiro surfacing.]]
153	* NiceJobFixingItVillain: While Shinobu isn't a bad guy per se, in episode 3 Chihiro and the others are having no luck whatsoever trying to find the missing panda, despite their traps. Meanwhile, Shinobu had one of the other teachers create a LovePotion for her to use on Chihiro. It turns out the potion [[GoneHorriblyRight worked a little too well]]. Soon Tokino and several dozen students, along with the missing panda and some zoo animals, begin chasing after Shinobu while she tries to escape. She later loses the potion, and unintentionally causes the two pandas to fall in love, thus solving Chihiro's initial dilemma, along with Tokino, still under the effects of the potion, giving Chihiro a kiss.
154	* {{Ninja}}: In this version, Komaki.
155	* OhCrap: The aliens have this look when they run into Koyuki.
156	* OnTheNext: Even the new ''[=KujiUn=]'' is still a ShowWithinAShow, as the characters from ''Manga/{{Genshiken}}'' are discussing the show's progress over the previews.
157	%%* PsychoSupporter: Vice-President Kisaragi
158	* PowerGlows: Koyuki's hair glows whenever she uses her powers.
159	%%* PsychicPowers: Koyuki.
160	* RankScalesWithAsskicking: The current vice president is able to stop Renko's out of control mouse trap robot with one flick of her finger.
161	* RidiculouslyHumanRobot: Yamada, to the point where many people didn't even know she was a cyborg.
162	* ScaryShinyGlasses: Chihiro does this briefly in episode 10, but then reveals he's still the same guy to Koyuki.
163	* ScrewTheRulesImDoingWhatsRight: When Koyuki is kidnapped in episode 10, Chihiro and the others are told not to do anything about it, as the current student council was trying to resolve the situation. However, their first plan didn't exactly go very well either, so Chihiro, Tokino, and Renko all decide to rescue Koyuki themselves. They finish the job just as the student council's Plan B kicked in, and a lot of guards arrive at the building.
164	* SecretKeeper: When Chihiro finds out about Koyuki's powers, he promises not to reveal it to anyone, as he feels doing so would cause more trouble than its worth, and doesn't want to ruin their friendship.
165	* SeriousBusiness: The school has such a reputation that there are spies all over, as well as assassins and even an army of guards.
166	* ShrinkingViolet: Koyuki, who's often hiding behind Chihiro.
167	* ThePowerOfFriendship: Used a few times, once on Renko in episode 5, later on Izumi in episode 7, and then on Koyuki in episode 10.
168	* TheReveal: When everyone finds out Komaki is really Koyuki's CoolBigSis rather than her mother, and [[spoiler: that she's also a guard for the current student council.]]
169	* TenMinutesInTheCloset: When there's tension between Tokino and Chihiro, Renko invents some sort of washing machine funhouse and traps the two in there. It doesn't really work, but it was a good attempt.
170	* TenMinuteRetirement: [[spoiler:Chihiro at the end of #11.]]
171	* TheyChangedItNowItSucks: Deliberately invoked, as [[LampshadeHanging lampshaded]] by one of the next episode previews.
172	%%* TokenMiniMoe: Koyuki
173	* ToughLeaderFacade: Ritsuko. She does not allow herself to show kindness or indecisiveness as a requirement of the office. In the end she is glad to leave the position for her successors.
174	* TrueCompanions: Chihiro, Tokino, and Renko all rush to save a kidnapped and mind controlled Koyuki from [[spoiler: her brother who turned to evil]] in episode 10. Chihiro also uses ThePowerOfFriendship to snap Koyuki out of her mind control.
175	%%* TwelveEpisodeAnime
176	* UnluckyChildhoodFriend: [[spoiler: Ritsuko towards Chihiro]], and Tokino feels like one at times.
177	* UmbrellaOfTogetherness: In episode 4, Chihiro offers to take Ritsuko towards her car with the umbrella she loaned to him and Tokino, as she still has to walk a bit in the rain to get to the car picking her up. Tokino seems uneasy when she [[LoveHurts sees him doing this with Ritsuko.]]
178	* UnrequitedLove: After Tokino confesses her feelings to him, Chihiro seems a little uneasy around her when they're alone. Both Chihiro and Ritsuko seem to feel this way towards each other as well, [[spoiler: although Ritsuko being in an ArrangedMarriage doesn't help matters.]]
179	* WhamLine: Tokino gives one to Chihiro at the end of episode 8 [[spoiler: when she gives a LoveConfession to him]].
180	** Chihiro gives one to his friends at the end of episode 11 [[spoiler: when he says he's thinking about giving up the student council president candidate position]].
181	* {{Yakuza}}: One of the foes in the TV series.
182	* YouDontLookLikeYou: While most characters' designs are slightly different from how they first appeared in the [[OriginalVideoAnimation OVAs]], Tokino has the most radical redesign, going from short blonde hair to longer brown hair worn in pigtails.

Context Anime / KujibikiUnbalance