Literature / If Her Flag Breaks

Souta Hatate is a high school boy who has the ability to see flags that provides choices during important events in life, which also allows him to see the future. Souta decides to break the flags instead of dealing with them in order to distance himself from others so they won't be involved with him, having had bad experiences with it in the past.That changes on his first day at Hatagaya Academy, when he prevents people from dying in a lorry accident, drawing the attention of one of his classmates, Nanami Knight Bladefield. Nanami doesn't trigger any flags, so Souta can't figure out how to make her go away, forcing him to reveal his power to her.

So begins a chain of events which results in Souta acquiring a harem as he tries to uncover the secrets behind his power.

If Her Flag Breaks, also known as Kanojo ga Flag o Oraretara (彼女がフラグをおられたら), is a series of fantasy romantic comedy light novels that started in 2011 and ended in 2016 written by Tōka Takei and illustrated by Cuteg. It has a manga adaptation that is serialised by Monthly Shōnen Rival. There are two manga spinoffs: one called Kanojo ga Flag wo Oraretara: Ooyuusha yo, Flag wo Tateteshimau to wa Nanigoto da!?, which is in a RPG Mechanics 'Verse, and another called Kanojo ga Flag wo Oraretara: Root Love, which has as yet no info in English. The series also had an anime adaptation starting in April 2014.Crunchyroll is streaming the anime, and may be watched here for viewers living in the following areas: USA, Canada, UK, Ireland, South Africa, Australia, New Zealand, Denmark, Finland, Norway, Sweden, and Latin America (Central and South America, Caribbean).

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Provides the following:

• Accidental Pervert:
  • In chapter 5, Souta accidentally walks in on Akane in the bathroom.
  • In episode 2, he gets pushed into the girl's bathroom by Megumu who chickens out at the last minute.
• Acquainted in Real Life: Main character Souta meets upperclassman Rin while training for an athletic meet. Rin keeps telling him what a pathetic guy he is and how her childhood friend Soda is the only real man she's ever known. After talking for a while about that she decides to text Soda. Souta immediately receives a text from his long-separated childhood friend "Rin-kun" saying "I was just talking and started thinking about you. Wish I could see you". The two stare at each other for a few seconds before both freaking out, all the more so since Souta thought said childhood friend was a boy. Somewhat oblique example since both "knew" who they were texting, just didn't know that their new friend was the same person.
• A-Cup Angst: Nanami is rather insecure about her flat chest, especially when compared to Akane, or even Tsumugi who has a rather large bust size despite being really short.
• Affectionate Parody: Of the Harem Genre, by infusing it with Rapid-Fire Comedy and packing in pretty much every Character Archetype Love Interest ever invented for it, then turning said characters up to eleven.
• All Myths Are True: Nanami finds out in episode 12 that the fairy tale she heard from her mother about how their kingdom came to be turns out to be true, and that once a generation, someone in their family is born with supernatural powers. The person this time happens to be Souta, who turns out to be Nanami's younger brother.
• Alternate Universe:
  • Souta is taken to one by Mei in episode 7. At first everything seems normal, but Rin and Kikuno don't recognize him. He then sees the death flags of various girls that were shown before he changed them played out, such as the truck killing Nanami, and sees a person on the ship he was on when it sank. Said person was suffering from a Despair Event Horizon, though thanks to Souta's encouragement, they decide to live on and help others out, much like he did. Except that person wasn't him in the past, but rather his homeroom teacher Miyuki Hatate, who turns out to be his granddaughter in this timeline.
  • In episode 13, Number Zero reveals more to Souta about the parallel universes and their significance. She was trying to find a way via running various simulations in other universes to see if humanity would be able to stand up to Angel Boat, which threatened humanity's existence.
• Always in Class One: Averted; most of the main characters go to class 1-F, save for Rin, who's a year ahead, and Kuromiko, who's in middle school.
• Antiquated Linguistics: Nanami speaks in classical Japanese.
• Assassin Outclassin': Souta barely manages to escape with Nanami and Hakua in episode 8 when an assassin attacks them.
• Attention Deficit... Ooh, Shiny!: Several characters seem to display this, such as Mimori and Kikuno.
• Awesomeness by Analysis: How Nanami finds out Souta's ability.
• Balanced Harem: Most if not all of the girls (and one guy) appear in every chapter/episode and get about the same amount of interaction with Souta because they all live under the same roof. They also share equal amounts of fanservice and it's possible for any of them to win Souta over.
• Beach Episode: In the twelfth chapter of the manga (episode 6 of the anime), a few members of the cast (Souta, Megumu, Nanami, Ruri, and Tsumugi, and in the anime Kikuno, Akane and Rin also get a turn) hang out at the beach.
• Bedmate Reveal: In episode 3, Souta is awakened by Akane on top of him. A few moments later, Megumu is also found sleeping next to him.
• Big Damn Heroes: Nanami and the Quest Dorm residents do this for Souta at the end of episode 12, arriving in a ship that looks suspiciously like the Premium Ambriel, and wiping out the death flags that were scattered across the sea.
• Big Eater: Nanami exploits the date and free food she wins with Souta after winning the beauty contest to eat quite a bit of food in episode 10. When he inquires about it, she says that she might as well take advantage of the situation.
• Bishie Sparkle: How Souta appears to Akane after he thanks her for her help in asking the class to help rebuild and renovate Souta's decrepit apartment in episode 2.
• Blank White Eyes: Both Nanami and Akane when they first lay eyes on Souta's "house", which is an abandoned apartment way out in the boondocks.
• Blood from the Mouth: Souta coughs up a lot of blood near the end of episode 7 after being shown an alternate Earth where he died and never met the girls, but ends up saving another character who then becomes motivated enough to have the "main character" flag pop over their head. Mei tries to help him, but she's only able to delay the onset of the flag, rather than being able to completely remove it.
• Blue with Shock:
  • Happens to Souta in episode 2 as he sees Nanami in the bathroom getting ready to throw something at him for entering while they were changing.
  • Also, in the same episode, several of Souta's classmates have this expression when Kikuno tackle-hugs him to the ground.
• Bridal Carry: Souta does this to Nanami in the last event of the sports festival in episode 4 after they accidentally knock the table over and it falls on her leg.
• Broken Bird:
  • Souta. As the series continues, we discover that he's holding himself apart from others because his big sister disappeared, and everyone but Souta lost all memory of her. Souta believes it was because of his powers. Consequently, he tends to blame himself when bad things are in the offing.
  • Kurumiko. Both of her parents were working on the ship that sank and Souta was the Sole Survivor of it. And she's struggling to make ends meet when he first meets her in episode 6.
• Brutal Honesty: Nanami gives one to Souta when she's forced to give a Love Confession to him onstage during a beauty contest in episode 10. While she doesn't give him one, she does note that despite his gloomy mood, he has been getting a little bit better with all of his friends around him.
