Literature / Mayo Chiki!

Clockwise from top left: Kureha Sakamachi, Kinjiro Sakamachi, Subaru Konoe, Nakuru Narumi, Masamune Usami, Kanade Suzutsuki.

Kinjiro "Jiro" Sakamachi fears women, to the point of nosebleeding whenever he is touched by women. It doesn't help that his younger sister, Kureha, wakes him up with excruciatingly painful wrestling moves — a trait inherited from their mother, herself a former champion wrestler. His only escape is high school.

All that comes to a screeching halt the moment he finds Subaru Konoe — butler of the school's Onee-sama, Kanade Suzutsuki, and a ridiculously handsome Chick Magnet — in the men's comfort room... and gropes his way into discovering that "he" IS a she!

After being knocked unconscious by Subaru, Jiro wakes up with all his limbs save his left arm chained to a clinic bed. He discovers the sadistic side of Kanade, who then blackmails him into keeping Subaru's gender a secret — and with good reason. Subaru was the exception to her family's centuries-old prohibition against allowing females to serve as butlers for the Suzutsuki family, due to being the only child, provided she keep her gender secret from the rest of her classmates at Rouran Academy throughout her tenure. He agrees to keep it so, after Kanade also promised to help cure his gynophobia.

Looks like Jiro will be safe from girls no more, wherever he goes.

Mayo Chiki!, short for Mayoeru Shitsuji to Chicken na Ore to ("The Wavering Butler and Me, the Chicken") is a series Light Novels written by by Hajime Asano and illustrated by Seiji Kikuchi, which was published from 2009 to 2012 for 12 volumes. It has a manga adaptation which was serialized in Monthly Comic Alive from 2010 to 2013, and an anime adaptation which aired in the summer of 2011. Also has a spinoff, Mayo Mayo!, which follows the life of another Ordinary High-School Student, female freshman Mayoi Hinata, whom Kanade pressures into becoming one of her household's maids after becoming the second person outside her household to discover Subaru's secret.

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Mayo Chiki! provides examples of:

• Above the Influence:
  • Several times in the anime, but most evident during episode 12 when Jiro is sharing a hotel room alone with Subaru. Kanade even says over the phone that they could be doing things as well, which is definitely on his mind. Subaru even seems willing to go along with it since it's him, but he tells her that while he wouldn't mind it, he wants to share the experience with someone he loves. Cue Subaru then getting out of her futon, and climbing into his anyway...but just to sleep next to him.
  • The next day, her father accuses him of doing naughty things, but when she says she had a very stressful night, he calms down.
• Accidental Pervert:
  • Always knock when entering a toilet stall. Jiro found this out the hard way.
  • Happens to Mayoi as well. Maybe Subaru should try getting a padlock whenever she needs to go.
• The Ace: Subaru... Except when it comes to cooking. Or nursing someone. She's got the right heart, but goes way overboard.
• Action Survivor: Due to his upbringing, Jiro is able to take a lot of physical punishment, but isn't shown to be particularly talented at dishing it out as much, whenever he's in a more action-packed situation. But he still manages to get through it all in one piece throughout the series. Towards the manga's ending, he grows out of this, as he undergoes extra training and is able to more or less fight Subaru's more experienced father to a draw.
• A-Cup Angst:
  • Subaru has a pretty decent bust size, but she definitely got upset when Mayoi called her flat-chested while the latter is in denial mode regarding "his" true gender. Kureha is a full-blown Pettanko, and is apparently self-conscious about it — she apparently reads Jiro's thoughts when he was thinking this about her in the pool episode.
  • After she gets drunk in the light novel, Subaru admits to drinking milk every day in to be, in her words, "like Kana-chan."
  • Usami on occasion as well. Hey, that's what's you get when you hang out with Nakuru.
  • Both Usami and Kureha get a bit jealous when a clothing lady is measuring Nakuru's bust size and comments on how big they are in episode 13.
  • And then there's Nakuru's older sister Shuredeiga. Despite being in her last year of high school, she looks she should be in elementary school.
• Adaptation-Induced Plot Hole: So, why didn't Subaru use that big bag of weapons carried just in case of an emergency like Kanade's kidnapping? In the light novel, the kidnapper already knows about the bag and specifically orders her not to bring it. It also serves as a bit of Foreshadowing that something's up with the whole situation.
• A Day In The Lime Light:
  • Episode 10 focuses largely on Kureha.
  • Nakuru gets one in episode 13 of the anime.
• All Amazons Want Hercules: Kureha Sakamachi wants a man who's stronger than her.
• All of the Other Reindeer: Usami really is lonely. Until she befriended Jiro, she was unable to trust anyone. The fact that she lived by herself after her family broke up probably didn't help either.
• Allergic to Love: Jiro gets a nosebleed anytime a woman touches him.
• Alliterative Name: One of the two Subaru fangirl camps bears the name "Shooting Star Subaru-Sama". Lampshaded as they refer to themselves as "S4".
• All Men Are Perverts: Many girls seem to automatically think Jiro is this, despite his gynophobia. On one example, Kanade climbed on the table and tried to kiss a clearly terrified Jiro. Subaru then comes in, and asks if he was trying to kiss Kanade. Particularly bad because Subaru, being Kanade's butler, should know better than anyone how naughty and teasing Kanade is...
• Amusing Injuries: In episode 5, when Jiro first runs into Usami, after a brief conversation she jumps onto his chest, which knocks him out. A few hours later, he awakens in the nurse's room at school, and has two boot prints on his chest after he lifts his shirt up.
• Animal Motifs: There are several:
  • Subaru is associated with sheep, because sheep (hitsuji) and butler (shitsuji) sound similar.
  • Usami has a rabbit (usagi) motif for the same reason, and for some reason styles her hair in a way that vaguely resembles rabbit ears despite supposedly hating that conflation.
• Annoying Younger Sibling: Kureha.
• An Offer You Can't Refuse: Kanade forces Jiro in the first episode to keep Subaru's gender a secret. Or else he'll become yet another statistic on all the bodies being found near Mt. Fuji. He does it begrudgingly at first, but over time doesn't mind being a Secret-Keeper.
• Artificial Riverbank: In Episode 4 Kanade introduces Jiro to Nagare (sans his wolf-mask), who camped out in one such riverbank, after increasing tensions between him and his daughter Subaru (ever since Kanade's staged kidnapping and its unforeseen consequences) irritated Kanade's father such that he kicked them out of his mansion until they reconcile.
