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The Literature club, from bottom to top: Chifuyu, Tomoyo, Sayumi, Hatoko, and Andou

Six months ago, the four members of a literature club, as well as the elementary school niece of their club adviser, were bestowed with supernatural powers. Jurai Andou, the only male, became able to produce rather useless black flames. The girls also acquired a variety of powerful abilities: the bemused Tomoyo Kanzaki became a Time Master, the ditzy Hatoko Kushikawa gained Elemental Powers, Chifuyu Himeki, the youngest of the group, acquired the Power of Creation, and the aloof Sayumi Takanashi could repair objects or heal living things (though it's actually returning it to its original state). However, since they gained these powers, nothing has actually changed in their everyday life. Why have they been given these powers in the first place? Will the heroic fantasy life that Andou imagined these powers would bring ever actually arrive?

When Supernatural Battles Became Commonplace (異能バトルは日常系のなかで, Inō-Batoru wa Nichijō-kei no Naka de) is a Japanese light novel series by Kota Nozomi with illustrations by 029, which was published under the GA Bunko label from 2012 to 2018 for 13 volumes. A manga adaptation with art by Kōsuke Kurose was serialized in Kadokawa Shoten's Comp Ace magazine from September 2013 to February 2015. An 12-Episode Anime television series adaptation by Trigger aired from October to December 2014.

The light novels are licensed in English by J-Novel Club. Crunchyroll is streaming the anime, which can be viewed here for people in the following areas: USA, Canada, UK, Ireland, Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, Denmark, Finland, Iceland, the Netherlands, Norway, and Sweden.


When Tropes Become Commonplace:

  • Accidental Truth: One of Andou's rants about having superpowers became true before he was even halfway finished. Thus, the premise of the series.
  • All Is Well That Ends Well: Played with. While the major crisis ends up, afterwards, not being mentioned again in the anime, the moments right after are every bit as horrifying as they should be, with three girls crying and clearly traumatized (or at least freaked) after witnessing two hands being chopped off, even though they knew for a fact things would be okay and they would be restored afterwards.
  • Alternate Character Reading:
    • A Running Gag with Andou, who made up kanji names for everyone's superpowers along with English readings. He even answers test questions with obscure or complicated kanji that have the same readings as more orthodox spellings.
    • This is how the anime handles its Idiosyncratic Episode Naming. For example, episode 3's title is written in the kanji for "Encounter", but read as "Rendezvous Point".
  • And the Adventure Continues: What happens when someone wins in a Fairy War? Another Fairy War starts immediately.
  • Armor-Piercing Question:
    • The infamous scene in Episode 7 has Hatoko dumping an entire boatload of these onto Andou when she finally snaps.
    • Hatoko asks Tomoyo one at the very end of episode 9, then follows up with a stunner of a response herself.
      Hatoko: Hey, Tomoyo-chan, do you have someone you love?
  • Artificial Riverbank: Several of the characters wander around one in episode 7 when Andou attempts to find Hatoko after she runs off.
  • Audience Surrogate: Played with. Sagami refers to himself as one but he is most definitely not. In reality, he's a manipulative antagonist that actively seeks to hurt most of the cast for his own entertainment.
  • Awesome McCoolname: Madoka Kuki. It's awesome to Andou, at least.
  • Balanced Harem: None of the girls hold a significant lead with Andou, though they all have their own strengths.
    • Tomoyo has her Chuunibyou habits when she thinks no one is around.
    • Hakoto and Andou are Childhood Friends.
    • Chifuyu is the Token Mini-Moe and therefore claimed to be in Andou's "strike zone".
    • Sayumi is the bustiest member and appears to be the Ojou.
    • Mirei is the only member of the harem who's actually made her feelings for Andou known.
  • Balloon Belly: Kuki in episode 10 after Andou brings a large plate of food for her and Chifuyu at the pool.
  • Batman Gambit: Andou's plan to defeat Mirei relied entirely on her stealing his power.
  • Battle Aura: Sayumi gives one off right before fighting Mirei in the first episode. She says she won't even bother having the others fight, and she'll fight the latter one on one, utilizing karate moves that Mirei is untrained in, can't counter with the newly-acquired (useless) power she got from Andou and can't steal.
  • Battle Royale: The Fairy war in general. Also, the last eight combatants don't all get a wish like previously established: they must fight in another Battle Royale for it.
  • Be Careful What You Wish For:
    • Subverted by Andou, who clearly hoped to get super powers. He ends up with an utterly useless power - which he loves anyhow, because it looks cool.
    • In episode 4, he wishes for Chifuyu to use her powers to create costumes to cosplay with. Then he ends up picking "maid" from the suggestion box.
  • Beach Episode:
    • Episode 10 takes place mostly at a pool. In an interesting variation of this trope, Andou doesn't go with the entire group. Instead he spends one day there with Kuki and Chifuyu, then spends another spur-of-the-moment day there after being invited by Sayumi. Tomoyo was going to ask him there as well as she also had tickets, but after he tells her he's going on a family vacation with Hatoko, she reconsiders.
    • Episode 11 takes place on an actual beach, where Hatoko does her best to woo Andou. Tomoyo also goes to the same pool the others went to in the previous episode, but nothing eventful happens, and she ends just heading home later.
  • Beat the Curse Out of Him: When the mysterious woman possessed Mirei, Andou tricked her into stealing his arm-burning-off power, causing her enough pain to release Mirei.
  • Berserk Button:
    • Sayumi doesn't like being called cute.
    • Tomoyo gets angry enough at Mirei in episode 2 after the latter insults her chest size that she tries to use her power. Unfortunately in the heat of the moment she forgot Mirei can steal her power, which she promptly does, and only gives it back because Andou asked her to.
  • Bishie Sparkle: Mirei does this in episode 2 when she starts dating Andou due to a misunderstanding in his letter to her.
  • Blank White Eyes: The girls in the literature club display this after Mirei leaves Andou for student council work in episode 2.
  • Blood from the Mouth:
    • Played for Laughs with Tomoyo in episode 1 when Chifuyu calls her a chuuni after she uses her power to stop the latter and Hatoko from going overboard in using their powers. She then also gets Taken for Granite, and collapses into pieces, then goes into a Corner of Woe, vowing never to use her time power again.
    • Happens to Andou a few moments later when Mirei is commenting on the uselessness of his power in combat.
  • Blue with Shock: Andou has this look in episode 2 after Mirei shows him her new email address.
  • Book Dumb: Both Chifuyu and Tomoyo seem to suffer from this. The latter especially doesn't take it well when she finds out Andou ranks higher than her on test scores He ranked 38th in the school, while she came in at a lowly 88th.. And when Kuki asks her about her homework in episode 10, Chifuyu seems to sidestep it.
    • Chifuyu may not count, as she says she get perfect scores on half of her tests and 0s on the other half, even in the same topic.
  • Boring, but Practical: Sayumi has a black belt in karate and judo. Which comes in very handy when fighting Mirei without using their powers. She also uses this against Andou during a Flash Back in episode 6 when they were first discussing what to do with their powers.
  • Brutal Honesty: Both Hatoko and then Sagami tell Andou about how his relationship with her is really like, with her just soaking up all the stress from not understanding the stuff Andou likes to talk about, and then not telling her what he means when he says that stuff.