• But Not Too Foreign: Nanami and her half-sister Hakua both had Japanese mothers. So is Souta, the younger full-brother of Nanami and older half-brother of Hakua.
• Cassandra Truth: Souta reveals to Nanami about his ability to see flags above people's head, but she dismisses it as a joke at first.
• Celibate Hero: Souta knows how a lot of his haremettes feel (his power makes it obvious, among other things), but he doesn't feel in any position to reciprocate.
• Cerebus Roller Coaster: You'd be forgiven if you thought this was going to be another romantic comedy harem show based on the cheery opening/ending songs. Then Souta's Dark and Troubled Past crops up from time to time to remind you that there's a dark side to the story. The show does at least try to balance out the serious drama with the comedy hijinks, though prepare for some Mood Whiplash when it does this.
• Chick Magnet: Souta was a minor magnet when he was younger, and it only appears to have got stronger as he's grown up.
• Childhood Friends: Souta with Kikuno and, as it turns out, Rin.
• Childish Pillow Fight: Several of the characters have one in episode 8 at Akane's house when Nanami calls her. The latter gets jealous when she inadvertently missed out on the fun, but Akane promises to have one with her. And in the next scene, while Nanami is waiting for them at the airport, the first thing that happens is Akane throwing her pillow at her.
• Cliffhanger: Episode 5 ends on one, with Souta going into the forest to examine the cause of a bright source of light. He runs into a girl who then says she knows about his ability to see flags.
• Clingy Jealous Girl:
  • Mostly Played for Laughs with Kikuno in episode 7, after getting upset that Kurumiko becoming Souta's little sister would mean he wouldn't need a big sister. She ultimately decides it would be best if she accepts Kurumiko as her little sister as well.
  • Rin plays it more straight when she sees Souta sleeping on Kikuno's lap at her house in episode 8, using the excuse that it would make him lazy. The former later mentions she doesn't mind seeing him like that.
• Color Failure: Poor Megumu suffers this every time he is mistaken for a girl.
• Comically Missing the Point: Souta attempts to cheer up Hakua after the king passes away in episode 9, by telling her he wouldn't want her to be sad. The other characters then arrive to cheer her up, and somehow it turns into a cheering event for Souta. He immediately wonders why they're cheering for him instead of Hakua.
• Cool Big Sis: Kikuno is Souta's self-declared big sister, so she does sisterly things for him, such as making him lunches, giving him advice, and being a little too affectionate sometimes. She also acts like a big sister figure to the rest of the cast.
• Crash-Into Hello: A new girl bumps into Souta at the end of episode 10, and pleads for him to hide her.
• Crazy-Prepared: Ruri tells Souta she found the underground passage in episode 5, and then said it was collapsed. So she then shows him the passageway that she dug out with a drill attachment.
• Cross-Popping Veins: A few characters display this after Mimori says that the renovated building will have to be shut down if there's only one resident in it. She then says they need at least five people living in it as she's being carried off by other students.
• Curb-Stomp Battle:
  • Hakua's Ninja Maid squad is no match for their opponent, a Robot Girl that resembles Ruri, though the real Ruri says it's a mass produced model, though they at least buy enough time for Hakua, Souta, and Nanamii to escape.
  • Souta's friends suffer one at the hands of the Big Bad in episode 13. It manages to knock them out of the fight after using its powers against them. Only Souta manages to hang on and even he has trouble at first trying to get close enough to it.
• Cursed with Awesome: Souta can see flags above people's heads, but due to incidents in the past with it, he tries to distance himself from everyone as much as possible. Not that it stops Nanami from trying to get closer however. And because of the fact that he can alter people's fates, he gets watched rather closely by a group that oversees such magic things. Episode 13 reveals he obtained this power when he saw a pillar about to crash onto the people attempting to remove the debris that fell on him on the Premium Ambriel. He was given the opportunity to save them, and alter other people's fates if he took up their death flags on himself in the process, and having to bear that burden and torment alone.
• Curtains Match the Window: Rin has green eyes with hair of the same colour.
• Cuteness Proximity: Kurumiko tends to invoke this on several characters, such as Mei, who originally didn't want to stay in the Quest dorms until the former's sad face causes her to reconsider.
• Dark and Troubled Past: Kurumiko, leading her to initially be something of a Stepford Smiler.
• Dark Is Not Evil: Number Zero, and the Council of Seven Elders. Though she's dressed in black and a mask, and the council usually sounds vaguely evil, in actuality they're attempting to protect the Bladefield Principality, as well as humanity as a whole, when the Angel Boat beings attempt to start taking over the virtual world such as in the stock market. She even goes so far as to save him, Nanami, and Hakua from a killer robot in episode 8. She removes her mask in episode 13, and Souta finds out she's Kagura Bladefield, the founder of the Bladefield Principality. She admits that forcing him to fight Angel Boat was kind of a jerk move, but Souta doesn't hold it against her.
• D-Cup Distress: After Souta accidentally grabs Akane's bra off mini-Ruri in episode 8, she grabs it back out of embarrassment. Several of the other characters then mention how big the cups are, along with Ruri holding a sign stating it as well.
• Debut Queue: Each of the early episodes introduces a couple of new characters that gradually join Souta's Unwanted Harem.
• Defrosting Ice Queen: Rin is very harsh and cold towards Souta at first when she's introduced in episode 3. However, after she realizes they knew each other from the past, she warms up to him.
• Delayed Reaction: Mimori has one in the beginning of episode 10 when she tries to see Souta in his room, only for Hakua to be in there with him. They greet each other, then a moment passes before Mimori develops a shocked reaction and wonders who she is.
• Despair Event Horizon:
  • Several of the girls Souta runs into have death flags pop up over their head, and he struggles to try to replace them with a different flag:
  • In Akane's case, he replaces it with a love flag. It works quite effectively.
  • With Kurumiko, he says they should be brother and sister. It works initially, but she starts to despair about other things, and he says she should come to his school and live in the Quest dorm, so she wouldn't have to be alone anymore. Her death flag is then replaced with a story flag, and Ruri comes by shortly afterwards to rescue them.
  • Souta himself went through one in episode 13, after the man he saved runs off saying he's going to get help, but doesn't return for quite a while. Ultimately subverted when the man shows up with a lot of people, including some of the female characters, and they attempt to lift the debris off of him.
• Determinator: Akane is the first person Souta runs into whose flag, while broken just as easily as others, comes right back up shortly afterwards.
• Deus ex Machina: Nanami invokes this by name in Episode 12 as Lampshade Hanging.
• Double Standard: Abuse, Female on Male: Nanami hits Souta quite a bit.
