Anime / Yuki Yuna is a Hero

Welcome to the Hero Club. Everything will be fun from now on! ^note From right to left: Yuna Yuki, Mimori Togo, Fu and Itsuki Inubouzaki. Not pictured: Karin Miyoshi

"Give a good greeting."
"Try not to give up."
"Sleep well, eat well."
"If you're troubled, talk to someone!"
"You're likely to succeed if you try."

— The Five Tenets of the Sanshu Middle School Hero Club

Yuki Yuna is a Hero, a.k.a. YuYuYu, is a Magical Girl Genre Deconstruction series which premiered in October 2014. It was developed by Studio Gokumi and main writer Takahiro, the same guy who wrote Akame ga Kill!, from Minato Soft, the same company who wrote Majikoi! Love Me Seriously!

In the past, most of humanity was destroyed by a virus, with the Japanese island of Shikoku surviving thanks to the appearance of a divine tree called the Shinju, asking only for worship in return. Three hundred years later, Shikoku has prospered under the Shinju's guidance, allowing the people to live happy, ordinary lives. One such girl is Yuna Yuki, your everyday Ordinary Middle School Student who enjoys being with her friends and eating snacks. Yuna, her wheelchair-using best friend Mimori Togo, Fu Inubozaki and Fu's younger sister Itsuki all make up the Hero Club, a special school club formed to do good deeds and to help people. At least, that's what they were told.

Everything changes one day when the girls' cell phones abruptly start ringing in class. Before they can react to the "Forestize Warning" alert that their cell phone screens display, everyone and everything around them goes completely motionless, followed by the sky splitting open and the world being overwritten by an unearthly forest. Fu has to give the rest of the Hero Club the quick rundown on what's going on before the first Vertex attacks. As it turns out, the Hero Club is quite literal, and the girls have to fight to save the world.

Several other aspects of the universe, collectively called the Yuusha De Aru franchise, have been introduced:

The Yuusha de aru Franchise

• Washio Sumi Is a Hero (WaSuYu) ^note Washio Sumi wa Yuusha de aru — A prequel novel taking place two years before the anime, centered on the previous Hero team: Sumi Washio, Sonoko Nogi and Gin Minowa (serialized from April - November 2014).
  • Washio Sumi Chapter ^note Washio Sumi no Sho — an animated adaptation of Washio Sumi, released as three movies in 2017 and comprising the first half of Yuuki Yuuna's second season.
    • Washio Sumi Chapter: Friends^note Washio Sumi no Sho: Tomodachi (released March 18, 2017)
    • Washio Sumi Chapter: Spirit ^note Washio Sumi no Sho: Tamashii (released April 15, 2017)
    • Washio Sumi Chapter: Promise ^note Washio Sumi no Sho: Yakusoku (released July 8, 2017)
• Sonoko After — A short novel that serves as an epilogue to the anime, tying it and Washio Sumi together (published in January 2015).
• Yuki Yuna is a Hero Club Member ^note Yuki Yuna wa Yuusha-bu Shozoku — A comedic 4koma detailing the Hero Club's daily life, eventually including Sonoko.
  • Yuusha de aru All-Stars — A continuation of the 4koma featuring characters from Yuki Yuna, Washio Sumi, and Nogi Wakaba.
• Yuki Yuna is a Hero: Memories of the Forest ^note  Yuki Yuna wa Yuusha de aru: Jukai no Kioku — A video game released for the Play Station Vita that takes place between episodes 3 and 5 of the anime, centered around the Hero Club meeting a mysterious girl within the Jukai.
• Nogi Wakaba is a Hero (NoWaYu) ^note Nogi Wakaba wa Yuusha de aru — A second prequel novel, this time taking place three hundred years before the anime, centered on the very first Hero team of Shikoku, the leader of whom is Sonoko's ancestor (serialized from July 2015 - January 2017).
• Yuki Yuna is a Hero: Hanayui no Kirameki ^note  Yuki Yuna is a Hero: Brilliant Bouquet — A mobile tower defense game featuring every single Hero across every story, along with two new Heroes from the Christian Era: Sekka Akihara of Hokkaido and Natsume Kohagura of Okinawa.
• Kusunoki Mebuki is a Hero (KuMeYu) ^note Kusunoki Mebuki wa Yuusha de aru — A light novel series taking place between season one and two of the anime, detailing the story of a group of failed Hero candidates being called by the Taisha to the Golden Tower for a special duty.
  • Kusunoki Mebuki is Training Now! ^note Kusunoki Mebuki wa Tokkun-chu — A comedic 4koma featuring the characters of KuMeYu (serialized from September 8, 2017 - November 25, 2017).
• Hero History Apocrypha ^note Yuushashi Gaiten — A light novel series taking place after the events of NoWaYu, focusing on ordinary people living in the Divine Era:
  • Uesato Hinata is a Miko (UHiMi) ^note Uesato Hinata wa Miko de aru — A collection of stories centering on Hinata and the other Miko of the Taisha during the events of NoWaYu.
  • Fuyou Yuna is Not a Hero (FuYuYu) ^note Fuyou Yuuna wa Yuusha de nai — Thirty years after the events of NoWaYu, in an age which has only known the peace of the Divine Era, two girls named Yuna decide to try and see what lies beyond the Shinju's wall.
  • Karasuma Kumiko is Not a Miko (KaKuMi) ^note Karasuma Kumiko wa Miko de nai — The story of Kumiko Karasuma, a fake Miko who discovered Yuna Takashima and her Miko and helped bring them to Shikoku.
  • All's Right With the World — A bonus chapter that ties all the characters introduced in Apocrypha together.

Compare Puella Magi Madoka Magica, a similarly dark take on the Magical Girl genre which has been argued by some to be the show's primary inspiration. Contrast Lyrical Nanoha and Symphogear, works which themselves are dramatic at times but ultimately play the genre completely straight.

Season 1 was licensed by Pony Canyon USA for release in America before the entire series was rescued by Sentai Filmworks.

A second season of the anime was announced for March 2017, the first six episodes being an adaptation of Washio Sumi titled Yuki Yuna is a Hero: Washio Sumi Chapter and the second half being a proper sequel titled Yuki Yuna is a Hero: Hero Chapter.

A third season, titled Yuki Yuna is a Hero: The Great Full Bloom Chapter, was announced on August 1, 2020 at an event celebrating the franchise's fifth anniversary. It aired in the Fall 2021 Season, serving as an adaptation of Kusunoki Mebuki is a Hero and Nogi Wakaba is a Hero, while also acting as a midquel for the events of the Hero Chapter, eventually filling in the events of Hero Chapter with bonus scenes.

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FORESTIZE WARNING - Tropes are approaching. Please deploy to protect humanity.