• Bad Liar: Subaru is terrible at lying when she's embarrassed.
  • She does a poor job of concealing that she's hungry after her stomach growls from not having eaten for a day.
  • In the novel and episode 4 of the anime, she offers to do the laundry for Jirou while staying over at his place, after sparring. He catches her sniffing his recently used sweaty towel, after which all she manages to say is this:
  Subaru: You've got it all wrong! I wasn't sniffing your sweaty towel because I was curious about how a man smells! I wasn't doing anything like that at all!
• Base-Breaking Character: In-Universe, Jiro has unwittingly become this to Subaru's fangirls, on account of his (alleged) gay romance with Subaru. In fact, fangirls who approve of their relationship (implied to constitute roughly half of Subaru's entire fanbase), led by Nakuru, formed their own club, "Let's Warmly Protect Subaru-Sama Committee" (Mimamorugai), leaving the original club, "Shooting Star Subaru-Sama" (S4), entirely to the other half — the ones who vehemently object to such a relationship.
• Batman Gambit: In Episode 3 Kanade was kidnapped by a knife-wielding man in a wolf-mask. Turns out she planned it all along, and her "kidnapper" is Subaru's father, Nagare. She intended to help Subaru overcome her fear of knives, though things spun a bit out of control because Jiro fought Nagare, resulting in some friction between father and daughter.
• Battle Aura: Subaru seems prone to developing these anytime she suspects or hears about Jiro hanging out or getting a little too friendly with other girls besides herself.
• Battle Butler: Subaru and her father Nagare.
• Beach Episode: Episode 7
• Bears Are Bad News: Kureha encountered one while wandering around during her club camp outing. She beat it, but not before she broke an arm and got sent home early.
• Beautiful All Along: While Nakuru isn't THAT bad looking with her glasses on, when she loses it temporarily, even Jiro is awestruck momentarily by her beauty.
• Because You Were Nice to Me: Usami is won over and begins to open up more because despite her antics and lies in episodes 5 and 6, he still regarded her as a friend.
• Bed Mate Reveal:
  • Happens to Jiro in the first episode after waking up in the nurse's office. For some reason Kanade had a sheet completely over her.
  • Happens again in episode 7 in a hotel at the beach.
• Best Her to Bed Her: Kureha fell in love with Subaru after "he" defeated her while she was forcing Jiro back from "him".
• Bifauxnen:
  • Subaru, though she can look quite girly if needed.
  • Also Kosame.
• Big Bad: Negare Konoe, Subaru Konoe's father. He's far from evil, and he loves his daughter very much, but he is the main antagonist of the story and the one responsible for the bind Subaru finds herself in. Disapproving of her desire to be Kanade Suzutsuki's butler, he issued the ultimatum that Subaru must pose as a boy throughout all of high school without being discovered if she wants the position of Kanade's butler permanently. He's also adamantly against Kinjirō Sakamachi's courting of his daughter, and poses the biggest and final obstacle in their relationship.
• Big Damn Heroes: Subaru pulls one for Jiro in episode 3.
• Birthday Episode: Kureha has a dedicated Birthday Episode to add more flavor to the protagonist's character. Not to mention, the episode was complete with a female cast birthday song with some Gratuitous English.
• Bishie Sparkle: Happens at least twice in episode 13. First to Nakuru when Jiro is looking at her without her glasses on, then later to Jiro when Nakuru looks at him and is wondering why he suddenly seems cooler.
• Bittersweet Ending: Jiro gets over his gynophobia thanks to Subaru and becomes a butler to the Suzutsuki family, along with Masamune, who becomes his maid. However, Subaru has to give up her butler duties to become his maid.
• Blackmail: Poor Jiro just can't catch a break, can he?
  • In the very first episode alone, Kanade blackmails him into keeping Subaru's secret by exploiting his nosebleed reflex.
  • In Episode 5, Usami of the S4 blackmails him into becoming her "boyfriend" during the School Festival with a picture of him and Subaru wearing Rouran's female uniform on their mock date back in Episode 2, as a gambit to defeat Mimamorugai.
  • Both girls, however, also made promises that could prove beneficial to Jiro in the long run: Kanade will help cure his gynophobia; and Usami will negotiate with her higher-ups to leave him alone.
• Bland-Name Product:
  • Usami knocks down a Fuiridou 4D2 in the festival shoot-out.
  • Some bottles of "Jin Be" (Jim Beam) can be seen in the cafe in episode 13.
  • And many more, including anomate, PlayStationary5, Mitsubusu, Codomo...
• Blatant Lies: Several examples, largely to keep unaware characters from suspecting Subaru is a girl.
  • One happens when Kanade tells Kureha that she's dating Jiro in episode 3.
  • In episode 7 Kanade says that Subaru in a bikini is actually "his" cousin, Punyuru. Kureha falls for both lies.
  • The whole school falls for it in episode 12, despite them transferring in and out at the same time. This is lampshaded by Usami.
  • In episode 7 Subaru's father Nagare nearly blows her cover, but both Kanade and Subaru come up with some lies to make it seem like he's a pervert. It works rather well.
  • Jiro's public Love Confession to Kanade in episode 6, and her sudden rejection, in order to prevent the S4 girls from attacking him. Surprisingly it works, and Kanade later tells him she loves him, to get back at his fake one earlier.
• Bound and Gagged:
  • Kanade does this to Subaru, complete with a ring gag.
  • And now to Mayoi after the latter also discovers Subaru's secret. Not that she is put off by it, though.
  • Narumi Shuredeiga, Nakuru's older sister does this to Usami in volume six of the light novels. She then presented the girl to Jiro, thinking that Tsundere girls were his type, in order to get his help in patching things up with his sister.
• Bowdlerization: After her lie is found out, Usami almost commits suicide before Jirou saves her in the manga and light novel. In the anime, she was instead about to withdraw from school.
• Bromantic Foil: Yamato Kurose for Jiro, though since Subaru pretends to be male he teases Jiro for being (allegedly) gay.
• Buxom Beauty Standard: Nakuru much to Kureha and Usami's irritation. This trope is why a random boy confessed to her in episode 13, and she forces Jiro to help her see if it's true.
• Calling Your Attacks:
  • Though Jiro questions Subaru's naming sense.
  • Also Kureha announces her submission holds.