  • The Cameo: Mankanshoku Mako swims by in the background of episode 10.
  • Cannot Spit It Out:
    • After Mirei gives Andou a Love Confession in episode 2, Tomoyo objects to it quite a lot. The former then asks her if she has feelings for him, and she tries to deny it while blushing and looking away.
    • Hatoko and Tomoyo discuss this in episode 9. The latter once again claims there's no one she's interested in, though Hatoko realized she's not being honest and delivers her Wham Line.
  • Cast from Lifespan: System's superpower lets her burn her lifeforce in exchange for a power to rival gods themselves. During a showdown with a character equal to her in power, she exhausted most of her reserves and has only three months left to live.
  • Cerebus Rollercoaster: At the end of episode 7, Andou and Hatoko have a fight, and the episode ends with Hatoko captured by Kiryu and his partners, all of whom seem to have powers. The stage is set for some sort of confrontation. In episode 8 we find that while Kiryu and his group do have powers, they had abducted Hatoko by mistake. In fact, Kiryu was trying to abduct Sayumi so she could heal Kiryu's eye...which he hurt by sleeping with a colored contact in it. Ultimately, there is no confrontation; Sayumi uses a creative use of her power to bring back Hatoko without ever meeting Kiryu and his group, and Andou and Hatoko resolve their conflict.
  • Chainmail Bikini: Tomoyo wears one when the club is cosplaying in episode 4.
  • Chekhov's Skill:
    • Mirei's "Grateful Robber" ability, shown back in the first two episodes, where she is able to steal any power she witnesses, becomes a crucial plot point at the end of episode 11, when she uses it to steal Hatoko's and Chifuyu's powers and attacks the Literature Club with it.
    • Andou's Mid-Season Upgrade to his "Dark and Dark" power is only briefly seen at the end of episode 8. In episode 9 the girls tell him never to use it again, because said new power is actually a hot flame, and can't be put out through normal means. He uses this in episode 12 to force whoever was possessing Mirei to let her go after they steal his power.
  • Childhood Friends: Andou and Hatoko have known each other since elementary school, and have supported each other up to high school. Hatoko very much wants it to become a Childhood Friend Romance.
  • Children Are Innocent: Chifuyu is in fourth grade but she still carries a stuffed animal with her everywhere she goes, including to school. And while she’s happy to use her superpower to create cosplay outfits for the whole club, she has to be shown a picture of a chainmail bikini first because she doesn’t know what one is and appears completely unfazed by wearing a straitjacket.
  • Cliffhanger:
    • Episode 7 ends on one, with Hatoko being put to sleep by Kiryu, and Andou not having resolved his issues with her like he'd done with the other girls.
    • Episode 8 ends with Andou's newly awakened power going out of control. It turns out to be a Pseudo-Crisis that is inexplicably resolved in the next episode.
    • Episode 11 ends with the escaped member of "F" showing up at Mirei's house late at night and doing something to her offscreen. The next day, Mirei calls them all back to the club room, steals Hatoko's powers then tries to kill her.
  • Clingy Jealous Girl:
    • The girls are none too pleased to hear of Mirei's confession to Andou's letter. During her brief conversation with Andou about the subject, Sayumi just happens to be holding a book called "La Jalousie". Every girl later on shows their displeasure in various ways, such as Hatoko attempting to ignore him.
    • Hatoko is not happy seeing Andou spending time with Tomoyo alone outside of school. She confronts her about it in episode 9.
    • Chifuyu and her best friend Madoka Kuki got in a fight because Kuki wanted Chifuyu to stop hanging out with the high schoolers and spend more time with her. She later gets jealous of Andou spending too much time with Chifuyu and tries to make him look bad towards her friend in episode 10, but fails each time.
  • The Cuckoolander Was Right:
    • Andou and the others awaken their superpowers right in the middle of one of his rants about having superpowers.
    • Hajime makes a conversation mentioning things like "the power rivaling gods themselves" and then says he was just talking to his boss. Not only he was talking to his boss rather than having an imaginary conversation, but everything in it was completely true.
    • Andou talks about his Power Incontinence and the pain he suffers from having his cursed power burning his hand. Dark and Dark of the End does just that.
  • Color Failure:
    • Andou in the first episode as the girls agree with Mirei that his power is useless in combat.
    • Andou suffers this again in episode 3 after finding out Sayumi mislead him on how to spell "Bible" in English. He spelled it "Vivre" instead, which Tomoyo points out.
  • Cooldown Hug: Andou does one for Mirei in episode 12, combined with a slap.
  • Corner of Woe: Tomoyo does this in episode 5 after Andou catches her in her chuuni mode, acting in much the same way he normally does.
  • Crazy-Prepared: In episode 12, after Mirei steals Hatoko and Chifuyu's powers, Andou says that he was anticipating something like this happening, and had been thinking of various strategies and counters should they ever have to fight her again. He ends up baiting her into stealing his new power, which makes his "Dark and Dark" burn hot, and it also can't be put out through normal means.
  • Credits Running Sequence: The girls do one in the ending credits.
  • Crouching Moron, Hidden Badass: Andou might be a loopy teenager, but he was still able to out think the person who possessed Mirei, then stay calm enough to keep the real Mirei lucid while both of their right arms were on fire.
  • Curb-Stomp Battle:
    • Sayumi defeats Mirei with a simple hold in the first episode, after witnessing the latter steal Andou's power earlier.
    • Kiryu defeats an an opponent with ease in episode 8, and drops him into a Black Hole. Fortunately, anyone who dies in the Fairy War only suffers a Disney Death: They wake up without their powers and the associated memories of them.
  • Damsel in Distress: Hatoko at the end of episode 7 and end of 8. Though it turns out that she was the wrong person. Kiryu actually wanted Sayumi for her Healing Factor powers. Unfortunately he didn't know which girl it was, and assumed it was Hatoko since she had long hair like Sayumi.
  • Dark Is Not Evil: At least with Andou. Though he tends to associate with the darker side of things when going into chuuni mode, he's usually a Nice Guy and willing to help out his friends with their problems.
    • Ditto with Kiryu. He has the same chuuni tendencies as Andou, and his power to summon black holes is typically associated with darkness in Japanese media, but he is generally nice to people, even if he is selfish and fights dirty.
  • A Day in the Limelight: Each of the main girls gets an episode that emphasizes them:
    • Mirei gets a lot of attention in episode 2. Unlike the others however she falls Out of Focus and doesn't show up again until episode 6.
    • Episode 4 has Andou spend time helping Chifuyu mend her broken relationship with her school friend Kuki.
    • Andou spends much of episode 5 learning more about Tomoyo.
    • Sayumi gets her day in episode 6 as Andou learns more about her past.
    • Episode 7 focuses on Hatoko and her past with Andou.
    • Episode 8 focuses on Kiryu and his companions.
    • The first half of episode 10 spends time on Kuki while she's at the pool with Andou and Chifuyu. The second half spends more time at the pool, this time with Sayumi and Sagami.
  • Death Is a Slap on the Wrist: Anyone killed in the Fairy War reappears without their powers or any memories of what happened.
  • Deep-Immersion Gaming: The beginning of episode 6 when Andou plays a video game that stars all of the Literature Club members, with himself as the main character.