• Acid-Trip Dimension: The Jukai, the alternate world where the girls fight to stop the Vertex.
• Adaptation Expansion: The Washio Sumi Chapter movie trilogy expands the plot of the original novel it was based on by adding more scenes relevant to the story and to the main trio's relationship as well as by giving their once unnamed teacher a name that possibly connects her to one of the characters from the Nogi Wakaba novels in the adaptation.
• After the End: The story is said to take place 300 years after the "Anno Domini Era," during which a virus wiped out much of humanity until the Shinju appeared and saved what was left. Nevertheless, the world has returned to a peaceful, prosperous state, not unlike modern-day Japan. Episode 10 reveals that in reality, the gods sent the Vertex to destroy humanity, while the remaining gods who sided with the human race joined together to become the Shinju and preserve what was left within a barrier; the Hero Club's island of Shikoku is all that remains of humanity, and the rest of the world is a blazing hellscape.
• All Deaths Final: Sonoko After states that while the Shinju can return the sacrifices of the Heroes, he can't bring back the dead, meaning that Gin Minowa and Fu and Itsuki's parents aren't coming back.
• All Just a Dream: The plot of Jukai no Kioku happens in a dream world Sonoko created using one of her twenty-one fairies, which would explain why the girls can use Mankai without penalty in-game.
• Alternative Calendar: The series begins in the 300th year of the Divine Era, marking the time when the Shinju appeared during the apocalypse of the "Anno Domini" era.
• Ambiguous Ending: No one really knows what happens to Yuuna(s) at the end of different works in the series
• And Man Grew Proud: It's never stated exactly why the Heavenly Gods decided to purge mankind, but Sonoko compares it to the story of the Tower of Babel, while Hinata was told by the Shinju that it was due to mankind's "impudence".
• Apocalyptic Log: The focus of Chapter 11 of Nogi Wakaba; the writer was a part of a group of survivors took refuge in an underground mall in Osaka, but when food started to run low they began to kill the old and sick (including the writer's sister), and then they began to turn on one another. When a few people destroyed the shelter's barriers to look for food, some Vertex got through and killed everyone inside. By the time the Hero team arrives all that's left is a pile of bones.
• Artificial Limbs: Episode 4 of Hero Chapter reveals that the Heroes weren't quite given back their missing bodily functions, but instead received divine constructs from the Shinju to replace them. Yuna's entire physical body had to be replaced, and, thanks to the curse taking hold before it could fully heal her body, is falling apart.
• Ascend to a Higher Plane of Existence: In Hero Chapter, the Taisha's last-resort plan is for Yuna to undergo the Shinkon, which would "marry" her to the Shinju and thus bring humanity into the family of the gods, although Aki-sensei doesn't reveal how exactly it would work. As the process begins in Episode 6, various Taisha members lose their physical bodies and turn into wheat, and their voices are heard pleading Togo to stop trying to take back Yuna within the Shinju.
• Attack Its Weak Point: While the Heroes' attacks can destroy a Vertex's body, it will eventually regenerate itself; in order to truly destroy a Vertex, the Heroes have to surround it and pray to expose its core. The cores themselves need to be physically destroyed, and they have various defense mechanisms to make it hard on the girls.
  • Activating Mankai, however, allows the Heroes to bypass the need for sealing through sheer firepower. Both Togo's and Karin's Mankais are shown to capable of destroying a Vertex's core without sealing.
• Awful Truth:
  • The true purpose of being a Hero is to become a sacrifice to Shinju.
  • The truth about the outside world, which is an almost literal Fire and Brimstone Hell where the Vertex infinitely regenerate.
• Battle Aura:
  • Whenever a Hero activates her Mankai, she initially emits a huge one in the shape and color of her respective flower.
  • When Yuna forcibly enters Mankai from her human form in episode 12, her aura instead takes the form of a cherry tree, which then rapidly blossoms.
• Beach Episode: Episode 7 has a reward for the heroes in a day at the beach. as these episodes are typically lighthearted and frivolous, but episode 7 uses the fun and happiness to conjure unease in the viewer as a prelude to the Awful Truth.
• Beauty, Brains, and Brawn: Sonoko, Sumi, and Gin.
• BFS: Fu's weapon, which she can make even larger as one of her attacks. It grows even larger in her Mankai form, with just the handle being as long as she is tall.
• Big Eater: Fu and Yuna to a lesser extent. This also extends to Yuna's fairy Gyuki, who tries to eat everything in sight including the other fairies.
• Bittersweet Ending:
  • At the end of Nogi Wakaba, the Taisha have managed to form a ceasefire with the Vertex at the cost of using six miko as human sacrifices, but only Wakaba and Hinata have survived the war and the Leo Vertex remains The Unfought. Despite this, Wakaba and Hinata work together to ensure that humanity will be ready to fight the Vertex again someday.
  • The end of Washio Sumi: Sonoko singlehandedly annihilates a large group of Vertexes but loses control over most of her body due to Sange. And Sumi loses her memories of everything that's happened up to that point and is given back to her birth family.
  • Downplayed at the end of the Great Mankai Chapter. While the Shinju is now gone and the girls have lost their powers permanently, the world is restored and the former Heroes have since grown up (unlike in Madoka Magica where the girls rarely reach adulthood due either dying, witching out, or being taken away by the Law of Cycles) and continued their work.
• Bland-Name Product: "Pooky" instead of "Pocky".
• Blessed with Suck: Mankai gives a Hero incredible amounts of power at the expense of losing a bodily function, a sense, or maybe even limbs.
• "Blind Idiot" Translation: It's painfully obvious that the translators for Amazon's stream of Washio Sumi Chapter and Hero Chapter didn't bother to watch the first season. Various terms that should be translated liberally are translated literally and vice-versa, leading to conflicts in terminology and romanization not only with the fanbase, but with the original Crunchyroll stream. Examples include:
  • The Flower Calming Ceremony being called the "Ceremony of Chinka"
  • The Seto Inland Bridge being referred to as the "Seto Long-Bridge"
  • Mankai being translated as "All-Out"
  • The Taisha being referred to as "the amnesty" (without proper noun capitalization)
• Bloodier and Gorier: The Light Novel and later the animated adaptation of Washio Sumi shows what it looks like for girls to battle gigantic Kaiju without the protection of the fairy barriers, with the Heroes being covered in bloody cuts and gashes after each battle.
• Bolivian Army Ending:
  • The main narrative of Washio Sumi ends with Sonoko facing down three Vertex alone and activating her Mankai. The anime reveals that she won, at the cost of activating Mankai twenty times.
  • The Shiratori Utano is a Hero chapter of NoWaYu ends with Shiratori facing off alone against a massive Vertex army that she has no hope of defeating, with her miko Mito faithfully watching her final battle. That Suwa fell along with everyone in it was already a Foregone Conclusion, however.
• Book Ends: The first episode begins with a puppet show in which Fu plays the Demon King and Yuna plays the hero. The last episode ends with a skit in which Fu plays the Demon King and Yuna plays the hero.
• Boss Warning Siren: More like a Monster of the Week Warning Chime, but the "Forestize Warning" on their smartphones is rendered like it came out of a Shoot 'Em Up and accompanied by a rather strident ringtone. The "Emergency Warning" ringtone that sounds when Togo is blasting holes in the Shinju's barrier is downright alarming (which is probably the point).
• Break the Cutie:
  • Fu at the end of episode 9.
  • Chikage in Chapters 14 and 15 of Nogi Wakaba.
  • Yuna in Hero Chapter.
• Breather Episode:
  • Episode 7 is this, coming shortly after the climactic battle in Episode 5 and right before Episode 8, which leads to the second half of the plot. It's even titled "Idyllic Happiness."
  • Episode 3 of Washio Sumi is this as it is an entirely comedic episode with gags that wouldn't look out of place in a 4-Koma series and not a single Vertex appears. It is also situated between the first two action packed episodes and Episode 4 which features Gin's death.
• Bullying a Dragon: The people of Chikage's village in Chapter 15 of NoWaYu, and especially a group of bullies that had always tormented her before she became a Hero. Chikage completely snaps and would have killed them all had Wakaba not shown up to stop her.
• Bureaucratically Arranged Marriage:
  • In this case, a “bureaucratically arranged friendship” rather than a marriage. After Togo’s first tour of duty as a Hero ended and she was released from the hospital, the Taisha deliberately arranged to have her family move next door to Yuna’s family, because they knew Yuna had extremely high potential as another Hero and wanted the two girls to become friends.
  • One scenario in Hanayui no Kirameki has Sonoko's parents trying to arrange a marriage between her and the daughter of another well-off family, suggesting not only that gay marriage is legal in Shikoku, but that technology exists to allow two girls to have a child.
• Call-Back: Washio Sumi Chapter has a few callbacks to Nogi Wakaba:
  • The Great Seto Bridge has markers representing the families of the Heroes of NoWaYu, including the Nogi, Uesato, Doi, Iyojima, Takashima and Shiratori families, along with the Washio and the Minowa. Chikage Koori's family is notably absent.
  • The girls' teacher and leader, unnamed in the novel, is named Aki-sensei in the movie, linking her to the miko Aki Masuzu from Nogi Wakaba.
• Cerebus Syndrome: The series presents itself as a Magical Girl Warrior show with a heavy emphasis on the girls' everyday lives, and even after the girls temporarily lose physical functions as a result of fighting, they manage to take it in stride. Then comes episode 8, which reveals that their disabilities are permanent, and they will continue to lose parts of their body as long as they continue to fight, with the bearer of bad news being a former Hero who used Mankai so many times that she became completely bedridden. After this, things get progressively worse until they reach Evangelion levels of dark and depressing.
• Color-Coded Characters: Like most magical girl shows, each girl is represented by her respective color:
  • Yuna is pink, Togo is blue, Fu is yellow, Itsuki is green, and Karin is red.
  • In Washio Sumi, Sumi is blue, Sonoko is purple, and Gin is red.
  • In Nogi Wakaba, Wakaba is dark blue, Yuna is pink (again), Chikage is red, Tamako is orange, and Anzu is white.
• Contrived Coincidence: The Vertex attack at the Great Seto Bridge which Fu and Itsuki's parents were killed is the same one in which Sonoko used Mankai twenty times to drive the Vertex back.
• Converse with the Unconscious: Togo constantly talks to an unresponsive Yuna in the final episode. It eventually helps Yuna to break out of her coma.
• Cool Big Sis: Fu, as the oldest of the club, acts like a big sister that is responsible for everyone.
• Cooldown Hug: Itsuki delivers one to Fu in episode 9. Yuna delivers one to Togo in episode 12.
• Cosy Catastrophe: The series takes place in the only surviving area of post-apocalyptic Japan, but aside from the Shinju-sama worship you wouldn't notice it as life is pretty similar to that of Japan back in the mid-2010s. Notably, they still code mobile websites in (English) HTML and Jquery. It's mentioned that the Shinju uses its divine powers to provide the people of Shikoku with the same standard of living as they had before the Divine Era, including providing electricity and fuel.
• Curse: In Hero Chapter, Yuna is cursed by the heavenly gods as retribution for rescuing Togo, which manifests as a sun mark on her chest which causes her constant pain. Moreover, if she tries to tell anybody about it, the person she tries to tell will be met with misfortune.
• Cutting the Knot: Normally, destroying a Vertex involves first exposing its core, and then performing a time-consuming ritual to finish it off. However, using Mankai grants a Hero enough raw firepower to just destroy the core with brute force.
• Dangerous Forbidden Technique:
  • Mankai, a Super Mode activated by borrowing power from the Shinju itself. It gives a Hero great power, but the Shinju will require a sacrifice afterward; namely, one of a Hero's bodily functions.
  • The Trump Card system featured in Nogi Wakaba, in which the user channels the full power of a fairy, is less extreme but still described as having the possibility to be this, with it causing the user extreme exhaustion after use. However, there are fairies which the Taisha have warned should not be channeled under any circumstances. Yuna channels one such fairy, Shuten-Douji, upon witnessing Tamako and Anzu's deaths.
• Darker and Edgier: The series as a whole becomes this, but the Nogi Wakaba is this from the beginning, starting off with Wakaba and Hinata having to watch their friends and classmates being eaten alive by Stardust as well as Chikage's backstory. The manga adaptation even calls it "The Cruelest Chapter of the "Yusha de aru" Series!"
• Darkest Hour:
  • In Season 1, Episode 10 ends with Fu being left a sobbing wreck after having gone berserk with rage upon learning that their disabilities were permanent and that Itsuki's voice would never return. Furthermore, Togo in her own despair has let in thousands of Stardust and Vertex to destroy the Shinju in the hopes of delivering a Mercy Kill to her friends.
  • In Season 2, Episode 5 ends as Yuna is being prepared to be offered to the Shinju as a human sacrifice in an attempt to save it, even after her friends had all angrily protested against the ritual. Meanwhile, the rest of the Heroes are asked to Hold the Line while the sky burns with the approach of the forces of the heavenly gods, just to make it clear that they are absolutely out of time.
• Dark Reprise: Episode 10's ED features a very quiet piano reprise of the ending theme with Togo as the sole singer, with much more somber lyrics driving home her decision to destroy the Shinju.
• Decon-Recon Switch: After initially appearing to be in the same vein as Madoka,^note A dark take on the Magical Girl genre where the heroes are doomed despite their struggles that shows the emotional and psychological damage children of their age would go through in such a situation. it takes a hard turn towards reconstructing the genre's tropes by showing that even in a setting as dark and unforgiving as this one, fighting hard enough and trusting your friends with The Power of Love can overcome any obstacles, but you're going to have to work for it and push with everything you've got.
• Despair Event Horizon: It comes for Fu when she discovers that Itsuki will never get her voice back and for Togo when she finds out the truth about the world.
• Disc-One Final Boss: The "final" Vertexes in episode 5.
• Distant Finale: The final episode of Great Blooming Chapter shows what the Hero Club is up to four years after the final battle of Hero Chapter.
• Doomed by Canon: Only two of the characters in the prequel light novel Washio Sumi Is a Hero are accounted for in the show itself (though crippled and in Sumi's case, amnesiac and under a new identity). And sure enough, Gin dies over the course of the book, though her cellphone was upgraded and given to Karin.
• "Do It Yourself" Theme Tune:
  • Both the opening, "Hoshi to Hana" ("Stars and Flowers"), and the ending, "Aurora Days," are sung by the voice actresses of the main cast (minus Karin).
  • "Inori no Uta" ("Song of Prayer"), which is used as the ED for Episodes 4 and 9, is Itsuki's Image Song
  • Togo is the sole singer of Episode 10's ED, while Yuna is the sole singer of Episode 11's ED.
  • The opening of Washio Sumi Chapter, "Sakiwafuhana" ("Flower of Happiness"), is sung by Sumi's voice actress.
  • The ending of Washio Sumi Chapter: Spirit, "Tamashii'' ("Spirit"), is sung by Gin's voice actress.
  • This trend continues in Hero Chapter with the opening, "Hanakotoba" ("Language of Flowers") and the ending, "Yuusha-tachi no Lullaby" ("Heroes' Lullaby") sung by the main cast, this time including Karin's and Sonoko's voice actresses.
• Don't Try This at Home: Several of these disclaimers appear as Karin tries to demonstrate to Itsuki how safe popping multiple supplements at once is. It isn't.
• Driven to Suicide: In Episode 9, Togo mentions that she attempted suicide over ten times between then and episode 8, only to fail due to her fairies stopping her. We even see her first attempt in episode 10. She also threatens to commit harakiri in Hero Chapter when Yuna tells the Hero Club about the Shinkon.
• Drunk on Milk: Fu and Itsuki in Episode 4 of Hero Chapter get (very) drunk on amazake, or non-alcoholic sake.
• Dual Wielding:
  • Karin's weapon of choice is dual wielding katanas.
  • Similarly to Karin, Gin dual-wields axes in the light novel. Since Karin is using Gin's terminal, it's only natural that she would emulate her fighting style.
  • Mebuki dual-wields her bayonetted rifles in the climax of KuMeYu.
• Due to the Dead: In Episode 1 of Hero Chapter, Sonoko visits Gin's grave, which is housed at the Monument to the Fallen Legends which also contains the graves of Wakaba, Tamako and Anzu (and possibly Yuna Takashima) from NoWaYu, along with hundreds of other graves. It's also where Sonoko remembers Togo's existence.
• Dwindling Party: NoWaYu bills itself as the "cruelest chapter," and it's not kidding. Main characters die, and they die horribly. By the end of Chapter 18, only Wakaba and Hinata are left alive.
