Line #49 Webcomic/CrossHeart


1	[[quoteright:250:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/cross_heart_4310.png]]
2	[[caption-width-right:250:Kotomi and Haru]]
3
4	''Cross Heart'' is a series of WebOriginal [[YuriGenre yuri]] [[OELManga manga]] by Ana Cristina Sánchez a.k.a. [=AnaKris=], originally published in Spanish (and partially, English) on Website/DeviantArt. The series follows the story of Haru, a [[GenkiGirl cheerful schoolgirl]] who finds herself falling in love with her [[BrokenBird aloof but beautiful]] schoolmate Kotomi. Simultaneously, Kotomi is losing an uphill battle against some ''very'' serious childhood traumas underneath a StepfordSmiler facade. The story is divided into four (or five, depending on how you count) chapters:
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6	* ''[[http://anakris.deviantart.com/art/Cross-Heart-page-1-75692778 Cross Heart]]'' (2008, 31 pages): Haru and Kotomi, both 15 years old, become friends.
7	* ''[[http://anakris.deviantart.com/art/Someday-Page-1-112992177 Someday]]'' (2009, 26 pages): Haru and Kotomi are 17 and heading for a RelationshipUpgrade.
8	* ''[[http://anakris.deviantart.com/art/Breakdown-page-1-190322641 Breakdown]]'' (2010-11, 108 pages): Set about half a year after ''Someday'', this chapter consists of three parts:
9	** Part A -- ''Unheard Feelings'': Kotomi struggles with telling Haru that she has to move away.
10	** Part B -- ''The Distance That Keeps Us Apart'': Haru tries to deal with the pain in all the wrong fashion.
11	** [[http://anakris.deviantart.com/art/Breakdown-Extra-1-209262658 Extra 1]] -- ''Rumors''
12	** Part C -- ''The Time That Has Passed'': Haru, now 20, is still waiting but starts losing faith in her own feelings.
13	** [[http://anakris.deviantart.com/art/Breakdown-Extra-2-273522649 Extra 2]] -- ''Happily Ever After''
14	* ''[[https://tapas.io/episode/378266 Melody of Sorrow]]'' (2015-17, 92 pages): Grown-up Haru and Kotomi live together, but Kotomi still struggles with one last painful memory from her childhood.
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16	To call this manga, particularly the third chapter, "EmotionalTorque" would be an understatement--there wasn't a single dry eye among the readers back when the final pages of ''Breakdown'' were published.
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18	''Cross Heart'' was made available [[http://cyclic-redundancy.ecrater.com/p/15502636/cross-heart-original-yuri-manga for purchase on paper]], fully translated to English and shipped worldwide, but is sadly sold out. A complete bound volume containing all three chapters was published in 2014.
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20	However, as of December 2017 the complete edition is once again available in print, along with ''Melody of Sorrow'', [[https://anakris.fwscart.com/ via the author's online store.]]
21	----
22	!!''Cross Heart'' includes examples of:
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24	* AbsenceMakesTheHeartGoYonder: After Kotomi stops calling, Haru begins to doubt her own feelings.
25	* AllJustADream: Invoked by Haru when she and Kotomi finally meet again. She has seen it so often in her dreams already, she is almost glad to dismiss the real thing as another one of them.
26	%%* AndAnotherThing: "Don't give up so easily."
27	* ArtEvolution: The art changes considerably from the first issue to the final. It's even more noticeable when compared to the remake.
28	%%* BrainyBrunette: Kotomi.
29	%%* BrokenBird: Kotomi in ''Cross Heart''. Haru in ''Breakdown''.
30	%%* CannotSpitItOut: Kotomi not telling Haru about her having to leave.
31	%%* {{Cloudcuckoolander}}: Haru becomes one by the time ''Breakdown'' begins.
32	%%* CooldownHug
33	%%* CrashIntoHello: Haru into Kotomi in ''Cross Heart''.
34	%%* DarkAndTroubledPast: Kotomi has it in spades.
35	* DashedPlotLine: Two years between ''Cross Heart'' and ''Someday''; a few months between ''Someday'' and ''Breakdown''; and three more years between Parts B and C of the latter.