  • Deranged Animation: Surprisingly, for a Studio TRIGGER show, mostly averted most of the time. Emphasis on "mostly". In certain scenes of intense emotion, comedy and action, however, Trigger's distinctive cartoony style shines through.
  • The Determinator: Andou in the Flash Back during episode 6. Despite Sayumi repeatedly beating him, he refuses to give up the fight.
    • Andou also manages to fight through the pain of having his arm set on fire by his awakened power in order to get Hatoko and Chifuyu their powers back and save a possessed Mirei.
  • Didn't Think This Through: Each of Kuki's plots to make Andou look bad backfires on her, such as attempting to order food from every vendor to drain his cash quickly and make him seem like a cheapskate. Unfortunately he brings a large plate of food the first time through, and she gets full from that.
  • Did You Think I Can't Feel?: Hatoko, after politely taking Andou's "You wouldn't understand" remarks for a long time, finally tears into him and lets him know that not understanding him is what makes her so frustrated at him.
  • Distracted by the Sexy:
    • Andou comments on every girl's cosplay outfit in episode 4. But when Tomoyo draws her own Chainmail Bikini suggestion, he's a bit awestruck by how she looks in it, and only comments that she looks nice in it. Though Tomoyo tries to brush off the comment, she can be seen clearly smiling afterward.
    • Andou is totally dumbstruck when he first sees Hatoko's new swimsuit in episode 11. It probably helps that she was bouncing all over the place.
  • "Do It Yourself" Theme Tune: The opening is sung by the voice actresses of the Literary Club girls, while the ending is done by Mirei and Kuki's VAs.
  • Double Standard: Abuse, Female on Male: Any time Andou is beat up by the girls, it's Played for Laughs. Were the gender roles reversed, Andou probably would be in jail right now for assault.
  • Dude, Not Funny!: invoked Andou jokes about using his awakened power to warm up, earning this reaction from the club. Justified, since the last time ended in screaming in pain as they cut his arm off.
  • Dull Eyes of Unhappiness: The girls display this from time to time.
  • Elemental Powers: Hatoko's Over Element can control Fire, water, earth, wind and light.
  • Epic Fail:
    • Andou in episode 1 when he's attempting to chant his lines before summoning his "Dark and Dark" flame when battling Mirei. Unfortunately he stutters and flubs the first line, and just calls the name of his power out. Made more hilarious when Mirei steals his power, and comments on how useless it is, leading to him begging for it back.
    • Tomoyo in episode 3 during the tennis match with Andou. She uses her ability in order to reach the tennis ball in time to return it to Andou. Unfortunately the ball hits the net, which then bounces back and hits her in the face.
  • Establishing Character Moment: Andou's Large Ham act is seen right away in the first episode as the introduction to his character. The other girls are shown with their various reactions to him, such as Tomoyo not caring, and Hatoko thinking he was really hurt instead of just acting.
  • Evil Is Cool: invoked In-Universe example. Andou has a tendency to make it sound like dark powers are cool, but Hatoko lashes out at him in episode 7 about it. She doesn't understand why he keeps making evil-sounding names cool such as his chuuni acts with his right hand being possessed and uncontrollable, when in fact it should be considered a bad thing. That last part is made more serious by the fact that her own power has a lot of damage potential.
  • Evolving Credits: The group that Andou seems to face off against in the opening title is covered in silhouette until about episode 7. Then they're seen with full lighting, showing off Kiryu's group.
  • Extreme Doormat: Sagami tells Andou in episode 7 that his relationship with Hatoko is unusual due to their poor personality fit. He says that if Andou thought the two were getting along, it's because Hatoko was internally dealing with all the issues, such as not understanding any of those fancy words he uses, and says he's not surprised she finally snapped at him.
  • Eye Catch: One of the character's face is shown Super-Deformed when these show up, typically whichever character has the focus that episode.
  • The Fair Folk: Mild example. The powers are given out by fairies who think that having humans fight each other is entertaining. But the fairies make sure there's no permanent damage.
  • False Start:
    • Andou nearly seems to give Hatoko a Love Confession at the end of episode 8. But then he stops himself from saying it, and goes into Large Ham mode instead. Having understood him better now thanks to talking to Kiryu in episode 7, Hatoko agrees to stick by him like she's done all these years.
    • Hatoko attempts some tips from a girl's magazine during the first half episode 11, such as having Andou apply sunscreen on her as well as chase after her on the beach. Unfortunately she screws up her attempts, such as passing out from exhaustion from said chase.
    • Andou later takes Tomoyo to a secluded area at a local festival in the second half of episode 11. It has all the signs of a Love Confession in the making, Instead he just asks her if something happened between her and Hatoko after the latter said she said some mean things to her back in episode 9. She does have a Love Epiphany once the fireworks start and realizes that she is in love with him.
  • Fashionable Asymmetry: Hatoko wears one of her braids on the front of her shoulder and the other on the back.
  • Faux Flame: Effectively what Andou's Dark and Dark power is, since it's not even hot, according to Mirei, and is regarded as useless by everyone.
  • First-Name Basis: Hatoko calls Andou by his first name in episode 11 instead of her usual "Ju-kun". It catches him totally off guard and he seems embarrassed by it. She then settles for just calling him what she usually uses, on the condition that only she get to call him that. He agrees to it.
  • Flash Back:
    • Episode 7 has several showing various interactions Andou and Hatoko had with each other when they were younger.
    • Episode 8 explores more of Kiryu's past, then catches up to the end of episode 7 after they attempted to kidnap Hatoko. The odd phone call that Kiryu was on when talking to Andou in episode 3 is also seen from the other caller's perspective filling him in on what was going on at the time.
    • Episode 11 shows Andou helping a girl fix her bicycle chain. When he hears her chanting weird stuff, he then tells her that she's acting like a chuunibyou, and should stop, lest she comes to regret it later in life. However, she refuses to give it up, and says that fiction lives in the heart, which seems to have a huge impact on him if the way he acts in the rest of the show is any indication. Said girl is later revealed to be Tomoyo, who was wearing a wig under the rest of her clothing, hence why Andou doesn't remember meeting Tomoyo earlier.
  • Flash Step: Sayumi does this a few times in episode 10 to avoid getting splashed with water after being told by Sagami that her bikini would become transparent when it gets wet.
  • Food as Bribe: Kiryu manages to stop System from attacking his friends, and ends up causing her to join them in episode 8. He mentions that all he had to do was share his candy with her, instead of beating her down like one would normally assume.
  • Foreshadowing: Andou claims in episode 6 that his useless power, "Dark and Dark", will in fact be an important Chekhov's Skill at some point. Though is original ability really is useless, its "upgraded form", which he calls "Dark and Dark of the End", does play a role in helping them to rescue Mirei from whoever was controlling her in episode 12.
  • Forgotten First Meeting: Andou and Tomoyo had one in 8th grade. She apparently either forgot about it or didn't connect it with Andou until he mentioned it to her, while he doesn't know it was her because she was wearing a costume at the time. It left a deep impression on him, though, and inspired him to completely dedicate himself to living the life of a chuuni. This is finally shown in the anime during the beginning of episode 11, when he helped fix her bicycle chain, and she does her chuuni act on him after he tries to dissuade her from living that way.