• The Cameo: In episode 9, Mirai Suenaga, mascot of Danny Choo, shows up at the Butler Cafe Subaru gets strong-armed into working at part-time. She's also at the comic market in episode 13, as well as the school festival in episode 6.
• Can't Hold Her Liquor:
  • Subaru has negative alcohol tolerance, getting drunk on less alcohol than is humanly possible. She gets drunk (and eventually passes out) after eating a single piece of food with a small amount of cream sauce - made with a fairly small amount of white wine that would have had at least part of the alcohol cooked out.
  • In episode 8, Usami claims that Nakuru got "drunk" off a carbonated drink. Considering how she acts and looks, Usami probably wasn't too far off the mark.
• Cannot Spit It Out: It's inevitable in a show like this, after all.
  • Kanade does this as well in Episode 12. She was that close to confessing her true feelings to him, but decided to back out at the last moment. She's clearly holding back for Subaru's sake.
• Cat Girl:
  • Nakuru sports some nifty ears.
  • Subaru cosplays as one at the beginning of episode 4.
• Charles Atlas Superpower: Subaru and Kureha are superhumanly strong. Jiro can get hit by a scooter (and in the manga, a semi) at high speed without a scratch.
• The Chew Toy: Jiro's ability to take constant beatings and act like nothing happened moments later is actually a plot point.
• Clingy Jealous Girl:
  • Subaru, particularly whenever Jiro is forced to spend too much time with Usami.
  • Kureha seems this way towards Jiro. She always seems a bit too interested in why Subaru is hanging out with Jiro all the time, or why there's female underwear in their house such as in episode 4.
  • Usami isn't immune to this either, and gets jealous whenever Jiro isn't paying enough attention to her, especially when Kanade is around.
• Color Failure: Happens to Jiro occasionally, such as when Kureha pinches him really hard when she's trying to impress Subaru.
• Comically Missing the Point:
  • Kureha sees Subaru dressed in the female school uniform. She concludes that "he" is a crossdressing pervert.
  • Usami also thinks Subaru can make for an incredibly sexuality-questioning crossdresser when all dolled up.
• Conservation of Ninjutsu: Blatantly enforced in episode 12 when Jiro goes to the area the S4 girls hang out in. None of them can lay a hand on him, and he even manages to block two attacks at the same time.
• Continuity Nod: At the end of the sixth novel, Jiro and Kureha lose their house in a fire. Kanade offers to let them stay at her house, provided they need to earn their keep. Part of her reasoning is that she recently employed a girl in a similar position, and it wouldn't be fair to said girl — Mayoi Hinata — if she just let them freeload.
• Covert Pervert:
  • Kanade, though it's less covert around the people who know her true self.
  • Mayoi, full stop. Her mind is constantly wandering down thoughts highly unsuitable for a high school freshman.
  • Subaru accidentally lets out a Freudian Slip when Usami comments on Jiro's half-naked avatar in an indie fighting game. It suggests that she likes imagining him in a birthday suit.
  • When Nagare questions Jiro about finding Subaru's panties in the bathhouse in episode 8, Subaru wonders why he would know what type she wears.
• Crash-Into Hello: How Jiro meets Nakuru (in the hallway) and Usami (on a scooter). Jiro even lampshades on it in the manga.
• Crowbar Combatant: Ichigo whips out her trusty crowbar on anyone who she thinks disrespects her beloved Kanade.
• Curb-Stomp Battle:
  • Subaru knocks out the usually strong Kureha with one kick in episode 2 after the latter thinks that the former is trying to trick her brother into a perverted relationship.
  • Nagare absolutely stomps Jiro in episode 3. The one punch that Jiro manages to land doesn't even faze him.
  • While its mentioned that Nagare is much stronger than Subaru, he never seems to actually be able to beat her, although it may be due to him holding back for her sake, such as the fight in episode 3, or her launching a surprise counterattack on him in episode 8.
• Cute Bruiser: Kureha. She's shown to be strong enough to lift her older brother off the ground and have him hanging upside down while lift him up in the air.
• Cuteness Overload:
  • Kanade asks Subaru (as "Punyuru") to call her "Kana onee-chan". She complies... and Kanade falls to her knees.
  Kanade: "I think I've created a monster."
  • She then turns around and has "Punyuru" call Jiro "Jiro onii-chan" in the manga and light novel. He also falls to the ground.
• D-Cup Distress: Nakuru, though she doesn't really make a big deal about her large breasts episode 13 shows she's got a few issues regarding them locked away.
• Dead Guy Junior: Played with — Jiro took his nickname from the full name of his (and Kureha's) late father.
• Defeat Means Friendship: Kureha despised Subaru at first, until she easily defeated her. Now Kureha is in love with Subaru, though is unaware that he is a she.
• Defrosting Ice Queen:
  • Subaru's a very mild case, or at least a very quick one. She goes from trying to beat Jirou senseless to having a lovey-dovey date with him and taking his first kiss very quickly, especially for this genre.
  • Usami. She's very cold towards Jiro at first, but eventually starts warming up to him.
• Diegetic Soundtrack Usage: Usami hums the opening theme while in the bath in episode 13.
• Disproportionate Retribution
  • : While Jiro understandably gets beaten up when he first discovers Subaru's secret, some of the other stuff that happens to him fits this trope rather well.
  • Subaru punches him after he claims he's dating Usami in episode 5 and has to break off his plan to spend the day with her. She does it again when he tells her where he was and what he was doing in the beginning of episode 7.
  • Kureha uses wrestling moves on him to wake him up, or whenever she's mad at him, or even when she's happy with him. If he's not available, she beats up her teddy bear instead.
  • Nagare's first fight with him in episode 3. He claims he was holding back, but Jiro doesn't think he was. Later in episode 8, he nearly dropkicks Jiro in the bathhouse, until Subaru counters him.
  • The S4 girls try to attack him several times, and the other group even joins in during episode 12, but he always manages to avoid or block their attacks.
• Do Not Call Me "Paul": Jiro does not like to be called by his full name.
• Does This Remind You of Anything?:
  • The S4 members don pointy hoods, which make them look like Ku Klux Klan.
  • Usami manages to squirt a large quantity of glue over her face and hair.
• Double Standard: Abuse, Female on Male: Played straight in many cases but also subverted in others.
• Drunk on Milk: When Nakuru goes tipsy over carbonated drinks she gets...