• Driven to Suicide: Episode 9 reveals the immense pressure and guilt Souta felt from other people due to being the Sole Survivor in the Premium Ambriel sinking. He reached the point of holding a knife to his throat, although he subverts it by not going through with it. Episode 11 reveals he didn't go through with it because he saw Serika sitting on a swing with a flag on her head, and wanted to do at least one more nice thing before he took his life by talking to her and giving her hope. But after talking to her he reconsidered suicide.
• Dude Looks Like a Lady: Due to his very feminine appearance and attire (thigh high socks and shorts), Megumu is mistaken as a girl by many characters when they first meet him. The fact that he wears the male uniform (or at least the blazer) is the only way anyone could see that he was actually a boy.
• Dynamic Entry:
  • Nanami does one on Souta at the end of episode 1, after he gives a kiss to Akane to erase her death flag with a romance one.
  • Ruri does a variation of this in episode 8 while Souta is spending time at Kikuno's house. She drops in from the sky, causing a large dust cloud when she lands. She then essentially kidnaps Souta, and delivers him to Akane after she offhandedly mentioned missing him. The other girls end up joining them after he calls Kikuno to let her know where he was.
• Ear Cleaning: Kikuno does this to Souta in episode 2.
• Early-Bird Cameo: A couple of examples:
  • Serika is seen singing in a video playing on a large screen near the corner where Nanami first meets Souta in episode 1. Although she appears as one of the girls in the ending, she doesn't interact with the main cast until around the very end of episode 10 and the beginning of episode 11.
  • Megumu and Tsumugi are both seen in the same classroom Souta transfers into during the first episode. The camera even focuses on them for a brief moment along with Akane, though they don't speak and aren't properly introduced until the next episode.
• Earn Your Happy Ending: Souta has to go through quite a bit before he gets one. Fortunately his friends provide him a helping hand even though he tried to keep them out of his issues.
• Easy Amnesia: Sakura appears before Mei in episode 7 after the latter delays the onset of Souta's death flag. However, she strips the latter of her ability to see flags and several of her memories that she saw when trying to help Souta.
• Elaborate University High: Hatagaya Academy is an Elevator School with its own internal train service.
• Epic Fail: Mini-Ruri encounters an "evil" version of herself in episode 8. She says she'll take responsibility for her "younger sister", a mass produced model that was exported to Europe. She rushes the evil Ruri, only to have the latter simply step over her. Souta, Hakua, and Nanami then scream and run off as evil Ruri chases after them.
• Establishing Character Moment: At the beginning of episode 1, Nanami is waiting for a walk signal at an intersection. One guy talks to another, and says he's going to ask his girlfriend to marry him after his business deal is done. Just then a traffic accident occurs in front of them, and a big semi is heading their way. An unnamed boy, wearing the same school uniform as Nanami, says something to the gentleman. As that happens, the truck suddenly veers away from them, causing her to wonder what just happened. The boy, who turns out to be a New Transfer Student Souta, later reveals to her that he wiped out that guy's "death flag", by suggesting to him that the business deal would go bad, so he shouldn't do it.
• Event Flag:
  • Souta's main power is the ability to see flags over people's heads as well as alter them, such as replacing a death flag with a romance one as he does for Akane to keep her from dying in the first episode.
  • Mei appears to have the same power as evidenced during her introduction in episode 6 and when talking to Souta in episode 7. However, she loses that ability shortly after meeting with Sakura, who gave Souta that power in the first place, stating that her interference would alter things. She also erases Mei's memories of those things, so she forgets everything about it.
• Evolving Credits: At the end of the closing credits, a silhouette of various characters is seen on a flag. In episode 12, the silhouette is removed to reveal the various girls in their respective roles to help Souta out.
• Eyelid Pull Taunt: Nanami does one in the opening.
• Eye Poke:
  • Nanami does this to Souta when he tries to explain about the boat accident where he was the Sole Survivor of it.
  • She does it again in episode 6 when Megumu is taking his top off to reveal his swimsuit. Souta even asks why she did that.
• Fanservice: Used quite blatantly in episode 10 during the "wet t-shirt/swimsuit competition', complete with Souta being forced to shoot the girls and Megumu with a water gun.
• Female Gaze: Episode 8 has Souta accidentally getting up in the hot spring, with his butt in full view for a few seconds before he comically realizes.
• Festival Episode: Episode 10 has a school festival at the character's school.
• First Kiss: Souta does one with Akane to prevent her from losing hope and dying.
• First-Name Basis: When Nanami tells Souta her name, she tells him to refer to her by her first name, not her surname. She also warns him not to attach honorifics like "san or "chan" to her name. Akane also insists he use her first name as well.
• Forgotten First Meeting: Rin met Souta when they were younger, as shown in episode 3. Interestingly, although they didn't meet face to face for a long time, she kept in touch with him via cellphone, as they both find out after she texts her friend "Souda", only to have Souta's phone receive the text.
• Foreshadowing:
  • The pseudo-chess game in chapter six of the manga foreshadows several characters' roles in the story.
  • When Miyuki, the teacher, is deciding where to put Souta in episode 1 of the anime, the camera pans across the room, zooming in on Akane, Tsumugi and Megumu. (Earlier in the scene, you can see the backs of their heads.)
• Formula with a Twist: This story has a protagonist with a unique power to see various types of Event Flags and the instant knowledge of what he needs to do to keep it (such as a Story Flag) or break it (such as a Death Flag). In the course of using these flags, he gains the affection of multiple girls, usually after breaking their death flags and saving their lives in some way.
• Freudian Excuse: Souta tries to be a loner, but it's due to being the Sole Survivor on a ship accident, followed by a lot of scrutiny and blame tossed by other people as a result of it. He contemplates killing himself, but doesn't go through with it. As a result however, he attempts to avoid making friends since he doesn't want to burden them with his problems. Not that it works very well once the series begins however.
• Friendly Rivalry: Souta's harem is one of the friendliest examples of a harem around, with the members largely treating it as a good-natured competition, and being willing to encourage each other in their pursuit.
• Full-Name Basis: How Mei addresses Souta.
• Funny Background Event: Ruri putting on a special waterproof suit so it doesn't short her electronics out at the beach in episode 6.
• Genki Girl: Kikuno seems like she's drank too many cups of coffee.
• Genre Savvy: In Chapter 17 of the manga, Souta realizes he's on summer break, in a hot spring, surrounded by girls. Perfect for harem protagonist wacky hijinks. He tries to leave, but it's already too late.
• Girlish Pigtails: Kurumiko has this hair style, which fits her cheerful personality. Hakua has it as well, fitting her child-like behavior.
• The Glomp:
  • In the first chapter of the manga/episode 2 of the anime, Kikuno affectionately glomps Souta after not seeing him for a few years.