  • Freudian Slip: In episode 2, after Andou clears up the misunderstanding to Mirei regarding the letter he sent her, she later says her "curry" asked her to pick up ingredients to make "mother" with.
  • Get A Hold Of Yourself Man:
    • Tomoyo does this to Andou in episode 7 to knock him out of his Heroic BSoD.
    • Andou does this for Mirei in episode 12 combined with a Cooldown Hug.
  • Giving Up the Ghost: Andou briefly in the first episode after the girls comment that his ability is pretty useless when Mirei steals it.
  • Gone Horribly Right: Andou's Large Ham act towards Mirei in the first episode accidentally turns out to be real when he claims that she's hiding her true self. Turns out that she also gained powers, but unlike the literature club members who had each other to rely on, she was by herself when her powers activated. On top of that, her powers activated much later than theirs, and was pretty useless on its own since she can only steal powers she sees used firsthand.
  • Green-Eyed Monster: Hatoko confesses that the main reason she wants Andou to love her is because she's afraid that she'll lose his friendship if he starts dating Tomoyo. Andou puts her fears to rest by assuring her that they'll always be friends, no matter what happens.
  • Green Rooming:
    • Sagami, a guy Andou associates with occasionally, is introduced briefly in episode 3 entering the faculty room while Andou is talking to his teacher and the two end up arguing. Though Andou mentions him occasionally, he's not seen again for a while.
    • Hajime Kiryu, Tomoyo's half-brother, is seen occasionally throughout the early episodes, but he finally interacts with Andou in episode 3. Like Sagami, he also disappears for a while after showing up, and Andou learns more about how Tomoyo got her chuunibyou leanings from.
    • Mirei suffers this fate as well after the first two episodes, where she is then Put on a Bus and doesn't have much of a role in the story.
  • Grand Theft Me: The surviving "F" member pulls this on Mirei in the last couple episodes.
  • Ham-to-Ham Combat: Andou engages in some with Sagami in episode 3 when they discuss the latter's latest relationship breakup.
  • Hate at First Sight: While none of the characters seem to like Mirei very much, she seems to butt heads quite a bit with Tomoyo.
  • Healing Hands: Sayumi's Root of Origin restoration powers activate by touch.
  • Heart Is an Awesome Power:
    • Andou's "Dark and Dark" ability. Though the others comment that it's utterly useless in combat, especially when compared to their powers, he insists that it's an awesome power anyway. And that's all that really matters to him.
    • Creative use of Root of Origin allows Sayumi to teleport Hatoko to them when she's missing, because without her the Club is incomplete and needs to be returned to its original state.
  • Hellfire: Andou views his power Dark and Dark as this, even though it doesn't actually do anything.
  • Hero of Another Story: Episode 8 reveals that Kiryu does have powers and is participating in a war involving other empowered individuals. In fact, he's the Magnetic Hero of his team. The whole thing is an Immoral Reality Show created by fairies, and Hajime has been keeping Tomoyo and her friends out of the war.
  • He Is Not My Boyfriend:
    • After Mirei confesses to Andou in episode 2 and says they should start dating, Tomoyo vehemently protests it. The former then asks her if she's interested in him, and the latter denies it, prompting Mirei to state that she then has no business butting into her conversation with Andou. Hatoko brings this up again in episode 9, and Tomoyo once again denies having any feelings for him.
    • Sayumi says this to her sister Maiya in episode 6 after seeing Andou at their house, and thinking they're dating.
  • Heroic BSoD: Andou suffers one in episode 7 after his fight with Hatoko and the realization that she probably doesn't like the chuuni stuff he does, and puts up with him for other reasons.
  • High-Pressure Emotion: Tomoyo turns red at times in episode 2 when Andou's relationship with Mirei is brought up.
    • Sayumi does this twice, when Andou says that she looks cute in glasses, and when her already very revealing swimsuit gets splashed with water in front of him, which according to Sagami makes it see through. He lied about that because it made her act hilarious.
  • Hoist by Her Own Petard:
    • Zigzagged in episode 4. Tomoyo feels this way initially after she draws her own suggestion in the cosplay box of Chainmail Bikini. However, Andou stares at her and then just comments that she looks good in it. Though she tries to brush off his comment, she is clearly smiling afterward.
    • It's revealed in episode 9 that Tomoyo herself was the one who accidentally inspired Andou to completely dedicate himself to the chuuni lifestyle that irritates her so much.
    • Kuki attempts to set up Andou in situations that will make him look bad so that Chifuyu will stop liking him. Instead, he resolves them all very smoothly, and Kuki ends up with a bit of a crush on him herself.
  • Hopeless Suitor:
    • Hatoko definitely feels like one when she compares herself to Tomoyo in episode 9, since she sees that they share more in common than she does with him.
    • In that same episode, Sagami flat out tells Sayumi that she's one of those heroines who always places last when it comes to love. He plots a plan to have her seduce him and take the lead, along with his heart, over the other girls. She goes along with it at first, but then gets tired of his antics and says she'll do it her own way, even if it means she won't win.
  • Hypocritical Humor: Andou spends a little time mocking Tomoyo in episode 5 after he catches her acting like a chuunibyou much like he does regularly. He teases her about it because she usually gives him a hard time when he's doing it. He then also finds out she's trying to be an author after glancing at her laptop.
  • I Lied: In episode 8, Kiryu tells his opponent that he's going to defeat him without stepping out of a tiny circle he drew around himself. His opponent then lunges at him, but Kiryu steps out of the circle and lands a rather hard blow on the guy's face. When asked about that, Kiryu essentially invokes this trope by stating never to trust anything your opponent says.
    • He then uses his power despite saying that he won't.
  • Immoral Reality Show: The superpowers are the result of fairies, who are pitting the people with powers against each other for their own entertainment. On the other hand, they make sure no-one is permanently killed and grant a wish to the winners. Also, the main cast is completely unaware of this.
  • Improbably Female Cast: While Andou isn't the only male character, he's the only male protagonist.
  • Inelegant Blubbering: Andou is seen loudly sobbing into his arms while prone on the floor while the girls continue to tell Mirei how utterly useless the power she stole from him is.
  • Innocent Bystander Series: Of sorts. Episode 8 reveals that there's a war between superpowered individuals that the entire main cast is unaware of. They are essentially side-characters in someone else's story.
  • Innocently Insensitive: It takes Hatoko completely blowing up for Andou to realize that telling her she just "wouldn't understand" whenever she inquires about the stuff he likes is more hurtful than he ever imagined.
  • Intimate Lotion Application: Before the cast goes on a trip to the beach, Hatoko reads a girl's magazine with tips on how to win over boys at the beach, and one of the hints is to have the girl ask the boy to apply sunscreen on her, but this plan fails when she brings a lotion bottle that is already empty.
  • Invocation: Andou's invocation for Dark and Dark is 49 words long in English, and he insists on saying the whole thing out loud whenever he uses it. When he spars with Sayumi, she wins every round by knocking him down before he can finish talking.
  • It Amused Me:
    • More explanation is given in episode 8 regarding how the characters obtained their powers, mostly from a magical group that bestowed it to them. However, all they want to do is watch humans battle each other with it, and Kiryu suspects they make bets on who's going to win as well.