• Earn Your Happy Ending: After centuries of hardship and sacrifice, and after all the battles that the Hero Club went through, they're rewarded with driving back the Vertex and the Heavenly Gods, winning a future for humanity and being able to live peaceful lives.
• Engrish: One of the posters in the club room rather notably says "Brave Clab." This is corrected to "Brave Club" in the Blu-ray/DVD release.
• Evolving Credits:
  • Togo's Magical Girl form appears in the OP after Episode 2. Karin appears in the ED after Episode 3, and then in the OP starting in episode 5.
  • Itsuki sings a special song for the closing credits of episode 4.
  • Each character has a flower on her costume that gets filled in as she gets closer to using her Mankai, and these flowers are shown in the OP.
  • All the girls are healthy and walking in episode 12's ending, after they recover from their wounds. It also features them all singing in harmony.
  • The closing animation of Washio Sumi change after Gin's death, and in the final episode no one is at the windowsill due to all of their fates.
  • The opening animation in Hero Chapter features various scenes from the current episode.
• Evolving Music:
  • The ending theme changes depending on the focus on the episode. In two instances, it changed entirely, but in other cases it is merely covered by a single character rather than the cast. However, the sections of the song used are also changed depending on the character.
  • The series makes very powerful use of silence, especially in episode 9, as Fu worries about Itsuki's voice and tries to make things better by being cheerful and silly (and fails). It's a stark contrast to the Hero Club silliness of before, and it gets worse in episode 11, when Itsuki tries to shake Fu out of her funk. Her mouth is moving but the only sound is an airy background ambiance.
• Experience Meter:
  • Every Hero in the anime has a flower-shaped one on their Hero outfits (Yuna on her right hand, Togo on her left breast, Fu on her left thigh, Itsuki on her back and Karin on her left shoulder). Expending lots of magic causes one of the flower's five petals to light up, and when all five are lit up the user will be able to activate her Mankai.
  • Sonoko and Sumi also receive these when their Hero terminals are upgraded; Sonoko's is on her stomach, and Sumi's is on her left breast.
• The Faceless: Most background characters don't get their faces shown.
• Fairy Companion: They're cute representations of Japanese youkai and spirits, and are summoned from the girls' cellphones. The fairies grant the girls their weapons while they're in their Hero forms, and also can protect a Hero from significant damage. They'll even protect a Hero from herself.
• Fanservice:
  • Prominently featured in the merchandise and bonus materials (including official dakimakura), but the anime itself only has a relatively small amount besides a few brief cheesecake shots.
  • While the other transformation sequences have minimal fanservice, Togo's involves rope bondage to go with her method of transportation being ribbon-tentacles (as well as a rather gratuitous shot of her bust).
  • The Visual Novel included with pre-orders of the first BD volume cranks up the fanservice a few notches. For example:
    • One scenario (Skit's Practice) has Yuna and Togo practicing their roles for a play, and the script eventually calls for a kiss. Although Fu explains that they don't actually have to kiss, Togo really gets into it, even closing her eyes as if preparing for a real kiss. Afterward, Togo demands that they practice the scene ten more times.
    • Another scenario (Godhand Yuna) has Yuna give each member of the Hero Club a massage. She's really, really good at it. Many fans didn't believe at first that this◊ was a real CG and not an edit.
    • Both of the visual novels have a "Blessing of Shinju-sama" mode that unlocks after clearing all of each games' scenarios; the first one puts the girls in School Swimsuits in every scene (while also removing some, although not all, of the Censor Steam in the Hot Springs Episode), while the second has the girls in what could be generously describes as half of a maid uniform.
  • The Washio Sumi chapter has noticeably more fanservice and focuses more on the girls' ... bodies when they transform and shows them naked in an onsen (albeit with Censor Steam) in one episode. Considering they're still in grade school, it's pretty weird.
• Fate Worse than Death: The girls gradually become more disabled with every use of Mankai. Sonoko has lost the use of one eye, one ear, her senses of smell, taste, and touch, and the use of all of her limbs. Karin gets it even worse as she loses both her eyesight and her hearing after using Mankai just four times. If they decide they've had enough of being living vegetables, they cannot even kill themselves. The guilt over being responsible for exposing her friends to this future drives Fu nearly insane, and Togo decides she would rather end humanity's existence than accept that fate.
• Finger Poke of Doom: How Yuna defeats the final Vertex.
• First-Episode Twist: The fact that it's a Magical Girl series at all isn't clear from the promo image, which looks like it's from a mundane Schoolgirl Series. The first half of the pilot is pure Slice of Life and indicates that Yuna is a "hero" because she's in a "Hero Club" that does volunteer/charity work. Then the Forestizing hits...
• Flanderization: The supplementary manga, Yuki Yuna wa Yushabu Shozoku (Yuki Yuna Is a Hero Club Member) exaggerates everyone's personalities. Justified, as it's a gag 4koma:
  • Yuna is more of an Idiot Hero obsessed with udon.
  • Togo is even more in love with Yuna.
  • Fu is completely obsessed with Itsuki's cuteness.
• Floral Theme Naming:
  • Nearly all of the songs on the OST that don't just have stars for titles have names related to plants. Most are either named for varieties of flowers (e.g., "Daisy," "Violet," "Dandelion"), or for other plant genera such as "Erica" (the genus of heaths and heathers) and "Allium" (the genus of onions and garlic).
  • Most of the chapter titles of Nogi Wakaba is a Hero are also named with a flower or nature motif.
  • In-Universe, worship of the Shinju has made floral or earth-themed names popular for children.
• Flower Motifs:
  • Apart from her color, each girl has a flower that represents her. Yuna is a cherry blossom, Togo is a morning glory, Fu is a wood sorrel, Itsuki's is a chain of Solomon's seal, Karin is an azalea, and Sonoko is a purple rose. Gin Minowa also had the azalea motif due to having the same Hero terminal as Karin.
  • In Nogi Wakaba is a Hero, Wakaba was a chinese bellflower, Tamako was a morning star lily, Anzu was a hoary stock, Chikage was a red spider lily, Yuna was also a cherry blossom, and Utano was a wisteria.
  • The opening for Hero Chapter, "Hanakotoba", is named for the Japanese language of flowers
  • The flower theme of Kusunoki Mebuki is the Shepherd's Purse, which in certain flower languages symbolizes the phrase "I give my everything for you."
• Foreshadowing:
  • The opening itself has this in its lyrics:
    Ah, though there is nothing that fascinates humans more than the truth,
    Ah, there is nothing that is more cruel to humans than the truth, right?
  • In episode 2, Fu remarks that for someone who just became a Hero, Togo acts surprisingly experienced. She's more right than she knows.
  • In episode 2, Yuna tries to cheer up Togo with pressed flowers. In episode 7, the team collects pretty seaweed-flowers for her as well. In Episode 10's flashback, she wishes that the flower-pressing club would give her an invitation. Her wish immediately comes true as she gets an invite from the Hero Club, where the girls are represented with floral imagery and their bodies slowly crushed.
  • Yuna's and Togo's colors are red/pink and blue. Togo and Yuna duel in the last episode.
  • Togo refers to herself as a "deserter" in episode 2.
  • Fu's offhand joke about taking back offerings after a while turns out more important than one would think.
  • In the VN, Itsuki draws the Strength tarot when she does Yuna's fortune. She then explains that the Strength isn't represented by the lion depicted on the card, but by the woman gently taming it. This foreshadows how Yuna defeats the Leo Vertex in episode 12.
  • Before the battle in episode 5, Fu gives the Hero Club a pep talk. Each girl's response foreshadows something that they're going to lose:
    • Yuna looks forward to the meal that Fu promises them, but she's about to lose her sense of taste to the Sange.
    • Karin boasts that she's going to destroy the Vertexes. In the end, she has a very small role in the battle and that causes her to doubt her own worth.
    • Itsuki references her dream of becoming a singer, and then loses her voice to the Sange.