• Drunken Boxing: ...the ability to instantly strip anyone.
• Dynamic Entry:
  • Kureha pulls off one in Episode 2, making for a pretty painful Moment Killer for Jiro.
  • Usami does it to Nakuru in episode 7.
• Dumb Blonde: Nakuru sure acts like one.
• Early-Bird Cameo: While the opening kind of gives it away, Nakuru is seen early on, but isn't a main member of the cast until several episodes later.
• Easy Amnesia: Subaru claims to have an ability to make people forget stuff by beating them up in the first episode. However, we don't get to see this "ability" until episode 8, when she uses on both her father, and then Jiro. Neither one of them can remember what happened the previous night.
• Embarrassing Nickname:
  • Jiro's full name (in Japanese order) — Sakamachi Kinjiro — has an unfortunate arrangement such that the last syllable of his surname and the first of his given name can be combined to sound like "chicken", something he really has a major complex with (thus he prefers to be addressed as "Jiro") and called out on by Kanade and later Usami. This is also what gives us part of the series' title.
  • Usami herself has one, as her name sounds similar to "usagi" ("rabbit"), a fact that gets made fun of a lot. It doesn't help that she's pretty petite and the ribbons that bind her twintails stick out like bunny ears.
• Erotic Eating: In episode 4, during a maid vs butler contest, Kanade puts an apple slice in her mouth, then proceeds to provocatively feed Jiro this way. Subaru then takes a slice, and starts chewing on it rather vigorously, with the implication that she was going to kiss him to feed him.
• Expressive Accessory: Nakuru's cat ears.
• Expressive Mask: Nakuru in the "lost sheep" costume.
• Faked Kidnapping: Two happen in the anime:
  • In the first example, Kanade and Kureha are kidnapped at an indoor pool during episode 3. However, though Subaru is afraid of the knife the kidnapper brandishes, it turns out to be a ploy by Kanade and Subaru's father (playing the kidnapper) to help her overcome her fear of knives.
  • In the second example, Jiro is knocked out with a sleeping drug given to him in a bottle of water by Subaru. He then wakes up at a beach hotel next to Kanade, who explains to him that she couldn't bear to be apart from him, her "fiancee", and didn't want to go overseas with her parents, so she fled there. He is extremely annoyed at first at his unwilling role in this charade, but he later learns the truth behind why they were there; while Kanade's parents really did go overseas, if she went with them, it would have meant Subaru, as her butler, would have to go as well. Which would also mean she would miss visiting her mother's grave on the anniversary of her death.
• Fangirl:
  • Usami, a member of S4 (the camp objecting to Jiro's alleged gay romance with Subaru).
  • Also, Nakuru, leader of Mimamorugai (the other Subaru fangirl camp, which approves of "his" alleged gay romance with Jiro).
• Fetish: Nakuru and boys in glasses, which explains why her BL doujinshi features Jiro and Subaru in glasses. She doesn't seem to recognize Jiro without his glasses either, and would gladly give him a pair (because regardless, he fits her definition of "hunk").
• False Start: The end of Episode 8 makes it appear that Subaru is about to confess to Jiro, but then tells him to forget about it. Next episode she tells him she was really asking him to be her best friend, but the look on her face as she walks away suggests otherwise.
• Fanservice: This show is heavy on the Accidental Pervert tropes, but in the broadcast version at least Barbie Doll Anatomy and Magic Skirt are in effect. The DVDs are a different story, although Barbie Doll Anatomy is still in place. Except in the 12th episode, where we get a peek of some(imaginary) Subaru nipples.
• Fanservice with a Smile: Usami works at a Maid Cafe, and Jiro comes in to help her out (and later Kureha and Nakuru come in for a part-time job). Kanade makes sure all the usual tropes are checked off when she visits. Subaru also ended up working in said cafe's Spear Counterpart, a Butler Cafe owned by the same company.
• Festival Episode: Episode 8.
• Fireworks of Love: During a firework display at a summer festival, Suboru is talking to Kinjiro about how school is going to start soon with their vacation coming to an end and that she's looking forward to their time together. Kinjiro says that they'll be friends through it all, to which Suboru responds by standing up and saying that she doesn't want to be "just friends" anymore, right as the last shot of fireworks goes off in the distance.
• First Kiss:
  • Kanade claims she took Jiro's... along with hers.
  • Turns out Subaru beat her to it with a mouth-to-mouth while while he was unconscious.
  • Jiro takes Usami's at the end of volume 9 of the light novels.
• Forgotten Birthday: Episode 10 deals with the issue of Jiro apparently forgetting Kureha's 16th birthday. While she celebrates it at Usami's place, and then at the Maid Cafe Usami works at, all he did was sleep till noon and eat instant noodles. Turns out he bought her a big stuffed polar bear as restitution for actually forgetting it last year, earning him a beatdown from her. She still beats him up in joy, anyways.
• Funny Background Event:
  • In Episode 6, during Jiro and Usami's "date", Subaru can be seen in the background eying a booth of "Lost Sheep" paraphernalia.
  • In the same episode, while Usami and Jiro are having a serious discussion, Kurose (in a nurse outfit) is dancing with another guy, and is trying to kiss him.
  • Throughout Kureha's birthday party at Usami's home in Episode 10, the ghosts haunting her apartment randomly pop up in the scene in ways that creep out Kureha.
• The Gadfly: Kanade, full stop. Jiro is the most common target of her epic-level trolling, but it (usually) turns out she's doing something nice for somebody.
• Girls Love Stuffed Animals: Subaru and the "Lost Sheep" — sheep plushies with Blood from the Mouth and a bored expression.
• Goofy Print Underwear: Subaru's animal-print panties on the two occasions she was exposed — cat-print for Jiro, dog-print for Mayoi.
• Giver of Lame Names: Subaru, because she has a huge love of Gratuitous English.
• Gratuitous English: Part of the Signature Style of the director, Keiichiro Kawaguchi. There's a lot of random English one-liners at just the right spots to get a laugh.
  • In an Imagine Spot in the first episode, Subaru writes "A butler strayed, I am chicken, episode end of earth" on a chalkboard.
  • Subaru has a fondness for Gratuitous English names, like "Butler Knuckle" or "End of Earth", and gives Jiro the nickname "Silver Killer" when confronting him in the manga and Light Novel. Jiro points out how ridiculous these names are to Subaru's embarrassment.