    • Sagami's motive for talking to Sayumi in episode 9 in the girl's bathroom. He wants her to hook up with Andou, largely because he feels she's the least likely to end up with Andou, and wants to see the drama that a Relationship Upgrade between the two of them would do towards their club's unity.
  • I Want My Beloved to Be Happy: While Hatoko would like it if Andou reciprocated her feelings, she's content with just being his friend, and is willing to help him and Tomoyo get together if she believes it would make the two of them happy.
  • Laser-Guided Amnesia: Anyone who loses in the Fairy War.
    • And the one who wins in the Fairy War, after having their wish fulfilled.
  • Life-or-Limb Decision: After Andou's Mid-Season Upgrade power gets out of control, the girls are forced to do this to save him. They chop his hand off, then teleport it to another dimension, and Sayumi then uses her Healing Factor to restore his hand. He's forced to do this again in episode 12 in order to rescue Mirei.
  • Locked Out of the Loop:
    • The characters with superpowers try to limit their usage of it around regular people so as not to cause a panic or get unwanted attention. Considering there's no bad guys out there threatening the city and forcing them to fight helps too.
    • Hatoko feels this way about the vague and confusing words Andou tends to use, and finally gives an epic rant about it after he refuses to tell her what he and Tomoyo were texting each other about.
    • Some dialogue mentioned in episode 8 suggests that this may in fact be happening to the Literature Club as well. Kiryu seems to be trying to keep them out of the fight that's going on behind the scenes with people who have also gained superpowers. And up until the end of episode 11 he manages to do that.
  • Loophole Abuse: Andou's teacher in episode 3 discussing his latest test. She's really annoyed that he's using technically correct grammar, but is wording it somewhat unusually due to his chuunibyou tendencies.
  • Love Confession: Mirei gives Andou one in episode 2. The other girls aren't too happy to hear it.
  • Love Epiphany:
    • Chifuyu realizes she's in love with Andou upon realizing that the Literature Club won't be getting together over summer vacation.
    • Several other girls also touch on this in episode 9, with Sagami willing to hook Sayumi up with Andou, to watch the inevitable drama unfold between the unity of the Literature Club. Hatoko also flat out tells Tomoyo she's in love with Andou, and strongly suspects the latter is as well. But because she doesn't have much in common with him compared to Tomoyo, she feels he would likely date her, and wants to tell her out front what her feelings for him are.
    • Kuki starts to fall for Andou as well in episode 10, after seeing what a genuinely Nice Guy that he is, despite what he told her earlier about being a Comedic Lolicon.
    • By episode 11, Tomoyo confirms she is in love with Andou, though she doesn't act on it.
  • Love Hurts:
    • While the brief Relationship Upgrade Andou had with Mirei caused some Clingy Jealous Girl reactions from Hatoko, she doesn't seem happy at all when she sees him spending a lot of time alone with Tomoyo.
    • Episode 9 suggests there'll be a whole lot of hurt going around by the end of the series, as every single one of the Literature Club girls discuss this very topic with others.
  • Love Letter Lunacy: Andou's message to Mirei in episode 2 gets misinterpreted as this by her. Though he meant to call her "great robber" due to her power stealing ability, he accidentally writes it as "grateful lover" instead. Tomoyo is not too happy to hear that.
  • Love Triangle: While Andou has moments with all of the girls, he's teased the most with Tomoyo and Hatoko, with the former being one of the few people that really gets his Chuuni side, and the latter being a long time childhood friend.
  • Male Gaze: Used at times, such as a low camera angle on Satomi-sensei when she's talking to Andou in the faculty room. The angle at times is centered between her breasts as she leans back on her chair.
  • Manipulative Bastard: Sagami. He's quite good at picking up on people's insecurities and mocking them for his own amusement.
  • Midseason Upgrade: Subverted twice:
    • Sayumi's power is able to restore missing members of the club, and is only used once, to rescue Hatoko.
    • Andou seemingly gains a new upgrade on his power in episode 8, but then becomes a Noodle Incident as the next episode has him back to normal. When he talks about said power, the girls tell him never to use it again. He's forced to however, in episode 12, to rescue Mirei. His new power makes the flame he summons hot, but he can't turn it off.
  • Moment Killer:
    • A clock does this in episode 5, when Tomoyo attempts to ask Andou if he'd like to go get a book she's buying on its release date. Unfortunately the clock's loud sound cancels out part of what she said, and he doesn't hear it entirely. She then tells him to forget about it.
    • In episode 8, Andou, in classic Chuuni fashion, turns what might have been a Love Confession into a request to keep being friends with Hatoko. She takes his hand and accepts, Chuuni silliness and all. Chifuyu then immediately demands that Andou open a bag of potato chips for her.
  • Mood Whiplash:
    • Episode 7 ends on a somewhat dark note with Kiryu putting Hatoko to sleep when several people associated with him approach them. Then Sayumi mentions using another power in an attempt to find her, and the cheerful ending credits rolls in.
    • Earlier on, there is Hatoko's lengthy tear-jerking rant that feels very much out of place in a light-hearted romance series.
    • Episode 8: sudden genre shift to shounen with superpowers, then back to lighthearted comedy, ends with Andou's superpower level-up, and as the ceiling is engulfed in fire as he is screaming in pain, the next episode preview tells us about finals and the summer break.
    • The last episode is another mood shift from the usual lightheartedness, as it shows us that the ending of episode 8 had serious consequences, as Andou was at risk of being burned alive. When they have to cut off Andou's hand a second time, as well as Mirei's, some of the girls are rediced to tears.
  • Morality Chain: A low-stakes example. Andou is the one who thought through and investigated each of the powers, he's the one who tells the others what should be off-limits (Creating Life, bringing back the dead), and he's also the one who tells them when it's okay to make an exception (healing a dying cat).
  • Mundane Made Awesome: Used regularly, particularly with Andou and his Large Ham moments.
  • Mundane Utility: Chifuyu uses her "World Create" power to open portals to quickly travel from her school to her house or the Literature Club room. She also creates a tennis court for the club members in episode 3.
  • My Friends... and Zoidberg: Mirei commonly gets this treatment, likely because she's the only one that's not a member of the Literature Club.
  • My God, What Have I Done?: Andou finally realizes that Hatoko doesn't seem interested in his chuuni stuff in episode 7 after she rants at him about it, and Sagami fills him in on why she snapped.
  • Naked First Impression: In episode 4, Chifuyu shows up in Andou’s room after school and teleports him over to her house without giving him time to change clothes, even though he’s wearing nothing but boxers. Unfortunately, Chifuyu’s friend was there visiting her at the time, and she freaked out when she saw him.
  • NEET: What Tomoyo thinks her half-brother Kiryu turned into when he suddenly dropped out of college and seems to have embraced a chuunibyou lifestyle. Episode 8 reveals that he's actually doing quite a bit behind the scenes with the Fairies who gave humans their superpowers.
  • Never Trust a Trailer: The opening has Andou facing off with a seemingly hostile group that suggests they're going to have to fight each other. In the actual show however, they never even run into each other, though it's because Kiryu is purposely keeping Andou's group Locked Out of the Loop regarding the Fairy War.
