Ann Cassandra, also known as UnCassandra, is a short-lived manga written by Gorou Hifumishi and illustrated by Gumi Amazi. It was serialized in Shonen Rival from April to November 2008.
Bekku Nanaki has just moved to Tokyo from her rural hometown. One day, a boy called Banjou Kizaki saves her from a falling billboard. The next day, she discovers that they are classmates, and that he has a reputation for being involved in various accidents and all sorts of trouble.
When he drops his notebook, she discovers the reason why he gets into so much trouble in the first place is because he has been making sure that the horrible deaths resulting from the accidents don't happen, due to his notebook giving him predictions about the various disasters. Bekku, at first, refuses to believe him, even going so far as to throw the notebook into a canal, but over time comes over to his side. Together, they work to break fate. But a mysterious man, Makita Eitarou, wants to stop them, as he believes that fate should be absolute...
This work contains examples of:
- Ambiguous Ending: The ending shows us at the day of Banjou's final prediction - his own death at the age of 20. However, we do not find out if or how he dies.
- Artifact of Doom: The Cassandra Mask. The mask's power lets its user warp the future to cause more disasters in exchange for becoming the mask's puppet and eventually dying. The mask then compels the nearest person to pick it up and use it.
- Big Bad: Makita Eitarou is the man attempting to stop Bekku and Banjou from saving people who are fated to die, as he believes that fate should not be tampered with. At least until he is arrested, at which point the Cassandra Mask, possessed by Queen Cassandra herself, is revealed as the one masterminding the deadly fates to take revenge on humanity for never believing her.
- Cassandra Truth: It's in the title, and the reason that Bekku is such a fatalist. She has visions of the future, but her childhood friend Nao died because she didn't believe it when Bekku told her about her own death. This led to Bekku believing that You Can't Fight Fate. The final chapter opens up with the Greek myth of Cassandra herself, who is the Big Bad desiring revenge on humanity for not believing her.
- Clock Tower: The focus of Chapter 3 is a clock tower that is both a crowning achievement for the man who built it and, unfortunately, the site of a future disaster (a blackout and mass panic), forcing Banjou and Bekku to destroy it.
- Clothing Damage: Banjou tends to tear his clothes up every chapter as a result of the heroics he gets into; trying to save others from their fate makes him have to destroy stuff.
- Determinator: Banjou is absolutely determined to save people from their fates, and will not let anyone or anything stop him. Despite repeatedly getting injured and having to face seemingly impossible odds, he powers through.
- Demonic Possession: Anyone who wears the Cassandra Mask gets possessed by the spirit of Cassandra.
- Dude, She's Like in a Coma: When Banjou is heavily injured and in a coma as a result of one mission, the doctor jokingly suggests Bekku kiss him to wake him up like in Snow White. She then actually does so, and blushes when it actually works.
- Evil Mask: The Cassandra Mask gives the user the power to control the future and cause disasters. It is possessed by the spirit of Queen Cassandra, who despises humanity for never believing her.
- Girlish Pigtails: Chiasa has some long ones to go with her being the Token Mini-Moe.
- The Fatalist: Bekku, at first, dismisses what Banjou is doing, claiming that no one can change the future. She does begin to believe in what he is doing and helps him eagerly.
- Immune to Fate: An odd variation exists of this: Banjou is fated to die on his 20th birthday. Because there was a prediction of him dying on that specific day, he can't die before that day. This means that he can do all sorts of Leeroy Jenkins-style stunts without worrying about dying, as fate warps itself around him to keep him alive. Knowing this, Banjou uses his reality-warping presence to protect the lives of people fated to die, often by using himself as a human shield against whatever is about to kill that person. Given that Ann Cassandra is about teenagers who can see the future and want to stop terrible things from happening, this power is quite relevant most of the time. (The reason this isn't a straight example is because while he is immune to death, he is NOT immune to getting hurt, and he spends almost half of the entire series either in the hospital or with bandages on his body.)
- Just in Time: Basically every mission ends with the duo narrowly averting whatever tragedy was about to occur.
- Leeroy Jenkins: Banjou is incredibly reckless when saving people from their deaths, doing things like jumping from a really high-building onto a narrow opening. Justified Trope as, thanks to his future-telling notebook, he knows that he won't die doing those ridiculous stunts, since Ben is fated to die at 20.
- Making a Spectacle of Yourself: Banjou's glasses are hot pink.
- Magic Mirror: Bekku's prediction medium is a mirror, though any reflective surface will do — Banjou once made her use the reflection of his eyes to see a prediction.
- Mask of Power: The Cassandra Mask gives its user the power to create evil fates at the price of losing their free will and eventually dying. Supposedly, it was created from the remains of the Greek prophetess Cassandra after she died cursing the people who wouldn't believe her.
- Neck Lift: A Cassandra-possessed Bekku does this to Banjou in the process of giving him a No-Holds-Barred Beatdown.
- No-Holds-Barred Beatdown: Banjou doesn't get much of a say in the final showdown between him and Bekku/Cassandra, who twists his arm, launches several projectiles at him to make him bleed, and Neck Lifts him.
- Pillar of Light: A large one appears as Cassandra's mask is destroyed.
- Screw Destiny: The core plot. The main characters, Bekki and Banjou, strive to prevent the predictions of calamity they have from occurring. In particular, Banjou knows that he is predicted to die at the age of 20, which drives him to disrupt predictions in the hope that doing so will enable him to avert his own death when the time comes. At the same time, Banjou takes advantage of his destiny by running all kinds of risks in the course of his quest, confident that he won't die until he turns 20 in three years' time.
- Scry vs. Scry: The story consists of the protagonists, Bekku and Banjou, trying to Screw Destiny when they learn of upcoming disasters (including Banjou's death at 20) while Makita tries to assert that You Can't Fight Fate by subverting their attempts at every turn.
- Short Runner: It is only eight chapters long.
- Time Bomb: Makita sets one up in the mall as commanded by his tape.
- Token Mini-Moe: Chiasa, while not much smaller than Bekku, is the smallest member of the cast.
- You Can't Fight Fate: In contrast to the protagonists who are trying to save people from their fates, this is touted by Makita, who has a tape recorder telling him the exact details of what will happen. He gleefully takes it as a gift from the gods, sets himself up as a "prediction enforcer", and considers what Banjou and Bekku are doing as "unforgivable".