    • Togo vows to fight for the people and the nation. However, when she learns that protecting the people requires the sacrifice of Yuna and the rest of her friends, she turns her back on her ideals and instead tries to help the Vertex.
  • When Aki-sensei describes the Shinkon to Yuna and mentions that it would result in humanity living peacefully within the Shinju-sama, it's accompanied by an image of a field of wheat symbolizing an idyllic, peaceful life. When the Shinkon begins in Episode 6, the present Taisha priests and priestesses begin turning into stalks of wheat.
• From Bad to Worse:
  • The eighth episode marked the appearance of the thirteenth vertex. However, it was Gemini-type, known for being the symbol for twins, so that should be the end of it, right? Nope.
  • In Hero Chapter, there are various shots of falling leaves. The Shinju is losing its power and may not be able to protect the world for much longer, while the Vertex are still at large.
    • In episode 5, the sky gods themselves attack the Shinju. The Hero Club is charged to defend the region while Yuna is being sacrificed in a ceremony that will cause humanity to ascend to heaven.
• Gameplay and Story Integration: In the Jukai no Kioku Vita game, Togo can't move with left stick like the other girls; instead, she relies entirely on jumping with her ribbons.
• Get A Hold Of Yourself Man: Yuna does this to Togo in episode 12.
• Gratuitous Japanese: The English dub didn't bother to translate several terms such as "Shinju-sama" ("Divine Tree"), "mankai" ("blooming"), "senpai" (senior) or "sange" ("abscission", meaning shedding of flowers, leafs, fruit and so on).
• Götterdämmerung: The ending of Hero Chapter: The Shinju-sama is gone and the Heavenly Gods are either dead or otherwise won't be coming back for a long time, and humanity will have to face the future on their own.
• Guns Akimbo: Togo is capable of dual wielding pistols in reverse grip.
• Handicapped Badass:
  • Togo is confined to a wheelchair in her normal form. Her legs are still useless when she transforms. This does nothing to stop her.
  • The true nature of Mankai means every hero will become this given enough time fighting the Vertexes.
• Happy Ending Override: Events in Hero Chapter undo the fruits of the efforts of the first season. First, Togo disappears from the Hero Club's memory to atone for her damaging the barrier. While Yuna does save her, she also receives Togo's curse alongside several other revelations. The bodily functions returned to the Hero Club at the end of the first season were not their own, but replicas created by Shinju. As for Yuna, her entire body was replaced, and is degrading rapidly with the effects of the curse, and doesn't have much time left in her world. The Shinju itself is rapidly losing power, too.
• Hate Plague: In Chapter 15 of Nogi Wakaba, Hinata and the Taisha discover that using the Trump Cards can not only debilitate the body but also corrode the mind, making the user more prone to negative behavior. Chikage, who is already mentally unstable, is the most prone to this.
• Head Pet: Gyuki, Yuna's Fairy Companion, seems to spend a lot of time perched atop Yuna's head outside of combat.
• Heroes "R" Us: Taisha act as this, providing support and information to the Heroes while also ensuring that their families are granted special privileges. They even provide for episode 7's Beach Episode.
• Heroic BSoD:
  • Fu in episode 9 when she finds out Itsuki will be mute for the rest of her life. She attempts to destroy the Taisha for misleading them, and even after Itsuki calms her down she's still incapacitated for much of Episode 11.
  • Togo has one after she sees for herself the truth of what the world has become in Episode 10.
  • Yuna has a brief one in episode 11 when she learns that Togo deliberately let thousands of Vertex in, and realizes that by fighting the Vertex she'll have to fight Togo too. She is actually unable to transform due to not knowing what to do.
  • Nogi Wakaba is a Hero introduces Uranophobia Syndrome, which is a progressive mental disorder that affects people who witnessed the first Vertex attack and eventually leaves them as Empty Shells. Chikage's mother is in the later stages of the disease.
• Heroic RRoD: After defeating the final Vertex in episode 12, Yuna is left in a comatose state for what is implied to be several weeks. She gets better.
• Heroic Sacrifice:
  • Fu and Itsuki's parents were Taisha workers who were killed while evacuating civilians during a Vertex attack, specifically the climactic battle of Washio Sumi.
  • This is a recurring theme throughout Hero Chapter. Togo first disappears as she offers to be the sacrifice as atonement for damaging the barrier keeping the world safe. Later, Yuna attempts a sacrificial ritual to allow humanity to become one with the Shinju, which would save them from the wrath of the heavenly gods. Finally, after receiving the hopes of the Hero Club and countless other Heroes before them, the Shinju bestows Yuna with enough power to repel the heavenly gods, and then uses the last of its energy to restore the world and put an end to the Vertex.
• Hollywood Tone-Deaf: Tomoyo Kurosawa deliberately sings badly in episode 4 during several scenes where Itsuki is struggling to sing in front of other people because of her shyness. The rest of Kurosawa’s vocal work for the series, especially in episode 9, shows that she’s actually a very good singer.
• Homage:
  • In episode 1, Yuna is seen doodling a little character called Curry Neko (Curry Cat). While the possible reference went over the Western audience's head, Japanese fans were quick to take the scene as a shout out to Inu Curry (Dog Curry), the art group responsible for Puella Magi Madoka Magica's witches and labyrinths. The scene itself feels very similar to one from Madoka's first episode.
  • Another franchise that gets a lot of shout outs is Dragon Quest due to the obvious Yuusha theme of both series. The 4koma manga makes a direct joke about the game. The "hero" outfit Yuna sometimes wear looks similar to Roto's outfit. Some fans even believe that Fu being an ex-cheerleader and Itsuki a fortuneteller is a sneaky reference the sisters Maya and Meena from Dragon Quest IV, especially after some prototype design sheets of the show revealed that Itsuki was originally a much more serious counterpart to Fuu's liveliness, making the similarity even stronger.
• Hopeless War:
  • The Vertex are unending in number, and the big ones are being continuously reconstructed outside Shinju's barrier. In Sonoko After, Sonoko states that even with the Hero System, humanity would eventually fall.
• A House Divided: The premise of Hanayui no Kirameki: some of the gods within the Shinju have begun to rebel, causing it to lose power, and it's up to the various Heroes and Miko across history to quell the rebellion and reunify the Shinju.
• I Cannot Self-Terminate: The Heroes' faeries prevent any attempts at suicide. Considering the alternatives, this is not a kindness.
• I Let You Win: At the end of FuYuYu, Hinata and Wakaba tell Yuzuki and Lily that the Taisha had been aware of their attempts to see outside the wall from the very beginning, and only succeeded in reaching it because Wakaba allowed it.
• Impossible Task: In the ''Sonoko in Reminiscence" short story, Sonoko, becoming fed up with the Taisha's reverential treatment of her while still refusing to let her see Sumi, orders the Taisha for things that would normally be impossible, such as: A Manchu Han Imperial Feast ^note A series of over 100 extravagant meals served in 6 banquets across 3 days accompanied by entertainment, a luxury normally reserved for emperors in Imperial China whose modern equivalents still cost many thousands of dollars; playing mahjong (while she has no use of any of her limbs), and traditional entertainment such as Rakugo, Manzai and Noh theater performed right in her hospital room. The Taisha fulfill all of these, but they still refuse to let her see her friend.
• Improbably Female Cast: Lead writer Takahiro stated that he created the series with the intention of not showing any male characters. Justified, as later on it's revealed that only young girls can become Heroes because young girls have always been human sacrifices.
• Image Song: All of the main cast (including Sonoko) get one courtesy of a character CD released in 2016, besides the insert songs in the actual show itself, along with a group song titled "The Baton of Courage."
• Innocently Insensitive: Sumi's class after Gin's funeral immediately begin bombarding Sumi and Sonoko with questions about their duties to the Shinju and talking about how Gin was going to be put in the history textbooks. They eventually come to realize that they were being insensitive and apologize to Sumi and Sonoko toward the end of the movie.
• Insert Song:
  • "Inori no Uta" ("Song of Prayer"), sung by Itsuki, which serves as the ED song for episodes 4 and 9. It's the song that Itsuki recorded and submitted to an idol audition site.