  • Several of the characters seem to like doing this to Souta from time to time.
  • Akane does it to Hakua in episode 9.
• Gone Horribly Right: Souta's attempt to erase Akane's death flag with a romance one by giving her a kiss after she falls through his floor and talks about giving others hope. Unfortunately it worked a little too well on her...
• Got Volunteered: Souta is asked to sign a paper vouching for all of the girls and Megumu in the Quest Dorm to enter a beauty contest in episode 10. He is also forced to be a judge on it as well.
• Granny Classic: Tsumugi is a classic Japanese granny... in the body of a young girl.
• Gratuitous English: Ruri tends to ask a question regarding her helping someone, then asks "Yes or no" when awaiting a reply.
• Green-Eyed Monster:
  • Kikuno unintentionally causes this reaction when she dotes on Souta a bit too much in class.
  • Nanami in episode 8 when calling Akane over a video phone. At first she thinks the latter is lonely, er bored just like she was. But then the other characters show up in Akane's room, and they have a pillow fight. Nanami watches as the others have fun and gets a hissy fit because she missed out on it. The battery on her tablet/phone runs out shortly afterwards after Akane promises to have a pillow fight with her. And fortunately for her, the characters visit her in her country in the second half of the episode.
  • In episode 10, when Hakua transfers to Souta's school, his classmates are excited by it, and state that she looks like a princess. Nanami, who is also in the same class, then gets up and whines that she's a princess too.
• Green Rooming: Mei is introduced in episode 6, and has an introductory scene that's very reminiscent of Souta's when he first transferred to the class. Afterwards the class trip takes place and she's quickly forgotten about as they introduce Kurumiko to the story, as well as filling in more of Souta's tragic past. She finally gets more screen time in episode 7.
• Hair Color Dissonance: Rin's hair is usually shown as black in all media, but sometimes it's depicted as black with green highlights or forest green in manga and light novel covers and illustrations.
• Happily Adopted: In episode 6, when Kurumiko asks if she could be Souta's "sister" in spirit, he sees a death flag over her head. In an attempt to get rid of it, he says they could be real brother and sister. When it doesn't remove the flag, he says she should move into the Quest Dorm and attend school with him. Her death flag is then replaced with a story flag.
• Head Pet: Mini-Ruri does this with Nanami in episode 8 when the latter is looking for Souta on the train.
• Helping Would Be Killstealing: In episode 7, Mei happily says she'll help Souta (who's unconscious at the time) out after trying to remove his death flag by force, and realizing the burden he was trying to carry on his own as a result of his ability to see flags. However, Sakura, the girl who gave him said abilities in the first place, takes her powers away, along with her memories of such incidents, stating that he has to discover the ultimate truth on his own. When Souta reawakens, Mei has no recollection of anything that just happened, nor can she see flags any longer.
• He Is Not My Boyfriend: Nanami says this in episode 11 when Serika assumes she and Souta were on a date when they ran into her.
• Heroic BSoD:
  • The Quest Dormitory group have a collective minor one upon learning Kurumiko is Souta's adopted imouto.
  • More seriously, Souta suffers a major one during the course of the sports festival, which also affects their team's ranking when they start losing during the second day due to his lowered morale. He even contemplates that leaving might not be a bad idea, because he tells Ruri he's probably going to die soon, and if he's too connected to the girls, it'll just hurt them that much more. However, Ruri tells him there might be a way for him to get rid of his death flag.
• Hero Secret Service: Ruri, who often helps Souta out and protects him and the other Quest Dorm residents quite often. Episode 12 reveals that a part of Nanami's personality was secretly stored inside of her as well, and she transfers it back to Nanami after the latter breaks into Souta's room.
• High-Pressure Emotion: Nanami after she realizes she made a fool of herself at pointing at Souta when he first comes into her class. A steam puff even leaves her head.
• Hime Cut: Rin has this hairstyle, which goes nicely with her samurai outfit.
• Hope Spot:
  • Souta sees one in episode 11 when Serika shows a golden, glowing flag above her head, and similar flags stream from people's heads towards hers, which then flows to him. Then Number Zero shows up and tells him that they need him to reach out to the Angel boat. He later decides it'd be best if he removed his presence from the memories of the people he's interacted with throughout the show.
  • Episode 13 has Nanami and the other characters arriving to assist Souta in his fight, and things initially go very well for them. However, the Big Bad shows up shortly afterwards, and delivers a Curb-Stomp Battle, knocking Souta's allies out rather quickly.
• Hot Springs Episode: Episode 8 has one at Akane's house. Naturally Souta accidentally sees the girls walking into it, after Akane forgets to tell him and Rin that the hot springs use time differs for men and women. Fortunately Rin distracts them long enough for him to escape unnoticed.
• It's All My Fault: Kurumiko tells Souta this in episode 6, when he largely got blamed for the sinking of the Premium Ambriel, despite her parents, as crewmembers, not being able to save anyone. For his part, Souta doesn't hold a grudge against her at all, and forgives her.
• I Was Quite a Looker: Tsumugi, to the rest of the cast's consternation.
• I Want to Be a Real Man: Megumu tries to be manly, but due to his feminine appearance, and the way he acts like a girl most of the time, it doesn't work too well. Special mention to the fact that his ideas of what actually constitutes "manly" are often somewhat odd.
• Idiosyncratic Episode Naming: All chapters/episodes are called "flags".
• Impaled with Extreme Prejudice: One occurs in episode 8, when Souta, Nanami, and Hakua are saved from evil Ruri by the masked blonde who impales the robot from behind with a sword.
• Improbably Female Cast: Souta and Megumu are basically the only significant male characters. And most people accidentally mistake the latter as a girl.
• I'm Taking Her Home with Me!: Well, Souta probably didn't really want to with Kurumiko. But a death flag appearing over her head, along with her being an orphan struggling to make ends meet and hoping to save enough to attend school forced his hand, as he didn't want her to suffer alone anymore.
• Lap Pillow:
  • In the sixth chapter of the manga, Souta finds himself laying on Kikuno's lap after he wakes up from a dream.
  • In chapter 16 of the manga/episode 7 of the anime, it's Mei's lap Souta finds himself lying on.
  • Kikuno gives him another one at the beginning of chapter 17/episode 8. Mei offers in the same chapter, but doesn't go through with it.
  • Kikuno gives one to Hakua in episode 10 while preparing for the school festival.
• Laser-Guided Amnesia: Sakura inflicts this on Mei in chapter 16, making sure Mei doesn't tell Souta certain things, particularly concerning her origin.
• Little Miss Snarker: Nanami uses this in episode 11 after hearing about "purple flag guy", the boy who inspired Serika to continue being an idol. She jokes with Souta about this, and they both laugh after he claims he doesn't know who that guy is. She then develops a serious look and asks him who else would go around talking to people about flags.