  • In episode 3, after Subaru accidentally sees her half naked, Kureha asks Jiro if Subaru mentioned her underwear. He says no.
  Kureha: No reaction? Boy's Love.
  • Jiro in episode 4.
  Jiro: Welcome, my Golden Week!
  • Kanade in episode 4 as well.
  Kanade: Mouth to mouth (said during a "contest" between her and Subaru in regards to feeding him)
  • Nakuru in episode 8 as well, after jumping out a window to save a Boys' Love manga Subaru threw out.
  Nakuru: I can fly!
  • In the light novels, Jiro is a big offender, partially because the story's written from his point of view, but that's no excuse for most of it.
• Hartman Hips: Kureha, although the school uniform tends to emphasize everyone's hips. Subaru's got surprisingly wide hips despite being a bifauxnen.
• Hilariously Abusive Childhood: Yakemi and Kureha used Jiro as a punching bag most of his life. This made his body incredibly tough, but also developed his nosebleed reflex — they'd stop beating him when he started to bleed, because they don't want the floor dirtied with blood.
• I Love You Because I Can't Control You: It's implied that Kanade fell in love with Jiro because he was the only guy able to talk her down.
• Innocent Fanservice Girl: Subaru, and sometimes Usami.
• Insecure Love Interest: Due to the nature of her situation, Subaru is constantly worried that she either isn't good enough for Jiro, or that he's either dating, or likes someone else. Despite that, Jiro always tries to reassure her.
• In-Series Nickname:
  • "Jiro" for Kinjiro. And he prefers to be called as such, thanks to the embarrassing nature of his real name.
  • Also "Bakachiki" from Usami.
• Instant Fanclub: Subaru has an all-female one. It undergoes a schism as some members don't object to Jiro's (alleged) relationship with Subaru, while others do.
• Interrupted Suicide: Usami in the manga, due to her inability to trust anyone finally getting too much for her. Fortunately, Jiro is able to stop her.
• Intimate Lotion Application: During the beach scene in episode 7, Kanade all but forces Jiro to put sunscreen on her naked back while she sunbathes. And since she's both The Tease and The Gadfly, she decides to embarrass him by making a lot of loud erotic noises and suggestive remarks while he rubs her, which causes him to Nosebleed and makes other people at the beach think they're perverts.
  Jiro: [interrupting Kanade's moans] Can you tone it down? I'm barely touching you.
  Kanade: Oh you're done already? I thought you were writing dirty things in my back and I was supposed to guess them.
  Jiro: Yeah, no thanks. Being here with you in public half-naked is embarrassing enough.
• It Amused Me: Pretty much the reason behind almost anything Kanade does.
• I Just Want to Have Friends: Usami is a loner initially, but eventually starts to hang out with Jiro and other girls.
• I Want My Beloved to Be Happy:
  • Kanade is this towards Subaru and Jiro at the end of episode 12, especially after Jiro mentions wanting to be strong enough to protect someone. In the light novel, after worrying about her own feelings, even after she promised Subaru she'd help her properly convey her feelings to Jiro, Kanade decides, with a bit of push from Jiro, albeit unwittingly, to step up her teasing of him. When he warns her that if she did that, in time he'd probably begin to hate her. Her response?
  It's fine if you hate me. But I will keep my promise.
  • Subaru tries to invoke this trope in episode 7 when she thinks that Jiro is dating Usami. But its obvious that she wouldn't be happy with that situation, which fortunately for her turns out to be false.
• Jerk with a Heart of Gold: Kanade may be a perverted sadist, but she genuinely cares for Subaru, and even encourages Jiro to be her friend since she can't find one on her own. She also keeps her word in helping Jiro cure his gynophobia, though in ways which fluster and/or humiliate him. After learning that she is orphaned, Kanade tells Mayoi that she wants her to be more like a family member instead of a mere servant.
• Justified Trope: Jiro's ability to take beatings without a scratch is justified with a Hilariously Abusive Childhood-forged fortitude. Although other characters have displayed Charles Atlas Superpowers, no one has had to take an extended beatdown like Jiro for a proper comparison.
• Karma Houdini: Rule of Funny dictates that Kanade always gets away with a lot of mischief she causes. Then again, she's the daughter of the school principal and she always means well even while doing a number on Subaru, Jiro, Usami and Mayoi.
• Kick Chick: Usami.
• Lap Pillow: Jiro gets one from Subaru at the end of episode 8.
• Laser-Guided Amnesia: Nagare gets kicked by Subaru for trying to attack Jiro for sharing the bath with her. She then ends up kicking Jiro, too, for accidentally seeing her on full-frontal nudity. Both wake up the next day remembering nothing of this incident. It seems she wasn't kidding about having a memory wiping technique after all.
• Lethal Chef: Subaru. When she tries cooking something with Jiro in the light novel, he mentions that he repeatedly had to stop her from accidentally setting fire to the house multiple times.
• Letting the Air out of the Band: Used frequently in the anime when gags occur.
• Little Sister Heroine: Kureha, although this is mostly played for laughs and played up more in the other media than in the anime.
• Locked Out of the Loop: Both Subaru and Kanade try to keep the former's gender identity a secret from everyone so she can be the latter's butler. However, after Jiro accidentally finds out about it, he is forced to help them keep the secret.
• Loners Are Freaks: Usami initially. Her intro in episode 5 even emphasizes it as she does things by herself in contrast to other girls who are talking and having fun with each other.
• Lovable Alpha Bitch in Sheep's Clothing: Kanade — sweet ojou to her schoolmates, a perverted sadist to Jiro, Usami, Mayoi and even Subaru.
• Love Epiphany:
  • Subaru experiences a subtle one in episode 7 after Jiro clears up the misunderstanding with when he went to Usami's apartment earlier.
  • Seems to happen to Nakuru as well at the end of episode 13 after looking at a sparkling, much cooler looking for some reason, Jiro. She responds by running away and leaving her food for Jiro to pick up.
  • Kanade seems to have one in episode 11 while a "drunk" Subaru tries to kiss and get really friendly with Jiro before passing out. Kanade doesn't say anything, but the look Jiro sees on her face hints that she's not happy seeing them together like that.
• Made of Iron: Jiro, thanks to Yakemi and Kureha's "training".
  • In Episode 5 he managed to land perfectly on both feet and stand up like nothing happened even after he got blown away by Usami's scooter, whereas Usami was knocked cold for a while.