  • Nice Job Breaking It, Hero: In the aftermath of Kiryu and friends' antics during episode 8, one of the members of the superpowered group "F" escapes and two of Kiryu's crew cover it up to avoid getting in trouble. Guess who Sagami calls up for help when his plan to manipulate Sayumi fails?
  • Non-Indicative Name: There are no supernatural battles at all. At least, not many that we see - supernatural battles are commonplace, but the main characters are completely unaware of it; they're basically side characters in someone else's story.
  • Non-Uniform Uniform: Hatoko wears a cardigan over her uniform.
  • Noodle Incident: Whatever happened when Andou's power fully awakened, the girls never want him to use it again. Episode 12 reveals his power couldn't be turned off, and unlike the original power, was quite hot judging from Andou, and later Mirei's screams of pain. The girls had to go to great lengths, including chopping his hand off, banishing it to another realm, then restoring the lost hand via Sayumi's Healing Factor.
  • Not So Above It All: Tomoyo often criticizes Andou for acting like a Chuunibyou, but she has her own Chuunibyou side, even if she’ll never admit it. This can also be seen in the ending credits, when she refuses to pose with him, then he pleads, causing her to relent and do one with him.
  • "Not So Different" Remark: Despite her trying to hide her chuuni traits, Tomoyo finds out she has a lot in common with Andou in episode 5 as they hang out together outside of school, such as reading books. Andou mentions that when he goes to the bookstore with Hatoko, she gets bored if he stays too long.
  • Oblivious to Love: Andou has no idea that all the girls in the Literature Club (and Mirei) crush on him.
  • Offscreen Moment of Awesome: Kiryu Hajime wins the Fairy War offscreen.
  • Once More, with Clarity: In Episode 3, Kiryu gets a phone call from his boss at work. The viewer only hears his side of the conversation, but it's very odd. The phone call is revisited in episode 8, and this time we learn who Kiryu's "boss" is.
  • Out of Focus: Despite being introduced as a main character and featured in the ED sequence along with the other girls, Mirei receives very little attention in the series, appearing in only three episodes and only having an important role in two.
  • Patient Childhood Love Interest: Hatoko, as seen in episode 7's various Flash Back scenes when she was younger with Andou. And in episode 9, she flat out tells Tomoyo she's in love with him, and hopes he picks her over the other girls, particularly as she has the least in common with him compared to the latter.
  • The Perfectionist: In episode 6 Sayumi explains that she tried to do this in middle school as the Student Council President. Though she was considered a model student, she also expected the other student council members to live up to her very high standards. As a result, many students quit the council and she had a somewhat lonely time there.
  • The Pirates Who Don't Do Anything: Although they obtained superpowers, the main characters don't have any evil empire or bad guys to fight against, so they usually make mundane use of their abilities, such as Chifuyu creating a tennis court for them in episode 3. Episode 8 reveals that there are other people who do end up using their powers to fight. However, Kiryu, Tomoyo's half-brother, seems to be doing all he can to prevent them from having to get involved and thus the main characters are Locked Out of the Loop regarding where their powers came from and what they were supposed to do.
  • The Plan: Andou uses one in episode 12 to save Mirei. He uses his "Dark and Dark of the End", which can't be put out through normal means, to force whoever possessed Mirei to release hold of her.
  • Plot Tailored to the Party: Andou's plan to defeat Mirei, or any other Power Parasite. First, they hide Tomoyo while she uses Closed Clock to carry everyone to safety. Then, Andou fights Mirei one on one, activates Dark and Dark of the End and tricks her into stealing it. Since it cannot be turned off on your own and will burn your own hand off if left unchecked, Andou uses her hand as a bargaining chip to convince her to return any superpowers she already has. Then, Chifuyu chops her burning hand off with a guillotine, and Sayumi heals the stump.
    • It's based on how the party managed to save Andou from his power previously, which is another Plot Tailored to the Party in itself.
  • Power Limiter: Andou claims to have one via his school jacket, which is probably his attempt at explaining why his "Dark and Dark" ability is pretty useless compared to the abilities the girls got in comparison.
  • Proper Tights with a Skirt: Sayumi wears them with her uniform, is from a well-off family, and has very high standards for herself.
  • Pseudo-Crisis:
    • The end of episode 7. Hatoko appears to have been kidnapped by some unknown people, but she's returned to the club without any fighting.
    • At the end of episode 8 Andou awakens to a new but apparently dangerous power. In the next episode, everything has been resolved offscreen and gone back to normal. The only reference to the end of the previous episode is when the girls insist that Andou never reawakens his power.
  • Relationship Upgrade:
    • Andou is forced into one with Mirei in episode 2 after she misinterprets his letter to her as a love letter. The other girls aren't too happy to hear about that. Unfortunately for her it doesn't last very long.
    • Several of the girls are hoping for this in episode 9, and discuss it with others about it. Hatoko seems to be the most direct with it, as she flat out asks Tomoyo if there's anyone she's interested in. And when Tomoyo lies about it, Hatoko tells her plainly she's in love with Andou, and wants to be in a relationship with him. Tomoyo only responds with Stunned Silence.
  • Rose-Haired Sweetie: Hatoko.
  • Scooby Stack: The girls do this in episode 2 when Mirei talks to Andou outside the club room. When he turns in their direction, the door suddenly slams shut.
  • Scary Black Man: Subverted in episode 10. Kuki planned to play a prank on a big muscular guy suntanning in a sun chair, but then has second thoughts when she realizes she's too chicken to taunt someone like that. Said man then notices her, and turns out to be a Gentle Giant when he asks if she's lost and would like to be escorted to the area the lost children are taken to be picked up by their parents. And after Andou finds her, he scolds the lad a little bit, telling him not to let a little girl like her wander off on her own.
  • Screw the Rules, I Have Connections!: Chifuyu, an elementary schooler, attending a high school Literature club, is made possible because their club advisor is her aunt, Satomi-sensei. While she left Chifuyu with the club originally because she was watching her niece and then suddenly got called into a meeting, Chifuyu has since come to the club regularly on her own because she enjoys spending time with them.
  • Screw the Rules, I'm Doing What's Right!: In episode 10, Sayumi does things based on what Sagami tells her because he wants her to hook up with Andou. Though she seems a little uncomfortable with some of the suggestions, she follows through with it as best as she can, such as inviting him to the pool after her sister bailed on her. However, after having enough of Sagami's antics, she punches him in the face, and says she's going to do this fair and square against the other girls regarding winning Andou's heart.
  • Second Place Is for Winners: In episode 10, a quiz show at the pool is offering a brand new car as the top prize. However, Chifuyu wants the second place prize, which is a toy whale. The first few questions are fairly easy, but then they start asking some rather hard ones which stumps everyone at first. Then Andou decides to take over and starts answering them all correctly. Despite the hard questions the host throws at Andou, he answers every one of them correctly. However, in the end he just picks the whale and tells them to be more honest with their question difficulty and prize. When Kuki asks him why he didn't just take both prizes, Andou says he's already earned the best prize, their smiles, which causes her to blush a little.
  • Secret-Keeper:
    • The Literature Club can't tell anyone about their newly found powers for a variety of reasons. As a result, they have to hide it from everyone, such as their club advisor and Kuki, Chifuyu's school friend.