• Locked in a Freezer: Well, it's a cave by a beach, but otherwise the trope is played straight in episode 6. Kurumiko shows Souta a secret cave that she frequently visits to help soothe the hardships she's going through since both of her parents died. Unforunately the tide begins to rise, and soon they're trapped in the cave as the water level rises higher. A death flag also appears over Kurumiko's head, prompting Souta to try telling her various things to remove it; ultimately it's them becoming brother and sister, and having her move into the Quest dorms and attend school with him that helps eliminate that flag.
• Lonely Rich Kid: Akane starts off as this. Nanami looks to have been in a similar position, being a lonely royal kid.
• Loners Are Freaks: Nanami is worried that Souta may become one of these types if he keeps pushing everyone away from him, so she tries to keep him from doing that. The other girls and Megumu in the series also attempt to keep him from being alone.
• Long-Lost Relative: Souta finally remembers who his older sister is in episode 13. It's Nanami, who herself forgot about him and only remembered a short time before he does.
• Loophole Abuse: Used twice in episode 4:
  • When Souta talks to Ruri privately about a worry he's having, specifically that he was going to die soon, and he can't seem to get rid of that particular flag. He then utters some words he recalled from an earlier meeting that triggers a backdoor password to a program inside of her. She reveals to him that there may be a way for him to remove that flag hounding him with the help of a group of people. But he has to first find the group of people who's going to help him in said quest.
  • The second one occurs at the end of the episode. Souta's team doesn't place first in the sports festival. However, Mimori also says that the team that stands out the most and has the best group effort can win an MVP title, which is essentially the same as winning first place. Though Souta's team lost the final event, because of the teamwork they showed, the board of directors decides to give him the MVP title, which allows him to stay in the Quest dorms and in school.
  • Souta in the first episode finds out he can replace a death flag with a love one when attempting to save Akane. Unfortunately for him, it works a little too well on her, who then falls in love with him.
• Losing Your Head: Ruri, the Robot Girl who joins the Quest dorm largely to serve Akane in episode 3. Due to the shock from the fall her box took, her head falls off as she introduces herself, understandably freaking out all of the characters, particularly as she continues speaking while her head is detached.
• Luminescent Blush: Rin blushes whenever she's around Souta.
• Magic Kiss: Ruri does one to Nanami in episode 12 after the latter breaks into Souta's room. She finds out that part of her memories/personality was split, and that Souta is her younger brother.
• Male Gaze: Episode 7 focuses on Mimori quite a bit when she's wearing a sundress for her date with Souta.
• Marked to Die:
  • When someone has a death flag on their head, it's a sign that they're going to die soon unless Souta breaks the flag or raises another flag in its place.
  • Mei attempts to break or at least alter Souta's in episode 7, but ultimately the best she's able to do is delay its activation.
• Marshmallow Hell: In chapter 12 of the manga/episode 6 of the anime, Tsumugi accidentally subjects Souta to this after she tries to comfort him.
• Meaningful Name: Most characters have a last name (or middle name in Nanami's case) that shows what role they have in the story.
  • The "Hata"(旗) in Souta Hatate's last name means "flag''.
  • Nanami Knight Bladefield is the princess knight.
  • Akane's last name, Mahougasawa, has "mahou"(魔), which means magic. It's indicative of her role as the magician.
  • Megumu's last name, Touzokuyama, contains "touzoku"(盗賊), which means thief.
  • Ruri Ninjabayashi is the shinobi of the group.
  • The "Eiyuu" (英雄) in Rin Eiyuuzaki's last name means hero.
  • The "Shoukan"(召喚) in Kikuno Shoukanji's last name means summons, referring to her role as the summoner.
  • Tsumugi's last name, Ryuukishibara, contains "ryuu"(竜), meaning dragon, and "kishi"(騎士), meaning knight - in other words, a dragon knight.
  • Mei Daimyozamurai is the samurai.
  • Kurumiko's last name, Daishikyougawa, has "daishikyou"(大司教), meaning archbishop, indicating her role as the cleric.
  • Mimori's last name, Seiteikouji, contains "seitei"(聖帝), which means holy emperor.
  • Angel Boat, the Big Bad of the series (or the anime at least), is literally a ship with some glowing angelic wings.
• Meido: In the school's "Fancy Dress Sleigh Race", the group (including Souta) wear maid uniforms since wearing a dress is required in the contest. Nanami decides to wear a princess dress instead.
• Mind Screw: The last three episodes of the anime does a Genre Shift, and the romantic comedy aspect of the show takes a backseat as the sci-fi/fantasy portions go into high gear in the story. One may have to watch it a few times to understand exactly what was going on, or read a guide online.
• Miniature Senior Citizens: Zig-zagged by Tsumugi. She was a fully grown adult who shrank as she got older - she just didn't age, resulting in her current appearance as a young girl. To her, this is perfectly normal. To everybody else, it's deeply weird. In one episode, she shows the cast a photo of a pretty woman in a kimono which, judging from the quality of said photo, was taken sometime pre World War II. She was quite a looker indeed.
• Mistaken for Gay: Souta towards Megumu. The latter likes to remind everyone he's a guy, despite his very feminine appearance and clothing. While regular people assume Megumu is a girl, the other female characters assume this anytime they see the two guys doing anything resembling romance, such as the date in episode 5, or them riding together in wedding outfits in a parade during episode 9.
• Mister Seahorse: Poked fun at, but ultimately defied, with Megumu. Since everyone constantly mistakes him as a girl, someone eventually mentioned that he would have a much cuter child with Souta than Akane, but he clearly said it isn't possible and suffered Color Failure as usual.
• Mood Whiplash:
  • Episode 7 starts off fairly normal, until Mei shows him a much darker alternate Earth where he wasn't around, and several of the girls who had death flags over their heads get killed.
  • Episode 8 is fairly light-hearted as well, until shortly after Souta meets Hakua, Nanami's younger sister. They're then attacked by a Robot Girl that looks suspiciously like Ruri, though mini-Ruri says it's most likely a mass-produced model that was exported to Europe.
  • Episode 9 follows with a similar whiplash, where the first half is light hearted comedy, while the last part of the second half goes into darker territory when Souta is confronted by Number Zero for the first time.
  • Episode 11 continues the trend by ending with Number Zero revealing the whole series is Inside a Computer System and Souta removing himself from existence.
  • Episode 12 has an odd one. It shows Souta fighting against members of the Angel Boat, and has a generally dark tone to it. Then the cheery opening song plays...
• Mundane Made Awesome: The characters who are spinning with arms interlocked in episode 2, who then turn into a tornado somehow. Souta wonders how exactly this happens. It happens again in episode 10, this time with more characters doing it after the beauty contest.