  • Yuna and Karin have a duet in Circle Triangle Square during the karaoke scene in episode 4, while Togo sings "Kokon Musou" ("The Unparalleled in History"), a patriotic ballad.
• Instant-Win Condition: A Vertex simply reaching the Shinju is apparently enough to destroy it. The Gemini Vertex tries to exploit this by simply running past the Heroes and making a break for the Shinju while dodging all of their attacks, but it's done in by the vines of Itsuki's Mankai.
• Invisible Parents:
  • Yuna has family but they're never shown.
  • According to the visual novel, Karin has a brother that works at Taisha and her parents are alive, yet she lives alone. It's implied that they aren't very close.
  • Togo's mother isn't mentioned until the final episodes of the anime, and even then only appears in a flashback. She didn't even appear to take her daughter from the hospital. Her father is never shown at all.
  • In NoWaYu, Chikage oddly averts this with both her parents showing up and having lines of their own, which is very uncharacteristic for a franchise that avoids showing adults, especially adult males.
  • Also averted in the Washio Sumi movies, where the parents (foster parents, in Sumi's case) of the three girls are shown.
• Invisible to Normals: The heroes' fairies are invisible to "muggles" (e.g. when Sonoko's fairy manifested itself inside a Halloween pumpkin, a child visiting the store only saw the pumpkin floating in the air, not the fairy).
• Kaiju: The Vertex are huge, completely alien monsters, with the exception of Gemini which is roughly the same height as a human.
• Kamaitachi: Fu's Fairy Companion Kamatachi grants her throwing knives.
• Kid Hero: Though they're more of teens, the Hero Club. As the series goes on, it's revealed that they're more like child soldiers though. The WaSuYu trio play this trope straighter as they're grade-schoolers unlike the middle-school aged Hero Club.
• Kill All Humans: The Vertex seek to destroy the Shinju, which would have this exact effect. Later, it's revealed that they were sent by the heavenly gods with the specific purpose of cleansing humanity.
• King Mook: The Leo Vertex appears to be this; it tends to hang back in battles and it has the ability to fuse with other Vertex. It's also the Final Boss of Jukai no Kioku, only it has a purple and gray color scheme to emphasize the fact that it's a part of Sonoko's dream.
• Last Stand: The finale of Hero Chapter: As the Shinju is growing weak and losing its ability to safeguard humanity, Yuna is being married to the Shinju as a last-ditch move to save humanity from the wrath of the heavenly gods. The heavenly gods themselves stage a final attack to stop the ritual, and the rest of the Hero Club is ordered to Hold the Line.
• Letting the Air out of the Band: When Yuna's attempt to raise Togo's spirits falls flat.
• Lotus-Eater Machine: Sonoko's dream world in Jukai no Kioku, in which using Mankai has no consequence and the girls' lives as Heroes don't affect their everyday lives. At the end of the game, Sonoko even asks you if you want to stay or return to the real world, Sonoko says that she can't blame you.
• Lucky Charms Title: On the OST CD, several of the track titles have only stars for titles (such as ☆☆☆☆ and ☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆), with some also having five asterisks. They represent the Vertex (who are named after constellations) and the Heroes (the asterisks look like flowers), respectively.
• The Magic Goes Away:
  • By the end, the girls have lost their Hero powers, seeing as how the Vertex attacks have been "postponed indefinitely" and so the Shinju no longer needs sacrifices. This is inverted by Sonoko After, which reveals that soon any girl who wants to become a Hero will be able to when the Vertex attack again.
  • The conclusion of Hero Chapter has The Shinju use the last of its power to help Yuna annihilate the heavenly gods and restore the world. Without the Vertex threat or the Shinju's protection, the Hero Club returns to their normal civilian life.
• The Masquerade:
  • Most of the world isn't aware of the Vertex or of the Heroes who protect them, although Washio Sumi shows that cities with greater Taisha influence are aware of it to some degree. Meanwhile, nobody outside of the Taisha is aware of the world outside the Shinju's barrier being a Fire and Brimstone Hell where Vertex reproduce infinitely.
• Mercy Kill: Togo attempts to do so after learning the truth of the world, by letting all Vertex and thousands upon thousands of Stardust inside the barrier erected by Shinju. Not wanting to see her friends suffer until the end of time, she'd rather destroy the world and kill them. Thankfully for everyone, Yuna stops her.
• Miko:
  • The Heroes' Mankai forms have this appearance, with detached sleeves and all. In-universe, Miko are girls who are able to hear Shinju's voice directly, and the Taisha get their information through their interpretations. Togo, notably, has the powers of both a Hero and a Miko, which becomes significant during Hero Chapter.
• Minor Living Alone: Karin. The sisters are orphans and live alone as well, with Fu being Itsuki's legal guardian. They all receive aid such as food from the Taisha.
• Mundane Utility: In the VN, the girls end up using the Hero System for a concert. Hey, it saves on costumes and special effects and that way Togo can move around the stage without her wheelchair.
• Multi-Armed and Dangerous: Karin's Mankai form essentially has four external arms each armed with a large katana.
• The Mutiny: After learning the truth about the world and their mission as Heroes, Togo turns against the Shinju, whom she should be worshipping and protecting. Refusing to see her friends fight, suffer and lose bodily functions any longer, and her eventually losing memories of them, she instead decides to destroy everything. She is however stopped by Yuna who beats some sense into her.
• My God, What Have I Done?:
  • Fu has one of these moments in episode 9 when she realizes that Yuna had completely filled her Mankai gauge trying to stop her Roaring Rampage of Revenge.
  • Togo has a similar moment in episode 12 after Yuna manages to change her mind about destroying the Shinju:
    Togo: I started something awful.
• N.G.O. Superpower: The world is under Taisha's administration.
• Nice Job Fixing It, Villain: Togo's plan to destroy the Shinju, and the ensuing battle, caused the Shinju to come to believe in human courage after seeing Yuna's determination. This led it to give back the sacrifices of the Heroes as well as allowing the Hero System to be upgraded to the next stage, allowing for mass production in exchange for the fairy barriers (and Sange as a result). If Togo hadn't forced the issue, Sonoko states that the Shinju would've been destroyed eventually.
• Nigh-Invulnerability: The girls' fairies provide a barrier that protect them from significant damage, although if they take enough hits they can still de-transform due to exhaustion. The fairies even protect the girls from harming themselves.
  • The curse of the Heavenly Gods is able to negate this protection. When Fu is hit by a car in Episode 3 of Hero Chapter, Inugami attempts to block it but its barrier is burned away.
• No Ending: The Kusunoki Mebuki is a Hero series ends just as the Sentinels have all been declared as official Heroes by the Taisha, some time before the events of the final battle of Hero Chapter take place. What happens to Mebuki and the rest of the characters during and after the series finale is unknown.
  • In the third visual novel, it's revealed that all of the sentinels and Aya were helping out during the final battle in another part of town, and that all of them survived.
• No Good Deed Goes Unpunished: Both played straight and averted, in different ways. They became heroes and thwart the vertexes, at times for the price of their bodily functions. However, Taisha gave them luxuries (and eventually worship) as recompense.
• Not Disabled in VR: Zig-Zagged. Togo is normally in need of a wheelchair. Then the Hero System comes and Togo's powered-up form is quite versatile, highly mobile and hardly hindered by her bad legs. Then more of Hero System comes into the light, starting the "Free disabilities for everyone!" campaign. And even that is not enough by the time of story climax, when the wheelchair changes hands.
• Not Me This Time: When the Hero Club realizes that Togo's existence has been erased, the first thing that they suspect is that it was the Taisha meddling again. Sonoko then reveals that the Taisha were just as confused as they were.
• One-Man Army:
  • Togo basically becomes this in episode 2. The same can be said for Karin in episode 3.
  • Gin becomes one in her final battle.
  • Sonoko as well before her inevitable parting with Sumi and the loss of her 20 bodily functions.
• Outliving One's Offspring: Gin's parents. While her two younger brothers are still alive, her parents are in absolute despair at her funeral despite relatives commenting that they should be proud.