  • In the manga's Sick Episode, he even got to stand up and walk to Subaru even after he got ran over by a truck to tell her that he's not going to die before collapsing. He's fine after a few days' rest.
• Madness Mantra: Nagare before the paintball game:
  "Kiss, kiss, kiss, kiss, kill, kill, kill, kill, kiss, kiss, kiss, kiss, kill, kill, kill, kill..."
• Manipulative Bitch: Kanade, who qualifies under multiple subtypes listed on that trope's page.
• Meaningful Name:
  • Jirou's name means "stand by me", according to his father. Which now pretty much defines his relationship to Subaru.
  • Subaru's surname, Konoe, means "Imperial Guard", which matches quite well with her family's profession.
  • Incidentally, the Kin in Kinjirou and the Kon in Konoe are both the same character (近), meaning close or nearby, which may or may not have any significance.
• Martial Arts and Crafts: It's not exactly this, but the Handcrafting Club is extremely hardcore. You know Kureha? She's in third place in regards to strength. And there's the "training camps." In the manga one of them had the club members sneak aboard a ship in the dead of night and sailing to an abandoned island.
• Measuring Day: Subaru goes to the boys' measuring station to keep the facade, and Jiro offers to do it for her.
• Megaton Punch: Jiro is on the receiving end of these a lot.
• Meido:
  • As expected of an Ojou, Kanade has a few around her mansion. At one time she also dresses up as one to compete with Subaru over who can best serve Jiro and Kureha.
  • Mayoi was also forced into becoming one for the Suzutsuki household (besides her other job in a Maid Cafe — the same one Usami works in, and where Kureha and Nakuru also did part-time) in order to keep her mum about Subaru's secret.
• Mind-Control Eyes: Subaru has a stint of this in Episode 2.
• Missing Mom: Subaru's mother passed away when she was five. This fuels her enthusiasm to tend to the sick Jiro during her stint as his butler.
• Mistaken for Gay: Jiro, due to the covert nature of Subaru's crossdressing.
• Mood Whiplash: At the end of episode 7, Nagare interrupts the little gathering at the beach, saying he needs to bring Subaru and Kanade back, complete with Scary Shiny Glasses. Both girls react in the correct manner... and then Kanade asks who he is. Worse still, Subaru (as "Punyuru") pretended she doesn't even know him and even threatened to call the cops. Though it didn't help that he was constantly blowing her cover in front of her friends.
• My Master, Right or Wrong: Subaru regretted abducting Jiro in episode 13 but, as a butler, she'd never disobey her master.
• Nice Guy: Jiro's main redeeming quality, which also causes all the girls to fall for him.
• Nightmare Fetishist: A mild example with Usami, who has no qualms living in a dorm full of ghosts. No wonder she's mostly alone.
• Ninja Maid: Subaru goes into this mode in episode 13 after spotting what appears to be a stalker taking pictures of her in the bath.
• Nobody Poops: As a trip to the bathroom sets the plot in motion, this trope is averted.
• Nosebleed: Jiro, whenever a girl touches him.
• Official Couple: In the second half of the series, Jiro and Subaru officially start dating, and apparently plan to get married sometime in the future following Jiro proposing to her in front the whole school.
• Oh, Crap!: Subaru's reaction when Jiro discovers that "he" was a girl all along.
• Ojou: Kanade.
• One Dialogue, Two Conversations: This trope happens too many times to count, especially in the Light Novel and, to a lesser extent, the manga. Some noteworthy examples:
  • Twice in Episode 5. First, after Jiro got run over by Usami, his glasses somehow got stuck under her skirt. It doesn't help that he used rather vague language to explain the situation.
    Jiro: "Um... you have something I want under your skirt."
  • The second was when he was consulting Subaru about his First Kiss.
  • There's another just in the light novel. Kureha asked what Subaru and Jirou were doing all day while she was away at camp. What they actually did was spar in the Sakamachi house's dojo. What Subaru said, though:
    Subaru: "We spent all day working up a sweat. I thought a full day of moving our bodies like that was too long, but leave it to Jirou to say he couldn't stop because he was getting so fired up."
  • Especially the Beach Episode, where Subaru was wondering if he likes them big. Jiro, thinking she is referring to the water melon the girl has, he agrees. Even added they are tastier that way, much to Subaru's shock.
• Only Sane Man: It's common in these types of series to have some thinly veiled manzai routines as conversations, but these seem to comprise half of Jiro's conversations in the Light Novel—Subaru and Kureha are particularly big offenders when it comes to saying ridiculous things. The anime adaptation has much less of it in favor of sight gags and Gratuitous English, though.
• Helicopter Parents:
  • Subaru's dad, Nagare. He definitely means well; too bad he's blind to the fact that his little girl is already turning into a young lady who needs support outside familial ties.
  • This trope is likely why Kanade knocks out Jiro during the paintball Battle Royale. She probably knew Nagare would lose it had any guy, especially Jiro, won. Considering he was ready to do a mega dropkick on Jiro earlier in the episode for merely taking a bath in the same water as Subaru, and Nagare breathing a sigh of relief when Kanade wins the kiss from Subaru (who conveniently won the yukata contest earlier), she probably saved him some unnecessary wrath from the dad.
• Paper-Thin Disguise:
  • Kanade's Sweet Polly Oliver. All she does is bind her breasts with bandages, put on a suit and pin up her hair and everyone inexplicably buys that she is a he. Even when evidence is staring them right in the face, like when Kanade wears feminine clothing, they jump to every conclusion (the more far-fetched the better) except the correct one.
  • Oddly enough, nobody seems to recognize Jiro without his glasses. Kureha and Nakuru were convinced by Kanade that Subaru in a bikini and glasses is "his" female cousin, "Punyuru Takanashi". Usami, meanwhile, thinks "he" makes for a crossdresser so god-level, it makes people question their sexuality. This includes when "he" was wearing a fairly revealing bikini.
• Parental Abandonment:
  • Jiro and Kureha's dad died of an illness, and their mom Yakemi, already at the top of the Japanese women's wrestling world, decided to travel around the world (currently in India fighting tigers) to find new challenges.
  • Subaru's mother died of an illness when she was five, thus she can relate to Kureha's Primal Fear of losing Jiro to an illness.
  • Mayoi's parents died in an accident a year before the story starts.