• My Greatest Failure: Akane mentions to Nanami about how she went to a library and met a girl her age there. They had a lot of fun together, but her family refused to let them stay friends due to their differences in social standings. Hence why she felt so determined to be friends with Souta and her, because she sensed they needed help just like that girl from before.
• Mystical White Hair: Mei has silvery-white hair and is from an alternate world. She also has (or had) a weaker form of Souta's Winds of Destiny, Change! ability.
• Never Trust a Trailer: The opening credits imply that Number Zero is an antagonist of Souta and his friends. But episode 12 reveals that they're actually trying to protect humanity, and want to use Souta's powers to do so, since the Angel Boat beings intend to destroy humanity.
• New Transfer Student: Souta starts the series as a mysterious transfer student at the school. Mei enters the school as one too.
• Nice Job Breaking It, Hero:
  • Mimori, while talking to the board of directors for their school, inadvertently adds a condition that Souta gets kicked out of the dorms if his team doesn't win the sports festival in episode 3.
  • In episode 8, Souta is enjoying the hot springs at Akane's house. He then sees someone approaching, and thinks it's Megumu, but instead it turns out to be Rin. Both of them are wondering if they got into the wrong bathhouse, and Rin hides Souta while the other girls enter. Akane later mentions that the hot springs has set hours for men and women, but forgot to tell Rin and Souta.
• Nice Guy:
  • Souta is a reliable and helpful person in general, which is one reason why so many characters are attached to, or attracted to him.
  • Akane is a sweet and kind girl who would do anything in her power to help someone if they need it.
• Ninja Log: A variation of this is done in episode 10 with Kuromiko. She was supposed to be one of the judges for the beauty contest, but instead a small doll resembling her is seen by the judge's table. The real Kuromiko is walking around the crowd selling items like she did prior to meeting Souta.
• Ninja Maid: Hakua's maids in episode 8 seem quite capable of combat. Unfortunately they're no match for their opponent, a Robot Girl that looks like Ruri.
• No Good Deed Goes Unpunished: Souta experiences this in episode 13, after he finds himself on the Premium Ambriel again and saves a man by holding up a bookshelf that had fallen on him long enough for him to get out from under there. Unfortunately a large stone tablet breaks and collapses, pinning Souta underneath. The man he saved looks at it briefly, then slowly backs off, claiming he's going to find help. However, he doesn't return for a long time, and the little girl who was with Souta says humans are all the same regardless of the world they're in. This trope is ultimately subverted when the man returns with a lot more people, including some of the female characters. He really was unable to help Souta on his own, and even their combined effort still couldn't get him up before a pillar was about to collapse on all of them.
• Nonuniform Uniform:
  • Megumu wears striped thigh-high socks and shorts instead of the pants that's included in the boy's uniform.
  • Mimori wears boots instead of shoes, doesn't include socks with her uniform, and wears black gloves.
  • Kikuno wears an apron over her uniform.
• No-Sell:
  • Kikuno's flag dodges Souta attempts to break it.
  • In episode 12, the Angel Boat beings attack Souta with a powerful attack that kicks up a lot of dust around him. However, after it settles, he's revealed to be completely unharmed, and activates death flags on them.
• Not So Above It All: Nanami tries to act like she's not interested in the antics of the things going on around the Quest dorm. But when she's by herself in there in episode 5, the first thing she does is roll around the floor back and forth like a kid.
• "Not So Different" Remark: Souta says he doesn't want to get close to anyone because of misfortunes that will hit them. Nanami then has a Flash Back of her own where she too was lonely back home, and tells him she's not buying his excuse.
• Not What It Looks Like: When Akane sees Megumu cuddling up to Souta in episode 2, she gets the wrong impression.
• Oh, Crap!: Megumu has this look after the girls see him wearing a wedding dress, sitting next to Souta in a tuxedo while in a parade in episode 9.
• Ojou: Nanami and Akane, though they're currently not relying on their families.
• Older Than They Look: Tsumugi Ryuukishibara, the school elder, has the appearance of a young girl. When asked about her age, she shows them an old picture of a tall woman who doesn't look much like her. As a result, they don't believe the picture, but she insists that you get smaller as you age.
• One Cast Member per Cover: A different girl is on the cover of each volume of the light novel and there are very few girls who appear on more than one. From volume 13 to the last, however, the covers have two characters on them.
• Only Known by Their Nickname: People usually call Tsumugi "Baba-sama", a polite term for an old lady.
• Out of Focus: Despite being seemingly one of the major protagonists of the show and getting a lot of screen time in the opening (as well as the cover page illustration in the picture above), Nanami largely falls by the wayside as the other girls and Megumu get to spend time with Souta and doesn't seem as pivotal to the plot for quite a while. She even tries to avoid the spotlight, often opting to not go wherever Souta and the others go, or take part in many of their activities.
• Parental Abandonment: In episode 6 Kurumiko tells Souta both of her parents worked as crewmembers on the Premium Ambriel. Because Souta was the Sole Survivor of the accident that sank that ship, it meant that her parents died and she's been struggling just to survive ever since then.
• Phenotype Stereotype: Nanami, who's from a small country in Europe, has blonde hair and blue eyes.
• Polyamory: Most of the girls (Akane especially) don't want to have Souta all to themselves and actually encourage the others to share him.
• Potty Emergency: Mimori suffers one in episode 3, but tries to deny it. Judging by what Ruri states, she may have suffered a slight Potty Failure.
• The Power of Love: Souta attempts to use this to overcome Akane's death flag in the first episode after she falls through a weak spot in his apartment, by giving her a kiss. Oddly enough it works, and her death flag is erased by a romance one, along with several others that pop over her head.
• Rapid-Fire Comedy: The anime brings so many gags and jokes in quick succession it can only be called this.
• Recognition Failure: While Nanami goes into fan girl mode instantly, Souta has no clue who Serika, a famous idol, is in episode 11.
• Relationship Sabotage: During Akane's portion of the date with Souta in episode 5, she tells him that she asked her parents for advice on where to go for a date. She then says her father mentioned a lake with a rowboat for couples. Her father also said any couple who took that boat ride together would certainly break up. Interestingly, while Souta sees the obvious connection, Akane says that since they're technically not a couple, what her father said wouldn't come true.
• The Reveal:
  • Nanami and Hakua introduce their older brother, the crown prince, in episode 9. They tell Souta and the others that he's been watching over them and taking care of them more than the current king, their father has. Shortly after this however, the prince holds a press conference revealing the king passing away, along with an assassination attempt on both girls, who are 13th and 14th in line to become the next ruler. After a reporter asks about this, he says the girls are actually his daugthers, and are the true heirs to the throne. Neither one of them was aware of that until that point, since they always thought of him as their older brother.