• Plot-Based Voice Cancellation: When Togo is about to get some important information from Sonoko in episode 10, the audible part of the conversation is cut off by Togo’s phone ringing and Yuna leaving a message. The only clue the audience has to what Togo is actually hearing is the expression on her face. However, the content of the cut-off conversation is quickly made apparent at a later point in the same episode, merging this with Show, Don't Tell.
• Poor Communication Kills:
  • The fourth of the Hero Club Tenets ("If you're troubled, talk to someone!") gets broken a lot. The conflict of the entire second half of the series can be chalked up to the Taisha being needlessly secretive to their Heroes, leading to some rather depressing turns of events. In fact, when they ask Sonoko to stop Fu's Roaring Rampage of Revenge against them as well as Togo's Suicidal Cosmic Temper Tantrum, she outright blows them off as they brought that whole mess upon themselves by witholding extremely important information for no real reason and says that she'd rather trust her fellow heroes. As of Sonoko After, the Taisha seem to have learned their lesson: they plan on revealing the true nature of the world to the general public and making the Hero system available to the entire public. Togo worries that this may be taking it too far, especially considering seeing the truth herself was enough to make her try to destroy the world out of despair.
  • This trope resurfaces and gets Played for Drama in the Hero Chapter. Yuna makes an attempt to tell the rest of the club about the curse she was afflicted with, only for misfortune to visit them the next day. Her attempts to tell Fu of the curse in-depth results in Fu being involved in a traffic accident. Karin calls her out on this, citing the fourth tenet again, which puts Yuna in even more grief over her enforced inability to talk about her troubles.
• Power at a Price: Mankai. Every activation requires the Heroes to sacrifice an aspect of themselves. The sacrifice can range from inconvenient to downright life altering, but multiple activations will severely cripple the user.
• Power Fist: Yuna's weapon of choice. Her Mankai are a pair of super powered fist on mechanical looking arms that act when she does.
• Prequel:
  • Washio Sumi is a Hero, following the adventures of the previous team of heroes, Gin Minowa, Sonoko Nogi and the titular Sumi Washio.
  • Nogi Wakaba is a Hero takes place 300 years in the past, in the first days of the Divine Era, and follows the very first team of Heroes (of which Sonoko's ancestor, Wakaba Nogi, is a member).
• Pseudo-Romantic Friendship: This series has them in spades, when they aren't outright romantic in nature:
  • Washio Sumi has Sumi and Sonoko eventually developing one of them, although it's destroyed by Sumi's Sange-induced amnesia.
  • Nogi Wakaba has Wakaba and Hinata (who brags about having an extensive collection of Wakaba photos), Anzu and Tamako (the latter of whom even jokes about them going out) and a developing one between Yuna Takashima and Chikage.
• Put Them All Out of My Misery: Tougo, at the end of season 1, though she is a hero instead of villain. After learning the Awful Truth about the Earth, she considers it best to kill everyone instead of letting more girls suffer by becoming Magical Girls and holding off the inevitable demise of the planet. On a more personal note she especially wants to stop herself and her friends from becoming vegetables.
• Rage Against the Heavens: During Gin's funeral, her five-year-old brother Tetsuo breaks down and rages against the Shinju for taking away his big sister:
  Tetsuo: "AAAAAAGGH! God, if you're really there, why didn't you protect her?! My sister did her best all this time! Why did it have to be her?! Don't take her away from me! What kind of god would do this?! Big sis!"
• Red Oni, Blue Oni: Yuki Yuna is cheerful, passionate, and outgoing girl who specializes in hand-to-hand combat. Her best friend in the Hero Club is Mimori Togo, a thoughtful, analytical history buff with a talent for computer coding who is a crack shot with a sniper rifle.
• Regretful Traitor: Togo after Yuna talks (and beats) some sense into her.
• Ret-Gone: The first episode of Hero Chapter reveals that Togo has somehow been erased from everyone's memories and all records of her existence have been destroyed. The Hero Club manages to remember her at the end of the episode, though.
• Roaring Rampage of Revenge: Fu sets out to destroy the Taisha after she learns that Itsuki's dream was to be a singer and that her voice wouldn't come back. It takes the combined efforts of Karin, Yuna and Itsuki to stop her.
• Rouge Angles of Satin: The Crunchyroll sub repeatedly uses "Vertexes", instead of the correct "Vertices".
• Sequel Hook: The major conflict is still left unresolved after the ending of every works in the series so far. At least until Hero Chapter.
• Series Fauxnale: Invoked in episode 5. The girls fight all the remaining seven Vertex at once, and the first four girls get their Next Tier Power Ups. The battle culminates in Yuna destroying a Vertex whose soul is so big that it's visible from space. Oh, and there's some romantic moments between Yuna and Togo. All of this adds up to an episode that feels like a series finale...even though the series is not even half over.
• "Shaggy Dog" Story: KuMeYu ends up being this. After all of the work that the Sentinels did for the Kuni-Zukuri plan, after all the danger that they put themselves in and after all of Mebuki's and her team's growth from Hero rejects to great soldiers, the outside world gets hotter and the Taisha cancel the plan at the last moment, wanting to conserve the Shinju's strength, and instead opt for another Festival of the Fire Offering. The only thing that keeps Aya and several other miko from being barbecued is Togo finding out and volunteering herself as a replacement, leading to the events of Hero Chapter.
• Shout-Out:
  • Yuna's first transformation involving the sequential appearance of partial armor parts while attacking is highly similar to Kamen Rider Kuuga's first transformation.
  • One scene in the Jukai no Kioku game suddenly cuts to a scene of a boat on a lake, referencing the infamous "Nice Boat" meme from School Days. One of YuYuYu's writers, Makoto Uezu, was also a writer for the School Days anime.
  • Fu asking Togo how she got so "Megalopolis" is a reference to Majikoi! Love Me Seriously!, a visual novel created by YuYuYu's main writer Takahiro, in which one character is said to have a "megalopolis-style" bust.
• Shut Up, Kirk!: When Yuna tells Togo that they should protect the world regardless of cost because they're Heroes, Togo responds that she doesn't care about being a Hero if she can't protect the people she loves, completely shutting Yuna down.
• Sir Not-Appearing-in-This-Trailer: Little of the pre-air promotional material featured Karin or Togo, if they appear at all.
• Sliding Scale of Idealism Versus Cynicism: The series starts off very much on the idealistic side; even after the girls suffer health problems as a result of fighting, they find ways to take it in stride. However, in episode 8 things begin to move rather quickly toward the cynical end when it's revealed that their disabilities are permanent and that continuing to fight and protect the world means sacrificing more and more of their bodies. This leads to more than one of the girls deciding that the sacrifice isn't worth it as Yuna desperately tries to keep her friends together, and by the end of episode 11 things seem to be firmly stuck far on the cynical end. However, the ending manages to smash right into the idealistic end of the scale and keeps going, with Yuna convincing Togo that their existence as Heroes is worth it if they have each other, everyone uniting once more to save the day, and with the girls recovering from their disabilities. And yes, this story is coming from the same guy who gave us Akame ga Kill!, which falls right on the opposite end of the scale. More importantly, Yuna is compared to another magical girl protagonist who happens to be a Wide-Eyed Idealist and the embodiment of hope to her friends.
• Sorting Algorithm of Evil: Averted with the Vertex. In episode 2, three of them attack at once. Then in episode 5, all of the remaining Vertex attack at once.
• Spell My Name With An S: Tougo vs. Togo vs. Tougou, Yuuki Yuuna vs. Yuki Yuna, Fuu vs. Fu...^note Yuki Yuna, Togo Mimori and Inubozaki Fu are the official romanizations, although this hasn't stopped fans and even the franchise itself from using other spellings.
• Spoiler Opening:
  • Averted. The anime went through the trouble to keep Togo and Karin out of the OP until they officially joined the Vertex-fighting team.
  • Played straight in that the girls are fighting enemies who are clearly not Vertex. Episode 10 reveals them to be Stardust, who combine in great numbers to form Vertex.
  • The OP of Hero Chapter uses scenes from the current episode in its animation.
• Stellar Name:
  • Each of the 12 Vertexes has a name corresponding to one of the 12 constellations of the western zodiac. Additionally, the Leo Vertex can fuse with the other Vertex to become the Leo Starcluster.
  • The most basic form of Vertex are called Stardust.
• The Stinger: There's a scene after the end credits of a few episodes.
• Super Mode:
  • Mankai, in which a Hero borrows power from the Shinju to vastly increase their power, combines this and Limit Break. It can be activated when all of the petals on a Hero's outfit light up, which happens by fighting Vertexes. Karin likens it to leveling up after gaining enough experience, although as Sonoko explains in Episode 8, it's more akin to becoming a human sacrifice.
  • The Heroes in Nogi Wakaba is a Hero can't use Mankai because it wouldn't be invented until 297 years later, but they can access a spiritual database of various "concepts" across Japan, a technique called a "Trump Card." Yuna Takashima uses this to channel a storm god and use a Rapid-Fire Fisticuffs version of her Hero Punch. It's stated that this takes a toll on the body and is later revealed that it also takes a toll on the mind.
• Superpower Russian Roulette: Yuna's first price is relatively mild compared to her friends, but her second price is much heavier, taking away both of her legs. Similarly, Karin's first two prices are an arm and leg, but her third and fourth prices leave her deaf and blind when Togo and Fu only lost a single ear and eye, respectively.
• Super Wheelchair: Togo's Mankai gives her a flying battleship bristling with cannons to ride around on.
• Tarot Troubles: Itsuki does Tarot readings occasionally. In episode 4, before a test in music class that she's really nervous about, she gets Death four times in a row.^note Though, in tarot proper, the Death card means "a great change," while the definition Itsuki gives about disaster and such belongs to the Tower card. And then a fifth time at the end of the episode.
• Teeth-Clenched Teamwork: The Hero Team in Washio Sumi has some shades of this at first, and they struggle during their first fight due to their conflicting personalities. However, this fades very quickly as they become Fire-Forged Friends.
• Time Stands Still: The girls' first warning when a Vertex is about to attack, even before the Forestize Warning.
• Tone Shift: The series takes a very dramatic change in tone by the Wham Episode.
• Trademark Favorite Food: Udon. It's the favorite food of every single named character (even Sonoko), with several scenes devoted to the girls enjoying udon after school. Udon was even served at the Mankai Matsuri, an official YuYuYu event. It should be noted that Shikoku Island, where the anime takes place, is famous for its udon. According to Sonoko, the Taisha originally tried fighting the Vertex by launching udon balls at them, taking Noodle Incident quite literally. She says that it may have been a joke. Nogi Wakaba is a Hero reveals that Tamako actually tried this.
• Trailers Always Spoil: It's subtle, but looking closely at this promotional art◊ hints what the Heroes lose when they go Mankai.^note Karin's right side is shadowed, Togo covers her left ear, Yuna covers her mouth, Fu's left eye is obscured, and Itsuki covers her throat.
• Tragic Dream: Itsuki wishes to be a singer but loses her voice halfway through the anime. This is subverted by the finale, when her voice returns.
• Transformation Trinket: The girls' smartphones serve this purpose, by means of a special app that Fu had everyone download when they joined the club.
• Unbroken Vigil: When Yuna falls into a coma after the final battle, Togo is constantly by her side for what's implied to be weeks. Besides being her best friend, Togo also feels guilty about her actions directly leading to Yuna's coma.
• The Unseen: Harunobu, Karin's older brother, is frequently mentioned here and there by the other characters but has yet to make an official appearance himself.
• Unusual Euphemism: During episode 7's Furo Scene, Fu asks Togo how she got so "megalopolis." Fans haven't let Togo forget about it.
• Unwanted False Faith: Girls chosen as heroes are treated like goddesses by the Taisha. The girls who are aware of this, Togo and Sonoko, are not very comfortable with it.
• Video-Game Lives: How the modified Hero System in Hero Chapter works. The Heroes start with a full Mankai gauge, but every time their fairy barrier activates they lose one petal, which cannot be replenished; if the petals run out, then the fairy barrier will no longer be active and the Heroes are in danger of physical harm. Using Mankai no longer requires a sacrifice, but it consumes the entire gauge.
• Virgin Power: It's stated that only "pure" girls can become Heroes, although what exactly "pure" means isn't elaborated on.
• Visual Novel:
  • A bonus one bundled with the show's first Blu-ray, made of ten Slice of Life, mostly comedic short stories and some backstory fluff here and there. It's stated to take place between episodes 4 and 5.
  • A second VN, titled Yuki Yuna wa Yusha de Aru S and containing ten more Slice of Life scenarios, was bundled with the sixth volume BD release.
• Vomit Discretion Shot:
  • Played for Laughs with Karin, as she got sick gorging on health foods in front of her friends.
  • Togo is heard retching and is then shown wiping her mouth after witnessing the true state of the world outside of the Shinju's barrier.
• Welcome Back, Traitor: Despite Togo's betrayal to the Shinju and attempt to destroy the world for their sake, her friends welcome her back with open arms and warm smiles.
• Wham Episode:
  • Episode 8. Togo and Yuna learn that the Sange is permanent. They learn this by way of Sonoko, a former Hero who used Mankai so many times that she lost almost all of her bodily functions. But don't worry, at least they can't die!
  • Episode 10. Togo learns who she was in the past, and that outside the wall is an infernal hellscape that resembles the surface of the sun, and that the Vertexes will never stop coming... And decides to destroy the world to release her friends from the pain.
  • Chapter 4 of Washio Sumi is a Hero, in which Gin is killed in action.
  • Chapter 13 of Nogi Wakaba is a Hero, where the Heroes are ambushed by a "perfect Scorpio Vertex" (likely the one from the anime), the girls' Trump Cards do absolutely nothing to it and both Tamako and Anzu are killed in horrific fashion.
    It was a "perfect Vertex." The enemy's true form. The white monsters the heroes had been fighting up to now had not even been Vertexes.
• Wham Line:
  • Episode 8 has one that precedes several more:
  Sonoko: "I've finally summoned you...Wasshi."
  • Episode 9 has a few of these:
  Music Agency Representative: "My name is Fujiwara and I'm with Iyono Music... Are you Inubozaki Itsuki's guardian?"
  Karin: "What do you think you're doing?"
  Fu: "I'm going to wreck the Taisha!"
  • Episode 10:
  Togo: "I'll end this wretched world."
  • Hero Chapter Episode 5:
  Yuna: "Yuki Yuna... is getting married!"
• "Where Are They Now?" Epilogue: The Distant Finale at the end of Great Blooming Chapter also serves to showcase what the cast are doing as young adults:
  • Yuna and Togo are mapping out the ruins of Japan together by motorcycle.
  • Sonoko is the Taisha's new Omikoshi and effectively the leader of humanity, with Aki serving as her right hand.
  • Fu is a researcher studying the remains of the Shinju, which the Taisha have been using as a fuel source.
  • Itsuki has become a successful local musician who regularly gives street performances.
  • Karin serves on the Taisha's rapid-response team, often rescuing people who try to go out to sea beyond the former barrier.
• Who Wants to Live Forever?: Becoming a Hero means that the girls will live forever, but using Mankai in battle will mean that they'll become progressively more crippled.
• World of Silence: Takama-ga-hara, the realm where the heavenly gods reside, is a completely grayscale world devoid of life, and so pure that the soulgets physically separated from the body upon entering. Yuna enters it in Hero Chapter to rescue Togo, and it's later revealed that Yuna's soul was trapped there after defeating the Leo Vertex at the climax of Season 1.
• World Tree: The "Shinju-sama" (whose kanji translates to "God Tree") is stated to be this. The Vertexes are trying to destroy it, which will destroy the girls' world as well. As it turns out, this is played literally. Episode 10 shows that the remaining gods siding with humanity has merged and erected a tree-shaped barrier the size of Shikoku Island, as a last desperate attempt to keep the remaining humans from the endless Vertex wave.
• You Are Worth Hell: After Togo claims that the Heroes' existence is a living hell, Yuna responds by saying that even if they're doomed to keep destroying their bodies, it's not a hell because they have each other.
• Your Princess Is in Another Castle!: The Stinger of episode 7. Even with the Vertex dead, the battles aren't over.

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