36	%%* DefrostingIceQueen: Haru to Kotomi.
37	%%* DespairEventHorizon: Kotomi hits it in ''Breakdown'', soon followed by Haru.
38	%%* EarnYourHappyEnding: ''Breakdown''.
39	%%* EvenTheGirlsWantHer: Mentioned briefly in regards to Kotomi in ''Cross Heart''.
40	* FramingDevice: ''Melody of Sorrow'' serves both as a sequel and as a prequel to the other stories by framing the bulk of the story (namely, [[spoiler:Haru and Kotomi very first meeting as children, which Haru had {{forgotten\|ChildhoodFriend}}]]) within an epilogue of Haru and Kotomi living together as adults.
41	* {{Foreshadowing}}: Early on in ''Breakdown'', Yoko suspects Haru has a fever. Later on, Haru collapses with a flu.
42	* {{Gayngst}}: Averted in the original, but in the remake, Haru thinks Kotomi rejected her because they're both girls.
43	%%* GirlishPigtails: Haru. When she lets her hair down, Kotomi remarks that she looks more mature.
44	%%* GivingSomeoneThePointerFinger: Yoko to Haru.
45	%%* HairContrastCouple: Haru is blond, Kotomi is brunette.
46	* HeadphonesEqualIsolation: In a very subtle touch, Haru is often seen wearing huge headphones. If you think about it, although she looks like an extravert compared to Kotomi, she is really quite a loner, as we only ever see her interacting with Kotomi and Yoko.
47	* IncompatibleOrientation: Haru's reaction to a guy asking her out is a wide-eyed "But you are a boy!"
48	* IntertwinedFingers: Haru and Kotomi do it in the beginning of ''Someday''. Also, during their "marriage" in ''Breakdown''.
49	%%* IWillWaitForYou: ThePromise in ''Breakdown''.
50	%%* LivingEmotionalCrutch: Haru to Kotomi before their RelationshipUpgrade.
51	%%* LuminescentBlush
52	%%* MinorLivingAlone: Kotomi lives alone because her distant parents work abroad.
53	%%* MeetCute: Kotomi and Haru.
54	* {{Meido}}: Haru works at a Meido Café after graduation.
55	* MustMakeHerLaugh: Haru really wants to change Kotomi's {{Stepford Smile\|r}} into something genuine.
56	* OneHeadTaller: After hitting a growth spurt, Haru becomes quite a bit taller than Kotomi.
57	* ParentalAbandonment: Kotomi's parents live abroad most of her life and when they finally decide to do something for her, they only ruin her life even more.
58	* ParentalNeglect: Kotomi's parents didn't give a damn ''when their 9-year-old daughter was raped''. If that doesn't break someone's MoralEventHorizon, it must skirt it real damn close.
59	* PhysicalScarsPsychologicalScars: You don't really understand the metaphor of the "cross scar" from ''Cross Heart'' until ''Someday'', where it is revealed [[spoiler:that Kotomi tried cutting her veins soon after her rape, leaving a cross-shaped scar on her wrist]].
60	* RapeAsDrama: Kotomi was raped at the age of 9, six years before the ''Cross Heart''.
61	* RelationshipUpgrade: Ultimately subverted in ''Someday''. DoubleSubverted in ''Breakdown'', where we learn that Haru and Kotomi have been sleeping with each other since that night.
62	%%* StarCrossedLovers: Haru and Kotomi in ''Breakdown''.
63	* StepfordSmiler: Kotomi in ''Cross Heart''. Haru really hates her fake smile. Ironically, she turns into one herself when Kotomi announces she is moving away.
64	%%* TheGlomp: Yoko delivers one to Haru in ''Cross Heart''.
65	* TitleDrop: Kinda. The title is a shortened version of "cross wound across [Kotomi's] heart". We don't learn the symbolism of it until ''Someday''.
66	* TimeSkip: Several, most notably between ''Cross Heart'' and ''Someday'', then later, between part B and part C of ''Breakdown''.
67	%%* UmbrellaOfTogetherness
68	* UpdatedRerelease: The paper version of ''Cross Heart'' has roughly the same plot as the online version but improved art and almost double the size, thanks to additional scenes.

Context Webcomic / CrossHeart