  • A bombshell is exposed in episode 12 by Ruri to Nanami. Specifically that Souta is actually her brother, and part of her consciousness was separated from her in the virtual world when she attempted to follow him there at one point in the past. Her other half tried to escape, but was unable to get back to Nanami, so buried her memories inside Ruri, who was sleeping nearby.
  • In episode 13, Number Zero removes her mask for Souta. She turns out to be Kagura Bladefield, the original founder of the Bladefield Principality, and bears an uncanny resemblance to Nanami.
• Robot Girl: Ruri is a female android (who also holds the role as the ninja of the group) created by the Mahougasawa Foundation.
• Running Gag: Megumu's gender confusion. The girls keep mistaking him for a girl. He either suffers a Color Failure, or goes Blue with Shock and has Dull Eyes of Unhappiness if he hears it. He got even more depressed when he heard that he (or Nanami) might have a much cuter child with Souta than Akane would.
• Say It with Hearts: Megumu and Kikuno sometimes pepper their sentences with hearts.
• School Festival: Episode 4 has a sports week event, where Souta and the girls try to win first place in order to avoid shutting down the dorms and him getting kicked out of school.
• Screw Destiny: The tale from the Bladefield Principality suggests that Souta, who has a death flag over his head he's completely unable to remove, is fated to sacrifice his life for the greater good of stopping the Angel Boat. Nanami and the others however, decide this fate sucks, and helps him to defeat those beings.
• Screw the Rules, I Have Connections!: Mimori attempts to use hers to get Kurumiko into their school, along with moving her into the Quest dorms. However, it becomes subverted in that she's ultimately unable to get her in. Nevertheless, Mei uses her "connections" to get Kurumiko in after seeing how sad the latter looked after being told by Souta and Mimori that they failed to help her.
• Secretly Gay Activity: Megumu is a very Pretty Boy who grew up with sisters who liked to force him into feminine habits. Because of this, he has no idea how to look or act masculine and "befriends" (highly implied to be a romantic crush) Souta because he was the first person to recognize him as a "he". Because of this, Megumu often wants to do "manly" things with Souta, such as going to the bathroom together, which usually carry very romantic or sexual connotations.
• Secretly Wealthy: Akane's family turns out to be really wealthy, though she doesn't flaunt it around. In episode 8, most of the main characters spend some time at her mansion.
• Serious Business: When the others hear about Souta taking Akane out on a date in episode 5, they all rush him and question him on it. Then they decide to all go out on a date with him one at a time, partly because of the efforts they put into the sports festival in the previous episode.
• She Cleans Up Nicely: Rin, when she wears regular clothing in episode 5 during her portion of the group date with Souta.
• Sheltered Aristocrat: Hakua's a Constantly Curious version, to the point she thinks popcorn is life-threatening to make. Television is also fascinating to her due to never having been exposed to one before meeting with Souta and his friends.
• Ship Tease: The anime implies one between Akane and Souta at the end of episode 12.
• Shout-Out:
  • In chapter 6 of the manga, Mimori looks like Doraemon for a panel.
  • In the ninth chapter of the manga, one of the students participating in the survivor game shouts "Upham! Upham! Ammo, dammit!".
  • In episode 8, Akane mentions "The Crawling Chaos". Also, one of the maids on the train pulls out a P-90 from under her skirt and assumes the exact same pose Henrietta from Gunslinger Girl does.
• "Silly Me" Gesture: Akane does one in episode 8 after forgetting to mention that the hot springs use time differs for men and women to Souta and Rin. Naturally he's in there when the girls show up as a result.
• Sneeze Cut: When Souta first meets Hakua, Nanami's younger sister, in episode 8, she asks him if he's a ninja. He says he's not, but knows someone named "Ninja-bayashi". The scene then switches briefly to the mini-Ruri that's with them on the train who then sneezes.
• Sole Survivor: Souta when the cruise ship he was on, the Premium Ambriel, sinks. Due to the immense press publicity he received, largely negative, he's been trying to avoid the spotlight and people as much as possible before the start of the series.
• Spoiled Sweet: Despite her privileged background as the granddaughter of the founder of the Mahousagawa Foundation, Akane is very sweet and cares for everyone.
• The Stinger: At the end of the first episode, Souta saves Akane's life by replacing her death flag with a romance one. However, as he looks in the mirror, he sees a death flag over his head...
• The Stoic: Mei, although meeting Akane and the other girls leaves her Not So Stoic, and she becomes a Defrosting Ice Queen as time passes.
• Strange Minds Think Alike: Everyone who sees the way Tsumugi treats Souta over the beach arc reacts with "She's doting on her grandson".
• Strong Family Resemblance: Nanami bears a striking resemblance to Kagura Bladefield, the original founder of the Bladefield Principality. Souta and viewers find this out when the latter removes her mask and Souta initially mistakes her for Nanami.
• Student Council President: Mimori takes her job as the school's student council president very seriously. She holds a lot of power in school due to her strong political ties with it and being the board chairman's granddaughter.
• Stupid Sexy Flanders: Although Megumu wears the boy's vest, his appearance is very feminine, and also wears thigh high stockings. When he curls up in Souta's arms after being called a boy in episode 2, the latter is momentarily distracted by his appearance and smell. In episode 5, Megumu has some cream on the side of his face, and asks Souta to get it off, but makes it look like he wants a kiss. All of the other women in the cafe suddenly have a kissing flag on their heads as they see Megumu drawing close to him.
• Super-Deformed: Ruri has a miniaturized version of herself that goes with Akane and the others to Nanami's home country in episode 8. Megumu in particular finds mini-Ruri to be extremely cute.
• Suspiciously Specific Denial:
  • Mimori claims she didn't pee in her pants in episode 3 after Kikuno gets really angry at her for entering Souta into a competition where he'll be expelled if he loses. Moments later she says she needs to stop by the restroom, then corrects herself and says the student council office, and walks away very awkwardly, as if holding in her pee.
  • In episode 5, Nanami says she's not going out on the group date with Souta, and then "drops" an ad featuring cakes. She tells him not to worry about getting the things on the flyer, especially those limited time cakes, while showing him the flyer. She later gets mad at him when she finds out the other girls didn't know anything about it, but then the scene cuts to Souta tying a bag to her doorknob, indicating he did remember to bring some cake back to her.
• Tempting Fate:
  • In the first episode, Nanami can't help but wonder who that boy she saw at the intersection was that seemingly prevented a semi truck from hitting them. Her only clue was that he was wearing the same uniform for her school, but since the school is really big, there's no way she'd be able to find him. As she's thinking that, the teacher presents a New Transfer Student, who just happens to be that boy she saw. She gets up, points at him and screams, before turning red from embarrassment and sitting back down.