    • Tomoyo asks Andou not to tell the others that she's trying to be a light novel author, mostly because she finds it embarrassing and she's not very good at it either. However, she reveals it in episode 8 to help clear up the misunderstanding that Hatoko and Andou had in the previous episode, which caused her epic rant against him and running away from his house as well.
  • Secret Secret-Keeper: Kiryu's knows about the Literature Club's powers, but he wants to keep them out of the ongoing Fairy War.
  • Self-Immolation: Andou's awakened power just sets his right arm on fire, and it can't be extinguished ever. The literature club is forced to amputate it to save him.
  • Selfless Wish: Kiryu Hajime wins in the Fairy War and uses his prize to bring another character's sister out of a coma.
  • Sensor Character: Aki Natsu, a member of Hajime's crew, calls her power "Head Hunting".
  • Serious Business: The way Andou treats his chuunibyou acts, especially when others mock him for it.
  • Sheathe Your Sword: In an episode 6 flashback. Sayumi originally wanted to erase their powers with her Route of Origin, but Andou challenged her to a fight to decide whether the powers should stay or be erased. He repeatedly attempted to use the (not-yet-named) Dark And Dark, but she kept attacking him during the (unnecessary and incredibly long) Magical Incantation. He finally convinced her to let him finish, after which she pinned him and attempted to erase his powers... Only for it to fail, exactly as he'd expected. Losing the fight was his plan from the very beginning (in part because he couldn't have won, even if he'd tried).
  • Shipper on Deck:
    • Maiya for her sister Sayumi and Andou in episode 6 after he visits her at home.
    • Sagami would also like to see Andou hook up with Sayumi. However, he's more interested in amusing himself by facilitating a twisted romantic tragedy that would split up the Literature Club than seeing Andou or anyone else in the Club be in a happy relationship.
  • Shout-Out: The anime adaptation features dozens of visual references and cameos from Gainax and Trigger's previous works.
    • In Episode 1, Tomoyo punches Andou using Takaharu Fukuroda's boxing gloves, and Omiko Hakodate's tennis racket shows up in Episode 3.
    • Andou's (useless) power creates dark flames. In full Chuunibyou mode he acts very much like the equally Chuunibyou "Dark Flame Master" from Love, Chunibyo & Other Delusions!
    • In Episodes 7 and 8, Kiryu, himself a Chuuni, is sporting a medical eyepatch over his red right eye. Sleeping in your contacts isn't a good idea.
    • In the opening, Chifuyu rides a giant mecha who looks exactly like Inferno Cop with a shade of Gurren Lagann.
    • Tomoyo seems to have a figurine of Kirito.
    • In episode 2 Andou is seen wearing the red "claw slash" MadCatz shirt famously worn by competitive Fighting Game player Daigo Umehara.
    • In episode 4, when Andou is revealing the Literature Club's "secret" to Kuki as his being a Comedic Lolicon, he quotes the infamous "good grief, elementary schoolers are the best" line from Ro-Kyu-Bu word for word.
    • When Tomoyo indulges in her own Chuuni fantasies in episode 5, she gets a heel shot like Satsuki (except she's not wearing heels, so she makes the Signature Sound Effect herself) and then poses exactly like Kakyoin does in a frame of Stardust Crusaders.
    • Episode 8 features a cut-in of the Literature Club with each member mimicking a pose from a different JoJo character. Bonus points for having the poses correspond to characters with similar powers.
    • Episode 10 has them in abundance. The Ikari family is one of the contestants at the quiz competition and Tomoyo has a Guts figure on her desk. Mako Mankanshoku is seen floating by in the background after one of Kuki's attempts to embarrass Andou.
    • Episode 11 features figures of Chuck, Boota and Canti as prizes in a shooting gallery, and Ryuko Matoi and her signature red streak are briefly seen as a background character.
  • Show, Don't Tell: The anime shows off each of the character's powers, such as during Hatoko and Chifuyu's practice battle, along with Tomoyo's time manipulation powers, and Sayumi's healing abilities. Then it shows off Andou's "Dark and Dark" ability, with Mirei stealing his powers briefly and commenting on its uselessness as well.
  • Shut Up, Hannibal!: Sayumi punches Sagami hard and tells him she won't let him manipulate and devalue her just to get Andou's attention after he tricks her into thinking her swimsuit will go transparent if it gets wet.
  • Sick Episode: Sayumi gets sick in episode 6, which the others suspect is due to her staying up long nights to work on the video game they made for Andou for his birthday.
  • Slasher Smile: System gives one in episode 8 before attacking Hitomi and the others.
  • Smarter Than You Look:
    • It's revealed in episode 9 that despite his silly nature, Andou does get surprisingly good grades, beating Tomoyo in test rankings by a large margin, much to the latter's horror. He ranked 38th overall in the last test for the entire school. Meanwhile, she came in at 88th, and isn't happy about it. He later enjoys teasing her about it.
    • In episode 10, he answers some really difficult animal-related questions during a quiz show, completely foiling Kuki's plot to show him off as a fool not worthy of hanging out with Chifuyu.
  • Sneeze Cut: Andou does one in episode 3 after the girls talk about him.
  • Sore Loser: Sagami doesn't take Sayumi ignoring his "advice" and telling him to get lost very well. To the extent that he's willing to pull up some superpowered help to get his way.
  • Status Quo Is God:
    • Andou and Mirei's brief Relationship Upgrade is downgraded after he clears up the misunderstanding in his letter to her.
    • The situation with the Literature Club at the end of episode 12 is more or less the same as before after rescuing Mirei. Including No Romantic Resolution, with both Hatoko and Tomoyo stating they won't lose to the other in winning Andou's love.
  • Stepford Smiler: Hatoko doesn't like or understand the Chuuni stuff Andou thinks is cool, but she smiles and plays along because she desperately wants to be close to him.
  • Student Council President: Mirei.
  • Story-Breaker Power: What System's power is said be.
  • Super-Deformed: The girls in the ending, and the various faces shown during the Eye Catch each episode.
  • Superpower Lottery: The girls won, big time. Andou got exactly what he wanted (but it's useless).
  • Super-Reflexes: Sayumi in episode 10 is completely able to avoid getting wet at all at the pool, after being told by Sagami her bikini becomes a see-through if it gets wet. However, Andou tells her that she has a nice body, which causes her to pause long enough to get splashed on only to find out her swimsuit isn't really a see-through when wet. She punches Sagami later for it.
  • Suspiciously Specific Denial:
    • After Andou attempts to clear up the misunderstanding behind his letter in episode 2 to Mirei, she tries to claim she never liked him that much. But he can see she's clearly shaking and trying her hardest to hold back her tears. She also tries to claim her feelings aren't hurt.
    • Sayumi says she wasn't observing Andou and Sagami talking for some Boys' Love inspiration or anything like that in episode 3. And in episode 4 while taking lots of pictures of him in a maid outfit, she makes similar claims again.
  • Synchronous Episodes: In episode 3, when Andou first talks to Kiryu, he's seen talking over the phone and sounds rather upset about something though we're given no context to his dialogue. Episode 8 then shows some of the events behind that scene, which prompted that phone call to him.