• Perpetual Poverty: Usami always seems to have money problems, whether it's buying food, taking the train, or fixing her motor scooter. Averted with the other characters, who don't seem to have any financial difficulties, especially Kanade.
• Pervert Dad: Subaru's dad seems fairly eager to kiss his own daughter at times.
• Pet the Dog: At the end of Episode 10 it turns out that Jiro, who apparently spent the entire August 28 - Kureha's birthday - sleeping till noon and eating instant noodles, actually bought her a large stuffed polar bear as a gift, partly as restitution for actually forgetting it last year in favor of a concert, causing her to beat him up and rip his souvenir t-shirt. Either way, she still beats him up (in joy).
• Punny Name:
  • Jiro's full name — Sakamachi Kinjiro — has the misfortune of having the last syllable of his surname and the first of his given name sound like "chicken". He literally panics when Kanade realized and points it out.
    Kanade: "Chicken-kun?"
    Usami: "Sakama Chicken Jiro!"
  • In the Light Novel, Kanade suggests he marry someone with the surname "Okamachi" and adopt her surname, so his new name, "Okamachi Kinjiro", can be read as "Okama Chicken Jiro" — "Gay Chicken Jiro".
• Primal Fear:
  • Subaru is deathly afraid of knives. Thus Kanade staged her own kidnapping to help her overcome it.
  • Kureha fears the prospect of Jiro dying of an illness, just like their father. Even a bad cold is enough to make her hysterical. Which is kind of ironic, seeing as how she beats him up almost every day and sees absolutely nothing wrong with that.
• Recursive Crossdressing: Subaru as "Punyuru Takanashi", "his" female cousin, for whenever Kanade feels the need to get Subaru to embrace her feminine side without blowing her cover before her schoolmates (except Jiro and Mayoi, of course).
• Relationship Upgrade: Subaru and Jiro go from "friends", to "best friends", but otherwise this trope is in effect for them in episode 9.
• Rich Bitch: Kanade, of the rarer "Jerk with a Heart of Gold" type discussed on that trope's page. Although, only Jiro and Usami really thinks of her this way, which is justified because of all the "torture" she seems to enjoy putting them in. No one else seems to really care about her status, nor does she really flaunt herself as being "better" than other people.
• Running Gag: Nakuru tends to leap out to try and retrieve her things that were tossed away in a dramatic fashion, often resulting in her falling down.
• Schmuck Bait:
  • Kanade likes to do this to Jiro. One example is in the first episode, shortly after he wakes up in the nurse's office, Kanade tells him the surgery was successful and that he's now a cyborg and can transform. So he says "Transform!" completely straight-faced, only to have her laugh at him a moment later.
  • Another example is in episode 7 when she makes Usami beg to stay in their hotel room. Usami wonders why she was the only one who had to do it, despite Kureha and Nakuru being there as well.
• Seamless Spontaneous Lie: Kanade is really good at this as seen in the Blatant Lies trope above. She's less effective on Usami however, who sees right through Kanade's lie about being on the beach with Jiro in episode 7.
• Secret-Keeper:
  • Jiro and Mayoi, concerning Subaru's true gender. Both are being forced to do so by Kanade — Jiro through exploiting his nosebleed reflex, and Mayoi through pressuring her into becoming a Meido for the Suzutsukis.
  • Subaru asks Kanade to keep their real reason for the trip to the beach a secret from Jiro in episode 7. He gets upset with them because he felt they were ruining his summer vacation, to which Subaru counters that he's keeping his own secrets from them (from when she smelled meat and potatoes on him, as well as a girly smell at the beginning of the episode). He does find out later why Kanade brought them there, with the lie she made up so that Subaru could visit her mother's grave on the anniversary of her death, which she wouldn't have been able to if Kanade went overseas with her parents.
• Serious Business:
  • Fangirling over "Subaru-sama" and the issue of what to make of Jiro's alleged gay romance with Subaru. The latter is what divided "his" fangirls between the objecting S4 and the supportive Mimamorugai, escalating into a full-fledged war come the School Festival.
  • Kanade's hiccups in Episode 11. Turns out she was trolling again.
• She Is Not My Girlfriend:
  • Jiro gets questioned on Subaru's relationship with him by her father while they're in the public bath in episode 8. Jiro vehemently denies being anything more than just classmates and friends. Which causes Subaru, who's hiding right behind him, to let off an annoyed grunt. She also seems rather unhappy in the next scene, which then prompts her False Start comment at the end of the episode.
  • Towards the end of episode 7, he is forced to tell Subaru about what he did at Usami's apartment, and reassure her that they weren't dating.
• Shout-Out:
  • When Jiro wakes up strapped to a bed, Kanade tells him he has been turned into a cyborg. He responds with a henshin pose.
  • One of Kureha's wrestling moves on Jiro early on is the Sharpshooter.
  • In the third chapter of the manga: Jojo's Unique Adventure?
  • The S4's appearance is similar to the FFF.
  • In episode 4's Eye Catch Subaru thinks that dirty thoughts are bad.
  • When an angry Subaru threw Nakuru's Jiro x Subaru yaoi BL out the window, the latter leaps after it screaming "I can fly!".
  • Episode 10's preview has Jiro declaring "There's No Way My Little Sister Can Be Wearing Such Cute Panties!", and Kureha replying "I Don't Care About My Big Brother's Underwear At All!" Bonus points her seiyuu is Kuroneko
  • In episode 10 the game makers have a Kämpfer, a Aria the Scarlet Ammo and a Dream Eater Merry poster. In the very same episode the game Kanade gave Usami is a reference to Ryuunosuke Akutagawa's short story "The Spider's Thread".
  • Still in episode 10, Yui Ogura and Kaori Ishihara voiced two waitresses who look suspiciously similar to Ako and Riko from kiss×sis. It's no coincidence, as both seiyuus sang said show's ending theme, "Our Steady Boy". Why the studio did not bother to get Ayana Taketatsu and Yuiko Tatsumi to have voice roles is a mystery.
  • Episode 10 also reveals that Toshio and Sadako haunt Usami's apartment.
  • Again, the same episode: last year on Kureha's birthday Jirou went to a "TKG48" concert.
  • In Episode 13:
    • Kureha and Usami disguise themselves as Natsuru and Aria
    • The Eye Catch looks suspiciously like the famous pose for the Oreimo light novels.
    • Nakuru is reading a manga that's cover is very similar to Kimi ni Todoke.
    • There was a Palette Swap of Index and Last Order on a poster.