  • In episode 6, because of a mixup by Mimori, Souta ends up on both lists of students going to the beach, and students going to the forest for a field trip. Due to some bad experiences with the ocean, he's uncomfortable being on the beach, and is quite relieved to be going to the forest for the second half of the trip. But then his teacher announces that the two groups will be switching locations for a change of pace, and since he was technically part of the forest group by that point, he ends up on the beach again. This ultimately helps him find Kurumiko however, who has an important story flag over her head, which Souta has to use in order to advance the plot.
• Third-Person Person:
  • Kurumiko.
  • Akane tends to speak this way at times as well.
• Thunder Shock: This happens to Souta and Nanami in the first episode when Akane says she can't leave anyone that needs her help.
• Token Mini-Moe:
  • Tsumugi has this role because she looks like a little girl and appears to be the youngest member of the cast. But she's actually an old woman who might be even older than the school itself. She also acts as a mentor of sorts to the rest of the cast.
  • Kuromiko also has this role, as she's the youngest character in the cast and is unofficially adopted as a little sister by Souta.
• Took a Level in Badass: Souta in episode 12 turns into an action guy, fighting off the Angel Boat beings singlehandedly. He does start to tire out towards the end of the episode, though Nanami and the others in Quest Dorm arrive to help him out.
• Training Montage: Chapter eight of the manga and episode 3 of the anime displays a montage of the rigorous training Rin made the gang do in order to prepare for the sports festival.
• Tsundere:
  • Nanami is a mild case in general. Akane attempts to get her to invoke it on one occasion on the grounds that it's "the most joyful thing a boy can hear!", but it just bounces off Souta. Though in episode 10, after giving him a Brutal Honesty speech, Ruri states that Nanami's "Tsundere level" is at 530,000.
  • Mei develops into one as time passes. Hilariously, in episode 8, she at first replies somewhat normally that she wasn't concerned about him. But then she stops about halfway through her speech, and then says it more coldly and turns her head away in a fasion befitting this trope. Kurumiko then says Mei was the most worried of all the others about Souta's whereabouts.
• Turned Against Their Masters: The Angel Boat beings, who grow hostile towards humans and start wreaking havoc in the virtual world. Though most regular humans see it in the form of electronics screwing up and them taking control of the stock market, it's implied that if they manage to conquer the virtual world, humanity would be doomed.
• Underdogs Never Lose: Souta's team does rather well during the first day of the sports festival in episode 4. But then they start suffering losses in the second day. Mimori states that winning first place isn't the only way to win, as the festival also emphasizes teamwork, and whichever team shows the most team spirit can earn an MVP (Most Valuable Player) title. Which comes in handy for them, when they place second behind the baseball team in the last event. But because of the teamwork they showed, Souta's team wins the MVP, and doesn't have to worry about getting kicked out.
• Un-person: Souta does this to himself at the end of episode 11, removing himself from the memories of all the people he's met up to this point. Nanami however is unaffected by it.
• Unusual Euphemism: "The fish are gathering!"
• Unwanted Harem: Souta begins to develop one largely thanks to Nanami threatening to beat him up if he keeps using his Loners Are Freaks attitude towards everyone trying to get to know him better.
• Verbal Tic:
  • Akane always ends her sentences with "desu".
  • Megumu ends nearly every sentence with "yayo".
  • Ruri uses "Y/N" at the end of every question.
  • Tsumugi ends her sentences with "be", and attaches "bou" (child) to names.
  • Hakua tends to repeat the last two or three syllables of every sentence. Like "shimashita, mashita." or "desu, desu".
• Villainous Rescue: Souta, Hakua, and Nanami are saved from the evil Ruri in episode 8 by the masked blonde lady, Number Zero, who's seen opposing him in the opening credits.
• Waterfall Puke: In the twelfth chapter of the manga, Souta vomits after being in contact with the sea due to it making him sick because of the Premium Ambriel incident.
• Wham Episode:
  • Episode 7 takes a much darker turn in the show's usual light-hearted comedy. Mei takes Souta to an alternate Earth, one where he died, and therefore never met any of the other characters. Death flags that were raised around him in earlier episodes end up killing several characters, due to his absence such as Nanami getting hit by the truck from the first episode along with all the other people standing in the corner, along with Akane falling through the broken floor, and Kurumiko drowning in the cave by the beach after the high tide comes in.
  • In episode 11, Souta learns more about his ability to see flags and alter fate. In the end he removes himself from the memories of all the people he's met in the current world he was in, though Nanami seems unaffected by it.
  • During episode 12, Souta vanishes and is forgotten about by everyone except Nanami. A lot of time seems to pass in the world, as the girls are seen during winter time, then Mimori's graduation comes up. During all that time, Souta has been fighting the Angel Boat beings in the virtual world, preventing them from taking over the world and destroying it for humanity.
• Wham Line: Akane says one at the very end of episode 11 after Nanami mentions finding Souta for the dance party:
  Akane: "Who's Souta-kun?"
• Wholesome Crossdresser: Megumu is spotted on the beach in a dress at the beginning of episode 7. He states that his sisters, who live near the resort, stole his “male” clothing and replaced the outfits with girl's clothing. Interestingly, this isn't brought up during episode 11 or 12 when he's wearing a dress.
• Why Did It Have to Be Snakes?: Being surrounded by water for Souta, due to a tragic incident while traveling on a boat.
• Winds of Destiny, Change!: Souta has the ability to see flags on top of people's heads, allowing him to see and change important events and choices in life. He can also break flags by taking action to prevent events he doesn't want to happen. He's not up on all the nuances, however, particularly when it comes to the way his friends' flags appear (or don't). Mei had a lesser form of the ability before she lost her memory.
• Yandere: Rin has distinct tendencies this way, though so far she's been prevented from going full-on yandere. Souta understandably freaks out anytime he spots it though.
• You Are Better Than You Think You Are:
  • What initially seems like a "The Reason You Suck" Speech by Nanami to Souta in episode 10's beauty contest turns out to actually be one of these, when she thanks him for all he's done despite having his gloomy mood. It touches him that he even sheds some tears, and the other girls cry as well, shortly before they form another friendship tornado. Up until this point Souta thought no one noticed or cared that he was having a lot worries, and this later helps convince him that the world was worth fighting for against the Angel Boat later on.
  • When Serika tells Souta and Nanami about her past when she first started out as an idol in episode 11, she told them about a low point in her idol career. She thought about giving it up, until an unnamed boy told her to continue on, because she would become a great idol that would touch the heart of people. She doesn't realize right away that said boy was actually Souta, though Nanami figures it out right away due to the fact that the boy mentioned a flag above her head.
• You Are Not Alone:
  • Souta is told this by the various girls in the show.
  • In episode 6, Souta tells this to Kurumiko, who's been struggling to survive ever since both of her parent's died.

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