  • Take That!:
    • Sagami's whole character can be seen as one against Shipping, as he tries to push his preferred pairing, but only because he wants to make the story more amusing for him with no regard to the happiness or well-being of anyone else.
    • Ever since Hatoko's rant to Andou in episode 7 went viral on tumblr, several people have started interpreting it as a critique against the pseudo-intellectualism that is found in so many members of the Millennial Generation.
    Tumblr Commenter: "Did this anime waifu just tear down the edgy pretentious pseudointellectual facades we construct for ourselves as an obfuscating substitute for actual worth of character and accuse us of being so wrapped up in our own insular self-validating atrophied emotional comfort zones that we can only relate to others through pop culture allusions and mental dominance contests instead of a genuine emotional connection between two human beings?"
  • The Tease: The whole damn show. Under the surface seems to be a running plot that would have the anime live up to its title, but the main characters never get involved in it and we never see more than glimpses.
    • It is, however, worth noting that the series' marketing has never pretended it was anything other than what it was. The only people fooled were those who expected a dose of Cerebus Syndrome.
  • This Is Something He's Got to Do Himself: Though the girls help him with issues at times, there are other situations where he tells them to let him handle it himself, such as when he has to break off his relationship with Mirei due to her misinterpreting something he wrote to her.
  • Tempting Fate: One of Kiryu's friends says that it would take a miracle to undo the mistake they did with kidnapping the wrong person. Hatoko then ends up disappearing from Kiryu's bed as they watch due to Sayumi using one of her new powers.
  • Time Master: Tomoyo's Closed Clock allows her to fast forward, stop or slow it down but she can't rewind it.
  • Time Skip: A minor one in the first episode. After the intro scene and opening title, the story jumps ahead six months. Later episodes show Flash Back scenes during the skipped time period, and how they ended up coping with their newfound powers.
  • Token Mini-Moe: Chifuyu, who is in elementary school.
  • Traumatic Superpower Awakening: Parodied. When Andou awakens a stronger version of his "Dark and Dark" power in episode 8, what triggers it is his desperate attempt to open a stubborn bag of potato chips.
  • True Companions: Sayumi tells Mirei that Andou won't abandon a friend in episode 12, when the latter asks why he went through a lot of trouble to rescue her.
  • Tsundere:
    • Tomoyo, big time.
    • Hitomi acts this way in episode 8 when Litia asks if she likes Kiryu. The latter comments that despite her insisting He Is Not My Boyfriend, her face gives it away.
    • Kuki puts up this front towards Andou when she starts to realize she might be falling in love with him as well in episode 10.
    • Hatoko tries this briefly in episode 10. When Andou asks her about it, she says she was actually trying to be a Cute Clumsy Girl.
  • Unwanted Harem: Pretty much all of the girls in the Literature Club want to date Andou, as evidenced by their disgust of him after Mirei fires the first shot and gives him a Love Confession in front of all of them in episode 2. Unfortunately for them, he seems to be Oblivious to Love. Episode 9 turns this up to eleven, when all of the girls start discussing their feelings towards him seriously.
  • Victoria's Secret Compartment: One has to wonder where Hatoko had that magazine stashed away at in episode 11 while wearing a bikini on the beach.
  • Visual Pun: During the end credits, we see Mirei holding Andou's dark flame behind her back. That is, she's carrying a torch for him.
  • Wham Episode:
    • At the end of episode 5, Hatoko sees Andou in street clothes while walking around town. She then immediately also sees Tomoyo walking with him, as if on a date, and doesn't seem happy about it.
    • In episode 7, it starts with Hatoko's epic rant. Kiryu shows up again, and talks to Hatoko for a while, in an attempt to help explain to her about her outburst and why Andou acts like a chuunibyou. Then he puts her to sleep as several people he seems to be associated with approach, strongly suggesting that them obtaining powers with no one to fight them with may not have been as straightforward as they thought.
  • Wham Line:
    • Chifuyu gives one at the end of episode 3 after Andou asks why she's waiting outside his school instead of being at her school at the beginning of the day:
    Chifuyu: I quit elementary school.
    • Andou says one in episode 4, although it's completely Played for Laughs and in his Large Ham fashion when telling Kuki about the secret Chifuyu can't tell her about regarding the Literature club.
    Andou: I am a lolicon!
    • Sayumi gives one at the end of episode 7 when they're unable to locate Hatoko, suggesting they use one of her powers she's awakened.
    • At the end of episode 9, Hatoko tells Tomoyo that she loves Andou and wants him to choose her. Tomoyo can only managed a shocked silence.
    • Episode 10:
    Sagami: I guess I failed on the everyday end. I wonder how the superpowered end is going.
  • What Kind of Lame Power Is Heart, Anyway?: Andou's Dark and Dark flames are essentially useless. His view is closer to Heart Is an Awesome Power: Dark and Dark "is the coolest. That's all it is," and he's happy with that. That said, he is jealous of the other girl's powers, since they're so much more useful than his, such as Chifuyu's "World Create" ability to create worlds and items out of thin air.
  • What Is This Thing You Call "Love"?: Downplayed. Chifuyu, due in part because she's just a kid, believes that the tightness in her chest and heat in her cheeks is because she's getting sick, rather than because she's fallen in love.
  • What the Hell, Hero?:
    • All of the Literature Club girls essentially say this to Andou in episode 2 after his letter to Mirei gets misinterpreted as a love letter by her.
    • In episode 7, Hatoko gives Andou a long rant about his use of strange words and telling her she wouldn't understand. She immediately asks him why he keeps insisting that Evil Is Cool when the definition of evil to her is that it's a bad thing. She also hates how he uses words he likely just picked up from various sources because they sound cool, then doesn't explain it to her very well, causing her confusion.
  • Wing Ding Eyes: Hatoko has this look in episode 11 on the beach after she overdoes the "guy chasing girl on beach" tip, and runs really fast away from Andou. She then collapses from a combination of the exhaustion, summer heat, and her emotions.
  • Wounded Gazelle Gambit: After calling the Literature Club together at the end of episode 11, Mirei bursts into their club room claiming that her right hand was burning up. Hatoko attempts to cool her off, but Mirei then steals her power, and throws some fire at her right as the credits begin.
  • Xanatos Gambit: In the flashback in episode 6, Sayumi wants to erase their superpowers with Route of Origin. Andou originally wants to convince her not to without letting her try, preserving the hope that it'll work if they need it to, but when that fails, he instead orchestrates a Batman Gambit through a fight, proving that she's already accepted her powers when she can't erase his. Either way, they keep their new abilities, and Sayumi becomes more comfortable with her power.
  • Yandere:
    • Mirei had some slight leanings in that direction in Episode 2.
    • Sayumi also blurts out the word "die" to Andou after hearing about his "love letter" to Mirei. She then immediately apologizes, only to then rudely ask why he's still alive.
  • Yaoi Fangirl: Sayumi. She ships Andou with Sagami.

 
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Alternative Title(s): Inou Battle Wa Nichijoukei No Naka De

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When Supernatural Battles Became Commonplace

Hatoko dumps an entire BOATLOAD of these onto Andou when she finally snaps.

How well does it match the trope?

4.97 (32 votes)

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Main / ArmorPiercingQuestion

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