    • There are characters who look a lot like Ami Kawashima and Azunyan and Nodoka.
• Sick Episode: Jiro gets sick around the second half of episode 4, which worries Kanade and Kureha, but especially Subaru, who feared he really would die.
• "Silly Me" Gesture: Kanade does this to Jiro in episode 7 after he finds out he's been forced to go to a hotel resort with her, along with her cover up story that they're lovers who ran away because of their parent's refusal to recognize their relationship.
• Skewed Priorities: Nakuru's fetishes. Where she jumped out of a second story building to grab her yaoi comic. And later in the manga, when her $10 glasses where thrown over the edge of a skyscraper, she destroys her camera gear worth in the thousands when she tosses it aside and jumped off to get them.
• Spit Take: In episode 7, Jiro does this twice in one scene. The first is when Subaru calls him on his cellphone while he's hanging out with Kureha, Usami, and Nakuru, who don't realize Subaru is a girl. She's wondering why he's taking so long buying drinks, and decides to come over to the shop, causing him to spit the water. He warns them not to come into the shop, but then Subaru informs him that they're already there, causing him to spit out some more water, and forcing him to come up with a Paper-Thin Disguise for her.
• Squee:
  • The schoolgirls often do this whenever Subaru is around.
  • Usami does this very briefly after eating an octopus ball at the school festival in episode 6
• Stargazing Scene: Near the end of the manga, Jirou and Subaru have a picnic at night where they admire the stars.
• Stealth Hi/Bye: Kanade seems to be a master of this. It usually surprises the other characters when she does show up.
• Stringy-Haired Ghost Girl: Usami has one, and a few other ghosts living in her apartment, freaking Kureha out.
• Strong Family Resemblance: Jiro and Kureha are nearly identical to their father and mother, respectively.
• Supporting Harem: To Trope Codifiying levels. It's painfully obvious that only Subaru can win Jiro's heart. It's not certain if Kanade just likes teasing him or if she does have feelings for him, and while Usami clearly likes him, she doesn't have much of a chance either. Nakuru meanwhile seems to have some hints of liking him, but she seems more interested in Shipping Jiro with Subaru, who she doesn't realize is a girl.
• Suspiciously Specific Denial: Subaru does it at least twice, once in episode 4 as shown in the Bad Liar trope above, and later in episode 8 after he wakes up from the Lap Pillow.
  Subaru: "It's not like I was watching you sleep in secret!"
• Sweet on Polly Oliver: Jiro, though he knows Subaru is a girl.
• The Tease: Kanade big time towards Jiro. Particularly hilarious in episode 7 while on the beach. She asks Jiro to put some sunscreen on her, then makes some really suggestive sounds and lines, which causes a lot of embarrassment for him, and causes Subaru to ask if he wants to play Smashing Watermelons, or get buried in the sand. Cue Jiro's shock when he sees Subaru wielding a really large spiked club, and having dug a very deep pit in the sand.
• Thanks for the Mammaries:
  • How Jiro found out about Subaru's gender.
  • He pulls it again in episode 9, this time on Usami.
• That Came Out Wrong: When Usami is telling Kanade about how she rubbed her body on Jiro in episode 7, it made it sound like they did something other than what really happened.
• Threatening Shark: While swimming towards an island, Kureha, Usami and Nakuru encountered one.
• Title Drop: The name of Nakuru's manga that she wrote based on Jirou and Subaru is the name of the manga.
• Tsundere:
  • Usami is a mild case, down to the twintails and thigh-high boots. Lampshaded by Kanade in episode 9.
  • An even milder case is Subaru herself, though she have been defrosted quickly towards Jiro.
  • Kanade pulls a tsundere act towards the computer club, possibly as a reward for her request to make a game.
• Unprovoked Pervert Payback: Kinjirou has gynophobia or fear of GIRLS, yet other characters are quick to forget this. Even then, there's one instance that stands out: the very naughty, perverted and dominant Kanade is on top of the table and leaning on top of a sitting down Kinjirou, trying to kiss him as he tries to avoid her lips, when her female Battle Butler Subaru walks into the room and yells at Kinjirou "What are you doing at Mistress Kanade?", even though it was impossible to think anything but that Kanade was the one being a pervert here, as it was extremely obvious! And yes, Subaru is fully aware of Kanade being pervy and Kinjirou scared of women, so it seems someone slipped one Idiot Ball into her pocket before that scene. Or twelve.
• Unwanted Harem: Pretty much all the main girls to Jiro.
• Verbal Tic: Kanade's hiccups act like this.
• Violently Protective Girlfriend: While Subaru likes to hit Jiro whenever she suspects he's too interested in other girls, when other girls try to attack him, she can suddenly invoke this trope. Such as with Kureha in episode 2, and later Usami in episode 6. And she also protects him from her dad in a couple of episodes.
• Why Did It Have to Be Snakes?: Jiro is deathly afraid of women to the point that he suffers a nosebleed.
• Wounded Gazelle Gambit: In episode 13, Nakuru pays a visit to Jiro's house. When he sees her at the door, he immediately tries to close it, then threatens to call the police because he doesn't want "that weirdo" in his house. So she resorts to yelling out for help and that she was being kidnapped, which forces him to let her in, lest someone really does come and thinks he's trying to kidnap her...
• Wrestler in All of Us: How Kureha wakes up Jiro. Also, Yakemi is supposedly strong enough to beat a tiger with her bare hands.
• Writer's Block:
  • Nakuru gets one in Episode 13 concerning her BL doujins. She asks Jiro for help.
  • And inadvertently, the S4 is following the same path, with their overprotective attitude towards Subaru and utter contempt for Jiro.
• Wrong Bathroom Incident: The series begins when Kinjiro (who suffers from Gynophobia) comes into the men's restroom at school, to find Suburu Konoe, the butler of Kanade Suzutsuki and a fellow student, is not a male butler, but a girl his own age masquerading as a boy. It's part of an agreement that Suburu has with the Suzutsuki family, that if she can keep her true gender a secret, she can continue her family's tradition of serving as the retainers. As such, she has to use the men's room to keep her secret, which, after intervention by Kanade, Kinjiro agrees to keep.
• Yaoi Fangirl: Nakuru is a brazen one, even amongst her peers at the Mimamorugai.
• Younger Than They Look: Nagare has to be in his mid-30s, but Jiro just can't see him as looking older than 25.

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